Let us love winter, for it’s the spring of genius - Pietro Aretino
Meet the Kenosha/Racine Poets Laureate, Jean Preston and Nick Ramsey Pages 14-17 Applaud RAM Artist Fellowship Winners Pages 32-37
Serving The Creative Communities From Chicago To Milwaukee
Free! Issue 3
Lori Nix "Library", 2007 • 30" x 38.3" Inkjet print
‘Curiosities and Things of Wonder’ Beth Lipman, Lori Nix, Steven Jones, Stephanie Trenchard, Michael Velliquette, and Betsy Youngquist The works in this exhibit invoke all manner of curious and wonderful things. Beth Lipman’s blown-glass installation defies gravity as a tower of delicate glass fragments cascades from the ceiling to the floor of the gallery wall. Lori Nix’s photographs reveal minute worlds of spellbinding detail. Steven Jones’ vivid paintings of books suggest the allure of the imaginary worlds of literary invention. Stephanie Trenchard’s hand-cast glass sculptures depict fascinating compartments of delicate remembrances. Michael Velliquette’s vibrantly colored, hand-cut paper creatures are dynamic expressions of frantic energies. Betsy Youngquist’s mixed media sculptures of hybrid creatures, often part doll and part animal, are much like the strange things found in the cabinets of old. The artists will be present at the opening reception.
Friday, Dec. 6, 2013, 6 - 9 p.m. Exhibit Runs: Nov. 12, 2013 – Jan. 25, 2014* *(Closed Nov. 23 - Dec. 2 for Thanksgiving Break and Dec. 14 – Jan. 6 for Winter Break)
www.carthage.edu/artgallery
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Christine Sikora, one of Lemon Street Gallery’s founders, passed away on September 1, 2013 after a 14-month battle with cancer. The subjects of her paintings were most often “plants with personalities.” Her vibrant smile and her amazing paintings will be sorely missed by all of us, especially fellow Lemon Street members, Diana Becker, her mom, and Melanie Hovey, her sister.
A Message From The Publisher By Chet Griffith
The Big Read is a Big Deal.The usual nonsense that one might find here has been temporarily suspended. Instead, I’d like to wax poetic about the Edgar Allan Poe Artist Playing Card Deck. The deck contains fifty-six different cards (two extra jokers included) with each card featuring a Poe-inspired work of art. They are printed on gorgeous linen cardstock and presented in a custom tuck box. The decks sell for $12 each and are available at ArtWorks, as well as at several other area businesses. As an object, the deck is beautiful, but more importantly, we are extremely proud of the collaborative and cooperative nature of this project. Participating in the Poe Deck was an open process and the results are stunning. Professional artists blend seamlessly with the visions of students and hobbyists in an impactful, deeply memorable way.
worked very hard to produce this deck and at the very same time, scores of other people were also working hard to produce their contributions to the event. The Poe event ushers in a new era and marks the first time that the City of Kenosha, through its Kenosha Public Library, along with area organizations, businesses, artists and supporters of the arts have worked together toward a common goal. It’s a novel idea (no pun intended) and one that we are thrilled to be associated with. Let’s do more of this, shall we? Chet Griffith
The deck is our humble contribution to the wildly successful Big Read program. We’ve 4 A Message From The Publisher / Left of The Lake
Left of the Lake Issue 3
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Edgar Allan Poe Playing Cards BONK! Performance Series Story: Leaving My Kind Behind Kenosha/Racine Poets Laureate 2FL: The Innocents Interior Design: Tell Your Story Exhibit: Cigar Box Art Project Event: Open Art Critique RAM Artist Fellowship
Cover: Christine Sikora Left of the Lake is: Publisher: Chet Griffith Graphic Designer: Joshua Frazer Editors: Lisa Adamowicz Kless Peg Rousar-Thompson Managing Editor: John Bloner, Jr.
