Meet the Artists of A&M Oro Valley June 2023

Speakers: Amy Soldin, Jewelry Artist. Nancy Bautzmann, O. P. A., Oil, Watercolor and Drawing. Carolyn Fisch, Ceramist

Amy Soldin: Creating art jewelry has been a passion of mine for over 12 years. After working decades in the technology field designing microchips, the intricate structures, restrictive spacing rules, and precise process used to fabricate the patterns of a circuit enticed me to apply these skills in a more hands on way to benefit me personally. The strong desire to express myself creatively was visible through my love of drawing and creating art with my hands. In discovering the art of metal smithing, defined as the art of forming and fabricating metal into beautiful jewelry, I found my passion for creating one of a kind pieces. That was the turning point for me.

Nancy Bautzmann, O. P. A.: I started my painting career in 1970 when I started college and I love it.

Carolyn Fisch: Hi, I'm Carolyn Fisch and I've been an artist now for about six years, although I started with clay, almost 10 years ago. But it took a while to get up to speed with this craft, and so I'd have to say about six years, although I've had creative interests and pursuits really my whole life from the beginning, but artist is kind of a hard hat to wear, I think, and so to be fair, I'd say six years.

Amy Soldin: The handmade process is intriguing. Using Sterling silver, natural stones, especially turquoise, to focus on the beauty of the stones. Here I have a sketch using a beautiful stone, chrysocolla with copper. I have accented stones which creates balance and harmony with the main stone. I first come up with a sketch and usually modifies several times. Often what I draw on paper never looks like the finished piece.

Nancy Bautzmann, O. P. A.: I've just moved into Artists & Makers and I'm cleaning up and getting ready to start painting. I'm not there yet, but I soon will be.

Carolyn Fisch: Hi. Right now in my studio, I did this yesterday, a lot of intricate curving that's going to be a piece that will go on a wall. I also enjoy statement pieces for homes. Here is a vase that I did last week. It has been bisque fired so far, and then it will either go through the process of Obvara and leave beautiful toasty markings and very organic type of markings on the clay, or I might use the Raku process on that vase and that's more of the vibrant metalic effect. And then, where there isn't glaze, it also turns black from carbon trapping. And these are decorative art forms, and that is what I'm focused on right now.

Amy Soldin: The rhythm, movement and harmony are everywhere and bring a uniqueness and beauty to my jewelry designs. The handmade process, each unique piece is distinctively styled and handcrafted by me. When the recipient of my art jewelry, wears their piece I take pride in knowing they find meaning in that piece. Some of my designs have stories that have inspired me based on an event or a place I visited that I have shared with someone special.

Nancy Bautzmann, O. P. A.: I think my main focus is I love realism. Sometimes, yes sometimes, no. Whatever comes out if I'm happy with it, that's it. I just love to paint!

Carolyn Fisch: So I think for my artwork, I like to have relatability be a big part of my pieces. I feel that we are obviously all one of a kind individuals in our human experience. And that's the way that I feel about my artwork. And each piece is one of a kind and each piece has been through a certain amount of love and dedication. When I make my forms, I work very hard on the form, and then the decorative aspect is quite random. In the Obvara process, there are no glazes and no under glazes. So the markings are all very random and unexpected. And I think that's another real relatable aspect of our human experience. And so that's very exciting and I love to work on that aspect of things. And the Raku process also yields somewhat unpredictable results, even when you use certain glazes the fire and the process can yield different results. And I just love working hard on my forms and then letting everything happen the way it's going to happen. And so that's a fun part of life as well.