Gallery Moab, a cooperative gallery featuring the creative talents of local artists, offers a cool refuge from summer’s blistering heat. It’s a colorful, vibrant gathering spot for artists, art lovers, and casual visitors. Our artists work in a diverse variety of mediums and each has a distinctive vision and style. Each month a different artist is in the spotlight, so there’s always something new, fresh and intriguing to enjoy.
In July, Deborah Mc Dermott is showing new and briefly seen work done over the past seven years expressing her version of landscape. In her acrylic paintings, linocut prints, and oil pastel drawings, she represents the landscape from a number of different viewpoints. Her subjects include eroded cliff walls, idiosyncratic geologic formations, topographic satellite views, and micro landscapes of lichen on rocks.
Born and raised in Utah, Mc Dermott studied art at the University of Utah and later, Queens College in New York, concentrating on drawing and painting the human figure. She made practical use of her art education by becoming an art specialist at a small independent school in Salt Lake City. From there she moved to Moab in 2016 to start a new later-in-life chapter. Wanting the earthy colors and sculpted landscape to influence her art, she explains, “When I came to Moab I became a rock lover. I find rock forms are like the human figure. They have volume and gesture. They stand, or recline, and have profiles that change with your point of view. They have physical integrity and presence.”
Fractured Face
by Deborah Mc Dermott
High Profile
by Deborah Mc Dermott
Scarface
by Deborah Mc Dermott
McDermott’s process of arriving at imagery starts with walking through the landscape and photographing lots of “ideas.” Photography has been an important tool for her. The photos are like sketches, helping her see and remember the colors, forms, and texture for use later in preparatory drawings. On her computer, she can crop and zoom in. She prefers to separate the experience of being present in the landscape on a hike from the actual working on the pictures she makes of landscapes. She is admittedly not a plein air painter.
McDermott says, “I feel these works begin to zero in on my visual and tactile sensations.” Never entirely satisfied, she keeps searching for new subjects, ways of looking at them, and how to paint them. She assures, “Making art has been my life’s work. I don’t think I get to retire from it.” That’s happy news for her admirers, who look forward to enjoying more of her unique way of experiencing our landscape!
Join us to meet McDermott and mingle with local artists and art lovers at a special reception on Friday, July 5, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Refreshments will be provided.
Open Sunday & Monday 12 – 3:00 p.m.; Tuesday through Saturday 12 – 6:00 p.m. One of the artists is always on hand to help you find that special gift or memento.
Call 435-220-0891 and we will gladly open by appointment during other hours.
Gallery Moab LCA • 59 South Main Street #1, Moab, Utah 84532 • 435-355-0024 gallerymoab.com
Moab Made spotlights the work of local artists in its Main Street shop by Sharon Sullivan
Rebecca McAllister opened Moab Made in 2016, featuring the works of 24 local artists. Eight years later, Moab Made, located at 82 N. Main St., carries a wide variety of handcrafted items from 200 different artisans.
And while you might find a few works by artists from other areas of Utah, 90-95% of the Moab Made merchandise is created by Moab artists, McAllister said.
“Tourists are shocked to see this many creative people living here,” she said. “People are pleasantly surprised and constantly amazed. Every single day I receive wonderful feedback from tourists who are in awe of the talent here.”
While ceramics and jewelry are popular items, the shop additionally sells prints, postcards, and stickers made from original work – “tiny pieces of art that are accessible to everyone,” McAllister said. “Tourists love buying postcards from multiple artists. People really do frame them.”
Moab Made also carries bags made from used bicycle innertubes. A former resident founded Moab Bag Co. approximately 10 years ago. When she moved out-of-state she sold the brand, said McAllister, who purchased the business and took over the production and sewing. The salvaged raw rubber material is used for crafting all kinds of attractive bags.
“It’s so much fun; it’s an amazing product,” McAllister said. Both locals and tourists love the bags, she said.
While Moab Made has a web site, it doesn’t show the quantity or variety of artists and products available at the shop. That’s because many items are unique, one-off works, McAllister said.
McAllister said she founded Moab Made to spotlight local artists. Her intention is for the sale of artwork to be a sustainable income for artists.
“We try and create long-term relationships with artists,” McAllister said.
McAllister also owns a “sister shop” across the street called “Arteesian” – which she describes as “an extension of Moab Made.” The shop sells locally designed T-shirts and other accessories.
McAllister said she enjoys providing a space for artisans to learn and grow. For example, many of the shop’s artists had never made prints before. At Moab Made, artists, including young students, have learned to make postcards and stickers from their original art, thus, increasing their revenue stream.
Moab Made is open seven days a week, 9:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Rebecca McAllister opened Moab Made in 2016, featuring the works of 24 local artists. Eight years later, Moab Made, located at 82 N. Main St., carries a wide variety of handcrafted items from 200 different artisans.
