The nonprofit Sonoran Arts League announced that Arizona’s largest and longest-running artist studio tour, Hidden in the Hills (HITH), will take place during the last two weekends of November: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 22, 23 & 24 and Nov. 29, 30 & Dec. 1. This year’s free, self-guided tour features 179 artists at 44 studios throughout the scenic Desert Foothills communities of Cave Creek, Carefree and North Scottsdale.
The League also announced that Ray Richardson’s wood sculpture, “Island,” will grace 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.
“Ray’s piece is so unique. His workmanship is outstanding, and we were drawn to the intensity of colors, both on the bird and the cactus,” said Gail Haire, a long-time HITH participant and highly acclaimed oil painter who serves as the event’s co-chair.
“Ray specializes in carving birds from wood, and his full body of work is remarkable. This is his first year participating in Hidden in the Hills, and we’re thrilled to feature “Island” on this year’s artist directory cover.”
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.
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.
A Phoenix resident, Richardson will exhibit and sell his work at Roxanne Eklund’s Studio # 31 in Cave Creek. Eklund is a fiber and textile artist who is also new to the HITH tour.
This year’s HITH artist directory also will feature five diverse artworks on the directory’s back cover. The artists featured on the back cover include mixed media artists Terry and Marilyn Alexander, oil painter Nancy Pendleton, painter Scott Rispin, jeweler Celest Michelotti and oil painter Marless Fellows.
For more details, visit www.HiddenInTheHills.org.
