Arts Perspective magazine - Issue #28

Reflecting the diversity of arts in the Four Corners

Now Featuring Short Fiction!

The Breath of the River

by Michael Garabedian

Vessel

Spring 2011 • Issue 28

Awards Maggie Finalist Best B&W Layout & Design Western Publications Association 2008 Awards 1st Place A&E Feature “Hello, Goodnight!” Written by Sonja Horoshko Society of Professional Journalists 2008 Awards

Vessel Spring 2011 • Issue 28

3rd Place Personality Profile “Laboratory Ink” Written by Connie Gotsch New Mexico Press Women 2009 Awards

Publisher & Editor Denise Leslie | denise@sharedvisiononline.com Editor-at-Large Heather Martinez Art Director & Designer Amy Hartman | amy@sharedvisiononline.com

F e at u r e s

D E P ART M E N TS

Advertising Sales Veronica Cortes (970) 375-7089 | vero@sharedvisiononline.com Heidi Farrell (970) 403-3604 | heidi@sharedvisiononline.com Janice Reich (800) 748-6605 | janice@sharedvisiononline.com

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Note to the Readers

Stew Mosberg

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Art – Not Just for Art’s Sake

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Art Events Calendar

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Classes & Workshops

Michael Garabedian

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Culinary Arts Listings

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Minute Meditations Sally Zabriskie

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Artist Listings

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Bon Voyage, Bon Appétit

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Resources

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Vessels of Light and Color: Hokanson Dix Glass Bring Their Hot Shop to Durango

Copy Editor Susan Ronn | susan.ronn@gmail.com Proofreader Jeannie Berger

Nick Delay

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The Breath of a River

Contributors Renae Blanton, Nick Delay, Michael Garabedian, Leanne Goebel, Stew Mosberg, Lauren Slaff, Sally Zabriskie

Distribution Jay Alsup, Scott Griggs, Kathleen Steventon Steve Williams and Janice Reich

Throughout the Four Corners including: Durango, Bayfield, Ignacio, Pagosa Springs, Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ridgway, Ouray, Montrose Telluride, Dolores, Mancos, Cortez, Mancos, CO; Farmington & Aztec, NM; Moab, UT

Marketing & Publicity Indiana Reed (970) 382-9734 | Indiana@indianareed.com Events Manager Anne Beach | (970) 403-1590 annebeach1@gmail.com

Ah Haa! Telluride’s School for the Arts Chugs Along in the Old Railway Depot

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Lauren Slaff

Denise Leslie, Publisher

Leanne Goebel

Dental Vessel: Blending Hi-Tech with Holistic Care Renae Blanton

Printing Vanguard Printing Publishers Advisory Council Leanne Goebel, John Porter, and Pamela Hasterock

About the Cover

Subscriptions $20; mail payment to: Arts Perspective magazine, P.O. Box 3042 Durango, CO 81302 sales@artsperspective.co

In 1996, Bengt Hokanson and Trefny Dix opened their first glass studio in Greenport, NY. In this studio, they primarily cast glass for their individual glass and mixed media sculptures and for custom architectural projects.

Memberships Durango Chamber of Commerce, Pagosa Springs Chamber of Commerce, Farmington Chamber of Commerce, Cortez Chamber of Commerce, Durango Arts Center, Western Publishers Association, National Association of Professional Women

In 2000 they began a collaborative body of blown glass vessels under the studio name Boar GLass. Bengt and Trefny were inspired to create a body of work that explored abstract color and texture patterning on sculptural glass forms.

Arts Perspective is an independent magazine published quarterly by Shared Vision Publishing, LLC. ISSN#15546586. Contents are copyrighted, 2010 by Shared Vision Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this print or online publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Queries are preferred.

Articles and letters are welcome; however the publisher is not responsible for unsolicited materials and will not return materials unless accompanied by sufficient return postage. Materials accepted for publication become the property of Arts Perspective and Shared Vision Publishing, LLC. Artists retain all rights to their work. Arts Perspective is not responsible or liable for any misspellings, incorrect dates orinformation in its captions, calendar, listings or advertisements. Articles and editorial notes represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Arts Perspective magazine.

The mission of Arts Perspective magazine is to reflect the diversity of arts in the Four Corners region.

Bengt and Trefny create their work by using a combination of traditional Italian and Swedish glass blowing techniques as well as many experimental techniques that they have devised in their studio.

In March 2010, Bengt and Trefny relocated to Durango, CO where they have set up their studio and a glass gallery. The beautiful Southwest has been a welcoming and inspiring location. With it’s vast desert landscapes and unique color schemes, it is quickly becoming a vibrant new source of inspiration for their work. n

For additional information http://www.boarglass.com “Untitled”, Hokanson Dix Glass Studios Photo by Scott Griggs

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Vessel Spring 2011 • Issue 28 "... I think there is no more magical feeling, no one luckier than I. It is to do with the joy of being a vessel, being used, using oneself fully and totally in the service of something that brings wonder." - Julie Andrews, Home

Note to the Readers I feel like a captain who has just set sail into the vast ocean on a vessel called the Arts Perspective, leading my crew into uncharted waters, making discoveries every day. The concept of our journey and mission to reflect the arts throughout the Four Corners is evident with each story told in this issue, “Vessel.”

One of my first duties as “captain” was to find a “first mate.” I would like to welcome and introduce Amy Hartman, our new art director for Arts Perspective. She has 25 years experience designing on the web and in print, and now brings her amazing talent to the magazine.

This is an exciting time for us as we grow and explore new ideas.

Speaking of new ideas, all hands on deck as we roll out a new feature for Arts Perspective: short story fiction. In each issue we will have a story to tell. Our first feature story, The Breath of a River, is written by Michael Garabedian, set in Durango, and carries a story line familiar to many of us — making changes when our lives get a bit out of focus. Enjoy the illustrations by artist David Long.

Thank you for picking up our magazine and we hope to entertain and inspire you!

Sincerely,

Denise Leslie Publisher & Editor

e d i t o r i a l s t a ff Denise Leslie Publisher/Editor A true marketeer of the arts, Denise is embracing her new role as publisher of Arts Perspective magazine and Southwest Arts Programs. She’s anxious to explore more about the arts in the Four Corners!

Susan Ronn Copy Editor Susan is a freelance editor, writer and actor, and loves her mobile office. She now lives in New Zealand.

Amy Hartman

Jeannie Berger

Art Director, Designer

Proofreader

After designing for Walt Disney and PETsMART, inc., Amy moved to Durango in 2003 and currently runs her own design agency, honeybee.

Growing up in a family of artists (Bertram Hartman, Rosella Hartman) Amy credits her parents for a childhood steeped in art and music.

After teaching high school English for 21 years, Jeannie still can’t let go of her red pen. When she is not proofreading, she fills her idle hours as a staff member at the Durango Arts Center, where she wears several hats, one of which is the editor of the Artsline newsletter.

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Telluride’s

Ah Haa School for the Arts

by Stew Mosberg

to there, which is reason enough for the Ah Haa School for the Arts to occupy an old railroad depot. However, with a mandate to educate and inspire, Ah Haa’s renovated space is more a jumping off point than a terminus. Founded in Telluride more than 20 years ago by book artist Daniel Tucker, the school’s goal has always been to create an “ah haa” moment for artists and art lovers of any age or level of experience.

Ah Haa provides year-round arts programming taught by local and

national instructors, mounts provocative exhibitions and conducts visiting artist workshops. Collaborating closely with the American Academy of Bookbinding, Ah Haa also offers a professional-level bookbinding course that is unique within the craft world.

Putting the refurbished depot space to maximum use, the Ah Haa facility includes indoor and outdoor classrooms, gallery space and a ceramic studio with two kilns.

According to Lauren Metzger, marketing and exhibitions manager and coordinator of the adult curriculum at Ah Haa: “We are really pushing to become a destination art school. We are, and always will be, a community art center that caters to the needs of our public – both kids and adults.”

Executive Director Rachel Loomis-Lee adds, “The Ah Haa School is unique and invaluable in such a geographically isolated region. Not only does the school meet proven community needs on many levels, but also, we enjoy tremendous support from the community and the region as a whole.”

The diverse programs, taught by local and visiting instructors, reflect a body of crafts and fine-art classes, including ceramics, painting and photography, and specialized classes such as silk dyeing, the business of art, metalsmithing and the art of cooking.

As to art shows, the Daniel Tucker Gallery has close to 1,000 square feet of exhibition space, which Metzger says allows Ah Haa to showcase

many more works than a standard gallery. She says, “We partner with local galleries to bring artists here to showcase their work in a way many artists have not been able to see it.”

Upcoming, scheduled exhibitions include the paintings of Ron Patterson in March and April; Carl Marcus’ photography in June; and in July, paintings by George Kernan and Elaine Fischer.

At the opposite end of the building is the East Gallery, which doubles as a classroom and an ideal showcase for the new artist. The school’s new Total Immersion Art Experience program will consist of week-long and two- and threeday classes that will bring some of the top artists in the nation to Telluride to share their knowledge and skills in ceramics, painting and photography. January and February workshops this year were taught by Lisa Pedolsky and Bruce Gomez.

Ah Haa’s affiliate, the American Academy of Bookbinding, conducts intensive courses in the fine art of leather binding and book conservation.

A book, like other vessels, is designed to hold something of value, and as with any container, it must be constructed well. The Academy’s goal is to graduate professional-level binders and book conservators with the knowledge and skill to produce the highest quality work and to keep bookbinding from becoming a lost art.