“Magnolias” Acrylic 2010 24’’ x 30’’
Contact Us At: lotleditor@gmail.com
By Nick Demske I’ve heard some people complain that there’s no art scene in Racine. But that seems like a pretty hard case to argue. Between the Racine Arts Council, the Racine Symphony Orchestra, the Music and More series at First Presbyterian Church, the Racine Art Guild, the Racine Theatre Guild, the dozens of art galleries in Racine... and we’re still not even scratching the surface of what the area offers. It’s pretty clear that someone who wants to fill their calendar with arts events would have no problem doing so. So why do I hear so many people make that complaint? When people say, “There’s no art scene in Racine,” I think more often than not what they mean is, “The Racine art scene is dominated by very mainstream, traditional expressions.” That seems like a valid observation to me. And, beyond that, it strikes me as a very insular art scene, with few artists wishing to reach beyond the realm of the region, and even fewer trying to bring in artists from outside of the region. I felt like this left a gap in the landscape of the Racine art scene. And I wasn’t alone. Which is part of the reason why the BONK! Performance Series exists. Created to showcase regional artists alongside more nationally established acts, the BONK! series features poets, writers, musicians, filmmakers, dance crews and all sorts of talents in between. Since the Racine arts community already provides great mainstream artistic expressions, BONK! focuses more on the ex6 BONK! / Left of The Lake
perimental, the abstract, the challenging and the downright weird or offensive. Inherently multicultural and interdisciplinary, BONK! features freestyle rappers alongside bluegrass bands; explosive spoken word artists alongside formal nature poets; and experimental jazz ensembles alongside traditional melodeon folk players; among any other bizarre combination we can think of. BONK! is always free and is usually held at The Racine Arts Council at 316 6th Street. We feature touring poets and musicians from all over the country, as well as regional talents. October marked BONK!’s five year anniversary; so, if you’ve never been to an event, now is the time to change that! If you’re an artist or just an appreciator of the arts, but you’re looking for something different, come join us at one of our upcoming events and help us make the BONK! family a little bigger. For upcoming events and videos of past performances, visit our blog site at: bonkperformanceseries.wordpress.com To join our email list, drop me an email: nick.demske@racinelibrary.info Nick Demske’s self-titled first book was picked for Fence Books’ Modern Poets Series prize and published in 2010. He was featured in 2011 as one of fifteen emerging poets to watch for by Poets & Writers magazine. Nick also works for the Racine Public Library and curates the BONK! performance series in Racine, WI--the happiest place on earth.
Brian Pier, Quiet Harbor, oil, 10”x20”
Brian Pier, After the Storm, oil, 24”x30”
Forever Grateful G A L L E RY O F F I N E A R T 5000 7th Avenue, Kenosha, Wisconsin 53140 262-484-4139 z brianpierfineart.com z Open 7 Days a Week
Leaving My Kind Behind By Boone Dryden They danced around the bonfire—blazing harsh that rose terrifyingly into the black—sending up the eagle brother. They swirled, dancing and chanting, their masks hiding their haunting pain. I watched them with my brothers and sisters and cousins, and we sat in awe of their beauty and terrible rage. We watched our eagle brother rise with the ashes and smoke and fly away. In the distance—above the howling of the flames—I could hear the din of a bell, trying feebly from so faraway to bless us, to keep us from our task. They listened instead to the cries of the buffalo and hawk and coyote. I heard the chime of the bell. As they danced—keeping out the fear—I began to wander, slip from their protection. I began to fade into the place between our place of animals and spirits and into that faraway world of metal and rubber and little cemeteries of little stones in the desert. My brothers called out for me; my sisters wailed in loss; my cousins ran to pull me back; but I
