Visual Artist: Mixed Media Artist Categories

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Edie Abnet

Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting

“My painting is a joyful response to the environment around me, to the things right outside my window. The dramatic effect of my work is intentional in order to keep the eye actively involved and the vivid color and line creates drama with the subjects of my paintings. These subjects, the birds for example, are a vicarious expression of me, the artist.” Edie Abnet grew up in Minnesota and attended art classes at the University of Minnesota and later, the Philbrooke Art Center in Tulsa, OK. She started painting with translucent watercolor and found the “rules” of watercolor painting too restrictive. Largely self-taught, she developed her distinctive style after years of painting and experimenting with mixed media. Design is the foundation of Abnet’s artwork. It is the first and critical step to her creative process. The artist has a vague idea of a tableau or “story” from which to begin. This tableau is greatly influenced as she creates the design. She initially sets down the color and watches as the painting evolves through layers of wet translucent watercolor. Abnet then enhances the composition by outlining in brilliant pastel or watercolor based crayon. These dramatic effects create a tension that draws the viewer into her work. Her distinctive paintings can be found in corporate and private collections throughout the Midwest.

Sue Cranston

Teacher / Instructor; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting

I live on the Kinnickinnic river with my family in Wisconsin. I graduated with a teaching degree in 1992 from The University of Wisconsin-River Falls and teach drawing and painting classes at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minnesota. I’m nostalgic and fond of combining vivid memorable images from my childhood with my experiences with Motherhood. Often my art work pays close attention to documenting details that reflect my love of uniforms and textiles. Other times, my work reflects experiments with color while documenting everyday objects or subjects that I find particularly striking.

Cara Frafjord

Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting

My name is Cara Frafjord and I live in the beautiful St Croix River Valley of Minnesota and have since childhood. I started painting to heal and continue as a means of celebrating my surroundings. I specialize in small format art for tiny homes and small spaces. I enjoy encaustics and dabbling from one medium to another such as watercolor pencils, ink, oil and soft pastels, beeswax and anything else I can experiment with. I also enjoy working with heat due to its unpredictability. I hold a special place in my heart for art inspired by nature, reflections and resilience. Life is unpredictable and so is my art. Thank you for visiting my page. I hope you enjoy my work. Feel free to follow me on Facebooks (Cara Frafjord Visual Arts), Instagram and twitter @CaraFrafjord.

Dan Gerber

Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Photography

Jane Grant-Abban

Author / Writer; Teacher / Instructor; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting

I grew up in England and moved to Wales where I studied then lived for 22 years. In 2006 I moved with my husband and two sons to Stillwater, Minnesota. I believe artistic vision can draw inspiration from anywhere: far from where one lives or just a few feet away. I am on constant watch for inspiration in everyday life, striving to always look at the commonplace with new and appreciative eyes, and then painting those familiar scenes in a fresh way. My paintings record the reactions of my personality to the world around me, yet I aim to communicate in a way that is relatable and tells a tale common to all. Using predominantly oil paint, brushes and palette knife my paintings are representational in that the subject matter is apparent, and impressionistic in that I aim to capture the feeling or mood of a moment. I paint with a sense of drama and directness, both in the moment captured and the way I apply paint to the surface of the canvas. If movement is happening, I want movement to be felt by the viewer. Shape, texture, color and composition are at the forefront of my mind and explorations. My personal fascination is the theme of childhood and the common memories it evokes. We have all been children and often forget the ‘in-the-moment’ freedom a child has, and it does us good to get lost in a painting that takes us back to such a time. The unique shapes of each child’s body, particularly visible when playing on a beach, is beautiful and requires the practice of good draftsmanship to capture it well. When a finished painting hangs on someone’s wall, I want it to not just be pleasing to the eye, but refreshing to the heart. I want the beholder to pause, witness and appreciate the life around them, particularly those moments passing all-too-quickly and which are so easily taken for granted. Through active exhibiting and teaching in my studio, I seek to inspire others not only to appreciate art, but to explore artistic expression for themselves. AbbanArtAcademy offers excellence in painting and drawing foundations for youth as well as adult classes and workshops. As a Certified Art4Healing facilitator, I also provide classes and workshops for individuals, community groups and Corporate clients which allows people to express their feelings and experiences through art with absolutely no prior experience necessary. It is a therapeutic art process which allows people a means to express feelings and experiences, especially useful to process grief, anger, loss, stress and many challenging life experiences people often face.