Metzger points out that the Academy is unique in the U.S., providing a comprehensive diplomagranting program in the study of bookbinding and book conservation. Courses are taught by some of the most experienced and highly regarded book artists and conservators in the world. There are several introductory classes offered at the Academy, and students can attend them with little or no experience. Others further pursue their aspirations through the diploma program, which culminates in a strong foundation in bookbinding and book conservation.

Visual & Performing

A train is a fitting vessel to carry people from here

This summer, leaving the depot behind and heading out to sea, Ah Haa will further expand its reach, and host a photographic trek across Iceland.

Aaron Huey, Smithsonian and National Geographic photographer; Drew Ludwig, veteran mountain guide; and Laura Acker, kids curriculum director, will lead the photography expedition. Participants ages 16 and up will circumnavigate the country via Iceland’s Ring Road and backpack through the interior. During the three-week program, students will be able to customize their photographic exploration; an exhibition of their work will follow upon the group’s return. If that isn’t an ah haa! moment, what is? e For more information, visit http://www.ahhaa.org. Ah Haa is located at 300 South Townsend Avenue in Telluride, (970)728-3886.

Stew Mosberg is a freelance writer living in Bayfield. He has been an arts publisher and journalist, and has written two books on design.

His email address is wrtrf@aol.com.

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Art – Not Just for Art’s Sake

The Southern Ute Cultural Center & Museum opens June11

Have you ever admired the beautiful beadwork on Southern Ute Bear Dance regalia? Or wondered

how traditional Native American baskets are woven? Or asked why the creators of many artifacts made them?

With the opening of the new Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum in June this year, visitors will have the opportunity to learn skills such as beadwork and basket making firsthand from tribal members. The mission of the new museum is to conserve and promote the history and culture of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and other Native Americans, and this will be accomplished largely through transferring knowledge and skills about artistic traditions.

The artistry of the Southern Ute people, as displayed in the permanent gallery of the new museum, dates back to pre-17th century. More recent artifacts include a wide range of material cultural objects, including photographs, baskets, ceremonial dance regalia, paintings, beaded and silver jewelry, belts and hair pieces, stone axes, awls, water jugs, bowls, musical instruments and weapons.

What makes Ute material unique is that while other tribes were creating objects for the tourist market, most Ute objects were made for utilitarian purposes, including objects such as berry baskets and water jars. The Southern Utes are noted for their intricate beadwork used for Bear Dance and other ceremonies; the color combinations and designs are particularly distinctive. But the beauty of many of the museum’s pieces lies not only in the artistic craftsmanship, but also in the utility of the objects. Once used to carry water or berries, perhaps, the artifacts housed in the museum’s collection now carry the stories of their creators.

When the education programs get underway in the new museum, class participants will be introduced to artistic skills through illustrations of the historical significance of the activity or subject being studied. This may include beadwork, basket making, hide tanning, bow making, quill work, doll making, cradle boards, clothing, native and medicinal plants, food making or dance. Depending on the activity, traditional tools and materials may be used to replicate the original way of doing the activity.

For example, in the hide tanning class, numerous modern tools are available to make the process much faster and easier, but that would dilute the experience. Instead of using modern, metal tools, canon and scapula bones from deer will be used to separate the hair from the hide.

Participants will also have the opportunity to make their own tools before starting the process.

These artistic skills and activities were, at one time, common practice for the Ute people, but many of these activities have lost their importance or significance in daily life. The museum’s goal is to restore the significant skills that make the Ute people who they are. Because the classes will be taught by Southern Ute tribal members, students will have the opportunity to learn skills passed down through many generations. Classes are meant to reach beyond a simple understanding and help make these activities play a major role in the lives of tribal members once again. The added benefit for class participants: involvement in an art form they can carry forward as a means of enriching their own lives.

Visual

by Nick DeLay

Classes will be offered throughout the year. Seasons will play a role in what activities are offered because, in the Ute tradition, there is an appropriate time for things to take place during the year. Activity schedules will revolve around the proper times to be doing the activities.

Summer camps, Saturday morning workshops and other special times will be scheduled throughout the year.

All classes will take place in the new museum, which was designed not only to house important artifacts and tell the story of the Ute people, but also to allow visitors the opportunity to truly experience the culture. Numerous classrooms provide ample room for workshops and presentations. There is even a room with a floor drain and vent hood for the dirtier projects.

For Southern Ute tribal members as well as non-Native Americans, the new museum’s artistry classes will offer insights into generations of Ute culture that can be carried forward into the future. e For information about classes and programs at the new Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum, call Nick DeLay, education curator, at (970) 563-0100, extension 3602. Museum activities will be posted and regularly updated at http:// www.southernutemuseum.org. Cost for classes will vary, depending on the materials required.

Nick DeLay has been a public educator for nine years and worked for a youth opportunity grant program in Towaoc. He and his wife, Shelly, compete in archery tournaments across the country and enjoy hunting, fishing and hiking.

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The Breath of a River

by Michael Garabedian Illustrations by David Long

Literary

37-year-old, shortish and overweight Bronx boy that he is, he knows how to shout when he thinks he needs to: “SPOILED LITTLE ...” “UNGRATEFUL LITTLE ...” “AFTER THE FIVE YEARS WE’VE PUT INTO ...” “GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATION ...” “CLOTHES ...” “STYLISTS ...” “CANNES ...”

“RED CARPET AT THE GGS ...” ending, for now, with “Ya know what most people would give to get even as far as you got now? They’d sell their frail, aged grandmuthas to Hitler. They’d kick their pleadin’ muthas into vats a burnin’ oil! Get ya stuff outta this shack. We’re flyin’ back to New York!”

“NO, I’M THROUGH WITH ALL THAT. I’M HERE TO BUILD A NEW LIFE.” Harold throws the shovel to the ground; it clanks and bounces.

When he’d driven up uninvited in his little beige rental car, I was watching through the kitchen window screen — the gravel of the driveway growls and crackles when driven on, and in this early summer season, dust rises around every vehicle like an enveloping ghost. My warning system.

He’d stumbled in his tight shiny shoes across the long dry grass and hidden stones of the front yard. I’d refused to let him in, which might seem ungracious after his long flight from New York with two transfers — he’d worked that part in three times — but his unannounced arrival and bellowing hadn’t exactly put me in a hostess-y mood. I also didn’t want him to see that I’d already started to pack.

When I appeared on the front steps, he freaked out.

“Whoa—! What’d ya do to that leg?! Is that even gonna heal? It’ll take seven make-up people just to cover that up for every shot! You think you’re gonna wear pants in all the rest ’a ya movies?!”

This is how I found my way back.

We are at the open doors of a shed on the ramshackle property I’ve rented in a long, narrow, rock-walled side valley near Durango, Colorado.

Harold’s bald head has sweat all over it and his dark, bushy moustache (still holding pizza bits from his airport lunch two hours ago) is twitching.

He hoists a rusted shovel and yells, “Because this is all you’ll ever be able to do out here: shovel shit — horse shit!”

I am ready. A girlhood in mumbling, self-effacing Rhode Island notwithstanding, seven years of Manhattan living had yielded me one clear positive — budding starlet career aside — a sharpened tongue and quickened wit. I turn toward him with a little Hedda Gabler clutch of disdain (I played her eight years ago, in college at Brown) and use a word she would have loved: “As opposed to all the bullshit of a life in New York or LA.” Being an actors’ agent, Harold knows from drama, and being the

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The leg. I’d been white-water rafting on the River of the Lost Souls. At the outfitters, I’d asked advice: kayak or raft? Two young guys started showing off, tossing elaborate, insider-y pros and cons to each other over my head, when a beautiful old woman sidled up to me, never making eye contact: “If you choose a kayak, you will ride the current of a river; if you choose a raft, you will ride the breath of a river.”

“Rafting it is!” I announced. Three weeks of lessons, including four solo runs, with no mishaps, just joy. Then a kid leading his first run spilled us all at just the wrong spot, and a boulder scraped a few layers from the whole length of my right leg. Forty-five stitches, and it looks like a pair of giant, elongated, swollen lips blasted with herpes sores. Sexy, huh? Halle Berry, eat your heart out.

His opening act of raging at the idiocy of my life choices now over, Harold sizes me up. He all but checks my teeth.

“So, you’re lettin’ your hair just hang now?”

“I’m letting my hair just hang now.”

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“You gonna let it go brown like those roots?”

“I haven’t decided.”

“You look better blonde.” It’s true, my real hair color is definitely a BEFORE, a shade you won’t find on any box, but I was hoping it’d take on a sun-dappled look here in the high country, and, frankly, I was enjoying just sort of letting everything go. For once.

He steps closer. “You have — freckles.”

He goes weird and silent, staring at me with half-closed eyes, hands hanging at his sides, mouth slightly open. Uh, oh: The Territory. I’d avoided it since Harold had feted me with a celebratory lunch back when I’d started with the agency five years ago. I’d booked a commercial on my first send-out. I was one of three girls who flashed on the screen to show the effects of different colors of eye make-up. They had re-dyed my brown-but-dyed-blonde hair black and cut it so I had these Jazz Age mid-face bangs that bounced a lot and ran over my cheekbones in a sensuous way, and they put so much dark shadow around my light blue eyes that I looked like Theda Bara. I loved it. On camera, I played with it all in a mock-seductive way, and the director shouted: “Yes! Yes! Do that!” which made me go into this shy, embarrassed, laughing-at-myself response — and that’s what made it to the screen. They played the thing forever. Well, it enabled me to get out of that slum share and pick my parts a little more carefully. So we were at this small restaurant table, and Harold was telling me of an upcoming movie audition for which they wanted a sexy-but-innocent girl, and I did the laugh and mid-face bangs thing as I had on the set, and he clunked his chair next to mine, grabbed my hand between sweaty palms, and told me with hot breath that was like a combination of salami and attic air that he wanted to quit the agency to become my (apparently live-in) personal manager with only one client. I immediately rendered my mid-face bangs immobile, quickly talked him back into his agency job, and did my best to summon total androgyny, and from then on with him for all the sexual/sensual vibes I put out, I might as well have been Miss Hathaway on The Beverly Hillbillies. Ironically, the sensible, straight-forward manner I thereafter adopted seemed to bring us into closer, more effective teamwork than we might

otherwise have achieved, and within the next three years I was on, as he’d put it in my yard: “Dat beauty-ful red carpet at the GGs.” I’d hit indie gold with Steps — the lead. The Toronto Festival, Cannes, the Golden Globes — click — click — “Here, Haley!” “Here!” Yes, it was fun.

