Artist of the Month, August 2010

I may be a relative newcomer to the genre of painting, yet art has always been part of who I am.  Music was my first love, and now I find myself wanting to feast on other kinds of food for my soul.  Making jewelry was my passion for a few years, and, who knows?—I may return to it one day.  My most intense artistic endeavor was building a cob cottage:  literally, a hand-sculpted house—which has given me a lot of satisfaction, not only from an environmental aspect, but from the fact that it lent itself to my expression of cosmic symbolism, with the creation of bas reliefs on the inside and outside walls of the building.

After all the hard work of building, I needed to play.  Finding myself at the age where I could audit classes at Washburn University, I dove headlong into oil painting and drawing, and I love it!  Expanding my talents in those directions really got me zinged!  I plan to continue this fall.  Through the years as a member of T.A.G., I have admired the art of other local artists such as Shirley Akers, Ellen Duncan, Johanna Hanks, Phyllis Cory, Carol Hollis, Ruth Powers—all for different reasons.  Mostly, I am inspired by music, color, nature and foreign travel; and, while I appreciate the “finer” things of life, I love sharing stories with the common man in all countries and cultures of the earth.  Everyone is talented—we each have our own way, and isn’t that wonderful?  I take total pleasure in moving to the beat of my own inner drummer.

My favorite quote is from Will Rogers, a “home boy” who came from my old stompin’ grounds in Oklahoma:  “Why NOT go out on a limb?—That’s where all the fruit are!”

“Fine Art Gourds”

I grew up in Topeka where I was constantly drawing, painting or doing some other form of arts and crafts. I studied art and art history and graduated from Baker University. After graduation, I married and moved to Kansas City. While there, I worked as Assistant Director of a gallery. After leaving Kansas City, we moved to various cities, but ended up in Lansing, Kansas for 6 years, where I taught art classes at the Carnegie Arts Center. We returned to Topeka in 2008.I do what I do because I love nothing more than to create art. Art has always provided me an escape – a space where I can recharge. Although it requires concentration, it relaxes me in a way that nothing else can.

I’ve dabbled in many mediums, but most of my work is either acrylic paintings or fine art gourds. I painted for over 10 years and began to develop an “artist’s block”, so I began working with gourds instead. I found I love working in three dimensions and the variety of gourd shapes is a source endless inspiration for me. The individual quality of each gourd’s shape and blemishes of the surface serve as a starting point for each design. By using the innate qualities, I am able to enhance their natural beauty.

I have been told that my gourd pieces resemble pottery or artifacts, and while I am influenced by history and various cultures, my gourds are first inspired by some unique aspect of the gourd itself.

I rarely paint anymore, but when I do, it is usually when I am trying to get something off my chest or when something moves me. I always listen to music while painting and it can vary from very relaxing music to very loud, angry music. Most of the paintings have some personal meaning or symbolism for me.

I have had shows in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexcio. Galleries representing my gourds are Taos Blue in Taos, New Mexico, The Collective Gallery and The Topeka Art Guild, both in Topeka, Kansas.

To see my gourds, please visit my page on Facebook Angela Lexow, Visual Artist or visit my website at www.lexowstudios.com

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“Fraying the Edges”

Altered Cloth Studio Textile/Mixed Media Fiber Art – Mixed Media allows me the freedom and lack of restrictions to choose the media to work with whether it be it watercolor, pastels, crayon, ink, textile dyeing, or photo imaging. I incorporate recycled items, plastic, foil, paper, and reclaimed linens into my art.

The only requirements I put on my artwork are they must be fi ber based and quilted either by machine or hand work. My art pieces can be very soft textile work to heavily embellished with the use of wire, jewelry beads and recycled objects. They tend to depict nature with an abstract view point and use of bright colors.

With no formal education of training in the arts, I have no set boundaries. My art uses experimentation with lots of mistakes – some with the most wonderful results.

I hope you enjoy my mistakes as much as I do making them.
“Life’s not about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
-Vivian Green

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]]> http://topekaartguild.org/index.php/randy-temple-artist-of-the-month-june-2010/feed/ 0 http://topekaartguild.org/index.php/betty-fox-artist-of-the-month-may-2010/ http://topekaartguild.org/index.php/betty-fox-artist-of-the-month-may-2010/#comments Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:56:55 +0000 admin http://topekaartguild.org/?p=498 Artist of the Month: Betty Fox

I am self-taught and love art that grabs the eyes and won’t let go!

