A.R.T. 2010 Exhibit Onto The Sanford Museum

Summer Daze by Anita Coon

The Artisans Road Trip will be exhibiting a sampling of it's 2010 artist's artwork at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa.

Of The Earth (brownstone clay)

by Beth Cathcart

The exhibit begins August 1st and runs through the month.  Come see examples of works by artists of the Artisans Road Trip if you get a chance!

Photograph by Judy Hemphill

The Sanford Museum is located at 17 East Willow Street in Cherokee, Iowa.  To learn more about their hours and this exhibit, call 712 225-3922.

See you on the A.R.T. exhibition tour!

Potter Mel Myers

This 2010 Artisans Road Trip blog highlights Potter Mel Myers from Spencer.

Local Potter Mel Myers has been busy showing at the Iowa City Art Show and the Spencer Alumni Art Show at Arts on Grand in Spencer, Iowa.  

Mel's ceramics are hand thrown, delicately carved, with original glaze formulas - thus making truly one of a kind pieces.  The result is both a decorative and functional piece of art.  His high fire pottery can be used in the oven, safely used for food, and nicely cleans up in the dish washer.

Mel's studio is practically always open for visitors at 717 11th Avenue East in Spencer, Iowa.  His studio, Clay County Clay, can be found by turning east at the Hy Vee/Walgreen's corner on Grand Avenue, and going east as far as one can (and still be in Spencer).  Feel free to stop in and see Mel's most recent work!

Check back again and see what's new on the 2010 Artisans Road Trip!

Spotlighting Artisans Road Trip Artist Diane Noll

 

This 2010 Artisans Road Trip highlight is of Artist Diane Noll.  Diane writes an introduction of herself - meet Diane...

 

"I live on River View Ranch northeast of Linn Grove, Iowa.  The Little Sioux River and Bluebird Creek bring water to our Texas Longhorns that graze on the hills, on both sides of Bluff Street.  The best time to see the calves is late afternoon.  We are still calving (at the time she wrote this note) - the boys win with 20, while the girls are at 7.  What's up with that?!  

 I grew up 5 miles south of Estherville.  I dug blue glacial clay out of the creek bank and made various things; now I make animals out of fiber, clay, and potter's brownstone clay.  I also make beads out of clay that is fired twice.  I texture them with things I find in nature.  I like using natural stones and silver in making jewelry.  Right now I am making turquoise and silver necklaces.  

I just finished making a baby colt and a longhorn calf our of fiber clay.  I am also finishing touching up an oil painting of the river here.  I paint with oils or water colors and draw with color pencils."

Thank you Diane!  Stop by again the next time you're in the neighborhood and see the artists of the 2010 Artisans Road Trip.  And don't forget to check the 2010 A.R.T. web site as well!

A.R.T. Spotlight - Dan Ruf

This Artisans Road Trip installment spot lights photographer Dan Ruf. Dan gives his take on "continuing education" as a fine arts photographer, and illustrates select images from a recent workshop in the South Dakota Badlands.

"For those of us that have reared children, the words continuing education have usually meant that school would be closed so that educators could take time to upgrade their knowledge or approach to the education of their charges. For artists, me in particular, continuing education takes on the same sort of meaning, but should be a more regular update of our mental file about the artistry involved in our journey in fine arts.
In my case as a fine art photographer, my daily continuing education takes many forms. This includes reading magazines concerning photography, or the digital darkroom, or making a daily effort to reconnect with websites, blogs or internet forums. I can get exposed to different sorts of photography concepts, approaches, software or equipment this way. Most days this may require an hour of time, but I am usually able to glean some tidbit of helpful or even inspirational ideas about the photographic process. One step above this daily process of continuing education is to become involved in a location workshop given by a mentor in an artists field. I recently returned from a workshop given by Tony Sweet, who I feel is an exceptional fine art photographer and, as I found out, gives an exhausting 5 day workshop which includes daily critique and class sessions as well as location shoots early in the morning and late afternoon. While the days are long the return on "investment" is huge and I find these types of events to be very productive. One thing to note, however, is that you get what you pay for and while there are many individuals that offer workshops in many fields of art, the quality of workshops are varied and in some cases disappointing. Location workshops are provided for many artistic inclinations, from pottery to glass blowing to painting and I would recommend that these types of continuing education are a must as a tool for all artists."

