Images Arizona January 2019 by Images Arizona Paradise Valley

Paradise Valley Gainey Ranch McCormick Ranch

ECRWSS Local Postal Customer

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PHOENIX, AZ PERMIT NO. 3418

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Paradise Plaza

4848 East Cactus Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85254 / Located on the NE corner of Tatum Blvd. and Cactus Rd.

Atre Artists / AZ Mentor / Brandt’s Decorating / Brandt’s Interior Design / Core Strength Martial Arts / Dutch Girl Cleaners / Field Fit Heritage Church / Just Kids Studio / Melmed Center / Paradise Pediatrics / Salon by JC / Sherwin Williams / Shipping with a Purpose Sleep Source / Stool & Dinette Factory / Theatre Artists Studio / The Little Gym / We Rock The Spectrum

Shipping with a Purpose Formerly PV Postal & Shipping Full service packing and shipping company offering air, ground and international services.

The Little Gym At The Little Gym of Paradise Valley, our environment is fun, but our purpose is serious. The Little Gym offer classes for kids 4 months to 12 yrs. Our trained instructors have nurtured happy, confident kids through a range of programs including parent/child classes, gymnastics, dance and sports skills development, plus enjoyable extras like camps, Parents’ Survival Nights and Awesome Birthday Bashes.

Special for the month of January : New families receive a free membership and 3 bonus classes if they enroll the same day as their Introductory Visit. Monday - Friday: 9 am - 7 pm, Saturday: 8:30 am - 2 pm Sunday: 8:30 am - 12:00 pm

602.996.1380 www.TLGparadisevalleyaz.com

- Mailbox rentals (mailboxes use a real street address) - 24-Hour access - Receives all carriers - Text/email alerts - FREE Notary Services - Document Shredding - Fax sending & receiving - Passport Services NEW! - Packing & Office Supplies

New customers… Sign up for 1 Year

Get 3 months FREE Refer a friend… Get an additional

3 months FREE (One-time $20 setup fee)

602.953.1730 Monday — Friday: 9 am - 6 pm / Saturday: 9 am - 2 pm / Sun. Closed

Mailboxes have 24 hr access! j anuary 2019

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Upcoming Concerts Special EFX All-Stars January 5 MusicaNova Orchestra: The Mystical Muse—Cycles of Inspiration and Hope January 6 Joey Alexander January 10 Alison Brown January 17 Dakh Daughters January 21 Johnny A. “Just Me . . . and My Guitars” January 27 Lizz Wright January 31 And many more!

BOOKER T. JONES Sat., January 19 | 7:30 p.m. | $48.50–$53.50 Sun., January 20 | 7 p.m. | $48.50–$53.50 The father of modern soul and arguably the most famous Hammond B3 player in history “Booker T. Jones is one of the legends of soul music.” —The New Yorker

2019 Concert Series sponsored by

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MIM.org | 480.478.6000 | 4725 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix, AZ

WINECELLAREXPERTS.COM 15979 N. 76th St., Suite A, Scottsdale

480-922-WINE j anuary 2019

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INFLUENCE AND INSPIRATION Writer Shannon Severson Photographs Courtesy of Western Spirit: Scottsaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Museum of the West

COMMUNITY EVENTS Writer Amanda Christmann

TIMELESS TONTO 25 YEARS Writer Amanda Christmann Photography by Bryan Black

SCENES FROM THE MOTHER ROAD

Writer Amanda Christmann Photography by Terrence Moore

A BROTHERHOOD IN STONE Writer Amanda Christmann Photography by Bryan Black and Bill Waters

PALEO CHILI Writer and Photographer Kyndra Kelly

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Featuring unique southwestern furniture along with a spectacular selection of Native American Indian Jewelry.

Not affiliated with the Gallup, NM stores. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t scrap your Native American jewelry & silver, come see us first.

Old Town Scottsdale Âˇ 480-990-1808 Main St. & Scottsdale Rd. gilbertortegagallery@gmail.com j anuary 2019

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PUBLISHER Shelly Spence

MANAGING EDITOR Amanda Christmann

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Meaghan Mitchell

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Joseph Airdo Amanda Christmann Sue Kern-Fleischer Kyndra Kelly Shoshana Leon Shannon Severson Fadi Sitto

This year marks my 20th year of publishing Images Arizona magazine. I say that with wide eyes a sense of incredulity. As 18th century poet Alexander Pope said, “swift fly the years …”—and how right he was! At times, the days have been long and hard, but the weeks and the years have passed in a beautiful blur. Looking back, I am nothing short of amazed all that our Images Arizona family has been able to accomplish.

PHOTOGRAPHERS Scott Baxter Bryan Black Kyndra Kelly Loralei Lazurek

ADVERTISING SALES Loren Sheck 480-309-6410 loren@imagesaz.com

Images Arizona P.O. Box 1416 Carefree, AZ. 85377 623-341-8221 imagesarizona.com Submission of news for community section should be in to shelly@imagesaz.com by the 5th of the month prior to publication. Images Arizona is published by ImagesAZ Inc. Copyright © 2019 by ImagesAZ, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction, in whole or part, without permission is prohibited. The publisher is not responsible for the return of unsolicited material.

Local First A R I Z O NA

In 1999, I purchased an eight-page newsletter with a circulation of 3,000 households in Anthem with the idea of creating the kind of images and content that I wanted to read. I wanted to lift up the community and share stories that unite us. Through the years, thanks to our wonderful and talented team of writers, photographers and graphic designers, we’ve managed to do just that. In our communities, we are so fortunate to have so many people who are making positive impacts on the lives of others. Whether they are championing causes, creating incredible art, sharing their musical gifts, or using their talents to help or bring joy to others. Every month, I find myself giddy with anticipation, knowing these stories are on their way to the mailboxes of 67,000 homes. As we begin this milestone year, I have nothing short of deep pride. I’m proud of my family for riding along with me on this sometimes difficult but rewarding journey. I’m proud of the writers, photographers, designers and other behind-the-scenes people who have made it all happen. And I’m proud of the growing community that has embraced my dream by welcoming Images Arizona into their hearts and homes year after year. Cheers to all of us! Shelly Spence Publisher, Images Arizona magazine shelly@imagesaz.com 623-341-8221

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B o n n e r D a v i d Galleries Traditional x Contemporary

Max Hammond

â&#x20AC;&#x153;DeMediciâ&#x20AC;? / oil on canvas / 72" x 96"

7040 E. Main Street x Scottsdale, AZ 85251 x www.bonnerdavid.com x art@bonnerdavid.com x

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480.941.8500

B o n n e r D a v i d Galleries Traditional x Contemporary

Max Hammond

“Rainy Day I” / oil on wood / 30" x 24"

“Max Hammond | New Work: Homage #FranzKline” January 18 – February 11, 2019 Special Artist Reception: Friday, January 25 6:00-8:00 pm

Call or email for more information on our shows j anuary 2019

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Charles M. Russell, Lady Buckeroo, c. 1920–1925 watercolor, pen and ink on paper; Montana Historical Society, Mackay Collection, Helena, Montana.

Writer Shannon Severson Photographs Courtesy of Western Spirit: Scottsale’s Museum of the West

Known as the “Father of Western Art,” Charles Marion Russell is primarily known for his powerfully detailed depictions of men in the West. Cowboys atop furiously bucking broncos, wranglers driving cattle over the rugged mountain terrain of Montana, strong Native American chiefs leading their men into battle, tribes skillfully tracking and hunting bison and the many adventures of Lewis and Clark all found their way into a visual narrative that largely shaped the ideas that we as Americans, and those in other countries, still hold today about the nature and character of the Old West.

