Yes, Jerome Artists Cooperative
Gallery cohorts, Sally Stryker and
Judy Yescalis are together again- teaming up for the 3rd time in a
new Featured Artists’ exhibition, “Rust & Dye Again,” which will open in
conjunction with First Friday Art Walk in Jerome on January 4th. Opening night festivities will take
place from 5-8 pm and will feature food, wine and lively conversation with
visitors, locals and many of the Jerome Co-op’s artist/members who will be on
hand for the evening. The exhibition will be in place for two months.
The two artist-friends have much in
common, including English teaching careers, deep family roots in the state and-
like their fellow artists- long-term love affairs with inspirational local
landscapes and life-styles. Their respective arts, however, have little in
common. Stryker’s often whimsical, always thought-provoking character
‘assemblages’ are built from ‘found’ materials –iron scraps, bits of old
objects, rugs, fabrics, buttons- all collected from her own southwestern
surroundings. The large family of co-mingled folk and critters and the tales
she creates to give them life are based in rich family heritage handed down
from her maternal grandparents and from her mother who was born and raised
among the smart, practical and earth-loving Hopi people in northern Arizona.
Yescalis’s batiks, however, are
based on the ancient eastern fine art process of wax resist on fabric which
requires natural undyed fabrics, hot melted wax, powdered fabric dyes and a
large collection of hair art brushes. Her completed works are a departure from
more traditional batiks which often depicted designs of culture-specific gods,
objects of nature, and more recently, geometrical patterns for quilt block
designs. “Many people think my batiks are elaborate watercolor landscapes,” she
says. “That’s ok – the wax has been removed from the finished product in the
final step, but there is water and color in the heart and soul of every one of
them!”
Both Stryker and Yescalis were born
in Arizona- in Jerome and Prescott, respectively, but both spent much of their
earlier lives in California. Sally worked in her adult years as an Art and
English teacher before moving back to the Verde Valley in the late 80’s and
taking up residence on her grandparents’ homesteaded acreage in Page Springs.
Here, she lives in her mother’s rustic cozy ‘schoolhouse’ home on the edge of
Oak Creek where she maintains an outdoor workshop /birthing hospital for her
‘found art’ creations and continues to write and tell her delightful stories.
Sally is also an active member of several area art groups. Her welcome mat is
always out for whatever family of locals might come through her neighborhood- javelina, coyotes, fox-and of course,
her 2 legged friends. There is also a friendly ‘found art’ dragon outside her
door which is currently waiting for its very own story. About her
transformative art, Sally declares, “I love the idea of finding something
that’s been used for one thing and tossed in the dump. That relates to our
lives: we can toss pieces of our lives away, but somehow, they’re still a part
of us.”
Judy became a southern California resident at
5 years old, returning to her home state with her husband in the 70’s where she
began a 28 yr career teaching English and Foreign Language. Though she
currently lives in the Village of Oak Creek where she is also actively involved
in the Village Gallery Cooperative, she is quick to attribute her artistic
inspiration to her parents who gave her the gifts of travel and music at an
early age. Though most of her current batiks showcase the colors and landscapes
of the southwest, her years of living and traveling in France and Spain as well
as her frequent trips to California and to the east coast to see friends and
enjoy the music of a favorite Broadway entertainer continue to provide much
subject matter (and boxes of personal photos) from which she draws subject
matter for her art.
