The Zen of an Artist

Charlene Berg brings together the very dissimilar works of two artists who share a very similar approach to the creative process in “Zen of an Artist,” the next exhibit at Gallery Ten. Both artists will be on hand for the opening on Saturday August 15 from 3 – 5 pm.

The second floor display area will open with an exhibition of the creations of Wilmette papermaker and sculptor Pamela Paulsrud. The pen and ink drawings by Ellison Bay artist and Vietnam Veteran, Jeffrey L. Budzis will be on display in the Tower Gallery on the third floor. Both collections are unique, thought-provoking and derived from a certain method of transcendent meditation.

Both Budzis and Paulsrud – who have never met or spoken to each other – describe a manner in which they each quiet the mind to let the actions and resulting imagery flow through them and into creative existence.

Budzis arrived at this method the hard way, battling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and then alcoholism to arrive at an eventual steady state more than a decade ago, working on his meticulous and highly exacting geometric pen and ink drawings and expressive oils each day in his rural Ellison Bay studio.

Despite living in an urban environment, Paulsrud intentionally connects with the forces of nature to invoke the same meditative state that Budzis describes. She listens for the stories told by books, trees and stones, each one more ancient than another.

She began pursuing calligraphy and papermaking as an art student, deriving a bond and a reverence for the source of much of the pulp she uses from trees. Pamela proceeded to extend her relationship with trees in a global outreach that links people all over the world together in a creative process online at http://www.TreeWhispers.com.

The show will be on display through September 17. Podcast interviews with each of the artists are available online at http://www.GalleryTen.com.

GT Coffee, complements the gallery, serving espresso drinks and Door County cherry pie by-the-slice Thursday through Monday from 8 am – 5 pm. The gallery is open Thursday through Monday from 10 am – 5 pm at 12625 Hwy. 42 in Gills Rock. For more information call 920.854.9907 or visit http://www.GalleryTen.com.