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But peek through the haze of dust and gunfire and you’ll find that Russell also depicted the powerful role that women played, not only in the landscape and culture of the West, but also in his own life and career. “Charles M. Russell: The Women in His Life and Art” at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West (SMoW) through April 14, 2019 is a collection of 60 works in oil, watercolor, pen and ink, and bronze, along with a number of physical artifacts that span Russell’s career from 1890-1926. The works predominantly feature female figures and allow the audience an opportunity to view his celebrated artwork, life and career through a new, contemporary lens. A series of educational and entertaining programming is tied to the exhibition, including scholarly lectures, a film series and even a performance by historical enactor, educator and storyteller, Mary Jane Bradbury. This exhibit goes beyond “cowboys and Indians” and gives us a peek into how Russell saw and appreciated the women around him. “The different perspectives of women and their roles in the West haven’t been very prominent,” says SMoW Assistant Museum Director of Collections, Exhibitions and Research, Dr. Tricia Loscher. “Russell’s work is seen as very masculinized with stories about the male and the American West. With this show, we see his sensitivities and all of his portrayals of women—not only how he portrayed them, but how they inspired him and really promoted his career.” Even audiences who are new to Russell’s work will find much that is familiar. Hollywood borrowed heavily from his depictions. Everything from set design to story narratives were clearly lifted from the mind of this artist who was the consummate Westerner, cowboy, writer, conservationist, philosopher, historian, advocate of the Northern Plains Indians and the list goes on. He left behind both a visual and written account of his remarkable life and times.

Meet the artists in over 120 working studios! JANUARY 11-MARCH 24 26540 N Scottsdale Rd • Scottsdale, Arizona ArizonaFineArtEXPO.com 480-837-7163 10-week Season Pass $10; Military/Seniors $8 • Open Daily–Rain or Shine–10-6

As a young boy in St. Louis, Missouri, Russell’s cowboy dreams were kindled at the knee of his grandmother, Lucy Bent Russell, who regaled him with stories of the West and the adventures of her famous fur trader

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Charles M. Russell, Keeoma, 1898, oil on canvas; Montana Historical Society, Mackay Collection, Helena, Montana.

brothers who opened the Santa Fe Trail. His artistic mother, Mary Elizabeth Mead Russell, encouraged young Charlie to read adventure novels of westward expansion and to sketch and sculpt. By the age of 16, Russell set out to live the cowboy life in Montana and never looked back. His sketches and watercolors of life on the range, both as a cowboy and during the time he spent living with the Blood Indians, a branch of the Blackfeet Nation, received little recognition early on. All that changed when, at age 32, Russell married 18-year-old Nancy Cooper. He quickly went from being a working cowboy to a working artist at the urging, and under the business-savvy management of his young wife. He lived to be just 62 years old, but he produced over 4,000 works in his short lifetime. He sold his paintings for $25 to $35; in 2005, his painting, “Piegans,” fetched $5.6 million at auction. In fact, it is the work of a woman that inspired this exhibition. The late Ginger K. Renner, a Paradise Valley resident, published “Charlie Russell and the Ladies in His Life” in 1984. “Ginger was a big influence in this museum and was a big inspiration for others to have this museum built, although she passed away before we opened in 2015,” says Loscher. “The curators, Joan Carpenter

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Troccoli and Emily Crawford Wilson, did a spin on her title for the show.”

the art of organization

Renner’s husband, Fred, grew up in Great Falls, Montana and sometimes visited Russell’s log cabin studio there to watch the artist at work. Both were premier Russell scholars and collectors of Russell’s life history and art. They were heavily involved in creating definitive catalogs of his work and in helping to establish SMoW and the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls. “The Renners did a lot to forward not only Russell but Western art,” says Loscher. “In the whole scheme, they were huge promoters and philanthropists of Western art. Ginger sat on the boards of a lot of museums and was involved in various award programs promoting the West.” Notable in the collection is the portrayal of Native American women performing the duties and responsibilities of their everyday lives, from moving camp to caring for children and mourning the dead. “Keeoma” is one of a well-known series of paintings that depict a lounging Native American woman in the exotic tradition of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when it was common to paint women who existed outside of restricted Victorian-era norms. She rests against a teepee backrest. “It’s a Native woman inside a teepee, but he’s drawing on the larger European sensibilities of exoticizing indigenous women,” says Loscher. “He’s playing up the exoticism of a time when it was often Middle Eastern women who were depicted, but he does it with an indigenous woman in Montana.”

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Charles M. Russell, The Capture of Laura Edgar, 1894, oil on canvas; Petrie Collection, Denver, Colorado.

Nancy Russell at Bull Head Lodge, c. 1910, black and white photograph; C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana, gift of Richard Flood II.

Charles M. Russell, Wood Nymph, c. 1898, watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paper; C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana, purchased with funds from Friends of the Exalted Ruler and the Louise Smith Memorial Fund.

Charlie and Josephine Wright, c. 1900, black and white photograph; C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana, gift of Richard Flood II.

EXPERIENCE Western Spirit: Scottsale’s Museum of the West Charles M. Russell: The Women in His Life and Art January 6 through April 14 | Tues.–Sat. 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. | Sun 11 a.m.–5 p.m. | Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West m a Marshall g e s a r i z o n aWay, . c o mScottsdale january| $8–15; 2 019 Thursdays free for Scottsdale residents | 480-686-9539 | scottsdalemuseumwest.org 163830 iN.

Charles M. Russell, Life Saver, 1910, watercolor on paper; C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana, gift of R.F. Jennings and M.A. Dutton.

The woman is surrounded by objects that give us a glimpse into her everyday life: a parfleche, which was a case made of rawhide, trade blankets, her beaded buckskin dress and the backrest she’s leaning against. Nearby, a real teepee backrest is displayed, as are saddles and clothing of the time. “Lady Buckeroo” is a rare depiction in watercolor, pen and ink of a woman skillfully riding a wild bronc, neck kerchief flying and hat held aloft. Strength and determination shows through in her expression. Russell loathed the industrializing forces of westward expansion, and juxtaposed contemporary white women with impoverished Native Americans who were being displaced by development and urbanization in “The Last of His Race” and “Mothers Under the Skin.” They are painful, raw and real. “Russell humanizes what different cultures were doing at the time,” says Loscher. “He really gives you a feeling of what it was like to be there, a sense of place, because he lived it. That’s why everything about his paintings—the objects, the animals, the people— are so vivid. It’s something to keep in mind that not only are the stories in all these works masterfully told, but they’re so beautifully rendered. He was able to capture everything so realistically.” Also in the collection are examples of his collaboration with family friend and librarian, Josephine Trigg. The pair wrote hundreds of letters, which Russell would adorn with incredibly detailed, and often humorously themed, watercolors depicting life in the West during those days. Trigg composed poems in beautiful calligraphy that he would then illustrate. What resulted was a beautifully rendered and very personal historical narrative. “Along with the theme of women,” says Loscher, "the groundbreaking aspect of this show is how it’s contextualizing his work in terms of the broader history of what is happening across the world at that time.” scottsdalemuseumwest.org

Charles M. Russell, The Waterhole, 1906, oil on panel; Petrie Collection, Denver, Colorado.

