"COME TO MY WINDOW" - Solo Exhibit by Anita K. Plucker, 2014 Artisans Road Trip Artist!

"ONE WITH NATURE"

watercolor ©Anita K. Plucker

"COME TO MY WINDOW" is a new solo exhibit by Anita K Plucker!  The exhibit will be held at the Nobles County Art Center, 407 12th St. in Worthington, MN.
 

"FROM MY KAYAK - TRUMBULL  LAKE"

watercolor ©Anita K. Plucker

"This exhibit offers insight as to what matters to me....what is important to me....and what inspires me to create my watercolor paintings and colored pencil drawings,"states the artist.

"ADAPTATION - BULLFROG"

 watercolor ©Anita K. Plucker

"At the top of the list is nature, all forms of it. I am in awe of nature and am grateful for the wonder I feel for it. When I am immersed in it, the real me rises to the surface and life's chaos melts away..... for a while. Nature literally reveals and soothes my inner spirit. I especially love the peacefulness of being out on the water in my kayak. Usually with camera in hand, I am able to capture scenes of nature up close. For the last five years, these outings have led me to create a body of work titled, "From My Kayak"., focusing on the designs, the patterns and the textures created as nature and man play with the surface of the water. I find myself almost constantly looking at my world through an invisible viewfinder, studying and analyzing the light, the shadows, the composition, all of which triggers something inside me to consider what I am seeing as a painting or drawing."

Exhibit Opening & Artist's Reception: Sunday, June 1, 2-4 pm

Art Center hours are 2-4:30 weekdays.

2011 Artisans Road Trip Artist - Glenda Drennen

Our Artisans Road Trip artist spot light this week is on Le Mars Watercolor artist Glenda Drennen.

The allure of watercolor captivated Glenda Drennen from the moment she first tried it nearly 30 years ago. A former public school music teacher, Glenda's love affair with this medium began when she married and left teaching. She is a seasoned artist who has earned signature memberships at both the state and national level in both the Iowa Watercolor Society and the Watercolor Honor Society, Springfield, MO and is a member of Iowa Artists.

"St. Joe's" - Watercolor

©Glenda Drennen

Earlier in her life as an artist, painting hundreds of commissions - usually house or business portraits - was a mainstay in her career. While she now accepts few orders, a recent commission painting, "Old St. Joes - Midnight Mass," was particularly successful. The painting featured a historic church that will soon be razed, and sold at auction at a Pheasants Forever fund raising event for $10,000.

"Too Many House Plants" - Watercolor

©Glenda Drennen 

Glenda uses the unpredictable nature of watercolor to advantage, and her energetic paintings often include surprises and reflect her sense of humor. She prefers to work from her vivid imagination, using little if any source material. Most paintings are started with little if any idea of a subject. Her work has evolved into a strong personal statement that is increasingly abstracted and subjective. While she honors and practices the time-honored tradition of transparent watercolor, she also embraces the use of other water soluble media and collage to broaden the creative possibilities. Her work is complex, rich with texture, and shows a maturity of creative expression.

"Tattered Veils of Fall" - Watercolor

©Glenda Drennen

 
"Tattered Veils of Fall" was one of two of Glenda's paintings recently published in an online  cyberbook, "Walk Into Abstracts 2 - How did they do that?" by Sue St. John. The book features images and single page descriptions of the working process for the work of 26 artists.

Ms. Drennen will be showing her work at A Piece of Work in downtown Spirit Lake during the Artisan Road Trip. Until then, some of her work and her blog (under "news") can be seen on her website www.glendadrennen.com

Be sure and check back again for more news from the 2011 Artisans Road Trip - thank you for visiting!

Faye Wilson - From the Road Trip!

With this new Artisans Road Trip blog we visit with Faye Wilson, Watercolor artist from rural Cherokee, Iowa. I don't know about you but I find it fun learning about all these artists in this year's Artisans Road Trip! Here's Faye -


"This is my studio/spare room. It's great to have a place to leave my art stuff out. In October last year my sister and I moved into an old square farmhouse with my cat Purl. Most of my days are spent working as a floral designer in Cherokee, but when I get a few spare minutes I come here to paint. My dad gave me a desk ,but I always seem to gravitate to the floor it just seems more comfortable and I can really spread out."

"Right now I'm working on a portrait of Purl. Her favorite activities include sleeping, eating flies and drinking my paint water if I'm not looking! In my job I get to use my creativity every day, but with my art work I only have to please me, not any particular customer."

"The last painting was painted while I was snowed in (one of the blessings of living in the country)! Just what you need on a cold winter's morning - coffee and a warm sticky cinnamon roll. Baking on a cold day (or any day) just seems like home and it brings me comfort after a long week at work."

Join us again in the near future and spend a snipit of time with an artist from A.R.T.!!!