Old Pueblo inspires their art
By Gerald M. Gay
ggay@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.01.2008
Maggie Rickard and Mark Bloom put a lot of love into creating their homespun, handmade mosaics. Using their back porch in Midtown as a studio, the New York transplants work from sunup to sundown, meticulously assembling pieces of fine Italian glass into funky, pulpy, colorful works of art.
Rickard and Bloom, who drew inspiration from Tucson's Kon Tiki and Tiki Motel for previous mosaics, are among a growing number of artists who use the city, its people and its landmarks as their muse.
"We always manage to get shards of glass in the tips of our fingers when we work," says Rickard, 36, a former bartender. "We try to have Band-Aids nearby."
Aside from a little commercial illustration work, Rickard and Bloom live primarily on the money they make from their mosaics, regularly selling pieces — Tucson-themed or otherwise — at trade shows and over the Internet for $140 to $1,600.
Other artists have looked to shops like Bohemia a spacious emporium at 2920 E. Broadway, to sell their Old Pueblo-inspired creations.
Tana Kelch, a local arts supporter, started Bohemia with 20 contributors squished into a 700-square-foot space on South Park Avenue in 2003.
In five short years, the consignment store has expanded its operations to feature more than 200 artists varying from large-scale metal sculptors to painters and jewelry makers.
"It is important for people to see the work that Tucson artists do," says Kelch, 36. "We thought that this is something the people wanted. And there was a need for the artist to have that outlet, too."
Kelch says the store gets three or four artists a day looking to display at the emporium's new location, the former home of Austin's Old-Fashioned Ice Cream.
"Not everybody can go around to the craft fairs and the farmers markets to sell," Kelch says. "They have other jobs that they need to sustain their lives. But the art is something they need to do or they might explode."
The pieces that hang on the walls, stand on shelves and sit in cases at Bohemia vary from high-end and worthy of gallery showings to low-brow kitsch that Kelch calls "outsider art."
Stu Jenks, a nocturnal photographer who turns scenic landscapes from across the Southwest into surreal shots using special lighting and camera effects, has been selling through Bohemia for years.
Jenks said at one point he was making a killing on the Internet, back in the late 1990s, when the online world was still evolving and before every Tom, Dick and Picasso had a Web site.
Now, he sells more locally, thanks to shops like Bohemia and to open studio tours, one coordinated by the Tucson Pima Arts Council and the other by the Warehouse Arts Management Organization. The twice-a-year tours take customers right by his workspace at West Fifth Street and North Seventh Avenue.
"The studio tours help out a great deal," Jenks said. The next studio tour will be held May 10-11. "Last year, we had two tours, and I probably made 50-60 percent of my sales just through the contacts I made there."
Rand Carlson, a tin-collage artist with a workspace on West Sixth Street, is also a fan of the open studio tours.
Carlson uses recycled tin and letters from the nameplates of junked cars to create collages that reflect local landmarks and landscapes.
In town, his work can be seen at Tohono Chul Park, the Tucson Botanical Gardens and Hotel Congress. But he also has art hanging in galleries across the country.
Carlson, 58, says that sales have been steady, despite the economy's recent downturn. He regularly sells collages for $100 to $900 each.
"I keep expecting it to let up," Carlson says. "Art is not really like milk and bread. It is like milk and bread for the soul, but it can get bumped for a tank of gas, for instance."
June Aguayo, 81, looks to local festivals such as Tucson Meet Yourself and the Tucson International Mariachi Conference to sell her Old Pueblo art.
A former fine-art painter, Aguayo turned to creating painted wooden statues, about the size of a 20-ounce soda bottle, shortly after moving to town.
She paints her statues to resemble Tucson icons such as Lalo Guerrero, Congressman Raúl Grijalva and Linda Ronstadt, as well as assorted characters that reflect her Nordic heritage.
"Raúl bought about six different figures," Aguayo says. "Every time Ramona (Grijalva) comes to one of my shows, I get big hugs and kisses."
Shannon Riggs and DeeDee Koenen have been doing so well with their handmade art business, DDco Design, they're on the verge of expanding from their backyard in Midtown to the basement space below the Surly Wench Pub on North Fourth Avenue.
"We are busting at the seams in our house right now," says Riggs, 37.
DDco's mix of kitschy furniture, magnets, plaques and other items sporting decorated Tucson signs, Mexican wrestlers and other pulp art images are top sellers at Bohemia and have made their way into stores in Texas, California, Michigan, Canada and along the East Coast.
Riggs refers to what they do as Barrio Art, a style that reflects the region's unique flavor and attitude.
"A lot of it is the influence from being in a border town," Riggs said. "This is something that is very uniquely Tucson. When we do the street fair, people always know that we are from here in town."
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