Sunday, July 29, 2012

Anne Spooner - Mixed Media - Painting

From the series, Small Monuments
Anne Spooner
Name: Anne Spooner
City/State: Saint Paul Minnesota
Email: spoonerannem@juno.com
Website: annespoonerart.com
MNartist.org profile: Anne Spooner 
Facebook page: Anne Spooner

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?

New work is a series of mixed media paintings depicting true stories, events and experiences I have had from childhood on. These memories have been swirling around in my head & I decided to somehow find a way illustrate them. Some are funny, random as well as sad. They are more personally revealing than anything I have worked on before. A friend said I should write down these stories but I decided to paint and draw them instead. It’s been challenging because I don’t have much in the way of reference material and I am trying to show it exactly like I see it in my head.


How did you decide to become an artist?

I have always enjoyed the creative process from a very young age. When I got to my teen years, I had strong internal feelings that I could make some really good work. I’m sure people can relate. In my case I would see an image or artwork or photograph and think, “I could do that”. It was just something I felt from within. I wanted to find out if this was true so, I began to create. I was of the opinion that I had nothing to loose and everything to gain.

I probably had a heightened awareness because my mother was a painter. She was my first mentor in a sense. A wonderful example who I was very close to. She was good at many things and very talented.
I saw a documentary on the band Joy Division and one of the band members being interviewed said he saw the Sex Pistols perform in a club in Manchester and he thought to himself, “I can do that”, he did and the rest is history. I think this sort of thing must happen to people all the time.




What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
If you don’t every take risks, you will never know what would have happened. There is also a risk in never sticking your neck out.



Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art. How do you sell your work? How do you market yourself?

I now have a website which seems to be an essential marketing tool. I sell through the Saint Paul Art Crawls, occasionally to a friend or family member. I also sell through the Edina Art Center gift shop and I recently was accepted to an online website through the Creative Center at University Settlement in New York. They are an art and healing organization whose goal is to bring art into hospitals for patients who are facing cancer. The website is for artists who are cancer survivors like myself. All the art on their website is for sale with a portion of each sale going to the organization. I am beginning to market my work more frequently but I don’t rely on this for income. I have a job in the arts which by the way, I feel very fortunate to have.



Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?
Photographer - Polly Norman www.pollynormanart.com/
Painter - Megan Rye www.meganrye.com

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?
You’d see me at Edina Art Center working with artists, doing gallery work, programming, answering the telephone, taking registrations and teaching drawing & painting to youth. You’d see me at a few coffee shops buying coffee and looking at art.  Probably shopping at Art Materials for canvas and sales at Wet Paint and working at my studio on Water St. in Saint Paul.

You would also see me visiting my son Pete in Minneapolis. He is a videographer working on his 4th Skate video. The last one was called Flow Trash. He travels quite a bit and films. We might watch some recently shot film footage together.



In addition to www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com, where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?
Passages, Pathways and Portals
at Flow Art Space.
Opens August 9.

All images from the Small Monument series.


Anne Spooner - Artist

Friday, July 27, 2012

Mary Foote - Painter


Spinning oil on canvas 20”x20”
Mary Foote

Name: Mary Foote
City/State: Saint Paul, MN
Email: mary.foote@gmail.com
Website: maryfooteartist.com
MNartist.org profile: http://www.mnartists.org/Mary_Foote
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/mary.schmidtfoote
Twitter: @maryfoote



Bio~ 

Minnesota born and raised artist and painter Mary Foote received her BA from St. Olaf College studying studio art and women’s studies. In 2005 she was awarded an apprenticeship with the college. Foote’s work has been shown in various locations in Minnesota including, the Soap Factory Gallery in Minneapolis, the Edina Art Center of Edina, and in the South Central Minnesota Studio ArTour in Northfield. Foote resides and works in Saint Paul.


Trees oil on canvas 48”x48”


Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?

I work focus on the sense of touch using color, line and texture. I believe that a viewer’s experience is enhanced greatly when allowed to touch the art. Growing up I always wanted to touch things to improve my understanding. My paintings are literally layer upon layer of oil paint.

I am hoping to experiment with acrylic paints and see how I can use mediums to create an interesting texture. The reason I’m looking into this is because of the toxicity of oil paint and I recently had a baby and I don’t want him breathing in the fumes of the oil paint while we’re at the studio. I’m anticipating a new direction coming out of the experimentation - however touch will have to be a major element of what I do.

