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Artists & Exhibitors
Festival of The Cranes, November 18-23, 2008
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

ARTISTS- Wildlife Art

Lou Adams
The ancient tradition of handfolding Japanese papers into cranes embraces a prayer for peace, long life, good fortune and personal happiness.  Folding cranes is an act of praying for peace in troubled times.  “When I first learned to fold a peace crane, I thought I could fold enough to prevent the war.  After the war began I realized folding was a way of holding peace in the moment.  I began praying for people I love.  I have been folding for 5 years.  As time passes, it becomes more important to hold a space for peace.”  Lou holds a Master of Fine Arts from Claremont Graduate School (California).  She is an 18-year resident of Sedona.  Her great love is painting.  “I needed to put something out in the world that sparked a spiritual consciousness.  I began a new body of work in my paintings and started offering peace cranes at craft fairs.  This took me to visit the winter home of the Sandhill cranes in New Mexico, where 19,000 cranes fill the skies.  I witnessed a larger cycle of life and was transformed.  My work reflects the losing of the self into a greater purpose.  This has been my journey so far.”

Paul Biron-
I have been photographing the natural world since, at the age of 10, my father bought me my first 35mm SLR camera.  Now, more than 35 years later, my photography helps me connect with the spirit of the things I love in life: wildlife and scenic beauty. Through my photography I hope to inspire others with the joy I experience in interacting with the world. I especially enjoy photographing birds because their unique biology and behavior are so different from our own. The majesty and grace of the big mammals fills me with excitement, and sometimes a sense of danger. I am awed by our natural world, from the immensity of wide open landscapes to the beauty of the smallest, most fragile flowers.  I have participated in many art shows, and my work has been shown in the SPACe Gallery in La Veta, CO and the Pueblo Art Guild Gallery in Pueblo, CO (where I was awarded Best Color and Best of Show). I have also been awarded an honorable mention in the North American Nature Photography Association's Annual Showcase competition.

Vicki Bolen-
I am originally from Sacramento, California, and hold a degree in Interior Design from the University of California.  My woven monotypes are inspired by my interest in paper and textiles. I am intrigued by the monotype medium because it allows me to explore color and create my own designs. I enjoy weaving and stitching together multiple monotypes to create a new piece of art.  To add complexity of design, I start my monotypes with chine collé, a collage technique in which thinner Japanese papers are fused to a thicker European paper using glue and the pressure from the printing press. I then build my images with thin layers of transparent ink, gradually allowing the image to emerge.  Essentially, my work is about transformation and change. The various steps from the blank piece of paper to the final weaving satisfy my intent to create something unexpected. My intention is not only to share the joy I experience when making art, but to create a beautiful object that seemingly continues to shift in front of the viewer’s eye.  Since 2004 I have participated in numerous exhibitions and have gallery representation at Patrician Design, New Grounds Gallery, and Mariposa Gallery in Albuquerque.

Don Boyd-
All of my fine art photographic images begin as film from medium and large format film cameras.  The deliberateness required in using film from 21/4 x 23/4 to 4x5 inches matches my intention to bring awareness to the beauty of the American Southwest.  It is the notion of intimacy - that the viewer sees qualities of him or herself reflected in the image - that I work to capture in all of my work.  Photographing for more than 10 years, I have had one-man shows at the Macey Center, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, New Mexico and the Main Street Gallery, Las Cruces, New Mexico.  I have also shown at numerous Art Festivals, including Palm Springs, California, Scottsdale and Tempe, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico.  After color correcting the transparencies and negatives, I print on archival photographic papers and canvas using pigmented inks.  Due to the large size of the film capture, I can print images up to 40x50 inches.  If you would like more information about my work please visit my website, www.donboyd.com.  

