such a busy, exciting time!

The annual winter open house is Saturday and Sunday at Hot Shops Art Center and we’re moving into the center’s 20th year! Come see me and Katrina Methot-Swanson in my studio (210), where we’ll both be showing and selling work noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. I’ll have a few new pieces and selected favorite paintings and woodcuts. The hallway walls outside my studio will be freshly painted and hung with work by Katrina and me.

”River,” which was flowing along the wall outside my studio, is now hanging at the Norfolk Arts Center with all the newly created work that nearly doubles its length to about 40 feet! We’ll be celebrating that show next week with a reception 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12. If you’re nearby, please pop in, and if you’re further away, consider making the trip to the arts center before Feb. 27 to see the show. We’re excited to see it all installed and lit professionally because the closest we’ve gotten so far is seeing it all laid out on the floor!

Norfolk Arts Center staff member Sara Putters created this banner to promote the show. I’m not sure about the dimensions, but it will be fun seeing our artwork blown up big!

The banner promoting our “Rivers” at Norfolk Arts Center

Riverstones and collaboration

Because we had such a good experience collaborating a couple of years ago to create a substantial artwork, Marcia Joffe-Bouska, Tom Quest and I are doing it again. We three continue to explore rivers in this new work. The resulting collaborative work will debut in the Omaha Public Library's Michael Phipps Gallery as part of Omaha's First Friday art celebration in November and will be on display through December. 

The large collaboration will feature an undulating line of "riverstones" made of ceramic, plywood and mixed media and ranging in size from about 4x5" to 5x8". Panels that are each 24" wide and of varying heights will hang above and below this line. We expect the final piece to be complex and interesting, with multiple textures, materials and ideas to consider. Individual works will support and amplify our themes. Here are samples of each of our stones, as well as "Rivers, Roads, Remains," the artwork we made together in 2015. 

Mosaic riverstones by Marcia Joffe-Bouska. 

Ceramic riverstones by Tom Quest. 

Painted riverstones by Lori Elliott-Bartle. 

"Rivers, Roads, Remains" was a work and a show we did in 2015 when we all were members of the Artists' Cooperative Gallery. 

"Rivers, Roads, Remains" is a 3-panel (each 20" x 40")  mixed-media artwork, portraying ideas connected to the Missouri River. It includes old maps, found objects and the mosaic path echoes the line of the Bob Kerrey bridge that links Omaha and Council Bluffs. 

Inspiration/Research

Attending the "Flat Places: Deep Identities" symposium hosted by the Center for Great Plains Studies allowed me to learn from ecologists, geologists, writers, poets, photographers, film-makers, theologists and cartographers of all kinds. My mind is still swimming with the conversations and ideas that emerged. It's so good to get out of the studio periodically to learn about what other people are working on. I'll be able to more deeply consider some of the emerging possibilities as I drive between home and Milwaukee to pick up art from the Walker's Point Center for the Arts exhibit of Midwest Artist Studios project members. 

"Out of the Blue": ArtVenture adventures

During two Saturday mornings in January, four Girl Scouts visited my studio and worked together to make two large paintings on paper. The paintings are now framed and ready to deliver tomorrow for this weekend's ArtVenture auction, a fundraising event for the Great Plains Girls Scouts. 

I showed the girls how to mix oil paints with cold wax medium and ways to build layers and create textures and patterns. They made small pieces for themselves and collaborated to make the two large paintings. They were quiet at first, but once they began painting, they relaxed and chatted. With two 11th graders and two 6th graders, I wondered how the age differences would play out. They chose to work in pairs with an older girl working with a younger girl on each painting. 

Working with the girls allows me to learn, too. I ask and answer questions, offer possibilities and watch as they come to their own decisions and creations. Their hands are the only ones involved in making these paintings. I see my role as introducing materials, tools and ideas and then giving them the space to explore. From choosing the color palette to titling the work, it all comes from the girls. 

These two pieces are matted and framed and ready to display. I hope a buyer will be see the imagination and joy that made these pieces come alive. Join us Saturday to celebrate girls leadership, creativity and energy!

"Out of the Blue #1," cold wax and oil on 22" x 30" paper