The Year of Firsts!

What can I say about 2017? For a while, it could go straight to hell. It started off not-so-great, with several sad personal events happening in the first couple of months. I am happy to report that by the middle of June, the year began correcting itself in terms of my personal life. That is a huge relief.

But in most ways, it was amazing! Professionally, I think I can honestly say that it was my best year ever. It was the first year I more than doubled my sales, which I hope to repeat in 2018. It was the first year I had a booth at the IgNight Markets in Green Bay and The Artery Holiday event in Kimberly.

My booth at The Artery holiday market in Kimberly, Wisconsin, in December

It was the first year I worked almost exclusively in series, and I absolutely LOVE IT.  Looking back, I have no idea why I constantly limited myself by only doing one-offs. But I’ve done three series this year (Painted Desert, The Collagraph in Miniature, and The Detritus Project), and one mini-series (Color Collages), and a few others here and there for a total of 152 pieces (YIKES! I guess it was just a feeling that I was busy this year!). I’m working on a new series for my solo exhibit at ArtSpace Collective in Oshkosh – another first for me, as I just joined ArtSpace in October! It’s a group of 14 artists in and around the Oshkosh area, and they’re just lovely people. I’m so excited to be a part of this group!

I’ve already talked about my amazing Treehaven experience, and some of my teaching experiences, and I had three fabulous residencies this year – the first two were one-day school residencies where I either demonstrated a reduction linocut (at Friendship Elementary in North Fond du Lac), or led a day-long collage workshop for some art club students (at Brandon Middle School). I also had my two month-long library residency at the Appleton Public Library, where I showed my Detritus Project exhibit and had a class, demo and lecture about The Detritus Project (more about that project, here!).

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This past summer I was invited by printmaker extraordinaire Christine Style to participate in The Wisconsin Idea Alphabet, which was a group of about 50 or so printmakers, each assigned a letter of the alphabet.  I got the letter “Y”, which I entitled “Yessiree Bob!”, a tribute to that great Wisconsin statesman, “Fighting” Bob LaFollette.  You can see my block in the photo below, with the remainder of the alphabet!  It was such a wonderful weekend and I’m so honored to have been asked to be a part of such a great project.  I didn’t mention the best part – it was a steamroller print!  We printed right on the dock by the Hardy Gallery in Egg Harbor, Door County!  So great.

I also was accepted into Issue 35 of my favorite magazine, UPPERCASE! It was all about data-driven art, and I made it with a few of my collagraphs! This is my fourth time in the magazine and it’s always an honor! Thank you, Janine!  🙂

Another unique experience this year was being a part of a design team with Kevin Rau of Rauhaus Design + Letterpress to create the invitation for one of my sister’s friend’s daughter’s wedding. I drew the tree image and Kevin made a photopolymer plate of it and also letterpressed the entire invite! It was such a cool project, and I’m happy to have been a part of it!  😀

I was commissioned by my in-laws to do a grouping of pieces to complement their living room decor. As is ALWAYS the case, I freeze when asked to do commissions, and starting this year I decided to limit my commission work only to those people who I know or who know my work well enough to know how I work and what they’ll get. It’s a process that’s fraught with peril for me, but in early November I finally finished the project! It’s a nine-piece set of monoprints in the same colors as their furniture. I have to say, I was really pleased with how they turned out but more importantly, my in-laws were thrilled. That meant so much to me! I was sort of possessed when making these pieces and they’re in a style I never work in, so I’m very glad they were happy.  🙂

A series of nine monoprints made for Brian’s parents

One amazingly positive event that happened personally was the addition of our sweet twin puppers, Peggy and Maude! (Yes, it is a given that any pups who are part of our family will have their own Facebook page.)  🙂 They are twin Pommies and we love them dearly. We adopted them on October 4 and they have added so much to our lives.  They’re our sweet babies and we love them so. It’s so nice to have puppers in the house again, and these ladies are only two, so we hope to have them for many years to come.

Maudie (left) and Peggy, hoarding their squirrels and other stuffies. 😀

I don’t know how I can top this year – I mean, there’s really only one time that one can be immortalized in a bobblehead!

Brian surprised me with this amazing gift for my 49th birthday!  🙂

Happy 2018, everyone! Here’s to a fresh start with lots of art!

