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.

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

Jane Grant-Abban

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

I’m a British artist living and working in Minnesota, USA since 2006. During Covid lockdown, the world went quiet and I retreated to my studio to create. I was surrounded by the portraits I had been painting for a project, but I was experiencing another ‘jolt’. So, I stopped. I got still. I listened to what my own soul was feeling and trying to say. I discovered I needed to be like a child and simply play. So, I began again . . . again! I started to play with paint with no expectations or judgements. I was not painting for an audience- just for me. And because I was created to create, I reminded myself that what I was doing in secret was somehow meaningful. Then before I recognized what had happened, a whole new body of intuitive, expressive art was created. And when that happens, it’s time to share! That’s what I’m on my website and in exhibits. Sharing. And that’s how the paintings I’m sharing came about. I’m so happy when someone connects with my art enough to have it in their home or make it part of their life in some other way. Whether it’s an original painting or a print, I want it to give you joyful moments that refresh your soul. I want you to have little moments of ‘ooo’ and ‘ah’ when you see details hiding in plain sight and as you realize that there’s more to explore than at first glance. . . which, after all, is a lot like us, isn’t it? I hope one of my paintings finds its home with you. Living one creative day at a time, Jane Grant-Abban

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

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.

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

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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