Surprise artist featured in weekend studio tour

Arizona’s largest artist studio tour is set for the last two weekends of November.

Fine artists throughout Cave Creek, Carefree, and North Scottsdale will open their studios to the public for the 13^th Annual “Hidden in the Hills” Artist Studio Tour Nov. 20-22 and Nov. 27-29.

Sponsored by the nonprofit Sonoran Arts League, the event features 152 artists at 46 studio locations. The free, self-guided studio tour takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and offers art enthusiasts an opportunity to observe artists at work in their private studios.

Artist Corinne McAuley, a Surprise resident, sees this year’s “Hidden in the Hills” art studio tour as a starting point to launch her beaded-tapestry career. The artist will display her pieces – some containing nearly 50,000 beads -- and demonstrate the beaded-tapestry process at Studio #17 during the tour.

“When people hear the word bead, the first association is with jewelry. Beads have been used throughout history in many ways, from currency thousands of years ago to modern uses in embroidery mixed media art, quilting, handbags and other forms of art,” McAuley said.

Though she said she “has not even touched the tip of what is possible with beaded tapestries," McAuley is so passionate about her art, she left a corporate position to devote more time to her work. She purchases colorful, fine-quality glass beads from a company in Maine that imports the beads from Japan. She chooses to work with “delica” beads, which are glass beads that are cut so that the end of the beads fit together cleanly.

“I create designs based on what strikes me at the moment,” she said. “I use photographs to create my patterns. I scan the photos into my computer software which is a starting point for creating the piece. Software is a wonderful tool, but it is not perfect. It can take several hours to get the colors and the design correct.”

After the computer program completes the design, she sews each bead together with a needle and thread to create a tapestry.

“My art is a labor of love. Most artists feel this way about their art. To choose to spend four to eight weeks on a piece of art, one would have to love what they create,” she said. “I am drawn by the surprise of the expectation of the piece. When you create art in this form as row by row is completed it can be compared to a picture slowly developing. Only when the piece is completed do I know if I have succeeded with my vision.”

For information, call 480-575-6624, or visit www.HiddenInTheHills.org.