Local Art Seen: Mary Plaster's Illuminated Menagerie

On Saturday afternoon Richie Townsend provided the atmosphere (electric guitar, reverb) and Zeitgeist Cafe the refreshments for the opening of Mary Plaster's new show in the Zeitgeist Atrium titled Illuminations.

The entire space is filled with critters and creatures, both winged and four-footed, created using a process akin to the skins stretched around the ribbing of old-time biplanes, each illuminated by lights within. The skins here are translucent, stretchy plastic, like the kind shippers use to wrap pallets from shipping books, boxes and other products.

Do not you attempt to needle her for using yet more plastic that will end up in landfills, because 100 per cent of what you see here is recycled waste. New life created from resurrected materials.

The animals themselves have a story as well. Ms. Plaster, who lives on Stewart Creek on Spirit Mountain, said that every animal displayed has been seen or heard on her property. Bat, bear, owl, lynx, coyotes howling in the distance, and more.

Where to see it: Zeitgeist Atrium, through the end of February.

Richie Townsend (L) with friends.

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Mary Plster (L) with artist Ron Benson

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REMINDER: Duluth Art Institute Member Show Opening Reception is this coming Thursday, February 6. Will we see you there?

PostScript: My comments on last night's Super Bowl will be shared on Medium. Congrats to Andy Reid and the Chiefs.

Spirits Lifted at the Hawks On High Book Launch

Phil Fitzpatrick shared stories, poems and enthusiasm..

The weather couldn't have been worse, but it didn't really matter. Everywhere I looked spirits were soaring at Phil Fitzpatrick and Penny Perry's book launch for Hawks On High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season.

A hard rain was falling, and to make matters worse, it was so windy that to use an umbrella was nigh impossible. Add to that the Superior Street construction that made it difficult to figure out how to cross the depression and near muck. As noted, spirits were not dampened, and the musical accompaniment was just what the doctors ordered. Pianist Ryan Frane produced his magic during the first hour of socializing, and Woodblind (Veikko and Jason) lifted hearts in the latter portion. In between, Phil Fitzpatrick thanked oodles of people, told the story of how this project came to be and read several of his poems.

Hawk Ridge director Janelle Long made a few remarks early on, thanking Phil for this book of poems as a tribute to the work there. Janelle said that Phil has been going daily to Hawk Ridge last fall and this fall. Sometimes he even brings pizza for staff.

Hawk Eye by Penny Perry

Penny Perry was Phil's collaborator on this project. If able, you will want to stop in at the Zeitgeist Atrium to see her illustrations and paintings. Phil said her drawings "appeared like magic out of thin air."

Penny said that the biggest challenge was producing illustrations that would coordinate with the shape of the poems. Duluth Poets-Laureate Ellie Schoenfeld and Deb Cooper were the ones who suggested to Phil that he ask her. "Poetry, ink drawings, birds. Oh yeah, that's my wheelhouse." Anyone who has followed Penny Perry's career knows this is so.

For Penny, accuracy was an important part of these drawings. As for all the people who paint and write and make music, she thanks them as well. "You all show up and I appreciate it."

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And a feather.

Phil then proceeded to read to a packed out room. Having watched Phil perform numerous times over the years, I always come away impressed with his ability to command the room. Phil and Penny's goal was to make Hawk Ridge come alive in all the book's readers. For sure this event will undoubtedly prompt more people from the community to visit this resource again soon.

There's a sense in which the poetry reading reminded me of an artist's talk as he told stories leading into many of the poems, their inspiration or important background information.

The first poem he read was "Peregrine Over Hawk Ridge," which opens the section Dramatis Personae and appears on page 47. It begins:

trackless tracer
record holder
soundless
black bullet-bird
cloud piercer

Now you got me, Phil. I want to see one of these.

We even had a hawk present.

Phil described how some of the poems emerged "from something that blew me completely away." Forget the Binos! was one of these.

