"Prairie Poem Wetland Chorus"

art work © Dennis Dykema

2011 Artisans Road Trip artist Dennis Dykema has been working on panoramic landscape paintings of Iowa settings recently.  The artist describes them as being based on older Loess Hills scenes and also some very local ones as well.  For those out there who are less familiar with Dennis and his work, here is a little more background on the Spirit Lake painter.

Dennis L. Dykema was born in Worthington, Minnesota in 1940.  He studied art at Morningside College, and the University of Northern Iowa where he earned a Master's Degree in painting in 1970.  He was appointed to the art faculty at Buena Vista University in 1970 and has served there until his retirement in 2001.  In 2006 he and his wife moved to Spirit Lake.  Dykema’s  second-floor studio is located at 1720 Hill Ave. in downtown Spirit Lake, IA.

"Spring's Promise"

art work © Dennis Dykema

Dykema's paintings have been exhibited extensively, including shows at the Des Moines Art Center, Sioux City Art Center, Olson-Larsen Galleries in West Des Moines, The Brunnier Gallery in Ames, the MacNeider Museum in Mason City, and the Anderson/Obrien Gallery in Omaha.  In 1989 a group of his paintings toured Poland at the invitation of the Central Bureau of Artists Exhibitions. In 1993 his work was represented in the Fragile Giants, a touring show that focused attention on Iowa’s Loess Hills.  Dykema’s work from that show was eventually shown in such far reaching places as Washington, DC, and the US embassy residence in Swaziland, Africa.

"So Much to Remember II"

art work © Dennis Dykema

Dykema's works are included in many public, corporate, and private collections; among them, the Sioux City Art Center, MacNeider Museum of Mason City, 3M Company of Minneapolis, Norwest Banks of Sioux City and Des Moines, Principal Financial Group, Pioneer Company of Des Moines, Pella Rollscreen, and the University of Iowa Hospitals.  His paintings may be seen locally at his studio and at Art on 16th in Spirit Lake.

Meet and greet artists just like Dennis all along the 2011 Artisans Road Trip in just a couple weeks!!!  Friday - September 30 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday - October 1 and 2 from (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.!

For more information, visit the A.R.T. web site at - http://www.artisansroadtrip.com

Hope to see you on the Artisans Road Trip this fall!

Artists of the 2011 Artisans Road Trip are busy making the last minute preparations for the big weekend coming up soon!

If you haven't been on one of the road trips of years past, you'll be surprised as to the diversity of artists and their works, as well as the regions they represent!

There are 4 regions represented by the 2011 A.R.T. line-up!
-Iowa Great Lakes
-Prairie Wetlands
-Ridge and Tallgrass Prairie
-Beautiful View

Some regional titles may seem less obvious than others but perfectly describe their locations. For a quick look at the regions of the 2011 A.R.T., take a look at the Artisans Road Trip web site...
the "Maps" link will take you to the regions of A.R.T. and on the maps themselves you'll see the locations of each artisan; clicking on them will bring the individual artist up and tell you more about them and their location.

Want to see a particular artist right away? Click on the "Gallery" link on the homepage and you'll get the list of artisans exhibiting this year. Click on your choice and learn more about each artist individually!

The 2011 Artisans Road Trip weekend is Friday September 30 (4-8 p.m.), Saturday October 1 and Sunday October 2 (9 a.m. - 5 p.m.)!

In the meantime, visit the A.R.T. website for more information. And if you're heading to the Clay County Fair - visit the Art Barn for some of the 2011 A.R.T. artists and pickup an A.R.T. brochure!

A lot to look forward to!

"From the Tallgrass"

"Prairie Cantabile" Painted Violin

(casein on applied canvas - © Bruce A. Morrison)

2011 Artisans Road Trip Artist Bruce Morrison has opened his "From the Tallgrass" exhibit at Arts on Grand in Spencer, Iowa!  "From the Tallgrass" is an exhibition of paintings, drawings and photography celebrating our natural "and" cultural heritage of the tallgrass prairie.

"Summer Along Angler's Bay"

(color pencil - © Bruce A. Morrison)

This heritage is a constant focus in the art work of Bruce Morrison.  Whether it depicts the landscape of the tallgrass prairie region, or its flora and fauna; “From the Tallgrass” is the road traveled the past couple decades for the artist.  And if you were to spend any time with him, it would appear this will continue indefinitely as a chosen path.  “I couldn’t think of a more suitable focus and recurrent theme for my work.”, says Morrison.

"Negus's Bales"

(oil on canvas - © Bruce A. Morrison)

The artist follows his interest and focus in his daily life as well; living on a small piece of prairie remnant; he and his wife, Georgeann, have worked to bring back the native habitat through careful stewardship of their prairie home.  You can follow Bruce through his prairie journey each week on his blog - "Prairie Hill Farm Studio", or learn more about the tallgrass prairie on his "A Tallgrass Journal" blog (which had previously run as a web subscription journal since 2002) or subscribe to his e-mail Studio Newsletter for more information as well.

"American Goldfinch - male"

(photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison)

"From the Tallgrass" will run from August 16 through September 25.  There will be an Artist's Reception on Thursday, August 25th, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. - the public is welcome!

Thank you for visiting the 2011 Artisans Road Trip Blog!  Be sure and check back again soon for more from the upcoming Artisans Road Trip and its artists!!!

2011 A.R.T. at the Sanford!

Various 2011 A.R.T. artists are exhibiting a 

sampling of their works at the Sanford Museum!

