Participating Artists at Celebrate Art!

Michael employs various intaglio printmaking techniques, including etching, aquatint, drypoint, and a la poupee as well as hand-coloring (watercolor). He performs all aspects of his work, from conceptual drawings to the final wiping and printing of each plate, Michael has been a full time printmaker for 25 years and continues to produce and show his work throughout the United States.

” The aim of an artist is to make people love life”, said Leo Tolstoy, and I agree.

I live and work on the edge of the wilderness near Minnesota’s north shore of Lake Superior, on the old homestead bought by my suburban parents in 1963 to establish another way of life. In my early creative years, I focused on crafts. My work in woodblock printmaking seeks to continue the ethic of generating straightforward livelihood through making goods by hand.

The prints recently have focused on illustrations for picture books, written by myself and others.

My topics have evolved from views of my local rural life into the folktales and stories which inform rural lives worldwide. Recent interest in the oral tradition of these folktales has lead me towards pageantry, creating puppets, scripts and staging for community street theater and dance performances.

I have been woodblock printing actively since 1985. In recent years I have had the good fortune to write and illustrate several picture books.

Tami Briggs is the founding principal of Musical Reflections whose mission is to provide products and services to enhance and support the healing journey. She has a certification from the International Harp Therapy Program. As a pioneer in the harp therapy field she has played the harp at the bedside of hundreds of hospitals and hospice patients.

Tami is a nationally sought after heath educator and speaker. Each educational offering provides a forum to explore relaxing music’s powerful role in our fast paced world – a welcome “ahhh” in our daily lives. Audiences range from healthcare professionals and women’s groups, to business organizations and church groups. As a composer and recording artist, she has released 13 cds for relaxation, comfort, and stress reduction, as well as Grace Notes her first book about therapeutic music at the bedside.

My work with clay focuses on developing both functional and decorative pieces in a simple manner that explores the nature of porcelain clay and incorporates a lighthearted graphic design. I like to make pieces that push the possibilities of clay and also meet the needs of people. My pieces are meant to become part of the celebrations and rituals of daily life in our culture.

The power of ‘thoughts made visible’ and the mystery of the word as a vehicle of communication leads me on a wonderful journey as I merge message and technique into a finished piece. Each piece brings exploration, inspiration and discovery — on a concrete level as I work with my tools and experience and on a spiritual level as I lean on God. My work is a celebration of life’s journey with God and with others.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Judy’s calligraphy work has been published by Northwestern Products in St. Paul; The Printery House in Conception, Mo; it takes two in Le Seuer, MN; Ardie and Friends in Minneapolis, MN. Her work is in The Encyclopedia of Calligraphy and Illuminated Letters, by Janet Mehigan and Mary Noble. Judy’s work is owned by individuals, businesses, universities and churches throughout the United States and abroad.

I make art to feed my soul.

I sell art to feed my son.

I paint in two distinct styles, representational and abstract, which may at first appear irreconcilable, but are in fact two aspects of the same journey. For one, I venture out. For the other, I venture in. For both, the outcome is the same.

My representational work embodies my response to the environment, particularly to the countryside and to the shades, shadows, and colors of early mornings and late afternoons. As I paint, I recall and re-experience the peace and freedom of the open air as well as the spectacular and captivating qualities of the great outdoors. This meditative act of creating art about real places inspires and centers me in my life.

When painting in abstract, I travel inward, exploring and responding to progressions of thoughts and emotions deep within my mind. Free of visual constraints, these intangible introspective meditations take no recognizable form. Instead, they manifest themselves as successive, unfolding, and spontaneous adventures in color, texture, and composition.

No matter how or what I paint, whether the inspiration comes from within or without, the destination remains the same. I achieve relative moments of closure, of completeness, and of peace. Most importantly, my art affirms my belief in the oneness of body, mind, and the world in which we live.

Wooden containers and vases created with domestic and exotic woods.

Bart’s artistic career began in 1999 with a community education class in introductory pastel painting. He took the class three times and continued to devote more time to painting on his own. His first show was in 2001 in a supermarket restaurant. Since then, his paintings have won awards at the local, regional, and national levels. He is Past President of Minnesota’s Lake Country Pastel Society and one of five Minnesota pastel artists recognized as a Signature Member by the Pastel Society of America in New York City.

layl creates polymer clay ornaments, sculptures, and silly millies using the millefiore technique. Her animals and holiday creatures are one of a kind whimsical pieces.

I’ve always liked the idea of using things that are no longer useful and have been discarded. By taking familiar pieces and transforming them into something decorative or whimsical, I can make art while also drawing attention to the treasures that can be found in people’s trash. I find it very rewarding to see the glimmer of recognition in peoples faces when they identify the various elements used to create my work.

The shapes of every-day metal tools, bicycles and farm implements inspire me. I see animals or other forms in the pieces. They pick me and tell me what to make from them.

I consider myself an “improv” artist. I let the medium tell me what it wants to become. My favorite medium is polymer clay. I like making wearable abstract works of art. Polymer clay is an amazing material. It can imitate other materials such as metal, wood, and stone. By controlling the blending of colorful canes of clay I can make abstract designs that often look like watercolor paintings. My favorite raw material is the scraps of clay that other polymer clay artists don’t know what to do with. Each jewelry piece is unique and I am always trying to find new ways to use the clay. My jewelry making has taken many twists and turns in the eighteen years that I have been working with polymer clay.

Splendid collections of creative holiday villages and figures.

Handmade fused glass plates using powdered glass enamel between two pieces of clear glass and fired to 1500 degrees. The plates are food and dishwasher safe.

Working with clay enables me to craft works of art that function in the everyday; used hundreds of times with family and friends, used in and illuminating the endless cycles of life that surround and consume us every single day. A love for the craft, the science and the fire makes every pot a new challenge. Front Avenue Pottery carries on the tradition of working raw clay into quality, functional stoneware that is durable and finely crafted. Studio formulated and prepared food safe glazes are dipped, hand brushed, slip trailed or air brushed in playful, decorative motifs often repeated in series or sets.

Our woodcarvings are individually made by hand and are one of kind pieces of art that take hours or even days to create. Since they are handmade, no two carvings are identically alike and are not mass-produced. A carving is a special piece of art that can be treasured and passed down for generations.

Carvings are an affordable piece of art that can provide beauty, warmth, or whimsy because of the very nature of the material from which it was created, wood. Trees are living organisms that provide life-giving oxygen, cooling shade in hot summer, heat in winter, and many other wonderful things. It is fitting that they also provide us with a source of beauty inside our homes in the form of woodcarvings.

Carving, or whittling, is one of oldest of arts with a long tradition. Ancient woodcarvings have been found in the oldest ruins. When the pioneers were isolated out in the forests and prairies they often turned

Carvings provide a measure of fun, as well. People have so much seriousness in their lives these days that providing a piece that will make them smile is a pleasure. Capturing a wry expression on a Santa’s face or a reverent air in an angel is one of Russell Scott’s specialties. Each year he grows and improves as a wood carver.