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Guest Column: Williams art scene preparing for holidays

Kudos to local author Nancy Rivest Green, whose historical novel "On the Brink of Shards" has garnered second place for published fiction at the Arizona Authors' Association's 2015 Literary Competition. The 260-page work successfully melds the complexity of human relationships with the challenges of surviving in a Southwest during the era of pyramids, temples, warriors and human sacrifice. The book provides a fresh look at the desert-dwellers of centuries past.

Save the date: the 12th annual Holiday Craft Show takes place Nov. 28 at the Sultan Theater, 301 West Route 66 in Williams from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m with 30 artisans. Proceeds go to the SAVE-MTR (Meant-to-Rescue) animal shelter.

Another winning artist displaying locally is the multi-talented Jocelyne Shiner, who's equally at home producing wood and whimsical sculpture, watercolor and Sumi ink prints, block prints, and graphite drawings. Her latest conquest of local art competitions occurred Nov. 13, at the 15th Annual It's Elemental Fine Craft Exhibition at the Coconino Center for the Arts, under the watchful eye of the Flagstaff Arts Council. Her entry, a refined walnut sculpture, The Dance of Life, employed the natural features of the wood, including tree rings, with sufficient skill to bring home the Best in Show award from among some 40 contestants. A well-deserved win.

Joe Robertson is branching out. The master scratchboard artist, who has displayed from the beginning at The Gallery in Williams - and taken up a fair measure of their wall-space while doing so - has decided to swap 20 years of 40 shows per year for the relative calm of his own studio/gallery. The Joseph Robertson Gallery is now open at 238 W. Route 66 in Williams.

It's home not only to the full spectrum of startling scratchboard prints, but also to the works of a dozen other notable artists as well, ranging from Mata Ortiz pottery to colorful woven native rugs, to uniquely creative collages to mesquite furniture and a promise of more to come. In addition to his newly opened home base, Robertson displays as well in galleries in Tucson, Prescott, Taos and Yuma. Awards for his treatment of this 300-year-old European art form include the St. George Art Festival, the Artfest in Henderson, Nevada, the Tempe Festival of the Arts and the Phippen Western Art Show. More can be seen at Joesartgallery.net.

Mike Sheehan

Williams area artist


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