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G R A C E

R E N E E

G A L L E R Y ’ S

F E B R U A R Y

E V E N T

FEATURING

MICHAEL SWEARNGIN CONTEMPORARY COWBOY ARTIST

Meet Michael at the gallery’s February event. Fall in love with this nationally acclaimed artist’s contemporary take on classic Western subjects. Grace Renee Gallery Historic Spanish Village | 7212 E. Ho Hum Rd. # 7 | Carefree, AZ 85377 480.575.8080 18

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CONTEMPORARY

ART

GALLERY

CAREFREE

ARIZONA

THURSDAY

February 7 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Appetizers and refreshments served.

ABOVE :

LEFT PAGE :

“As the Crow Flies III” 30” by 30”

“As the Crow Flies I” 30” by 30”

GraceReneeGallery.com j anuary 2019

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COMMUNITY

2019 JANUARY

Writers Amanda Christmann

Jan. 18–Feb. 11

MAX HAMMOND: AN HOMAGE TO FRANZ KLINE Abstract impressionist Max Hammond honors Franz Kline, one of his early influences. Artist reception Jan. 18, 6–8 p.m. Free. Bonner David Galleries, 7040 E. Main St., Scottsdale. 480-9418500; bonnerdavid.com

Jan. 5, 6

A MOZART CELEBRATION Phoenix Symphony principal clarinetist Alex Laing commands the stage in this all-Mozart concert featuring the composer’s luminary “Clarinet Concerto,” bookended with Mozart’s

ticket pricing. ASU Gammage, 1200 S. Forest Ave., Tempe. 480-965-3434; asugammage.com

Jan. 10

BUFFALO BASH Buffalo Collection will be serving Buffalo

Jan. 9

SILENT NIGHT: A WWI MEMORIAL IN SONG Arizona Opera is proud to present

masterful “Overture to Don Giovanni”

baritone John Brancy and pianist

and the exuberant “Jupiter.” $30–$149.

Peter Dugan in a moving recital

Phoenix Symphony Hall, 1 N. 1st St., Ste.

commemorating WWI. Pay homage

200, Phoenix. Sat. 7:30 p.m.; 2 p.m. Sun.

to the centennial of the end of this

602-495-1999; phoenixsymphony.org

terrible conflict through performance

Buzz signature craft cocktails and delectable hors d’oeuvres. Come browse the furniture, art and collectibles to live music and more. Free. 7044 E. Fifth Ave., Scottsdale. 5:30–8 p.m. 480-946-3903; buffalocollection.com

Jan. 11, 12

of works by composers who lived

GRAND CANYON SUITE: AN HD EXPERIENCE

through, fought in and died in the

Phoenix Symphony celebrates the

Great War. Adults $10; students $5.

National Park’s 100-year anniversary

Central United Methodist Church,

with Westwater Arts high-definition

Tony Award-winning Broadway legend

1875 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. 7 p.m.

images of the Grand Canyon projected

Betty Buckley stars in this Broadway

602-266-7464; azopera.org

above the orchestra. See website for ticket

Jan. 8–13

HELLO DOLLY!

favorite. See website for schedule and

pricing. Phoenix Symphony Hall, 1 N. 1st St., Ste. 200, Phoenix. 7:30 p.m. 602-4951999; phoenixsymphony.org

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Jan. 24–March 31

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DOC HOLLIDAY True West executive editor and local favorite Bob Boze Bell will launch the third edition of "The Illustrated Life And Times Of Doc Holliday" at Cattle Track Arts Compound. The exhibition will include 16 of his original gouache paintings and will be on display through March 31. Cattle Track Arts Compound, 6105 N. Cattletrack Rd., Scottsdale. cattletrack.org

Jan. 11–March 24 ARIZONA FINE ART EXPO

everyone and is sure to please. See website for schedule and pricing. 16601 N. Pima Rd., Scottsdale. 480421-6694; barrett-jackson.com

Jan. 16–19

RUSSO AND STEELE CAR AUCTION

Enjoy a mix of contemporary and

One of the largest auto auctions in the

Western artists from as far away as

nation, the much-anticipated Russo

Israel and Zimbabwe. Glass blowing classes and demonstrations in the sculpture garden. Season passes $10;

Jan. 13

BACH FESTIVAL BAROQUE TRIO

and Steel Car Auction comes to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Resort. See website for admission. 7555 N.

Three prestigious musicians in the

Pima Rd., Scottsdale. 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

under 12 free. Free parking. 26540 N.

historical instrument performance

602-252-2697; russoandsteele.com

Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale. 10 a.m.–6

field will open the 10th anniversary

p.m. arizonafineartexpo.com

Arizona Bach Festival for a

seniors and military $8; children

truly inspired afternoon. $21/

Jan. 12–20

BARRETT-JACKSON COLLECTOR CAR AUCTION

Jan. 18

Lincoln Dr., Paradise Valley. 3 p.m.

PILLSBURY WINEMAKER DINNER

arizonabachfestival.org

La Señora Scottsdale presents

advance; $25 at the door. Christ Church of the Ascension, 4015 E.

Winemaker Dinner, featuring The

If the rev of a muscle car engine or the

Saguaro Scottsdale Executive Chef

sheen of a newly polished ’55 Ford

Cesar Vasquez and Pillsbury Wine.

excites you, Westworld of Scottsdale

Five distinct courses; five distinct

is the place to be. This annual car

wines. $89, includes tax and gratuity.

show and auction has something for

4000 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale. 5–8 p.m. facebook.com/pillsburywine

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Jan. 18–20

CAREFREE FINE ART & WINE FESTIVAL Thunderbird Artists’ Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival features more than 155 juried fine artisans from throughout the United States and abroad and a selection of local and

Castro and his band. $33.50–$43.50. 4725 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix. 7 p.m. 480-478-6000; mim.org

Jan. 24

Jan. 30

SOCK MONKEYS: AMERICA’S LOVE STORY Artist, award-winning photographer

TRUE WESTERNER AWARD

and “Sock Monkey Lady” Dee Lindner invites you to join in the fun

True West magazine executive editor

of America’s red-heel sock monkey

imported wine for tasting. $10 for

Bob Boze Bell and publisher Ken

tradition. Bring your own to show

souvenir engraved glass with six

Amorosano will present the 2019

off! Free. Sedona Public Library, 3250

tastings; admission $3. 101 Easy St.,

True Westerner Award to American

White Bear Rd., Sedona. 6:30 p.m.

Carefree. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. 480-837-

screenwriter, producer and television

sockmonkeylady.com

5637; thunderbirdartists.com

series creator John Fusco, best known for Young Guns and Young Guns II.

Jan. 20

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MARATHON

RSVP to Ken@twmag.com by Jan. 15. Cattle Track Arts Compound, 6105 N. Cattletrack Rd., Scottsdale. 5:30–7:30 p.m. cattletrack.org

Downtown Phoenix comes alive with music and the sound of running shoes hitting the pavement. Full marathon starts at CityScape. Half marathon starts in downtown Tempe. Registration fee varies. No charge for

Jan. 26

DOGGIE STREET FESTIVAL

SCOTTSDALE PHILHARMONIC WELCOMES INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED PIANIST Internationally acclaimed Chinese pianist Qingqing Ye has been named artist-in-residence with the Scottsdale Philharmonic. After Ye’s initial

Life is “ruff” when you’re a dog!

performances, the orchestra received

spectators. See website for check in

Bring your friendly pup for music,

over 900 letters from the audience,

and route details. 7:50 a.m. 800-311-

yummy eats, vet tips, special guests

requesting that he be allowed to

1255; runrocknroll.com

and more. Free. Steele Indian

become a permanent member of

School Park, 300 E. Indian School

the group. He hopes to obtain U.S.

