Welcome to the Neighborhood
By Stephanie Hancock

Art in the Hood Artists' Studio Tour, featuring 7 studios and more than a dozen artists in historic South East Dallas, will be from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, February 8. The tour's name came from the collection of artists joking about the misconceptions in perceptions of South East Dallas. The area, with established neighborhoods and affordable studio space, has become a haven for artists. The self-guided tour is free and opens to the public the homes and working studios of artists, so that people can see art in the various stages of creation. Included on the tour is photography, metal sculpture, jewelry, glass, paintings, ceramics, fiber arts and bath products.

Photographer and metal worker Roy Cirigliana moved into the Piedmont District of Pleasant Grove in 1981 because of the affordable housing and the area's rural feel. Even at that time, the neighborhood had an undeserved reputation.

"Talking with people who grew up here in the 50's, Pleasant Grove was one of the roughest area in Dallas, but it wasn't like that when I moved over here. But that reputation carries over," he explained. "It's like Oak Cliff. It gets a bad rap."

Cirigliana's work combines sepia toned, black and white infrared photography with his metalwork by creating metal frames with gritty sculptural edges for his surrealistic photography.

"The subjects I photograph are frozen in time, " he says. "Eventually, time and space merge together through the lens."

Also in the Piedmont District is The Morpheus Company's in-studio gallery. The Morpheus Company's owner, jewelry artist Russ Sharek, will be showing his work as well as "body food", the gallery's line of all-natural, handmade bath and body products; paintings by Monique Jannette and photography by Dwight Kallstrom.

"Monique and Dwight are both Dallas artists, but do not have studios in this area. Because my work is basically small sculpture, I like to feature two-dimensional art on my gallery walls during openings. It gives us an opportunity to share the work of our favorite artists with people who may have never seen them," he says.

"With Monique, I was drawn to her vibrant, almost surreal use of color," Sharek says. "In the case of Dwight, he'd done work for us as a commercial photographer, but only recently did I discover that he has an amazing portfolio of fine art photography as well."

Within blocks is the BeauVerre studio, showcasing the art glass of Nancy Thompson.

"I create art glass that is whimsical," she says. "I love glass with a lot of color and texture so it works in harmony with light and movement."

Urban Avenue is home to studios for Valery Guignon and Robin Hawke as well as the Urban Art Studio & B&A Glass.

Guignon has been a full time artist for 25 years. She works in several mediums including fabric dyeing, steel welding, and wire sculpting.

"I can't leave anything alone," she says with a laugh.

She is currently well know for "sea through" scarves in colorful fabrics with "windows" displaying polished beach glass and charms.

Her partner, Hawke, works in steel and wood. Her latest works are tall welded lit sculptures using found steel scraps and industrial parts.

"I like the raw elemental aspect of steel combined with the grace of simple motion," she says.

Also on Urban is Urban Art Studio, featuring sculptor Laura Abrams and blown glass artist Brad Abrams.

Laura Abrams' work is both abstract and organic. She strives to capture the motion of objects.

"My work has a rhythmic, natural flow," she says. "I especially like working in bronze because I find the molten metal seductive and I am fascinated by its ability to make a fleeting idea permanent."

The art glass of Brad Abrams is playful and full of color. He describes himself as an "abstract expressionist, inspired by free thought, addiction to color and Southern women."

A few blocks away is the studio of artists Elizabeth Zaremba & Michael van Enter. Zaremba's work pulls inspiration from the nature that surrounds her as well as ongoing studies in chemistry and biology.

"I study the recurring forms and visual patterns that prevail in nature," she says. "My images are concerned with life force and natural rhythms."

In contrast, van Enter, born and educated in South Africa, uses both hand brazing and casting techniques to create powerful female forms in copper and bronze. His focus is on the underlying mechanisms that animate the poses he captures in his sculpture. His art reveals to the viewer the "raw strength and sexuality" of muscles, sinews and tendons.

"My figures are caught in full tilt -- dancing, pivoting or perilously about to fall," he says. "It lends a resonant tension to the figures. They are caught between motion and stillness."

At the other end of tour is Clayworks Studio and the home of Mark Epstein. His ceramic creations concentrate on utilizing the plasticity of the material to create sculptural forms and functional vessels.

"I've lived in this neighborhood for twenty years, and I am constantly amazed at how many people, locals, have stopped in during our sales not sure what they were going to find at the house with all the pots and sculptures in the yard," he says. "We've really enjoyed growing up in this neighborhood."

That sentiment was echoed by all of the artists. Whether they came for affordable leases or landscapes, all of the artists agreed that there was nowhere in Dallas like their neighborhood, and they are inviting everyone to put aside their misconceptions and give South East Dallas a fresh look.

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