Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Michelle Runyon - Conceptual and Fine Art Photography

Untitled
Michelle Runyon


Name:  Michelle Runyon
City/State:  Minneapolis, MN
MNartist.org profile:  Michelle Runyon

Tell me about your work?  What are you currently working on?  How is this different from past projects?
I am a Conceptual and Fine Art Photographer.  As a Conceptual Artist, I use the inspiration I get when I am faced with challenging situations in my own life.  These challenging situations would include coming of age, pregnancy, navigating through a "man's world", to name a few.  These were all challenges I found difficult to talk about, express and even make sense of.  So, I took what I was feeling and experiencing and staged a photo of it. This way, I don't have to talk about or try to make sense of it, the photo does it for me.  

As a Fine Art Photographer, I take photos of things that evoke positive movement inside myself.  I am currently working on creating a new photograph about how it feels to be pregnant.  I hope to have it completed by end of summer 2013.  This photo will be different as I plan on including other people in the photo--something I've never done or dared before.

 Deliverance-In the Site of the Beautiful Ruins

How did you decide to become an artist?
It wasn't a conscious decision.  Being some sort of artist has always been in me.  Whether it was acting, modeling, singing or writing.  But, photography has been my silent constant.  Not many people around me know of all the work I've done with photography.

The Landlocked Surfer Girl

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
The best advice I was given was more about self esteem than being an artist.  It was my seventh grade teacher Mr. Brown.  He pulled me aside one day and told me that he could see that I'd been bullied by my peers for a long time and that he could also see that I believed the things these bullies told me--mostly that I was stupid and ugly.  He reassured me that I was neither stupid or ugly and I need to believe in myself.  Of course, the bullies continued to affect me, but a strong belief in myself started to rebelliously grow.

Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art.  How do you sell your work?  How do you market yourself?
Though I've been doing photography for 20 plus years, I have only recently began to emerge in the art world as a photographer.  So, I am in process of figuring out how to market and sell my work.  So far, I've circulated only two of my photos that have been shown in galleries, a magazine, and an upscale spa.  I have a website www.michellerunyon.com and this is also linked to my www.mnartist.org page.

Morning Glories

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?
I tend to not pay attention to names because I sometimes become intimidated by names and it causes me to second guess EVERYTHING I do. Instead, I pay attention to works that I like and move me.

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go?  What would we see?
I like to go off the beaten paths and visit places that you wouldn't expect to find great or even good art.  I love to go to little towns and visit the one shop that sells local artists' work.  You can find everything in these shops, useful gadgets, handmade quilts, toys, self published books. photo greeting cards and inspiration.  I like to see what the 'every person' is coming up with.

After the Rain Storm

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?
So far, I like to view artists on www.mnartists.org and I like to spend sometimes hours looking through www.etsy.com.

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future? 
I have an "Untitled" Conceptual Art Photograph that will be featured in the Altered Esthetics' show [Insert Title Here].  Show runs from May 2nd through May 30th with an opening reception on 
Friday, May 3rd from 7pm-10pm at 
1224 Quincy Street NE Minneapolis MN 55413.  

Viewers of this show are invited to name the "Untitled" works that are displayed.  More information is at www.alteredesthetics.org/gallery-events/exhibitions/insert-title-here.  

Winter on Minnehaha Parkway

I also have a solo show from July 20th through September 5th at Lynnhurst UCC Church at 4501 Colfax Avenue South Minneapolis MN  55419.  More information will be available closer to the event at www.michellerunyon.com or http://www.lynnhurstucc.org/lynnhurst-gallery.html.