Last year’s Path to a Hanging, which was good but went nowhere (the title?), started out at the Telluride Fest. I could not believe where I was. It was hard to get myself indoors to watch any screenings, even the one I was in. Living there? Yeah, got umpteen million dollars? I drove a rented 4x4 throughout these ranges, more jagged and thrill-producing than anything I’d seen in the continental U.S., and found the region’s de facto capitol, a well-rounded little community, a place where you could do things, really live a life, and started dreaming.

Harold is moving closer to me. I’m trying to think of something to say to gross him out when the phone rings inside.

“You said you got no signal here!”

“It’s a land line, belonging to the owners. I agreed to use it only in emergencies.”

“I gotta make a call! We are this close,” he pinches stubby fingers in front of a scrunched-up face, “to gettin’ Angie Jay Randall into the next In-Vision. Of that novel you liked.” He watches for my reaction. He doesn’t get one, he doesn’t not get one — I know how to play that kind of thing like one of the old pros. Bette Davis would be proud.

He fast-motion waddles toward my back door. This time, I don’t protest. It’ll be good to be rid of him for even a few minutes.

There’s a nest atop a dead tree. Good for Angie Jay Randall. Big, but not big enough for an eagle. I’ve got a new life in Southwestern Colorado.

Osprey, maybe?

“Haley! It was your landlord. I told ’im you were on your way back ta New York and you would call ’im later.”

“Ha-rold!”

Continued, next page

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The Breath of a River by Michael Garabedian (continued from page 11)

Literary

“I’m gonna call about Angie Jay’s part now.” Subtlety and sensitivity about boundaries have never been Harold’s most prominent characteristics. But then, I suppose one rarely gets from the worst of the Bronx to a top Manhattan talent agency with subtlety and sensitivity about boundaries.

In the long, homey grandeur of this valley, the rock walls are red and tan and rust, marvelously corrugated, with impossible, draping folds, topped with happy-looking ponderosa pines. It’s been a relief to be here. I love the sun, the openness of the dry terrain, the self-possessed-looking mountain ranges — snow-capped and always enticing, but clearly okay to be grand all on their own, and I want to go home to New York.

Katherine. My middle name. That’s how I’ve been introducing myself around town. I’ve always thought “Haley” sounded like a spoiled little girl at a birthday party. I expect a rapid shortening to Kate, which I’d happily embrace as a tribute to my fave closeted/repressed lesbian of the silver screen (all that Spencahh stuff was just a beard for both of them — he was a homo, too, it’s documented; read the latest bio that came out after she’d croaked so she couldn’t tirade). An industry of illusion on illusion on illusion.

I suppose the name thing also provides some distance, not that I’d be known much here — Steps wasn’t that big with the public, though the critics and industry insiders loved it.

There was that woman, sweet and hysterical at the discount store and fumbling to point her phone at me as if I were a UFO that might disappear, but that was soap-related, and they’ve cancelled that show since I was on it.

Oh, God, Harold’s right.

Self-sabotage? Yet at the Globes ceremony, my favorite experience — I actually cut short a conversation with Bradley Cooper (in his single period) to stride over to Anne Hathaway, gushing at her like a fan — and she’s only one year older than I am — because of that scene — you’ve got to see it if you haven’t — she rushes onscreen on that horse, hair flying, eyes full of life, this extremely confident smile, when she’s introduced as this hot rodeo gal in Brokeback Mountain (God, that should have won — yes, Ang Lee, good question: how “Best Director” yet not “Best Picture”? Cowardly voters). I wanted to be her. Not Anne, that character: Lureen. (But not the married-to-a-gay-guy part.) I made sure to touch Anne when we spoke … for luck, in hope of some kind of transference, something in common. She looked at me oddly for a second, but just for a second, then photographers called out to us both (thank God to us both! — although she did have three to my one), and that’s the shot that made People, page 12, now scanned and on my travel drive.

So is this just me wanting to play cowgirl? Or is it me growing up?

Harold calls out: “And I guess ya don’t wanna know who’s been askin’ about your availability!” I turn my back, stroll farther from the house, toward the river with its deliriously rushing current and overhanging cottonwoods.

If it had stopped at prestige and the pittance for Steps, Harold wouldn’t be here. It took the commission for my follow-up, sell-out-all-your-principles summer film extravaganza part, and the prospect of more, to get him to fly out here. It’ll be out later this summer. God, I hope it fails: I have the money, the script stank, they did something weird with my hair, and the production team was a bunch of hacks.

So that would be the next stage of my life: the chaotic, insinuating jumble of LA and all those dirtbag guys with money and power who slither at you, one hand just accidentally brushing your breast as they say, “Oh, Haley, you’re wonderful.” Until they’re done — and yes, by then there’d probably be some money — agents and managers and publicists and bodyguards and cars and show homes and gardeners and lawyers and personal assistants and constant cosmetic work aside — but I have some now, clear, several times more than my father ever made in a year, and I want to move my life with it.

I want kids. Not bratty, entitledacting LA or New York showbiz kids, but kids who play outside, get dirty, smile, and call out, “Watch me, Mom!” when they first get in a groove with a horse.

Across the river, that dashingly goofy neighbor guy with gapped front teeth is riding up the steep slope amid boulders and juniper and sage. I admit it: the occasional cowboy hat drives me wild. Could any man ever be cuter than when he’s wearing one? And aren’t there men who, flaws and drawbacks and common male issues aside, just, well, have their feet on the ground?

All idealization aside, isn’t there just less here to tempt any man or woman into the aforementioned bullshit? This country’s got a big corrupt game goin’ on, and New York and LA have its dirtiest players. I’ve been around the wealthy of those cities, and I wasn’t favorably impressed. Money is wasted on the rich.

Even in Rhode Island, my best times were in those huge open fields (now big-box shopping center parking lots) near the apartment, playing Annie Oakley and Unsinkable Molly in my cheap little fringed cowgirl outfits while I shot cap pistols … oh, how I loved the scent they gave off!

What have the past seven years been about? I must have wanted it, to go through what it took to get even this far. There were times when I loved it, really wanted to act. Masha at Trinity Rep, amo, amas, amat, amamus, the whole theater program at Brown. Collaborating. The goodbyes, after a few weeks on a set, to the quick “families.” I don’t want that. Not surprising for a girl with no mother and a father who was never at home. I want someone to be home. I want someone to stay home.

How about collaborating on a life?

I’ll be thirty this year.

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I walk to the river. I sit on a rock.

I do love to act. Bringing forth an aspect of yourself to express the thoughts and feelings of another — to learn by seeing the world from a different angle. But of what use the lessons if you don’t apply them to your life?

Harold is wheeling my suitcase along the back of the house. He calls out: “I helped you finish packin’!”

I could simply get in the car right now. It will never again be so possible.

I stretch along a boulder, I put my hand in the river. The water churns above my wrist like a small, crystalline tornado. A breeze picks up, riding the riverbed, tickling at the long strands of hair at the sides of my face.

Goodbye.

I amble over and plunk down on the big tree trunk near Harold’s car. He sits closer than I would have wanted. Across the valley, in the late afternoon sunlight, the top of a ridge is in full relief … spot-lit, shadow-deep.

“Pietrowski. The junior.”

“Durango Theater Company. The founder.”

“He wants you. Even more after I said ‘unavailable.’”

“— and School.”

“Teachin’ rich little ski kids theater games?”

“Teaching theater games.”

date that Wall Street jerk. That hit-and-run hits you in LA.” He leans toward me.

“How is your neck, anyhow?”

My hand flutters up.

He goes on: “Okay. So, here it’s beautiful like you’re in a country or somethin’. I was at that Telluride thing once like you. But I also know somethin’ that’s in you, that you can’t forget, and they can see it, too. You keep goin’ like you been, you can get the best parts in the best projects, you’ll be loaded with dough, and you can just do vacations — hike mountains, eat snow, whatever.”

I laugh.

“That’s like that laugh ’a yours at the end of Steps that had ’em cheerin’ at the credits up there in Toronto. You can’t take that away from ’em, Haley. When they look at you on the screen, they love what they see.”

“Harold,” I want to place my hand on his, but I know I’d better not. I want to hug him, but it isn’t possible. “I want the reality and not the image.”

I slide off the log and walk away a few steps. When I look back, tears are in his eyes. I can’t notice.

He stands, does a slow motion version of his waddle to the rental car, eases it away. The gravel is nearly silent. The dust stays low, quickly settles.

For a moment, I wonder if he’s really been here. By the shed, the rusty shovel is on the ground. I put it away. I had used it to turn over soil along the path to my front door. What would grow here? It now feels heavier in my hand.

“I know how that game would go, and so do you. That’s why you want me to play it.”

