September Splendor: A Show To Remember

A September Evening to Remember at Rowe Fine Art Gallery

As summer slowly fades into the sunset and before the hustle and bustle of fall and the holiday season is upon us, Rowe Fine Art Gallery encourages everyone to take a deep breath and revel in the beauty of this time of year. September Splendor: A Show To Remember opens Friday, September 6, at 4 p.m. Soothe your soul with sculptures, paintings and jewelry by the gallery’s award-winning traditional and contemporary southwestern artists, several of whom are celebrating professional accolades.

Congrats to sculptor/weaver Shirley Eichten Albrecht and jeweler Lesley Aine McKeown, both featured in the fall issue of Discover Tlaquepaque Magazine, which hits newsstands in September. In the article, Shirley and Lesley dive into their processes, complete with beautiful photographs.

We don’t want to reveal too much, but the artists were asked to divulge what makes their artwork unique. Shirley says, “I have always experimented and reached beyond traditional weaving, although I love doing traditional work. Many people have mentioned that they haven’t seen anyone do the type of weaving I do on my gourds. My gourd art is very sculptural, and I consider it fine art. Many of my pieces have a Native American feel. I can’t tell you why, but it’s what I see for the gourds. Gourds are earthy, and I want to maintain that feel in the sculptures.”

Lesley, too, considers her work fine art. “I make one-of-a-kind art jewelry,” she says. “Art jewelry is the exploration of traditional techniques in new ways, the expression of conceptual insights beyond that of simple ornamentation. This approach allows me to explore and create bodies of work within a narrative, to deeply explore those ideas and how I can express them in metal. I am not restrained by a look or style. I can make what interests me and am blessed with collectors that embrace my journey. It is liberating to create free from influence and industry standards.”

Shirley and Lesley aren’t the only artists seeing their work in print right now. Art of the West’s November issue includes a profile of sculptor Alvin Marshall, who was recently inducted into the Cowboy Artists of America. Alvin is currently hard at work on sculptures for the next Cowboy Artists of America show.

Speaking of publications and shows, painter Julie T. Chapman created the cover for The Event at Rebecca Farm’s program in her home state of Montana this past summer. The equestrian triathlon has been taking place since 2002. Julie has also been invited to participate in both the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Western Visions show and Cody, Wyoming’s Buffalo Bill show happening in September and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Small Works Great Wonders show in November. This isn’t the first time Julie has been asked to participate in these prestigious events, but she says it’s always flattering to be invited back.

Sculptor Kim Kori agrees. Once again, she’s participating in the Society of Animal Artists’ annual exhibition and tour. Her sculpture, On the Rocks, was on display at the Chicago Academy of Sciences Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum this summer. And her piece titled Rapid Transit (Master) has been juried into the American Women Artists 2024 Expanding Horizons exhibition at the Loveland Museum in Loveland, Colorado, happening September 14 through November 10.

Kim Kori isn’t the only Kim receiving accolades from the Society of Animal Artists. Kim Diment’s painting, The Twin Oaks Gang, was juried into the society’s 2024 exhibit, which opens in October is Sioux City, Iowa. The painting depicts a family of raccoons that used to reside in an oak tree in Kim’s neighborhood.

Most of Rowe Gallery’s artists are multi-talented, like Sedona resident and landscape painter Lynn Heil. Lynn won the Arizona State Poetry Society’s Member Contest in July in the free-verse category. Congrats, Lynn!

Congrats also to painter Dane Chinnock, who won both first place in the oil category and Best of Show at Phippen Museum’s 50th Annual Western Art Show and Sale, which took place earlier this summer in Prescott.

Last and certainly not least, Board Meeting, Ken Rowe’s bronze sculpture featuring seven ravens, received the Margaret Hexter Prize for creative sculpture during the National Sculpture Society’s 91st Annual Awards Exhibit. Board Meeting is currently on exhibit at the Indianapolis Art Center. In 2025, it will travel to the NSS Gallery in New York City.

In addition to work from these artists, September Splendor showgoers will see sculptures by Erik Petersen, Joel Petersen and Joshua Tobey and paintings by Jen Farnsworth, Gary Jenkins, John Rasberry and Amy Ringholz. Don’t miss jewelry from Liam Herbert and Jennifer Inge.