BY KAREN BOSSICK

Mark Mitchell is the master of sunrise and sunset.

He times his photographic excursions to those times, trekking into canyons and up mountain trails to capture sun rays illuminating iconic scenes in a way that’s new to others.

He climbed onto slippery wet rocks near the Centennial Waterfront Park in Twin Falls to capture the sun flares peaking over the canyon at Perrine Coulee Falls.

Jeffrey, Evelyn and Hazel Hughes have followed their father Grant Hughes into woodworking.

He captured the sun as it crested the tops of trees at Lake Cleveland near the summit of Mount Harrison, casting rays of gold across Idaho bluebells and Indian paintbrush.

And he caught the setting sun on wild sunflowers outside the Rudolf Kunze barn near Buhl, which remains one of the few barns built in the early 1900s left in Idaho.

Miller, who will show his wares at this weekend’s Ketchum Arts Festival, got started 15 years ago when a friend gave him his old Cannon Rebel with all his lenses when he updated.

“I shot in Washington for 10 years, then I started taking pictures of Idaho when I moved to Twin Falls,” said Miller, a schoolteacher whose photos of the Little Ccity of Rocks and the 9-11 memorial flag hanging from the Perrine Bridge were chosen for the newly commissioned USS Idaho submarine.

Jessica Miller has painted the Sun Valley Pavilion with a contemporary touch.

“Idaho’s very different from Washington as it always seems to be rainy or cloudy in Washington—I rarely saw a sunrise or sunset. And the sun makes a difference. A lot of people are familiar with the places I photograph, but they’ve never seen them the I portray them.”

Miller is one of a hundred artists who are participating in the Ketchum Arts Festival, which will be held Friday through Sunday, July 10-12, at Champions Meadow on Sun Valley Road.

Another new artist is Jessica Miller. A native of Hailey, she studied industrial design at Western Washington University in Bellingham before returning to Hailey where she worked on doorknobs and lighting fixtures for Rocky Mountain Hardware.

She and her husband now run The Upholsterer, and she paints what she calls “a modern take on folk art” in her spare time.

Dru Shoemaker has created this little lamb, who should’ve been a shoe-in for “The Sheep Detectives” film, out of fused glass.

“I ‘m painting local scenes and subjects in a very simple way, but they reflect more of the contemporary design influences that we see around the valley today,” she said.

Miller got her start at the Trailing of the Sheep Festival Folklife Fair about three years ago.

“We have a small farm with pet sheep and goats so I began making a lot of wool products for the sheep festival. Then I started painting, and everyone told me how much they love my artwork. I started off painting sheep and farm scenes, but now I’m expanding into local landscapes and local activities like skiing and hiking. It’s such an enjoyable pastime.”

Grant Hughes is a plumber by trade but a woodworker when he’s put the pipe cutters and plumbing wrenches away for the day. And his three children have taken up his hobby, as well.

Mark Miller specializes in Idaho landscapes illuminated by the sun.

“They’ve sold some of their creations at boutique shops and stuff like that but decided they wanted to combine their efforts this year and see how well they can do at the Ketchum Arts Festival—they’re trying their best not to have a normal summer job,” he laughed.

Grant, who learned woodworking while working for a log furniture company as a high school student in Nampa, specializes in rocking chairs built from domestic and exotic hardwoods.

Son Jeffery, 16, makes stools, benches and rocking chairs. Hazel, 14, focuses on turned pieces, such as bowls, Scottish spurtles (a traditional 15th century kitchen tool) and drink muddlers. Evelyn, 13, is big on the design side so she gives cutting and charcuterie boards a decorative twist while creating show pieces.

“She’s also our quality control department,” Hughes said. “She has a good eye for what finished products should look like.”

Of course, the festival will have plenty of familiar artists, as well, including jeweler Lisa Horton and Dru Shoemaker, who is rolling out some new fused glass pieces, depicting realistic and abstracts of local wildlife and iconic landmarks.

To learn more, see today’s Eye on Sun Valley story: “Ketchum Arts Festival to Feature Pipe Lamps and Suncatchers.”