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Labeling Hector Ortega a sculptor is, well, problematic. The 47-year-old Phoenix native creates sculptures, sure, but that hardly scratches the surface of his multifaceted art career. Ortega is also a well-established jewelry maker and metalsmith. So well-established that he’s actually known primarily as a metalsmith outside of fine art circles. Explaining the dichotomy, Ortega says, “Metalworking skills are the basis of everything I do with sculpture. It’s using mind-hand skills, while also emphasizing ornamentation.” Not...

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What does illustrator and graphic designer Stormy Nesbit do in her free time? She puts brush or pen – or, in some cases, scissors – to paper and she creates. “Art, when there are no clients involved, is where I can express myself freely,” says the Minnesota native, who earned her master’s degree in visual communication design from Arizona State University and has lived in the Valley for seven years. “No one is requesting anything...