I love shadows, which is very apparent in almost all my work. I especially like portraying people and buildings. My favorite artists are Vincent Van Gogh and Andrew Wyeth. I prefer realism and have done copies of Renoir and Van Gogh.

Working primarily in pastels, I have done commissions of buildings and people. Other mediums I like are pencil, charcoal and watercolor. Though my work is based in realism, I have been called an Impressionist and Expressionist.

I believe daily efforts to produce art and beauty is as necessary to the artist as food, sleep and love.

Please contact me if you are interested in a commission. For portraits or a rendering of your home, I work from photographs.

Betty Fox

785-233-8416

You are invited to our Friday Art Walk Reception for Johanna Hanks on March 5th from 5-8pm featuring her “An Itch For Etchings” exhibit. Her works will be on display during the month of April and include Graphite, Intaglio and Linoleum Etchings. “Hope you get the itch to come see my works and experience the gallery too!” -Johanna Hanks

Over the years, I have experimented with a number of different media. I have been told that my strength is in my use of varying techniques in watercolor. As much as I know I should concentrate on that area of strength I have always been one to avoid being painted in a box or categorized in style, so I constantly challenge myself and seek to do a variety of media.

I have been teaching art for over 15 years. I teach from, line, and color theory needed for creative drawing. I taught elementary and middle ages in the Wichita area and have continued to teach privately, through the Parks and Recreation department, as well as at the Hobby Lobby in Topeka. My works have been displayed throughout the state of Kansas as well as Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

I have been inspired by and creating art for a number of years and continue to grow in love with “painting our lives” and “putting my heart….my passion” for the arts on display.

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Always enjoying Kansas and its many changes through out each season. Our backyard, surrounding cities, country roads and the high plans of north central Kansas provide the source and inspiration for my photographs and paintings.

When I was about ten years old I was given an Argus twin lens camera and very basic dark room equipment. Since then I have been interested in photography. Introduction of digital cameras and computer printing re-kindled my interests in photography.

My recent acrylic paintings often begin with charcoal sketch of a landscape, farm scene or still life. At some point after starting to apply paint I almost always make a decision to make a transition to an abstract painting. There are several reasons for making the shift to abstract. The strongest reason is that I feel photography gives me a more accurate image of the subject. The next reason is that while working in the abstract form I have greater control of design elements and a more satisfying feeling of personal creativity.

Completion my business degree at Fort Hays State University allowed me to follow my interests in art and photography in their graduate art program. I was lucky to receive graduate level instruction from Professors Joel Moss, John Thornes and Darrell McGinnis.

I am a native of Kansas. Born in Dodge City as my parents raised crops and livestock near Kalvesta, Kansas. As times changed for my parents, we moved to Great Bend where I grew up enjoying the opportunities and freedoms of a small but thriving town.

Bob and Kay raised their three children in Topeka, Kansas. We have seven grandchildren — two in Florida, two in Wichita and three in Topeka.

Photography, painting and other media

Favorite camera:

Canon Rebel XTI

Favorite art format:

Acrylic on canvas or rice paper

Watercolor

Favorite other media

Three dimensional designs with

mat board, acrylic modeling

paste and plaster mixtures

Ceramics (but no recent projects)

School and Colleges:

Great Bend Senior High School

Hutchinson Community College

Ft. Hays State University

Military Service:

U.S. Army Security Agency

Arlington, VA

Sobe, Okinawa

Work Experience:

Kansas Insurance Department

Health Care Stabilization Fund

Exhibits and sales at:

Currently at Hot Java Cafe at 3343 SW Gage Blvd

2008, 2009 and 2010 – Topeka Art Guild Gallery

2008 and 2009 – Ward Meade Apple Festival

January 2009 – Classic Bean Downtown

2009 – Eagle Car Wash (no sales)

2008 Oktoberfest at Overbrook, Kansas

2008 Applewood BBQ & Bistro (no sales)

Other Work:

2009 and 2010 Topeka Art Guild Calendar

1958, Bobbie Rieger received an A.A.D. from William Woods College in Fulton, Missouri. She attended Washburn University of Topeka, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and a Teacher Education Degree in 1964.