Dan Caldemeyer-
Photography has been a passion of mine ever since I bought my first camera in 1978.  I believe that passion is essential when you are in the field of artistic creativity.  The beauty of nature is the reason I got into photography.  My first photos were of landscapes.  Later I got into the commercial end of photography, weddings, aerial photography, and I photographed Thoroughbred Horses in Kentucky. Then one day someone asked me to shoot a local rock band,…it was there that I found my new passion, photographing rock concerts.  I now photograph wildlife and nature traveling throughout the West taking photographs and soaking up the beauty of nature along the way.  I use Canon Professional Eos Digital Camera equipment.  My photos are printed on Epson paper with Epson Archival Ink that lasts 100-200 years without fading.  You and your family will be able to enjoy these photos for many generations to come. I am a self taught photographer learning by making a lot of mistakes and asking a lot of questions. You can special order photographs up to 30”x40”.  I stock matted photos up to 22”x28”.  www.dancaldemeyer.com (505)296-2739 dan@dancaldemeyer.com

John S. Gibb-
John Gibb is a pencil artist specializing in free hand drawings.  He does not use projection, light boxes, or computer enhancement.  He uses a pencil with .03 leads, on Bristol Board ‘Plate’ surface, with 90% of the drawing done using 3H.  When the drawing is almost finished, he uses a softer lead – HB – to enrich the dark tones.  He keeps the pencil sharp by rolling the point on fine sandpaper.  His other tools are a magnifier, a ruler, a blending tool and three types of erasers.  To keep the paper from accumulating graphite dust, he avoids touching it with his hands, using a clear sheet of acetate to protect the work.  Each drawing represents many hours’ work.  He uses photographic reference to ensure authenticity, but does not copy photographs.  His reference book is always available for visitors to browse.  The reproductions are produced according to British Fine Art Guild guidelines, which regulate the quality of the inks and papers which are used.  Limited Editions may not be reproduced in any other size or format, and once sold out, they may not be reprinted in any other edition.

Beth Kingsley Hawkins-
Beth is an award-winning film-based fine art photographer whose cover image “Crane Choreography” graces the book Flying Lessons.  Known for her intimate portraits of flowers and close-ups of hummingbirds, her work teaches that photography can be a ‘Doorway to Spirit’.  Her background in the healing arts is revealed through the profusion of color and the quality of light in her work.  Come experience her booth and visit her on-line at www.hummerlady.com or in her Arizona-based “Sedona Hummingbird Gallery”.

Gary Hutchinson-
After a lengthy career teaching metalworking, graphic arts, and photography, I retired and began honing my metalwork in Monterey, California, and now in Peralta, New Mexico.  I started with sand casting pewter and aluminum into art items.  Seeing the beautiful cranes almost every day in the winter in California, prompted me to make sculptures of them.  I also started making jewelry items related to rock art of the cranes.  I had never shown my work in any major show, but when I read about the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache, I photographed some of the items I had made and sent them off to be juried.  I was accepted, which meant I had to produce more items, and in a hurry.  The show was a success and resulted in orders and in invitations from Nebraska, Arizona, Colorado, and Washington where crane festivals are also held.  Each year my products have expanded.  I still make sand cast items, but the challenge of working with sheet copper along with my interest in petroglyphs has resulted in some interesting pieces which I will be showing in my booth this year.

Skeeter Leard-
The artist fell in love with the outdoors by way of horses. A commercial art career began in 1953 with Hallmark Cards and she now has dozens of images in print with SAGA Card company and her own Skeeter’s Designs LLC, among others. Her graphics career included receiving Magazine Week’s Award of Excellence when she was producing the New Mexico Horsebreeder. She served as Art Director for 3 Folio 100 publications including Flower and Garden.  A serious painter since 1983, she frequently relapses into commercial jobs, especially when called upon by her other muse, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. In 2002 she produced another sort of pony, one of the Painted Ponies, as a fundraiser for the Friends of Bosque del Apache NWR.  To celebrate a Century of Conservation, the 100th birthday of the National Wildlife Refuge system, Friends of Bosque del Apache selected her “Wings of Morning” to grace their limited edition collector plate in 2003. She is a member of the National League of American Penwomen.  She was chosen to create the National Wildlife Refuge System’s Annual Poster for 2005.  In the Socorro area her work is on display at Fullingim Isenhour Leard Galleries.

