Artful Adventures

It Was a Great Day!

 

Jessie, our first born, came out to spend the day with us for my birthday a week or so ago.  It was nice, very nice actually, since we don't often get those "one on one" kind of days with her.  It was just a low key day, just the way we wanted it.  We decided to go over to The Flying Pig, since I've hardly been there at all this summer.  I think I've mentioned that recently, but you seriously feel like family when you're there, and you'd miss your family, right?  Gary likes to always drive a new route to wherever we go, always promoting a car full of groans, as some of short cuts add on a ton of time:)  But this one was perfect!  I couldn't make it to the Art Studio Tour this year, and I really wanted to see Bren Sibilsky's sculpture work.  If you haven't clicked on her name, do yourself a favor and do so, seriously, she's so talented!  Brenda lives just on the outskirts of Algoma, but coming in from the other side of the Flying Pig, so we took that route so I could see where she lives and her sign proclaims that "The Idea Factory"-it's perfect!  Can''t wait to call & go see her!  For anyone wanting to give sculpting a hand, she also teaches at the Peninsula Art School.  So, on with the tour----we came up on this little park, and I do really mean little, but it's charming in a rustic teeny kind of way, and I do want to go back. 

We stopped & had to do a little exploring, the place was full of tangled tree roots and even some of the trees-couldn't you just see those couple of archways for fairies? 

Everywhere you walked, there were those crazy roots and green rocks that lined both sides of the water.  Having been raised "up north", this kind of thing is like going home, finding little creeks, swimming in a river, finding magic wherever it seemed it should be.  Now on to "The Pig" for a cup of coffee, a little birthday treat, and a glimpse of their fall gardens.  Come on up here sometime, and we'll show off the magic that's hidden in this farmland!

  
 

More art from Gary!

 

Gary's been taking a few classes in clay this summer, taught by the very capable Stephanie St John.  Stephanie has been using the facilities at Clay on Steele to teach, and even though she doesn't think her strong point is in clay-I don't know, if it''s not, then it certainly is in teaching!    

Since his retirement in December, he's found his artistic side, and continues to surprise me.  Seriously, look at these-I'm so proud of him!  In the photo above, he used the foliage from a plume poppy to form the tray on the bottom.  I love that he's looking outside the box & using things from nature, things that we've grown here for years.   

In the above wall hanging piece, he dug out a stamp that I had in a box-stamps that I decided I could live without, quess I was wrong!  Might have been a little hasty in choosing what to get rid of:)  That's the problem with mixed media, there's always a way to use just about anything, so paring down can be an impossible task.  I've tried, really I have, but then something like this comes along & makes me want to hang onto everything.  We need a bigger house! 

The photo of this bowl doesn't do it justice at all, it's very organic looking & just very cool:)  It seems that every class, he experiments a little more with different glazes, colors, and he's having fun doing it!  One more piece and then time to get busy aruond here.  Lots going on this week, enough that it warrants a whole 'nother post!  But we're trying to get 6 months worth of stuff done around here, things that got put off, things you just ignore, and put them in some sort of priority as we're sure to run out of time.  We really let this house get out of control and now it's time to get everything in it's place-help!!!

Lesson Learned:)

 This frog has a set of lungs, making a noise that sounds like something that's coming out of a good sized critter, but in actuality, he's about the size of a quarter.  Some things in life can be deceiving like that.  For example, when I type a post, it can take forever sometimes because I can edit myself, type, delete, change a word or a phrase until I can make myself sound reasonably intelligent.  Keeping that in mind, backtrack to last week when a local reporter & photographer came out to the house to interview me as part of what we hope will become a weekly series of articles about Kewaunee County artists who belong to ArtBeet, a non profit group formed to promote the arts in Kewaunee County.  So they came out, we spent a pleasant hour or more together chatting, and I patiently waited for the article to come out in the paper, which it did today.  (click here if you'd like to read it)  The facts are there and pretty much correct, but I had to laugh at myself when I realized as I was reading it, that nobody had edited me!  It reads like I talk-open my mouth & the words fall out, blunt & to the point, not much sugar coating:)  And I always assume that everyone has the same sense of humor that I do, in this case I can only hope that they just might.  Lesson learned, read all those marketing books that are laying around, listen to the advice freely given by those that know, such as Alyson Stanfield, and be prepared!   Now keep in mind I know all this stuff, but I didn't practice it and pay closer attention to what I was saying.  So there goes any pretense of being anyone other than what I really am-just me!  I quess that's ok though:) The important thing is that they wrote an article about me (thank you, thank you!) and that I was reminded again that there's always something to learn before you leave that proverbial nest & grow wings strong enough to fly.  One more thing-always remember to look at the camera & smile:)

Celebration of Life on the Lake

 

Gary participated in a community based project recently, Celebration of Life on the Lake, and here's the clay tile that he made.  I'm so proud of him for trying something new and doing it so well-good job!  The reception was this past Saturday where everybody got to see them all together for the first time, I didn't know what to expect since I wsn't a part of this one, and was blown away with what I saw.  And to see all the kids with their parents, showing off their art work, well that was just precious!  The following text is from a press release (making sure I get the facts straight!), and photos from Gary.  This will be the 3rd attempt, for some reason Typepad keeps eating my posts tonight!

Through the months of April and May students from Kewaunee and Algoma schools, as well as home school children and adult community members, have gathered at Clay on Steele in Algoma to create works of art celebrating life here in Northeast Wisconsin on the Lake Michigan shore.  Nearly 150 participants designed, created and glazed clay tiles that depict scenes of local plant and wildlife, recreational activities, family farms, historical buildings and endangered and invasive species.  The project, designed and implemented by local artists Kirsten Christianson and Stephanie St. John, was partially funded with a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board.  The artists were able to receive this grant by partnering up with ArtBeet, Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the arts in Kewaunee County.  Additional support was provided by local businesses, individuals and over a dozen volunteers from the community.

 This project was created to bring the community together and to help us appreciate the beauty, history and culture of Kewaunee County.  We are thrilled with the exciting response we have received from all the participants, volunteers and donors.  The quality of art work and the excitement generated from the project participants was astounding and far surpassed what we had anticipated.  All the artists and families should be extremely proud of this body of work.  Celebration of Life on the Lake has truly been a community project, we are thankful for all your support and hope to continue to organize future community art projects.  A selection of tiles will kept on display at The Flying Pig through Memorial Day weekend.