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.

Victoria Barkley

Visual Artist: Jewelry; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting

Victoria Barkley has been designing jewelry for sixteen years. She loves to put her ideas into interesting, functional, wearable art. She works with metals and colored glass. She likes texture and layering. She creates a variety of styles, patterns, and colors. She expresses herself in her jewelry and abstract painting.

David Browne

Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting

Two months ago I retired from a 30+ year career in social services. I assisted some of the most vulnerable people in our society-people who are homeless, have a mental illness or other disability, recent immigrants. Not many people have had the privilege I’ve had of serving others in need for so long, and I don’t regret a minute of it. Yet as long as I’ve done that, it’s sometimes hard to believe that I started my professional life as an exhibiting visual artist and art educator, winning an artist fellowship and teaching art in inner city public schools for six years before my stint in social services. Even then, I worked with the most vulnerable student populations. And all this time my passion for and dedication to making visual art is undiminished. I’ve had the privilege all these years to be able to carry along and practice my first and true calling as a visual artist at a high level of competency. Now bookending my professional life as a full time visual artist, I’m eager to share my work, accumulated from past years and yet to be created.

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.

Wynn Davis

Teacher / Instructor; Visual Artist: Drawing Illustration; Visual Artist: Mixed Media

My mixed media work reflects my participation in the outdoors. Running over 5,400 miles a year, in some of the country’s most erogenous, wild, and urban areas has sharpened my mind, invigorated my body, and intensified my emotions. Some of the salvaged materials I find along the road or in Little Free Libraries. Some I pain to draw. The pieces are records of observations, experiences, and feelings, brought together by curiosity and imagination.

Thomas Dent

Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Photography

My interest in photography began in grade school with a Kodak Instamatic that I got by mailing in 10 Raisin Bran box tops and $1.50 to Kellogg’s. In college I sold my silkscreen graphics through an art gallery. Later I was an art director for an ad agency and corporations. Several years ago I began showing my photography in galleries and exhibitions. From there I expanded from photography into collage, mixed media, and assemblage. Now I use whatever media best helps me tell the message I want to convey. In 2019 I needed to take a break from exhibiting for personal reasons. I’m now ready to return to actively creating and showing my work to the outside world

Jane Dierberger

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

I am inspired by many things, but nature is my primary source of inspiration. In nature I find absolute beauty, truth, harmony and timelessness. My paintings are reflections of things I see around me that move me to create. I have been involved in the arts in Stillwater for over 25 years as a painter, art show organizer (For The Birds; Artful Lake and Cabin Show; My Kingdom for a Horse; Starry, Starry Night), columnist for the Stillwater Gazette (Spotlight on Art) and art discussion group leader (Van Gogh Café). To see more of my artwork, please visit my website at www.janedierberger.art

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

Gil Gragert

Visual Artist: Drawing Illustration; Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting

Never a day goes by when I’m not inspired to create art using what I observe around us. I treat these observations as invitations to react; sometimes seriously, sometimes whimsically, sometimes just as a recorder. The most powerful work of any artist tells a story that stirs people deeply. Fortunately I don’t need to always work so seriously. My work doesn’t stand on its own. It is also an invitation to the audience to find their own connection and/or question my motivation. Art doesn’t have to please every body, it just needs to get a reaction. Striving to have an open pallet of experience, I work in many different media. I don’t consider myself a master in any of them, but thrive on an experiential spirit that doesn’t need perfection. I seek a handcrafted look that demonstrates a human rather than manufactured touch. It’s important to leave behind a finger print or another sign of human meddling.

Jane Grant-Abban

Author / Writer; Teacher / Instructor; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting; Certified in Art and Creativity for Healing

Through both my paintings and therapeutic art workshops and retreats, my goal is to help others experience the joy and wonder of creating with child-like freedom. My painting explores the intersection of life, emotion and childhood to create unique, captivating and timeless paintings. Using oil and mixed media, I strive to communicate the beauty of life’s complexities through my work. I’m inspired by everyday moments, stories and memories that make life extraordinary. My paintings are a way of expressing the joy, sadness and complexity of life. I look to capture the beauty of the nuances of life and to create art that evokes emotion and captures the imagination. Through my artwork, I hope to create an emotional connection between the viewer and the painting, and for it to serve as a reminder to cherish each moment of life, no matter how small or fleeting. In a finished painting you will find both realistic and abstract elements as I seek to reconnect myself and the viewer with the child within. For many adults that inner child may have gone unnoticed and unexpressed for many years. I want to re-awaken that child within because it is an essential part of experiencing healing, freedom and self-expression. I’m passionate about helping people experience inner healing and transformation through art and creative expression. I HOPE MY PAINTINGS GIVE YOU JOYFUL, REFLECTIVE MOMENTS THAT REFRESH YOUR SOUL.

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.

Denise Landry

Visual Artist: Mixed Media

In my art, I create pieces that connect to me and my creative vision. Often my pieces are inspired from music, visual things, or dreams. Art is my outlet, my notebook, my thoughts, and my creative expression all wrapped in each piece. I use a combination of mediums to explore and project a variety of ways a piece can be viewed.

