If You Really Wanted to Get Me Something: Our writers works hard all year and as the holidays roll around we thought we’d give them a chance to let you know what kind of gift they might like. That is, if you wanted to get them something. Some may not come right out and say it’s for them, but if you read between the lines, you’ll get the idea. And artists who are friends of our writers, please note, we restricted them to just a couple of suggestions, so don’t go disinviting them from your holiday party just because you didn’t make the list.

Two of Colour Maisch’s porcelain pieces in front of works by John Sproul and Lane Twitchell, at Current Work, September 2022

I’ve been thinking about Colour Maisch’s porcelain pieces ever since I saw them at Current Work in the fall. Not sure why. Maybe because they remind me of a philosopher’s stone (as in the Chinese Gongshi, not as in Harry Potter). I just think I’d like to look at them for a long while. Sculpture isn’t cheap, though (Go big or go home, is how I’m feeling this year), and I don’t really hang with a wealthy crowd, so, here’s what I’m thinking: she’s got a show going up at the Kimball In Park City on December 9. Hang out in their parking lot next week and while she’s loading the pieces in and out …

And since we’re going big, why not something by Connie Borup, an artist I’ve admired for years. And I think it would have to be big. Not a small piece or one of her etchings (though, well, I’m not exactly going to say no to those, either). Her vision is expansive and enveloping, even when she’s looking at something up close. I think I’d like one I could sit in, rather than just look at. So, yeah, not gonna fit under the Christmas tree. Not sure how you would sneak something like that out of Phillips Gallery.

Connie Borup, “Rocks and Roots,” oil on canvas
42 x 42 in. (courtesy Phillips Gallery)

But you could get me something from Darryl Erdmann that would fit under the tree. He’s got a bunch of big pieces at Tanner Frames in Salt Lake City, right now, but I’ve already got a big one by Darryl. It was one of the first pieces we bought, in fact, and dominates one of the walls in our home — of which there are not many large ones, and, well, I’ve got to keep room for that Connie Borup — so I’m thinking something smaller, maybe one of the collages he’s been posting to his Instagram site; or those small ones he had at the Eccles Art Center in the summer.  

Small works by Darryl Erdmann, from an open studio show at the Eccles Art Center in Ogden, August 2022

Shawn Rossiter

The founder of Artists of Utah and editor of its online magazine, 15 Bytes, Shawn Rossiter has undergraduate degrees in English, French and Italian Literature and studied Comparative Literature in graduate school before pursuing a career in art.