The 8th Annual Artist Studio Tour invites the creative curious, shoppers and talkers (who love to learn) into the studios of professional artists in Estes. Sixteen local artists with 4 additional guest artists will open their home studios to demonstrate their fine art and craft process including: woodturning, sculpture, furniture, ceramics, oil painting, photography, mixed media, handmade clothing, sacred garden sculptures, and more. The Estes Park Artist Studio Tour is Saturday and Sunday, August 17-18, 2024, from 10 until 5. Handmade items priced from $10 and up. There is something for everyone at this year’s Artist Studio Tour.
How do you “do the tour”? Find our interactive map on our web site or pick up a paper copy of the tour at Bear & Bee Makers Studio & Boutique in the Stanley Village Shopping Center or Elements of Touch Wellness Spa. Choose the route that best serves you; visit one studio or all sixteen. Some locations are right off the highway; others are up a dirt road. Information on each artist, examples of their work, and an interactive map can be found at www.EPStudioTour.com.
Karen Barnett Studio #1
Karen Barnett’s paintings and sculptures this year reflect her time exploring the Southwest as she wintered in Arizona and Southern Utah. Traveling with her horse, dog and cat Karen say’s “I have the privilege to ride and paint in some very remote and beautiful places. Her sidekick dog Tess stands guard as she uses her pastels to paint the landscape in front of her. Expressive strokes and vivid colors dominate her canvas.While in her home studio in Estes Park Karen creates abstract oil paintings and makes handmade tiles and sculptures as well. Large oil abstracts, framed pastel landscapes, small ceramic equine sculptures and ceramic tile for backsplash or wall will be available for sale.vkarencbarnett.com
Laura Davis Studio #2
Beauty is hidden in plain sight. My work is a joyful interpretation of the divine details which surround us. Reflections in dewdrops, peeling paint, beetle paths, wood grain, and patterns in natural or human-made structures are captured and highlighted by my lens.
Abstraction surrounds us, in exquisite compositions, with symmetrical or asymmetrical balance, fractal patterns, spirals, flower petals following Fibonacci sequence, Sacred Geometry and the Golden Ratio.
The act of creating leads to stories: beetle’s lairs, walls, and creative practice, The Beetle’s Way. Biophilic collage, tangled with Celtic knots. Mirrored photographs become mandalas. Compositions are created by the simple act of framing, or by detailed, organic journeys through line, shape, form, color and texture. www.lauradavisartstudio.com
Guest Artist Leah Simmons DeCapio Studio #3
Her one-of-a-kind pieces of ceramic art are handmade by Leah. Each piece is first shaped on a potter’s wheel or by hand. Leah then paints the entire piece black and carves the designs into the clay. Each piece is an original, no stencils are used! From here, the piece goes through a series of firings. She believes in the importance of adding beauty to everyday simple acts–like a cup of coffee. Our hands are reaching out to touch yours, and that adds a bit more reverence to all of our moments!
Deedee Hampton Studio #3
Deedee Hampton is a diverse painter- she creates paintings in two unique styles. For the Tour, Deedee creates mosaic animals, flowers, hearts etc on rocks that can be put outside or in. She will also have prints of her paintings on canvas, tea towels, door mats, etc. and clay objects.
Her series of playful “Spirit Animal Paintings” are inspired by the animals she often sees near her home in the Rocky Mountains or while traveling. For Deedee, a Spirit Animal is an animal that either shows up in the flesh in a person’s life or symbolically in dreams, meditation or images to that person. The person feels a deep unique connection to that animal. This animal (& there can be more than one) guides and inspires the person with its characteristics. The spirit animal is also a metaphor, often humorous, for someone or something a person relates to or admires. Hampton’s paintings contain mandalas in the background- they are the animal’s spiritual energy grids.
Her “Magic, Mirth, & Mystery Paintings” allow bold symbolic images to surface, telling stories about the inner landscape. Hampton is a storyteller and cultural commentator. She loves color, symbology and beauty. Some of her work is very personal, but much of it is a launching pad for conversations about contemporary culture and life’s shared experiences. www.deedeehamptonart.com
Cynthia Price Reedy Studio #4
A clinical psychologist by training, Cynthia has developed her art skills through a long series of workshops and classes. She has shown in several galleries in the Colorado front range area since the 1980’s and been the featured artist at the Art Center and Gallery of Estes Park a number of times. In addition, she has had one-woman shows at the Tab Gallery in Estes Park and the Estes Park Public Library.
Cynthia paints in watercolor, acrylic, and oils. She also does scratchboard and clay sculpture, providing her with a lot of variety. She loves to travel and paint on location which provides her with a deeper experience of the place than merely being there. In the studio, she does both realistic and abstract work. Art adds a special richness to her life. www.cynthiapricereedy.com
