Mary Isham Watercolors
Exhibited in March, 2008

       Color inspires Florence painter and fabric artist Mary Isham, who is a spring and summer resident of Albany Township in Maine. Isham is the featured artist with a solo exhibition in our gallery during March, 2008. The exhibit continues until March 30. If you joined us for the popular annual "Australia Day" event you may recall meeting the artist near the Drover's Shed, when she set up her spinning wheel to demonstrate fabric art.

       Isham is a multi-media artist who also describes herself as "multi-geographic," bringing her own perspective to both fiber art and watercolors. Her work celebrates the variety of flora and fauna surrounding her during summer months in Albany Township, Maine and her winter and spring home in Florence, Arizona -- as well as the vast stretch of United States and points on the journey in between."

       "All my life I have been drawn to color, and I don't paint to sell -- not anymore -- I paint for me! I've focused on watercolors for 30 years and worked with fiber for the past 25 years. Fiber sculpture is new, and so is working with pastels - which I just began to experiment with during the summer of 2007. In a way, knitting and weaving are like painting -- but with fiber -- a different and sometimes more complicated art form than painting with watercolors."

        "During summers in Maine I paint the ocean. I have a connection to the rocks and water. Well, rocks and water and mountains and waterfalls and sand. New England has the White Mountains, the Green Mountains, the Blue Mountains… all of these ranges named for colors. They call them mountains, but compared to Arizona they're hills -- mountains here are awesome!"

"In Arizona I have visited Dead Horse and Catalina State Parks for their surrounding mountains -- artistically they're all so different. Then during our months in Arizona I paint the dry streambeds and waterfalls where water once was present. Queen Creek and Silver King Wash here at the Arboretum are among what attracts me, even when they're dry, I still find they are a powerful expression of water."

"I enjoy being at the Arboretum because of its peacefulness, its light and shadow and changeable landscapes. From a small cactus flower to the large Magma Ridge, there is always something to inspire. It has been a personal joy seeing the Arboretum grow over the years. Truly, this is an Arizona Treasure."

                                        Contact the artist by email ishamfarmyarns@yahoo.com or by phone at 602-421-1148, or by writing to Mary Isham, Caliente Casa Del Sol, 3526 North Chaparral, Florence, AZ, 85232. Her summer postal address is 1006 Vernon Street, Albany Township, Maine, 04217.

         Boyce Thompson Arboretum is located at Highway 60 milepost #223, just three miles west of the town of Superior - a drive of about one hour east of Phoenix or two hours from Tucson (take Oracle Road North to Highway 79 past Florence to Highway 60, then East for another 12 miles). Monthly exhibits may be seen in our Visitor Center gallery daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (summer hours 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. from May-through-August). The Arboretum is an Arizona State Park and daily admission must be paid to enter the Visitor Center where the gallery is found. Admission is $7.50 for adults and $3 for ages 5-12. Annual memberships at the Arboretum begin at $45, and include a year's access, guest passes for your friends and family, along with many other benefits. A membership may be purchased in the gift shop on the day of your visit. Review other recent gallery shows by ...

Susan Strom and Cathy Franklin Lightning Photography February, 2008
Arizona State Parks Plein Air Paintings January, 2008
Carolyn Gray & Connie Thomas December, 2007
Jean Sullivan November, 2007
Sue Cullumber October, 2007
Adriane Grimaldi September, 2007
Pima College print-making students July-August, 2007
Mesa Arts League June-July, 2007
Fred Charlton May, 2007
Paul Mudersbach March-April, 2007
Linda Kaiser February, 2007
Edith Kreueger-Nye December, 2006 - January, 2007
Cindy Carrillo October-November, 2006
Bob Rice September, 2006
Bud Heiss July-August, 2006
Mesa Arts League June-July, 2006
Sandy Tracey April-May, 2006
CJ Rider March, 2006
Jessica Green February, 2006
Steve Davidson January, 2006
Don & Carole Schupp December, 2005
Carolyn Gray November, 2005
Martha Burgess October, 2005
Boeing Photographers September, 2005
Lightning Lady Susan Strom July/August, 2005
Mesa Arts League June/July, 2005
Jeanette Bronson May, 2005
Tom Stanley April, 2005
Kathy McClure February-March, 2005
Pam Smyth January, 2005
Tina Faust December, 2004

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