Friday Virtual Art Walk Part 4 - Celebrating + Supporting Local Artists

Cara Harjes

Cara believes that life is beautiful. She also knows that it is messy, confusing, and sometimes downright cruel. There is no denying or sugar coating that. But after walking through both relentless loss and pure joy, Cara has become intent upon embracing both the beauty within the mess. The light and the dark. The triumph and the challenges. She explores and expresses this beautiful mess through the art of intuitive painting in her Northwest Denver backyard studio. And there’s not much more she would like than to bring you along with her for the wild, bumpy, glorious ride in her workshops and retreats! Well, except maybe chicken and waffles. She loves chicken and waffles. No matter, we can grab those along the way!

Visit Cara’s Website

Cheryl Browder

For almost 40 years Cheryl Browder has lived in Gunnison, Colorado.  In this amazing setting she has found inspiration for her plein air and studio landscape paintings.  Cheryl has been drawing and painting for most of her life.  Encouraged by her family, she took art lessons when she was quite young, then continued her studies at Massachusetts College of Art, graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design in 1980.  Later, nurturing her lifelong interest in art, she studied painting with artists she admired and respected through workshops.

View More of Cheryl’s Work

Stacey Roberts

“When beginning a new painting, I first sit and look through my collection of photo references that I’ve taken or that have been shared with me, and I find one that catches my attention. The way something moves, or bends, or twists will catch my eye and say “pick me!” Once I have my inspiration, paper size is decided upon, and I begin creating. The next step is choosing a color palette. I paint in soft pastel because I love the bright, saturated colors, and the immediacy of the medium. Using my fingers as tools to manipulate the pigments gives me a direct connection to the painting.”

Visit Stacey’s Website

First Friday Virtual Artwalk Part 3 -Celebrating + Supporting Local Artists

On the First Friday of each month, the West + Main Homes team loves supporting local art by inviting creators to showcase their works in our popular storefront galleries.

This month, we hope you’ll join us for a little walk down memory lane each week, as we reminisce about all of the fun Artwalk events that we have hosted in our RiNo and Louisville offices.

We invite you to visit the online galleries and social accounts of these wonderful, creative + talented folks…and we will look forward to reuniting with you when this crisis has passed and our galleries are able to re-open.

Stacy Robinson

Stacy Robinson's acute sense of whimsy, joy and playfulness helped her to develop her unique style.  Along with life's many joys, there have been many sorrows and Ms. Robinson has always dealt with all the facets of life through her expression of art.  She has enjoyed many mediums and has moved back and forth between painting, sculpture/mixed media and jewelry making.  She has fallen back in love with painting and is known for painting women, nature inspired themes and angels.  Stacy is a native of Oklahoma and studied interior design at the Art Institute of Atlanta.  She enjoyed a successful career as a decorative painter for interiors in Georgia, Texas and Colorado with children's murals being her favorite work. Her studio is nestled in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, located in Roxborough Park.  Her heart is deeply connected within her small community and if she's lucky, you can find her happily pursuing the art of creativity.

Visit Stacy’s website.

Jane Buchanan

My name is Jane Buchanan. I was born and raised in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. I received my first camera when I was 13 and have been fascinated by photography ever since.

I bought my first DSLR last year and have taken a photography course and have been trying to perfect my photography skills since then. I prefer to take landscape and nature shots.

I look forward to any comments that will help me to perfect my skills.

View some of Jane’s art.

Virginia T. Coleman

My artwork is an amalgamation of my multi faceted background. I adumbrate drawings like an architect, dapple color with a painter’s eye, capture compositions with the photographer’s quick lens, and weld forms together with a sculptor’s touch.

Metal has become the main tool to expressing my visual vocabulary. Metal is very seductive for a multitude of reasons. Its pure structural strength, its fragility to bend, its ability to capture time in its inherent chemistry, its reflective nature and its ease of joining via the lucid quality of a weld. I also use welding as a means of drawing lines upon metal.

The works follow three main trajectories. The first is an examination of nature of the built environment, the second is an expression of the ephemeral moments of life and the third is the continual study of the human figure.

When I speak of the built environment I focus on the physical world around us; the way that architectural lines delineates how we flow through space and time. The powerful presence, both clearly and latently, that structures have on our sense of being.

My work is also a vehicle for looking deeper into the human condition. The challenge is how to express emotions and concepts when they are not physical forms. To take the non-tangible and turn it into something that exists visually in an abstracted fashion. 

The figure is my platform for looking deeper into forms, lines, and the slight nuances of color that create the wonderment of the figure. 

My most recent endeavors has been starting my own company that focus on custom metal work. I find success in using my background in architectural design, my years of experience in metal fabrication combined with my fine arts training to create unique custom functional metal pieces. 