was lost to the steam-giant that roared at us all day and all night. I knew my place, but I could not push away the feeling that swept over me, dragging me out into the night. The bonfire faded in the distance, and my kin began to forget me. I turned to see them dancing, still sending off our eagle brother, and they had forgotten who I was. In our world, you are dead if you are not a part of it; we do not send to the heavens those who have been lost or forgotten. Those spirits are forsaken. Such was my place. In that land of the circle that my brothers created, and my sisters kept warm, and my cousins looked after, things were safe, and they were home. In that place of harshness where the sun set without colors, and the moon rose without welcome, we were outcast. There were others like me, lost spirits trying to make it in a world of iron and plastic. I breathed gas and ate dust; what I touched was tainted. The din of the bell was always there, making me think that there was nothing else in the world but the bell and the pulpit that it watched over. I hated it; it hated me: a place of love and of
Left of The Lake / Leaving My Kind Behind 11
Leaving My Kind Behind (cont’d) blessings that hated me for being a lost spirit in a waking world. It was a vain attempt to become one with that other kind of nature. It wasn’t real to me; it wasn’t real to my senses. My mind ached from the struggle that I put myself through to become a part of that steam-giant world where black smoke gave people hope. When I was lost—when I was hopelessly devoid of hope and nearly devoured by the wolves my people had tried to protect me from by raising our eagle brother into the sky—I went back. The circle was gone; the bonfire was gone; and the masks were gone. My brothers and sisters, my cousins and kin all met me
without their hidden pain and suffering. I was no longer a brother; I was a wandering body without a kindred soul. So I took my mask and walked away.
J. Boone Dryden is a law student at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, where he is studying Intellectual Property Law. He is also Director of The Milwaukee Writers Workshop and worked previously as an editor and writer in Milwaukee.
TEXTURE TOO A Ceramics Art Show By
Mary Clare Jakes
Opens on Saturday November 16 5-9 PM Show continues until Dec. 13, 2013 at Dandelion Gallery 109 S. Genesee St. Waukegan, IL
Friday 11am-2pm, 5-8pm Saturday Noon—6pm www.dandeliongallery.org
TWIRL TWIRL
Please visit my web site www.playinthemud.net
Kenosha/Racine Poets Laureate By John Bloner, Jr. The Kenosha/Racine Poets Laureate Program was established in 2011 in order to encourage creative expression and literacy, while celebrating the power and beauty of language, in Southeastern Wisconsin. Every two years, the program’s committee appoints Kenosha and Racine residents to the post so they may cultivate a creative voice in others while expressing their own. These poets provide poetry readings, workshops, displays and demonstrations to students, seniors and other individuals. This program has been funded by generous contributions from the Friends of Kenosha Public Library and Friends of Racine Public Library. Thank you to Angie Aker as 2011-13 Kenosha Poet Laureate and to Stephen Kalmar II and Darin Zimpel as 2011-13 Racine Poets Laureate for their service and creativity. They are succeeded by Jean Preston of Kenosha and Nick Ramsey of Racine. Read the articles in this issue of Left of the Lake Magazine to get to know these poets.