Rivers. In Rhode Island, they were sluggish, blocked, polluted. I rode them anyway, as a child by herself — in half of an old broken Styrofoam skiff with no sail, just a paddle; in a leaky rowboat (bailing it with a plastic quart container); finally, with the college team, by scull.

He comes in for the kill. “I see wrinkles ’round your eyes already. You wearin’ sun block all the time here? I noticed somethin’ ’bout the women in what they call the downtown: they’re in great shape, cute butts in those jeans, but when they turn and you see their faces you go ‘aarggh!’ — they’re like those shaaa-pay dogs. That’s what happens to women up here in these rock piles. Their skin ends up hangin’ off ’em like one of those movies where faces melt.”

As much as the mountains lift me, making me want to climb every peak, mount every ridge I see — even that outcropping above the discount store! — it’s the rivers.

I will take a raft, leg healed, and I will ride the course of that river again and again.

I will find a man who’ll raft it with me, bouncing on a cushion of air and water, smiling big. My kids will be river rats, they will climb mountains, they will place their hands on the necks of horses.

“Why not just one more film, to finance your little kiddie company?”

On the ground, there’s a long thin curved switch of a branch. I could whip him across the yard by the calves of his tan pressed slacks.

“Yeah,” he continues. “I read about it on the plane. It’s high up here and you got the sun’s violent HOV rays devastatin’ ya skin follicles, they penetrate down into the elastical layers, and then you don’t have the rain. If you’d’a stuck around here much lon-gah, we couldn’t a passed you off no more as mid-20s.”

Oh. My neck seizes up, as it would before those early performances of mine at Brown, as it did after the accident in LA. I am scared nearly to death, but this is the way. G

I pick up the switch. He shuts up.

He’s right. I’ve noticed it myself; even many of the young women here have sprays of wrinkles around their eyes. They often look as if just ten minutes ago they were skiing, white-water rafting, hiking up slopes, eating backpack lunches on 14k summits, laughing.

Harold is slapping one of his loafers. His sock reeks. A pebble drops to the ground with a little puff of dust.

Michael is the founder and director of Durango Story Writers, a free, ongoing, weekly, invitation-only workshop. Contact durangostorywriters@hotmail.com for information. See Michael perform original stories and comic character monologues in his 90-minute show, From Tragedy to Comedy, in the first presentation of the Readings from Durango series. Durango Arts Center, 802 East 2nd Ave., Sunday, March 13th, 2011 at 2pm. FREE.

“You know what else you can note,” I ask, “about the women here?” I turn to him full-on. “How often they smile.”

I stand. I toss the thin branch into the brush.

He puts fingertips on my forearm. “Sit down, Haley.” I sweep off his touch with a glance. He puts his palms flat on his thighs. “Please — ” “Harold, I have meetings this week with three potential financiers. And they won’t care if I have the Leg from the Black Lagoon, nor will they demand that at the age of twenty-nine I get myself botoxed until I look like an animated blow-up doll.

They’ll simply want to know if I can establish and run this theater. First season: Blanche in Streetcar. And the older I’ll look for that, the better.”

“Okay, I hear you — but please, just siddown here … ” I do. And this is the part I wish he hadn’t said: “Haley, I get this. You think I don’t get this. I get it. There is a lotta bullshit out there. You get where you are, you expect it all to open up. You

Durango Story Writers Advanced Level Workshop Founded & directed by Michael Garabedian

Limited to 10 participants. Weekdays 6:30-9:00pm REQUIREMENTS: - Advanced short fiction writing ability - Seriousness about furthering your talent - Respectfulness - Good personality (okay, this one is optional)

TOAPPLY: - Sample from your best short story - Description of why such a group would interest you

www.ArtsPerspective.com

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March 19 LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR Donizetti April 6 LE COMTE ORY Rossini April 23 CAPRICCIO R. Strauss April 30 IL TROVATORE Verdi May 14 DIE WALKŨRE Wagner

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Vessel

Spring 2011

by Sally Zabriskie

Whether sitting at your desk or in your car, take a break from stress, worry or the daily grind. These

momentary practices can help you center yourself and bring your energy back into your body, which is the best place for it.

i Let your eyes and forehead fall; let go of holding them up inside your head. Let your chest fall, too. Breathe.

Healing

Minute Meditations

i Take in your surroundings using your five senses. Give your attention to what’s around you. Smell a flower, an essential oil or something else that’s pleasing. This brings you into the present moment.

i Breathe three times, deeply. Feel your body expand and move internally as you breathe. If you put red dots in your calendar, let that cue you to breathe.

i Think about a moment when you were really happy, content, at peace and loved.

Give your attention to how you felt in that moment. Breathe and relax for a moment.

i Rub your hands together until they are hot. Place your palms over your eyes.

Breathe, and let it go.

Sally Zabriskie facilitates and teaches tools for transformation through energy work, bodywork and meditation. Light Body Works: Redefining the Massage Experience.

(970) 799-4269 and http://www.lightbodyworker.com

i Stretch, move, walk around the block and enjoy the scenery. For a few minutes, let that be your focus. The office will still be there when you get back.

www.ArtsPerspective.com

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Spring 2011

Celebrating indomitable spirit since 1979, the legendary Mountainfilm festival is a one-of-a-kind combination

MOUNTAINFILM IN TELLURIDE May 27-31, 2011

Vessel Mar 1-31 Raise the House Benefit for Habitat for Humanity Desert Pearl Gallery, Cortez (970) 565-9320

Mar 1-31 RED, AGAIN Artifacts Gallery, Farmington, NM (505) 327-2907

Mar 1-26 Intuitive Science Gary McVean, Chandler Wigton, Cat Fox Sideshow Emporium & Gallery, Dolores (970) 739-4646

Mar 1-13 2nd Annual Community Art Show Artisans of the Southwest, Estudio Y Galleria, Pagosa Springs

Mar 12, 8 p.m.

BOB MEDDLES (18+) Henry Strater Theatre (970) 375-7160

Mar 12, 7:30 p.m.

Kathleen Madigan Gone Madigan Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Mar 11, 5-9 p.m.

One Year Anniversary Studio & http://www.anddurango.com

Mar 10, 8 p.m.

Asylum Street Spankers (18+) Henry Strater Theatre (970) 375-7160 http://www.HenryStraterTheatre.com

Apr-May Foreign Language, Curious Places Reception: Apr 8, 5-9 p.m.

Artifacts Gallery, Farmington, NM (505) 327-2907

Mar 31, 7:30 p.m.

Infamous String Dusters Special Guest Waiting on Trial Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Mar 27, 3 p.m.

Red Shoe Trio Alexander Murray Faculty Series Roshong Recital Hall @ FLC

Mar 31, 5:30 p.m.

KDUR Furniture As Art Durango Arts Center (970) 247-7634 http://www.kdur.org

Mar 26, 8 p.m.

EUGENE KENNY (18+) Henry Strater Theatre (970) 375-7160 http://www.HenryStraterTheatre.com

Mar 25 Final Friday’s Gallery Walk Painted Turtle Stuido (970) 533-7136 http://www.paintedturtlestudio.org

Mar 24, 7:30 p.m.

Great Big Sea Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Mar 24, 7:30 p.m.

The Purse Chronicles Women’s Resource Center Durango Arts Center http://www.wrcdurango.org

Mar 24-Apr 2 Into the Woods FLC – Mainstage Theatre (970) 247-7657

Mar 23, 7:30 p.m.

One Night of Queen Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Mar 22, 7:30 p.m.

Aquila Theatre Company A Midsummer Night’s Dream Pre-Show Talk: Mar 22, 6:30 p.m.

Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Mar 20, 6 p.m.

Fundamentals of Wine The Elements of Style eno (970) 385-0105 http://www.enodurango.com

Mar 20, 3 p.m.

San Juan Symphony Ursula Oppens Community Concert Hall @ FLC 970-247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Apr 16, 7:30 p.m.

The Secret Lives of the Divine Millwood Junction Restaurant, Mancos (970) 533-7136

Apr 16, 7:30 p.m.

San Juan Symphony with Durango Choral Society & Farmington Caliente Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Apr 14-24 SJC One-Act Festival Henderson Performance Hall @ SJC (505) 566-3430 http://www.sanjuancollege.edu

Apr 14, 7 p.m.

FLC Music Department Choirs Concert Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Apr 13, 7 p.m.

FLC Music Department Percussion Ensembles Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Apr 12, 6:30 p.m.

Duane Smith Maria’s Bookshop (970) 247-1438 http://mariasbookshop.com

Apr 10, 7 p.m.

Spring Children’s Choral Concert First United Methodist Church, Durango (970) 759-2206 http://www.durangochoralsociety.org

Apr 9, 7 p.m.

Wonderworld Cirque-Montage Henderson Performance Hall @ SJC (505) 566-3430 http://www.sanjuancollege.edu

Apr 9, 3 p.m.

Dance in the Rockies An Afternoon of Ballet Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Apr 8, 7 p.m.

St. Mark’s Recital Series Danielle Menapace, oboe St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Durango (970) 247-1129 http://www.durangorecitals.com

Apr 8, 7 p.m.

SJC Jazz Fest Concert Henderson Performance Hall @ SJC (505) 566-3430 http://www.sanjuancollege.edu

Apr 8, 7 p.m.

FLC Music Department Band Concert Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Spring 2011Art Events Calendar

May 6, 7:30 p.m.

SJC Orchestra Concert Henderson Performance Hall @ SJC

May 5, 7:30 p.m.

Hot 8 Brass Band Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

May 5, 6:30 p.m.

Philip Connors Maria’s Bookshop (970) 247-1438 http://mariasbookshop.com

May 5-7 Durango Wine Experience Downtown Durango (970) 779-0031 http://DurangoWineExperience.com

May 3-27 Flowers as Art Reception: May 13, 5 p.m.

Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org

May 1, 2 p.m.

Durango Dance Annual Youth Recital Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

May 1-Jun 30 Cross References Reception: May 13, 5 p.m.

Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org

May 1 Martin Sexton, 7:30 p.m.

Smiley Auditorium, Durango http://tamigraham.com/presents

Apr 30, 8 p.m.

Finnders and Youngberg Henry Strater Theatre (970) 375-7160 www.HenryStraterTheatre.com

Apr 30, 6:30 p.m.

Durango Dance Annual Youth Recital Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Apr 30, 11 a.m.

Metropolitan Opera Live Il Trovatore - Verdi Storyteller Theatres – Durango 9 (970) 247-9799 http://www.storytellertheatres.com

Apr 29, 7 p.m.

Jonathan R. Latta, marimba St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Durango (970) 247-1129 http://www.durangorecitals.com

Apr 29, 7 p.m.

San Juan College Choir Concert Henderson Performance Hall @ SJC (505) 566-3430 http://www.sanjuancollege.edu

Jun 3-4

May 28-July 16 Copi Vojta Reception: May 28, 6 p.m.

Sideshow Emporium & Gallery, Dolores (970) 739-4646

May 28-29, 10 a.m Riverfest Fine Arts & Crafts Fair Courtyard Marriott, Farmington, NM (505) 325-4836

May 27, 7 p.m.

Durango Chamber Music Festival St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Durango (970) 247-1129 http://www.durangochambermusic.com

May 27-Aug 7 Capture the Castle Creede Repertory Theatre, Creede (719) 658-2540 http://www.creederep.org

May 27-31 Mountainfilm in Telluride (970) 728-4123 http://www.mountainfilm.org

May 26, 7:30 p.m.

Bruce Cockburn and Band Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

May 21, 3:30 p.m.

Bella Danzante III Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

May 20, 7 p.m.

Durango Chamber Music Festival St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Durango (970) 247-1129 http://www.durangochambermusic.com

May 20, 5-9 p.m.

An Experiment Studio & http://www.anddurango.com

May 17, 6:30 p.m.

Lynn Sheene Maria’s Bookshop (970) 247-1438 http://mariasbookshop.com

May 15, 7 p.m.

Durango 10-Minute Play Contest Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org

May 15, 4 p.m.

Dance in the Rockies 22nd Annual Spring Recital Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

May 14, 6:30 p.m.

Dance in the Rockies 22nd Annual Spring Recital Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

film festival, ideas summit and jamboree. In addition to showcasing leading international documentary filmmakers, special guest presenters include pioneering artists, adventurers and activists.

The event will kick off with the Moving Mountains Symposium on "Awareness into Action." A gallery walk of art and photography exhibits will precede the opening night of films. Breakfast talks, a book signing party, a Main Street ice cream social and a closing picnic awards ceremony round out a truly singular and inspiring four-day, six-senses experience. Passes are available for purchase online at www.mountainfilm.org or by calling 970-728-4123, ext. 18.

Mar 19, 7:30 p.m.

Celtic Music w/Willson & McKee Wright Opera House, Ouray http://www.jigheads.com

Mar 19, 7:30 p.m.

Janis Ian Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Mar 19 Metropolitan Opera Live Lucia Di Lammermoor – Donizetti Storyteller Theatres – Durango 9 (970) 247-9799 http://www.storytellertheatres.com

Mar 18, 8 p.m.

Le Chat Lunatique (18+) Henry Strater Theatre (The Hank) (970) 375-7160 http://www.HenryStraterTheatre.com

Apr 8, 5 p.m.

Sorrel Sky Gallery Spring Show Sorrel Sky Gallery (970) 247-3555 http://www.sorrelsky.com

Apr 8-29 Animals Rule!

Reception: April 8, 5 p.m.

Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org

Apr 7-8 Hershman John Cortez Public Library (970) 565-8117 http://www.cityofcortez.com

Apr 6, 11 a.m.

Metropolitan Opera Live Le Comte Ory – Rossini Storyteller Theatres – Durango 9 (970) 247-9799 http://www.storytellertheatres.com

Apr 5, 7:30 p.m.

Los Lonely Boys Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Apr 2, 7 p.m.

Strut Your Stuff Musical Showcase Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Apr 2, 7 p.m.

Slide Henderson Performance Hall @ SJC (505)566-3430 http://www.sanjuancollege.edu

Apr 2, 6-8 p.m.

Photography of Kelley Bard The Red Tent A Healing Arts Center for Women (970) 422-8026 http://www.redtentwellness.com

Apr 2 Bil Lyons and Sam Lyons Reception: Apr 2, 6 p.m.

Sideshow Emporium & Gallery, Dolores (970) 739-4646

Apr 1, 5-7 p.m.

Edible Book Exhibit & Tea Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org

Apr 28, 7:30 p.m.

Ballet Folklorico “Quetzalli” de Veracruz Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Apr 26, 6:30 p.m.

Ignacio Linguist, Rancher and Musician Thomas Givon Maria’s Bookshop (970) 247-1438 http://mariasbookshop.com

Apr 23 Metropolitan Opera Live Capriccio – R. Strauss Storyteller Theatres – Durango 9 (970) 247-9799 http://www.storytellertheatres.com

Apr 22, 7:30 p.m.

San Juan College Band Concert Henderson Performance Hall @ SJC (505) 566-3430 http://www.sanjuancollege.edu

Apr 19, 6:30 p.m.

Cherokee Tribal Citizen and Sara Hoklotubbe Maria’s Bookshop (970) 247-1438 http://mariasbookshop.com

Apr 22, 5-9 p.m.

Menagerie: Works by Sarah Steppelman Studio & http://www.anddurango.com

Apr 18, 7 p.m.

Durango Youth Symphony Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Apr 17, 3 p.m.

San Juan Symphony with Durango Choral Society & Farmington Caliente Henderson Performance Hall @ SJC (505) 566-3430

Apr 17, 2 p.m.

Sunday Screening Series River & Tides (2003) - NR Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606

http://www.sarahsyverson.squarespace.com

May 14, 5:30 p.m.

Choral Society Cabaret!

Durango Arts Center (970) 759-2206 http://durangochoralsociety.org

May 14, 10 a.m.

Metropolitan Opera Live Die Walkűre - Wagner Storyteller Theatres – Durango 9 (970) 247-9799 http://www.storytellertheatres.com

May 13, 7:30 p.m.

SJC Jazz and Rock Concert Henderson Performance Hall @ SJC (505) 566-3430 http://www.sanjuancollege.edu

May 13, 7 p.m.

Durango Chamber Music Festival St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Durango (970) 247-1129 http://www.durangochambermusic.com

May 13, 6 p.m.

Jail House Rock Party Friends of the Arts Fundraiser Durango Arts Center (970) 259-8778

May 13, 5 p.m.

Spring Gallery Walk Downtown Durango

May 12 Sandra Cisneros Cortez Public Library (970) 565-8117 http://www.cityofcortez.com

May 8, 7:30 p.m.

The Johnny Clegg Band Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

May 8, 2 p.m.

Sunday Screening Series Lust for Life (1956) - NR Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606

May 7 Durango Kentucky Derby Downtown Durango (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org

(505) 566-3430 http://www.sanjuancollege.edu

To have your art event listed here for free, please email the date, time, event, location, contact phone and website to editor@sharedvisiononline.com. Limited space available.

Mar 6, 6 p.m.

Fundamentals of Wine The Elements of Style eno (970) 385-0105 http://www.enodurango.com

Mar 5 Paul Huntley AAUW Book & Author Luncheon Durango Public Library (970) 259-9123.

Mar 3-25 DAC Members Exhibit Reception: March 4, 5 p.m.

Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org

Mar 2-6 Durango Independent Film Festival http://www.durangofilm.org

Mar 18, 7:30 p.m.

Frontier Blues – Legacy of FLC Center of Southwest Studies, FLC (970) 247-7657 http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/

Mar 18-Apr 8 Gather the Currents – Peggy Cloy Henderson Fine Art Gallery Reception: Mar 18, 6-8 p.m.

San Juan College, Farmington, NM http://www.sanjuancollege.edu

Mar 1-July 17 Treasures Unveiled Center of Southwest Studies, FLC (970) 247-7657 http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/ Mar 2 – Apr 30 Desert Trails, artist Page Holland Dead Horse State Park, Moab, UT (435) 259-5478 http://www.moabartists.com

Mar 16, 7:30 p.m.

Parsons Dance Remember Me Community Concert Hall @ FLC (970) 247-7657 http://durangoconcerts.com

Mar 13, 6 p.m.

Fundamentals of Wine The Elements of Style eno (970) 385-0105 http://www.enodurango.com

Mar 13, 2 p.m.

Sunday Screening Series Modigliani (2004) – R Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606

Mar 13, 2 p.m.

Readings from Durango Michael Garabedian From Tragedy to Comedy Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606

http://henrystratertheatre.com

Mar 1-Apr 30 Roots Reception: March 4, 5 p.m.

Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org

Mar-Apr Ron Patterson Daniel Tucker Gallery @ Ah Haa School for the Arts (970) 728-3886 http://www.ahhaa.org

Mar 1-Apr 30 Art at eno – Phyllis Stapler eno (970) 385-0105 http://www.enodurango.com

March 1 - April 24 Mountain Series, artist Curt Stafford Leland House & Rochester Hotel Durango Reception: Mar 7, 5-7 p.m. http://www.rochesterhotel.com

Pagosa Folk ‘n Bluegrass Festival Reservoir Hill – Pagosa Springs http://www.folkwest.com

Spring 2011Art Events Calendar

www.ArtsPerspective.com

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Arts Perspective magazine is a free quarterly publication reflecting the diversity of the arts throughout the Four Corners region including Durango, Bayfield, Ignacio, Pagosa Springs, Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Mancos, Dolores, Cortez, Telluride, Montrose, Ouray and Ridgeway in Colorado; Aztec and Farmington in New Mexico and Bluff and Moab, Utah. Your subscription helps our distribution efforts.

