Bren Sibilsky's Daedalus

The show received artwork from every continent and has over 50 artists. In 2008, Bren was a finalist in the Healing Power of Art show. This year her winning entry also recently received a Cultural Patriot Award from The P.I.C.T.U.R.E. Art Foundation in California.

According to the Healing Power of Art show, “Art has transformative powers to change a person’s outlook and the way they experience the world. Art can affect a person’s physiology, impacting brain wave patterns and the nervous system. Art can alter the cells in the body and it has the power to promote healing. Art can strengthen a person’s immune system. Art can and does heal!”

Bren Sibilsky responds, “My artwork speaks of the awakening magical transformation of evolution. The timeless dance of nature, illustrated by human fragility, encompassed by our enduring strength to overcome and awaken to our truth. As I work with the alchemy of sculpture, I am forever amazed by the natural magic of nature.”

“As a seeker of wisdom, I am powerfully motivated to understand mankind’s place in the universe and the meaning of our existence. I use mankind’s myths to journey into our inner darkness in search of the blinding light of truth. Using symbolism and the phenomena of nature, I seek to create powerful works with permanent messages. I believe that through empathy for the world, we can truly understand others, ourselves and the natural laws of nature.”

Bren¹s dream is to create artwork that can be understood and appreciated on a global level. Her obvious technical skills, combined with her visionary creative abilities are allowing her to have her artwork accepted and respected world-wide, as well as regionally.

Bren is an international, full-time sculptor and painter, with work in many collections throughout North America and Europe. Manhattan Arts International recently named Bren “Featured Artist of the Week.” Her work has been juried into many regional and international shows including ARC Salon Finalist in Sculpture 2006 and “Best in Sculpture” for Manhattan Arts International’s “Herstory” in 2007. She has participated in demonstrations and exhibitions at The Miller Art Museum, The Francis Hardy Gallery, Arc Gallery, Koehline Museum, Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art, Linden Gallery and Barnsite Gallery among others. Bren graduated from the prestigious Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Her work is represented in galleries in Wisconsin and New York.

Bren has had intensive study in the figure with international sculptor Hanna Jubran as well as bronze casting with Mary and Ken Davidson, painting with Bonnita Budysz and mentoring from Craig Blietz. Bren teaches a sculpture portrait class at the Peninsula Art School located in Fish Creek and has previously taught sculpture at the Kewaunee Academy of Fine Art (an ARC accredited Atlier).

Click to see more of Bren’s work in www.ManhattanArts.com Gallery. The on-line show runs thru September 19, 2010. Be sure to visit Bren’s studio and gallery during the upcoming Art Studio Tour October 8 – 10 (www.newartstudiotour.org). More info on Bren Sibilsky is available at: www.brensculpture.com.

Debora’s presentation underscores her participation in the current exhibition at the School, ”Medium is the Message,” which provides a behind-the-scenes look at an artist’s medium of choice and how it informs their work. In addition to her large-scale prints, which span up to 11 feet, the artist’s presence in the gallery is enhanced by a short video of her detailing the inspiration behind her work, as well as her love of the printmaking process. Debora’s 4-day printmaking intensive workshop, scheduled at the end of June into early July, has been sold out.

Debora received her Masters of Fine Art from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Working with the printing techniques of intaglio and screen print, her work emphasizes repeated line, building rich space out of ambiguity, and shadowy structure. Among her many awards are the Vreeland Award for Fine Art, and the Triennial Prize at the Egyptian International Print Trienniel in Cairo. Debora’s work may be viewed on her website: www.lifesizepress.com<.

The gallery talk is free for Peninsula School of Art members and $5 for all others. Prior registration for the presentation is suggested for those interested in attending.

Peninsula School of Art, located in the heart of Door County, is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the visual arts through education, exhibitions and community outreach. Peninsula School of Art offers one to five day workshops, lectures, exhibits and family-friendly events for students of all ages and abilities. The School and Guenzel Gallery are located at 3900 County Hwy F, in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 am - 5 pm.  www.peninsulaartschool.com.

Gallery 42 Moves to Sturgeon Bay

Gallery 42, for three years “a breath of fresh art” on the highway between Egg Harbor and Fish Creek, is moving to Door County’s Historic Downtown Sturgeon Bay.

Gallery owner Tim Nyberg explains why Sturgeon Bay: “Everywhere I travel, I see strip malls and shopping centers being built trying to resemble the nostalgic main streets of small town America. I wish more of Door County’s visitors would realize that we have the real genuine article right here in Sturgeon Bay! Moving here will allow for a year round gallery (something that I couldn’t have in Northern Door). It will also allow me to walk to work and be open by appointment with greater ease.”

“When we moved to Sturgeon Bay from the Twin Cities, my wife, Julie and I were delighted to find The Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art located just blocks from our home. Sadly, this disappeared when the nonprofit organization shut down last March. Now, I’m excited to bring art back to this historically distinctive building.”

The Fairfield Building was originally built in 1906 as “The Pinney Building.” It housed the “Door County Democrat” newspaper, the Sturgeon Bay Post Office, the telephone company’s operators and at one point, the hospital. The top floor was also home to “The Commodore Club”. The building (the first office building in Sturgeon Bay to have indoor plumbing) underwent major renovation near its one hundredth birthday.