"Oh, my God! Dude, look! Up there! And forget the binos!"
you hear yourself say as the wingbeat dream begins; just
lean back: you're under a tsunami of striped boomerangs

You can read the rest of this one from page 77.

People who enjoy poetry get jazzed when poets paint images with phrases and word combinations that create an almost electrical charge in your brain synapses. I would compare it to memorable lines in favorite films, or those unforgettable scenes. A film without memorable lines and scene is 'just a movie." Phil's poems are seasoned with ample quantities of lively imagery.

One of my favorite pastimes as a creative is naming paintings, drawings, poems and stories, and I can tell Phil has taken an equal measure of pleasure titling his poems. Here's a smattering of examples.
Rhetorical Question
Kettle
Peregrine Cam
But Who's Counting
Whiteness, For Instance
The Season's Last Bald
Kaitlyn's Wow
Double Gos Tease
Parallax

In fact, any page you open to will give you morsels to chew slowly and savor.

Souvenirs help support Hawk Ridge research.

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Peregrine Falcon, Penny Perry

I recently read a bio of Paul McCartney with a really insightful anecdote about the early days of McCartney and Lennon writing songs together. Each day they would come up with several new tunes and songs, but they didn't write them down. They believed that if something they came up with was destined to be memorable, they would remember it the next day. In this manner they separated the wheat from the chaff.

Phil shared this notion in a similar vein. "The good ideas stay, the everyday miracles."

Tip of the hat to Mike Savage of Savage Press for his assistance in bringing all these pieces together.

Phil & Penny's book can be purchased at Hawk Ridge, at Zenith Bookstore, as well as directly from the author and the artist.

Penny Perry illustrations have been scanned by CPL Imaging. To learn more about the services of CPL Imaging visit cplimaging.com

Related Links
Interview with Phil
Interview with Penny Perry
The Name Game
Savage Press

All in the Family: DeWitt-Webster Opening Packs the Zeitgeist Atrium

All kinds of familiar faces were present Monday in the Atrium.

It was wonderful to see the turnout Monday evening, despite complications created by our torn up downtown construction on Superior Street. Martin DeWitt and son-in-law Andrew Webster have their work on display in the Zeitgeist Atrium this month.

I only this week learned that Andrew Webster is brother of Paul Webster of Duluth’s Forging Community of blacksmiths housed in the Armory Annex on London Road.

Hybrid Forms

Martin’s brother Michael flew in from the Southwest to join the throng that had gathered to see the new work. (Michael currently has some exceptional paintings at Lizzard’s down the street.) Andrew works in wood, and demonstrates his familiarity all the varieties and their possibilities. The titles are fun as well. Four Square Ants for example combines a 100 year old Red Pine stud with ant eaten Balsam Fir. Another is titled Two-Gether. The show itself is titled Hybrid Forms, each being a pair of different woods married together.

Last Thursday I here featured Martin DeWitt’s bold expressions. In this show he also had a portfolio on the grand piano there, which I enjoyed viewing. Below Andrew’s examples you will find images from DeWitt’s portfolio. An entire separate show could be produced by framing the many wonderfully diverse pieces in this folio.

What follows are a few of Andrew Webster’s pieces followed by selections from DeWitt’s impressive folio. And finally a few miscellaneous shots from the event.

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Martin DeWitt with grandson Malik.

Don't let the construction interfere with seeing this show at the Zeitgeist, 

or any other activities here this year.  You’ll be glad you did.

Martin DeWitt Revisited: Tribute to the Ayotzinapa 43 and His New Show at the Zeitgeist

When I was a kid we had a swimming pool and I always thought it was fascinating how the surface of the water had this certain look of undulation as the light reflected off it when the sun shone through it, casting strange shadows on the pristine floor of pool. Somehow painter Martin DeWitt has figured out how to capture that effect. I find it impressive.