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Spring 2011

www.ArtsPerspective.com

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Classes & Workshops Ongoing Arts Classes & Workshops Weehawken Creative Arts (970) 318-0150 http://www.weehawkenarts.org Explore the possibilities Learn to use color in weaving, knitting, collage, sewing, apparel, gardening & home decor with a skilled coach in the creative process Mary Alice Hearn, PH.D (970) 259-2442 MAHcreate@aol.com Beginning digital photography, the art of archiving digital images with Barbara Grist One-to-one or small groups (970) 560-2767 Farm-to-Table with Chef Lauren Materials and ingredients provided; call for classes and fees. Any group of 6 enrolling together receive 10% off (917) 841-4242 Lauren@verypersonalchef.com http://www.verypersonalchef.com The Red Tent, A Healing Arts Center for Women Classes in Prenatal Yoga, Hatha Yoga for Menopause, Women’s Nourishing & Sacred Qi Gong, Raindrop Therapy Workshop, Baby Massage, Belly Dancing for Birth (970) 422-8026 http://www.redtentwellness.com Private Lessons in Digital Photography Kit Frost, instructor (970) 946-9727, kit@kitfrost.com Private Lessons in Drawing with Peggy Cloy at Abode at Willowtail Springs, Mancos http://www.peggycloy.com Wednesdays 3:45–5 p.m.

After School Art Club All ages and drop-ins welcome, $5 Painted Turtle Studio, Mancos (970) 533-7136 http://www.paintedturtlestudio.org Thursdays 1:30–2:30 p.m.

Parent/Toddler Art Time Ages 1–3, Drop-ins welcome, $5 per child Painted Turtle Studio, Mancos (970) 533-7136 http://www.paintedturtlestudio.org Thursdays, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Figure Drawing for Adults Models provided, no instruction $10 members/$15 nonmembers Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org Tuesdays, Mar 1-29, 6-8:30 p.m.

Painting Portraits with Peter Campbell, $120 Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org Saturdays, starting Mar. 12, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.

Colored Pencil Techniques with Linda Smith, $50 Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org

Saturdays, starting Apr 16, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

An Introduction to Encaustics with Tori Williams, $50 plus $25 materials fee Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org Mar 11–13 The Photography of People with Jeremy Lurgio & Tony Rizzuto Ah Haa School for the Arts (970) 728-3886 http://www.ahhaa.org Mar 12-13, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Striking Still Lifes with Barbara Churchley, $120 Around the Corner Art Gallery Montrose, CO (970)-249-4243 brrp@aol.com Mon., Mar 21-Apr 25, 6-8 p.m.

Beginning Drawing for Adults & Teens with Christine Trout $120, Members get 10% discount Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org Mon., Mar 21-Apr 25, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

Intermediate Painting with Christine Trout $120, Members get 10% discount Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org Tues., Mar 22-Apr 26, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

Intermediate Drawing for Adults & Teens with Christine Trout $120, Members get 10% discount Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org Mar 24-26, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Better Drawing For Better Painting with Carl Purcell, $225 Around the Corner Art Gallery Montrose, CO (970) 249-4243 brrp@aol.com Mar 25–27 Winter Landscape Photography with Glenn Randall Ah Haa School for the Arts (970) 728-3886 http://www.ahhaa.org Tuesdays, March 29-Apr 19, 5–7:30 p.m.

Photography Basics Class with Sarah Allen Painted Turtle Studio, Mancos (970) 533-7136 http://www.paintedturtlestudio.org Wednesdays, Apr 6-27, 6-7 p.m.

Beginning Guitar with Paul Pennington, $45 Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org Apr 9-10, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Washi: the Art of Japanese Papermaking with Mary Ellen Long, $125 plus $25 materials fee Durango Arts Center (970) 259-4363 wmelart@yahoo.com

Saturdays, starting Mar 19. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Stained Glass with Will Foster, $50 plus $25 materials fee Durango Arts Center (970) 259-2606 http://www.durangoarts.org

To have your class or workshop listed here for free, please email the date, time, event, location, contact phone and website to editor@sharedvisiononline.com. Limited space available.

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Spring 2011

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21

Bon Voyage, Bon Appétit

by Lauren Slaff

Culinary

Whether it’s a cherished, well-seasoned Dutch oven

passed down through generations or that perfect-sized Tupperware container, which miraculously has its matching lid, we all have a kitchen vessel we can’t fathom living without.

Usually, one defines a “vessel,” in culinary terms or otherwise, as a vehicle for containment. But when considering the expansiveness of the role of the culinary arts in our lives and culture, I choose Merriam-Webster’s second definition: a watercraft bigger than a rowboat.

I would christen my vessel “The Perfect Pantry.” Like a grand ocean liner carrying passengers toward gastronomic destinations, I am equipped with whatever any journey across unknown waters — and all-you-can-eat buffets — demands.

Maintaining a well-stocked pantry is one of the first, and most important, principles I teach. It’s how an ordinary grocery bag of spring’s first veggies or a simple cut of Colorado grass-finished meat can transport you to wherever your imagination takes you.

Just for the fun of it, let’s say on your hike today, you plucked a fistful of tender, wild asparagus.

Reach for a box of chicken stock, an onion and a scoop of Arborio rice, and with some simmering, you’ll have your culinary passport stamped “Italy” with a creamy asparagus risotto. Dreaming of the East? Heat a pot of peanut oil, whip out the flour and fry up a crispy asparagus tempura. Whisk together a splash of soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes for a dipping sauce fit for an emperor.

Get it? Your vessel. Your journey.

Fill your shelves with non-perishable staples like dry starches, canned beans and boxed stocks. Store garlic, onions and lemons in a cool, dry place. A variety of oils, vinegars, extracts and emulsions give life to sauces, dressings and more. Even the humble fridge helps navigate, keeping basics like butter, eggs, milk and yogurt readily available, as well as frozen magic like filo dough and puff pastry. Spices can be stored for up to six months (that’s right; time to “adios” the faded paprika from ‘97) while maintaining their full flavors.

The possibilities seem endless, but all is within reach. Take a few minutes to peruse what you currently have, consider your worldly desires, fill in the rest and check monthly for replenishment. I predict smooth sailing ahead.

If you still feel a little queasy, forget Dramamine; shoot me an email, and I’ll share my own “little” list. , A native New Yorker and grateful transplant to Southwest Colorado (think Sex and the City meets Into the Wild), Slaff brings the ideal combination of high-end professional training and heartfelt passion for the fruits of the earth to her students and clients as chef/proprietor of verypersonal*chef. Visit http://www.verypersonalchef.com.

Photos by Heather Martinez

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Culinary

C ULI N AR Y ARTS L i s t i n g s Durango CHRISTINA’S GRILL AND BAR 21382 Hwy. 160 West • Durango, CO (970) 382-3844 http://www.christinasgrill.com

Where good friends meet and eat. Grab a burger on Tuesday night, a huge pasta spread on Wednesday night, or the Saturday rib-eye special.

COSMOPOLITAN RESTAURANT 919 Main Avenue • Durango, CO (970) 259-2898

T’S SMOKEHOUSE & GRILL #3 Depot Place • Durango, CO (Behind the Polo Outlet) (970) 259-6000 http://www.tssmokehouse.com

Downtown behind the Polo store. Serving Southern style hickory-smoked BBQ, New Orleans poboys and homemade desserts.

Happy hour from 3–6 p.m. daily, and all day Sunday.

Barbara Helmer and Miguel Carrillo chef/owners, Kennebec Café

Hesperus CUCKOO’S CHICKEN HOUSE & WATERIN’ HOLE 128 E. College Drive Durango, CO (970) 259-6322

Durango’s Family Sports Restaurant serving Broasted® Chicken, with over 20 varieties of wings. We offer casual dining in a family-friendly environment, along with high definition TVs for all your sports viewing pleasure. Mon. 4 -10 p.m., Tues.Sun. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.

CYPRUS CAFÉ 725 E. Second Ave. • Durango, CO (970) 385-6884

KENNEBEC CAFÉ 4 County Road 124 • Hesperus, CO (970) 247-5674

A taste of Tuscany nestled in the La Plata Mountains. Bistro setting featuring Mediterranean & American Inspired cuisine, 10 miles west on Hwy 160. Extensive wine list, full bar, takeout and an ever changing seasonal menu. Event and banquet facility available.

M a nc o s ARBORENA DESPERADOS BAR & GRILL 351 S. Camino del Rio • Durango, CO (970) 385-5533

Home of the famous half-pound Buffalo Burger - And that ain’t no bull.

114 Grand Ave. • Mancos, CO 81328 (970) 533-1381 http://arborena.com/home.html

Wine bar café features local Guy Drew, California and international wines along with light fare, cheese platters, appetizers, soup and salads. Open Thursdays–Saturdays and Sundays 4–9 p.m.

M ESA V ER D E eno 723 E. 2nd Ave. • Durango, CO (970) 385-0105 http://www.enosdurango.com

Durango’s newest coffee/wine/tapas bar is an exciting contemporary atmosphere dedicated to the finer things in life, gourmet coffee, fine wine and tapas.