Rd., Phoenix. 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

citizenship and marry soon. The

doggiestreetfestival.org

Scottsdale Philharmonic will kick

Jan. 23

BAD MEN, BAD TIMES & BEAUTIFUL DOLLS Writing under the nom de plume Nicolas D. Charles, Dr. Gary Lindner presents the pulp fiction era, 19001950s. His insights into the differences between the pulps and the slicks, the authors, and the prevalent writing styles of that era are sure to please old and young alike. Free. Sedona Public Library, 3250 White Bear Rd., Sedona. 6:30 p.m. nickverriet.com

off its free 2019 concerts Feb. 10.

Jan. 28–Feb. 3

scottsdalephilharmonic.com

WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

This year’s Greatest Show on Grass lineup includes Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Gary Woodland, Charley Hoffman and Cameron Champ. See website for ticket prices and schedule. TPC Scottsdale, 17020 N. Hayden Rd.,

Jan. 23

Scottsdale. wmphoenixopen.com

TOMMY CASTRO AND THE PAINKILLERS Musical Instrument Museum presents blazing soul-blues rocker Tommy

j anuary 2019

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As a steady stream of people comes through the rustic wooden door at Tonto Bar & Grill, John Malcolm weaves his way through the bar. He stops at several tables, greeting regulars and out-of-town visitors—some with handshakes and hugs—and asks with genuine interest how their drinks, food and family are. Quick with a warm smile, Malcolm rarely comes to a full stop, appearing where he is needed and disappearing just as quickly so that guests never sense disruption to their relaxing dining experience. It’s a skill Malcolm has honed in a lifetime of restaurant work, and one that, after a quarter of a century in Cave Creek, most business owners would be happy to retire. For Malcolm, coming to work each day is about gratitude—a gift from a community that has more than welcomed him and his dream. “We’re starting our 25th year,” said Malcolm. “To me, it’s just about thanking the community for their loyalty. They’re the ones who have curated the longevity we’ve had.” In an era in which restaurants come and go faster than the flash of an Arizona monsoon, Tonto Bar & Grill has earned its status as a mainstay in the North Valley. With its fantastic food, beautiful views of Rancho Mañana and the rugged mountains beyond, and nod to Arizona’s Native American origins, it’s a destination. None of it is by accident—except for maybe the very beginning. About 35 years ago, Malcolm and Eric Flatt were working together at Pebble Beach Monterey, Flatt as a sous chef and Malcolm as a food and beverage manager. The two became best friends and, before wives and children came into the picture, roommates. The two came to Cave Creek for a golf outing at Rancho Mañana with Flatt’s dad, Dave, and his friend, Ron Allred, who had just purchased the resort. During the game, Ron looked at Eric and said, “You know, we’re looking for a guy to take over the restaurant.”

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Writer Amanda Christmann Photography by Bryan Black j anuary 2019

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Flatt and Malcolm, who had worked at restaurants on some of California’s most exclusive real estate, must have looked at the restaurant and shaken their heads. It was rough. The kitchen was tiny and the rest of the building was little more than a snack shack for golfers. There are moments in each of our lives that define the rest of what will come next. Had the two returned to California and left the desert behind, things may very well have been different, not only for them, but for hundreds of people. As it happened, though, the two returned a week later and decided to dive in, hoping that the community would receive them and their modern twist to ranch house cuisine—and they did. In many ways, Tonto Bar & Grill has become just as much part of the community as the community has become part of it. Staff members, many of whom have been at Tonto since the early years, would certainly have led different lives. Through the years, too, countless proposals, weddings, holidays and other special occasions have been celebrated in the dining rooms and on the beautiful patios.

A UNIQUE HISTORY More than a little part of Tonto Bar & Grill’s appeal is that its history began long before there was a restaurant, and long before the beautifully manicured golf course at Rancho Mañana existed. The ground that Tonto Bar & Grill sits on was once home to Native Americans, who hunted and gathered near a natural spring that flowed on the property.

j anuary 2019

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As ranchers and miners began to arrive in the area, skirmishes with Tonto Apaches in the area became more common. The U.S. Cavalry saw the need to increase their presence in central Arizona, and they soon made the natural spring, which would become Howard Ranch, a regular stop as they traveled en route from Camp McDowell in Phoenix to Fort Whipple in Prescott. After a series of bloody clashes between Apaches and the Cavalry, led by General George Crook, the Cavalry declared victory, paving the way for growth in Cave Creek and many other Arizona outposts. Forward to the 1940s. After World War II, Americans developed a taste for the romanticized notion of “cowboys and Indians.” Dude ranches sprang up throughout the West, and as quickly as roadways could be paved, tourists flooded to the desert for a “real” cowboy experience. Chicagoans China and Ted Loring and their partner Romaine “Romy” Lowdermilk, who was a cowboy musician and author, took over Howard Ranch in the mid-1940s. They renamed it the Rancho Mañana Dude Ranch, and soon it became the largest and most notable dude ranch in the state. The Lorings lived and worked at the ranch, raising their children while hosting stars and other who’s who of the area. Though kitchens and dining spaces have been added on, what was once their home is now the foundation for Tonto Bar & Grill. The charm of the Lorings' era remains, kept alive in part through photographs in the Grill Room, which was the original lounge area. Loring family members are captured in black and white riding horseback near what is now The Boulders Resort, as well as men in cowboy hats enjoying a campfire. The swimming pool that was built around the historic natural spring is also memorialized in a frame. Malcolm and Flatt seamlessly recreated the roughhewn wooden ceiling beams and saltillo tiles of the original restaurant. It’s easy to imagine ranch guests clustered around the fireplace as they listened to Lowdermilk strum his guitar and sing stories of lore.

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The ranch changed hands a few times before becoming a golf resort. Allred, who has also invested in the historic Hermosa Inn and Tubac Golf Resort, purchased it in 1994, not long before proposing the idea of expanding the restaurant to Flatt and Malcolm.

MAINTAINING TRADITION When Malcolm and Flatt set out to create a restaurant in Cave Creek, they wanted to do things a little differently. Flatt, who is a big fan of history, wanted to honor indigenous traditions by incorporating Native American methods of harvesting the bounty of the desert into its food. Several times a year, date palms, prickly pear, jojoba seeds, local pinion nuts, mesquite beans and creosote are harvested from the desert and used in many of the delicious, seasonal menu items. The chefs butcher their own high-quality meats, and every sauce, dessert and side dish is made from scratch with delicious layers of flavors that can’t be found elsewhere. Everything possible comes from local farmers, who also benefit from the restaurant’s success. “We found that, with mindfulness and care for the fragile ecology, the desert has a tremendous amount to give,” said Malcolm. “Like the Native Americans who occupied these lands long before we were here, preserving the land and the history here became central to our purpose.” Cocktails at Tonto are unique as well. The Tontorita is the bar’s best seller, so much so that Tonto Bar & Grill has become the biggest buyer of Sauza Hornitos in Arizona. Tonto doesn’t always stick to the expected in a Southwestinspired menu. Chef Kurtis Purdy puts a delicious twist on regional favorites like sand dabs, onion-crusted walleye, barbecue salmon, and German pork schnitzel—some of the restaurant’s most in-demand options. “We constantly listen to our guests,” said Malcolm. “I think that, where other restaurants fail is that they go in with concepts or ideas that don’t necessarily keep the guest’s preferences in mind. “We’ve tried to evolve into what the community is asking for. To me, that four- to five-month spring peak period is great, but it’s the other eight months of the year of taking care of the local community that makes our business whole.”