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

Cynthia Marie

Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting; Visual Artist: Sculpture

Emerging Artist Architect transcribing what is intuitive, of being. Sharing color & texture with gestures through tools that are familiar- warm graphite pencils and sticks, delicious oils, and the transformative nature of the cold wax medium combinations. With an intense curiosity of expression and experimentation, the relaxed layering and excavation process is similar to the archeology of discovery .Emotion is evoked with a subliminal vibrational energy, a nudge of whimsy and delight

Judy Markham

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Mixed Media

I have lived in the St. Croix Valley for 30 years and continue to find inspiration for my work in the natural beauty of my surroundings. The changes of the seasons provide new views, colors, and textures in daily life in and around Stillwater, MN. My formal training led me to start my art career in commercial interior design. That work was on a large scale, coordinating materials in environments to inspire and please the eye of its inhabitants. Today, I design mainly handmade greeting cards and small canvases. Each one is a tiny little creation. I still love to use many of the same materials, wood, metal and fabric, to create something new and different. But now, on this smaller scale, I hope each one can be a special little personal gift for the buyer and the final recipient.

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.

Judy Sell

Visual Artist: Mixed Media

I create artwork loaded with heirloom bits and found pieces. The joy I derive from mosaic goes hand in hand with my love of collecting objects that provoke strong memories. Throughout my life, my artistic pleasure has come from hoarding and sorting sentimental curios. This has led me to the art of mosaic where I can use my beads, dishes, vintage jewelry, mirrors, shells and ceramics objects. Employed as a graphic designer, I honed the skill of simplicity, clarity and composition. My process starts with a narrative, then I walk amongst my materials, rarely needing to obtain more. The textures and color of vintage dishes and objects surprise and delight me. Recently the portrait format has been my greatest challenge and pleasure.

Suzanne Sisson

Visual Artist: Mixed Media

I enjoy mixed media art form for it’s clash and excitement of colors, shapes, and textures. I am drawn to the sea shore where like others I have sat for hours staring at the shifting colors, shapes, and movement of the water. In addition I have always been interested in Native American integration and respect of the physical worlds into a spiritual understanding of life. Hence I make totems as well as larger pieces to embody these things: water, mountains, colors, earth, and animals. These are some of the things that influence my work as well as the sheer joy of creating movement, color, and vibrancy.

Jocelyn Suzuka Figeroua

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting; Visual Artist: Sculpture

Born in Kyoto, Japan and raised in Stillwater, Minnesota, i am an with a focus on fiber and painting. My work examines the role of inherited legacies and family traditions within histories altered by immigration, loss, and war. I create stuffed dolls sewn by hand using the naminui (wave stitch) I leaned from my Japanese mother when I was a child. Four generations of women in my family have used naminui, passing the stitch from the hands of mothers to daughters- connecting generations of hands that will never touch. My duty to preserve this craft legacy stems from my belief that I have a responsibility to raise up the stories of those who came before me and preserve their memories for those who come after.

LeslieAnne VanHouter

Visual Artist: Fiber Art / Fine Craft; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Sculpture

Leslie Anne grew up in Northern Minnesota on the north flowing Mississippi River. Her childhood was led with books, nature, and art. Being born to an extremally artistic mother and earth conscience forester father, the early exposure to art and nature molded Leslie Anne into the artist she is today. Primarily working with rejected bits and pieces of rusted metals, discarded glass items, nuts, bolts, doll heads and, limbs. Leslie Anne assembles these items into art dolls and collages. Leslie Anne’s hope is that her art stirs something in the viewer and hopefully that is joy. Leslie Anne resides in River Falls, with her talented artist husband, Samuel, and their two crazy angora cats.

Barbie "Babs" Vidana Luepke

Author / Writer; Choreographer; Dancer; Storyteller; Teacher / Instructor; Visual Artist: Drawing Illustration; Visual Artist: Mixed Media; Visual Artist: Painting; Visual Artist: Photography; Visual Artist: Pottery/Ceramics; Visual Artist: Sculpture; Crafty

Occasional Offerings: Encouraging the Creative Genius in YOU! Thomas Merton, the writer and poet, stated: “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” YOU are a work of art. There is no other YOU. So, with that in mind, I have created guided ArtPlay, ClayPlay and DancePlay. While we may begin with similar ideas, we expand to express what is inside us. Intuitive. Interpretive. This helps us discover new things about ourselves. It may be letting our inner child out to play (permission granted!), or reignite a passion we set aside and intended to revisit with someday. I encourage you to make that someday NOW. Simply put, adults don’t play enough! Here, we do. Come join us! I look forward to being your Creativity Coach in upcoming ArtPlay, ClayPlay and DancePlay, creating, experiencing, glowing and growing right along side you. I also host other amazing instructors who share their passion. Check the website often, as new and amazing things happen to pop up. See you in the studio! Barbara Vidana Luepke Art is too important not to share ~ Romero Britto

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