Fish Creek Weaver, Barbara Knupper

As always, the art fair will feature handmade works of art from Door County artists and fine crafts persons including watercolor paintings, jewelry, homemade candles and soaps, birdhouses, wreaths, greeting cards, mittens, scarves and more. Attendees will enjoy meeting with some of their favorite returning artists who participate year after year, along with a dozen new vendors for 2011.

The art fair is an opportunity to do some local holiday shopping and enjoy a spread of baked goods, soups, and sandwiches, while supporting the Door County YMCA Youth in Government Program. A silent auction with items from artists and local businesses will also be taking place all day. Admission is $3 for attendee’s ages 16 and older.

Founded in 1947, the YMCA Youth in Government is a nationwide program that provides students in grades 7- 12 withan opportunity to experience the democratic process firsthand. Proceeds from the Folk Art Fair make it possible for Youth in Government students to attend a four-day legislative session in Madison each spring.

If you have any questions about the Folk Art Fair, please contact Erin Hoffman at the Door County YMCA at 920.743.4949.

Click for a downloadable poster (PDF format).

Liz Maltman

Visit Sturgeon Bay artists at their studio and gallery locations listed below. You can also see work by several more artists exhibiting at AMO and Greco Galleries. Enjoy all of their latest works, buy original art and indulge in some art-browsing, not to mention refreshments at each stop.

The artists, studios and galleries in the upcoming Holiday Art Studio Crawl include:

• Kelly Avenson – 26 N 3rd Ave. (Greco Gallery)
• Ernest Beutel and Tim Nyberg – Corner of Michigan & 3rd Ave. (Fairfield Building)
• Faith Frykman & Gina Ward – 617 Kentucky St.
• Lynn Gilchrist – 361 N. 4th Ave.
• Liz Maltman and Rick Risch – 59 W. Maple St.
• Audrey Off – 40 N. 3rd Ave. (AMO Gallery)
• Pat Olson and Bethany Kirwen – 624 Kentucky St.
• Jenwah Panther – 330 N. 3rd Ave.
• Shane Peterson – 46 Green Bay Rd. (Fatzo’s)
• Jeremy Popelka and Stephanie Trenchard – 64 S. 2nd Ave. (Popelka Trenchard Glass)
• Lynn Schuster – 410 N. 6th Ave.
• Deb Stroh-Larson – (Stroh Haus B&B) 608 Kentucky St.

Photographer Kelly Avenson, specializes in creative, unique and candid photographs of all those special moments in life. Ernest Beutel’s abstract representational paintings illustrate that life is a balance between the grotesque and the playful. Enjoy his topsy-turvy world of animals and his cock-eyed distortion of reality.

Faith Frykman paints in oil, pastel or acrylic, simplifying a subject and transforming it with her uninhibited use of texture, surprising colors and intriguing gestural lines. Award-winning painter Lynn Gilchrist will show her intensely-colored landscapes and still life paintings in pastels and oils. Bethany Kirwen’s colorful florals and landscapes in pastels, acrylics and mixed media express the light in life’s simple pleasures. Liz Maltman’s bold color and fluid, imaginative style gives life to her award-winning pastel or acrylic landscapes and portraits. Tim Nyberg‘s acrylic paintings are alive with strong brushwork and color. His whimsical, colorful and inspired paintings are perfect for home or office.

Lifetime resident Audrey Off’s photography and paintings in watercolor, mixed media, oil and acrylic reflect her love of water and nature. Pat Olson’s fine art paintings and designs in pastel and acrylic include landcapes and whimsical Door County posters and prints. Visionary silk artist Jenwah Panther will show her signature creations, illuminated wall tapestries and fabrics that nurture the heart. Shane Peterson’s original oil paintings showcase his unique and engaging perspective and his intriguing use of vibrant color.

Jeremy Popelka and Stephanie Trenchard will show their original blown and cast fine art glass, contemporary oil paintings, jewelry, light fixtures and gifts in their downtown working studio. Rick Risch is known for employing a rich textural technique in his wonderful landscapes and portraits. Handweaver Lynn Schuster will show her woven table runners, blankets and rugs as well as intricate pieces of jewelry and coiled baskets embellished with beadwork. Door County native Deb Stroh-Larson will show her monotypes, etchings and pastels, as well as intaglio and watercolor paintings. Gina Ward’s portraits and landscapes in pastel are alive with color and emotion.

More information, links to artists’ websites and a map to the artists’ studios may be found at ArtStudioCrawl.com.