 

 

 

 

 

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My Awesome Treehaven Experience!

This year continues to be a year of firsts for me – first art fair, first invitational solo exhibit…and now, my first-ever art retreat class at a remote location!

I applied for the ArtStart Rhinelander‘s School of the Arts retreat called Art in Nature back in May.  I had heard about it through Arts Wisconsin – the School of the Arts has a rich, 60-year history and ArtStart is revitalizing it, which is wonderful news.  So imagine my delight when I discovered that I would be teaching my proposed class, “Collagraphs from Nature” there!

The entire retreat was held on the Treehaven grounds.  This place is AMAZING.  Imagine a fully modern summer camp, and you get the gist of the place.  It’s used year-round, mainly by UW-Stevens Point forestry students.  It’s nestled in the middle of nowhere, in Tomahawk, Wisconsin.  It’s truly remote – I felt so secure in its isolation.  I love places like this. (MAJOR bonus – it was about 15 degrees cooler there than in Fond du Lac, where we’re having a bizarre heat wave of 90 degree weather this week!)

My sweet room in the White Pines cabin!

Don’t you just love this handmade sign for the gift shop? 😀

This is the Winterberry Dining Hall. I felt like I was back at family camp!

I arrived on Friday afternoon and immediately set up my room.  I was so happy I could do this ahead of time, because then I could relax the rest of the evening.  We all had dinner together and heard the keynote speaker, Kristin Thielking, who’s a professor of sculpture at UW-Stevens Point.  She talked about the beautiful structures and installations she and her students create in natural settings.  It was so inpsiring, as it was the first time I’d ever really been interested in large sculptures.  I broadened my mind as to what a “sculpture” could truly be!  And now I have some ideas for our own Gottfried Prairie and Arboretum!

My class was right away on Saturday morning, so I ate breakfast with the group and got back to my classroom to make sure everything was set up and ready to go.  I had nine people in my class, which was a great size!  I showed them how to make collagraphs the way that I make them, and we had a total blast.  Here’s a slideshow of their beginning monoprints, their composing stages, and their final collagraphs, which were made from items found right on the Treehaven grounds or from some items I had gotten in our prairie.  Each student’s finished pieces were unlike anyone else’s, and that made me so happy. I absolutely LOVE it when that happens – when the artist’s vision comes through in their work.

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This teaching experience is another highlight in a year of highlights for me.  I enjoyed myself immensely!!  And to top it all off, I stayed for the afternoon and took Debra Jircik’s Harvest Papermaking class, which I’ve wanted to take for the past three years or so.  Kismet!  I loved it, as I knew I would.

Here we are with our papers made from corn husks, milkweed stalks, iris leaves, day lilies, and Abaca fiber with crushed leaves! They all turned out so beautifully.

It was one of those weekends I’ll always remember and cherish.  I was yet again reminded how extremely fortunate I am to be able to teach and create art in this way. It doesn’t get much better than this!  🙂  Many, many thanks to Melinda Childs and Ashley McLaughlin for just a wonderful retreat!

 

Best/Worst

Life is funny.  In the times where it’s even-keeled, we just sort of chug along, don’t we, not really thinking about much of anything except our own plans.  Whether it’s work, the weekend, what to have for dinner – it’s just so easy to be complacent.  I think this is where most of us spend a majority of our time, and honestly?  I think it’s a great place to be.

But then Life comes along and kicks your ass.  It could be the death of a beloved pet, something awful happening with your career; your partner or kids becoming ill; your parents’ aging and myriad issues that brings; or maybe it’s a combination of crises. Whatever the “thing” is, you’re all of a sudden thrust into Survival Mode, where you can’t even see past the day or hour at hand.  Sure, Life is still happening, but it’s all kind of a blur now.

Life can also come along and bestow upon you some of the most amazing experiences you can imagine.  It might be the best year you’ve ever had at your job; it might be that you’re marrying your best friend; it might be that you’re finally going to have a kid that you’ve been waiting for your whole life. Whenver “things” like this happen, Life seems to fly by in a whirlwind of activity – stressful in its own way, as most of Life is still happening, too.  Laundry still has to be done.  🙂

This has been my year so far.

