…maybe a bit too good.
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Chad and Jerry will be joining us in a few weeks, take a moment and check out the awesome work headed our way, and save that date, Saturday April 21st, 7-9pm, at The BrickHouse, we’ll see you there!
Chicago based artist, TJ Donovan, formerly of South Dakota, is currently showing at Dakota State University, take a moment to check out his work.
If you haven’t become a fan of us on Facebook for the latest and greatest, then get it done!
Past Augustana College graduate Chad Nelson will be bringing his love of traditional printmaking to The BrickHouse Community Arts Center this April 21st for our next Double Header w/Nelson & Fogg, mark those calendars, and we’ll see you there!
We’ll share more in the coming weeks, stay tuned….
Madison’s own Allan Fisher will be showing this Summer, from May 15th thru September 16th, at The South Dakota Art Museum. A reception is scheduled for a busy Friday, June 1st, as another one of Madison’s own, Angela Behrends, will have her opening reception at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science Visual Arts Center on the same night, that’s a whole lot of Madison pride right there!
Emmeline Elliott
Nature is a recurring theme in the artwork of Kari Lynn Steen.
Steen is one of two artists featured at the Madison Area Arts Council’s Double Header art show March 22 from 7 to 9 p.m. at The BrickHouse Community Arts Center, 106 S.E. 2nd St. She will be joined by Lance Jeschke of Sioux Falls. The Double Header art show is a one-night event that is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Steen has lived in Watertown for more than 20 years, but grew up in Oregon. Her childhood experiences included frequent road trips with her family to coastal tide pools, redwood forests or deserts full of sagebrush. She said these adventures afforded her the opportunity to observe nature at an intimate level. This early familiarity with nature has carried over into her artwork.
“My main focus has always been emulating the natural world. Landscapes, animals and botanical elements are the common theme seen in my paintings, whichever medium I use at the time,” Steen said.
Steen describes herself as a self-taught artist. Her most recent paintings are done with acrylics, but she has also worked with textiles, found objects, ink and watercolors. Steen will have her acrylic work on display at the Double Header art show, along with a few older pieces made with fabric collage and pen and ink.
Steen has enjoyed using a drafting pen since she was a child, with its crisp lines and sharp contrast of black and white.
“Layering dots or lines next to each other in a steady pattern was my form of relaxing, of creating order and routine, and had the added bonus of creating images I didn’t have to ‘think through’ or copy from a photograph,” Steen said of the pen and ink medium.
Steen’s paintings are much like her explorations of nature. They need a closer study to appreciate all the finer details.
“What I would most like to convey with my work is to look beyond what the initial image of the piece appears to be, to see what may lay within the tree’s ragged coverings or the mountain’s stony surface,” Steen said. “For the viewer to imagine their own story and place within the painting is my ultimate goal.”
MAAC meetings are held the first Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. at The BrickHouse Community Arts Center.
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We’re eager for our next Double Header this March, as Kari Lynn of Watertown and Lance Jeschke of Sioux Falls will be sharing their impressive work and talents on the cherished walls of The BrickHouse.
Our Double Header events are just for one night only, we like to say the art comes in and the art goes out, which makes for a great opportunity to connect and see some incredible things (and meet a few great friends too)
Double Headers are free and open to the public, refreshments are always served, and are organized by the Madison Area Arts Council.
Come on out this Thursday, as The BrickHouse will be fully loaded with several debuts from Lacey Lee and Jennifer White, and music from the wicked mind of Chad McKinney, so of course, we’ll see you there!
Emmeline Elliott
Two regional artists will have their paintings featured at this month’s Double Header art show.
Abstract painters Jennifer White of Sioux Falls and Lacey Lee of Brookings are participating in the Madison Area Arts Council event held Feb. 9 from 7 to 9 p.m. at The BrickHouse Community Arts Center, 106 S.E. 2nd St. Music will be performed by Chad McKinney. The one night event is free and open to the public.
White has been creating artwork for years. She had an interest in drawing in high school and – with the encouragement of her teacher Mr. E. Johnson – moved into ceramics, which she continued to pursue in college. She now considers painting her art form of choice, primarily working with oil on canvas.
In the summer of 2010, White turned to painting as a means of coping with the struggles her family faced during the recession.
“We had to move to a different state and that’s when the urge to create art took over. I had no control over what was happening to me. I was lost, and my sweet husband bought me some paint and canvas and told me to paint. So that’s what I did,” White said.
Some of her paintings reflect that experience, such as her work titled “Ice Cube Degenerate.”
“This piece lets the illusion of control slowly disappear like an ice cube melting on a hot rock. That is a feeling most people can relate to,” White said.
White usually works on canvas, but she also paints on nontraditional mediums such as windows, doors, plates, bed sheets and even a satellite dish. She uses materials like sand, wood, cloth, metal, glue and toilet paper to create textures or a sense of depth in her paintings.
“It is that love of clay that feeds the urge to paint something you want to touch. The chunky goodness of dry oil paint on canvas is literal depth,” White said.
Lee is making her second appearance at a Double Header event with this month’s art show. She graduated from the University of South Dakota with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in painting in 2008. She earned her teaching certification in 2011 from South Dakota State University.
Lee said her recent work has become more expressive. She likes to bring humor and sarcasm to her pieces by adding silly features to her characters.
Lee has commissioned a number of private pieces as a freelance artist, including a five-piece medical series for Avera Weskota Memorial Medical Center in Wessington Springs and was featured in Sioux Falls Woman magazine.
MAAC meetings are held the first Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. at The BrickHouse Community Arts Center. Visit us on Facebook for more community art news and events.