The National Sculpture Society (NSS) was founded in New York City in 1893 by a group of America’s most prominent sculptors. Its members have created much of this country’s public sculpture, coins and medals since the late 1800’s. It is the oldest organization of professional sculptors in the United States, and has been hosting exhibitions for over a century.

In the LOVE exhibit, Bren’s sculpture Aphrodite speaks volumes on the power of love and art to transform. Aphrodite is know as the goddess of love and is said to be born out of a wave.

“My artwork speaks of the awakening magical transformation of nature and mankind,” Bren explains. “The timeless dance of nature and love, illustrated by human fragility, encompassed by our enduring strength to overcome and awaken to our truth.”

Bren says she feels very honored to be included in the NSS show called LOVE especially since… ”the National Sculpture Society is such a well known association among artists here and abroad.”

In this exhibit her work is displayed in the company of some exceptionally well known, internationally established sculptors, some of whom she has admired through the years. Bren’s sculptures have received international acclaim and have been juried into art exhibits from New York to California. Some of these prestigious exhibits include: P.I.C.T.U.R.E. Art Foundation, Cultural Patriot Award, (California), Manhattan Arts International, Best of Sculpture for the exhibit The Healing Power of Art 2010, (New York), International ARC Salon Sculpture Finalist 2006, (New Jersey) and WCA Midwest Regional exhibition, (Chicago, IL).

Locally you can view her sculptures in Appleton at Mystical Earth Gallery and in her own studio and gallery in Algoma. Visit her studio any weekend of the year, but it is always best to call the studio first during the fall and winter. In her studio, Bren has many projects in progress as well as finished sculptures of all sizes on display, including life-size pieces like Aphrodite. Widely collected, Bren Sibilsky Sculpture Studio and Gallery is one not to be missed. Bren also teaches sculpture at the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek and The Kewaunee Academy of Fine Art in Algoma. View her work online at: www.brensculpture.com.

Hardy Gallery’s “Picture This!” Photography Exhibit

The Hardy’s “Picture This” exhibit features works with solely photographic origins, and has been a popular exhibit for locals and visitor’s alike.

“Visitors are captivated,” says Elizabeth Meissner-Gigstead, Executive Director for the Hardy. “Photography isn’t exclusively photography in the traditional sense any longer,” she says. “Processes are continually changing, and there are so many ways to manipulate the medium — and that’s what is compelling for viewers; they can relate to the work.”

Professional and amateur photographers alike submitted 151 works, with 88 of the entries being selected for inclusion. Jurors for the exhibit included a diverse panel of professional photographers: Suzanne Rose, Dan Anderson, and Sarah Detweiler.

The “Picture This!” exhibit ends the Hardy Gallery’s 2011 season, and will be open to the general public for viewing through Tuesday, October 11 at 5 pm. The gallery is open daily from 10 am – 5 pm. For more information about the “Picture This!” exhibit, call 920.854.2210 or visit www.thehardy.org.

Join in the conversation with The Hardy Gallery on Facebook.

Meet and talk with local and regional artists at work in their open-air studios, creating all manner of art. The 11th Annual Gills Rock ArtFest brings together a bevy of plein air painters, custom jewelry makers, potters and even a cairn builder, all at work outdoors.

Participating artists this year include:

• Mona Cacciotti, Pewaukee, concrete and acrylics
• Joni Rae Doyle, DeForest, silver and copper jewelry
• Kris Franzke, Milwaukee, mosaic, clay
• Mark Haberly, Menomonee Falls, oil
• Dick Helland, Egg Harbor, watercolor
• Ray Kapfamer, Appleton, oil
• Anne Nikolai Kloss, Waukesha, beaded jewelry
• Norm Knott, Rockford, IL MIxed media sculpture, paintings
• Mary Beth Mead, Ellison Bay, vintage jewelry
• Chris Meissner, MIlwalukee, encaustic and oil, plaster
• Shannon Molter, MIlwaukee, organic bamboo, silk and cotton fashions
• Jeanne Nikoilai Olivieri, Milwaukee, watercolor
• Marcia Nickols, Ephraim, watercolor
• Sienna, Green Bay, mixed media

Special guests include Carolyn Kane, Gills Rock author who will be signing her recently published book, “Taking Jenny Home,” a fictional novel set in the state of Maine and illustrated by one of Door County’s most celebrated painters, Charles Peterson. Ms. Kane taught English at Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Missouri from 1977 to 2005 where she was also faculty sponsor of the college’s award-winning literary arts magazine, Harmony.

