STN is excited to announce a new partnership with a local gallery, Practical Art. Practical Art is a retail gallery space that features artists from around Arizona.Â
The art featured in the gallery is chosen by the owner Lisa Olson. She looks for items that are practical in some way – anything from kitchen tools and office items to furniture and jewelry.
Each month, Practical Art owner Lisa and her sister Karen Olson will curate a collection of art to be featured at each âIt Happens at STNâ live show.Â
For more information on the work and to get pricing on the art displayed at STN studios click here.
Featured Artists at STN in June
Andrew King
Tempe-based artist, Andrew King, originally hails from Kansas City, Missouri but has been residing in Tempe since graduating from Arizona State University with a degree in digital media.
King, a ceramist by trade, showcases his versatile creative focus across multiple mediums and genres. With a strong passion for painting, he explores the boundaries between realism and abstraction in both his ceramics and canvas works.
The integration of King’s background as a graphic designer adds an additional layer of depth to his artwork. This fusion of artistic mediums enables him to craft visually captivating pieces that effectively engage and resonate with audiences.
Featured Artists at STN in May
Jake Early
Jake Early creates hand-printed silkscreen art.
Early was sitting at his desk in 1999 trying to survive his 9 to 5 job when he got the idea to build a printing press from scratch so that he could start printing art ideas spinning around in his head.
With no plans to follow, Early began tinkering with ideas in his garage using salvaged parts from a table saw and other random pieces he had scavenged. He learned to weld and after two years of tinkering and building, Early had his printing press.
After lots of trial and error in 2005, Early took a leap of faith, left his comfy 9 to 5 job, and started screen printing full time. He has not looked back since.
Lisa Olson
Lisa Olson is a photographer and business owner. She owns and operates an independent art gallery called Practical Art in Phoenix, Arizona.Â
Born and raised in Phoenix, Olson is passionate about the power of art. She graduated from Arizona State University in 2005 and spent the next three years traveling the state as a photojournalist for the East Valley Tribune.
In 2008, Olson joined the staff at Practical Art, and in 2011, she assumed ownership of the gallery. The original owner, Jane Reddin, left the gallery to Lisa after she was diagnosed with leukemia.
Olson is still an avid photographer and will always be working to hone her skills behind the lens, however, her main focus for over a decade has been to grow the art community in Arizona through her gallery in Mid Town Phoenix.
Brad Towsley
Brad Towsley is a graphic designer that has spent over 20 years working with Fortune 500 companies and graphic design firms all over the country.
Towsleyâs experience in the field allows him to encompass a variety of areas in the field; everything from branding and identity, food and beverage design, print work, and book and poster design.
Today, Brad owns and operates a small independent graphic design and branding studio in Phoenix. He also helps his wife Lisa Olson run her independent art galley in Phoenix called Practical Art.
Gavin Troy
Gavin Troy graduated from ASU in 1995 with a fine arts degree. Shortly after, he began making and sharing his work at local coffee shops and restaurants in the Phoenix area.
In 1998, Troy moved to Tucson and has been creating, sharing and teaching in the downtown area ever since.
âOpen studio tour is my favorite time of the year. To open up and share in the creative process, and share a studio space with others is a joyful experience.â
Featured Artists at STN in April
Janel Garza
Janel Garza has been developing her artistic style since she was young. Garzaâs mother was an elementary art teacher. She introduced her to a variety of artistic mediums at a young age, allowing Garza to explore an array of artistic mediums at an early age.
Garzaâs main medium is acrylic paint. She is heavily influenced by the surrounding Sonoran Desert, her passion for medicinal plant studies and clean orderly shapes found in modern architecture.Â
Her work aims to create an abstract sentiment, with a sense of balance, harmony, and interconnectedness.
Quinn Murphy (Hamster Labs)
Hamster Labs spent 15 years as a graphic designer. Eventually, he felt the need to revive his passion for the arts, so he decided to make screen printing his main medium.Â
Currently, Murphy owns and operates Hamster Labs, a custom print and design studio in the heart of Phoenix where he specializes in concert posters, fine art prints and illustration.
Featured Artists at STN in March
Antoinette Cauley
Antoinette Cauley was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and draws inspiration for her art from the grittiness and beauty of her hometown. Cauley attended Mesa Community College where she studied fine art with an emphasis on painting. During college, she interned with nationally renowned American oil painter Chris Saper who taught her the ins and outs of the fine art Industry.Â
Cauleyâs work is heavily influenced by hip-hop music and Black American culture with a feminist tone and an overall focus on feminine empowerment. Visually, she combines the dynamic sounds of rap music with powerful vibrant colors with deep emotionally driven messages.
Rebecca Blume Rothman
Rebecca Blume Rothman began her artistic career as a photographer, but in 2017, she decided to switch things up and started creating medium and small-scale drawings on paper.Â
Rothman is the Public Art Manager for the City of Tempe. She oversees art in private development projects, capital improvement art projects, neighborhood art grants, and temporary public art initiatives.Â
She lives with her husband, daughter, and their dog in the Sonoran desert.
Elizabeth Brice-Heams
Elizabeth Brice-Heames is a mixed media artist inspired by balance and form, by imperfect hand. Her work is consumed by striking monochromatic imagery. Brice-Heames credits her interest in history, architecture, and anthropology to her evolution as an artist.
Jennifer Urso
Jen Urso is a multidisciplinary artist creating works that utilize public interventions, performance, drawing, mapping, and technology to honor a sensitive approach to our environment and community that respects the unseen and unspoken.Â
Her work typically takes place in the public via occupation, immersion, and discovery.
When she is not creating art, Urso runs her own online content and strategy business called Steady Glow Digital. They focus on environmental sustainability in marketing. Jen received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University.Â
Urso lives in Phoenix, she is a passionate runner, gardener, reader, thinker, questioner, and mother.