Left of The Lake / Kenosha Racine Poet Laurets  13
Poet: Jean Preston You may not see her wearing a cape or leaping tall buildings in a single bound, but take heed: Jean Preston is a superhero. As a poet, director of the Carthage College Writing Center and Adjunct Assistant Professor of English, as a performer in the duo (with Susan Larkin), “Women of an Un-Certain Age”, and as Kenosha Poet Laureate, Jean is equal to Wonder Woman. She gives meaning to many who are not able to express themselves, yet are emboldened by her words. She cultivates a creative voice in people of all ages, who recognize that poetry is more than pretty words strung together; it is life essence, no different than a sacred spring whose waters bring rejuvenation for the body and soul. Jean Preston may not stop locomotives with a single hand, but those who meet her through her words or workshops may find inner strength and a new way of looking at the world. She writes: “I love small poems about big things, and big poems about small things. I love the way language wraps itself around my heart, enters it softly, or slams the door hard. The power of language has enchanted me my entire life, and is what led me to become a poet. Still, I sometimes hesitate to call myself poet, although I’ve been writing poetry seriously for well over a decade. What I write (simple expressions about what it means to be a human being, a woman, in the world today) seems too ordinary to be considered poetry—and yet, sometimes it is. Sometimes, what moves through my fingers to the keyboard and onto the screen does indeed have an internal music that seems to write itself, combining mind and memory, heart 14 Poet: Jean Preston / Left of The Lake
and soul, to make a poem. In those moments or hours or days, I am completely absorbed and happy, humbled and profoundly grateful to be able to do this work. Poetry gives voice to memory, freedom to imagination, and wings to dreams. It has allowed the stories of other people, predominantly women who have touched my life, to be told along with my own. For me, celebration of the very ordinariness of life—with all its joys and all its pain—is the purpose of poetry. I try to write poems about what I believe makes up much of people’s lives – the effort to fit the numerous and disparate pieces of life together in ways that make sense for themselves and for those they love, meeting sorrow with courage and joy with open arms.” Best wishes to Jean Preston on her two year tenure as Kenosha Poet Laureate.
At the Krohn Conservatory By Jean Preston
(Cincinnati, Ohio, December 17, 2012) Three days after Sandy Hook, and it’s nearly Christmas. Parents and grandparents bring children to see the holiday display – a make-believe land built from natural elements – leaves and hand-made papers, seedpods and branches, thousands of red poinsettias in pots of green foliage, layered floor to ceiling in the cavernous green house space. No metal, but for the trains that climb uphill from ground level through thick tangles of plants, and the tracks, next to running streams alive with placid orange and red and black koi. Models of famous homes and city landmarks, lit from within, mark pathways for the tracks, up and up until they reach the top, where multiple trains cross the room on wooden trestles, their motion precisely timed so there are no accidents to mar the magic holiday scene. This day, as on every other day, the children are entranced. They laugh out loud. Point to the highest trestle, at the red and green train nosing out of hiding to cross the room in plain sight. A boy reaches over to splash at the fish, to splash his sister and brother. A girl recognizes a special house, Music Hall, the Taft Museum she visited on a class field trip, and squeals with delight. Others run or jump, push ahead in line, forget to use their inside voices. It’s the parents who do not behave the same, and the grandparents. The mother who holds her child’s hand so tight the child squirms to get away. The grandmother who laughs at the boy splashing at the fish instead of correcting him, who leans down and gives him a candy cane. The father who aims his camera, snaps shot after shot of his daughter and son to keep somehow his children safe, to hold them forever enchanted.
Poet: Nick Ramsey By Peg Rousar-Thompson
Most poetry is read to a quiet room with an audience poised to listen. Nick Ramsey’s is boomed out into the street, a beat and a rhythm you move to, sing to, and take home with you. His delivery grabs your attention; his words communicate his personal experience. Nick is one of the rare individuals who can express himself well in both written word and spoken word. Once you hear him perform, that voice and energy comes through on the page. I didn’t realize the skill required to freestyle – a form of rap where the lyrics are completely improvised – until I saw Nick perform at his Grassroots Wednesdays Open Mic & Artist Showcase. But it’s his written work that puts him on the map as Racine’s new poet laureate, carefully sculpted words that reveal his personality and struggles, using both rhyme and unusual word combinations. Nick’s optimistic outlook is common ground for all of us, both young and old. Whether we like rap music or not, we can all relate. Nick lives his philosophy of sharing his creative work, believing it’s our connections with others that complete the circle of writing. He shares this energy through his bi-weekly open mic, encouraging and showcasing our local talent, and performing with his band and production company, Family Power Music. He volunteers in schools and community programs to tell kids where he’s been and where he’s headed. Poetry isn’t just a hobby for Nick. He knows the importance of keeping his hand in the game. Writers write. His notebooks are filled with curious thoughts and observations set down as poetry and formed into music. Titles and concepts are elaborated on, sometimes as a run-on sentence, sometimes as neatly metered lines. 16 Poet: Nick Ramsey / Left of The Lake