Taking Jenny Home (book cover) by CL Peterson

“Taking Jenny Home“ is set in a place which Carolyn Kane has never lived nor even visited, but she says, “Maine is the only place where the events of the novel could reasonably take place… even in a fantasy!” The imaginary Merlin’s Island has plenty of features that are reminiscent of Door County including dangerous waters, fields of knapweed blossoming in August and an ice cream shop known as Wilson’s Seaside Creamery.

The ArtFest will also feature live music on Saturday, starting at 11 am. Christine and Nelson Whyatt will provide a festive air with fiddle and accordion tunes. The Whyatts recently moved to Door County from Minneapolis. They play a variety of folk music from Europe and America, and are especially fond of the music of Scandinavia.

From 5:30 – 7 pm on Saturday, there will be an Artist’s Reception for Norm Knott and his spectacular “McBuddha” installation, which he dubs, “a Spiritual Franchise.” When the manager of a furniture store decided to toss out a very large plastic Buddha that had arrived as packing filler with an order from Japan, Norm leaped at the opportunity to repurpose the object. He took it to his studio and covered every square inch with jewels and hundreds of tiny paper scrolls derived from Chinese newspapers. The Buddha is now the centerpiece of a room at Gallery Ten dedicated to showcasing Norm’s masterpiece derived from natural objects.

Norm Knott creates a continual stream of art, often recruiting everyone around him to join in assembling found objects. For many years this Rockford native has been a featured artist at Charlene’s Gallery Ten in Gills Rock. Norm teaches what he calls, “earth-friendly art courses” to children and adults combining traditional assemblage techniques with the use of recyclables, biodegradables and natural materials from the outdoors. He likes to see kids and grownups break the rules and get their hands dirty.

Shannon Molter returns with a new collection of her original “green” fashion wear. She is known for including a variety of natural found objects in her work as lead fashion designer at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Molter says she has, “a strong sense of connectedness to the environment and tries to arouse empathy within my audience for the natural world, as well as why we should, or how we can change the current ecological situation.”

There is no charge to attend any of the Gills Rock ArtFest events taking place over Labor Day Weekend. Telephone 920.854.9907 for further information of visit on-line at www.GalleryTen.com.

RSVP and invite your friends…

Charlene’s Gallery Ten represents over 100 artists in a gallery collection that is contemporary, original and eclectic, opening daily from 10 AM to 5 PM at 12625 Hwy 42 in Gills Rock.

GT Coffee, complements the gallery, serving espresso drinks and Door County cherry pie by-the-slice daily from 8 AM to 5 PM. Telephone 920.854.9907 for further information or visit on-line at www.GalleryTen.com.

Hanney relates that throughout her school years and beyond, it was assumed that she would become an artist. College electives and a Ph.D minor in art history and evening workshop courses offered at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design have all helped to satisfy her creative impulses.

She takes inspiration from the natural world, painting what compels her and invites her into closer scrutiny. Here she explores a new world of discovery and challenge. One of Roxanne Hanney’s specialties is painting pet portraits.

“They make especially meaningful gifts for someone who has lost a beloved cat or dog and on one occasion, a rabbit,” says the artist. “Horses and waterfowl are other favorite animal subjects. I enjoy doing commissions for pet portraits”.

Her preferred medium is pastels and most recently, she has come to work in oils. Her works have been juried into the League of Milwaukee Artists, the Cedarburg Artists’ Guild and local area shows. Hanney has memberships in The League of Milwaukee Artists, Wisconsin Pastel Artists, Door County Art League and the Punta Gorda Visual Arts Center. In 2010 she won Best of Show in The Wisconsin Pastel Artists exhibit and Best of Show in the League of Milwaukee Artists gallery exhibit.

Roxanne states that she loves what she is doing… “making art is a means of seeing in new ways, of testing new boundaries.”

The Unitarian Universalist Gallery in north Ephraim is adjacent to the Green Gable Shops. Gallery hours are Sundays from 11 am – 12:30 pm, and Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 – 3 pm.

Skye

“This is a work in progress and a labor of love,” says Skye. “Choosing the songs was difficult at best. I did not yet make it to his most recent work of the late ’90′s/2000′s. I chose fabric to stencil the songs onto with fabric markers because I wanted them to roll like scrolls, yet be pliable and not fragile, as paper could be.”

