Featured Artist: Joey Freund

Joey Freund was born into an artist family. Her parents, Will and Dorothy, are noted artists whose work is displayed in galleries and museums throughout the world. Joey grew up in an artist's studio environment and mastered the skills for crafting jewelry, sculpture, ceramics, and varied art forms. Joey has lived in both cultural and exotic places in the world. She has lived in London, South Africa, New Orleans, Texas, St. Louis, and now Minneapolis.

Featured Artist Gregory Rose

A Flower By The Window

“My new works, consisting of both drawings and paintings, are meant to be small intimate glimpses into “living”. I hope the works read as moment(s) on “pause” while still engaged in life, as if the world was at a stand still. Yet, movement is pertinent for growth because for me, “living” is moving, falling, and getting back up!”
- Gregory J. Rose

Domesticity

Birthday Cake

Bull Headed Green

Slowly Moving

Public Transportation

Rosemarie Bloch

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am fascinated by the grid that humans impose on the natural world. I abstract this in many of my paintings. I always have a reference to my feelings about the natural world in my mind. I also associate certain pieces of music with some paintings. I also like making accidental drips and then organizing them.

Other thoughts that I have expressed concern personal things. A solo show at Mt. St. Mary's university in Maryland was called "Dualities" and was mostly diptychs expressing the divided nature of my life at the time, between my day job and art, and between married and widowed.

Recently I have done some painterly realism, imaginary landscapes, and am exploring this more referential set of works dealing with the emotional power of light and dark color. The latest series is called "Spaced Out", and imagines other worlds out there, some in circular paintings. Color is a very important component of my paintings.

I continue to work in series of several paintings on a general theme to develop and explore all possibilities. One series, BLUES, dealt with my reaction to blues music. I have done several series relating to the seasons of the year. (See Winter Dreams, Spring Breaks, Summer Lies and Fall Fades in Recent Works.)

I work in many painting media, and sometimes cut the canvas and insert painted canvas scraps for a dimensional effect. I sometimes use texturing materials to vary the surface.

Artist of the week - Cheryl McClure

“I have always been influenced by nature and the land. Living on a ranch in northeastern Texas for a number of years has moved that influence up a notch. Here I am surrounded by trees, pasture lands, sky, pond and a meandering creek. Looking out my windows in the house or from a window in the studio is such a pleasure for me. Sunny, windy, gray or rainy, I can always find something I can relate to; take note of consciously or unconsciously. These observances are reflected in my work.”

“With all this said, I do not set out to paint what I actually see in nature. It just comes through as I work through my process. Whether in acrylic painting or the warm and sensual encaustic medium, I strive to let the painting speak to me. I make revisions when I see that is where the painting is going. I have a conversation with the paint and the process.Without a social or political message, surface quality, color relationships and formal design are what I am interested in when painting.”

Artist of the week - Kathryn Abernathy

Stillness

Kathryn Abernathy

Inner Guidance

 Pieces I

"I believe that creativity has the power to heal. Years of near-constant migraine headaches were the reason that I started painting. I am truly thankful to have gone through those years of pain and disability. Without them I would not have found this affinity for living a creative life. I've discovered that art can guide you to lead a fuller life; to live more in the moment; to have deeper connections to the world around you. Relating this message to others is important to me."

 Mandarin Dawn

"As a self-taught artist, I've come about my way of painting through experimentation and by being willing to relinquish control; to see what will happen; to risk ruining what I've worked on for days in an effort to create a more powerful piece. Layers of acrylic paint flow and spread into and over one another. Turn, watch, respond. Repeat until the painting itself tells me it is complete.
I am a most unlikely person to have a career as an artist. My past and present includes a degree in Mathematics, a career in computer programming, and being a wife and stay at home mom. The most contrary detail is that I had no previous exposure to the world of Art. Now, in mid-life, I completely rely on my art to distill meaning and understanding from life's joys and, more often, its challenges. I'm a true example of how its never too late to let Art steal your heart - and renew your soul."

