Karon Winzenz

By Jane Delcarson

An exhibition of Maya textiles titled “Hand Woven Textiles of the Living Maya” will be on display at the UU Fellowship Gallery May 6- 30.

The garments featured are from the collection of UU Member Karon Winzenz, an art historian and  Maya scholar, publishing and teaching in the field.  She earned an M.F.A. at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has taught traditional textile art including that of the Mayas.

Prof. Winzenz stated, her collection is of “garments that were woven on back-strap looms by Maya women living in the mountainous area of Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico. Read the rest of this entry »

Door County Artist, Cynthia Oliver, will exhibit her eclectic style of art at the UU Gallery during March and April. The public is invited to an opening reception on Friday, March 2, from 4:00-6:00 pm.

Cynthia has made abstract art her specialty.  As a student she learned realistic drawing, but had a desire to be more innovative.  Once having learned the basic use of color she now has branched out, experimenting with several techniques and mediums.

Abstraction by Cynthia Oliver

In 2006 Oliver moved to Door County from the Chicago area.  She had been traveling extensively and   discovered that Door County had an appeal that fit her needs. She settled in Sister Bay.

Her first art classes were in 1963 with Evelyn Lewy in South Shore, Chicago, IL.  Continuing Education classes in Chicago and the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago followed.  She traveled to other states, sampling styles from a variety of instructors.  In Door County, she took classes from George Dorn and Jan Forkert, among others.

Cynthia began painting with oil, and then experimented with acrylics.  Later, she painted in watercolor and at last found her favorite- -gouache.  She also took woodcarving with Harvey Stahl and others. She is a member of “Blue Ponies”, a local group of women who create art in a variety of mediums and styles.

Enigmatic Poppies by Cynthia Oliver

The exhibit will hang through April.  The gallery hours are Sunday mornings from 11-12:30 pm. And regular hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 1 until 3 pm.

The UU Gallery is at 10431 Hwy. 42, south of the Shops of Green Gables, Ephraim.

By Jane Delcarson

Dianne Saron’s work will be featured in the gallery in a titled show “Capturing the Beauty of Landscapes in Pastel”. An opening reception will be held Friday, January 6, 4-6 pm. The exhibit will continue through February.

Saron moved to Door County in 2001.  She had worked primarily in black and white portraiture.  In retirement she  found time for her passion to portray the beauty all around her. She comments, “The breathtaking winter sunsets that seem to be on fire, or the light as it reflects on water and rocks just beg to be painted ”.

Sunrise at Sunset Resort

Soon after moving here, while attending classes taught by Mary Bosman, Saron discovered a new love for pastels to augment her efforts to capture the beauty of the settings.

Trees Mountain

As an avid student, interested in various techniques and the many opportunities for learning, Saron soon was to be acclaimed for her talent. She gives credit to several of the artist teachers at the Peninsula School of Art.  Her painting “Sunrise at the Sunset Resort on Washington Island” will be shown in this exhibit and has won honorable mention at the Fairfield Art Museum.  Other paintings to be shown have been in other invitational, juried shows.  Currently her paintings can be seen at the Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay and the Paint Box Gallery, Ephraim.

Dock at Sunset

Diane is co-chair of the Guenzel Gallery, Peninsula School of Art and is the program chairman for the Door County Art League.  She is also a member of the Paine Art Center and Gardens in Oshkosh, WI, the Francis Hardy Center for the Arts in Ephraim, the Miller Art Museum volunteers, Sturgeon Bay and the cooperative gallery of the Door County Art League, Fish Creek.

Mother and daughter duo Suzanne and Patricia Crow will exhibit their watercolors at the UU Gallery for the month of December. An opening reception will be held on Friday, December 2, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. The public is invited.

Suzanne began taking art instruction in the 1950’s with a correspondence course in illustration. While raising her four children, she free lanced decorative certificates commemorating birth announcements. She worked in Pennsylvania Dutch motifs, influenced by the location where she lived.

Still Life with Apple by Suzanne Crow

After numerous visual art classes in high school and college, Patricia’s art focus turned to the performing arts, first acting in community theater productions and then working as executive director of a community arts center. While developing visual arts programming for the arts center, Patricia continued her studies in art.

Untitled Abstract by Patricia Crow

Suzanne and Patricia have been taking art classes together since the early 1970’s Suzanne moved to Door County in 1999, with her husband Bill. Patricia came here in late 2008, after her father died. Local teachers have had a huge influence on their art, including Ed Fennendael, Jan Forkert, and Marianne Diekman.  Patricia’s latest interest is in large-scale watercolors influenced by Michael Ireland.  The Peninsula School of Art has for them been a stimulus to create. Many of the pieces in the exhibit are large scale.

The UU Gallery is located at 10341 Highway 42 in North Ephraim and is open on Sunday from 11am – 12:30 pm as well as Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 – 3 pm.  Patricia, who is the Administrator of the Fellowship, will be there to greet you.