“Art has always been a part of my life from childhood to an adult. Art is life, life is art.” Bobbie says. Not limiting herself to any one media, she works in watercolor, oil, pastels, ink and acrylic. Combining sometimes several media in her paintings. She has been honored with various awards and has had her work accepted in numerous juried shows in Kansas.

Artists Association – Rural Urban Show – Winner
Artist Collection, Topeka, KS
Collective Art Gallery, Topeka, KS
Framewoods Gallery, Topeka, KS
Grace Episcopal Church – Cloister Gallery – Topeka
Historic Columbian Theatre, Wamego, KS
Kansas Post Card Series XXII
Pittsburg Art Council – Pittsburg, KS – One Woman Show(45 items)
Topeka Art Guild – Summer Show – Honorable Mention
Topeka Art Guild Fall Show – Second Place
Topeka Art Guild – Winter Show
The Art Guild Topeka Public Library Show
Topeka Public Library – Honorable Mention
Topeka Urban Art Show – Artists Association – Judges Award

After reviewing pictures of our first vacation through the Rocky Mountain states and the southwest I
discovered that I could express myself creatively through the medium of photography. I began to pour
through photography magazines and got my first 35mm camera.

Sometime around 1978 I purchased a book by Freeman Patterson, Photography for the Joy of It. I
later added his other books to my collection: Photography and the Art of Seeing and Photography of
Natural Things and over 25 years later these three taken together comprise my photography bible. I
learned from his books how to “make pictures” not just “take” pictures. In that first book he wrote, “You
become involved with what you’re photographing, and because you’re involved, you think a lot about
what you’re doing. You want to express the subject and your feelings about it accurately. So you care
about your workmanship. Caring and joy go together. In photography as in anything else, you’ll seldom
find one without the other.”

Patterson taught me to simplify, to look closely, to see things in a different way (what he calls “thinking
sideways”). And so, included among the pictures I’ve made are a picture of salt patterns on the garage
floor left after melted snow evaporated, and pictures of patterns in pond ice.

The first thing for me is to make pictures that I like. Sometimes that desire gets in the way of making
pictures that are possibly more marketable. Sure, it’s always nice when someone likes a picture

Honors, Awards, & Recognition-My work has been displayed often in New York City, most notably at the John McEnroe Gallery. Three of my paintings

Some awards I have been the recipient of include: Best Watercolor Monetary Award, Taos, NM;Kansas Watercolor Society Award, Wichita, KS; 1

st Place Display Award, Brookwood Shopping Center,

were hung in the World Trade Center and 3 other painting appeared in the window of the AT &T building on Broadway Street in New York City. Throughout my adult life my work has been shown at well-known galleries in Taos, New Mexico and for 5 years has been on display at the Blumenshine Museum Gift shop in Taos.

Dorothy was drawing with her father’s carpentry pencils as far back as she can remember. She was always the class artist in school. Several of her early teachers took an interest in her ability and gave her much encouragement.

Her grandmother, an artist herself also encouraged her and suggested that she receive oil paints for her 12 soon used all her paint creating works of art on the scraps from her father’s shop. She learned to use many mixed media to create art.

Later she turned to watercolor and worked in that media for many years. When she began painting full time she once again returned to oils.

She has studied with many fine artists, including Kim English, Doug Dawson, Emanuel Martinez, Don Sali, Cally Krallman, Judith Mackey, Louis Copt, Hugh Greer and others. She continues to learn from other Artists and knows that you can take something from every artist.

She has also received many awards for her work including Best in Show at the Annual Aurora Art Guild show in 1998. She has been awarded many placing and honorable mentions at shows exhibiting her work including those of the Colorado Art Guild, Lakewood Art Council, and the Topeka Art Guild.

She has exhibited and sold her work throughout the Southwestern Region and shown in Regional Oil Painters of America Shows, where she also won a 1

Dorothy believes that everyone has a gift and that these should be enjoyed, shared and developed

Northwindimage is a member of Topeka Art Guild, Lawrence Photo Alliance, and the Lawrence Art Center. We feel that supporting these communities is important by participating and contributing photo art to various fund raisers including, Family Service and Guidance Center, KTWU and the Lawrence Art Center.

Northwindimage has displayed at Topeka Art Guild, B. A. Designs, PT’s Coffee, Center for Manual Medicine, Classic Bean, ERC Designer Showhouse, and currently at Plaza III Grill Gallery in the Bank of America Tower.