A big thanks goes out to The Side Door Gallery's featured artist Stephen Wolverine for "Bearded Iris" his donation to the 2008 Circle of Art. This is Stephen's second donation to the Circle of Art. Turning art into food is the new theme for our 4th annual Circle of Art to benefit Food Gatherers . Our featured artist Stephen Wolverine, besides being a talented painter, is an enthusiastic amateur chef and jumped at the chance to turn this etching into food to help fight hunger where we live. The average painting sold at Circle of Art Benefit raises enough money to provide 25 meals for a hungry child. Come and see this etching and many others at Saline Picture Frame Co. on Sunday, May 18th at the silent auction.
Stephen's show continues on at The Side Door Gallery through the end of May.
Stop in to see his works of art Monday - Friday 10am to 6pm and Saturdays 10am to 4pm.
Q. Wolverine? That's an unusual last name for an Atlanta artist. Is there a Michigan connection?
Yes, I was born in Cadillac and grew up in the woods and graduated from the University of Michigan at the end of the sixties. As a child, besides an Indian, I always wanted to be an artist when I grew up, like my mother's sister, who is still a fine painter. After ninth grade, in the era of Sputnick and then VietNam I studied the sciences and only after college while living on the Big Island of Hawaii did I again begin to hear my call to painting. I studied art at the Hilo Art Workshop Center in Hawaii and the York Academy of Arts in Pennsylvania where I also completed a formal apprenticeship in the stained glass trade and entered my Andrew Wyeth period. I returned to live in the Petoskey area for many years where my daughter was born and grew up. I taught art classes at North Central Michigan College and the McCune Arts Center and cut lots of firewood. I moved to Atlanta in 1988 and have been active in the art scene there ever since. Thrown into the Deep South, I was so homesick that I adopted the name Wolverine as a way of paying homage to my native land. I am now married to a native of Georgia and am stuck living where they don't have winter! I return to Michigan and points north as often as I can. My parents live in Jackson and among my siblings, my younger brother, Dave Kendall is the reigning senior golf champion of the state and current President of the Michigan P.G.A.
Q. Are flowers your usual subject matter?
A. Although most of my life's work has been in landscapes, I have always painted flowers, especially in Spring. I think of them as ethereal beings which are the harbingers of new birth and possibility. I am especially interested in wildflowers and have worked for several years on a series of illuminated etchings which treat them as icons.
Q. How long have you been painting?
A. As most everyone, I started painting as a kid in school, but consider my serious painting to have begun in 1976
Q. What can you tell us about your technique?
I have explored most two dimensional media and am most drawn to acrylic on canvas, pastel, watercolor, etching, and drawing media. The watercolors in this show are painted wet-in-wet with strong pigment on Arches Cover, an absorbant printmaking paper which allows me to achieve the soft edges which I love. I started to work this way to emulate the small watercolor flower paintings of the German expressionist Emil Nolde. I first saw them in a monograph I bought in Hawaii and later saw a collection of them at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Q. What's your day job?
When art earnings run out, I switch to a routine of just painting in the morning and about noon I go out and look for a job in the building trades doing small renovations, home repair, and, yes, housepainting.
Q. What current artist(s) do you admire?
I have studied and enjoy all the eras of art history, especially Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. I love the craft of traditional painting. My art goals are spiritual rather than political, on the path toward One-ness! Right now I am looking at Degas and Klimt and Gauguin and Bonnard, thinking of putting people in my world. My contemporary landscape hero is Wolf Kahn.
Q. What are you reading now?
I read a ton of topical media including the New York Times, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Boundary Waters Journal and several art magazines. I enjoyed the Harry Potter series, which my wife, Trisha, read to me out loud ( she is now reading me John Gierach's trout fishing stories). I recently read Thirteen Moons, byCharles Frazier, a novel about the Cherokee culture and its' peoples' sad removeal from the area near where I live. I really enjoy the work of Jim Harrison, whose boyhood was spent within 20 miles of my own, and am currently traveling with a collection of his poetry, The Shape of the Journey.
How many artists – performing, literary, and visual -- live and work in Washtenaw County…and why is it important to know?
As part of the county-wide cultural plan project, Dexter Picture Frame Company is working with the Arts Alliance to determine how many artists and creative individuals live and work in Washtenaw County. Why? Because artists are the spark that ignites our county’s creativity -- but without knowing how many painters, writers or photographers there are here, it’s hard to give individual artists the credibility and respect (not to mention the services) they deserve.
