Leesa Zarinelli Gawlik
Leesa Zarinelli Gawlik
Artisan of Textile assemblages
2017 Artist Residency
Residents
Willowtail alumni
Bethany Bachmann
When I was a child I received an ET (think 80’s movie) award because I was always daydreaming and had my head “in the clouds”. I was extremely shy and introverted and didn’t really know what to make of the world around me. The language of color, images, and patterns for a long time were the only way I could fully express myself, feeling words could be limiting and unwanted. These characteristics still have some truth for me today but what I mostly take from it is the absolute joy, freedom of expression, intuitive nature, and exploration of emotions I am able to fulfill while creating art.
For Community Get Back, Bethany hosted Yin & the Female Form class In May 25th, 2018 at Mancos Library.
Bethany Backmann Contact Info
Lorena Williams
Lorena Williams
Writer
2017 Willowtail Scholarship
2018 Willowtail Scholarship (Collaborate with Suze Woolf)
Ilze Aviks
Ilze Aviks
Fabric Artist, Painter, Photographer,
2016 Open Shutter Gallery Scholarship
“I have visited Willowtail in summer-what glorious gardens and so many trees! Paths are lined with found objects ,bowling balls and upended machinery. But to be there in WINTER!!!! Willowtail deep in snow, the lake frozen, except for the aerated circles for ducks to find space to swim. The bare bones of trees. Abundant birds.
“The studio warm and light filled… a perfect place to spend days experimenting and thinking. Just yards away from a cozy bungalow stocked with fruit, coffee, eggs, a loaf of homemade bread and jam. Facing the lake. Ahhh. Such isolation and solitude is difficult to arrange in one’s “real life.” I was profoundly grateful to take my work to a place of contemplation and open-ended days. And, there were walks with Beau, the resident protector, to round it all out.”
David Holub
David Holub
Writer, journalist, playwright,
“My Willowtail experience — from conceiving a proposal to the actual residency to executing and realizing my project — was the catalyst for so many creative endeavors that did not exist nor would have been possible otherwise.”
David Holub
David, former Arts and Entertainment Editor at the Durango Herald and currently Editor of the new magazine weekly magazine, DGO. came to write a piece on bird watching with his father. He wrote a five act one person play in collaboration with Sarah Syverson. The dress rehearsal was in the Treehouse Gallery with many of David’s friends who are actors, musicians acrobats, writers and comedians. The play was then performed to a sold out audience at Durango Art center and the Sunshine Theatre in Cortez.
“David’s performance at Durango Art Center was fantastic! We raised over $570 toward a future residency. I think it also encouraged other artists to apply for this program and the partnership between Willowtail and DAC.”
Cristie Scott, Executive Director, DAC.
2016 Durango Arts Center Scholarship
2018 Willowtail Scholarship
Dan Groth
Dan Groth, Collage Artist, Painter
2016 Durango Arts Center Scholarship
“My residency at Willowtail was a transformative experience, where I was able to focus all my attention on art and the creative process. The solitude I experienced in the wonderful cabin, as well as the lovely natural surroundings allowed me to explore many sides of my artistic journey. Some of the experiences and personal revelations I had at Willowtail will reverberate with me for years.”
Dan Groth Contact Info
Judy Richardson
Judy Richardson, Sculptor from NYC,
2016 Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation Scholarship
Judy came to Willowtail as an extremely experienced, energetic and knowledgeable professional artist. As an already recognized sculptor, opera set designer, painter and teacher with boundless processes at her disposal. She was also very generous during her time here to teach a wonderful class at Mancos Library for children and gave a spectacular, successful presentation another evening. This was held in the beautiful Hanger outside Mancos owned by Tom Buffaloe. Many adults and children attended this presentation and were thrilled to share a glimpse into the life and work of this very established, talented and accessible women.
During studio visits with local community members, she eloquently and passionately spoke of the importance of maintaining the action and process of a piece, to keep it moving, without overworking the finished “product or work of art”. She stressed the life-source the process itself presents.
“I had expectations about my two week residency at Willowtail. I love the Southwest and looked forward to drawing, painting, and hiking in the high desert and canyon country.
When I got there I found a property in the hills with hand-built houses and a variety of gardens. My house was an old log cabin filled with antique furniture and every amenity I could have hoped for. The proprietress, Peggy Cloy, is effusive, helpful, and generous, always friendly and available. My studio was open, light-filled, and stocked with materials for my use. The property included a barn, garden house, and field house, all with lots of re-used materials and objects for my perusal. My time at Willowtail was a lot busier than I imagined, mainly because the surrounding area is so spectacular and filled with wonders, I felt an urgency to see as much as possible in the time I had.
The value of the residency to me is having the time to absorb the colors, textures, images and feeling of the place to reflect in drawings and sculptures, and to take with me for my work to come.”
Carol Meckling
Carol Meckling
3 Dimensional Mixed Media and Painting
“This was my first residency.The anticipation included “What if I don’t make good use of my time? What can I accomplish in a week?” However, the time immediately turned into a prolific, creative and exciting time.I already knew Willowtail was a special place, but I did not expect my work to grow and expand so quickly and easily. I still do not know exactly why this happens at Willowtail. The beautiful land? The energetic makeup of the earth it sits on? The nurturing hosts? The accumulation of creative energy collected over the years? A container is created for artists to create in ways they have not done before. One is filled with unimaginable creative freedom and energy to work.”
2016 Durango Art Center Scholarship
2018 Willowtail Scholarship
Suze Woolf
Suze Woolf, Seattle, WA. Plein Air Painter, Sculptor, Mountaineer, Scientist
Installation view of Twelve watercolors on torn paper. Trees are all from twelve national forest and national park burns
Epoxy resin and laser cut wood. from Lingua Larvae [Language of the Grubs] Series, inside book view
Laser cut wood , Max Block photograph, pyrography on wooden beads, linen thread, steel wire. Inside book view from Insect Killed pine beetle bored bark Series
Suze with charred trees at installation.2016 Artist Residency
2017 Willowtail Scholarship
2018 Willowtail Scholarship (Collaborate with Lorena Williams)
2019 Willowtail Scholarship
Kit Frost
Kit Frost, Durango CO. Photographer
2016 Durango Art Center & New Face Productions Scholarship
Whether capturing still images, recording time-lapse and video sequences or chasing the light at our National Parks, Kit Frost’s photography is emboldened by grand and intimate landscapes. Kit’s preferred work method is to explore landscapes over an extended period of time in order to capture the essence of each location throughout the day and into the night. Often found working with traditional film, digital and smart phones, Kit’s style is to capture the ever-changing and elusive light in front of her cameras, and her belief is that the best images are not created by the camera but by the passion and vision.
Kit Frost Contact Info
Ann Salviazul
Crystal Hartman
Crystal Hartman
Watercolor, Pen and Ink, Jeweler
Crystal came to study and record two of the wild bee trees in Willowtail woods. She began to study other bees and pollinators while she was here. The series of long [up to 25 ft.] scrolls on rice paper with watercolor are truly exquisite and ethereal.
“When I came to Willowtail I thought I would keep drawing [the way I did in my studio, cold, influenced by the harsh realities of the honey bees’ current situation], but the first day [of my residency] I went to visit wild honeybees and their warmth and the warmth of this place, the quiet, the way you can hear a honey bee from a long ways off grabbed my heart and everything changed. My whole approach to their story and the way I want to share their story is much warmer now.”
2015 Durango Art Center and Willowtail Scholarship
2018 Willowtail Scholarship