EXPERIENCE Tonto Bar & Grill

5736 E. Rancho Mañana Blvd., Cave Creek | 11 a.m.–9 p.m. daily | Happy Hour 3–6 p.m. | Sunday Brunch 10 a.m.–2 p.m. i m a g e s a r i z|otontobarandgrill.com n a . c o m january 2 019 30480-488-0698

A LASTING LEGACY On any given day, hundreds of customers, many of whom have come to Tonto Bar & Grill regularly for decades, sit down in a dining room that feels much like it would have a century ago and order a meal that they know will be outstanding.

Tonto continues to contribute to the community, as it always has, through local charities and events, but it’s what the community contributes to the restaurant that means the most to Malcolm. For him, it’s what makes every day worthwhile.

Now on their twenty-fifth year, things have only gotten better for Malcolm and Flatt. Flatt now lives with his wife and son in Bend, Oregon. To this day, he and his best friend Malcolm have yet to have an argument—an accomplishment that makes both men proud.

“When Eric and I brought our families to the tiny town of Cave Creek in 1994,” he said, “we couldn’t have known how much a part of the community we would become—and we didn’t know how much the community would become a part of us.”

The concept, quality and community remain.

tontobarandgrill.com

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Writer Amanda Christmann Photography by Terrence Moore

If ever there were symbols of the American spirit, it would be the diners, service stations and stops along Historic Route 66. Now long past its heyday, the Mother Road’s place in history, and shadows and memories of the midcentury American soul remain. The first road signs for the 2,448-mile route, which ran from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California, through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri along the way, were erected in the dirt in 1927.

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It was a year of innovation: Lindbergh piloted the Spirit of St. Louis through the first trans-Atlantic flight that same year, and “The Jazz Singer” opened in theaters, marking the end of silent film. The Holland Tunnel opened beneath the Hudson River, and the first trans-Atlantic telephone call was placed between New York and London. With so much growth going on, the creation of the U.S. Highway System in 1926 seemed only logical. After all, soldiers had returned from World War I and the economy

Williams, Arizona

was booming. The nation was in the peaceful 18-year interwar period, and there seemed no better time to create the grid work for a nation. Here in Arizona, Route 66 traversed 401 miles, putting towns like Holbrook, Winslow, Two Guns, Williams, Seligman, Peach Springs and Oatman on the map. Flagstaff was the largest town on the route, and it, too, benefited from the increase in traffic. By the 1950s, baby boomer parents found a different kind of dream in Route 66: vacations. Since the road connected

The most surprising thing to me that happened while compiling 'Rte. 66: The Mother Road' was that so many of my old friends got behind the project and truly made it happen. After trying to piece a book together for some 40 years, I had reached a point that I never expected it to happen. It has been a wonderful experience, and I must thank every single person who has helped make this project a reality. Terrence Moore, Photographer j anuary 2019

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Parks, Arizona | 1999

a large swath of the Midwest to the allure of Los Angeles, it soon became well-traveled by Ford Fairlanes, Chevy Thunderbirds, and a host of other powder blue and cherry red cars of the era. The Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater became major tourist attractions, and themed motels, ice cream shops, “Indian” outposts and roadside animal attractions sprang up along the way. Arizona’s cowboys, Native Americans, saguaros and lore of the West became bawdy icons.

Today, though the Mother Road has been replaced in large part by interstate highways, many of the neon signs, mom

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and pop motels, including the “sleep in a tee pee” Wigwam Village in Holbrook, and eclectic diners remain. Noted photographer Terrence Moore has spent much of his life documenting the Southwest. His photographs of sights along America’s most well-known road form the imagery for his and author Michael Wallis’s “Rte. 66: The Mother Road.” We are excited to share a few of these photographs in Images Arizona magazine. How many of these Arizona symbols of bygone days can you identify?

ROUTE 66 FACTS: DID YOU KNOW … U.S. Route 66 became the first completely paved highway in 1938. The steep, hairpin turns near Oatman made up the most imposing section of the route. Travelers often hired locals, who were eager to earn a buck, to help them navigate the road through the Black Mountains. John Steinbeck is credited for creating the moniker “The Mother Road,” a term he used in his novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” in 1939. The name has endured for decades. During the 1960s, throngs of disenchanted young people, lured by hippie counterculture of the West, packed into microbuses or hitched rides along Route 66. They, too, influenced the people and towns along the way, many of which became havens for artists and dreamers. Construction I-40 spelled the end of an era for Route 66, and for Arizona. When the final stretch of highway near Williams was decommissioned in 1984, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials decertified it—effectively making it cease to exist in all but remnants and history books. In 1999, former President Bill Clinton signed the National Route 66 Preservation Bill, providing $10 million in grants to restore and maintain the historic features along Route 66.

Ashfork, Arizona | 1976

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Jackrabitt, Arizona | 1978

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Flagstaff, Arizona | 2012

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER Terrence Moore is originally from northern Minnesota. As a child, he moved with his family to northern California where he fell in love with the desert. Years later, he made his way to Arizona—a place he has called home for much of the past 45 years. Having grown up along Route 66, there is something about the Mother Road that has always resonated with Moore. “I went to high school on it and lived on it or right off it many times,” he says. “It just is a part of who I am. If a road can feel like home, Highway 66 represents that for me.” “Rte. 66: The Mother Road” is one of several books Moore has illustrated with his photography. He has an eye for the large and small details that bring history to life. From neon signs to kitschy dinosaurs, he has captured a disappearing era worthy of preservation. “I’m happy to have my new book to share some of my experiences and places that grabbed my eye over the past 50 years,” he says. “It is a National Historic Highway and will soon become a National Historic Trail. It has charisma and will undoubtedly live on and on.” schaffnerpress.com j anuary 2019

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THE MAKING OF THE MOTHER ROAD

Winslow, Arizona | 1976

Route 66 was billed as part of a growing system of highways carrying people and cargo westward, connecting a growing network of towns to goods and services, but the route became something more before much of it was paved.

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When the Great Depression struck in 1929, waves of weary families from the Dust Bowl states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Texas made their way along the route as they headed for new lives in California. Ironically, their hard luck created opportunity for businesses along the route. Route 66 was responsible for a healthy share for the boon in mom and pop businesses. Family-owned restaurants, filling stations and motor courts popped up along the road. Because of the highwayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relatively flat topography, it also became a popular truck route. Though times were difficult everywhere, Route 66 ushered business to and from small towns across the West, keeping food on the table for more than a few.

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Among stunning displays of teal malachite and a sparkling spectrum of purple amethyst, a sense of tranquility seems to float in the air at Rare Earth Gallery in the heart of Cave Creek. Inside the doors is art of a scope not available anywhere else, and the medium is Mother Earth herself. In some ways, that peaceful feeling is by design: the contemporary new 9,000-square-foot gallery with both indoor and outdoor displays is carefully curated to create a natural and artful feast for the eyes. It’s the depth and breath of the brightly colored natural stones, hand-blown glass art, over 150 displays of jewelry and striking landscape décor that initially takes one’s breath away. Though they vary from the very large to the very small, some of the most impression-forming pieces are chunks of giant boulders, sectioned, polished and often illuminated to highlight shining inner facets. One can’t help but feel humbled and closer to the earth when surrounded by gems from within its depths. In other ways, the repose is serendipitous—a surprising development just as delightful for visitors as it is for owners, Wayne Helfand and Chad Brandfass. Over 40 years ago, Helfand began to develop his enthusiasm for earth art. He envisioned the creation of the largest natural art gallery in the U.S., making rare and unusual gems and minerals available to everyone, from new rock hounds to the most discerning of designers. Brandfass came from an entirely different background. He had a passion for the culinary arts. He graduated college with both culinary and marketing degrees, which laid a strong foundation for this exciting direction. When Brandfass and Helfand met, they soon recognized that their combined talents were more than a good fit; they were synergistic. “It was a brotherhood,” said Helfand with a smile. “It still is today.” With nothing more than a dream and a few dollars in their pockets, they set out to find and create something so unique that people would come from far and wide to see what they were doing.