Caryl McHarney-
As a teacher of The Book Arts and Designing Reading Materials in Native Languages Caryl travels to distant corners of the world where she keeps her sketchbook and camera handy to record the life around her.  At Three Crane Studio in Albuquerque these impressions become paintings and limited edition etchings and serigraphs.  Caryl is particularly moved by cranes.  Their elegant grace has been a recurring theme in her work for several years, ever since she first saw them at the Bosque del Apache in central New Mexico.  She has been the Featured Artist at the Festival of the Cranes there twice.  She has shown regularly at the Wings Over Willcox wildlife show and was the featured artist there in 2008.  Caryl has begun to migrate with the birds, showing her crane impressions in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nebraska where, every March she is the Artist-in-Residence at the Rowe Audubon Sanctuary on the Platte River.  

Patti & Phil McLain-
After retirement from New Mexico Tech 16 years ago, Patti & Phil McLain took up rockhounding.  Patti wanted to include her art into their hobby so they set up a complete lapidary shop and Phil cut rock slabs so that Patti could sketch her wild bird art onto them with a rapidograph pen.  Phil cuts Plume, Onyx, and Geodes from Mexico and Agate from several places.  They also buy Brazillian Agate slabs for her art in Tucson at the Gem and Mineral show in February of each year.  Phil is an accomplished Scroll Sawyer and cuts out wood magnets from patterns that Patti designs.  Patti also makes notecards.  These beautiful cards take several forms.  There are hand painted watercolors, delicate origami representations of cranes and butterflies on Japanese paper, or Scherenschnitte, a paper cutting technique.  Their art is sold at Pepper's in Magdalena NM and at the Bosque Gift Shop.  They also do several shows in Corrales NM at the old San Ysidro Church.

A. Leon Miler-
A. Leon Miler is a resident of Socorro, New Mexico, living on 17 acres of creosote desert.  He is forever amazed at the diversity of life in the desert, things like wood rats and their fantastic cactus homes that become a haven for other creatures like shrews, quails, and lizards. The desert is also home to a great number of other creatures; countless birds, coyotes, cottontails, and snakes, many of which find their way into the work he does.  Leon works in multiple mediums including watercolor, oils, acrylic, pen and ink, pastel, colored pencil, photography, and occasionally, woodcarving.  He has won awards in most of the media he works in.  Leon has taught watercolor painting and silkscreen printing, and, currently, art classes for children.  Scientists, through technical language, convey the wonderful complexities of the world around us. Leon has a goal to convey just a small bit of that wonder in a graphic statement.  The ancient Greeks said that man was the measure of all things. Leon believes we are created in the image of the One who is the measure of all things. His desire is to be a modest reflection of that creative One.

Wayne Mosteller and Judy Miller-
Wayne Mosteller has been a pharmacist for over thirty years. His involvement in the art world started when he saw an old friend working glass with a torch at an outdoor festival. His interest was piqued, and he is now in his fourth year of flameworking. He combines dichroic pieces and images with colored glass to make unique jewelry.  Judy Miller is an artist, jewelry designer and a certified PMC silver instructor. She works with fused glass, as well as silver, and delights in making unusual beads and pendants to incorporate into her designs. She is also an art teacher, still teaching in classrooms with eager young students.  Wayne and Judy live in the Mimbres Valley, in southwestern New Mexico.

