Eight Minutes With Artist Ernest Gillman

I met Ernest Gillman this summer at the Bayfront Art Fair. Gillman is a Minnesota-born artist who, like many others, found a portion of his inspiration from having spent time in the Southwest. I found his work compelling and knew that I wanted to share it here at Ennyman's Territory, as well as insights from the artist himself. Gillman currently lives in the Twin Cities.

EN: When did you take up an interest in drawing and who or what were your biggest influences?

EG: I remember drawing as a child and wanting to get the cartoon characters to look exactly like the ones Charles Schultz drew in the Sunday papers. By the time I was ten I was trying to imitate Les Kouba's ducks and deer. At fourteen I had fallen in love with rock and roll and was rendering as closely as possible the faces of the Beatles, The Monkees, The Rolling Stones, etc. I soon lost interest in portraiture and set my sights on the psychedelic images I was seeing everywhere around me. After high school I tried my hand at Architectural Drafting. This didn't seem to satisfy any of my desires for drawing so I decided to pack up and go see the west coast. What started out to be a couple of months, ended up being the better part of the next decade. I traveled around this country in whatever beat up old vehicle we had at the time. I packed light, so the pencil and paper were perfect for this life style. I never thought of my drawings as pieces of art until my late twenties when I had finally had enough of the road and settled down to the world of marriage, job, and children. During this period I started reading a lot of art related books and found I was drawn to still lifes. Everything else, for me, was and still is pale in comparison. Not since I had first heard rock and roll had anything grabbed my attention so resolutely.

EN: What is your favorite subject matter and why?

EG: The subjects in my still lifes are usually very personal to me. I choose items that have meaning and memories, and in many cases my drawings are portraits of family members and friends. For example, in the drawing "Family Album" I represent three generations of my family. The embroidered table cloth and war ration booklets represent my grandparents, my mother and father are represented in the wedding photo and anniversary clock, myself and my brother are represented in the camera, the wedding ring, the coins and bullets. The crucifix is the predominate catholic community I was raised in and also became an altar boy in. Many of my works have this subjectivity to them, they are snapshots of a time and place in my life.

EN: Where do you do your work?

EG: I have always worked out of my home. For the past seven years I have lived in Cottage Grove, MN. and I have a studio in our basement. Prior to that I lived and worked for twenty years in a small one story in St.Paul, MN. During this time I went to the University of Minnesota for four years and studied the fine arts. My concentration was on black and white photography. I also worked with a bronze sculpture studio for several years. They made life size sculptures of police officers, firefighters, soldiers, and celebrities. Their work can be seen at the VA Hospital, The Target Center, Minneapolis City Hall, The State Capitol, and many police and fire departments across the country. During my time with them I did several commissioned drawings of police officers and firefighters. One such drawing can be seen in the recent movie "End of Watch".

EN: How did it come about to take up going to shows on the weekends?

EG: In 1979 my travelling companion and I were in Portland Oregon. We heard music, so decided to follow the sound. There were jugglers and mimes, food and drink, art and crafts, and a comfort you don't often find after being on the road too long. This was my first time at an art festival and I enjoyed it immensely. A decade later after a marriage and a divorce I went with my two young children to the Uptown Art Fair in Minneapolis, MN. The feelings from Portland came back and I knew then that I would be doing the weekend festivals. Four years later I did my first show and was an award winner in the Uptown.

EN: Any advice to young people who wish to take up the pencil as a medium?

EG: The pencil for many years was considered a tool used for only sketching. Something you used to lay out the design for a painting. Artists like Paul Calle and Skip Stienworth brought it to the level of fine art. Even Picasso's line drawings were made for the purpose of studies for paintings, but are now looked at as something more. I'm assuming that if someone is considering the pencil as a medium they have already recognized the beauty graphite holds in its texture and depth. There are a lot of different styles of pencils and papers on the market. There are graphite, conte, charcoal, colored pencils and more. There are hot press papers, cold press papers, handmade papers, and papers that range from a satin finish to a very rough toothy texture. My advice would be to experiment with as many different ones as possible and find what your comfortable with.

EN: Where can people see or purchase your work?

