I left the studio at 2PM on Tuesday, February 21st. There was a layer of ice on everything. After stopping in Iowa City to view the exhibit, The Art of the Print, I continued the drive to Kansas City, arriving late in the evening. Wednesday morning was spent with Jack at American Legacy Gallery. After lunch and a second appointment, I made the drive to Cottonwood Falls, KS. It was mild (60 degrees), and I worked on material for a possible etching project. I drove on through the Flint Hills to Manhattan. It was dusk, and there was sky all around me. This ain't Wisconsin. Before continuing north to Lincoln and Omaha on Thursday, I will deliver work to Strecker Nelson Gallery in Manhattan. Word has it that there will be weather after midnight.
Part 2: Thursday, I awoke to the sound of freezing rain on my Manhattan, Kansas motel room window. After delivering work to Strecker Nelson, I headed north to Lincoln, Nebraska. The temperature dropped and soon it was snowing hard on top of the ice. Driving was treacherous...so was Lincoln. Bags of water softener salt on my rear axle seemed unnecessary the day before in Kansas. Today, it kept me on the road. Buck, at Kiechel Fine Art in Lincoln, told me the best way to get out of town. The snow was blinding and covering the road and the street signs. Somehow, I made it. Omaha was 45 miles away...an eternity. On Friday, I woke to sunshine and the drive to Sioux City and the Sioux City Art Center. They are interested in my work. I stayed at Hugh Pettersen's place in Cedar Falls that night. I love the drive across Iowa. It must be a past life. On Saturday, I drove to Mason City and the reception at the MacNider Museum. They had hung my work beautifully in the Center Space Gallery. Presentation is so important. They are professionals. There was more snow, but people still showed up for the reception. The drive back to Wisconsin was beautiful and slippery.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
snow and wind
It snowed last night...about six inches. There is more snow coming along with high winds. By the time it is finished we could have just shy of two feet of snow. The morning news mentioned the possibility of ten foot snow drifts in open areas. Chicago said it could be the worst storm since '67. I cleared my driveway and knew that I should be doing the same at my studio in Blue Mounds. I drove to Garfield Street in Mount Horeb instead. I have had my eyes on that street for a few years now. In the winter there are contrasts that I like. I knew what it would look like today. I had not tried to capture it before. I have a small pocket sized sketchbook that I always have with me. I draw with a pen. Today is the day. The street was covered with snow. When it is like this, at the horizon the street disappears into the sky. I like this. I also like the way that the white, snow covered earth contrasts with just about everything, and the tops of the trees are like layers of veils. Making a sketch of this is a way for me to practice my craft, and it is also a way for me to put down onto paper an idea for a future etching. I draw quickly in a small pocket sized sketch book. A snowplow pulls up behind me and wants me to move. See you in Blue Mounds...maybe in one of those ten foot snowdrifts.
Monday, January 3, 2011
2010
2010 was an eventful year for me. There were travels...New York City twice, San Francisco once, Milwaukee, a few trips to Minneapolis (where my two sons also live), Cleveland/Akron, Chicago, Peoria and others. Each destination held its own adventure.
My etchings were included in seven exhibits in 2010. There are two exhibits that I want to mention:
The Miller Art Musuem in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin held a printmakers invitational group show (March 6-April 20), which included several printmakers with Wisconsin ties.
The Kenosha Public Museum (Kenosha is a city between Milwaukee and Chicago) currently has a show called "The Print Revolution in America" which opened on November 6, 2010. This impressive exhibit includes two of my etchings (one is a recent work and the other is from 1990) and continues at the museum until April 2011.
In November of 2009 I was commissioned by The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin to do an etching for them. I usually don't accept commissions, but they gave me a good degree of flexibility as far as execution and subject. The etching is called "Deep river" and is a scene from Birkmose Park overlooking the St. Croix River on the Minnesota Wisconsin border. On visits to the twin cities (my former home and where another exhibit at Groveland Gallery was), I would drive over to Hudson and work on the etching on location.
