Arizona Desert Sketches
February 12 – March 16, 2007
Opening Reception: Tuesday, February 13, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Illustration Professor Sandy Ringlever will share a new body of work that was created on her recent sabbatical. Ringlever spent months in the Arizona desert, sketching directly from observation. Her numerous works from this period include pastel and watercolor pieces.
Sandy’s statement: “The 65-70 degree daytime temperature was about as perfect as I could imagine. Here I was, on the 11th day of January, away from the frigid winter weather in Michigan. It didn’t take more than a few minutes to thaw when my host (my sister Lin and an Arizona resident for 30 years) suggested a drive up to Cave Creek and the Horny Toad for dinner. We stopped along the way so I could record a quick pastel sketch of the first evening’s sunset.
I’d been in the pastel mode for a long time and I knew it wouldn’t be easy to make the break into pure wet media like I’d planned. A few pastel sketches later, and some combination pastel and watercolor mixes, I finally made the transition. I was not looking for perfection but instead an exploration of my own spontaneous impressions and observations of the colorful and intensely brilliant Arizona desert regions that I’d always been drawn to.
My three-month work schedule, 9-5, five days a week, yielded over seventy-five gouache on paper sketches, many completed on location.
I am grateful to Kendall for giving me the opportunity to pursue this new work.”