EG: People can see and purchase my work on my web site www.gillmanstudios.com. I also show my work at the Art Guild Gallery, 402 N Main St., Stillwater, MN. 55082 (651-689-0149 ). In December and January I will have works hanging in Gallery 13, 811 LaSalle Ave. Minneapolis, MN. 55402 (651-592-5503.) And throughout the summer months I can be found at many of the Twin Cities weekend festivals.

Wordless Wednesday: Angela Howarth's Resonating Threads

Influences

"I come before you to defend influence."
~Andre Gide, Concerning Influence In Literature

Over the course of several years interviewing artists and other people for my blog, articles and columns, I've noticed that I frequently ask variations of some of the same questions. One of these is regarding influence. Who have been your biggest influences? Who were your early influences?  There's a sense in which I am essentially asking, "How did you come to be doing this kind of work? How did you become who you are?"

I decided to put myself in the interviewees shoes to see how I would respond to this question. Who or what have been the influences in my life, especially my early years?

Certainly our homes play a role in our early development. I grew up in a home where I felt encouraged to express myself. There was an endless supply of paper for coloring or drawing on. I recall being fascinated by tracing things, though I do not know if that is because paper was thinner then or we had tracing paper in the house. We had magazines in the house and I would trace faces or animals.

Our house had a television set when we lived in Maple Heights outside of Cleveland. I was two or three when we moved there and I remember early cartoons like Tom Terrific and Clutch Cargo. Children's programming like Captain Kangaroo and Barnaby helped stimulate imagination. At age four I was one of the kids on the Barnaby show, an experience made more memorable by the fact that my younger brother Ron cried and was scared to go on the show with the other kids and leave Mom off-stage. 

At age five I was enrolled in an art class at the Cleveland Institute of Art, one of the formative experiences of my taking an interest in art. Each week the class would visit different parts of the museum and then we'd draw or make art in one of the various designated spaces. I vividly remember the one exercise in which we were in an area with Medieval paintings and suits of armor. We had been instructed to observe the manner in which the letters were decorated by ivy and vines. Perhaps this was the beginning of learning how to "see" like an artist?

The Jon Gnagy television show in the late 1950's or somewhere around 1960 was a strong influence on me. Gnagy taught tricks of the trade, how to create the impression of three dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface. He showed how to place a house into a landscape and have the angles nd perspective lines properly formed so that it was seen in a "normal" fashion and how telephone poles or fence posts shrink in size the further away they are. These little techniques were fascinating to me. I'd sometimes try to understand why this was so. It was a period of asking questions.

My elementary school art teacher must have been an influence. It was a class I perpetually looked forward to. I had a large portfolio envelope with my art in it which my mother saved for me. There was a cowboy I did in second grade that I thought was really cool. I liked the colors of the various papers I used, grey-blues and the like. He had a vest, a pistol, boots and a big cowboy hat.

Our culture influences us. Westerns were ever popular on the television. And I would be remiss not to mention my parents who encouraged me as well as a grandmother who wrote poetry, read voraciously and dabbled in painting.

To be continued 

Lunch Chat with Superior Community Policing Officer Bonnie Beste

Officer Beste (r) with youth from the community.

A couple weeks back I had an chance to serve on a focus group to discuss ways in which the Superior Public Library could better serve the community. It was a visioning exercise aimed at helping the library better forge its path into the future. But it was also instructive for me as I listened to so many others briefly share their background and experience in community service.

One of the panel members was a local police officer, Bonnie Beste. As she responded to portions of the discussion I became aware that my view of the role of local police has changed since I was younger, or was at least different than I’d previously thought. After the meeting I asked Officer Beste if we might be able to meet to talk more about today’s police work as it relates to our 21st century communities.

EN: In what ways has the role of police changed in the modern world?

BB: The role of police has historically been reactionary. Now, police are more pro-active. Their involvement in the community is more pro-active, trying to resolve issues before the calls come in. Hopefully, reducing crime by getting citizen involved. Citizen watch is a tool, educating citizens in how they can help. The key thing is making connections with the community.

At one time police were more connected to communities. When squad cars came along it gave officers greater mobility so they began to cover much larger areas. Today we’re focusing efforts on smaller areas again.

Another thing about cars is that they create a barrier between the police and the people. They do, however, help reduce “crimes of opportunity” when people know they are being watched.

EN: What are some of the things that officers like yourself do that most people are unaware of?