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Writer Amanda Christmann Photography by Bryan Black and Bill Waters j anuary 2019

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“We wanted something that was not just a rock shop, and not just a home décor store; we wanted to create a gallery filled with art of the earth,” Helfand said. They created more than that. Together, they built a destination. Visitors come from all over the world, often spending hours appreciating the complexities and beauty found in each piece. It’s a passion felt by Rare Earth Gallery’s owners, and shared by those who walk the expansive floor of the gallery. “I started mining opals in Australia at 19 years old,” said Helfand. “It fascinated me—the mesmerizing things that came out of Mother Earth. I’m still mesmerized on a daily basis, and I get to share that with people who come in our doors every day.” “For me, this is a wonderful creative outlet,” Brandfass added. “I design and create concepts for many of the art pieces you see here. Instead of creating culinary flavors, I have the opportunity to create a visual taste, which generates a wonderful connection with our customers.” He added, “Art is such a personal thing, it is very rewarding to bring such joy to people.” From showroom design to concepts in art glass, Brandfass takes great pride in his work. Helfand, too, finds satisfaction in seeing decorative minerals and other finds go from the mine to the showroom floor. For both, it takes a great deal of imagination, know-how and finesse.

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dahl restaurants

cucinarustica.com 928-284-3010

dahlanddiluca.com 928-282-5219

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mariposasedona.com 928-862-4444 dahl restaurant group - Sedona, Arizona - dahlrestaurantgroup.com j anuary 2019

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“It’s a amazing platform to work with,” said Brandfass. “It takes vision and a well-honed eye to turn raw material into a work of art. We take great pride in bringing this art of the earth to a full-blown, finished creation. They find the most satisfaction in seeing others connect deeply and on an integral level with what they are doing. “So many times, people come in here and are moved to tears,” said Helfand. “We make art of the earth available like never before, for everyone. Not everyone is going to go to South America or Asia, or to the bottom of the sea or inside a volcano so that they can see these things in their natural settings. That’s what we have here. Being able to see it, feel it— and even own it if they’d like—can be a very moving experience.” Rare Earth Gallery is unique in that, from coarse boulders to cut and highly polished minerals, they offer a tremendous selection of indoor and outdoor home décor. There is something for everyone and at every price point, from new rock hounds to the most discerning of home decorators. Every year, Helfand and Brandfass travel to dozens of exhibitions and distant locales around the world to procure the best of the best in minerals and gems. In their mind’s eye, they not only look for natural beauty, but they see everything from jewelry to tables in the azurite, turquoise, malachite, onyx, petrified wood and other stones and minerals they find. They have the unique ability to see a stone or a boulder in the raw and recognize its creative potential. “We are always on the lookout for artistic beauty in the things we find,” said Brandfass. “It’s about having an eclectic eye,” Helfand added. “It’s about having the j anuary 2019

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wherewithal and experience to recognize a work of art when it’s in front of us.” It’s a talent, and a gift for those who appreciate and enjoy the love of their labor. Inside the gallery, creamy swirls of onyx, lit from inside, glow with warmth. A tabletop created from rose quartz creates a gentle calm. Brandfass and Helfand often collaborate with local metal artists to create displays that highlight the facets and intricacies of the natural art. Inlaid, backlit gemscapes combine fine metal work with brilliant stones to create an almost three-dimensional element to wall art, and Chihuly-inspired blown glass chandeliers fill spaces with a modern, completely unique style. From stone to glass bowls and vases made from colorful natural materials and an impressive selection of fountains, statues, tables, chairs and other one-of-a-kind works are a feast for the eyes inside Rare Earth Gallery. A significant section of the gallery—50 cases in all—is dedicated to an unparalleled selection of jewelry in every color and design imaginable. As beautiful as the necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings are, their cost is often significantly less than one might expect. Together, this pair is doing more than just selling stones and rocks; they’re bringing people closer to the earth in a profound way. They’re finding ways to manifest beauty—and joy—in their own lives, and in the lives of the thousands of people who have come through their doors. And that’s rock solid. rareearthgallerycc.com

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Writer Shoshana Leon Photography Courtesy of Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Montelucia

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Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Montelucia is known for its spectacular views of Camelback Mountain and its Spanish inspiration. From restaurants to private dining and special events, the Montelucia’s Desert to Dish program highlights Arizona’s local ingredients and farmfresh offerings prepared with international flair. The Montelucia, which recently celebrated its 10year anniversary, features nearly 300 guest rooms, the Moroccan-themed Joya Spa and Salon, three pools, over 100,000 square feet of meeting and event space, and a variety of dining options. The Montelucia’s food and beverage program is driven by Executive Chef Marcos Seville, an Arizona native. Prior to joining the Montelucia in 2013 as executive sous chef, he worked in kitchens at the Peabody in Orlando, Renaissance Glendale Hotel and Spa and Arizona Biltmore. “We believe our guests enjoy the combination of our unique flavors paired with the picturesque landscape,” said Chef Seville. “From the Spanish architecture to sweeping views of Camelback Mountain, Omni provides a true escape for our guests, and our culinary offerings really push the envelope in terms of experience.”

PRADO The Montelucia offers several dining options. The resort’s Prado restaurant offers Spanish cuisine featuring local ingredients in a communal atmosphere with indoor and outdoor seating, two private dining rooms and a display kitchen. Prado serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and offers special menus for holiday dining throughout the year. In 2018, Chef Belal Rajab was named Chef de Cuisine at Prado. Originally from Iraq, his passion for cooking comes from his mother. His culinary career began in Tucson as a butcher before he joined the Omni Tucson in 2008. He came to the Omni Montelucia five years ago to serve as sous banquet chef and sous chef at Prado. Prado offers Spanish favorites including a few varieties of paella, as well as salads, steaks, seafood and pasta. Prado’s tapas menu includes albondigas (meatballs),

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ceviche and grilled octopus. Guests also have the option to build a charcuterie board featuring Spanish meats and cheeses. On Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m., Prado’s guests can enjoy a tapas tour and get a taste of every tapas item on the menu. Every Sunday evening from 5:30 to 10 p.m., groups can enjoy a four-course, family-style tapas meal. Prado’s Mbar offers happy hour specials Sunday through Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. On Wednesdays, select bottles of wine are half price with the purchase of two or more tapas. There is live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, as well as Sunday mornings. Mbar’s signature cocktails include the Montelucia Caipirinha inspired by Brazil’s national cocktail; the Omni Negroni with gin, vermouth and Campari; and the Camelback Cooler featuring jalapeno-infused tequila and cilantro.