Nick admits that he isn’t well-versed in poetry form, but he spent this past summer taking part in the prototype for Racine Public Library’s upcoming writer’s group, Wordshop. There, he worked on preserving his freestyle voice while experimenting with traditional structure. My first thought when Nick was nominated as Racine’s Poet Laureate for 2014-2015, was that we’d lose him to the big city. After talking to him and reading his poetry, he seems fully rooted here and invested in the future of Racine. I’ll be cheering Nick on as he embraces the title of poet laureate for Racine and like his poetry, makes it his own. Grassroots Wednesdays Open Mic & Artist Showcase is held 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at the Racine Arts Council. Doors open at 5:30. Friend their Facebook page for updated information: www.facebook.com/familypowermusic
Flowers To Sunlight By Nick Ramsey
I moved away from Racine with a dream. Now I look in that direction as the main way I lean. Flower to sunlight people try and coerce me. Obsessed with controversy this blindness hurts me. My intellect tells me better. No TV in bad weather. I’d rather write or organize or read to make me wise. My eyes gaze in a direction of a never-ending stairway. And the way to keep me climbing is constant use of fair play. Exchange or barter. To me it’d be smarter. It might be harder, but what was used by our forefathers? Exactly! I’m an activist and will continue to be. The homeless are who we feed. Host shows for you and me. A platform to form connections and y’all can’t doubt that. So when I shout… I SURE HOPE YOU SHOUT BACK! I’ve learned from failures in my attempts to make everyone else happy. Am I selfish? For now I have to be. A soloist whitewater rafting. Against the current I’m running up river. And when I get there I might wither. If I do, so be it. The trip didn’t make me seasick. Just fatigued with my energy deprived but still I’ll have drive. A little too intense at times yet I’ll feel sublime before I die.
By Dave Gourdoux Horror movies have always relied heavily on imagination. Today, with access to sophisticated special effects and computer graphics, we’re given insight into the minds and visions of gifted storytellers who plant nightmarish images in our heads and jolt us out of our seats. But for all of their gruesome imagery and special effects, they’re not as frightening as some of the great horror movies like Psycho (1960), The Haunting (1965) or Night of the Living Dead (1967). These movies are effective because, in the absence of modern technology, they rely in large part upon our imagination. They play upon our ability to imagine what they don’t show us (what, with the censorship rules at the time, they couldn’t show us). Any good storyteller knows that nothing is more powerful than the power of suggestion. For me, the best example of this is Jack Clayton’s 1961 masterpiece, The Innocents. Based on the Henry James novella, “The Turning of the Screw”, Deborah Kerr plays a governess assigned to care for two creepy kids in a remote and spooky English estate. The film shows us the supernatural nightmare Kerr gradually uncovers, that the children are possessed, until we finally begin to question whether what we are seeing is real or a product of Kerr’s imagination. What makes The Innocents such a brilliant film is the story being told is piquing Kerr’s
imagination at the same time it’s piquing ours. We see the same apparitions and hear the same voices Kerr hears. We know they are real to her, and even as we begin to question her sanity, we are left to wonder if the ghosts are possessing Kerr, if not the children. The kids share a kind of psychic connection, knowing what the other is seeing and thinking without exchanging words. The screenplay, adapted by Truman Capote, provides us with enough psychological background to explain the horror and trauma the young children have experienced. We question how innocent they really are. The sheltered governess is less prepared to deal with the ugliness of the past than the children. Kerr portrays her character as good intentioned, earnest, and naïve. In many ways, she is more innocent than the children. This is not a good thing, as the end reveals. The film is filled with images that will stay with you for a long time (like that woman standing in the weeds across the pond) and uncomfortable moments that will make you squirm. I’d classify it as a psychological horror film; there is no blood or gore. If you want a film that makes you think, something that’s subtle but eerie, you won’t find a better movie. For more articles by 2nd First Look, visit www.2ndFirstLook.com.