BB: We deal with a lot of people with a range of issues. Maybe there has not been a crime but people call because of their fears. We get five calls a day from one lady with mental health issues. We have to go when there is a call.

Child custody issues result in calls when a parent won’t turn kids over. Police can’t get involved, however, without a court order.

We always have Fourth of July calls. And there are a lot of other kinds of calls. Child abuse calls, sexual assaults.

We’re also involved in community meetings, educating people to get involved. Many people don’t want to bother anyone.

The police have been moving from reactionary policing to proactive policing. The approach is more of a problem-solving model.

Other things police are involved with include bike safety and a new program called Coffee with a Cop in which people get to meet officers and ask questions. The program makes police more approachable.

EN: Has the Florida incident hurt your neighborhood watch program? 

BB: No. This has become a talking point in our training and a teaching point. Community watch citizens are not to carry weapons or engage potential criminals.

EN: How have women contributed to the way police function to make them more effective? 

BB: Women bring assets to police work. Brute force is not necessary, though women are capable (with regard to strength.) Many situations require a different kind of communication to deescalate a situation before force needs to be used. For more than a hundred years women have always been called into special situations involving women and children. Currently women make up 15% of U.S. law enforcement.

EN: What prompted you personally to want to become an officer? 

BB: It’s always been in my genetic makeup. I played cops and robbers as a child. In high school I had two friends whose fathers were cops. When I grew up I wanted to help people. This is a world where I can do that.

EN: What’s been the hardest thing about being a woman on the police force? 

BB: In the beginning, it was a challenge acclimating to the department. It’s a male dominated field. Now, the hardest part has been dealing with things that have happened with children. It’s hard to get the pictures out of your head.

Artistic Duluth: Upcoming Events

Art Auction at the Kitch

On November 3 there will be a fine art auction to benefit the Duluth Art Institute at the Kitchi Gammi Club. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The event, currently sponsored by Lakehead Constructors, Duluth Superior Magazine, Krech Ojard and Associates, Wells Fargo, and the Atwater Group, is a fund raiser to benefit programs for the Duluth Art Institute.

For details, read the announcement on the News link at the DAI website. Artists who are members of the DAI also get an opportunity to share their work in the annual DAI Member Show in the first quarter. This opportunity alone is worth the price of a membership that has many other privileges.

PRØVE Gallery announces an Open Call for Submissions for the show Light

Live painting at Bev's Jook Joint late Friday.

While we're talking local art news, wasn't this week's Gallery Progressive amazing? Did anyone make it to all the galleries that had openings? Congratulations! What a feast for the imagination.

Friday's First Anniversary Celebration at the PRØVE was the first I have missed all year. I was busy at the Second Annual Goin' Postal Art Show across the bridge, followed by live painting next door.

The PROVE Collective has a few new faces and a lot of people are interested in the direction this gallery will take in the year to come. The call for submissions has already gone out for their upcoming November show to be titled Light. The pertinent information with regard to this show is as follows: All art will emit or provide it’s own light. This means we will not being lighting the work in the gallery. This will not be too much of problem, as the light from other pieces will illuminate the space. Any form of art will be considered as long as it emits light.

You can read the full description of the Open Call on their Facebook page.

And at the Tweed...
ENCODED: Traditional Patterns/A Contemporary Response 

Guest curator John Hitchcock has assembled a fascinating exhibition that will be on display through mid-March, 2012 titled ENCODED: Traditional Patterns / A Contemporary Response. Hitchcock is a prolific and inventive printmaker and installation artist, as well as a Professor of Art at UW-Madison. His recent activity includes the print action Epicentro: Retracing the Plains, in conjunction with the 54th Venice Biennial in 2011.

This coming Saturday from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. there will be informal gallery talks with Hitchcock and participating artists Tom Jones, Dyani White Hawk, Henry Payer, and Emily Arthur, along with an art activity for all ages.

On Tuesday October 23 from 6:00 p.m. till 7:00 ENCODED curator John Hitchcock will be giving a presentation about the show and his career in Montague Hall 70 at UMD. You can see more of Hitchcock's work at http://hybridpress.blogspot.com/

In the meantime, let your creative rivers flow.

Intergalactica: Part I

From March thru the first week of June I was involved in an exhilarating collaborative art project called Artist Kamikaze IV. This was my second year and I was initially paired with clothing artist Patricia Mahnke. The project we undertook was ambitious so we didn't waste any time meeting to outline a plan. What we decided was to create a character and costume, whom I would then paint. Eventually this evolved into two characters and costumes.

