Category: Art Features

There’s no question that art of all kinds – visual, performing, literary, culinary, and otherwise – abounds on our peninsula. I’m no stranger to that concept now, but seventeen-year-old me was clueless.

In Craig Blietz’s Sister Bay studio, the artwork on the walls consist mostly of Holstein cows, save for a few charcoal drawings of Paunch (aka Sam), Blietz’s portly 18-year-old tabby cat.

Two years ago come October, I had the opportunity to write an article for the Peninsula Pulse, entitled “Art – Gone to the Dogs:  a history of dog portraiture.

It could start as a sketch, an outline, or even just a blank piece of paper, but somehow artists all over the world manage to make a living off of their artwork.

As far as an artist who was inspirational to me, I would have to choose Tom Uttech. He taught at UW-Milwaukee when I was a student there. He has shown his work at Edgewood Orchard since its beginning, and I kept in touch with his work over 30 years.

The Peninsula Pulse has teamed up with the Door County Art League (DCAL) to reprint portions of interviews conducted by Randy Rasmussen, DCAL Executive Member, with various artists.

One artist’s leisurely Dockside Quick Paint is another artist’s pressure cooker. As part of the annual Door County Plein Air Festival, hosted by the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek, this open painting event has been known to draw up to 75 artists to paint alongside the festival’s 40 masters.

I have always been intrigued by the lives of women artists, especially how they navigated the creative process and issues of family and mortality. The great Jay DeFeo was one of these women, and she has had a great influence on my development as an artist.

The entryway to Sylvia Youell’s home – a space neatly outlined with glass display cases – acts as her personal gallery, Sylvercroft Studio, nestled in a forest near Sister Bay.

In attempting to answer the “simple question,” which artist has been most influential to me, I ran though hundreds of possibilities. Artists (living and dead), teachers, parents…I could not choose one single person – nor did one stand out above all others.

What do literature, jewelry, and pottery have in common? Seemingly nothing. However, “We’ve Hit Knock Bottom” blended the three artistic mediums seamlessly.

The greatest overall influence, encouragement, and affirmation in my artistic life came from my immediate family. I was fortunate to have artistic people around me as I grew up.

“You can start pretty reasonably, but once you get started, you always want a bigger torch,” says Appleton artist Beth Wenger Johnstone of lampworking, her primary craft.

As summer returns to the Door Peninsula, life, activity – and art – seem to spring up all around. The new installation in front of The English Inn restaurant in Fish Creek attests to just what can be accomplished in a Door County winter.

Throughout my childhood years, I was required many times by elementary and junior high art teachers to create self-portraits. The process was simple – look in a mirror and sketch yourself – of course, the final product was always slightly awkward:  a pea-sized nose, eyes that spanned from my nose to my ears, or my personal favorite, fish lips.

As someone who isn’t a homeowner yet but has given countless friends and family members opinions on many a bedroom or living room remodel, I have learned two things about furniture:  it’s quite possibly one of the most difficult things to shop for, and when you do finally decide to place an order on a piece you find in a catalog or on a showroom floor, it never seems to be quite right.

“It’s about the layers,” artist Ernest Beutel said, “the process, the details of the layers. You start to think, how did he do that?”
The answer might be found in a spray of lighter fluid or the dribbling of acetone.