Felix oil on canvas 36”x48”

How did you decide to become an artist?

I don’t think it was a conscious decision - I just did it. It’s always been a part of my life. I’ve always been compelled to make things. It seemed a natural fit. With encouragement and support from my husband I’ve been able to make art making my career.




What was the best advice given to you as an artist? 

My 9th grade art teacher Mrs. Hauck said, “Draw what you see, not what you know.”

Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art.  How do you sell your work?  How do you market yourself?
I struggle with this everyday. I haven’t come up with a sure way to sell my work. I apply for as many shows as I can to get my work out there. When I realized that my paintings are not a spontaneous buy I relaxed about selling things quicker. I use my website, http://www.maryfooteartist.com. I’ve also made of point of going to art events and introduce myself to at least one person - bring my business card and talk to them. Marketing myself is the hardest part of the job for me.



Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?
Jill Enestvedt http://www.studioelements.net/
Wendell Arneson http://www.grovelandgallery.com/artistdetail.php?aID=ArnW
Jan Schoger http://www.stolaf.edu/people/shoger/about.html
Gretchen Dreisbach http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=217287
Anne Labovitz http://www.labovitz.com/Labovitz.com/Home.html


If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?
Soap Factory Gallery http://www.soapfactory.org/
Northrup King Building Open Studio http://www.northrupkingbuilding.com/
The Dow Building http://www.dothedow.info/Do_the_Dow/Home.html
Altered Esthetics http://www.alteredesthetics.com/


In addition to www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com, where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise? 

Someday when I have time again (baby) to look here’s where I’m starting...
http://blog.drawn.ca/
http://www.hookedblog.co.uk/
http://www.coolhunting.com/
http://www.woostercollective.com/#grid-view
http://colormekatie.blogspot.com/

What can we expect to see from you in the future?
I just had a show close at the Spring Street Tavern. My studio will be open for the Do The Dow tour in November.

I am part of the Altered Esthetics August 2012 show, "Anger, Angst, and Art" running from 8/2/12-8/30/12.  Opening reception is Friday 8/3/12 from 7-10PM.

There is also an artists' discussion on Saturday 8/18 from 1-3PM.


Mary Foote



Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Lisa Bergh and Andrew Nordin


Inheritance of Location
Lisa Berg and Andrew Nordin
Rural Aesthetic Initiative


Name: Rural Aesthetic Initiative (Lisa Bergh/Andrew Nordin)             
City/State: New London, MN
Email: arthouse@arthousenewlondon.com    
Website: www.arthousenewlondon.com
MNartist.org profile: http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=100922   http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=134471
 Twitter: @okbergh  @ajnordin

Bio~ 
Andrew Nordin-
Andrew Nordin studied both Painting and Graphic Design at St. Cloud State University after attending Ridgewater Community College. He received his MFA in pictorial arts from San José State University in California. Growing up in the farmland areas of southern Kandiyohi county and exploring the lakes area in both summer and winter has helped in forming his aesthetic: ruggedly crafted works that mix landscape elements with the language of painterly abstraction.

Andrew is the Gallery Manager and Art Instructor at Ridgewater College. In addition, he is an adjunct instructor at St. Cloud State University, where he teaches digital art, drawing, and painting.

Lisa Bergh-
Lisa holds a BFA in printmaking from the University of Arizona and an MFA in Spatial Arts from San Jose State University. Lisa’s work moves from 2-d works on paper, to small sculptures and installations, which are all informed by the ideas of memory, place, and the body; beauty and the grotesque, and an ongoing curiosity in collections and display.

In addition to her own studio practice Lisa is an adjunct instructor at St. Cloud State University, where she teaches drawing.

ARTHouse with view of Chandelier by Jonathon Gomez Whitney

Rural Aesthetic Initiative|ARThouse
In the summer of 2007 Andrew and Lisa created ARThouse- a phantom, residential exhibition event space located in their New London home. Through exhibitions and site -specific projects, ARThouse works to nurture and support the creative endeavors of artists and deepen public understanding of contemporary art.

Most recently, Andrew and Lisa have formed Rural Aesthetic Initiative, a project that folds together their individual studio practices, collaborative projects, curatorial work and community arts programming interests. 