Pretty in Pink by Mona Barden

By Jane Delcarson

Mona Barden of Ellison Bay will be exhibiting colored pencil renderings of flowers in November at the UU Gallery. She loves gardening, but when she cannot get out to the garden she “still enjoys (her) flowers by putting them down on paper with various mediums”. A Gallery Reception will be held on Sunday, November 6 from 12 noon until 2 pm.

“Making a Mark on Life can be as simple as putting a colored pencil (her favorite medium) in your hand.” Barden explained that she uses colored pencils and graphite that enable her to capture more detail. They are very portable and she can easily take them with her when she travels.

End of Summer by Mona Barden

She has studied colored pencil techniques with Kristy Kutch, colored pencil artist and author of the book, Drawing and Painting with Colored Pencil. She also studied with Rhonda Nass, commercial artist and instructor from Madison.

“Pastel renderings require at least fout to five layers of pencil. The mixing of the color is done directly on the paper surface. One drawback to working with colored pencils is its resistance to erasing.

Mona Barden’s imagination and skill at detail create nature’s beauty on paper. Gallery hours on Sundays from 11 am until 12:30 pm and Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1-3 pm.

New owner and Executive Director Molly Johnson along with Artistic Director Craig Blietz are proud to present New Works by the Students of the Kewaunee Academy of Fine Arts.

Under the direction of renowned artist Craig Blietz, the Kewaunee Academy features an intensive curriculum devoted to drawing, painting, and sculpting. In preparation for careers as practicing artists, the students are taught the classical techniques and methods introduced before the Renaissance and perfected by the Masters. The Academy is located in Algoma www.kewauneeacademy.com.

Throughout their course of study, students are assessed on their individual progress, and advancement is based on the recommendation of the Artistic Director. The curriculum is designed primarily to heighten a student’s visual skills and acuity. In addition, through the efforts made by the students to achieve successful completion in each exercise, the student becomes accomplished in the use of charcoal, and oil paint, and new this year, watercolor and sculpture. These objectives have been used throughout history, past and present, with proven results.

(click on thumbnails to view the full-size photos)

New Works by the Students of the Kewaunee Academy of Fine Art will be featured in the UU Gallery for the month of October. Gallery hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday from  1-3 pm and on Sundays after services 11 am-12:30 pm.

By Jane Delcarson

Door County artist Roxanne Hanney, will be exhibiting a collection of her paintings which she groups as “Fur, Feathers, Flowers, and Reflections” in September.  A specialty is her paintings of pet portraits.  “They make especially meaningful gifts for someone who has lost a beloved cat or dog and on one occasion, a rabbit.  Horses and waterfowl are other favorite animal subjects. I enjoy doing commissions for pet portraits”.

Hanney related, “Throughout my school years and beyond, it was assumed that I would become an artist”.  College electives and a Ph.D minor in art history, evening workshop courses offered at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design satisfied her creative impulses.

A preferred medium in pastel, and more currently oils, her works have been juried into the League of Milwaukee Artists, the Cedarburg Artists’ Guild and local shows. She has memberships in The League of Milwaukee Artists, Wisconsin Pastel Artists, Door County Art League, and Punta Gorda Visual Arts Center.  In 2010 she won Best of Show in both the Wisconsin Pastel Artists exhibit and the League of Milwaukee Artists gallery exhibit.

Hanney states, “I love what I am doing. Making art is a means of seeing in new ways, of testing new boundaries.” Taking inspiration from the natural world, painting compels her and invites her into closer scrutiny.  Here she finds a new world of discovery and challenge.

Gallery hours are Sunday 11:00-12:30, Mon, Wed, Fri. 1:00-3:00 pm.

Artist Gail Ledbetter of the Chicago area, will exhibit pastels of the less traveled Door County countryside.  A frequent visitor to Door County where her parents reside, she enjoys painting “en plein air” where she finds the inspiration to “ capture the many vistas by portraying the effect that light and shadow has on the surroundings of this area”.  Her inspiration starts on site to be finished later in her studio.

Gail is a graduate of Northern Illinois University where she earned her Masters degree in art education.  She taught High School art and after school Elementary art in varied mediums and also taught digital photography.  She began her love of art as a child learning from he father how to use a camera. She also studied photojournalism and worked in the publishing industry following graduation. Her early interest in art includes 3 dimensional pottery and glass blowing as well as drawing and painting.

Her art works have been in a variety of juried exhibits and her work can be found in private collections. In September she is scheduled to exhibit in Aurora, Illinois.

“Light and Shadow – in pastel” is the result of Gail’s observations and work in the field along with her love for color, light and shadow which is so often found in the landscapes of this area.  She has captured “some of the harmony and peace which has made this part of Wisconsin such an inspiration for so many visitors”.

There will be an opening reception on Sunday, August 7 from 11:00 until 2:00.  The public is invited. The UU Gallery is located in north Ephraim next the “Green Gable” shops on hwy. 42.