2014 A.R.T. Artist Bruce Morrison at Neal Smith's J.N. "Ding" Darling Art Gallery!

All images © Bruce A. Morrison

 

2014 Artisans Road Trip artist Bruce Morrison will be exhibiting a solo showing of "From the Tallgrass" at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge's J.N. "Ding" Darling Art Gallery from July 1 through August 21st.

 

The Neal Smith NWR is one of the largest federal refuges in Iowa - this refuge is solely dedicated to the Tallgrass Prairie. "The mission of the Refuge is to actively protect, restore, reconstruct and manage the diverse native ecosystems of tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, and sedge meadow. These were the native habitats existing on the Refuge’s 5600 acres prior to Euro-American settlement."  In keeping with the focus of the Neal Smith NWR, Morrison's exhibit will feature works in keeping with our state's natural heritage of the prairie.

 

Bruce has spent the past 40+ years painting, drawing and photographing in the Tallgrass Prairie and Prairie Pothole region, and has also worked within the scope of prairie restoration/reconstruction and education of this nearly vanished natural heritage, making it the focus of his work through the years.

 

The Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge is located adjacent to Prairie City, Iowa - just 22 miles east of Des Moines.  You can find out more about the refuge at their web site - http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Neal_Smith/about.html

 

Morrison's works have been published throughout North America and his artwork has exhibited throughout the United States, Canada and overseas.

 

Check back again soon for more about the artists of the 2014 Artisans Road Trip!

 

 

2014 A.R.T. Exhibit at the Witter!

Just a sampling of the artists exhibiting at the Witter in June!

(Artwork © the artists - upper left/clockwise - Bill Lieb, Glenda Drennen, 

Ron Netten, Robert Ansorge, Joleen Dentlinger, Ken Harskamp, 

Perry Polson and Dennis Dykema.)

The 2014 Artisans Road Trip is exhibiting at the Witter Gallery in Storm Lake, Iowa this month!  A.R.T. participates in exhibits as a group throughout the year.  This latest exhibit opened June 5th at the Witter Gallery and runs through June 27th.

 

There will be an artist's reception at the gallery on Wednesday evening from 5-6:15 p.m.  The exhibit at the Witter is being sponsored by Paxton's Jewelry of Storm Lake. 

 

Come and meet many of the artists involved in this year's Artisans Road Trip, and get a sampling of what this year's A.R.T. has in store for NW Iowa!

"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.

Mel Myers and the Iowa Festival of the Arts!

All pottery ©Mel Myers

 

Mel Myers' s most recent kiln load of glazed fired pottery is now unloaded, and packing is underway in preparation for the Iowa Festival of the Arts hosted June 6 -8 in Iowa City. Mel's hand thrown, hand carved pottery draws a crowd as well as devoted, returning purchasers who await his Spring collection. 

 All pottery ©Mel Myers

 

The Iowa City show is the first of eight shows for Mel this summer. Under the building sign of "Clay County Clay", Mel works daily at his studio where walk-ins can see the master ceramic artist at work, admire works in progress, and visit the gallery shop -- all located at his work place at 717 13th Ave West in Spencer, Iowa. Walk-ins are welcome.

 

Tim Arand-McIlrath - "A Fiber Artist's Journey"

"Swooped" (top view)
artwork ©Tim Arand-McIlrath

Tim Arand-McIlrath, Okoboji, will be the featured exhibition at the Witter Gallery in Storm Lake, IA for the month of May. The exhibition is titled "A Fiber Artist's Journey".

"I realized that I had been making art for over 45 years. Recently I have been revisiting printed fabrics from many years before, and incorporating them into new mixed media artwork .  The exhibition will feature selections from the different approaches I have taken with my work over the years. The emphasis will be on the 2D mixed media work and the 3D sculptural mixed media pieces. Also included will be felted artwork, woven and screen printed pieces.

"Eruption", Felted wool, wool fabric, 30"H x 22"W - $350
artwork ©Tim Arand-McIlrath

Folk art has long been an area of interest for me. I have researched and collected folk art in all my travels. I have spent extended visits to Mexico and in particular to the Oaxaca area. The color, texture and freedom of expression have fascinated me for many years. There is an incredible excitement in the work of folk artists.

I have been 'accused' of having too much fun creating my art. Not possible in my world. Having fun is one of the prime motivators in my work. I love having viewers smile. I smile a lot while I am working on my art.

"Mementos" -  3 panels, 14"x14" Crocheted yarn, shells, sand, $150 each panel
artwork ©Tim Arand-McIlrath  

In my two dimensional pieces, the backgrounds are painted with acrylic paint or are surface designed fabrics and sometimes embellished with found objects. The foregrounds have crocheted webs introduced onto the compositions. The three-dimensional pieces are usually constructed out of willow branches and are many times painted or varnished. The found objects and crocheted yarn inhabit the structures. Color, texture, repetition, and pattern have always been strong elements in my work. The compositions are based on my observations of the world around us."

The exhibition dates are May 7- 30 with an opening reception planned for May 8 from 5- 6:30PM. The Witter Gallery is located at 609 Cayuga St. Storm Lake, IA.  For additional information contact Ron Stevenson, Gallery Director at 712-732-3400 or wittergallery@yahoo.com.

2014 Artisans on the Map!

 

Locate your favorite artist participating in the 2014 Artisans Road Trip!  All Maps are "drawn" and linked up to your favorite artist or that artist you always wanted to visit!

Just visit http://www.artisansroadtrip.com and click on the homepage "Map" link.  Artists are spread out through the Iowa Great Lakes region, all the way down to Storm Lake and through Spencer, Terril, Estherville, and the Peterson and Sutherland/Hartley areas!

Actually you may visit these artists any time of the year, their contact information is on each individual's web page on the 2014 A.R.T. web site - But be sure and plan a fun studio tour outing this October!  Saturday and Sunday - October 11th and 12th!

Enjoy the 2014 Artisans Road Trip!

2014 A.R.T. Artists Juried Into "Weather Permitting"!

A sampling of artwork from "Weather Permitting"!

(Copyrighted work of the following artists - upper left/clockwise:

Anita (Katie) Baedke-Plucker, Judy Hemphill, and 'bottom' Bruce Morrison)

-click on image for a larger view-

"Weather Permitting" - an exhibit with several A.R.T. artists participating, began this week at Arts on Grand in Spencer, Iowa! This is a great exhibit - who needs to dwell on "just" winter now?!  This exhibit has it all - fair weather, stormy weather, after the storm, cold weather, warm weather, you name it and it is fun!

2014 Artisans Road Trip artists participating in "Weather Permitting" are - Joanne Alberda, Robert Ansorge, Judy Hemphill, Barb McGee, Timothy J. Arand-McIlrath, Bruce Morrison, and Anita (Katie) Baedke-Plucker.

"Weather Permitting" has an public opening reception on Thursday, March 13th from 5-7 p.m. and the exhibition runs through April 5th.  

Contact Arts on Grand for more information!