Victoria Page-
Satori is a Zen Buddhist word for “truth about enlightenment” and is further defined as ‘being present enough to recognize beauty.’  This definition struck a chord for artist Victoria Page, and Satori Design Studio was established in 1999.  It was inspired by her passion for flowers and the Asian arts, notably the Japanese Woodblock prints from the 17-1800’s which she uses in many of her designs.  Victoria started oil painting at the age of ten while living on a farm in Maine.  Her bold macro style of painting and use of color has evolved from her experience with textile design and silk painting.  Her work is more design oriented than painterly.  She paints by building up thin layers of oil which creates a luminous quality to the realistic contemporary images.  She utilizes this wealth of talent and experience to create a line of handmade limited edition greeting cards suitable for framing as well as offering many of the images framed.  She has been called a contemporary Georgia O’Keeffe by her patrons with her artwork in private collections around the world.  You may visit her website for additional details about her fine art.  www.vistoriapageartist.com

Maren Phillips-
Maren Phillips, a San Antonio, Texas artist, has produced exceptional artwork professionally since 1977, and works in a variety of mediums: classic pencil drawing, watercolor, pen and ink, and oil. She specializes in portraits in pencil and watercolor and botanicals in pen and ink and watercolor.  Maren received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1972 from the Washington University School of Fine Arts in St. Louis, Missouri.  While enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Texas in San Antonio, Maren began doing portrait work at galleries on the San Antonio River Walk.  Maren travels extensively throughout the United States, participating in art shows and nature festivals and events.  In addition to art festivals, Maren attends dog shows, horse shows, and cat shows, where she creates portraits of her subjects on site from live sittings or from photographs.  Her wildlife art can be found in collections around the world, with clients often returning to her for new work.  Her wildlife notecards can be found in retail shops across the United States.

Wayne Reynolds-
With youthful enthusiasm, a borrowed Argus C-3 camera, and a loyal family dog as a model, I initiated an early love of photography that I still have.  Most of my early professional career was in advertising.  Working with four fine staff artists taught me a lot about composition, color harmony and graphic design.  My usual responsibilities included retaining and supervising several of New Mexico’s most talented commercial photographers on behalf of my clients.  Working evenings and weekends, I too became a commercial photographer, surrounded by Zeiss lenses, Linhof and Sinar view cameras and a fully equipped dark room.  Now, semi retired, I work surrounded by computers, scanners and large format ink jet printers, still immersed in the excitement of chasing the perfect image.

Judith Roderick-
Judith Roderick is an award-winning fiber-artist and watercolorist who is currently focusing upon the Cranes.  She has done this show, the Monte Vista Crane Festival, and has written a book, POEMS FROM THE CRANES.  She travels to the International Crane Foundation each year to study all 15 remaining crane species, and is working on a book about them.  Her large, colorful booth will be filled with hand-painted silk wearable scarves, banners, wall hangings and pillows, as well as watercolors, photographs, and greeting cards of Sandhill and Whooping Cranes, plus some of the other Crane species.  She volunteers and shows her work at the Nature Shop at the Rio Grande Nature Center in Albuquerque.  www.judithroderick.com  rainbowpaintr@comcast.net    

Elli Sorensen-
Elli Sorensen is our cover artist for 2008.  She gratefully spends her time between Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the Mimbres Valley of New Mexico. Working in several mediums, clay, paint, precious metals and glass you can count on her images to reflect her love of nature and wildlife, which she often depicts with colorful whimsy. Elli's works are featured in shops and galleries throughout the west.  To learn more about Elli, see the inside front cover.

SpiritWare-
Tillery Dingler and Regina Zavier-Dingler are Albuquerque residents and eight year veterans of the Festival Wildlife Art Show.  They produce exquisite and intricate pieces of true Italian marquetry where each piece of wood/stone (turquoise) is cut by hand using jeweler’s tools.  Their work showcases the natural beauty of the wood, using no stains, paints or dyes for color.  The finish is finely buffed and oiled, using no varnish.  Featured items include buckles, barrettes, boxes, bolos, money clips, key rings, earrings, and frames.  Each of these is extremely tough, and it takes only a drop of olive oil applied once or twice a year to restore luster.  One of their long-time customers has worn his buckle daily for more than 25 years.  They have 130 copyrighted pieces and can do special orders.