This month some of his current work is on display at the Zeitgeist Atrium in a show titled Nature of Space + Hybrid Forms. His experiments with shape, form and texture continue to evolve, producing some stunning work. If you have a little time to kill downtown, check it out. For a good meal and art, the Zeitgeist Cafe can be a tasty destination offering a feast for the eyes as well.

We conducted our first interview in 2012 in conjunction with DeWitt's Homecoming exhibition at the Duluth Art Institute. This is an update using the current show as a springboard.

EN: You come from a family with several artists in it. How did that happen? Who were your mutual influences?

Martin DeWitt: That’s right. I have two older brothers. Terry, lives in Memphis, is an architect – who also paints, mostly in watercolor. Mike, an artist, lives in Turtle River, MN – painting since he was nine…Our great Aunt Helen was an artist… she gave Terry and Mike some of tubes of her oil paints and brushes…way back when…c. 1950 – that got them going. Plus, our great Uncle Ralph was a renaissance man of sorts – an architect/artist/engineer – he studied at the Sorbonne before the First World War. Some of his early drawings and paintings were stored at grandparents house...our formative years and mutual influence come from growing up in Southern California I am sure – the ocean, the light, atmosphere and creative innovation vibe (Hollywood, Disney…!) was paramount – as was a burgeoning art and design sensibility evolving there in the ‘50’s and ‘60s…as a kid, no doubt I was influenced by both my brothers…I wanted to do exactly what they did…sports, art…seeing them be creative was an especially a big influence…plus our parents, though not artists, where risks takers (moving from the Midwest to So. Cal in the late ‘40s) were always supportive!

EN: You each have your own voice and different looks. Your fascination appears to be abstraction, experimentation and design. What have been your biggest influences that differentiate you from other artists?

MDW: Well for sure…I am keen on the potential of abstraction to offer a synesthetic experience for the viewer and emote a powerful visual and perhaps emotional experience. Not sure I am different from any other visual artist out there though – always observing seeking inspiration and a unique point of view…taking risks with the work…exploring, experimenting with new media…staying curious, responding to contemporary ideas and issues, trying to communicate to a broad audience…via this visual language format…my influences are endless; cross cultural world views, yogic art, mandalas, Native American shields, Chinese Sung landscape painting, 19th – 20th century European and American art movements, Eastern and Western philosophies, the Bauhaus, modernists Wassily Kandinsky, Arthur Dove, abstract painters of the New York School…, Black Mountain College, and contemporaries, Irene Rice Pereria, Joan Mitchell, Betty Parsons, Robert Irwin, Richard Tuttle, Gerhardt Richter, and countless more…and then, George Morrison, of course.

EN: Tribute to the Ayotzinapa 43 strikes me as unusual because I do not recall your work being concerned with political issues. Can you outline the issue that inspired this piece?

MDW: Yes, this is my most recent painting – in response to the ongoing violence, systemic racism against indigenous communities in Mexico – not unlike close to home and throughout the world. On September 26, 2014, over a hundred indigenous students from the rural town of Aynotzinapa were on their way to Iguala, Mexico, in the State of Guerrero, to demonstrate the ongoing political and economic injustices. 43 of the students were rounded up, detained, disappeared, then murdered…by drug cartel thugs – who were aligned with the Mayor of Iguala and his wife…as a tribute in solidarity to the killed students, an art exhibit at UW Madison in 2015 and a surge of protests throughout the world have continued to protest the murdered students and the ongoing violence…in the midst of a violent world…people’s memories lapse…and repress…my painting is a small condemnation of the event…and an effort to bring greater awareness to the students tragic demise…I wanted to paint them a beautiful picture…

EN: If this is not a first, how have you engaged issues in the past? What were the issues and why/how did they motivate you to address them?

