Category: Art Features
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The Intersection of Form and Function – Furniture Builder David Hatch
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.
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The Layers of an Artist, Ernest Beutel
“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. -
Take the Lake: Algoma’s Flying Pig Gallery & Greenspace
If spending part of your hard-earned vacation inside of an art gallery is far from your idea of the perfect day, one stop at The Flying Pig Gallery & Greenspace just might change your mind: about galleries, about art, and about what constitutes a perfect vacation day. With a freshly-brewed cup of coffee from the […]
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“A Slow Sip to Fully Savor”: The Art of Bonnie Paruch
On the back wall of Bonnie Paruch’s Sister Bay studio, about 20 oil and pastel paintings hang, lovingly framed in gold, full of shapes big and small, of colors bold and subdued. They are of streets and landscapes, café scenes and still lifes – and they look like they are ready to go out to […]
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Kathy Faulds’ jewelry is so distinctive that rock stars wear it. Literally. A few years back, musician Chris Aaron heard through the grapevine that Kathy Faulds, the beautiful bartender at the Bayside Tavern, made jewelry. Aaron had a stone that he had been carrying for years. Kathy remembers, “It was this agate stone that he […]
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A Man of Many Faces: Bob Bentley
The work of R.D. Bentley hangs in the White House and in some of the best boardrooms in the nation. His portraits include Sir George Solti, esteemed maestro of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Dan Rostenkowski, Chicago Congressman; President George W. and Laura Bush; and countless government, corporate and academic VIPs across the country. A visit […]
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An Evolution in Clay: Reneé Schwaller
It’s a bright Sunday morning as Reneé Schwaller sits at her wheel working on throwing a couple of pots before switching gears to get ready for a family party later on that afternoon. As she works the clay her children, Ava (8) and Wyatt (4), wander in to see what’s going on. The studio space, […]
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50 Paths: Nan Helscher’s Creative Journey
Nan Helscher’s hands are covered in paint. Not the oil paint she uses in her studio, but house paint. Earlier in the week, she grouted the stone on the floor and lime-washed the walls in her new house of straw bale construction. Right now, the final steps toward completing the building project with a contractor […]
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Ellison Bay Art Crawl: A Grassroots Movement
The adage “one good turn deserves another” might best describe the beginning, and the reason for the continued growth, of the Ellison Bay Art Crawl. The Art Crawl began six years ago when Mary Ellen Sisulak and husband Rob Bussler, owners of Turtle Ridge Studio-Gallery, wanted to find a way to thank their neighbors for […]
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Glittering More than Diamonds: K. Allen Gallery
It’s easy to imagine British author Terry Pratchett touring Door County on a summer afternoon, ambling along the lakeside of the peninsula, walking into one of Door County’s newest galleries and – appropriately and appreciatively awed – writing these words. Of course, unless Pratchett was some sort of time traveler, it is impossible for K. […]
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Racing the Sun: The Door County Plein Air Festival
Caution: Taking in the second annual Door County Plein Air Festival could leave you breathless. First, there’s the beauty of the work of highly-regarded plein air (outdoor) painters. Next, there’s the dizzying schedule of events, from July 20th through August 2nd, hosted by the festival’s sponsor, Peninsula Art School, in Fish Creek. And then there’s […]
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Optimism Paints Way to Door County: Artists Ellen Sprogo-Topelmann & Karsten Topelmann
As a girl who spent many summers in Ephraim, I visited Hanseatic Art Gallery frequently, but one visit when I was 16 years old always stands out in my mind. I had just started to enjoy art, and even though I had seen many of Karsten and Ellen Topelmann’s paintings, the beauty and detail of […]
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Supporting Artists’ Visions: Peninsula Arts Association
Many a Door County artist’s career has taken flight after receiving a Peninsula Arts Association (PAA) ArtFUND grant. According to recipients, the down-to-earth planning and rigorous preparation required for a successful application free artists to pursue their vision untethered by financial worry and practical concerns. Andrea Kinsey-Jauquet, of Fish Creek, was awarded a grant in […]
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Satisfying a Niche: The Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art
I, like many Northern Door folk, seem to keep just busy enough that my spare time is more often than not filled with mundane tasks such as laundry and dishes rather than exploring the wonders of this great place. However, the fact that my free time is rare does not stop me from dreaming up […]
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He was trained as an actor at Carnegie Mellon University. So it comes as a surprise to him, as much as anyone, that his life’s work is now forging ceramic art. When Chad Luberger, owner of Plum Bottom Pottery, talks about the transition from acting to pottery he finds an unexpected geometry of connections. “When […]
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A Little Less Isolated: DCA Lecture Series brings world issues to the Door
Each January, Door County experiences a mass exodus as the snowbirds fly away to warmer climes. The hearty souls who remain hunker down for the winter to enjoy the pastimes of snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and indoor activities, many of which include sitting by a roaring fire…and that includes the fire burning in the Door Community […]
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Franne Dickinson, renowned and beloved Door County artist, answered the phone one day to discover her excited 21 year-old granddaughter Jennifer calling from Ohio saying, “Guess what I just discovered, I think I might be an artist!” Jennifer who had been playing around with sketching realized that she liked the picture she had just drawn […]
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William Jauquet’s Love of Bronze
How does a hobby evolve into a passion, and a passion into a career? You might ask William Jauquet, who began in 1978 as a “rural folk woodcarver” and whose career has evolved over the years to encompass a worldwide audience for his bronze castings. His fame travels far and wide, and yet his feet […]
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After meeting jewelry designer Jen Hough, you may have trouble believing that she has been interested in art for more than 20 years. It might be more plausible if you learn that her career began in kindergarten when she started making her own jewelry. She expanded and started selling her necklaces by age 11. While […]
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A Walk in the Woods: Inside the paintings of Margaret Lockwood
A stand of trees glowing in the sunrise. A bank of clouds illuminated by the evening’s final rays of light. Artists have always been transfixed by the beautiful landscapes of Door County. The natural world has long been one of the primary inspirations of visual artists. But perhaps no artist has put as much effort […]