Gallery 42 (located in the Fairfield’s B1 gallery space) features exclusively the paintings and photography of Tim Nyberg. Tim’s been a graphic designer and illustrator for over three decades. Visitors will be greeted by bright, whimsical, “fresh” art. The gallery also has original greeting cards, mugs and prints featuring Nyberg’s paintings and photography and some of the over two dozen humor books that Tim has authored (autographed of course). There’s a good chance gallery guests will also catch Tim painting, often to live music at events he calls “art and music jams.”

The new space will open to visitors beginning September 19th during Sturgeon Bay’s Harvest Festival weekend.

On Friday, October 16th from 6 to 9pm, there will be a grand opening reception featuring jazz by Lee Tomboulian and percussionist Jake Nyberg.

More information about the gallery including fall and winter hours may be found online at GalleryFortyTwo.com or by calling 920.785.1123.

Charlene Berg brings together the very dissimilar works of two artists who share a very similar approach to the creative process in “Zen of an Artist,” the next exhibit at Gallery Ten in Gills Rock.

On Saturday, August 15 the 2^nd floor display area opened with an exhibition of the creations of Wilmette papermaker and sculptor Pamela Paulsrud. The pen and ink drawings by Ellison Bay artist and Vietnam Veteran, Jeffrey L. Budzis are on display in the Tower Gallery on the 3^rd floor. Both collections are unique, thought-provoking and derived from a certain method of transcendent meditation.

Both Budzis and Paulsrud – who have never met or spoken to each other – describe a manner in which they each quiet the mind to let the actions and resulting imagery flow through them and into creative existence.

India ink on cotton by Jeffrey Budzis

Jeffrey Budzis arrived at this method the hard way, battling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and then alcoholism to arrive at an eventual steady state more than a decade ago, working on his meticulous and highly exacting geometric pen and ink drawings and expressive oils each day in his rural Ellison Bay studio.

Click to listen to our own Door County Style exclusive interview with Jeffrey Budzis…

Budzis had no formal art training, but early on in his career, fell under the influence of the late Dale Kuipers who gifted him with art supplies and encouragement.

“I was very fortunate to have learned oil painting from a traditionalist. He taught me the techniques that allow a painting to be around for a couple of hundred years instead of crumbling,” says Budzis.

Jeffrey says he loves the freedom of working with oils and vibrant color as a balance to creating the highly detailed monochromatic pen and ink mosaics.

In working with India ink he explains, “Every line is definitive. I can’t use white-out. Some of my drawings have several hundred thousand little squares that make up the composition. When I get irritated with that, I go in the painting room and I start throwing paint – which is totally the opposite. Working the two media off each other is the perfect world.”

Despite living in an urban environment, Pamela Paulsrud intentionally connects with the forces of nature to invoke the same meditative state that Budzis describes. She listens for the stories told by books, trees and stones, each one more ancient than another.

Stones and distressed books by Pamela Paulsrud

She began pursuing calligraphy and papermaking as an art student, deriving a bond and a reverence for the source of much of the pulp she uses from trees. Pamela proceeded to extend her relationship with trees in a global outreach that links people all over the world together in a creative process online at TreeWhispers.com.

Treewhispers is an international collaboration involving paper, art and stories relating to trees as a symbol and resource. The project was launched in the year 2000 by Pamela Paulsrud and the late Marilyn Sward.

Click to listen to our own Door County Style exclusive interview with Pamela Paulsrud…

“Trees are symbols, resources, and inspirations. In remembering our own personal experiences with trees we deepen our appreciation, our awareness, our connection to trees, to the earth and to others,” she explains. “Somewhere within you there is a tree story. Just as the rings of a tree embody the stories of the tree, so too we carry the stories of trees.”

She invites you to create your own “tree rings” and share them online.

Pamela also listens and relates to the more ancient stories contained in stones. She ties them directly to those found in books by her sculpting and shaping of distressed books. The works derive from her respect for celebrated Japanese calligrapher and poet, Shinagawa Tetsuzan.

The shows will be on display through September 17.

Charlene’s Gallery Ten represents over 100 artists in a gallery collection that is contemporary, original and eclectic. GT Coffee, complements the gallery, serving espresso drinks and Door County cherry pie by-the-slice Thursday through Monday from 8 AM to 5 PM. The gallery is open Thursday through Monday from 10 AM to 5 PM at 12625 Hwy. 42 in Gills Rock, Wisconsin. Telephone 920.854.9907 for further information or visit on-line at www.GalleryTen.com.

Ram Antonio Rojas

Door County artist taps travels, spirituality

by Donna Marie Pocius

“For Ram Rojas, who has lived in many places, decorating his Sturgeon Bay home has been a natural evolution.

The artist has decoratively painted the walls, ceilings, cabinets and floors in his two-story farmhouse. He accents his home with symbols, upholstered furnishings and walls in subdued, earthy colors, along with his own artworks.

Rojas’ paintings include spiritual themes, landscapes, houses and portraits. He also fashions interior frescoes and is a muralist; one of his works is “The Foundation of Faith,” a series of four outdoor murals he created in 2006 in Wittenberg.

“For an artist, a house takes on a personality,” Rojas said. “So the idea is not that I am going to decorate my house. It is more like I am going to make something I like with the decorations that I pick up here and there. And that’s what makes it individual and interesting.”

Read the entire article and see the photos at:

http://www.jsonline.com/features/homeandgarden/50658217.html

Find Ram Antonio Rojas on Facebook.