MDW: Actually… much of my work has been and continues to be politically inspired…current events and issues. I am quite taken with the power of art to express one’s feelings, thoughts and emotions regarding a tragedy, political issue, or humanitarian calamity. A significant example immediately comes to mind throughout world calamity and art history. Pablo Picasso’s monumental painting “Guernica” – denounces the horrors of war (Fascist bombing in 1937 of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.)… In response and protest to the US invasion and Gulf War, in 1991, I painted “Firebomb over Euphrates…” my most large scale painting then – this same year in Jan.-Feb, together with a handful of other Duluthians, I stood on the corner of Superior Street and 14th Avenue East hoisting a placard “no blood for oil” - on a regular basis, during morning rush hour. These are small things one person can do. In 1992, I created a multi-media installation in response to the Bosnian War – the genocide. Travel to Cuba in 1998-2000, inspired me to paint a series of mixed media works, in solidarity with the Cuban people, especially the artistic community there…struggling, day by day, seeking self expression…family and art…in response to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, then Afghanistan, I painted a series of paintings titled “Redwhiteblu”…questioning the integrity of “Old Glory”…the imposed Patriot Act…nationalist ideologies and political pressure, just cause, preemptive strikes, folly, sanctions and the death of 7,000 American soldiers and possibly nearly half a million Iraqi solders and civilians, children and adults.

EN: Is your technique proprietary or can you share what the materials are that you have been mixing with the paints for some of those exceptionally textured pieces?

MDW: Process is a huge part of the creative venture… Over the years I have continued to explore a variety of mixed media and integrative mediums… I paint on multiple surfaces, canvas, birch plywood and Masonite panels. I also utilize found objects (dumpster diving…) painted into and onto… using brand name oil, acrylic, latex enamels (commercial house paint… gloss, semi-gloss, satin…flat…seeking out the unwanted paints…and frequent the recycling centers.) I use a variety of grits to create textural zones…sand…crushed brick and tiles…mixed into the paint to create a thick impasto – to hold and layer color – juxtaposed and reveal relationship to each other…all in an effort to explore a myriad of color characteristics, hue, value, saturation, brightness…translucency, fluorescence...As represented in my current Zeitgeist exhibit, all the paintings have continued to explore visual and conceptual abstraction and the expressive potential of mixed media with altered digital images. In this case, images of previous and recently created paintings are repurposed, as well as new photographs taken while in Mexico this past year have been digitally altered – then printed on canvas – as a new exploration resource and tool, resulting in a hybrid of elements, digital imagery painted into, latex enamel, acrylic, layered in compound color, texture and image integration.

EN: Thank you for sharing. Do you have a website I can link to?

MDW: Sure do, here you go: www.martindewittfinearts.com

EN: Where can people see more of your work or buy it? 









 

MDW: My show at Zeitgeist continues through July 30 and prices are noted on the labels unless marked as sold. Viewers are always welcome to visit my website where I have new and past paintings posted and available for sale unless otherwise noted. Folks can call, email or contact me via my website. In addition, I am happy to say that Lizzard’s Gallery here in Duluth has a small selection of my paintings. Plus, I have a series of original paintings and prints available for purchase at www.fineartamerica/martindewitt.com

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Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage it.

Local Art Seen: Nissa Wick at the Red Mug and Andy Frye at the Atrium

Thursday evening I had a chance to take in the opening reception for Nissa Ellen Wick's new exhibition which is currently on display at the Red Mug. As it turns out this was Wick's first public show and the response was quite exceptional. If I heard correctly, as many as two-thirds of her pieces sold that first night.

Wick is a self-taught  emerging artist who works in acrylics. Her inspiration comes from nature as well as cityscapes. "The lake, of course, is a big inspiration," she recently told Maija Jensen of KUMD's Radio Gallery. Her show is called Shades of Duluth. To see more of her work visit Nissa Ellen Wick Art page on Facebook.

This month the Zeitgeist Atrium is displaying paintings by Andy Frye. Frye's work show him to be exploring a variety of abstract styles on a range of variously shaped surfaces. A black on white piece near the doorway to the Zuccone Theater clearly conveys a Jackson Pollock effect, though on a much smaller scale.