CENTRO TAQUERIA The Montelucia’s Centro Taqueria restaurant highlights authentic Mexican cuisine with ingredients supplied by farms across Arizona. Chef de Cuisine Laura Gonzalez began her career at the Montelucia in 2014 as a cook at Prado. The menu at Taqueria Centro is inspired by her upbringing in San Luis, Mexico, a small town on the border of Arizona and Mexico. A graduate of the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, she previously worked at the Herb Box. In 2018 she won Food Network’s popular “Chopped” cooking competition show. Mexican favorites on the menu include street corn, chicken mole and a variety of tacos, from fish and carne asada to squash blossom and chicken tinga. The beverage menu includes sangria, craft beer, wine, margaritas and cocktails. Centro Taqueria hosts Taco Tuesday and Thirsty Margarita Thursday during which guests can get a complimentary salsa trio with the purchase of two margaritas. On Sundays, guests can customize their own bloody Mary and enjoy selections from Centro Taqueria’s game day menu featuring Maker’s Mark barbecue pork ribs, Maker’s Mark barbecue chicken

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flatbread and Buffalo Effen Vodka cauliflower fritters.

CHEF’S KITCHEN In addition to its restaurants, the Montelucia has an indoor/outdoor chef’s kitchen featuring high-end appliances and a 2,500-square-foot herb garden. The Montelucia hosts private events and monthly theme dinners in this unique space. The monthly theme dinners give guests the opportunity to see chefs working in the kitchen and enjoy a multi-course meal highlighting local ingredients paired with wine or spirits. 2019’s monthly chef’s kitchen dinner series starts January 22 with courses paired with luxury champagnes. The February 21 dinner will feature wines from Frog’s Leap Vineyards, and the March 20 dinner will celebrate the flavors of spring.

ADDITIONAL DINING OPTIONS The Montelucia’s other dining options include the casual Crave Café market and the Joya Terrace featuring healthy options for guests at the resort’s award-winning spa. The resort also offers several indoor and outdoor spaces and culinary experiences for private dining and special events. “2019 is gearing up to be an exciting year for the Omni culinary team,” said Chef Seville. “We’re bringing several new enhancements to the Prado menu with refreshed flavors and bold dishes. Our chef’s kitchen dinners continue to grow, and 2019 will be sure to inspire diners with more influence from local farms along with bringing in internationally recognized spirit and wine vendors. “We’re excited to bring our guests energized dishes that will elicit exciting conversations and bring each and every guest back wanting to experience more of the local flavor.” omnihotels.com

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Enveloped by deep sofa cushions in his Scottsdale home, Max Hammond shifts nervously in his seat as he searches for words. I’ve asked him, in not so many words, to explain his art, and he’s struggling as he tries to articulate matters of the heart. His chocolate lab, Luke, is excited to have a visitor, but from the moment I stepped into his comfortable, rambling ranch, it’s clear that, courteous though he is, this is Hammond’s personal sanctuary—a place where an easy silence settles into the corners, and where solitude is a comfortable friend. The interior of the living space, once the home of notable Valley designer Lawrence Lake, is structured around a colonnade—a perfect gallery for Hammond’s work. Its studies in color and texture are a beautiful contrast to clean lines and turquoise pool standing in placid stillness just outside a large wall of glass. On the coffee table is a photographic homage to mid-century abstract expressionist Franz Kline. Perhaps a little flustered, Hammond uses this tangent as a starting point. He lifts the book and flips through the pages to show some of Kline’s stark creations. Like Kline, Hammond began as a figurative painter, focusing on figures and landscapes. Kline began his career in the 1940s by painting the colors and shapes of his coal mining childhood home; decades later, Hammond was influenced by the Great Salt Lake marshes near his rural Utah home. There was something about the abstract that called to each of them. In the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, Kline abandoned the form and structure of his paintings that he’d spent years perfecting, in large part because he’d become friends with other abstract pioneers, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Philip Guston. Together, the four would wax eloquently about art, existence and the relationship between the two at New York’s Cedar Bar. They discarded traditional ideas about both, each instead embracing his own progressively avant-garde style of abstract expressionism. For Kline’s part, he experimented with scale and eschewed color. Instead of fine art brushes, he began using house-painting brushes to make broad black and white strokes resembling calligraphy on massive canvases. He developed an oeuvre that bore little resemblance to the physical world, but that broke through artistic barriers in bold, new ways.

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“

I'm not interested in 'abstracting' or taking things out or reducing painting to design, form, line and color. I paint this way because I can keep putting more things in it—drama, anger, pain, love, a figure, a horse, my ideas about space. Through your eyes, it again becomes an emotion or idea. Willem de Kooning

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As much as Hammond admired Kline, and despite their similar artistic beginnings, his work took on a very different personality. While Kline’s stark black and white brush strokes reflect and elicit the angst and anger that underlied—and perhaps even undermined his life, Hammond’s work is far more complex. In fact, it could be argued that Hammond’s thick layers of color, thoughtful transitions and unexpected details, some even whimsical, are more emotionally evolved than Kline’s work. “They seem to end up rather quiet,” Hammond says of his art, glancing toward the floor through black browlinerimmed glasses. “I don’t know that I’ve ever set out to make them that way, but they seem to end up that way.” Sharing time with Hammond in his home, the difference appears obvious; it’s not so much a difference in technique or perception of art so much as it’s a reflection of the very soul of each artist.

Wearing a blue camp shirt and practical jeans, he measures his words before he speaks. His voice is gentle and his thoughts are deep. It is nearly impossible to imagine him in the throes of the boozing and brawling that Kline became known for. That simply would not be Hammond, or his work. Following his early Utah childhood, Hammond attended University of Utah to learn classical figure drawing. After earning his bachelor’s of fine arts, his eyes were opened widely during a trip to Mexico. He was struck by the vivid colors there—primary hues that seemed to form the very foundation of Mexican culture. When Hammond entered Arizona State University to study for his master’s degree, one of his professors noticed disconnect between his student and the art he was creating. “He said, ‘You like the color, line, texture and pattern of paint, but try dropping the figure,’” Hammond says. “So I dropped the figure.” He’d also held on to the memory of a photograph he’d seen years before of one of Kline’s pieces—a rare one that featured a splash of color—in a Time magazine he’d found in the library. “I was a young teen at the time, and it got me fired up for some reason,” Hammond says. “It made me feel something. I don’t really know how to describe it.” Those two impressionable moments became a fortuitous combination. They launched Hammond’s foray into abstract expressionism—one that would lead him to become a widely collected artist with work in the permanent collections of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Finova Corp., the City of Scottsdale, and the City of Mesa, among others.

Today, married to wife Michele, a city planner, and a father of three, Hammond leads a much more balanced life than Kline, and the “quiet” of his work reflects that. In fact, he often equates his process to the hikes he loves to take near his Scottsdale home and in southern Utah, where he owns 11 isolated acres of land. “Hiking is a great metaphor for painting,” he explains. By now, he is visibly more relaxed. “You wander around on a trail, and maybe you end up somewhere and maybe you don’t. “With painting, I get a little lost in my head, mixing colors and trying to make it feel right. The composition gets worked out along the way. One area might begin dark, but it becomes light … I scratch it off and put it back on. I just keep going until it feels right.” Based on his reception for the last three decades, he’s accomplishing that goal and developed a following doing so. He has dozens of solo shows, public art projects and exhibitions under his proverbial belt. For the last 16 years, in addition to galleries around the country, Hammond’s work has been featured at Scottsdale’s Bonner David Galleries. This month, he will hold a special show: an homage to Franz Kline. Kline is quoted as saying, “I paint not the things I see, but the feelings they arouse in me.” In this way, Kline’s and Hammond’s thoughts and purpose are parallel. “I want an emotional reaction instead of a thinking reaction,” Hammond explains with his dog now fast asleep on the cushion beside him. “I just want to make a little spot of quiet in people’s lives.” bonnerdavid.com

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Writer Amanda Christmann Photography Courtesy of Jessica Peterson