Han Huisman

Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting

I am a self taught artist. I started studying at the University of Amsterdam (Holland) and got a PhD in Biological Sciences. I have been working for the last 12 years as a neuroscientist in the USA. I started painting and sculpturing a few years ago. The lack of skill especially in figurative work was sometimes frustrating, but now being self-taught gives me more freedom. I function the best with structured chaos by finding the borders of what you can still call art. Visiting galleries and museums helps me to focus on my work; however, my favorite is the art that comes from nowhere. There are too many artists such as Rauschenberg, Kooning, Mondriaan, Warhol, Armando and many, many others, that have inspired me. Art movements such as: ‘die Neue Wilde’, COBRA, pop-art, DADA (neo-DADA) and Abstract Expressionism in general are very inspiring to me.

Barbara Koppang

Storyteller; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Sculpture

Myths skillfully weave words to create worlds to answer the questions of life. Like myths, I want my art to not only answer questions but to also create questions. Stories seep and soak into my art. Little snippets of the world and small moments of my life, traveling from memories to the art I create. Carrying the genetic code of my Mom, I have received the artist gift that travelled through the many artist generations of her family to me. The journey of my life and theirs has informed the art I create. I want to sculpt tangible pieces of stories that transcend my life and touch a memory, feeling or story that we might share together. My art pieces are proof of the process I undertake in the creation.

Christie Kowalski

Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting; Visual Artist: Photography

My childhood involved watching my mother draw and paint. I was also very intrigued by my brother’s photography. So . . . from an early age, I loved to create using a pencil, paint, or camera. My first painting on canvas was a joint effort with my twin sister. After high school, I completed a Bachelor Degree in Fine Art. As an adult, I have combined my passion for travel and art by photographing many spectacular destinations. Greece, Australia, Singapore, Bali, Sweden, the Caribbean, and many U.S. locations appear in my photographs. Many of my paintings are mixed media pieces that include a process of transferring sections of my photographs to the painting surface. The photographic image becomes integrated into layers of paint. My special area of interests include nature, color, different cultures, and abstract images. These elements are seen in various captivating ways in my artwork.

Beth Marcus

Visual Artist: Mixed Media

I found art at a very early age without knowing it . Making pretties out of my dads tackle box . Creating clothing for my dolls . Decorating my clothing with embroidery & beads . I spent a lot of time drawing to amuse myself . I believe I had great middle school & high school art classes . I very much cherish growing up close to the woods & water & I spent a lot of time exploring the outdoors . A subject that is always present in my work. My art is self taught & my medium evolved during a faze of redesigning & repurposing furniture & having fun with cabinet doors . Visiting hardware stores became inspiring so combining hardware store supplies & fine art supplies my art esthetic evolved . I work with copper , aluminum , a variety of paints & wood. I like to create texture & build layers & experiment with different types of paint . People often ask me when they see my work if its clay or leather. Thanks for your interest , Beth Marcus

Sue Rowe

Author / Writer; Storyteller; Teacher / Instructor; Visual Artist: Drawing Illustration; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting; Visual Artist: Photography

My art illustrates tiny bits of life lived, metaphorically, by a large variety of particular bears. Their faces and bodies have been the main focus of my art for many years, but, as I seldom have specific plans for the final images, the results often surprise me as much as anybody. I enjoy using the power of line and color to depict subtle ideas created in everyday living. The bears and their surroundings have the ability to illustrate stories, most often without words; but frequently as I work sentences form and are drawn on the piece. The bears’ lives, therefore are more fully revealed. These creatures have tales to tell and secrets to shed. They, like many of us, have mixed emotions about relationships, food, survival and life in general. I very much like overhearing observers’ chuckles, sighs or gasps of personal recognition. If my bruins provide a giggle or provoke some serious pondering I consider that we, as a team, have done our good deed for the day.

Joshua Wilichowski

Visual Artist: Drawing Illustration; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting

My work results from the search for a chink in a man’s façade, the little respites that are accentuated by a burst of honesty. These truths are often an inner commentary that contains personal affirmations, lamenting, failed goals, and miscued comebacks. It is a clear glimpse of a man’s personal substance without the muddiness of overcompensation. Albeit rare and fleeting, these truthful moments are used as a tool for coping with what is important. The exploration of this phenomenon has been in conjunction with what I consider to be machismo-related objects. Even through these items are mass-produced, they each contain character through age, use, and presentation. By juxtaposing these momentary truths against images of these parts and machines, I create allegories that document the search for identity and worth within the submission to a stereotype. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin –Madison with his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1998. I returned to Madison to earn both a Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts with an emphasis in sculpture and drawing in 2006 and 2007 respectively. I maintain an active studio practice, and my work has been exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally. My newest research interest investigates connections between gender, societal norms, and transference. I currently live and work in Stillwater, MN.

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