Coulee Region Art

I found out about today’s featured artist thanks to an email that was sent to me by our Internet Content Coordinator Brian Smith. I knew that he was a WINONA ST graduate and thought that Brian knew Zakary John Fellman through that connection. Turns out Brian didn’t know Zakary at all. While browsing local Twitter pages he found a blog link on Zakary’s Twitter page, @zakaryjohn_art, and then sent it to me. One thing led to another and Zakary ended up being featured today. 

So, I need to thank Brian for today’s Spotlight artist and also say thanks for so much help with managing this Blog. He is actually the person responsible for helping me set up and manage all the slide shows, categories, tags, etc. Brian also writes for a WKBT blog titled Music-Live-Reviews. If you’re into music, check it out music.blogs.wkbt.com. 

After contacting Zakary, he sent me this bio to introduce himself…

“My name is Zakary John Fellman. I am a stay-at-home dad and an artist. I love both. My daughter is “Two and an half,” she says. Greatest 2 1/2 years of my life!

As for art I love painting abstract.  My paintings are constructed through a long process of laying-up layers of paint, stain, varnish, washes and texture items(rocks, sticks, tape, etc.) This creates texture and patterns and stories.

I aim to build a history in a painting - the finished piece is meant to show all those layers and textures and colors. Essentially I am trying to hide just enough of the previous layer of paint and then I put on another layer that is meant to cover and bring out just enough of the previous layer…and so on.”

Zakary John’s painting “Amsterdam” has been added to the 2010 Spotlight slide show. Click on the Local Area Artists box below to view the slide show.

Paintings inserted above:  “Jung” and “Samson”

“Acrylic Florals & Landscapes/Watercolor Portraits,” an exhibit by Jean Donohoe.
February 1-28, 2010 at The Marie W. Heider Center for the Arts
405 Hamilton St. E,
West Salem, WI.  

Jean has been primarily self taught through instructional books and DVDs, and also by attending workshops and evening classes.  Her medium of choice has been watercolor, with a focus on portraiture and figures.  However, during the past year Jean has been experimenting with acrylic paint in landscapes and animal portraiture.  While she prefers the transparency of watercolor, she says she “has come to appreciate the qualities of vibrant color and texture that acrylic paint has to offer.” 

In 2008 Jean collaborated with Kathy Fitchuk on “Catch of the Day” Heron Project of La Crosse, WI.  Last Spring she was a participant in the Cabin Fever Art Show here in La Crosse, and her acrylic painting titled “Sheep” was a state award winner in the Wisconsin Regional Art Program (WRAP) exhibit which was held last Summer at The Pump House Regional Arts Center.

Check out the exhibit and meet Jean at her opening reception Thursday, February 4th from 5:30pm to 7:30pm

UW-L art faculty featured in University Gallery exhibit
(News Release from UW-LaCrosse Media Relations)

La Crosse, Wis. — University of Wisconsin-La Crosse art department faculty will show their recent research and creative endeavors in the upcoming Art Faculty Exhibition.

The show features the work of Justyna Badach, Cam Choy, Joel Elgin, Linda Levinson, Brad Nichols, John Ready, Binod Shrestha, Karen Terpstra, Jennifer Williams Terpstra, Marcia Thompson and Stella Vognar.
Works on display include photography, sculpture, prints, installation, ceramics, painting, drawing and video.

Faculty in the department are currently engaged in a range of research that includes exploring landscape, through painting and photography; identity issues through portraiture, Ancient Irish Cultures through its mysteries and truths; and time as an integral element in the visual dialogue.

The exhibition opens with a reception from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, in the gallery on the first floor of the UW-L Center for the Arts, 16th and Vine streets. The reception will have hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. The show runs through Saturday, Feb. 27. Admission is free.

In conjunction with the exhibition, there will be a faculty colloquium series. Faculty will discuss their respective fields of research and creative endeavors at 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Feb. 10, 17 and 24, in 116 Center for the Arts. Admission is free.

Regular gallery hours are noon-8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, noon-5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and during Toland Theatre events. The gallery opens for appointments by calling the UW-L Art Department 608.785.8230.

—UWL—

If you go—
What: UW-L Faculty Art Exhibition
Who: UW-L Art Department Faculty
When: Opening reception from 5-8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5; exhibit runs through Saturday, Feb. 27.
Where: University Art Gallery, UW-La Crosse Center for the Arts.
Admission: Free

Artwork pictured above by Karen Terpstra, Marcia Thompson and John Ready.

Press Release:
Lanesboro Arts Center in Lanesboro, Minnesota is presenting a Juried High School Art Show from January 16th through January 30, 2010.  The exhibit is free to the public and will feature 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional art work by students in grades 9-12 from Chatfield Chosen Valley, Filmore-Central, Lanesboro, and Rushford Peterson High School.

The life-size sculpture pictured here was created through teamwork by Filmore-Central students under the direction of art teacher Jason Detert.  First Students were introduced to the sculptural work of George Segal (American painter and sculptor 1924-2000).  Then in teams of five they were tasked with creating two plaster-casted people showing some sort of interaction between the two sculptures.  Each of the five team members had to have at least one body part cast (hands, forearms, torso, feet, neck, head, etc.).  The cast parts were then connected to create the whole person.  Finally, realistic details were added to give the casted people more realism, such as hair, clothing, and accessories.

To view a slide show of this Juried High School Art Show, click on the photo above.

The Juried exhibit is supported by the Minnesota State Arts Board.  Current hours at the Lanesboro Arts Center galleries are Tuesday through Saturday 10am to 5pm.

Lanesboro Arts Center is the new name of the recently merged nonprofit organizations Cornucopia Art Center and Lanesboro Art Council, providing year-round arts programming for more than 25 years.  Their mission is to serve as a regional catalyst for artistic excellence and educational development in providing diverse art experiences for people of all ages.  For more information contact 507-467-2446 or info@lanesboroarts.org or www.lanesboroarts.org

The Spotlight was a huge success in 2009. Fortysix local area artists were featured and the Spotlight slide show photos were viewed over 61,000 times. So, to start off the New Year  I’ve decided to create a new slide show for 2010 and the first featured artist is……………………Rebecca Crowell.

Artist Statement:
The sources of my ideas are varied and interwoven, with the colors and textures of nature playing a large role.  Memories, impressions and personal symbols all figure in as well, as do elements of pure abstraction.  There is interplay in my work between appreciation of the natural world and the desire to organize and manipulate the environment.

I use a variety of techniques for making marks and laying down areas of color, including some I learned may years ago in printmaking.  I build up many layers of paint, and also scrape, gouge, and dissolve parts of the layers so that underlying bit emerge.  The result is a surface that is complex in texture and nuances of color.  Thus there is a correlation between the organic look and feel of my work with the process of making it.

Each painting is an open-ended exploration, undertaken with a blend of spontaneity and careful analysis.  It is my hope that in the end, my work has a certain clarity and integrity that involves contemplation.

To see Rebecca’s painting “Red Wall” click on the Local Area Artists box below.  If you would like to see the artwork of local area artists that were in “The Spotlight” during 2009 click on this link.

Additional links for Rebecca Crowell:

http://rebeccacrowellart.blogspot.com/
http://oilandwax.ning.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebecca-Crowell/44170927636?ref=ts