Like Wick, Frye has no formal training and operating on an intuitive level. His aim is for the viewer to engage each piece as "an abstract experience in optical sensation."

The first paintings here are by Wick and the latter by Frye, though you probably don't need me to tell you that. Try to grab a lunch at the Red Mug this week and check out Nissa Wick's work. Or if you need an after hours excuse, Wednesday evening they will have a piano man from 5:30 till 7:30 p.m.

Wick (black dress) discusses her work with fans.

Close-up from larger piece by Frye.

Another close-up showing layers of color, texture.

Colors of the day, a full-sized expression.

Meantime art goes on all around you. Discover it.

Stephanie Johnson Talks About Her Wilderness-Inspired Art

This month the work of Stephanie Johnson is featured in the Zeitgeist Atrium. Johnson lives in the Gunflint/Arrowhead region in a primitive setting with no modern amenities. In other words, it is a throwback to the good old days of propane lights, a dog and many good books. A self-taught artist, Ms. Johnson’s muse has always been wilderness and its minute to majestic inhabitants. “I have been creating art for over 4 decades,” she says. “It is as much a part of me and my life as nature is.” In recent years she has been sharing her arts experience with her daughter, Angie Arden. In 2012, they started the "Wolf=Flow" concept as a team and produced much of their work for the wolf art projects together at her cabin home.

EN: How would you describe the work your do?

Stephanie Johnson: Plein Air and organic. Most of my work celebrates nature.

EN: Where were you trained?

SJ: I have no formal training. I work instinctively; creativity has come to me naturally.

EN: Where have you been showing your work?

SJ: I have had little experience with exhibits and exposure in the arts. I have had a few showings of my work in local coffee house venues and have participated in a few art competitions, in which I occasionally was acknowledged. I consider the first "Wolf=Flow" exhibit at the Zeitgeist earlier this year to be my (our) biggest accomplishment.

EN: What are your primary themes?

SJ: At this time nature and our concerns for protecting and preserving it.

EN: Where does your inspiration come from?

SJ: My inspiration obviously comes from my "backyard" which consists of wilderness, the wildlife that lives within it and freedom. God generously gives through nature inspiration and subject matter. I believe if you are truly grateful for what God has given us, he will give and give...

EN: Can you tell us about the Zeitgeist show... what, when, why?

SJ: We are very excited about our 2nd show at the Zeitgeist this year, "Wolf Flow: 2nd Drift" is a collaboration of art (my work) and poetry (Angie, my daughter) celebrating the wolf. The opening reception was Monday November 3rd (6-8pm). This show encourages respectful attitudes toward nature and we are hoping to inspire compassion for our wild canines. The work will be on display through November 29th.

EN: Is there anything especially unique in how you create?

SJ: What is unique about our creation for this show is that we are collaborating by relaying interpretation; what I mean by this is that I begin the process by seeing what comes out of the woodwork in its natural pattern. Through painting, I integrate the grain into wolf figures and background scenes; then I pass it on to Angie and she translates my visual work through poetry. Another unique feature to this exhibit is an opportunity for attendees to participate in a community poem!

EN: When did you realize you were going to be serious about art?

SJ: Do I take my art serious? I take my cause serious and my contribution is my art.

EN: How did that come about?

SJ: The earth and all of its causes have been around for a long, long time.

EN: What kind of formal training have you had?

SJ: Again, I am self-taught... Monet-inspired.

EN: Is there a question you would like me to ask that will elicit something deeper about what you are about?

SJ: Yes, we would like you to ask us: "Would you consider your views to be mainstream?"  We hope yes, but we really don't know. We pose the questions through the work we do together, asking people if they want to be Stewards Of The Earth or Takers? -- The Wolf: Wilderness Icon or Statistic?

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If you're downtown this month and need to step out of the cold, step inside the Zeitgeist and take a little time there to engage this thought-provoking artist's work.

Meantime, art goes on...
 

Wordless Wednesday: Local Art Seen (Martin DeWitt Opening)