Let’s get the crud out of the way first.  Our beloved Pommie, Dudley, left us on February 25.  He’d been my constant companion for the last 5 years and 9 months. He very rarely left my side, and his absence created a loss I wasn’t quite ready for. ——————————                            During this time, we were also adjusting to having my mom here in Fond du Lac – she moved up here in January, as it was clear she couldn’t live by herself anymore.  So we set her up at a lovely apartment in an assisted living space.  She was chugging along until the middle of February, when she passed out after having what turned out to be her last cigarette – her oxygen level was at 60% and the docs discovered her COPD was now advanced emphysema.  She was in the hospital for 5 days and afterward, needed more services.  All seemed to be going okay until this past Thursday, when we were at the grocery store and she took a terrifying fall, which crushed her shoulder bones and two vertebrae, plus part of her tailbone.  She will be in a rehab facility for 8-10 weeks, and is in a great deal of pain. All of this is compounded by her worsening dementia. —————— Lastly – this may sound like absolutely nothing compared to the two other “things” I’ve mentioned, but we also said good-bye to Carol, my beloved 1997 Toyota Corolla, on February 21.  She had been my trusty (VERY trusty!) sidekick since May of 1998.  That car saw me through the birth of my second niece (and some very smooshy memories of my first niece’s experiences with her new sister); my divorce; my dad’s death/funeral; and served as our “second” car when Brian and I got our van.  She did manage to reach 200,000 miles before we parted ways, and her final act was a donation to our local public radio station (via the Car Talk Vehicle Donation Program). I’ll be honest – I cried.  I had so many amazing adventures with this car and for a while, it seemed like I’d have her with me forever.

BUT!!  BUT!!  YOU GUYS!!

Holy smokes – it has been the most amazing year EVER for my art.  EVER.  Since January 1, this is what I’ve done:

• I created 30 pieces (one per day, January 1-30) for the 30x30x30 show at Var Gallery (which hangs this week!).  This was my first-ever real “collection” of works. I created pieces that I rust-dyed and then stitched, followed by a layer of beeswax.  Here’s one of them, for a sneak peek:

Painted Desert IV, rust-dyed muslin, machine embroidery, encaustic wax

• I finished/installed my two shows at UW-Fond du Lac that I created specifically for this site: The Collograph in Minature/Pervasive Plastic.  This opportunity, which was so generously given to me by art lecturer Wendi Turchan, was a dream come true – to be able to show on a university level was something I never imagined I’d be able to do.  I also created pieces that were site-specific, and I’m so proud of them.  Here’s one of my collographs and a piece from the Plastic show:

  

  Prairie (monoprint and collograph) and The Whole World is Plastic (tree branch, plastic bag strips, plastic bag)

• On my third attempt, I was finally accepted into the Small Print Show at UW-Parkside!  My piece, A Canopy of Branches, was chosen to be one of the prints. Unfortunately, the weather and my health were both icky the night of the reception and I was unable to drive to Kenosha to see the awesome show.  But here is my piece!!  I’m so happy I got in on this one, because it’s a reduction linocut I’m really proud of.

  

  A Canopy of Branches, reduction linocut

• I am currently in The Humor Show at Riverwalk Art Center with my friends Nicci Martin and Susan Fiebig!  I am so happy to be one of the three chosen for this exhibit by curator/owner Kathryn Dreifuerst.  I can guarantee that this is going to be not only hilarious, but just a fabulous show. My portion of the show is called Bad Hair Daze, which is comprised of eight different embroidered collages featuring horrible ’80s hairstyles (here’s one of them!).  Our reception is this Friday night from 5-8 p.m. – hope to see you there!  😀The “She’s so Unusual”, from the Bad Hair Daze collection (embroidery, collage)

Lastly – I have to thank everyone who’s made this year, as trying as it’s been, so great.  Firstly – my family.  They’ve really rallied and helped so much with my mom.  Everyone has her back and it’s been so wonderful having their awesome support. I rely so much on my sister, Jenn, because no one knows me better and of course, we have the same mom.  🙂 Our “sister days” have been a life-saver.  Also, my art friends – what a wonderful group of people I know in Fond du Lac and the Fox Cities.  I know the best people in the world and I’m so proud and honored to call them my friends.  🙂 They have been so understanding when I’ve had to cancel things due to illness this year or last minute things that have come up with my mom.  I can only hope to be half as understanding as these great people.  I could name names, but you know who you are.  ❤

And lastly – my amazing husband, Brian.  To say that I couldn’t do any of this without him is the Understatement of the Year.  He has been my rock and I am so grateful and honored to be his wife, and astounded by his unflinching generosity in everything he does.  He’s truly the best.  ♥

2016 – The Year in Highlights!