PALACE RESTAURANT 505 Main Ave. • Durango, CO (970) 247-2018

Metate Room at Far View Lodge (15 miles inside Mesa Verde National Park) 970-529-4422 Open nightly 5 - 9:30 p.m. April 22 - October 21, 2011 http://www.visitmesaverde. com/dining/metate-room.aspx

2010 Winner of the coveted American Culinary Federation Award for Excellence in Sustainable Cuisine, the Metate Room will surprise all your senses - heritage foods prepared with a southwestern flourish.

P AGOSA S P RI N GS

SEASONS ROTISSERIE & GRILL 764 Main Ave. • Durango CO (970) 382-9790 http://www.seasonsofdurango.com

Alley House Grille

American-style cooking perfectly paired with exemplary service. Our casually elegant dining room buzzes with the excitement of an open exhibition kitchen, award winning wine list and the best views of Main Street.

Located in downtown, the Alley House Grille has brought the dining experience to Pagosa Springs. Enjoy our global fusion cuisine in a 1912 renovated home. Winter/Spring hours: Tues-Sat. 5-9pm

214 Pagosa Street | alleyhousegrille.com Reservations (970) 264-0999

photos by Scott Griggs If you would like be part of the Culinary Arts listings: email 30 words or less, including your contact information, description and a photo or logo to denise@sharedvisiononline.com or call (970) 403-1590. Listings are $50.

www.ArtsPerspective.com

23

Cover Story

Vessels of Light and Color:

Hokanson Dix Glass Bring Their Hot Shop to Durango

by Leanne Goebel photos by Scott Griggs

In a nondescript, cinder block warehouse at the base of Horse Gulch Trailhead, through a weathered wooden door, is another world — a translucent world of color and form. It’s the studio and hot shop of the artistic duo Bengt Hokanson and Trefny Dix, two fine artists building on the legacy of glass artists Dale Chihuly, Stanislav Libensky and Gene Koss to create their own individual cast-glass sculptural and mixed-media works. Their fine art is supported by their production-blown glass vessels, currently sold in more than 40 galleries around the country. The couple (they are partners in life as well) has collaborated for nearly 15 years and work in perfect tandem as I visit with them at their studio during preparations for the American Craft Council (ACC) in Baltimore.

A bulb of honey-like molten glass is picked up on a long blowpipe, rolled, filled with a slow breath and formed into an orange vessel of wide oval shape, a pillow of color.

The process is complex; the glass is continually shaped and reheated. The opening is pulled with pliers, cut with scissors, and again returned to the furnace. Water is dripped over the blowpipe to cool it for human touch; thick industrial oven mitts are used to carry the finished piece to the annealing oven where it will remain for at least 12 hours to slowly cool. The couple can produce 8 to 12 of these smaller vessels in an 8-hour day at the studio, but only 1 or 2 of the larger patchworks of color, some with long, fragile tips called sails.

The sail vessels were inspired by Greenport, New York, an historic fishing village on Long Island, where in 1996 the pair founded Boar Glass Studios, which blossomed into a successful venture with numerous retail outlets and galleries selling their work, including Barney’s in Manhattan.

Their success came with new choices — expand their

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hot shop into a bigger location to produce more, hire more people and continue to operate their own retail gallery, or pull back and focus only on their wholesale business.

They decided on the latter and relocated to a small town outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Then came 2008.

The economy crashed, and they were forced to close their studio and hot shop.

Luckily for Durango, Hokanson’s childhood friend Spencer Compton invited them for a visit and offered to invest in their business. In March 2010, the couple relocated to Durango, and in April, Hokanson Dix Glass was up and running. They have plans to add a retail gallery, they’ve

re-established some wholesale clients, and were featured on the cover of the January 2011 Artful Home catalog.

“We’ve had to do a lot more self promotion and try and put our work out there to different markets,” Dix said.

“When the economy was clicking, it was less personal,” Hokanson added. “Less of your personality was out there.”

Viewing their fine art, one can see the differences in their personalities. Bengt creates large, mixed-media works, similar in aesthetic to Gene Koss. His large works combine blown and cast glass with carved wood, fabricated metal and found objects, and are equally domestic and organic. Trefny’s work is more intimate, utilizing cast glass to create domestic objects such as combs and purses. The aesthetic of their collaborative work is “a contrast between the flash of modern life and the serenity of quiet forms,” as they state on their website.

“Our collaborative work is very focused on color and simple geometric shapes and forms. We use the color to

accentuate the form and the form to accentuate the color and the glass for its natural beauty, its light, the intensity of the color,” Dix said. “We are more focused on that than creating beautiful and classical forms.”

They are inspired by painting, particularly that of Howard Hodkins, African textiles and vibrant graffiti, as well as the patterns and colors of nature. Their most recent vessels subtly echo the colors and shapes of the Southwest; the reds and golds have a bit more brown in them, the lines like striations in the cliffs and rocks.

“The visual Southwest is really different, and I think it’s had a nice influence on our work. Our work is about color, and that’s been very nice about moving here.

“Untitled”, Hokanson Dix Glass Studios We are inspired every day Photo by Scott Griggs by our surroundings, which are intriguing, beautiful and have the grip and energy of life. We would like people to have these feelings when they look at our glass.”

They do. e

Leanne Goebel is an award-winning arts journalist, critic and writer.

Contact her at artsjournalist@mac.com.

“Untitled”, Hokanson Dix Glass Studios Photo by Scott Griggs

www.ArtsPerspective.com

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Artist Listings Venaya J. Yazzie Dine’ / Hopi Poet, Painter, Photographer www.yazzgrlart.com yazzgrl@hotmail.com Contemporary Images of Indigenous people of the southwest.

Paul Boyer Photographer pboyer@frontier.net • 970-385-6983 Studio in the Open Shutter Gallery Portraits • Product photography • Architecture Fine Art photography • Instruction • Travel

David Sipe Folk & Fine Artist & Wood Sculptor 970-533-7518 ssbsnd@hotmail.com Largest collection of wood-carved sculptures in the Four Corners area. Just 3 miles east of Mesa Verde on Hwy 160. Sculptural furnishings for home, office and outdoors.

Will travel for on-site dead tree enhancement.

Mariah Kaminsky Commissioned Portraiture & Paintings www.durangocustomworks.com Oil on canvas paintings from life or photos in any size up to 6’6”. Call 970-749-4089 for a consultation.

Mary Alice Hearn

Longsight Design David Long 970-769-4657 In his spare time David operates Longsight Design offering design services including industrial design, graphic design, design visualization, illustration and 3D animation.

Photogenesis Photography Jonas Grushkin 970-259-2718 www.grushkin.com Photographer specializing in artists’ portfolios, commercial work and unique portraitures. More than 30 years experience.

Lisa Mackey Photography Photography services 970-247-3004 www.lisamackeyphoto.com Stunning images from Durango and the surrounding region. Offering high quality printing of your images up to 12x18. Prints and notecards available online and at Open Shutter Gallery.

Marilyn Kroeker Introducing Watercolor works At Raven House Gallery 120 Grand Avenue, Mancos Mon-Sat 10-5 • 970-533-7149 kroeker_3@q.comand at Desert Pearl, Cortez

Mochie-Roo

Fiber Designs MAHcreate@aol.com 970-259-2442 Hand Weaving, Fabric Printing and Dying, Knitting,Contemporary Quilting and College In Town Studio

Chloe Marty, Owner and Artist www.MOCHIEROO.com From your favorite photos, I will produce an original watercolor portrait of your pet. My passion is to capture each animal’s unique personality.

Patricia Burk

Beth Wheeler

Photography 38359 Rd. H, Mancos, CO 81328 970-533-7841 Views of the Valley greeting cards Four Corners area, Africa, Oaxaca, Alaska, Cape Cod. Available at Raven House Gallery, P&D, Absolute Bakery and Desert Pearl.

Peggy Melyssa Cloy Abode at Willowtail Springs Studio/Gallery www.peggycloy.com peggy@willowtailsprings.com 970-560-0333 Mancos, CO Painting • Sculpture • Pastels • Drawings • Poetry Peggy and Lee are now teaching Tai Chi and Art.

Calligrapher 970-533-7943 Taking your favorite poem, song lyric, quotation, etc. and turning it into a work of art. Professional hand lettering and picture framing. Custom Calligraphy and Frame, est. 1991.

Barbara Grist Photography & Fine Art Artist • Educator • Photographer 970-560-2767 barbaragristphotography.com Creative images for all occasions including publication, events, portraiture and fine art.

One-on-one or group classes in the arts or photography. Work for sale at Picaya Home and Desert Pearl Gallery in Cortez.

Wild Sage Studio Barbara Tobin Klema 970-946-0786 www.barbaratobinklema.com Creating contemporary portraits ofpeople and landscape. Work shown by appointment.

Classes taught in drawing and watercolor.

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If you are an artist or wish to support an artist you know by running an Artist Listing, email 30 words or less, including your contact

information, description and a photo or logo to denise@sharedvisiononline.com, or call (970) 403-1590. Listings are $50.

www.ArtsPerspective.com

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Resources Venues Totah Theater - A great place to hold your next social or educational event, concert, recital, meeting, luncheon, workshop, wedding, birthday, karaoke, rehearsal, recording and much more! To book, call (505) 327-4145, http://www.thetotah.com.

The Back Space Performance & Visual Arts Theatre - Come watch theatre performances, films, or rent out our space for your next intimate event! For more information, call (970) 259-7940 or email events@ thebackspacetheatre.org.

The Abbey Theatre - Join us for a movie or try us out for your next business meeting, company presentation, private movie theatre screening, wedding reception, holiday or birthday party and experience the star treatment that we give you. To book, call 970-259-9511 or visit http://www.abbeytheatre.com.