 Her painting Effloresence on the cover of the February 2010 edition of At Home Tennessee magazine.

Artist of the Week - Ann Tristani

Setting Sun

Juicy Fruit

Fresh from the Garden

Harvest

"Becoming an oil painter is my response to a lifetime of appreciating the wonder of creation.  Although my paintings vary greatly in subject matter, they all exude a sense of comfort and hope, and often reflect the simplicity of days gone by.  I find loveliness in sometimes ordinary pieces of life and strive to capture that on canvas, drawing viewers to ponder a moment of beauty they might not otherwise take time to notice.

As an artist I have grown from being mostly self-taught to an artist who has over the last few years made it a priority to study with, paint with, observe and listen to many of the greatest Master Artists of our time. 

I believe that my life as an artist is a journey of growth and discovery that never ends.  Yet there is no shortcut to growing as an artist.  It takes hard work, diligence, and determination.  One must simply put the time in and paint.  Because I have done this I can clearly see how my skill as an oil painter has evolved over the years.  It is as if the light has been turned on in my paintings…now there is a glow of light radiating from my canvas. I really feel that I am at a crossroads and about to enter “the next level”.  

Currently, I am an instructor at the White Bear Center for the Arts (WBCA) in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, sharing my enthusiasm and experience with beginning oil painters who are taking the leap into the life-changing world of painting."

Artist of the Week - Leo Stans 1953-2011

Leo William Stans was born on April 12th, 1953, to parents Paul and Blanche Stans. He was raised in the small town of Victoria in Minnesota, where he and his friends spent long hours outdoors fishing, hunting, and building tree houses. He assisted his parents with their paint and wallpaper business in Excelsior and helped build the beautiful Dahlgreen Golf Course, which his relatives constructed on his grandfather's farm land almost entirely by hand. He attended the elementary school in Victoria, and graduated from Chaska High School.

Being an avid outdoorsman, he decided to pursue a degree in forestry at the University of Minnesota, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. After college he held various jobs, including selling insurance. As he had always had a talent for art, he became drawn to painting wildlife and landscapes, and in 1980 decided to become a professional artist.

He met a beautiful young woman named Janet Morgan in 1979, and on June 25 1983 they were married in the Catholic Church at St.Josephs in Hopkins Mn. They moved to Chaska and had a daughter, Lea, on May 2 1986. In 1991 Leo was commissioned to paint The National Park Series, which was sold as framed prints. These prints were wildly successful and 100,000s were sold throughout the U.S. and Canada.

His son Paul was born on November 23, 1992, and a year later Leo moved his family to a newly-built house in the countryside of Belle Plaine, situated along the lush Minnesota River valley. When not painting his free time was spent landscaping their yard and taking his family for hikes in the woods and on the river valley trails.

They took road trips to Arizona, one of Leo's favorite places, and to Las Vegas and Disney World. In 2002, seeking fresh artistic direction, Stans began to paint historical street scenes situated in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and to paint landscapes of the magnificent Southwest that he loved so well. In 2009 he had the honor of being chosen to be the official artist of the Minnesota State Fair. Leo passed away on March 22, 2011. He is survived by his wife Janet, daughter Lea, and son Paul, and by his mother Blanche, his older sister Carol Frey and brother-in-law Rich Frey, and his younger sister Terrie Brown and brother-in-law Dave Brown, as well as a large circle of relatives and friends.

Leo Stans was a man of great talent, integrity, and charisma, and had the rare gift of making friends wherever he went. He was sentimental and introspective, had a keen sense of humor, and his kids loved to make him laugh. He was a passionate and skilled hunter and fisherman, and had a deep appreciation for wildlife and natural areas. His great love of beauty was expressed through his many paintings, which were and will continue to be recognized for their rich colors and attention to fine detail. He had great faith in his own talents, and a drive to share those talents for the benefit of others. His family and friends are comforted by the fact that his legacy will continue on through his artwork.