Artistic Feast @ Feast – thru July 30, 2025

”Consumption,” my first Beast work-of-art painted on a poured abstract, was accepted into the Artistic Feast show juried by Tucson artist David Adix featuring works submitted by PaperWorks members. I photographed this mule deer munching on barrel fruit on a December walk up Tumamoc Hill.
Feast Restaurant
3719 E. Speedway Blvd, Tucson AZ
Restaurant hours: 11am – 8pm
Exhibition dates: March 30 – July 30, 2025

Consumption, 14x14x1-5/8-inches. Watercolor on a previously poured abstract on Fabriano Artistico mounted on a deep birch panel with a UV varnish finish.

More at Madaras Gallery

My space at Madaras has grown to accommodate two large imperial-sized works that have been among my all-time favorites, plus other succulents in my signature style – watercolor over a previously poured abstract.

If you come, you won’t see the Aloe Marlothii (top right) as it will soon be hanging in the home of two savvy collectors visiting Tucson from the Bay area. Thank you collectors and Madaras!

But do come see what’s new in my space, and plan to visit Madaras during their All Artist Show:
Wednesday, April 16 from 5:30 – 7pm.
3035 N. Swan Rd, Tucson
I’ll be there with many of the 26 guest artists represented by Madaras!

From top left clockwise: Celebration, 4, Aloe marlothii in El Presidio (sold), Agave americana surviving drought / 1, Agave franzosinii at Tohono Chul

See ‘40 for 40’ at Tohono Chul – February 13 through May 4, 2025

Celebrate Tohono Chul’s 40th Anniversary with an opening reception featuring works of 40 invited artists.⁠ I’m honored to have been invited to participate with these exceptional artists!

OPENING EVENT DETAILS: ⁠
▸ 40 for 40 | Opening Reception with the Artists⁠ is Free & Open to the Public⁠
▸ Thursday, February 13th⁠, 5:30-8 PM
▸ In the Exhibit House Main Gallery⁠

And if you can’t make the opening event, ‘40 for 40’ will be up through May 4, 2025. 7366 Paseo Del Norte, Tucson. See Tohonochul.org for more.

‘40 for 40’ is a benefit to help Tohono Chul to keep doing what they do best. I’ve donated these three blooming Echinopsis as my contribution to the cause! Come support this magical desert treasure!

Update: Celebration 1 and 2 have been sold! Thank you to these collectors for supporting Tohono Chul.

Clockwise from top left: Celebration, 3 / Celebration, 2 / Celebration, 1. Watercolor, graphite and spray gesso on Fabriano Artistico mounted on a deep birch panel with waxed finish / 9” x 6” x 1-5/8” / 2025.

An invitation to become a guest artist at Madaras Gallery

"Magnificent decay, east" and "west" are now on display at the highly acclaimed Madaras Gallery, 3035 N. Swan Rd, Tucson. Come to the debut showing of these two works of the iconic weathered saguaro that graces the top of Tumamoc Hill. Watercolor and spray gesso on a previously poured abstract, each work: 30” x 11”, framed: 34.25” x 15”.

I’m honored to be a provisional guest artist of this award-winning gallery! 

Update: These works have been sold as a set! Thank you to the collector for keeping them together.

Four more shows wrap up 2024 and welcome 2025!

From top left clockwise…
• ”Agave franzosinii at Tohono Chul” at Mariana de la Vega Art Gallery’s “Desert Dream” exhibition, Oct. 2024.
• ”Tiger aloe trio” at Mariana de la Vega Art Gallery’s “Frida & the Desert” exhibition, Aug. 2024.
• ”Rosa muerta, 1, 2, 3" at The Drawing Studio’s “Tiny Treasures” exhibition, Nov. 2024.
• ”Rosas muertas, 3" at Untitled Gallery’s “Small Works” exhibition, December – Feb. 2025.

Come see Untitled Gallery’s “Small Works” exhibition through Feb. 15, 2025.

Cactus Art Exhibit - June 14 - 28, 2024

An almost new gallery in town is having an exhibit featuring our gloriously eccentric flora ... the cactus. Come see my works and thorny things by other artists at the opening event at Mariana de la Vega Art Gallery & Studio, Friday, June 14, from 4-7 pm.

Mariana de la Vega Art Gallery & Studio – opened last October – is near the SE corner of Prince and Campbell: 1918 E. Prince Rd., Tucson, AZ. "Cactus" will be open Fri, Sat, Sun 12-6pm through Fri. June 28, 2024.