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Tell Your Story! By Kelle Dame
The ultimate goal of the design process is to have your space look like you. It’s crucial that your inspiration be personally significant and tied directly into the story that you want your space to tell. Otherwise, you run the risk of furniture store mockery. Even worse is the possibility of filling your space with empty fluff. At one time, I was completely guilty of this!
story for her tell all of her guests. Criteria of a decorating muse = met. We pulled the color pallet from the purse beads and used it for the essentials; the sofa, the end tables, and the wall color.
Like most people, I followed all the trends, and I quickly learned that that doesn’t lead to long term decorating happiness. Trends are disposable. Your story is not. A perfect thing to start with is something meaningful, something that relates to you and your loved one, and that tells your story through your décor. Even small items – an old photo, a piece of pottery, a hat collection – can inspire a bigger thing, like your living room. Let’s use a client’s little beaded purse as an example:
Since all the basics were neutral, we had the opportunity of allowing another special piece, her grandmother’s chair, to be the source of color and pattern. Here is the original chair:
Not only is it beautiful, it is extremely special to my client and brings about happy memories. It doesn’t hurt that it also provides a 20 Tell Your Story! / Left of The Lake
And after getting a makeover:
Inspired to dig in your attic or basement for your own special things? Care to share? I am hosting a free workshop on displaying and incorporating your meaningful things into your décor. If you have a special piece that helps tell your story, stop by and I’ll give you my best ideas! November 6th Linnea Bakery 512 56th Street, Kenosha 6 PM
I know this little purse will be a part of my client’s décor for a very long time and that she will never tire of her grandmother’s chair being a part of her living room. These special pieces hold memories and tell my client’s unique story.
You can learn more about me and my design philosophy here: www.kelledame.com or http://kelledame.blogspot.com
Photography by: Jon Bolton
Visit America’s Largest Craft Collection in Racine Discover more about RAM art exhibitions and events at ramart.org Racine Art Museum 441 Main Street, Downtown Racine
262.638.8300
Thinking Outside the [Cigar] Box By Deborah Madigan
Wonderful things come in small packages: like a cigar box, for example. The Cigar Box Art Project evolved from a collection of empty cigar boxes to a small, but powerful exhibit about what can happen when artists collaborate on an idea. Each artist was invited to translate this subject into his or her own unique vision by creating a three dimensional art piece in a cigar box. With “all things library” as our theme, the possibilities were endless. Artists were encouraged to look at the work of Joseph Cornell, a reclusive 20th century Dada artist who worked in the box format, and additional inspiration also came from the Yellow Bird Project, executed recently by Kenosha’s Lemon Street Gallery artists. The first exhibition was at the Racine Public Library in February of this year. The Cigar Box Art Project also received online coverage from The Library As Incubator website, The National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read blog site, as well as The Racine Journal Times. In tandem with Lemon Street Gallery’s exhibit, Telling Our Stories, the Cigar Box Art Project will also be on display at the Kenosha Public Museum from October 26, 2013 to January 26, 2014. The public is invited to attend a gallery talk about the boxes on November 2nd at 2:00 PM at the Kenosha Public Museum. Think of it! You can see a time machine, a fairy box, or the ashes of the Library of Alexandria, all in cigar boxes. Hope to see you there!
22 Thinking Outside the Cigar Box / Left of The Lake
presents
FROM HOUDINI TO HUGO
the artof
Brian Selznick
October 12, 2013 – January 7, 2014
KPM Touhey Gallery
From children's books to feature films, Selznick's imagination, creativity and energy inspire a sense of childlike wonder and playfulness.