Services Voice-Over - Victor Lock, professional voice-over services: training videos, on-hold phone messaging and greetings, web streaming, narration and commercials. High quality, fast and affordable. Email victor@ victorlock.com, or call (970) 672-3018.

Art and Writing residencies are now being offered at Abode at Willowtail Springs, which include a studio and special price, October 15 – April 15, as well as art, Tai Chi and writing retreats all year and workshops as scheduled. For more information, call (800) 698-0603 or visit http://www.willowtailsprings.com.

Art Groups Durango Story Writers, a free, ongoing, weekly, invitation-only, evening workshop meeting in downtown Durango, may be contacted at durangostorywriters@hotmail.com.

Attention Men! Join the Durango Barbershop Chorus! We love to sing and we provide a service to the community. We love singing Valentines, birthdays and other special events. These are just a few reasons you would enjoy singing with us. We meet at 7:00 pm Tuesdays at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 495 Florida Rd. in Durango. Check us out at http://www.durangobarbershoppers.org or call 970-799-3724.

Life Drawing Sessions in Dolores. Contact Susan Matteson at (970) 7596640, sosen@aol.com.

Durango Drawing Club meets bimonthly on Thursday evenings. We are a loosely organized group dedicated to improving our drawing skills in a relaxed atmosphere with live models. All skill levels welcome; guidance can be provided to those who seek it. We are looking to hire models and will compensate their time. Please contact Meisa at m.e.chase@att.net with questions or interest. Come draw with us!

Durango Friends of the Arts meets on the 2nd Thursdays of Jan., Mar., May, July, Sept., Nov. at 10 a.m. A volunteer organization dedicated to supporting the arts in the Durango area with the goal of awarding grants to performing and visual arts projects and programs that provide

educational and cultural benefits to people of all ages and backgrounds. For more information, call (970) 247-9624.

Durango Photography Club meets 7-9 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month (except Dec.) at the Administration Building of the La Plata County Fairgrounds. Contact Barry Durand at (970) 385-8470 or Linda Pampinella at (970) 884-7053.

Plein-air Painting Group (free) - Email Alice Crapo at sean@frontier.net, or call (970) 259-5165 to join other artists painting.

A Thousand Cranes for Peace and Healing Learn to fold and participate on Fridays, 5-6:30 p.m. at 4 Corners’ Yoga Studio, #32 Smiley Building, Durango. For more information, contact Chyako Hashimoto at chyakopot@yahoo.com.

Wild Women Writing will meet the first and third Wednesday of each month. The first meeting each month will be a social networking get-together for writers, location TBA. The meetings held on the third Wednesday of each month will be more focused on reading and critique sessions, and will take place in Conference Room 308 at the Crossroads Center, 1099 Main Ave., from 6:30-8 p.m. For more information, please visit our blog, http://www.wildwomenwriting.blogspot.com or contact Molly Anderson-Childers at stealingplums@yahoo.com or (970) 759-9993.

March 21 - Salt Fire Circus and Bare Bones Burlesque is seeking original artwork to auction at our spring fundraiser, which will take place April 1, 2011 at Ska Brewing! Seeking art inspired by Olde Timey Circus/Burlesque imagery or themes. Mixed media welcome! For more information, call Talia at (970) 799-0442, by March 7. Final submission deadline: March 21. Funds raised will support Salt Fire Circus and Bare Bones Burlesque's new production, The Elixir, which will be performed the last two weekends of May at the Durango Arts Center.

Apr. 1 - Queries due for upcoming Summer: Landscape issue of Arts

Perspective magazine. Email publisher/editor, Denise Leslie, denise@sharedvisiononline.com.

May 1 - The Trail of Painted Ponies is throwing open the stable doors and inviting everyone to discover their inner artist by creating original Painted Ponies that celebrate horses in art. Over $10,000 in cash prizes will be awarded. For more information go to http://www.trailofpainted ponies.com/e-magazine/january_2011/e-magazine-competition.html.

October 31 - "SHY RABBIT Print International 3" An International Juried Online Exhibition January 1 - December 31, 2012 Submission Deadline: October 31, 2011 (postmarked) October 31, 2011 12:00pm, artist's local time (Online), Juror: Juergen Strunck. For more information, call (970) 731-2766 or visit http://www.shyrabbit.com/Calls.html.

Call for Artists Calling all artists from Durango, Ignacio, Bayfield and Mancos to participate in the 2011 Durango Open Studios Tour! Expanding to two weekends: Saturday & Sunday, October 15 & 16 and 22 & 23, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. All media are welcome including painting, sculpture, photography, fiber arts, ceramics, fine jewelry, mixed media, book arts, etc.

Registration begins March 15. For more information go to http://www.durangoopenstudios.com or call 970-403-1590.

Themed shows at Artifacts in Farmington: Wondrous Water, East Meets West, Unhooked V. Artists may submit up to two pieces; must have wire and ready to hang. All work must be for sale. Call (505) 327-2907.

New home finishing retail store would like artwork to hang in their showroom. Work can be for sale; environmentally conscious processes and/or theme. Please call Sheryl at Handcrafted House (970) 247-4046.

Queries for upcoming issues for Arts Perspective magazine. Must follow theme: Summer: Landscape; Fall: Studios. Please submit story ideas with sample of published work; artists, photographers and illustrators: email low-resolution .jpgs for consideration to editor@sharedvisiononline.com.

Deadlines March 7 - “Gateway to Imagination.” Exhibit dates: May 6–July 9, 2011.

For a prospectus or more information please contact the Farmington Museum at (505) 599-1174 or visit our website at http://www.farmingtonmuseum.org.

Share your art group, meeting or call for artists with Arts Perspective readers! We will list your calls free if you email editor@sharedvisiononline.com. Please keep listings around 50 words.

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B u s i n e s s D i r e c to ry

www.ArtsPerspective.com

29

Dental Vessel: Blending Hi-Tech with Holistic Care

by Renae Blanton photos by Scott Griggs

Healing

Ves-sel: a person into whom some quality

(as grace) is infused – Miriam-Webster

“Vessel” truly is an appropriate word to describe Dr. John Rothchild, a holistic dentist “retired” here from Chicago. For Dr. Rothchild and his wife of 23 years, Mary, “retirement” means moving to their dream community and starting a holistic dentistry practice. Dr. Rothchild’s presence emanates care, compassion, expertise, humor, innovation and creativity – as well as a burning desire to heal the world, one patient at a time. And his passion isn’t just about dentistry – he’s passionate about his wife, music and baseball, too.

Dr. Rothchild’s practice centers on the philosophy that what happens in the mouth affects the rest of the body. Medical research has proven that

infections of the mouth, teeth and gums can cause health problems in other parts of the body such as the heart, lungs, stomach and brain.

Even before an appointment with Dr. Rothchild, his highly trained staff speaks to you at great length, connecting with you as a person as well as discerning what you may need for comprehensive care. The heartfelt smiles of his staff create a sense of ease and relaxation – very different from the usual dental experience. Dr. Rothchild, after interviewing you in great detail, learning your health history, reviewing results of tests such as x-rays and dental impressions and examining mouth bacteria under a microscope, tailors a treatment plan that considers your whole health. When asked how treatment can vary from patient to patient, he quickly gives examples, including multiple ways to approach a dental problem or condition. He also makes sure the materials placed in the mouth, such as fillings or crowns, are bio-compatible to each person; he pays attention to each patient’s environmental exposures, allergies, genetics and other health problems.

How does one become a holistic dentist? Dr. Rothchild has 30 years of experience. He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Dentistry and performed his residency at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. Over his years as a dentist, he also became a Doctor of Integrative Medicine, a Doctor of Naturopathy and received training in acupuncture. He published in the International Journal of Ozone Therapy and has lectured throughout the United States and Australia on dental and health issues. Dr. Rothchild possesses the amazing ability to incorporate

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this expertise and knowledge into the care of his patients.

Before our interview, Dr. Rothchild chuckled over the difficulty in setting up a meeting time. He just returned from a dental convention in Denver where, in addition to attending continuing education courses, he met with manufacturers of the latest cutting-edge dental technology. Excitedly, he discussed some of the technology he wants to bring into his office when it moves to its expanded space in Three Springs from their current location in Rivergate. Currently, he utilizes hi-tech treatments such as laser therapy for gum disease and dark-field microscopy to analyze the bacteria that live on the teeth and in the mouth. He also uses a video camera in the mouth, so that the patients can see problems they wouldn’t see looking in a mirror.

And unlike many local dentists who have to ship out their dental restoration work, Dr. Rothchild is able to fabricate these in his office, saving the patient multiple visits and time.

When not at the office, Dr. Rothchild can be found playing music at places like the Derailed Saloon, The Summit and local festivals. He is proud to be part of the Stillwater Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing music to kids and adults. Laughing, he tells me he started playing trombone in the fifth grade after his piano teacher suggested he learn a different instrument. In Chicago, he played with various big bands, jazz groups and orchestras. His musical resume includes playing with a revival of “The Flock” and with the band “Cryan’ Shames.” He is also passionate about his Chicago Cubs and Bears, even attending the Cubs Fantasy Camp seven times.

Dr. Rothchild is a large vessel indeed – holding balance, genius, expertise, care and compassion, selflessly pouring out to his community. He is that rare person who heals not only through his practice, but through humor, music, and the love of the game. e

Renae Blanton, MSN, ANP, is a family nurse practitioner at Sonas Integrative Medical Center. She specializes in integrative family medicine with a focus on environmental issues such as lead toxicity, anti-aging, women’s health and chronic disease and illness. She can be reached at (970) 247-2500 or sonasimc@yahoo.com.