The Secret to a Happy Life

a condensed, easy-to-read philosophy gleaned from ancient times
By Allan Mardon

Isn’t this what we all need? Wackiness and spirited humor from Gallery MAR artist Allan Mardon. Mardon is a veteran painter of desert landscapes, horses, buffaloes, and the Indians that lived with them. He is probably best known for his work “The Battle of Greasy Grass,” which depicts Custer’s “last stand” and is featured in the permanent collection of the Whitney Gallery of Western Art. Of his work, Mardon says, “People find my painting themes and style available to them but perhaps don’t know why. It may be because of the traditional elements I use that are archetypal. I combine the simple visual approach of man’s earliest art with the roaming layout of ancient tapestries and murals.”

“I have reduced thousands of books written on this subject into a stunningly economical work. This is not a full self-help book but yet more of a spoof.” For book purchase information, click here.

We just received new new paintings by Mardon, which you can view in the gallery or online. To see more artworks by Allan Mardon, visit his artworks page.

A Private Evening celebrating “Native Species” by William Morris

Saturday, December 6th at 6:30 p.m.

The Colony, Park City.

Polly and Buzzy Stasser, along with the Kimball Art Center, bring you a discussion of glass artist William Morris’ “Native Species” exhibition of 38 glass vessels. This art talk is led by Linda Turner, curator of the George R. Stroemple Collection. Following will be a screening of the film “Creative Nature” by John Andres.

Tickets are $100 per person and you can reserve your tickets by contacting Michelle at the Kimball Art Center: events@kimball-art.org or 435-649-8882. All proceeds from this special event support the Kimball Art Center’s education and exhibition programming.

A little background on William Morris, excerpted from Regina Hackett:

When William Morris went to school at California State University at Chico, he fell in love with the potter’s wheel and the old gas furnaces that brought the surface of his ceramics to life. He might be a potter still if he hadn’t been diverted by the studio glass movement in the 1970s and showed up to study at a new glass school in the Pilchuck woods outside of Stanwood, Washington.

To pay tuition, he drove the Pilchuck truck. Dale Chihuly was one of his first passengers, and Morris soon became a key member of the Chihuly team. After Chihuly’s loss of an eye and later, a shoulder injury, it was Morris’ rock steady presence that helped convince Chihuly he could continue to forge his own aesthetic without blowing glass himself. “I was never as good (a glass blower) as Billy,” Chihuly said later.

Ultimately, “Native Species” is a result of [collecting experiences], what he has seen walking through forests and hiking through deserts, combined with what he has learned from art history and anthropological museums: Nature direct and nature filtered through cultural history.

Shawna Moore’s encaustic work at Gallery MAR

Don’t consider your own fine art appraising until it’s too late. In the past few years I’ve seen many clients who have had the misfortune of house fires, floods, and thefts. Always ask your gallery for a fine art evaluation and receipt with every purchase you make, and keep all of these documents in a safe, fire-proof place. Send copies to your insurance company, and take photos of your works and document in which home your pieces are placed.

Local gallerista and Parkite Melissa Soltesz owns Soltesz Fine Art Consulting, a Fine Art Appraisal business in Park City. In our state, we have very few qualified fine art appraisers. I highly recommend Soltesz’s services to my clients and friends.

A message from Soltesz: “We all share a love of art and have spent years and/or even a lifetime building our art collection, however we frequently overlook its protection until something terrible happens.  Enlisting the services of Soltesz Fine Art Consulting will ensure that you have a qualified appraiser value your collection.   With an appraisal for insurance coverage your artwork will be protected in the event of a disaster and your mind set at ease.”

Soltesz has worked in the art industry for thirteen years, here in Park City and in New York City, has a BA degree in art, and completed the Certificate Program for Appraisal Studies in Fine and Decorative Arts at the University of California in Irvine. UC Irvineʼs program is the only one on the west coast affiliated with the esteemed American Society of Appraisers.

Call the gallery for more information, or contact Melissa Soltesz directly at 435-901-0961 or at solteszfineart@yahoo.com.

Anderson wins People’s Choice award in San Luis Obispo

Gallery MAR artist Scott Lloyd Anderson was one of 53 artists who participated in the San Luis Obispo  Art Center’s Plein Air Festival during the first week of October. His painting, Morning on Estero Bay (left), was voted People’s Choice by attendees to the gala event. Before returning home to Minneapolis, Scott and fellow painter, Mike Rada, spent some time painting at spectacular Big Sur (photo below).

“My practice incorporates the use of the prismatic color palette, an emphasis on accurate draftsmanship, and ideas about composition learned during my years as an art director. My paintings are impressionistic in that they describe the unique character of a particular day’s weather and light, and realistic in their desire to show the world as it is. In addition, I use the language of landscape to express abstract notions about color, form, design—and simply for the pleasing texture of paint on canvas.”

1st Place and People’s Choice award in Grand Marais, Michigan

In August, Scott participated in a plein air event at the Grand Marais Art Colony on the North Shore of Lake Superior. His painting won the top prize in the painting category and was voted the favorite by fellow painters and visitors of the show. He also won top prize in both 2005 and 2004.

Upcoming events for this plein air painter include the Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational October 16-19 in Laguna Beach, California and the Plein Air Painter of the West member’s show in Monrovia, California.

To read the full article, view our Press page or call the gallery for your own copy. Want to offer your home-for-trade to these enterprising artists? Visit their Craiglist advertisement for more information. See artwork by Penelope Moore and Aaron Memmott at Gallery MAR today.

