Victor Salazar has been working with alabaster for nearly fifty years. While his day jobs may have changed over the years, the struggle to create life in this medium has remained constant. Carving animals, roses, fruit, and hands among other things, Salazar looks to the shape of his raw material to guide what will be made. Drawing inspiration from traditional art all over the world, and materials from alabaster veins as close as Owl Canyon and as far as Italy, his style has developed over the years to be unique and inspired. “I’ve enjoyed the hell out of it,” He says of his life-long passion. Salazar’s currently available work can be found at Sanderosa Art Gallery.
Debi Candelora has always had a passion for the arts, though her first profession was as an engineer, developing fiber optics and early internet technology. Sculpting and painting were hobbies initially but when she relocated to Belvue she began to follow a passion for working with wood, the dry climate allowing fallen branches and old roots to dry and become workable. Candelora carves and sands the pieces she selects until beautiful forms are revealed, often appearing differently to whoever is viewing them. “Every piece has a person,” she says of her art’s appeal. The twisting and curling shapes in each piece of desiccated wood evoke limitless possibilities. Candelora’s work can be found through her website at bluehorsesculpture.com
Jim Clayton has spent his entire career as an artist, first as a medical illustrator and painter. His work as a scrimshander, scratching and inking designs into bone, began as a challenge. While discussing art with a friend he proposed that he should “scrim” a moose antler. After being told he wouldn’t, he’s never stopped. Clayton’s work is typically inspired by the environments that produce his canvases, antlers, bird calls, knives, and chunks of bone or mammoth ivory. “A lot of people hate working on these things,” Clayton says of his antlers, the challenge being a part of the appeal for him. Clayton’s work can be found at Sanderosa Art Gallery as well as Powder River Art Gallery in Cheyenne.