Kenosha Public Museum
5500 1st Ave. • Kenosha, WI 53140 • 262-653-4140
www.KenoshaPublicMuseum.org
FREE ADMISSION • Open Sunday 12-5, Tuesday-Saturday 9-5
17th A n n u a l STUDIO OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, December 7, 2013 Racine Business Center 1405 16th Street, Racine, WI 11:ooam-4:oopm FREE ADMISSION Lunch served in Chez Bobﾃ不
For info on resident artists visit www.16thststudio.tumblr.com For info on available studio space visitwww.racinebusinesscenter.com Sarah Andersen Jessica Ange Jerrold Belland Karen Broman Jane Rae Brown Mike Fisher Maureen Fritchen Samira Gdisis Alice Hazarian Greg Helding
Black-Eyed Press
Tony Macias Marge Meyer Carlotta Miller Sally G Miller Lyle Peters Dale Savin Linda Schubert Suellyn Scoon Jill Sime Nicolas Sime
Dan Simoneau Tom Simonson Brittany Smith Susan Sorenson Donald Stewart Katrina Sustachek Jim Tavernese Maggie Venn Marilyn Ward
Dales Upstairs Gallery-Dale Zierten PinStripes Studios
Gallery G-Rick Geller
Janet Hoffman Kim House Juli Janovicz Chris Johns Judy Kaprelin Laurie Kis Brad Lee Maria Lee Ann Linstroth Maggie Lukow
In The Studio By Lisa Bigalke
Feedback is critical to developing a solid body of work. Where that feedback is coming from is equally important. In graduate school, feedback happened all the time, but in my studio, it only happens when I seek it out. Some people will only say nice things, some people will only say mean things, and if you are really lucky, you will find people who say honest, helpful things. I’ve been lucky.
I am not a person who likes to make work and put it in a drawer. While I get joy out of the art process, that is not enough for me. I really like seeing my art on display; in galleries, museums, street fairs, or my favorite, on someone’s wall.
To get my work in these places, I have to be willing to get rejected. And rejection sucks. Really, really sucks. I have heard that artists Not only do I have several people I can get get rejected over 70% of the time. That’s the individual critiques from, but I attend the open great ones. Who decides to get rejected that group critiques at ArtWorks. Do I like hear- much? Me. I came up with this plan: send ing everything they say or ask about my work? out more proposals, entries, and prospecti than No. Am I grateful they force me to think, I could possibly hope to do. My creativity and reconsider, and fight for my ideas? Always. production grew and demand for my work increased. Since my retirement, I’ve been part Since my retirement from teaching seventeen of multiple shows, three national exhibitions months ago, I’ve been making a lot of art. and several studio tours. Some rejections are Some good, some not so good. My personal harder than others, but because I am busy, the projects have included reductive relief prints, sting doesn’t last long. artist books and a sculpture. Plus, with Rudbeckia Press, I’ve created over five hundred Open Art Critique is offered the first Sunday handbound, blank books. Storage is becom- of the month, 5 pm., at ArtWorks in Kenosha, ing a nightmare. Other than kicking framed 5002 7th Avenue. pieces over in my studio, what happens next?
Left of The Lake / In The Studio 27
Sculpture Walk-HarborPark
2013-2015 Exhibition Kenosha, WI
For more information, contact: artsfund@kenoshafoundation.org.