This body of work will frame the stage at a series of Woodwalk Concerts entitled, “Buckets Of Rain: The Songs of Bob Dylan.” On stage at 7 pm on Sept 1-3 and 8-9. The Songs of Bob Dylan will be performed by Tommy Burroughs, Katie Dahl, Rich Higdon, Jeanne Kuhns, Eric Lewis and Patrick Palmer.  You will also be able to visit this display during normal Woodwalk Gallery hours in that week.

Skye describes her artistic vision, “I became enamored with Bob Dylan, his life, writing and music, a few springs ago, after watching the Martin Scorcese film about him, “No Direction Home.” I decided to immerse myself in his body of work (over 600 songs). I wanted to let it wash over me; wrap me like a blanket. I have found his work to be courageous and honest, full of wit and rage, beauty and pain. Dylan turned 70 in May. He has given us five decades of song and performance.”

Skye began as a mixed-media sculptor who had an extensive career working with stone, executing well over 100 works from 1989-1999. She loved the medium but became frustrated with its limitations. In 1997 she began experimenting with fiber, culminating in a body of work, the “Raw Linen Series,” combining fiber, wood and bead embroidery. Skye along with Peter Ciesla also create one of a kind jewelry in their Bazyli Studio located in Baileys Harbor.

“Some of you will read the lyrics for the first time and perhaps go find the song. Some will have heard the song endless times, but might discover the lyrics in a new way. Some will never read the lyrics but will enjoy the piece in an abstract way. Through this process, I have been able to live inside of them until they have become a part of me- letter by letter, word by word, song by song.

Buckets of Rain: The Songs of Bob Dylan will be performed on 5 evenings, Sept 1-3 and 8-9 at 7 pm by Tommy Burroughs, Katie Dahl, Rich Higdon, Jeanne Kuhns, Eric Lewis and Patrick Palmer. Tickets are $15, available at the door, but calling for reservations is recommended at 920.868.2912.

Doug Beasley’s photographic vision explores the spiritual aspects of people and place, and is concerned with how spirit is recognized and expressed in everyday life. While grants and commissions fund much of his personal work, he also photographs fine art-based commercial assignments throughout the world.

Beasley’s Vision Quest Photo Workshops, held at his Trade River Retreat Center near Grantsburg, WI, emphasize following one’s heart, soul, and vision over the mechanics of camera use. In addition to the guest artist week at Martinez Studio, Beasley is also teaching an intermediate photography course at Fish Creek’s Peninsula School of Art. Beasley’s Door County connections also include the Linden Centre, where he teaches a two-week intensive photography class for those interested in photographing the landscape, architecture, people, and culture of the Dali, Lijiang and Yunnan provinces of China.

“Photography is my response to the world surrounding me, as I attempt to represent my inner state through the physical reality of the outer world – expressing a mystical connection to the Earth and its inhabitants,” Beasley says. “I hope that my photographs act as ‘prayer-like’ offerings and are meant as a departure point for the viewer’s own visual or spiritual journey.”

Over the course of the guest artist week, Beasley will be taking pre-orders for his latest photography book in addition to having a book and print special. With a forward from Native American activist Winona LaDuke, as well as an introduction by photo historian and writer George Slade, the 112-page book is printed on premium paper and is published by 5 Continents Editions in Milan, Italy and distributed by Abrams Books.

The book stems from Beasley’s solo exhibit last year at the VisionQuest Gallery in Genoa, Italy. Beasley worked with the Castille D’Albertis Museum in Genoa on a project on the Hopi Reservation – the museum has a large collection of Native American art and a relationship with the Hopi Tribe.  Subsequently, the Museum decided to mount a permanent exhibit of his Sacred Landscapes.

Martinez Studio is located one mile south Jacksonport (Door County), Wisconsin, and is an intimate working studio/gallery focused on the work of Sandra and Wence Martinez. The couple’s work includes Wence’s intricate, contemporary weavings and accessible photography and Sandra’s signature glyph paintings and drawings as well as her functional art. The gallery is open daily from 10 am – 5 pm daily May through October. For more information, please call 920.823.2154 or visit www.MartinezStudio.com.

Sills’ new painted and drawn collages look to calling cards – the “social media” of the Victorian era – to study the interactions people have with one another as well as the natural world. Borrowing this imagery, Sills’ works show highly-rendered hands holding organic arrangements executed in an array of styles, from brisk charcoal gestures to flattened stencil shapes. Smaller works that appear to be formal exercises in color, shape and form reveal themselves as a further examination of human relationships.