Sitting behind his desk in his busy office near Scottsdale Airpark, Kevin Sprague is in his element. With stacks of papers divided into neat piles, he keeps a growing number of projects organized in his busy mind. Richly textured fabric samples are stacked upon his desk, and newly delivered furniture sits wrapped in plastic just outside of his door. Two brilliant yellow chairs make a splash in the design room where two associates are busy at their desks. Fun and functional lights illuminate the space, and a long workbench covered with plans and ideas crosses the room. For Sprague, this is what being creative is all about. Sprague, owner and principal designer of Kevin Robert Interiors, is using this space to conceive timeless, comfortable designs that, after only five years, have already begun to make their mark among Paradise Valley and Scottsdale homeowners. Kevin’s affair with design began over 20 years ago with a successful art finish painting business. His outstanding reputation was born from a keen eye for color and his innate ability to translate this special relationship with color to a unique design aesthetic. This passion for design led Kevin to complete his certification at the American Institute of Interior Design with honors. Sprague’s own predilections tend toward mid-century-inspired design made contemporary through neutral palettes, matte finishes and natural fabrics like leather, linen and hemp. Still, he avoids pigeon-holing his work, and never insists that his clients conform to his personal taste. “My design style is whatever you want me to give you,” he says. His eyes form a smile behind roundrimmed glasses, and he continues. “Everyone has their own taste, but not everyone knows how to put it

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together. They’re afraid. I’m there to take the fear out of it.” Sprague’s journey into interior design came honestly. He grew up in Mesa, where his mother had an interior painting business. He went off to college at ASU thinking he’d become a meteorologist, but he soon realized he’d headed down a road not meant for him. Upon graduation, he returned home to help his mother with her business, eventually taking it over. Sprague found that the biggest rewards were the smiles on clients’ faces when he created a new look with designer finishes. Why not, he thought, do that on a grander scale? “Seven years ago, I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” he says. “I closed my painting business and went back to school at the American Institute of Interior Design. Now, here I am!” Sprague seems to have found his niche. Browsing through his designs, it’s clear that he listens to his clients. Though there is always a distinctively “Kevin Robert” flair to each project, whether reflected in a piece of art, a combination of fabrics and textures, or even in the simple elegance of a space, the designs are as eclectic as their owners. “I have an appreciation for all things beautiful,” he explains. “I tend to go for ‘timeless’ and I stay away from trends. Trends go away, and I like my designs to last.” Often, especially during remodels, that means creating unexpected mixes of old and new. Sprague loves the challenge of incorporating antiques or

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existing pieces into his work. Whether it’s utilizing a painting that has been in the family for generations or reimagining an existing sitting area, Sprague breathes new life into the rooms he designs. Functionality is at the center of what he does, but he manages to accomplish that by weaving a tapestry of aesthetically pleasing colors, textures and patterns. A Kevin Robert Interiors room is one that immediately feels warm and inviting—that feels like home. He uses colors and artwork with a rare panache, sometimes whimsically, as with a rug he chose for a vacation rental printed with bold orange slices. While his clients love the seeming spontaneity in his designs, nothing is truly left to chance.

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Everyone has their own taste, but not everyone knows how to put it together. They’re afraid. I’m there to take the fear out of it. Kevin Sprague

“I like to create beautiful spaces for people without falling victim to fads,” he says. “In remodels especially, I thrive on creating 100 percent transformations. “There is nothing better than sitting down with clients at the end of a project, enjoying a glass of wine, and seeing them smile in their new space.” Whether he’s designing a remodel, a new build, or a commercial space such as a med spa, Sprague seems to manage a balance of comfort and openness, and a natural combination of traditional and contemporary styles. For him, it’s art—almost a poetic effect. Through Kevin Robert Interiors, Sprague is living his dream. Still, there’s one project he hopes to land in his increasingly distinguished career. “I would love to do a restaurant,” he says, his face alight with ideas. “That’s where I could really go for it because it’s nobody’s personal space. Every time I go out to eat, I envision so many things in my head. It would be just a beautiful steakhouse, traditional, yet modern …” He trails off, then adds, “I know I’m not explaining that well, but I see it in my head.” There is no doubt that, whatever he has brewing in his mind, it will be wonderful—as are all of his designs. Between his attention to detail and his ability to conceive what others can only dream, Sprague is truly gifted. kevinrobertinteriors.com

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23.00 ct. Oval Tanzanite

Design Trends Thinking about redesigning your space? Although he likes to avoid trends, clients often want to incorporate contemporary elements. Here are some trends Sprague says are on the way out, and on the way in:

OUTGOING TRENDS Gray and white palettes Stacked stone Granite countertops High-gloss finishes Brushed champagne metallics Painted accent walls Bold wall colors Stark whites Tuscan design Heavy, dark woods

THE NEXT BIG THINGS Textured or flocked wallpapers Mixed metallics Clean, straight lines Natural fabrics Quartz countertops High-quality veneers on cabinetry Vinyl plank flooring Cream-colored palettes Small pops of accent color—think pillows Matte finishes Monochromatic, subdued, tone-ontone colors Walnut wood or veneers

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Paleo Chili My grandfather has been making this chili every winter for as long as I can remember. It’s a staple in my household now, as it’s the perfect hearty chili for meat lovers! It keeps very well in the refrigerator and tastes better a day or two after it is made.

Ingredients: 2 pounds stew meat 1/2 pound ground beef 1/2 pound pork chorizo 1 cup coarsely chopped onion 3 tablespoons chili powder (or to-taste) 3 crushed garlic cloves 2 teaspoons cumin 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano 1 32-ounce container beef bone broth 1 26-28-ounce carton or can diced tomatoes 1 cup cilantro, finely chopped 4 cinnamon sticks 3 bay leaves 2 green jalapenos, slit lengthwise 3 times each, but left whole Salt Pepper 1 heaping tablespoon yellow cornmeal, optional

Directions: Drizzle olive or avocado oil in large pot over medium heat. Brown meat in very small batches so it browns nicely rather than boiling. Make sure the ground beef and chorizo are evenly broken up. This step is very important. Store each batch on a paper towel-lined plate and set aside. Sauté onions in the accumulated oil until they begin to soften (2-3 min). Add garlic. Sprinkle chili powder and add the rest of the ingredients except the cornmeal. Stir well and add the meat back to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for least 2 hours, and preferably for 4 hours. Stir occasionally, skimming off surface fat, if desired. With one hour left of cooking time, add the cornmeal if extra thickening is desired. Writer and Photographer Kyndra Kelly

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Before serving, discard the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and jalapenos. Garnish with sour cream, cheese, cilantro or green onions if desired.

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Winter Harvest Salad A really tasty salad using all the best winter veggies! Both the salad and orange shallot vinaigrette can be made in advance and stored covered in the refrigerator until needed.

Ingredients: Baby butter lettuce Arugula Radicchio, shredded 1 orange, peeled and sliced Shredded beets (can be found in most produce sections) Butternut squash Pomegranate seeds Candied nuts

Orange Shallot Vinaigrette Ingredients: 6 tablespoons olive oil 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon orange juice (if you slice the orange over a bowl, you will have this much) 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon honey Salt Pepper

Directions: Arrange lettuces, beets, squash and radicchio in salad bowl. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and arrange orange slices on top. Mix dressing ingredients in screw top jar. Shake well and drizzle over salad. Top with nuts and enjoy! Writer and Photographer Kyndra Kelly

kyndraclaire.com

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S SA AN ND DE ER RS SO ON N L L II N NC CO OL LN N

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