1/16-18: Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival

More than 165 artists from around the country and abroad will pack this year's 16th annual Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival.

The artists will display paintings in all mediums and subjects, including impressive small, medium and life-sized sculptures, bronzes, handblown glass, wood, clay, metal, stone, handcrafted jewelry, and photography.

Arvel Bird, "Lord of the Strings," will head the live entertainment. Bird is a violinist who integrates his talents on many instruments to create eclectic sounds.
There will be a variety of domestic and imported wines for tasting from wineries including International Wines, AZ Wine Company, Page Springs Vineyards & Cellars and Kokopelli Winery. AZ Wine Company will also offer a variety of microbrews. There will be a $10 fee, which will include an engraved souvenir wine or beer glass and six tasting tickets.

A look at three of our favorite artists:

Krista Sheldon

Sheldon, 42, of San Francisco, is a contemporary painter in acrylic, oil and watercolor. Her pieces incorporate multiple layering of media, creating depth and dimension. Sheldon is also the festival's featured artist.

"I am looking forward to displaying my newer pieces to an audience which hasn't seen much of them."

Marie Barbera

Barbera, of Escondido Calif., is a first generation Italian-American, who is a figurative bronze sculptor of Native American women, men, children and wildlife. Recently, Barbera has started working on and producing life-size works that are well suited to public and private outdoor installations.

"I look forward to attending the show and meeting my collectors and prospective collectors, and just being with the other artists. It is a beautiful show."

Brent Flory

Flory is a painter whose work is mostly realism and western. His subjects are cowboys, Native American women, kids and horses. His work is held in many private collections throughout the United States, Canada, Japan and Europe. Flory was featured in the fall 2001 Equine Vision magazine, with his painting All I Need, on the cover. Flory and his family live on and manage a ranch in Wallsburg, Utah.

"Horses are a big part of what I paint since men have used horses for thousands of years. . . . I try to pay a tribute to that animal."