Visit Virginia’s Facebook.

Cesar Arrendondo

My work revolves around the relationships between identities, geography, and the possession of land. How the space we occupy in our youth shapes our identity and how the acquisition and loss of land affects us. I created this body of work as a way of coping and working through the current political climate regarding immigrants and the other. To deal with the idea of being seen as an invader on land that they are indigenous too. I want the viewer to question the everyday actions that make up our lives and consider how they affect the lives and identities of those around us. How the simple action of getting a cup of coffee can have dramatic consequences to a neighborhood and its occupants. My style comes from and is informed by graffiti and its many contradictions. The way it can bring either prosperity or destruction, be seen as beauty or decay. The ebb and flow of creating the mark and its eventual cover up. 

Visit Cesar’s website.

Rocky Tornabene

I am a 3rd generation native of New Orleans.Having joined the Navy at the age of 17, I have visited over 20 countries.  With an honorable discharge, I knew I wanted to have a career where  I could travel.I found that in the music industry.I spent more than half of my life as a Sound Engineer, touring the world with headlining acts such as Dr. John (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame), The Neville Brothers and Little Feat to name only a few.With the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and no work in New Orleans, I was offered work in Colorado. Here, I found my second home.  I fell in love with the mountains and a girl. I married that girl - Salina and I continue to live in Colorado.I found my artistic talent later in life, so after some serious soul searching, I retired from the road to focus on my art. My commitment to New Orleans music, food and culture is a part of my inspiration and shows in my work.Some of my work can be seen atLa Jardin Art Gallery (612 Royal Street)located in the heart of the historic French Quarter.I attribute my success in the art world to my daughter, Elizabeth Tornabene, who first worked with this medium and taught me everything I know.I am available for commissions and like to think of my art as affordable to the masses and willing to work with almost any budget.

Visit Rocky's website.

Keep exploring local galleries! First Friday Virtual Artwalk Part 1, First Friday Virtual Artwalk Part 2

Or, explore homes for sale in Colorado.

First Friday Virtual Artwalk Part 2 -Celebrating + Supporting Local Artists

On the First Friday of each month, the West + Main Homes team loves supporting local art by inviting creators to showcase their works in our popular storefront galleries.

This month, we hope you’ll join us for a little walk down memory lane each week, as we reminisce about all of the fun Artwalk events that we have hosted in our RiNo and Louisville offices.

We invite you to visit the online galleries and social accounts of these wonderful, creative + talented folks…and we will look forward to reuniting with you when this crisis has passed and our galleries are able to re-open.

Andy Schwartz

Artist Statement: ” I enjoy ‘capturing beauty’ around sunrise and sunset and my process to create an image, is to develop a ‘story’ that engages the viewer and moves the eye into and around the photo. My photos are meant to convey an emotion of that captured moment that I want to share with the viewer. My hope is that my viewers will make the same emotional connection to my work that I experienced when it was captured.”

Visit Andy’s website.

Zoe Tessier

About the artist: 
“Tessier’s work has notes of humor that comment on society in its moments of innocence, pleasures, peace, havoc and love. Zoe represents figures and flowers in a way that words or writing simply may not. Tessier’s bright use of colorful paint and geometric shapes help to provoke emotion and construction of space.”

Visit Zoe’s website.

Molly McClure

About the Artist:
"Creating portraiture gives me purpose. My intention is to depict the unique appearance of the individual; highlight their distinctive character and beauty. Each person is remarkable, and my portraiture is an attempt to capture and convey that beauty. Painting portraits is my way of connecting with people, connecting with life, and connecting with the rich history of self-identification."

Visit Molly’s Facebook.

Mr. Melty

Mr. Melty (née Kevin Vigil) reigns from the colorful and historical "Land of Enchantment", otherwise known as New Mexico. His works often consist of mountainous and desert landscapes layered with his unique kaleidoscopic-like vision. Surrealist portraits and the human form also come to light regularly throughout his collection of works.

A firm believer that all energy is transferable, Mr.Melty is inspired by the beauty and powerful grace of our natural surroundings paired with the metaphysical elements of our inner being. Often starting from abstract strokes and images from his mind's eye, with time his works morph into a vision clearly influenced by these multiple components. Primarily working with oils and acrylics, rarely is an idea ever drawn before a piece is started; allowing him to dive in full force and revel in the progression of his works.

Visit Mr. Melty’s website.

Sue Barlow

Sue Barlow uses bright colors and shapes to turn ordinary everyday objects and scenes into the abstract and extra-ordinary. Sue’s vibrant lively paintings are mostly created with acrylic on canvas but also include other mediums such as oil pastel, charcoal, and silver/gold leaf.

