Shafer Gallery Masquerade Ball, 9-2-16

The Shafer Gallery on the Barton County Community College campus near Great Bend, KS held their first annual Masquerade Ball on Friday, September 2nd, 2016.  The event was the opening for the Friends and Acquaintances Art Show featuring the Artists at Large art group from Great Bend, of which I am a member.

Each of the Artists at Large group were allowed three pieces of art in the show.  Many other artists were part of the show filling seven or eight rooms in the gallery.  I felt very honored as my large ceramic bowl displayed on found wood, was featured in the first room just inside the entrance in the center of the room.  It was the first thing you noticed upon entering the room.  I was amazed and so very pleased.  My 'Spirit of Anger' was also in the first room.  

The decorations, featuring a life sized tree with leaves that lit up, table decorations, drapes from the ceiling, live band, wonderful food with wine, and some people in costume and others in masks made for an exciting and wonderful evening.

All dressed up with fancy mask standing beside my large ceramic hand built bowl displayed on wood.

Lighted tree and crowd enjoying the festivities.

Ceiling decorations.

Table decorations and food table.

Bev Simonson, founder of the Artists at Large group, in front of poster featuring all the members of the group with her alcohol pastel painting on the right of the photo.

My red hand built ceramic bowl displayed on found wood.  

My 'Spirit of Anger' mixed media, 12x18" hanging in the first room of the show.

Sandzen Self Portrait exhibit 8-6-16

Saturday, Aug. 6th, 2016 was the opening reception for the self portrait exhibit of almost 90 artists at the Sandzen Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg, KS from 5-7pm.  I was so honored to have a piece included in this exhibit.  It was an amazing experience and a true celebration of the arts.  Following are several photos of the event.  I wish everyone could have attended to experience the laughter and creativity of so many amazing artists.

Me with my piece, 'With His Strength, Mercy, and Grace, I Will Measure Up', mixed media self portrait, 2006.

Crowd at 5pm when the doors opened, before the CRUSH of people came about 30 minutes later!

My piece on the wall with other portraits.

more crowd, Connie Burkett's portrait, bottom right.

portrait by Deb Wagner of Wichita, KS,  painted fabric with free form machine quilting stitches over it.  Magnificent.

Painting on a cabinet door with a piece of board on top of it.  Great detailing in the mask.

Some pieces from the second room of portraits.

A ceramic sculpture, back side with masks showing inside base.

front of same ceramic sculpture.....such joy in the face, which made me wonder about the masks hidden in the back of the base.

Small cubes with a black and white photo of the artist on each cube.  All stuffed in a glass sphere.

Ceramic portrait by Larry Peters of Topeka.

Ceramic and mixed media larger than life size sculpture by Linda Ganstrom, ceramic instructor at Fort Hays State University.

Portrait by Matt Miller of Hays, a friend from the Deines Center's ceramic workshops I taught.

Portrait in ceramics, stone, wood by Ron Michaels, Director of the Sandzen Memorial Gallery, titled 'I Am a Porous Vessel'

Portrait by Shannon, Director of the Deines Cultural Center in Russell, KS.  Titled 'Smoke and Mirrors'.

Ron Michaels giving a speech on how the self portrait exhibit came about.  This is a very small portion of the people present at the show.

My dapper husband, Charlie, who escorted me to the show, and me.

Sandzen Museum accepted TWO pieces! 6-2-16

I found out Thursday that the Sandzen Museum is accepting two of my pieces for two different shows at their museum.  This is very exciting news for me and I appreciate their invitation to these shows!  

The ceramic piece is being shown NOW through the middle of July.  

The 2D piece is a self portrait that is conceptual, approximately 24"x24" on raw canvas with torn edges and tears into the piece.  Those show the imperfections and missteps we have in life.  It is hanging from a wooden yardstick by invisible fishing line so that the piece appears to float below the yardstick.  The rips are 'mended', as we try to use quick fixes to fix our problems, with a bandaid, staples, pins, inappropriate threads and stitching until we finally learn to turn our problems over to the Lord where he mends and heals the 'rips' for us.  His love and light surround us giving us strength whether we ask for it or not.  He is always there, holding us up, helping us through to the place we are meant to be.  

Thanks to Ron Michaels, Director of the Sandzen Museum, for his support and request for my work in these shows!

Gelli Plate Print, April, 2016

I've been experimenting with Gelli plate prints.  I have been pleased with the way they are turning out.  This is the first one I did.  8"x10" print, mixed mediia--print, acrylic, ink.

Spirit of the Prince, April, 2016

I was asked to do a painting of a frog for a friend of mine.  I decided to use one of my Gelli plate prints as the background.  Spirit of the Prince, 8"x10", mixed media--Gelli plate print, ink, acrylic wash, acrylic.

Deines Cultural Center group show of Artists at Large, April, 2016

The Artists at Large art group from Great Bend, KS will be having a group show at the Deines Cultural Center in Russell, KS from April 22-May 27th, 2016.  There are 25 artists in the group with a variety of mediums and styles.  The following photo is of the postcard that the Deines is sending out to advertise the show.  One of my Raven pieces, bottom left corner, was chosen for the postcard.

Spirit Feathers, Gelli prints, April, 2016

I have completed a series of Gelli plate prints using feathers as the subject.  I printed some of them on card stock and the rest on rice paper.  I then added ink detailing and in some cases printed over the Gelli print to complete the work.  They are 8"x10" are part of my 'Spirit Feather' series.

The following pieces were printed on rice paper and will be displayed on a 3' long piece of rice paper with a length of river cane, similar to bamboo, wrapped at the top and bottom of the rice paper like a scroll.  This will allow the piece to lay flat against the wall when hung and add a little weight to the thin rice paper.  The print will be at the top of the 3' length and hung in a series of 3.  I am really pleased with the way this series is coming out, but due to the thinness of the rice paper, I am not assembling them until very close to my show in Jan., 2017.  I will take photos of them hung in the gallery at that time to add to this post.  Until then, you can view the prints.  Hope you enjoy.

Series 1

Series 1

Series 1

Series 2

Series 2

Series 2