WHAT.

The year is over.

Okay, in many ways, the year was a long one.  I think that happens when you’re learning new things, and I sure did!  But when I think back to December 31 of 2015, it feels like a couple of weeks ago.  Back on that day, I had chosen a word to define what my year would mean, and that was “direction”. Indeed, my year took MANY directions!  It feels like each month brought a new and exciting chapter to my art, so that’s how it’ll be chronicled!

January – When I look back at last January, it comes to me in two words: Individual Art.  I had SO many of my one-on-one classes that month!  It was the perfect way to ease into the year.  I love my Individual Art classes, because not only do I get to hang out with some fabulous people and have them learn or perfect a skill they’ve wanted, but I also learn from them.  I know every teacher feels this way (or should!).  🙂  This month also marked the first time I taught at Moraine Park Technical College for Life-Long Learning!  What a great “first” for me.  SO fun.

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February – I had applied for a Wisconsin Visual Artists show at Villa Terrace back in January, and found out on February 4 that my piece, “Narcissus”, had been accepted!  I was THRILLED.  This was a huge deal for me, as I had just recently started painting and it felt great to have the piece liked enough to be included in this show.  It was a 3-group show called “Making a Scene”.  Definitely a highlight of my year!  🙂

 

This was an amazing month for another reason, too – my Detritus Project exhibit, which I created and curated, made its debut at the Langdon Divers Gallery inside the Fond du Lac Public Library!  I had the idea for this show way back in 2012, thanks to my great friends at Library as Incubator Project, but it finally became a reality as a community art exhibit in February.  I loved every single minute of this show.  🙂 Check out the AMAZING entries!  😀 This year also marked my second year of curating the Langdon every month.  It’s so great to see all of the different art and artists come through this lovely gallery!  🙂

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March – I was able to be a part of another fantastic show in March, this time with the super-cool Kate Mothes and her amazing youngspace.  This was one of Kate’s pop-up exhibits, which only ran for a few weeks in March at this great space on Main Street in Green Bay.  I feel like this show gave me street cred like I’d never had before!  Such fantastic artists involved, and most were much younger than I am (not difficult, at my age!).   The show was called Remote View and was juried by Kate and Claire Abitz (you’ll hear more about these two movers and shakers later in the year).  AWESOME.  🙂

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April – April brought with it yet another show, this time at one of my all-time favorite galleries, Two Fish Gallery in Elkhart Lake!  The exhibit was called Altered States and the idea was for the artists selected to talk about a point in their art where they made an alteration, or change, in their way of working (or a new technique). My piece, “Fashion Plate”, was juried in!  🙂  I met so many of my Facebook friends this evening, and made some new ones, too!  This was one of those exhibits and evenings that just was so perfect. That same evening I participated in one of Knaak + Juarez Studio’s Blank Canvas events, and began my most ambitious art projects of 2016.  (More on that piece, later!)

 

May – I had the very distinct honor of jurying the student show at UW-Fond du Lac this year!  It was so fun, and really difficult!  Art professor Wendi Turchan and her students curated this show, and it was fantastic.  We wound up buying five pieces for ourselves!  This was the first time I’d ever juried a student show and the process was a life lesson for me as well.  As artists, we’ve ALL been there, where we either didn’t win an award or just not selected for a show, period.  I’d juried before, but never in person and it really is never about a piece being “good” or “bad”, as there are SO many variables!  You can see here how I had a difficult time choosing the award recipients!