Michelle Runyon

Altered Esthetics

Monday, April 15, 2013

Charles Lyon - Painter


Clear Choice
Charles Lyon

Name: Charles Lyon
City/State: Minneapolis, MN
Email: pietown@aol.com
Website: charleslyonart.com
MNartist.org profile: http://www.mnartists.org/event.do?rid=327804
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/charles.lyon.902

Bio~ 
Before settling in Minnesota in 1994, Charles Lyon spent over a decade living in the high Arizona desert where he taught photography, rock climbing and kayaking.  As he developed an interest in color, he set aside black and white photography and began to work in textiles and later, pastels. After his move to Minneapolis, Lyon returned to school to study painting and received his MFA degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1999.  In 2005, Lyon was chosen to be an Artist In Residence in Badlands National Park. In 2007, Lyon painted an ornament representing the park for the White House Christmas tree. Most recently, Lyon was awarded a 2009 Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board for continued work on his paintings of snow in the city. In 2012 Lyon was invited to stay on a ranch in the North Dakota Badlands to paint the Little Missouri River Landscape.

"I am attracted to particular flowers because of their rigorous structure and formal delicacy. Like architecture, flowers have to "stand up" and function. Although flowers appear decorative, their complex structures are for attracting the right insects and reproduction. Roses, dahlias and peonies all share an architectural quality, which is expressed through the way light and color create their unique and ethereal spaces. The opacity, translucence and transparency of the flowers' petals are forever fascinating to me, and consequently challenge me as a painter in oil and watercolor."

Dahlia # 6


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

The current exhibit at Groveland Gallery in Mpls continues my work with flowers. There are oils and watercolors. In the oils I am working hard at finding as much color separation as possible…sometimes subtle sometimes strong. I am also thinking more about my edges to create space. Particularly in the work with the Black-eyed Susans, I have pushed this with some very blurry foregrounds and softer backgrounds. Sharpest areas are middle ground. And I have adjusted the color to compliment this. In the watercolors I am looking at it’s great ability to create transparency and translucence, qualities that are found so often in strongly lit flowers. I have had a chance to be more spontaneous, too, with my backgrounds.

Farnesina Roses



How did you decide to become an artist?

My mother was an artist, so I was introduced to weekend art classes when I was young. Also, an Italian artist came and lived with us when I was 8 or 9 and did portraits of all of us except my Dad. He was very out going and open…he had more fun than anyone else around and he was a magician with paint. The weekend painting classes at the time were more focused on abstraction and “the paint” whereas he could make representational miracles happen with a brush.

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

Work hard and don’t take yourself too seriously. From Kinji Akagawa: “Don’t try to create masterpieces”.

Button Dahlia

Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art.  How do you sell your work?  How do you market yourself?
I have gallery representation here with Groveland Gallery and in Rapid City, SD at Prairie Edge Gallery. I have a website which allows people to see my work but is not set up for commercial sales. One rule I have heard for artists is that if they want to be successful, they need to spend 50% of their time marketing themselves. Well, that does not leave enough time for painting and consequently I fall into the category of a “under marketer”.

Dahlia # 4


Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

I go to all the exhibitions at Groveland Gallery I can so those are some of the artists I know best.


I am in the California Building and look at the work of my friends there:

David Rathman: http://davidrathman.com/
Suzanne Kolsmalski: http://www.suzannekosmalski.com/
Jehra Patrick: jehrapatrick.com

Others are:
Carolyn Swiszcz (http://www.carolynswiszcz.com/),

Peony

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

Minneapolis Institute of Art: http://www.artsmia.org/
Highpoint Center for Printmaking; http://www.highpointprintmaking.org/
Walker Art Center: http://www.walkerart.org/
Todd Bockley Gallery: http://www.bockleygallery.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? 

To be honest, I don’t use the web much unless I see an artist in a magazine, by word of mouth or in person whom I respond to and feel compelled to learn more about. If I am traveling to another city, I will check out exhibitions before I go usually by going to museum and gallery websites.


Susans # 2

What can we expect to see from you in the future?
I have a show at the end of June in Dickinson, ND: http://www.dickinsonstate.edu/. I was invited last year to spend time on a ranch near the Little Missouri River and have developed landscape images from there and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. There will be paintings of the land, buffalo and horses. 
In December, I will exhibit at the Minneapolis Clubhttp://www.mplsclub.org/. They are developing an exhibition program for local artists. I will show paintings from several bodies of work in their elegant space.
And through May 4th, My work will be at the Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis.