Penelope Moore, “Nothing Better” Oil

Aaron Memmott, “The Helper” Oil

Second homes: Park City is Just a Hop, Skip and a Ski Slope Away [excerpted below]

By Larry Olmsted, Special for USA TODAY October 9, 2008 Photo by Dan Steinberg, AP Photo

With ski towns, getting there is rarely half the fun. Many, like Aspen and Telluride, are hours from a major airport. Moreover, small mountain-town airports operate at the whims of nature.

But the ski resorts surrounding Salt Lake City are the most accessible in North America, a city-bus ride away from a major hub airport that rarely closes. Three of the biggest Utah resorts can be found in one place: historic Park City.

“We moved here 28 years ago from Laguna Beach,” says Ann MacQuoid of Chin MacQuoid Fleming Harris, Utah’s top Prudential real estate agent for many years. “We came then for the same reasons people come here now: We were skiers who went to Colorado or Tahoe but found we could get on a plane in Orange County and be here 2½ hours later. This is what has made Park City so popular. That, combined with the really successful Winter Olympic Games in 2002, started a huge upward curve in second-home sales.”

Many Olympic facilities are still widely used, and visitors can bobsled, luge, speed skate and even try their hand at ski jumping and biathlon. Cross-country skiing abounds; in summer, biking and hiking are hugely popular, as is fly fishing, golf and boating on Jordanelle Reservoir.

But by far the main draw is a trio of world-class ski resorts: Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons.

Park City began as a thriving silver mining town in 1869, and though the full-time population has shrunk to about 7,400, the town issues more than 1.3 million daily lift tickets every winter. The other huge draw is the annual Sundance Film Festival.

The very walkable downtown, known as Old Town, is on the National Historic Register and filled with restaurants, shops and galleries [like Gallery MAR at 580 Main].

This combination of small-town charm, ample dining and shopping choices and especially convenience have made Park City somewhat unique: Essentially a suburb of Salt Lake City, it has attracted significant numbers of residents who live the mountain lifestyle and commute into the city for work, the opposite of nearly every other ski town.

Best for: Frequent visitors seeking easy, reliable access. Claim to fame: Host of 2002 Winter Olympics and annual Sundance Film Festival. Don’t miss: Ski Utah Interconnect Tour (skiutah.com), a guided excursion to six resorts in one day — without taking off your skis. Getting there: Salt Lake City International Airport is 37 miles away. Tourism information: parkcityinfo.com

I had a difficult time finding parking, and I’ll admit to finally coming to stop in a “No Parking at Any Time” spot. The sign was faded and bent a bit, so I figured it didn’t carry as much weight. Bad parking Karma aside, the opening of the Bridge Academy was quite an art party. And their own sign is bright, loud and clear: “Bridge Academy.”

Artists, students, gallery owners, and locals squeezed into the spacious, three story building last night at 146 W. 600 S. in Provo, Utah. Throughout the building, artists stood painting and drawing at easels and chatting with guests. There are many nooks and interesting spaces in the building, and you can tell that the renovations have been extensive. It was inspiring to see how excited the Academy’s founders are as they greeted everyone warmly with hugs and gave tours throughout the building.

The instructors and co-founders are Jeff Hein, Justin Taylor, Sean Diediker and Ben McPherson, all primarily figurative painters. They have a very exciting message for the art community: “It seems that in today’s largely subjective world of art, many ‘artists’ lack the academic skills required to open their work up to limitless possibilities. Oftentimes, frustrated young artists attempt to express themselves early on before they have mastered the craft in which they have chosen to work. In so doing, they create boundaries that, ironically, permanently hinder their freedom of expression.”

The structure of the Academy is based on strengths that each founder has discovered from attending various institutions and their own art training. Each student is given access to a personal studio area, much like the 19th century Academies. The students are given assignments in still life, cast drawing and painting, and live model and perspective drawing. In Provo, this might be the only opportunity to work with a live model, to capture the human form and anatomy. Kudos to the Academy for elevating the human body as an art form, and recognizing the beauty in the natural figure.

I will have a chance to revisit the Academy in November when I will speak to the students about my experiences in the business world of art. Hopefully, I’ll find better parking.

Need a little extra jolt? We all do, some of us daily… or twice daily… or five times daily… you know who you are! Gallery MAR presents its private blend of coffee, Cafe MAR. Bargreen’s Coffee brings us both a dark and medium roast, roasted in the original, first commercial roaster in Washington state. A little history:

Bargreen Coffee Company, one of the oldest and finest coffee firms, was founded in 1898 by Sam Bargreen. He learned the coffee business from his uncle in Chicago, Illinois and during this time of apprenticeship, he lived for a time in Guatemala. Sam moved to the Seattle area over 110 years ago, at which time he was a partner in a commercial importing company where he became a “roaster”. In time he acquired the Imperial Tea Company as his one-third of the original partnership in the year of 1898.

During the years of building the company and being the “buyer”, Sam Bargreen had the opportunity to again visit in Latin America for a time and thus learned to use “Brazilians”, “Colombians” and “Centrals” for his coffee blends. Each was roasted separately and then hand blended in the “Jabez” blender — which is currently on display at the Bargreen Coffee Company Museum, located at 2817 Rucker, Everett, Washington. 

The company has been handed down from father to son over the years, as have been the recipes and traditions. Along the way, however, progress warrants new recipes and traditions have been incorporated along with the old ones. The company had been able to maintain its “small company feeling” and still puts the customer at No. 1 today and always. Bargreen Coffee has been here many years and will continue to serve the customers of yesterday, today and tomorrow, with the same great service, product and customer-need awareness.

Collectors and friends of the gallery are invited to try this special blend. Stop by the gallery for your own taste and visit Bargreen Coffee’s website to learn more.