In looking at the past in order to contemplate the present, Sills plays with artistic devices that highlight one another, such as representation versus abstraction. The media is chosen to support the content of the work – mechanical processes such as printmaking or stenciling combine with hand-drawn and painted marks to speak about humankind’s continued removal from nature.

“Removal as well,” Sills explains, “from the meaningful relationships and interactions that people have with one another as caused by the increasing dependence on technology for communication.”

In Sills’ hands, the collage form is used to heighten the understanding of identity and nature as constructed ideas rather than concrete realities. A native of Door County, Neva Sills lives, teaches and maintain a working studio in Chicago.

Martinez Studio is located in Jacksonport (Door County), Wisconsin, and is an intimate working studio/gallery that focuses on the work of Sandra and Wence Martinez. The couple’s work includes Wence’s intricate weaving and accessible photography and Sandra’s symbolic paintings and drawings as well as her functional art. The gallery is open daily from 10 am – 5 pm, seven days a week, May through October. For more information about the Neva Sills guest artist weekend or about Martinez Studio, please call 920.823.2154 or visit www.martinezstudio.com.

The Community Mosaic Project: Complete Artworks 2008-2009

In celebration of its 49^th year, the Hardy will give each day’s 49^th gallery visitor a free copy of the organization’s self-published book, The Community Mosaic Project: Complete Artworks 2008-2009. The exhibit on which the book is based, the Community Mosaic Project, is now on display at the gallery. The book, just released this past year, is a behind-the-scenes look at the Project’s inaugural years.

The Community Mosaic Project, now in its fourth year, connects all members of the Peninsula’s community to the arts, drawing participants from local youth, professional artists, Sunday painters, annual tourists and aspiring artists of all skill levels and ages. This year, 312 6-by-6-inch works are included in the mosaic, including pieces by noteworthy Door County artists Donna Brown, Emmett Johns, Margaret Lockwood, Brigitte Kozma, Sandra Martinez, Carl Mengert, Bonnie Paruch, Charles L. Peterson, Karsten Topelmann, and Rob Williams.

The canvases are available for purchase via a “blind-buy” system: the public is invited to purchase a number correlating to the pieces; however no-one knows which number belongs to which piece. At the close of the exhibit, the individual canvases are assigned numbers, packaged, and shipped directly to patrons. The thrilling part of the process is not knowing which piece will be received! The proceeds generated from the project benefit the non-profit Hardy Gallery.

The Community Mosaic Project: Complete Artworks 2008-2009 was inspired by the overwhelming success of the Project’s first years.

“It quickly became evident that we had a runaway success with this idea,” says Elizabeth Meissner-Gigstead, Executive Director of the Hardy, “but it was a challenge to give the public access to the writings which accompanied the works of art. These statements often help people connect to the works on another level – something that is key to our mission as a community arts organization.”

To that end, the idea for the book was born. It includes a forward by esteemed Door County artist Charles L. Peterson and images of over 650 works of art as well as the thoughts behind the works of art submitted during the first years of the Project.

Community Mosaic Project numbers are now on sale for $25 at the Hardy Gallery in Ephraim, WI. The book is available for purchase at local booksellers as well as at the gallery. An additional list of local and regional book outlets can be found on the Hardy’s website, www.TheHardy.org.  Alternatively, books may be purchased by calling the Hardy Gallery office at 920.854.2210, or by e-mailing info@thehardy.org. The cost of the book is $29.95 (plus tax) and all proceeds benefit the Hardy’s operations and programming.

The Francis Hardy Center for the Arts, Inc., also affectionately known as the Hardy Gallery, is a non-profit art organization enriching the vibrancy of the Door County community by promoting and fostering local art. The organization supports initiatives that address the needs of the local artist community, the creative enrichment of local youth, the education of the public, and the promotion of the visual art and artists of the Door County Peninsula. The iconic Gallery is located on Ephraim’s Anderson Dock and is open 10 am – 5 pm daily. For more information about the organization or to purchase a Community Mosaic Project book, please call 920.854.2210. More information can also be found by visiting www.thehardy.org.

The Hardy Gallery is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. Canvases for the Community Mosaic Project have been provided by the Artists Guild, a Winsor & Newton Premiere Art Centre and custom framing center located in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

BOOK SUMMARY:

Title:  The Community Mosaic Project: Complete Artworks 2008-2009
Author:  Francis Hardy Center for the Arts, Inc.
Publisher:  Interpress, Ltd.
ISBN:  978-0-615-36519-0
7” x 7” soft cover, 244 pp., 650 color illustrations, $29.95 (plus tax)