Andrew Rush: Up Close and Personal. Life in the High Desert
September 11 - November 17

   Andrew Rush, a local icon and the founder of The Drawing Studio, has lived at Rancho Linda Vista in Oracle, Arizona, for forty years. The Tucson community’s drawing “guru” has produced hundreds of drawings and sculptures that are, in effect, visual meditations on the distinctive 5,000-foot high desert he calls home. Our exhibit will display a selection of his ink drawings and watercolor paintings from the 1970s to the present that express his awe and affection for trees, cactus and rocks he has observed in washes and meadows on the northern slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Over the years, Rush has observed the same plants, and his drawings demonstrate their symbiotic relationships in the environment. Gestural terracotta sculptures capturing the personalities and gestures of birds in his desert backyard will be featured as well.  
   Rush explains that this body of work is his way of being out in the country, witnessing the natural world. It celebrates the land while at the same time lamenting the effects of development which has altered not only the views but also animal and bird habitats.