That's all for this spotlight on artisans from the 2010 A.R.T. Check back again for more on the artists of the Artisans Road Trip!

Artisans Wendell and Diane King

"The farm studio is fairly humming with all the spring activities. Corn is up and the beans are in the ground. On rainy days you will find Wendell in the studio creating new designs for the upcoming show season. It starts in earnest in a couple weeks, with "Summer of Arts" in Iowa City - www.summerofthearts.org

His latest design is so large it may never see a show. The stone is a beautiful “Blue Stone” large enough that to move it he needs a car engine wench, not my wimpy arms. So I guess we’ll see how many shows it makes it to. You can check out the 2010 show season at our website - www.peonyfarm.com

Crops and tables are not the only thing happening on Peony Farm. A new roof on the house was put on the first of May. We had a great group of hard working guys, removing several layers of shingles and applying the new roof. They left hardly a trace that they'd been here. My hat off to them; our plantings (which are many) survived because they took such great care. Tim Hamrick from Everly was the team leader, he comes highly recommended.

We had much company the month of May. Some staying in the Gallery, which is a new choice. Yes, you can rent it for a night or two. I may even make you breakfast. So to say it's a B&B well maybe. Not sure I can get my head around all that entails. For a stay in the "Quohouse" (Quonset House) give us a call or check us out at www.airbnb.com

The creation of new pieces of jewelry are always at hand. Using lampwork, stones, pearls, crystals and tons of seed beads. One of the new ones contains Snakeskin, Jasper, Amozonite and Lava Rock with a sterling clasp. I love the muted colors.

Seed beads dominate these two pieces. Working and learning a new stitch, is something I love doing. It has a rhythm, whether it's color or stitching. Most of my pieces are inspired by color and texture. Needing to have all supplies within eye sight is very important to the process. s a result my space is a mess, at least to other people.

We invite you to stop by and visit us anytime. A visit may include a glass of wine under the pergola!"

There you have it! Stop by again for another entry in the 2010 Artisans Road Trip Blog!

A.R.T. on the Road Again!

"Number One Child"
stone and steel
by Wendell King

The Artisan Road Trip exhibit will be moving along to the Witter Gallery in Storm Lake, Iowa this next week. You can still catch it through the rest of this week at the LeMars Iowa Art Center, but on June 2 through 30th, the Witter Gallery will be hosting the exhibition!

This is a good opportunity to catch a "glimpse" of the Artisan Road Trip before the October dates (1st - 3rd). If you're in the Storm Lake area in June, stop by the Witter and check it out!

In the next 3-4 weeks we'll also be spotlighting Wendell and Diane King, Dan Ruf and Diane Noll on this blog - check in again soon!

Artisans Road Trip Artist Hank Hall

Hank Hall

This A.R.T. highlight introduces Hank Hall!

Hank Hall is a full-time artist in Olde Town Spirit Lake where he has renovated a 1948 wood-working shop into an art studio and gallery called Art on 16th. He taught middle school and high school art in Iowa for 34 years and continues to teach clay, painting, drawing, and sculpture classes in his studio. He is very proud of the fact that many of his students have studied art in prestigious art institutions and pursued art-related careers.

Celebrating Clay Cone 6 Stoneware

Hank’s creative skills were shaped early in his career by two summers of intensive training at Pond Farm Pottery in Guerneville, CA with Marguerite Wildenhain. A Bauhaus-trained master potter considered to be one of the ten most significant clay artists of the 20^th Century, Wildenhain demanded high quality craftsmanship and then encouraged him to develop his own signature work.

Dotted Teapot

Today Hank creates one-of-a-kind teapots with mixed media embellishments and other functional and sculptural forms. His artistic goal is satisfying his own esthetic sense of what makes for an entertaining, inventive, and personal form. “If others experience a creative kick, then I think that’s as good as it gets.”

Hank’s artwork has been exhibited nationally, and he has earned several best of shows in recent juried art exhibits.

For more information visit www.hankhallarton16th.com.

Check back again for more on events, activities and artisans of the 2010 Artisans Road Trip!