Come check out a new gallery in town, and celebrate the summer heat with art and cactus lovers.

top left clockwise: Saguaro with ten arms / Aloe vera unearthed, 4 / Santa rita prickly pear with blossoms, 2

STILLNESS – May 4 through May 25, 2024

STILLNESS, a juried exhibition at Steinfeld Gallery opens May 4, 2024 for Tucson’s 1st Saturday ArtWalk, from 4-9 pm. Also open the following Saturdays: May 11, 18, and 25 from 12-5 pm. Steinfeld Warehouse, 101 W 6th St. (9th Ave. & Franklin St.)

Come see my work, Tumamoc Hill, revelation from the the new series: Liminal Spaces where human and wildlife intersect at the edge of human development. Watercolor of Mule Deer on previously painted abstract on Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper. 14 x 14 inches. March 2024

Five works for Tohono Chul's "10 x 10 | A Fundraiser" March 9 thru May 26, 2024

10 x 10 | A Fundraiser opens Saturday, March 9 at Tohono Chul’s Exhibit House Entry Gallery. 
It's an invitational exhibit with top local artists offering a wide range of works no larger than 10 inches in any dimension. Each is priced at $100 and can be taken home immediately upon purchase. Displayed artwork will change over the course of the exhibition, with new works constantly being revealed. My five works are shown below.

FACE TO FACE ... an exhibition of Self Portraits

The Drawing Studio (where I monitor life drawing sessions on Mondays) has collaborated with Mariana de la Vega Art Gallery & Studio to exhibit a juried show of portraits and self portraits by The Drawing Studio community. I created a self portrait that reflects my current body of work, painting succulents on previously poured abstracts. “Self portrait with astrophytum,” watercolor on Fabriano Artistico cold press, 12 x 9 inches.

FACE TO FACE opening night: 4 to 7 pm, Friday, January 19, 2024, at Mariana de la Vega Art Gallery & Studio, 1918 E. Prince Rd. The show will be on display until Saturday, January 27, 2024. Visitors are welcome Monday thru Saturday 10 AM - 3 PM.

Self portrait with astrophytum

Four works to wrap up 2023 and welcome 2024!

• "Ferocactus covillei unearthed" at Untitled Gallery’s “Small Works exhibition,” Dec.–Feb. 17, 2024.

• “Agave parryi unearthed” sold at the 2023 Southern AZ Ronald McDonald House Party silent auction.

• “Agave franzosinii at Tohono Chul” at the Steinfeld Gallery’s “Glitz & Glam” exhibition in October.

• “Embedded.” at Artemiss Art Gallery & Event Venue’s premier exhibition “The Empowered Woman.”

A solo exhibition at Tohono Chul – 9/16 thru 10/22/2023

My exhibition, “Survival in the Sonoran Desert,” at Entry Gallery Project Space features 11 watercolors of succulents over pre-poured abstract elements, and eight assemblage works with grapevines and organics on cardboard.

I start each botanical watercolor as an abstract pouring that expresses the environmental conditions. Then I integrate the succulent into the pouring, allowing the botanical subject and abstract element to coexist – celebrating the symbiotic relationship between these unique plants and the harsh Sonoran Desert. The assemblage grapevine creations reference concepts in the cycle of life – rainfall, rebirth, and growth.

To visit the show, go to: www.tohonochul.org. 7366 N Paseo Del Norte, Tucson, AZ, (520) 742-6455.

POST SHOW UPDATE: Four collectors purchased six works of art from the exhibition. Special thanks to those patrons, and to Tohono Chul Gallery Curator James Schaub, Assistant Curator Karen Hayes, and the gallery staff and volunteers who helped!

DAYDREAMIN' – a show AND a sale!!!

In May, Steinfeld Gallery held a juried exhibition titled DAYDREAMIN’. And I had a work of art titled “She fed her daydream like the Ferruginous Hawk”. So submitting was a no-brainer. And now “She fed her daydream …” has a new home. Thanks Steinfeld Gallery for connecting my work with a savvy art collector!

“She fed her daydream like the Ferruginous Hawk” Graphite and ink on paper. 31.75” x 26”

The Drawing Studio, Community Foundation, and two botanicals.

The Drawing Studio held the debut exhibition of “Sixteen Summers” as a part of their January 2023 juried exhibition Celebration of Life. Then, in late February, it was accepted into the year-long campus-wide exhibition at Community Foundation for So AZ along with “Surviving drought’,” shown below. See both of these works in person in the large downstairs conference room on the CF campus through February 2024: 5049 E. Broadway Blvd., Suite 201, Tucson, AZ 85711. Contact info@cfcampus.org to schedule a time to visit the CF campus to view these botanical works for sale.