As the project evolved we had the good fortune of being able to obtain a third partner, Kate Dupre, who brought photography and Photoshop skills to the project. What follows over the next several Saturdays is the story we created.

Intergalactica
By Patty Peterson Mahnke, Kate Dupre and Ed Newman

Once upon a time the people of planet earth began to realize that their planet had no future. They were not fully aware of the causes, they only knew that earth’s core was shutting down. Mankind did not comprehend the role it had played in this event.

This was the Steampunk era of Celestial Dreamers, however, and two scientists, Professor Minerva Delphina Wonderborn and Dr. Jules Langdon Lafon, pulled threads of a dream together to create an automaton who could give the people of Earth a vital hope. In her womb she carried galaxies, nebulae and rainbow fragments of infinity.

CONTINUED

Gettin' It On @ Goin' Postal

Calm Chaos

The Twin Ports Gallery Progressive is in full swing. Last night was the first of two evenings of art and art happenings. Because of my commitment to help with setup for tonight's Goin' Postal spectacle I didn't make it to the manifold other opportunities to drink in the visual arts last night, other than the wonderful openings for Angela Howarth at 1112 Tower Avenue and the "Calm Chaos" at 1412 Tower down the street. Both were delightful in different ways, and a wonderful demonstration of the way the City of Superior has been so attentive to the arts community.

Storefront for Haworth's Resonating Threads

Everyone involved with Phantom Galleries Superior deserves multiple thanks. Artists are invited to place 24/7 temporary installations in empty storefronts. It's a great way to bring visibility both to artists in our community as well attention to some of the wonderful spaces that need new business tenants. Last nights art party was delightful.

The "Calm Chaos" installation by Luke Krisak and Chris Watten was fun, featuring clay and paper bees and insects hanging from the ceiling, and more. I love the way the light flows through those window in the New York Building late in the day.

Angela Haworth's "Resounding Threads" are intricate fiberscapes that were also especially vivid in the late day sun. I have saved most of the photos from her show for next week's Wordless Wednesday. One can only be impressed by the range of creative expressions in the undercurrent that flows through veins of our community.

Another very nice piece from the talented Tara Stone.

All this is a great lead in to the Goin' Postal event tonight. New work by more than fifteen artists, with many familiar faces but new ones, too. Andy Mathiassen's bronze sculptures and pillars deserve recognition here, a new addition to the Goin' Postal family. There will also be an opportunity to amuse your mouth with delightful chocolates from chocolatier Heidi Ash of 185Chocolat, LLC. (Along with copious quantities of libations, hors d'oeuvres, etc.)

Down But Not Out

After all is said and done, the afterparty will be moving next door to Bev's Jook Joint with four bands playing and four artists "performing" to the music, including Jeredt Runions, Dusty Keliin and myself. Based on the energy I witnessed during last night's preparations, it's clear the aim will be a memorable experience for anyone who walks through these doors.

Dusty K will be painting live tonight.

Note: If you're unable to make it across the bridge to Superior yet still wish to get out to some happenings, there's plenty on the Duluth side of the bridge. Like Goin' Postal Second Annual Fall Art Show and Concert, the PROVE will be putting in a late night celebrating their first anniversary. Maybe a good way to navigate the Downtown Duluth portion of your evening would be to begin at Washington Galleries, walk two blocks to the American Indian Community Housing Organization event at 202 W. 2nd Street in Duluth. Then circle back to the PROVE, say hello to the scene there, head east through the alley to the Ochre Ghost, then drop down to Superior Street to pick up Perry Framing and the new Art in the Alley Gallery a short half block away. Less than two blocks further and you can pick up the Duluth Photography Institute opening at 405 East Superior Street. That's seven of today's eight evening events in one circuit. I'd join you, but I'll be across the bridge. If you DO make all seven of the Duluth openings and drop into Goin' Postal or Bev's for the live painting, I'll still give you the original drawing I promised yesterday to anyone who attended all 16 of the listed gallery openings and events. I will be very envious of anyone who achieved this.

Meantime, let the music move you, and the visuals. No, it's not a dream. This is really happening, right here in the Twin Ports.