I was also in Stevens Point in May for two reasons – I had a wonderful stint as Artist-in-Residence for Tosha Tessen-McDonald’s art classes at McDill Elementary for three days in the middle of May, and I was also in a show at Riverfront Art Center there called All About Trees!  I felt so welcomed in this delightful town – and what a surprise to run into a former Fond du Lacian, Casey French, who I ran into at the Portage County Library!  He was so kind as to give me a tour of UW-Steven Point’s art department, where his girlfriend was finishing up her art degree.  SO fun!  😀

 

The last “art thing” to happen in May was a game-changer in my studio…..

(Check here for that blog post!)

June – ….and because I had purchased that game-changing etching press in May, June was ALL about classes on how to use it!  I took three classes in June at Jack Richeson, where I bought the press.  And since I’ve already blogged about it (see the link, above), I won’t rehash, but here’s another monotype I did in the class, which took about two seconds with a Q-tip and two colors of ink.  I can’t wait to delve further into the wonders of this press in 2017!  😀

June also marked the beginning of Pop Up Fond du Lac, a new initiative that promotes “tactical urbanism”.  This group is great!  They have different “pop-ups” all over the city, and the first one was a two-day crêpe cafe in an unused building downtown.  I volunteered to be the curator for art on the walls, so it looked like a “real” café for two days!  I had awesome artists friends involved in the event, and the place looked great!  😀

 

 

July – YAY!  July was ALL about papermaking, which is one of my favorite things to do (and teach!).   I taught papermaking at Lakeshore Art Supplies in Sheboygan for a fantastic group of ladies, and I also taught papermaking with plant fibers at my friend Nicole Schauer’s CSA, Good Earth Farm for a group that had amazing ideas!  Then, after nearly three years of planning, the Idea Studio opened in the Fond du Lac Public Library!  This was a huge deal, as it’s one of the most innovative makerspaces in a library in the country.  I demo’d papermaking in the kitchen portion of the space, which as you can see is just incredible.  Everyone loved it!

Brian and I also had a joint show at Ubuntu Art Space!  It’s always fun to have a show but to be in a show with your talented husby?  It’s the best.  🙂 We had our reception during July’s Tour the Town Art Walk in downtown Fondy.  Thanks for having us, Sue!  🙂

August – Well, besides the most amazing week of my art career thus far at my residency at Standard Projects in Hortonville (which I documented here, here, here, here, here, and here), which I seriously cannot overstate what it did for me. I think the other highlight was teaching a solar printing class for some of the residents of Lake View Place, an assisted living/senior apartment complex right here in Fond du Lac.  I had met one of the arts & crafts coordinators at our annual Prairie Fest, and Karen asked me if I did solar printing.  Since I did, I told her I’d love to teach, and I did!  It was a wonderful experience, and as you can see, the residents did beautiful work.  🙂

 

September – This was sort of my “month off”.  I did a lot of biking this month, because it was SO beautiful.  I did create this linocut, which is actually a little corner of my living room!  I love how it turned out.

I also taught another of my collage classes at MPTC!  I always have such a great group.

October – this fall was amazingly awesome in terms of the sheer variety of classes, events, and exhibits I was involved with.  October started it out wonderfully!  I led a “Monoprints, Two Ways” class for some of the members of the Fond du Lac Artists’ Association – this was a full-day class where we created monoprints with the Gelli Plate in the morning….

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….and monoprints with my etching press in the afternoon!  I just love what transpired!  😀

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I also taught a Monoprint class at MPTC – the Gelli plate is a wonder, and everyone loves what it can do!  😀

At the end of October, I set up my little corner of the Grand Kakalin in Kaukauna for the “Take me to the River” exhibit/event, which was put together by Jean Detjen.  This was the first time I’d met Jean, although we were Facebook friends before.  What a powerhouse!  It was such an amazing experience.  I can’t wait to work with her again.  And it was so fun to have so many of my Wisconsin Visual Artists – NE Chapter friends involved, too!  😀

November – November was the month of shows! It started out with Warped Milwaukee, which is one of my favorite shows ever.  This was the 6th year that I was a part of it, and I hope to do more!  Here’s the piece that I made for this year’s show, where the theme was “Elements”.  I call it “Wild Calla Lilies”. It’s made with solar-printed fabric and found materials, and then machine-stitched (disregard those grid marks!)  😀

The following week was the reception for “Adornments”, which was a show where I was featured at Two Fish Gallery in Elkhart Lake.  I had a whole wall!!  This is one of my most favorite displays of my work EVER.  🙂 Thanks so much to Pat and Karen Robison for their support!  😀

Later on in the month, I found out that my very ambitious 2-color reduction linocut that I had started in April (and finished in October), “A Canopy of Branches”, made it into the Small Print Exhibition at UW-Parkside!  This is such an amazing show, and it’s the first time I’d made it in! I am really happy about this.  The show starts in January – I can’t wait!