30  Title / Left of The Lake
www.suellynscoon.com
Inaugural Ram Artist Fellowship Exhibition The Racine Art Museum held its inaugural RAM Artist Fellowship Exhibition opening on August 30, 2013 at the Wustum Museum in Racine, WI. This exhibition featured the work of Racine artists Jerrold Belland and Doug DeVinny and Kenosha artists Kathleen Laybourn and Kimberly Greene. View their work at Wustum through November 30, 2013 to encounter a sampling of the dynamic visual arts scene in this corner of southeastern Wisconsin. Jerrold Belland – Jerry Belland creates a world, through his vivid paintings, of sad, often mystical, characters who tell the truth in the artwork’s text that is both comic and komisch, a German word for “strange”. “I make paintings that tell a story,” Jerry says. “I feel that I am part of a tradition of storytellers that ranges from Giotto to Max Beckmann. I have a special fondness for the era of Germany between the wars.” He is currently involved in community art education after working as a public school art teacher for 34 years and maintains a studio at the Racine Business Center. Doug DeVinny – Doug DeVinny creates images in both digital and traditional mediums. He bases his work on the printmaking process with great reverence to technique, process and craft of print’s history. “I am very connected to print possibilities especially in regard to digital process,” he says. “I have the understanding that the image and process are fluid and always changing.” For the Wustum exhibition, Doug created a body of urban images that evolve from the casual observation of familiar architectural nuance toward fragmented and stylized images. He retired from UW-Parkside several years ago, after teaching in higher education for 40 years at Skidmore College, Indiana University, Mesa State College (Colorado Mesa University) and UW-Parkside. 32 RAM Artist Fellowship / Left of The Lake
Kathleen Laybourn – Kathleen Laybourn expresses herself in a variety of media and styles. For her exhibition at RAM, she uses paint, fiber arts, and sculpture to invite viewers to look at four iconic women—Saint Teresa of Avila, Billie Holiday, Princess Diana and Joan of Arc—in a different way, beyond their physical attributes, talent, social status or desirability, and toward the vulnerable and fragile nature of their beings. “Creating art is my passion and life’s breath,” Kathleen says. “My inspiration is drawn from many sources—literature, culture, living environs and religion-- for we are complex human beings and are influenced by the world around us.” She grew up in Kenosha and moved to California in 1979 where she met classical artist, Ra Aryamitr, with whom she studied for three years, and established a standard of excellence in her work that continues through today. Kimberly Greene – Kimberly Greene creates captivating landscapes with the use of stoneware, black clay and porcelain, re-visioning space and architecture in the process. Her work upends expectations in their form and placement. “These are difficult spaces,” she says. “Not flat, convenient or practical.” It’s an ever-changing setting of loose, interchangeable and interlocking elements. “I respond to this space of life and history,” Kimberly adds. “A space cycling in productive building, inevitable abandonment, decay and destruction and everhopeful salvage—by constructing.” She began her career in the fields of electrical engineering and computer science, before she returned to school to receive degrees in ceramics. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Art at Carthage College.
Left of The Lake / RAM Artist Fellowship 33
34  Jerrold Belland / Left of The Lake
“For decades, our museum has been an active supporter of the artists who live and work in Kenosha and Racine. RAM’s Artist Fellowships focus public attention overall on the impressive professional quality of the artwork produced in this metropolitan area. We are also pleased to advance the careers of the artists whose work is selected for this recognition.” -Bruce W. Pepich, Executive Director and Curator of Collections, Racine Art Museum
Left of The Lake / Kimberly Greene 35
36 Kathleen Laybourn / Left of The Lake
“We are thrilled at the vision and subsequent support of Robert Osborne and Vera Scekic for enabling RAM to honor and showcase local artists through this program.” - Laura D’Amato, Development Director, Racine Art Museum
Left of The Lake / Doug DeVinny 37
W
HM 9–1
R C forthe A
St. • Downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin
Every Saturday through May 10, 2014
(Closed on Dec. , & Jan. , )
Produce, Cheese, Meats, Pastry, Fresh Mushrooms, Chips, Chocolate, Unique Arts & Crafts, Soaps, Prepared Foods, Live Music, and More
T H M A
Every Saturday — 9–2 May O. ,
A E-S M V S
Farm fresh produce Unique arts and crafts Meats, eggs, vegetables, fish, cheeses Fresh baked goods and savory snacks
A M I W 2 Ave. between 54th & 56th St. and Place de Douai
HarborPark • Kenosha, Wisconsin
kenoshaharbormarket.com
Left of the Lake Magazine is Printed in The USA. Š 2013 Left of the Lake.