Visit Sue’s website.

Tim Mooney

Join us for a brand new First Friday exhibition at West + Main, with fun works by Tim Mooney, who grew up in the central valley of California. Tim's paintings explore the soul’s landscape, attract and repulse the internal portrait, feel abstraction, simplify, or wonder at primary speech or gesture.

I am self-taught.  Experiment and failure, enlightenment and disillusionment - happening constantly - continue to be my faithful teachers and companions.  I have learned to trust them.

Visit Tim’s website.

Tonia Zambrano

Tonia brings a variety of mediums to life, including: oil paint, metal leaf, photography, steel, glass + a plethora of found objects. 

“Currently I am experimenting with metal work and finding great joy in deconstructing old computers and clocks for spare parts and I find making Steampunk works to be magical.  Beauty is found in most everything I see and I can count on inspiration being part of my daily life.  I love what I do and I enjoy the creative process.  I am a dedicated artist, for what fun is life without art?“

Visit Tonia’s website.

Keep exploring local galleries! First Friday Virtual Artwalk Part 1.

Or, explore homes for sale in Colorado.

First Friday Virtual Artwalk -Celebrating + Supporting Local Artists

On the First Friday of each month, the West + Main Homes team loves supporting local art by inviting creators to showcase their works in our popular storefront galleries.

This month, we hope you’ll join us for a little walk down memory lane each week, as we reminisce about all of the fun Artwalk events that we have hosted in our RiNo and Louisville offices.

We invite you to visit the online galleries and social accounts of these wonderful, creative + talented folks…and we will look forward to reuniting with you when this crisis has passed and our galleries are able to re-open.

Phillip Faulkner

Faulkner’s artistic inquiry spans visual mediums, but the one formal constant is an embrace of collage philosophy. Interested in how technology and the emergence of media outlets inform, affect and intertwine with the historical art canon. Faulkner's artistic inquiry spans visual mediums, but the one formal constant is an embrace of collage philosophy. He produces work that melds the digital and tangible, bridges technology and tradition, and attempts to create imagery that is both new and nostalgic.

Visit Phillip’s website.

Marlene Feinholz

"I am drawn to the varied architecture in the city with its dark shadows, bright lights, details and lean lines. I especially like the mood in an early Sunday morning as I like to maintain an air of mystery within my work." — Marlene Feinholz

Visit Marlene's website.

Merne Judson III

“I take photographs. And most of my photographs are taken in the city. There’s a large concentration of stories and narrative and people being… people. The city shows you why everything matters, and why nothing matters. I hope you enjoy them.” — Merne Judson III

Visit Merne’s website.

Mandy Yocum

Each piece of my art is painted, drawn, sketched, glued, stitched, or created with love in my studio in Englewood, CO. My work tends to be abstract with a somewhat magical feel. There are elements of rich texture, thick paint, vibrant colors, and playful movement in all of my pieces.

Visit Mandy’s website.

Heather Ernst

Heather W. Ernst is an Abstract Expressionist and Abstract Landscape painter whose vivid, powerful work expresses emotional energy interpreted using intense color and form. Her work is forged by a background in architecture, sculpture and line drawing. Her pieces can be found throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and New Zealand. She has exhibited in venues throughout Colorado and practiced as an Architect to 2012 with projects to $12M.

Visit Heather’s website.

Laurie Halvorson

Painter, designer and aerospace analyst, Laurie Halvorson is a natural inquisitive whose left and right brain contend for dominance.  Her creative acts often reflect this tug of war.  Acceptance of her competing natures opens the door to varied creative expressions in her creative adventures.  “My work is glimpses, instances and recollections of things not well expressed in words.  I live in the respite of Beauty.  This influence is the catalyst for my works in any form." - Laurie Halvorson

Visit Laurie’s website.

Gabrielle Shannon

I attempt to capture the states and stages of the dynamic energy that surrounds and fills us, constantly shifting and transforming, too small to understand and too vast to comprehend… and recognizing that the patterns of change are the only constant we have. - Gabrielle

Visit Gabrielle’s website.

Ryan Rice

My artwork is a reflection of me; funny, witty, smart, opinionated and always unexpected. I created a name for myself painting humorous paintings, puns and play on words. Recently I've added Figurative and Pop Culture series' to my repertoire. I paint images that I find beautiful, vividly inspiring and create emotion in me.  

Visit Ryan’s website.

Thank you for joining us for this week’s Virtual Artwalk!

Check back each week in April to see more amazing online galleries.

Make sure to reach out to the artists directly for more information about their upcoming shows, if you are interested in purchasing any of their works, and just to tell them how much you love their creations!

Ready to create your own masterpieces? Start by downloading our free coloring sheets!

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