Ask any of the area's groovy garbage pickers about it and they'll regale you with tales of scoring plywood, broken electronics, window frames, cardboard, and other castoffs. Isaac Fortoul likes to chop up old doors from the alleyway behind his digs, which currently houses MADE Art Boutique, for use in his paintings. Ian Wender incorporated more than 1,000 beer tabs he found in the Holga's parking lot into mixed-media collage. (Hey, all that underage drinking on First Fridays is finally paying off!) His neighbor Kim Bridgford also acknowledges that she's swiped Masonite panels and cabinet doors from nearby rubbish receptacles. The only complaint of these local artisans: "All the crackheads take the good garbage."
The masses have spoken, and they're right. Nowhere else in the Valley can you find the selection and quality of supplies -- as well as professional advice to go along with them -- as at Arizona Art Supply. There are now locations in Scottsdale and Tempe, along with the well-known spot in the center of town, or you can order online.
All we ask is that you thank us profusely in your "artist's statement."
Experienced art professionals teach the seminars, including Mary Virginia Swanson, whose credentials include directing special photo projects for the famous NYC photojournalism collective Magnum. A brand-new space, slated to open later this fall, will house a darkroom and more etching equipment that will allow for additional printmaking techniques and 19th-century photographic processes. So fold your laundry later. You've run out of excuses, pal.