Andrew Nordin: hue precipitation – 2011, 16” x23” oil on panel

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects? 

Andrew:
We tend to have lots of irons in the fire. Currently, we are finishing a cycle of works investigating video and installation. The project Inheritance of Location was a public art project supported by the Southwest Minnesota Arts and Humanities Council,- with Legacy funds.  The product of our research was a ‘kiosk’ of sorts, a sculpture made of local ash planks that resembles a house or outbuilding structure. Inside is a HD screen with video textures and sound, mostly of landscape phenomena culled from being in our “neck of the woods”. We have been showing the piece in a variety of places from traditional white cubes to libraries. It even spent a week at the grocery store in Ortonville, Minnesota.

Lisa:
Our individual studio work contrasts comparatively, visually and conceptually, between Andrew’s material based large-scale abstract paintings and my large scale drawings and intimate sculptures.  Working collaboratively on the video landscape projects is impacting each of our individual studio practices. Andrew has been making medium scale landscape paintings. I am working on a new series of pencil drawings titled “Vertigo” which are playful explorations of mapping, pattern, landscape and abstraction.  It has been enjoyable and refreshing to add the collaborative work to our individual projects.  We have been working side by side as artists and domestic partners for nearly 15 years. The creation of RAI has for the first time really allowed our ideas and aesthetics to inform one another. 

Andrew Nordin: county 20 pond – 2011, 48” x36” oil on canvas on panel

How did you decide to become an artist?
Andrew:
As a kid, I always drew and had been imaginative, and thought of being a cartoonist by the 4th grade. From there, fort making, whittling, stop-animation films and looms were influences that I guess I’ve carried on to current studio practice. (*Yes, I may have been the only 6th grader with my own looms, and I made them for friends too.) My grandmother always bought me art supplies and gave me things like Bob Ross books. She loved to paint genre scenes from rural Minnesota. I bet she would think I finally got it straight working on landscape paintings rather than abstraction!

Lisa:
While working on an anthropology degree at a community college in Tucson, Arizona and I was required to take a basic design course. Next thing you know, I have a BFA from the University of Arizona in printmaking & photography and an MFA in spatial arts from San Jose State University.  

Origins of Love by Lisa Bergh

What was the best advice given to you as an artist? 

Andrew - Stay productive and feel comfortable failing.

Lisa - Find a community of peers and if you can’t find a community, make one.  The ARThouse project was created with this notion in mind. 


Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art.  How do you sell your work?  How do you market yourself?
Andrew:
Beyond the occasional private sale or purchase award neither of us try to sell a lot of work.  We have both participated in the Minnesota State Art’s Board Percent for Art Program. I’ve made a lot of large work that is hard to market, but the intention is usually just making and exhibiting, relating to a space. Recently, I’ve been commissioned to do work, (which is why I started doing landscape paintings) ….and would like to pursue that more.

Lisa:
Selling work is great and I am always happy to make a sale. However, selling my work has never really made the top of my priority list. Currently, I am more interested in finding unique venues and projects that offer an opportunity for me to play around with ideas and create more ephemeral works.

The Arcane Collection by Lisa Bergh

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

Lisa:
Jonathon Gomez Whitney’s furniture design work is perfection and the quiet nature, internal dialog, and poetic pacing of his art projects are always a home run with me. Lately, I can’t get those Samantha French pool images out of my head.  My aesthetic interests are pretty varied. The collection of artists’ projects presented via ARThouse does a great job of circling around all the different aspects of art and public art I adore.


Andrew
I’m interested in artists who seem to have an interesting dialogue going with ‘the problematic of painting’….and the presentation of abstraction/representation. 


If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

Andrew – The campuses at Ridgewater, where I teach, have some great percent for art purchases. A huge Brian Frink abstraction, a Michon Weeks painting, are some of the standouts. If you took a drive around our perimeter of geographical activity, you’d see some of the great “Colossus of Roads”. Minnesota landmarks like Darwins’s ball of twine, Olivia’s corn cob, Belgrade’s crow, and Alexandria’s Viking.

Lisa – I am sucker for a great yard. I am fortunate to live in an area where folks often have a lot of outdoor space.  Seeing how people interpret, groom and build these public/private spaces is always a treat for me.