Charles Lyon
Groveland Gallery





Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Jodi Reeb - Mixed Media


At the Horizon - Encaustic and collage on wood - 24"x24"
Jodi Reeb

Name: Jodi Reeb

City/State: Minneapolis, MN
Email: jodi@jodireeb.com
Website: www.jodireeb.com
MNartist.org profile
Facebook page


Bio~ 
Reeb lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has been creating art full-time for over 18 years.  Her artwork has been shown nationally receiving numerous awards and is in many private and corporate collections nationally.  She received a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design where she instructed printmaking in the Continuing Studies program for over 9 years.  She currently teaches encaustic (beeswax) painting at the Minnetonka Center for Art. Jodi creates her mixed-media paintings from her studio at the Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art in Minneapolis, but travels to receive her inspiration, combining contrasting landscapes and environments in her work.


Pathway - Encaustic on wood - 12"x12"



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

As a mixed-media painter, I work with acrylic paint, encaustic (wax) and collage on various substrates such as canvas, wood and paper. Primarily working on commission, I enjoy collaborating with clients to create artwork that leads me to the next step in the progression of my process and development while complementing an existing space.   The focus of my artwork has always been about the magnificence and beauty of nature and finding inspiration from nature’s extraordinary colors & light. As I explore this idea, I have been  intrigued with nature’s ever-changing seasons . I often contemplate how nature relates to our own cycles of existence.

Urban Composition - Encaustic, collage on found book - 8"x10"

How did you decide to become an artist?


When I was five years old, I created drawings of animals on large sheets of newsprint paper using crayons.  I rolled them up and pulled the drawings around my neighborhood to sell for a dollar. I went door-to-door and a few people bought the drawings and one person gave me a $1.00 donation. It started to rain before I got home and the remaining drawings got wet, but i didn't really care.  It was in that moment I knew I wanted to be an artist and thought that it was possible.

Enclosed - Encaustic and shellac on wood - 8"x8"

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

The best advice was given to me when I started college at MCAD by a local collector that hadn't bought any work from me yet.  He told me to keep working and making art no matter what and that I would create my future that way.


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

I sell my artwork primarily through art consultants and work on commission for healthcare, corporate and residential clients. I enjoy the challenge of creating work for specific spaces. I market myself through a careful mailing list I've compiled over the years and periodically send images of available artwork to those contacts.  Facebook is a tool I use to publicize events and art openings as well as new artwork created. Recently, I created a marketing brochure that is like a book with tabs highlighting my different styles to introduce my work to art consultants and galleries nationally.

Sustainable Currents - Encaustic on wood - 30"x30"

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy? 
Lisa Nankivil www.nankivil.com
Patrick Kemal Pryor www.patrickpryor.com
Vesna Kittelson www.vesnakittelson.com
Harriet Bart www.harrietbart.com
Betsy Ruth Byers www.betsyruthbyers.com


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

I tend to like contemporary, alternative and abstract art.

Traffic Zone Gallery www.trafficzoneart.com
Anita Sue Kolman Gallery www.askanita.com
Kolman Pryor Gallery   www.kolmanpryor.com
Walker Art Center  www.walkerartcenter.org
Form + Content Gallery www.formandcontent.org
Rogue Buddha Gallery  www.roguebuddha.com
Burnet Gallery www.burnetgallery.com
Minneapolis Institute of Arts www.artsmia.org
Minneapolis College of Art & Design www.mcad.edu
Minnetonka Center for Art www.minnetonkaarts.org

Index - Encaustic, collage, image transfers and copper foil on wood - 30x30"

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? 


Art 21  www.pbs.org/art21/
MN Original www.mnoriginal.org
Art News www.artnews.com

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?
Yes, over 25 artists will be showing their art.
Traffic Zone Spring Open Studios
May 4, 2013 at 5:30-9:30 pm
Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art
250 - 3rd Ave N. #220
Minneapolis, MN 55401


Traffic Zone Artists welcome visitors into their studios for an evening to share conversation about their work in a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, photography, installation, printmaking and drawing.


What can we expect to see from you in the future? 
Large collage works on canvas or wood using acrylic paint and mediums and encaustic paint.

Jodi Reeb