Arizona’s largest and longest-running artist studio tour, Hidden in the Hills, takes place during the last two weekends of November: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 22, 23 & 24 and Nov. 29, 30 & Dec. 1. Coordinated by the nonprofit Sonoran Arts League, this year’s free, self-guided tour features 179 artists at 44 studios throughout North Scottsdale, Cave Creek and Carefree.
Ray Richardson’s wood sculpture, “Island,” graces the cover of this year’s popular four-color, glossy artist directory. The colorful piece depicts a cactus wren starting to leap into the air from a prickly pear cactus.
Creativity Takes Flight Through Wood
Growing up in northwest Connecticut, Ray Richardson was enthralled with birds at a young age. He loved spending time outdoors, and his grandmother fueled his interest through nature books and magazines. She also introduced him to comic books, where he was captivated by the idea of using lines, shapes, and colors to tell stories. Later, after serving in the Navy, Richardson attended community college and found his passion for fine art. While he excelled in oil painting, he began working in carpentry, which opened the door to woodworking.
He began carving birds in the early 2000s while working outside on a client project.
“The property had a beautiful garden filled with hummingbirds and they would buzz me as I was carving,” Ray Richardson said. “I was so enthralled that I started wondering if I could capture the moment in wood. I believe that was the catalyst moment for me.”
Richardson’s “Island” measures 15″ wide x 9″ deep x 19.75″ high. Much of the piece is made of maple, including the base. His initial inspiration came from encountering cactus wrens shortly after moving to Arizona in 2015. He sketched his ideas, but it wasn’t until years later, during the pandemic, that he began sculpting “Island.”
“As I was working on the piece, the shape of the base suggested the idea of a landmass to me. That visual idea blended with the deep isolation of those days. I would look out of my garage while I was carving and see my neighborhood…somehow the houses across the street seemed so far away. I think that the wren leaping from the cactus signified my desire to connect with a world that was still turning as it always had, but felt remote,” he said.
Richardson will exhibit and sell his work at Roxanne Eklund’s Studio No. 31 in Cave Creek. Eklund is a fiber and textile artist who is also new to the art studio tour.
This year’s artist directory also will feature five diverse artworks on the back cover. The artists featured include mixed media sculptors Terry and Marilyn Alexander, mixed media painter Nancy Pendleton, abstract landscape painter Scott Rispin, jeweler Celest Michelotti and oil painter Marless Fellows.
Artist studios are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during both weekends of the tour. To download a map or get Google directions, visit HiddenInTheHills.org.