“Surviving drought 1” Limited palette watercolor on pre-poured abstract. 30” x 22”

“Sixteen summers” (Renamed: “Aloe marlothii in El Presidio”) Limited palette watercolor on pre-poured abstract. 30” x 22”

Steinfeld & Untitled Galleries – April & September 2022

In April 2022, I juried into the Steinfeld Gallery’s Celebration of Solitude exhibition with this figurative piece of @lifedrawingbarcelona model and contemporary dancer, Georgina, AKA: @gatxpsicodelicx. The painting now lives happily with a collector in Vancouver, WA.

“Absorbed.” Limited palette watercolor on pre-poured abstract. 15” x 22”

And in September of 2022, after I branched (pun intended) into painting botanicals over pre-poured abstracts, Untitled Gallery selected one of my works for their show STILL. This botanical was an Aloe vera gifted to me by a good friend. But several months after I planted it (in full sun, poor aloe), I uprooted it and gave it new life as a work of art.

“Aloe vera unearthed 1” Limited palette watercolor on pre-poured abstract. 15” x 15”

MAC Instructor Showcase – Fall 2021

The Multnomah Arts Center Instructor Showcase is November 5 – 29, 2021. Pop in and see what MAC instructors have created. See poster below for dates and times, then scroll down to preview one of my works in the show.

Even though I moved to Tucson this year, I was invited to join the show as a past MAC instructor. I have two figurative works of a life drawing model from Barcelona. One of the works, “Maria in lotus,” is featured here …

Maria in lotus.

MAC Instructors Showcase – Fall 2019

My first Instructors Showcase In the Multnomah Arts Center Gallery is up now through December 2, 2019. Pop in and see what our talented instructors are creating.

Vantages - a collaborative work with Jodi Lightner, watercolor, ink on Yupo.

Left: Austin. Liminal state. Right: Otter, Kaitlyn. Listening. Both works are from Hipbone Studio models, in walnut ink and watercolor on gessoed paper.

Our 15 minutes of summer fame ...

The June 2019 LO Monthly featured a few Festival of the Arts artists, and Jodi Lightner and I were among the selected.

Click here for the digital version of LO Monthly Magazine, June 2019

Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts - a juried exhibition

Artist's Vision: Landscapes of the Imagination

Come see select works – created in collaboration with Jodi Lightner – in Landscapes of the Imagination @ Lakewood Center for the Arts Upper Hallway Gallery. This exhibit features scenes from the imagination, and the improbable.

Show Dates: Friday, Saturday & Sunday, June 21 – 23, 2019
Times: 10 AM – 9 PM, Friday & Saturday, June 21 & 22
Times: 10 AM – 5 PM, Sunday, June 23
Where: Lakewood Center for the Arts, in downtown Lake Oswego
Address: 386 S. State Street, Lake Oswego, OR
Website:  Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts

Be sure to also see the Open Show @ Lakewood Center Pavilion Tent. Then cross the street to Art in the Park @ George Rogers Park for food, music, and over 100 artist booths. See web for easy shuttle parking.

“Cantilever” by Amber Vanhatala Stene and Jodi Lightner
To learn more about how we collaborated, scroll down to read the post: The Collaboration Process.

Multnomah Arts Center Callery

“The notion of self-similarity.” A two-person collaboration with artist Jodi Lightner, Multnomah Arts Center Gallery, Portland, OR, October 5-23, 2018

Artist's Reception: Friday, October 5, 2018 @ 7 – 9:00 PM
Show Dates: October 5 – 23, 2018
Where: Multnomah Arts Center Gallery in Multnomah Village
Address: 7688 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR
Phone: 503-823-2787
Guest Juror: Nim Xuto
Website: Multnomah Arts Center Gallery

"The notion of self-similarity." by Amber Vanhatala Stene and Jodi Lightner

Au Naturel – The Nude in the 21st Century

I've been selected to show three of my figure works in the 12th annual international show, Au Naturel – The Nude in the 21st Century. Below is one work from the show. Collectors of the nude, come see all 61 works from 41 artists.

Artist's Reception: Thursday, February 22nd, 2018 @ 6:00 PM
Show Dates: January 25 – March 15, 2018
Where: Royal Nebeker Gallery, Clatsop Community College
Address: 1651 Lexington Ave., Astoria, OR 97103
Phone: 503-338-2472
Juror: Arvie Smith
www.aunaturelart.com

Chrystal. Anticipation. Walnut ink on paper. Model from Hipbone Studio. 2017