My first trip to New York was in January. On that trip, I became affiliated with The Old Print Shop, which is a gallery on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. I had been aware of it for a few years. The gallery has been in existence for over 100 years and represents contemporary printmakers as well as being a dealer for old, important American prints. Related to this affiliation, I was encouraged to apply for membership in S.A.G.A. which is the Society of American Graphic Artists. It is one of two professioinal art organizations that I am presently a member of.
On my second trip to New York in October, I had the opportunity to show a folder of my etchings to Madeleine Viljoen who is the print curator at the New York Public Library. I showed 15 small etchings. Five of the works were purchased for the library's distinguished print collection.
Lastly, one of my etchings, "Driftless", was chosen to be featured on the title page of the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission's 2011 calendar, "Flora and Fauna". It is an annual publication containing works by Dane County artists and I am honored to have been included.
I continue to live by my wits. The trips are exciting, and I haven't told you about all of them. I visit the galleries that represent me and value the contact. I call people and show my artwork. Sometimes it leads somewhere, and other times it seems to lead nowhere. Sometimes I say and do the right things. Otherwise, I am capable of doing the converse. I am writing this at a garage in Milwaukee while my van is being worked on for the day. Soon, I will be driving a loaner car to a gallery that is interested in looking at my work. Another attempted appointment didn't work out. Somewhere in the midst of everything I work hard at being a creative artist. This is where my true passion lies. Even when I don't actually have a tool in my hand working on a metal plate, I am thinking about it, how things work, and what to do next. My life is never dull.
PS. I didn't mention Maquoketa, Iowa, Fred Easker, and the interesting studio that I was invited to visit. It is a place you should experience.
My etchings were included in seven exhibits in 2010. There are two exhibits that I want to mention:
The Miller Art Musuem in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin held a printmakers invitational group show (March 6-April 20), which included several printmakers with Wisconsin ties.
The Kenosha Public Museum (Kenosha is a city between Milwaukee and Chicago) currently has a show called "The Print Revolution in America" which opened on November 6, 2010. This impressive exhibit includes two of my etchings (one is a recent work and the other is from 1990) and continues at the museum until April 2011.
In November of 2009 I was commissioned by The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin to do an etching for them. I usually don't accept commissions, but they gave me a good degree of flexibility as far as execution and subject. The etching is called "Deep river" and is a scene from Birkmose Park overlooking the St. Croix River on the Minnesota Wisconsin border. On visits to the twin cities (my former home and where another exhibit at Groveland Gallery was), I would drive over to Hudson and work on the etching on location.
My first trip to New York was in January. On that trip, I became affiliated with The Old Print Shop, which is a gallery on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. I had been aware of it for a few years. The gallery has been in existence for over 100 years and represents contemporary printmakers as well as being a dealer for old, important American prints. Related to this affiliation, I was encouraged to apply for membership in S.A.G.A. which is the Society of American Graphic Artists. It is one of two professioinal art organizations that I am presently a member of.
On my second trip to New York in October, I had the opportunity to show a folder of my etchings to Madeleine Viljoen who is the print curator at the New York Public Library. I showed 15 small etchings. Five of the works were purchased for the library's distinguished print collection.
Lastly, one of my etchings, "Driftless", was chosen to be featured on the title page of the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission's 2011 calendar, "Flora and Fauna". It is an annual publication containing works by Dane County artists and I am honored to have been included.
I continue to live by my wits. The trips are exciting, and I haven't told you about all of them. I visit the galleries that represent me and value the contact. I call people and show my artwork. Sometimes it leads somewhere, and other times it seems to lead nowhere. Sometimes I say and do the right things. Otherwise, I am capable of doing the converse. I am writing this at a garage in Milwaukee while my van is being worked on for the day. Soon, I will be driving a loaner car to a gallery that is interested in looking at my work. Another attempted appointment didn't work out. Somewhere in the midst of everything I work hard at being a creative artist. This is where my true passion lies. Even when I don't actually have a tool in my hand working on a metal plate, I am thinking about it, how things work, and what to do next. My life is never dull.
PS. I didn't mention Maquoketa, Iowa, Fred Easker, and the interesting studio that I was invited to visit. It is a place you should experience.
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