As mentioned in past blogs the Artisans Road Trip often has exhibits through the year that give a great cross section of their works.  the 2011 Artisan Road Trip Artists are currently exhibiting at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa, from August 1 through August 31st.

"East West Bridge - Okoboji" art work ©Anita (Katie) Plucker

"Cactus" art work ©Beth Cathcart

 

 "Hitching to Colorado"-CNC plasma cut steel-powder coated white

art work © William Lieb

"Cobalt Splash Teapot" art work © Hank Hall

The hours at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. 12:00 Noon to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.  For more information, you can contact the Sanford Museum at 712/225-3922 or via e-mail at sanfordmuseum@iowatelecom.net

 

Thank you for stopping by - be sure to visit again for more of the 2011 Artisans Road Trip!

2011 Artisans Road Trip Artist - Joleen Dentlinger

"Iowa State's Building - 1"

art work ©Joleen Dentlinger

On July 6, a one woman show, entitled "Lines of Time", opened at the Clear Lake Art Center, Clear Lake.  The exhibit will close on August 18 and features both old and new pieces by A.R.T. artist Joleen Dentlinger.  Joleen states, "It was an honor to be asked to exhibit in such a fine gallery." 

Joleen continues - "Having an opportunity such as this gives me the inspiration to do more art and be prepared to exhibit all new pieces for the next time.  With working 4 days a week, my 90 year old Mother who needs assistance at times, extra curricular activities, and not to mention the every day things that take time and effort - I just find it hard to find the time to create. All of my life, I put things off until the last minute, but have found that I generally put out a better product if I do that.  If I have all sorts of time, I just dabble and generally am unhappy with the results.  Knowing that I only have days or hours puts the pressure on, but the end results are wonderful.  BUT, along with the pressure comes anxiety, tension and stress - all of which aren't the best, but the job is done and I'm happy with it!"

 

 "The Sign"

art work ©Joleen Dentlinger

"For those of you unfamiliar with my art, it is very detail oriented and takes hours to create.  The larger the piece, the more hours it takes.  A judge suggested to me once that I draw larger pieces.  At the time the largest drawing was approximately 14" x 16" and the thought of going larger was rather frightening.  Since then I have numerous pieces that are 22" x 28" and the end results are quite rewarding, but with the changing economy I am reverting back to somewhat smaller pieces."

 "The Sign - 3"

art work ©Joleen Dentlinger

Artist's Statement:  "History and it's preservation rate very high in my heart, right behind home and family.  With my drawings I can document places and things that touched me, whether it's an old farm house, an old Chicago hotel or an intriguing landscape.  By working in pen and ink, I strive and accomplish depth, intensity, detail, "color" and texture - in just a subtle way - as simple as black and white."  

Visit the Clear Lake Art Center, located at 17 South 4th Street in Clear Lake.  Hours are Tuesday - Saturday - 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

 

Thank you for visiting the 2011 Artisans Road Trip Blog!  Stop back for more activities andd artists of the 2011 Artisans Road Trip!

2011 Artisans Road Trip Artist - Lynn Swan

"Hang up Your Wrap" Crazy Patch 2009

Lynn Hunter Swan was born in Lowell, Indiana, but came to Iowa to attend Drake University where she met and married an Iowa State senior who swept her off her feet and carried her off to a farm in Dickens (northwest), Iowa.  She eventually earned her B.A. from Buena Vista University in Music Education with a minor in Art, where she first discovered a fascination with weaving and design.  Her formal art training added new dimensions to her life-long love of textiles, fibers, needlework and sewing.

red/rust knitted wrap 2010

After semi-retiring from a 28 year career as an interior designer, for many years owner of Lynn Hunter Swan Interiors in Spencer, she is returning to playing with strands of what ever catches her fancy… primarily weavings of miscellaneous fibers and yarns, collages of paper, etc. and also Crazy Patch quilting. 

tan/copper weaving with "bovine ivory" 2009

Her work is currently shown at Arts on Grand, Spencer, From our Hands, Des Moines, the Octagon, Ames, IA and  in Oct., N.W. Iowa’s Artisan’s Road Trip.

Check back again for more news and artists of the 2011 Artisans Road Trip!

2011 Artisans Road Trip Artist - Barb McGee

This Artisans Road Trip spot light is on artist Barb McGee!  Barb works from her studio and gallery in Peterson, Iowa.  Barb is going to give us a little insight into her selective process in working with a painting.

"For me starting a new painting means finding the perfect photograph or in some cases many photo's.  For my current painting it was a matter of reduction.  At my opening reception at A Piece Of Work in Spirit Lake I stated that I wanted to paint a white shirt.  Now I am not at all sure why a cowboy would want to wear a white shirt but some of them really do.

Last year my husband Don and I went to a ranch in South Dakota for a branding.  I took over a thousand pictures.  I knew I had at least one guy in a white shirt so I started looking to figure out which photo had the most potential.

These are the best ones I had to pick from.  They are very involved photos that are going to make very involved paintings.  My idea of an ideal painting is simple and in your face.  I like to crop and simplify so it was an easy choice for me.  The next step is to examine my choice and see if I can make it better.  I went through several croppings until I found the one I liked best.

Good

Better

Better, but still too much noise under the horses head

Ah Ha, now that is what I wanted :-)  I have my white shirt & ropes and saddle and even a hat, what more could I want????  It doesn't seem to bother me that my cowboy has no head, what do you think of the headless horseman?  Maybe it has something to do with living on Sleepy Hollow Road :-)"

 Watercolor Painting ©Barb McGee

And here is Barb's finished painting!

Stop by again for more interesting artists from the 2011 Artisans Road Trip!