El Prado lights up the holidays from Dec 4 - 24, 2009

"Alabaster Candle Lamp" by Susan Zalkind & Paul Hawkins

El Prado lights up the holidays from Dec 4 - 24, 2009

(Sedona, Arizona • November 19, 2009) El Prado by the Creek highlights artwork for holiday gift-giving, for family and friends and for you in the "Holiday Treasures" show from December 4 – 24. The gallery features spectacular new art at great value. Whether smaller sizes by established artists, new works by emerging artists or innovative directions in conventional mediums, El Prado spotlights artwork to be treasured and shared.

"For the holidays," Joyice Gere, president of El Prado Galleries says, "we wanted to show art can be accessible." Bronze sculpture, original paintings, mixed media and pottery present a wide range of options for the art buyer.

A popular artist of clay masks, petrogylph-like animals and indigenous tribal figures, K.D. Fullerton creates art that collectors clamor for. "K.D.'s work arrives and we spend the afternoon alerting her collectors," Gere says. "She sells fast during the holidays, so we've made arrangements with her to acquire more pieces this year."

Another art form in the show is pottery. One of the earliest forms of utility and of expression, pottery was designed to hold things, to keep treasures safe, to transport precious cargo. El Prado's display of vessels captures your imagination and stirs your senses. Work by Jeff Margolin and Leslie Thompson incorporate ancient patterns and techniques to produce brilliant work that is both contemporary and classic.

Smaller pieces from renowned artists like Grand Canyon Master Painter John Cogan, wood sculptor Mike Medow and bronze sculptor Marty Goldstein offer a wide array of styles, techniques and mediums at accessible prices.

"A new artist team in the gallery," Gere adds, "is local artists Susan Zalkind and Paul Hawkins. They create beautiful alabaster illuminations, candle lamps carved from Arizona white alabaster." The flickering glow of the candle enlightens the structure of the stone, hand-carved by the artists, no two are the same. During Tlaquepaque's Festival of Lights and the lighting of six thousand luminarias, El Prado will light all of Zalkind and Hawkins' alabaster candle lamps in the gallery to bring the Festival of Lights inside with these one-of-a-kind pieces of art.

The "Holiday Treasures" show begins with an opening reception on Friday, December 4th from 5 – 8 p.m. and continues through Christmas Eve. The alabaster candle lamps will be illuminated during the opening reception and during Tlaquepaque's Festival of Lights on Saturday, December 12th. Discover the value and excitement of the gift of art this holiday season at El Prado by the Creek.

El Prado by the Creek is located in Tlaquepaque Village, 336 State Route 179, Sedona, Arizona. Established in 1976, the gallery is a standard for fine art in Sedona. The gallery is open daily 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. El Prado by the Creek can be contacted at 928-282-7390 and at www.ElPradoGalleries.com.