BOISE, Idaho — The Boise Open Studios Collective Organization (BOSCO) is holding an open tour of Treasure Valley artists and their studios this weekend and next.
Visitors can meet local artists, learn more about various art mediums and collect stamps from each studio for a chance to win an art piece from one of the artists.
D’Arcy Bellamy creates abstract pieces using steel pipe.
His studio is in Boise where he uses a plasma cutter to make figures of all kinds including planned, and not.
"It basically heats the metal up to where it's molten, and then you blow the metal out with compressed air." Said Bellamy.
He describes his studio or shop as a place of peace among the compressor noise and sparks.
“I've always liked getting dirty, and if you look around the shop, this is a plenty dirty process, but I just like that there are no rules that I kind of made it up, and that each piece is completely unique. And over time, I've gotten so that if I have a vision in my mind, I can mostly create it.” Bellamy said. “But there are also happy accidents along the way, where you get an inspired thought in the middle of it, or something doesn't go the way you think it's going to go, and then it turns into something beautiful.”
Bellamy said he enjoys the studio tours because he can share his passion with people of all ages.
“I think kids, they're so open minded and they're so excited to learn about new things, that if they can see something on this tour that turns them on, whether it's clay sculpture or painting or drawing or metalworking, that that gets them excited at a young age.” Bellamy said. “Man, I wish I had discovered this when I was eight or 10 or 12 years old, or any creative outlet for that matter, because I think it really helps to develop an identity and to have something at a young age that you can develop and work on and be good at, in terms of confidence, I think that that's an unbelievable strength.”
BOSCO has 73 studios and 93 artists participating in this year’s open tour.
You can find the tour map here.
For information on participating artists check out BOSCO’s website.