Sedona Arts Center represents nearly 100 professional local and regional artists. The Fine Art Gallery in Uptown, Sedona is a dynamic, ever-changing display of local talent in all dimensions and forms. This April the Gallery is featuring works by five extremely talented artists, who you don’t want to miss. Bill Cramer’s spectacular landscape and plein air paintings capture light and realism like no other. You’ll get lost in the imagination of Cliff Finity and his truly incredible surrealistic paintings. And the McKeown’s – Byron, Deanne and Lesley Aine are each fine artists in their own right! With Byron’s custom knives, Deanne’s imaginative bronzes and Lesley Aine’s jewelry, the talent most definitely runs in this family!
About the featured artists:
Bill Cramer
Bill Cramer is best known for his striking oil paintings of the American West. Growing up in the west, Bill always had an interest in exploring nature and creating art. As a longtime rock climber, he spent much of his youth enjoying the more vertical aspects of the landscape. After receiving a University of California fine arts degree, he moved to Arizona with his wife Michelle to be closer to the scenery they both enjoyed. It was there that he discovered the delight and challenges of plein air painting, his outdoor experiences providing much of the insight and inspiration for his landscape paintings. Bill works in a style best described as Impressionistic Realism, where strong brushwork and colors are used to express the vitality and beauty of the natural world.
Cliff Finity
The intriguing and intricately detailed oil paintings of Cliff Finity, draw upon a deep well-spring of observation and inspiration, fed by his early experiences in the American wilderness of his youth; by Renaissance and Surrealist art; and by the temporal flow of technology in his lifetime. This unusual blend of influences has led to a unique body of work depicting anthropogenic technology immersed within the matrix of the wild, primarily using archaic or obsolete creations of humankind set in imaginary scenes from the natural world, and containing a rich symbology of memory, language, and time; adaptation and transformation; puzzles and games — all metaphors for the myriad of interweaving elements shared by the common endeavor of life.
Deanne McKeown
“None of us perceive the world in exactly the same way. Our oneness lies in a yearning to touch and to understand. My work is an endeavor to share my thoughts and vision through form and color and relationships, hoping to charge my images with meaning which will reach across the spaces between us. However, in the long run, it’s all about making art - great if there’s communication, but if not, I’d still do it anyway. In looking back over a lifetime of working and exploring ideas, I realize that I have never created art, art has been, and is now, creating me.”
Byron McKeown
“Over the years I’ve learned to appreciate excellence although I rarely achieve it.
The closest I come is in the ephemeral areas of concept and integrity.
But, since I believe that my next effort will be my best, I will continue to pursue excellence.
Although I believe that I’ve learned more from my many failures than my few successes.”
Lesley Aine McKeown
“For me, creating and breathing are the same thing. From the time I was a small child I was given tools to make things and an environment that inspired me. I am drawn to exploration and my work is an evolution of that process. I design with a mind to form and negative space. My technique is low tech using traditional metal smithing tools. The use of unique stones are often the inspiration of a design. I work primarily in sterling silver and high karat gold.
Each piece is created in my studio in the tradition of the American Studio Art Jewelry movement of the
1940’s through the 60’s, which dictates that the work is created entirely in the artist’s studio. It is my hope that the wearer of my work will identify with something in the piece that speaks their aesthetic and deeper less tangible emotions thus completing the creative circle.”
Sedona Arts Center is one of Northern Arizona’s most well-established cultural organizations and serves as the creative heart of Sedona. Founded in 1958, the nonprofit organization is based at the Art Barn in Uptown and offers year-round classes, exhibitions, festivals, and cultural events that enhance the creative life of the Verde Valley. The Center’s Fine Art Gallery promotes the original works of over 100 local artists and regularly offers special assistance for collectors and art buyers, offers private studio visits, and fosters hundreds of arts education opportunities each year. The Fine Art Gallery in Uptown Sedona is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm. Visit SedonaArtsCenter.org to learn more.