December – the year rounded out in a really fun way – I taught a holiday card class at the Berlin Public Library….

….and an Encaustic Collage class at the Plymouth Art Center (you can read that blog post here!).  🙂

I also found out I’ll be in two more shows in January! The EcoSquared Show at Hatch Art House in Madison is another of my favorite shows – I’ve been in it 3 out of the last four years.  Here are the two pieces I made for the show!  The pieces need to be square and they need to be created from upcyclced materials.  I made these by printing vintage letterpress plates onto fabric and then embroidering them, and making the “buildings” from old clothing tags.  It was SO fun and I plan on making more!  😀

And last, but CERTAINLY not least – I found out that I was one of the 30 artists for the 30x30x30 show at the Var Gallery in Milwaukee!!  The gist of the show is that 30 artists create a piece a day for 30 days – a great exercise for a humdrum January!  I had an interloper in my photo showing my cut pieces that I’d start this month.  🙂

Today marks my SEVENTH anniversary of being a full-time artist.  When I decided that day to make this a reality, I never would’ve imagined all of the amazing people, places, events, artwork, opportunities and experiences I’d have.  Never in a million years did I think it was going to be this fulfilling, rewarding, tough, and fun.  Here’s to another fantastic year!

Go Big or Go Home? (Or, In Celebration of Small Work)

Show of hands – how many you artists out there have ever been told, “You need to work larger.”?

For those of us who enjoy working small, I’m guessing 90% have.

In my time as an artist, I have made some larger works.  One of the largest includes a collage that measures 8″ X 24″.   But I’ve just always enjoyed working tiny!  I love lots of detail and when one works small, it packs an even greater punch.

Here’s a good one – very, very recently, I was told by someone in our art community that, “Maybe you should have a glass of wine or two before you work.  Loosen you up a little.”

And while I took that advice with a whole shaker of salt (i.e., not at all), it got me thinking about how great working small really is.  So I’ve comprised a list of all of the great reasons to work small.

1.  Salon-style walls are COOL. Almost every room in my house is comprised of art hung salon-style. When art is hung this way, you can buy so much more of it, and really become a collector.  Nearly all the artwork that hangs in our house is from local and regional artists with whom I have some sort of connection.  I love that each piece in my home means something! Here are some examples.

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2.  We don’t take up much space.  If space is an issue in your home or studio, working small is almost necessary.  But even when I had a HUGE room during my artist residency at Sheboygan North High School this past fall, I still worked small (but it was “bigger” than I normally work).

3.  ATCs!  Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) are how I fully got into collage.  I credit them for helping me find my “voice” and my style.  Even without them, though, I would’ve started out small (and stayed that way!).

4.  Made you look!  When a piece of artwork is small, it forces you to really look at it.  Take my piece at the top, for example.  That is a quarter-inch square collage.  A quarter-inch.  You simply cannot see it from far away (which was the whole point, as it was part of an exhibit called “Through Mia’s Eyes”, which I created to raise awareness for Stargardt’s Disease, from which my niece Mia suffers).  The viewer can really connect with a piece if they have to get closer.  I love that.  That’s when questions arise and real dialogue begins.

5.  Control issues.  Some artists just work better when their brush, pen, or scissors are held firmly in hand.  If my hand is just flinging about willy-nilly, I think my work looks sloppy.  Oh, don’t get me wrong – I LOVE work that’s loose and free!  It’s just not how I work.  Artists who work similarly – you are NOT alone.  Let’s raise our (controlled) hands in solidarity!

I hope this sheds some light on why some artists work small or even tiny.  Like I do!  And I will continue to enjoy working this way until I can no longer hold a brush in my tightly-gripped hand.  😀

Here are some more of my smallest works!

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