Local artists display Southwestern work in Overton

Sunrise residents Joyce and Brian Spavin collaborate to create works of art with a Southwest flair. Joyce's medium of choice is limited edition print making and Brian crafts custom frames to display both his wife's work and the work of others.

Much of Joyce's work depicts the petroglyphs and pictographs she has seen during explorations throughout the Southwestern desert. Her home is filled with photographs and sketches of the artwork that ancient Native Americans chipped and scratched or painted onto rock walls.

Throughout the month of April, Joyce Spavin's work will be on display at the Lost City Museum at 721 S. Moapa Valley Blvd. in Overton, Nevada.

Joyce has always been interested in art. She majored in art while studying at Parson's School of Design in New York City. Her interest peaked again when local artist Roy Purcell introduced her to the art of etching and print making. Instead of making just one work of art and selling it, Joyce learned to design an etching on a metal plate. Ink could then be applied to the metal plate to make multiple image prints.

"I couldn't believe it. You could make the art and sell it and you still got to keep it," she said.

Art came easy, but the rest of life has presented the Spavins with countless challenges. At the age of 9, Brian was walking past a construction site when a 50-gallon drum of paint thinner exploded. He lost his right arm in the accident, but according to Joyce he didn't lose his spirit.

Joyce has been confined to a wheelchair for the last 13 years. Doctors still don't know what caused the rapid deterioration in the artist's muscle strength and the frequent dizzy spells that make walking impossible.

"Whenever people meet us, the first thing they assume is that we must have just been in a horrible accident," Joyce said with a chuckle.

Losing the use of her legs meant Joyce had to rethink her technique. An acid bath is used to etch the lines in the standard etching process. The dangers of splashing or spilling chemicals is high enough when the artist is standing. Sitting in a wheelchair, the danger is too great.

Through trial and error Joyce has come up with creative solutions that produce similar results. Now she uses carving knives to etch her designs into Battleship linoleum. Once the carving is complete she either inks the linoleum and uses it to make a print, or she forces dampened paper into the depressions to make a raised embossing on the paper.

She also uses bits of mat board cut to shape or sand or even string secured to wooden blocks to make creative embossed designs.

"I even glued a large leaf to a mat board and printed it because one of my print making books said it couldn't be done. Wrong -- it worked," she said.

Every piece Joyce sells comes with a story. Along with the handwritten certificate of authenticity, buyers get a written explanation of the artwork. Joyce lets customers know the meaning and the names of each petroglyph. Sometimes she tells them exactly where she found the shape, on an ancient etched wall.

When she had the use of her legs, Joyce was constantly hiking and climbing walls to find rock art she had never seen before. While she misses the extreme hiking, the artist is no home-body.

"I have a little four-wheel motorized cart I get around in. I've taken that thing more places than it deserves to go," she said.

The Lost City Museum features the works of different artists every month. Museum hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Museum admission is $2 for adults and free for children under 18. For more information call the museum at (702) 397-2193.