From traditional landscapes, portraits and still lifes to whimsical ceramics, Abend Gallery presents its 34th annual Holiday Miniatures Show, December 5 through December 28 at its Golden Triangle location in downtown Denver.
Around 50 artists will show their miniature works just in time for the holiday gift-giving season. Small works are a fine way to fill in gaps in personal collections and to give as holiday gifts to delight and encourage others to begin collecting on their own.
Snow Pond Ceramics (Katie Barnes), Rainbow Town.
Snow Pond Ceramics (Katie Barnes), pebble match striker.
Katie Barnes of Snow Pond Ceramics describes herself as “a ceramicist/photographer/piano player/Great Dane lover and mom.” During the pandemic when her neighborhood studio closed down she took a bag of clay home and began making things with her kids at the kitchen table. “We started making all kinds of funny little things,” she says, “one of which was a house.” The houses evolved into small communities that she will be showing in the exhibition, as well as a practical little house that doubles as a pebble match striker.
Kazuya Ushioda, Aika, oil on panel, 16 x 13"
Kazuya Ushioda recently won first prize in the tempera category at the Titian International Portrait Painting & Sculpture Competition in Italy and last year received first prize at Figuratives 2023 at Spanish MEAM (European Museum of Modern Art). His 16-by-12-inch oil, Aika, is in the exhibition.
In delightful contrast to the traditional portraiture of Ushioda, Mark Andrew Bailey’s energetic brushstrokes define his subjects more by suggestion. The energy and personality of the man in Bad Hombre XXXIX vibrates in the desert sun. Bailey comments, “My Bad Hombre series has been extremely popular—something I started just for fun has found a large body of fans and collectors.”
Mark Andrew Bailey, Bad Hombre XXXIX, oil on canvas, 12 x 12"
Judd Mercer, Emanation, oil on wood panel, 12 x 8"
The gallery observes that Judd Mercer is “always on the hunt for transient, magic moments that exist in secret places along roads less traveled. In Emanation, Mercer masterfully captures light and shadow, solid rock and misty water, cool and warm. His intimacy with the landscape comes from years of hiking with his family.
He approaches the landscape with a respectful, nervous awe. “Nature is beautiful, yes, but it is quite indifferent to us,” he says. “Downright terrifying, sometimes. But it’s a siren’s song. We’re compelled to engage with it, time and time again. We venture deeper, we climb higher, testing the waters and ourselves to see how far we can go. It’s within those wild, secret places that awe and wonder still exist—a secret reward awaiting the hero who seeks it out.” —
Abend Gallery
261 Delaware Street, Suite 2 • Denver, CO 80204 • (303) 355-0950 • www.abendgallery.com
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