Moab resident Roy Vaughan will display his baskets and pottery as Gallery Moab’s guest artist for August. Roy, age 85, has been a beekeeper since 1978, and a basket-maker for the past 25-30 years. He retired to Moab in 1991 when his sons purchased a local river outfitter business. In 2016 Roy’s wife of 63 years passed away, changing his life forever. He found himself looking for a way to occupy his time. In January 2017, he began attending ceramic/pottery sessions with Barb Gregoire at Desert Sun Ceramics in Moab, and he quickly took to his new hobby.

“I had wanted to try pottery for a long time and found pot-making very rewarding,” Roy said.

Later that year, in June, Roy attended a native clay seminar in Blanding conducted by Cherylene Caver. He and fellow attendees found and processed their own clay and made pottery by hand, an experience he found very challenging and rewarding. “Since the Blanding workshop, I have concentrated my time and effort on local clay and handmade pottery,” Roy said.

While Roy’s pottery and baskets will be available through August at Gallery Moab, selling his work was never his original goal. “I owe so much to two people for their friendship, motivation and support — both Barb Gregoire at Desert Sun Ceramics and Cherylene Caver, who conducted the workshop in Blanding,” Roy said. “I started working with ceramics and pottery at age 84, so I guess this proved you can teach an old dog new tricks.”

Gallery Moab is also pleased to present a small retrospective of watercolors and drawings by Arleen Tanner Ruggeri, 1921-2013. Arleen specialized in watercolor and described her work as a spontaneous reply to the Southwestern landscape. From realism to abstraction, her paintings related to music, and the beauty she saw in the world around her.

Arleen attended the University of Utah, where she received her BA in music and art in 1943. While at the U she was the piano accompanist for the Women’s Double Quartet. She also studied at the University of Mexico in Mexico City, and at Utah State University in Logan. Arleen Ruggeri married in 1943 and worked as a bank secretary until her first child was born in 1947. In 1954 she moved to Moab, Utah, where she continued to study and paint and in 1972 opened the Jail House Art Gallery.

During her long painting career, Arleen produced many award-winning works of art which were displayed in numerous juried exhibits and one-woman shows throughout the world. Many works are listed in private and corporate collections. In addition to creating art, Arlene served on the Utah Council for the Arts, the Utah Humanities Endowment, and the board of the Utah Arts Council.

Please join for us for a reception on Saturday, August 11 from 5-8 pm to celebrate the work of these two artists at Gallery Moab, located at 87 North Main Street. The gallery is open daily from 12-9 pm. Visit gallerymoab.com and Facebook.

Gallery Moab, located at 87 North Main Street, is open daily from 12-9 pm. Work by gallery artists can been seen at gallerymoab.com and on Facebook or call 435-355-0024.