Artists of all types – visual, literary and performing, of any age and educational background – are encouraged to participate. The census is entirely confidential and includes only 10 questions.
If you’re an artist, take the census! If you know other artists, encourage them to take the census! This is an effort that will only succeed if we, as a community, work together!
Link to the Survey - http://www.artscount.org
On display now the Side Door Gallery's spring show, a collection of recent paintings by Atlanta area artist Stephen Wolverine.
"Being Green: Spring Suite, a Celebration of Flowers"
April 11 - May 17
We've been framing Susan Amstutz's work for a number of years - in fact both Sara and Mary have purchased pieces from her. We are excited about her current show both because we get to see a large body of her work and to find out more about her as an artist. Susan is modest about her art but we managed to corner her when she was at the gallery helping to set up the show and were able to ask her some questions.
Q: Susan, your landscapes are so evocative, are they real places?
A: Some of them are real locations, whether painted on site or from photos. I carry a camera with me so I can record places and color. Some of the landscapes are imaginary and some a combination of both
Q: What's your favorite medium to work in?
A:My favorite medium to work in is oil, including the encaustic work. I also enjoy water based paints, batik, cold water dyes, etc...
Q: What can you tell us about your technique?
A:About the abstracts -" I layer alot of color and textures. I use a lot of "found" objects to push and scrap the paint. Cardboard works well because its easy to adjust the size easily.On "Straw" I used wood glue and strips of wood to build up the surface, painted it, let it dry and them pulled off the a significant amount of the wood to create more texture. On "Control" I layered a significant amount of acrylic paint, then oil paint of a lot of different colors and shapes. Next,. I painted it all red (oil). Once dry, I covered it with furniture remover and let it bubble up and almost completely dry. Next, I used a putty knife to cut and scrape a random kinetic pattern. All the abstracts are mixed mediums, a combination of acrylic and oil, with, of course, the acrylic used first, to prevent peeling. I also use combinations of gold leaf, oil pastel, oil sticks, tissue, etc.
About oil encaustic -This is a highly toxic technique. You need lots of ventilation. I don't use pre-mix waxes. I make my own. On top of an electric griddle, I place a cake pan with an inch or two of water in it. Inside the cake pan I place a cupcake tin. Each of the wells in the cup cake tin holds a combination of beeswax, paraffin, damarr varnish, and oil paint. Before the oil paint is added to the mix, I let the excess oil leech out of it by squeezing it out on cold press board and letting it set for a few hours. It works like a double boiler. The painting is done with palate knives and brushes in one had and a hairdryer/heat gun in the other. The paint has to be applied, quickly and remain hot.
Q: When did you start painting?
A:My mother and aunt painted. She taught me about line and color at an earlier age. She also taught me how to use oils when I was in elementary school, around age 10 or so.Later she gave me her oil paints, pastels, everything she had. It created a very supportive atmosphere.
Q: Do You do commissions? How much?
A:Yes, I'm happy to do commissions. Pricing depends on size and complexity.
Q: You've been a generous contributor to Circle of Art. What are your thoughts about the event?
A:The COA is a wonderful event. Its makes a difference in people's lives. It benefits people in need and it enables others to help people in need. Both are gifts to those of us participating. Also, along with honor of being able to help others the COA allows artists to meet fellow artists.
Q: What's your day job?
A:I'm a Graphic Designer for the Sprinkler Fitters located in the Great Lakes Building at Washtenaw Community College. I have also been a teacher in the Visual Arts and Technology Dept, Graphic Design at Washtenaw Community College for ten years. I teach Design History, during which, I show the students gold leafing, paper making, calligraphy, wood block relief, silkscreen and more. I also have taught other design and application courses as well.
Susan Amstutz: Abridgement
February 1st -March 22nd
Opening Reception February 29th 5-8pm
Pictured above, from top left, "Straw", "Hendershot Highway", "Michigan Fence Row I", "Azure"
"Hendershot Highway"February 1st -March 22nd
Opening Reception February 29th 5-8pm
For Susan Amstutz, painting is an obsession. That's a good thing for those of us looking at her recent body of work. Twenty oil and mixed media paintings show the variety and depth of her vision, from richly textured, mysterious abstractions to lush midwestern landscapes. They are a visual treat. Amstutz, a Michigan native, received a B.F.A. from the University of Michigan in Painting and Drawing. She currently juggles painting and teaching Graphic Design at Washtenaw Community College. View images from the show at the picture frame company online.
"Control"
Coming in February, luminous landscapes and abstracts by Susan Amstutz.