We always try to make it to the Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Institute of Art, (especially the MAEP gallery) when we are in town. August 9th we will be involved with the Walker Art Center’s Open Field “Drawing Club”…come on by.

In addition to www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com, where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise? 

Painters’ Table http://painters-table.com/
 Rural American Contemporary Art Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/ruralamericacontemporaryartists/

Image of artists (photo credit Jacinda Davis)

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?
RAI has a show opening at Tuck Under on August 2, 2012.  We are really excited to exhibit in a space similar in spirit to ARThouse. After that, we have projects in the works for a show at Riverland Community College, the gallery at SMAHC (Southwest Minnesota Arts and Humanities Council) and a show at University of Minnesota-Morris. That will take us through 2013.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Greg Gossel - Mixed Media


Greg Gossel

Name: Greg Gossel
City/State: Minneapolis, MN
Twitter: @greggossel

Bio: Greg Gossel was born in 1982 in western Wisconsin. With a background in design, his work is an expressive interplay of many diverse words, images, and gestures. Gossel's multi-layered work illustrates a visual history of change and process throughout each piece. He has exhibited in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Copenhagen, Milan, and London; and in 2009 he was invited to create a large scale mural on the façade of Miami’s Aqua Art Fair. His commercial clients include Burton Snowboards, Stussy, GNU Snowboards, and Interscope Records while his work has been published in The San Francisco Chronicle, Juxtapoz Art and Culture Magazine, Artslant, Artful Living, and ROJO. Greg currently resides in Minneapolis, MN.


Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?
I create expressive large scale mixed-media works with a focus on layering found elements from old billboards & street advertisements. I'm currently working on a new body of work for my upcoming solo exhibition at Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis. This new body of work features some of the largest works on paper I've created to date along with pushing my use of found street advertisements.

How did you decide to become an artist?
It's tough to say that it really ever felt like becoming an artist. Art is just something I've always done, I've been drawing ever since I can remember and it just so happens I've been fortunate enough to translate that passion into a career.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist? 
The advice I generally think about while working wasn't specific to art in general, but often fits. The advice was from my grandpa, and he always said "Anything worth doing is worth doing right." So whether it's something as simple as building a stretcher frame for a canvas or setting up type for a show card, I try to follow that advice.


Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art.  How do you sell your work?  How do you market yourself?
I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with a number of great galleries that have helped tremendously in increasing the visibility of my work though exhibitions and art fairs. In addition, I try to stay current with posting new work and information for those interested on my website, blog, and various social media outlets.

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?
I've been a fan of the print work done by Burlesque of North America (http://burlesquedesign.com/) and Aesthetic Apparatus (http://aestheticapparatus.com/) for many years. In addition I enjoy the work of Frank Gaard (http://frankgaard.com/), Gregory Euclide (http://www.gregoryeuclide.com/), Drew Peterson (http://drewpetersonart.com/), and Hardland/Heartland (http://hardlandheartland.com/) to name a few.

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?
Much of the exploring I do throughout the city consists of searching for old neglected billboards and advertisements to collect for my own work, so I generally don't make it out to shows much. That said I always enjoy trips to the Walker (http://www.walkerart.org/) & MIA (http://www.artsmia.org/) along with SOOVAC (http://www.soovac.org/), the Soap Factory (http://www.soapfactory.org/), and CO Exhibitions (http://coexhibitions.com/).

In addition to www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com, where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise? 



Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?
I'll be opening a new solo exhibition 'Weathering the Storm' at Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis on July 28th. The show will feature 13 new large scale original works on paper and canvas. This will be my second solo exhibition in Minneapolis following up my 2009 show at SOOVAC.


SooVac Gallery Featured Interview


Image List:
1. Installation view, SCOPE NY 2012 - 'Northeast' - 132" x 87" - Mixed-media on canvas
2. 'By Any Means' (Diptych) - 36" x 36" each - Mixed-media on canvas
3. 'Madison Square' - 72" x 48" - Mixed-media on canvas
4. 'Easy Come, Easy Go' - 72" x 48" - Mixed-media on canvas
5. 'Burn Out' - 72" x 48" - Mixed-media on canvas
6. Installation view, White Walls Gallery, San Francisco 2012 - 'Famous Last Words (Right)' - 108" x 96" - Mixed-media on canvas
7. Image of artist