Bill Strickler-
Wildlife inspires woodcarver Bill Strickler.  Since 1986, he has been carving wood sculptures of birds using basswood.  “I’m a lifelong birder,” he says.  “My father was a birder and my mother was a painter, so I guess it came kind of naturally.”  A resident of Magdalena, NM, coming from Texas by way of California after being born and raised in Kansas, Strickler spends anywhere from 24 to 480 hours re-creating each carving.  You will be amazed by the life look of each carving.  “It’s more challenging for me to engineer its design to make it look natural than painting it,” he says.  Using acrylic for color, small high speed power carver and wood burning pens, the detail of the individual feathers will make you want to touch them for their realism.  All species of birds Bill can create, but birds of prey are his favorite, not only because of the challenges they present, but their wide brows, sharp talons and curved beaks.  He usually makes clay models of the pieces before starting to remove any wood.

Linda Walters-
Linda Walters is an award winning fiber artist who specializes in “wearable” art, and fiber and fabric collage.   Linda had been sewing and designing clothing for over 40 years.  She designs one-of-a-kind fashions, and also creates wall art using collage techniques accentuated with quilting and other embellishments, such as beadwork.  Linda utilizes skills learned from studying with internationally recognized teachers, as well as her own techniques, which she developed over many years of experimentation in design.  Inspiration for her work comes from many sources, including Japanese design, the animal kingdom and the beautiful landscapes of the southwest, where she resides.   She uses a variety of textiles and fibers, such as hand dyed silk fibers, wool and llama roving, hand dyed silk and rayon fabrics, and vintage kimono and obi pieces.  Linda works from her studio outside of Los Lunas, New Mexico.  She can be reached at (505) 864-3362.

Marie Watkins-
After receiving an architecture degree from Pratt Institute in NY, I hitchhiked to NM and ended up in the then ghost town of Madrid [south of Santa Fe].  Wanting to work from home, rather than commute, I developed the batik, dye and silkscreening combination I have been using ever since.  My designs are often based on animal themes and usually incorporate a southwest esthetic in the graphic image.  Since each t-shirt is hand dyed by me, there are always variations and innovations that give them character. Recently the power of words to inspire has been steering my work in a new direction.

Jean M. Williams-
Jean M. Williams of Radium Springs, New Mexico began her artistic career at an early age, embellishing her children’s books with crayons. Later, she took art classes at the University of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. She began creating hand painted ceramic tile in 1974 after a European trip where she was inspired by many old murals.  Since 1988, Jean has been the owner of Williams Tile Overture, specializing in custom hand painted ceramic tile. Besides her murals, handcrafted tile and ceramics, Jean paints in acrylics and watercolors and is currently creating silver, ceramic and gemstone animal-themed jewelry.  Animals - especially rabbits, - desert landscapes and Mimbres Indian designs are her most popular subjects.  Jean's artwork has been exhibited at the Hall of the Governors in Santa Fe, Dona Ana Arts Council shows, Deming Arts Council shows and can be found in many private homes and public venues worldwide. She keeps very busy with custom work but has enjoyed participating in the Festival of the Cranes and the Dona Ana Arts Council Renaissance Faire; she is also a weekly vendor at the popular Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market. Jean's website portfolio, www.williamstile.net, features many of her custom tile murals.

Joe Zinn-
A working photographer for over 30 years, Joe produces and sells fine art prints of his images worldwide.  His work has appeared in publications including High Country, Colorado Outdoors, Nature Magazine, and Ski Country. In 2006 his work about a regional historic district was included in a promotion produced for the Library of Congress.  Joe makes his home in Monte Vista, Colorado.

Friends of The Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge P.O. Box 340 San Antonio, New Mexico 87832 Contact Us