D.C. Ice - Illustrator - St Paul Art Crawl 2011 Feature

”I Love Shy”

D.C. Ice

Name: D.C. Ice
City/State: St. Paul, MN
Email: dcice.art@gmail.com
Website: www.dcice.com
MNartist.org profile: http://mnartists.org/work.do?rid=298556
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/DC-Ice/

Bio~
After attending The College of Visual Arts I went full swing into illustrator mode. I have been lucky enough to have 6 children’s books published and have been very busy creating art for gallery shows and various events.

“Let’s Hunt Something Up”

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?
As an illustrator I draw and paint. However, I also enjoy creating 3D versions of my sinister but sweet characters. I sew scary dolls and design vintage inspired feathery hair accessories and broaches. I try to find new ways to express my creativity. Right now I am trying to teach myself 2D stop motion animation.

"What is Art?" is certainly too big of a question to ask here, but what do you hope your audience takes away from your art? What statement do you hope to make?
For me, art is “the safe place where I can be hurtful and cruel without feeling guilty.” This quote is a part of my artist statement and it holds true to most of my creations. Art is an outlet for me. A place I have a voice to relay my deepest concerns and personal truths.

“Division by Geography”

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
Try damn hard to say “YES” to every opportunity, whether it may be a small gallery show or an oddball event.

Tell me about your work space and your creative process.
My studio is in my home and although I liked having studio mates, the convenient factor of having a space right in your home makes for crazy productivity. My creative process is ever changing and exciting. I keep things fresh by trying to explore different mediums.

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?
I really enjoy:
Chuck U: www.chucku.com
Jennifer Davis: www.jenniferdavisart.com
Broken Crow: www.brokencrow.com
Amy Jo: www.missamyjo.com

“Ghostly Noises”

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?
I am a co-op member at AZ Gallery, we would be there a lot. I am a big fan of the Northrup King Building. I show there during Art Attack and Art-a-Whirl with my friends from Bicycle Theory (www.bicycletheory.com). The vibe of that building is so inspiring. I also like going to random art shows in tiny gallery venues to view illustrative paintings--my fave.

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?
I am constantly going to www.illustrationmundo.com to check out amazing illustrators.

”Valentine”

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?
October 7,8 & 9, 2011 : St. Paul Art Crawl.

I’ll be showing at the AZ Gallery in Lowertown St. Paul.

October 14th, 2011: “Spotober” at Spot Art Gallery. 1828 Marshall St NE Mpls.

November 4,5 & 6, 2011: Art Attack. Northrup King Building NE Mpls
November 11th, 2011: “Art Brawl, the Art Crawl’s mean older brother.” AZ Gallery

Louis N LaPierre - Painter

"Needed" acrylic on wood panel

Louis N. LaPierre

Name:Louis N. LaPierre
City/State: St Paul, MN
Email:LouisNLaPierre@gmail.com
Website:www.LouisNLaPierre.com
MNartist.org profile: http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=189435
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Louis-N-LaPierre-ARTIST/173995722623577?sk=wall

Bio.
Louis N LaPierre hails from St. Paul Minnesota. He was born, learned
to walk and create. He is still walking, and doesn't remember when he
began painting. His favorite thing to do is watch, and his second is
to paint. Louis uses art to find comfort in the uncomfortable, and a
way to cope with the inevitable. Since his graduation from CVA in
Saint Paul Minnesota in 2005 he has adopted a vigorous art practice in
a variety of mediums. His work can be seen in many venues and on
projects such as album covers, gig posters, steel, books, galleys,
film, private collections and murals across the U.S.A.

"A to B" acrylic on wood


Tell me about your work?
What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?
My work is a constant revolving door. Some times a piece I'm working on
comes to fruition instantly, some times in mingles in a large pile for
an undetermined amount of time. I start twice as much as I want to
finish. And end up not finishing enough. projects tend to be like a
rolling ball of snow. They are not independent from one another. Time
is the only separation. Currently I think I'm going to focus more on
fishing. There is plenty of time to create when I have to trudge to
the studio.

"What is Art?" is certainly too big of a question to ask here, but
what do you hope your audience takes away from your art? What
statement do you hope to make?


Art is a attempt to connect. We all want to feel connected, somehow.


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

“Why walk, when you can run in circles” G'd Out Anthony


Tell me about your work space and your creative process.
As long as I pay attention things come together I'm some sort of
subconscious capacity. Its really all just a study in how everything
connects. I have a place were I actually apply paint to a substrate
but all the important stuff happens elsewhere.

"On Looker" acrylic on paper

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?
George Thompson (Trans Plant):
http://knowngallery.com/artists/george-ewok-thompson
Broken Crow: http://www.brokencrow.com/
Michael Gaughan: http://www.michael-gaughan.com/
Jennifer Davis: http://www.jenniferdavisart.com/

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places
would we go? What would we see?
Walker Art Center: www.walkerart.org
Cult Status: http://cultstatusgallery.com/
XYZ: http://thexyandz.com/#/gallery
Yen34 Bridge: (Gotta find that one yourself)
Soap Factory: http://www.soapfactory.org/

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?
Springboard for the arts( http://www.springboardforthearts.org/ ) and
mnartists.org are the best recorces in MN by far. This website is a
good one to stumble upon new artists (http://wbfkr.com/ ).

"Blue Bird", acrylic and silkscreen on paper

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?
Yes
Closing Party!
Cult Status Gallery
2913 Harriet Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408
Closing Reception: Saturday, September 17th 7pm-1am
Music By: makr/brodR (Mark Mcgee and Andrew Broder)

Cult Status Gallery is pleased to announce Nay-Say, featuring the art
of J. Wasyk and Louis N. LaPierre. Cohabitants of the same St. Paul
studio for four years, Wasyk and LaPierre have created all the work in
this show within their studio walls. While both of their work explores
contemporary issues of environment and space, their end results are
polar opposites.


Their individual approaches to making art have
created an ongoing argument at the studio. J. Wasyk insists that there
must be a vision of the final product and executes it to a tee without
straying. He doesn't start until he knows that his vision can be
perfectly fulfilled in the end. Conversely, Louis insists that the
vision must come through the process and never knows what the final
product will look like until he is done.


Their collaboration within
the walls of Cult Status creates a body of work with vast differences
and few similarities, all stemming from the same conversations and
arguments.

"Eat Until You Cant" acrylic and silkscreen on paper

Jennifer Davis - Painter

Jennifer Davis ~

You are currently exhibiting as part of the Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program (MAEP) at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This seems like quite and honor and opportunity. Tell me about the work you are showing there.

Yes. I am so excited and honored to be included in this exhibition. For this show I have made a new series of large (relative to my past works anyway, 30x24”) paintings on panel. As is usual for my work, they contain a lot of silly characters and invented symbolism but I have spent more time fussing over patterns and surface. These are some of my largest works to date and they presented a whole new world of puzzles for me.

What process did you go through to exhibit with the MAEP program?

I owe everything to Terrence Payne as he helped so much with the proposal process. We put together a written proposal for a show (via the guidelines on their website) and the MAEP panel selected us to be paired with Joe (Sinness) and Erika (Olson Gross) who had also submitted a proposal together. When I found out we got the show I was pretty dumbstruck. When it comes to art proposals/grant applications, etc. rejections are so common that I had completely put the whole thing out of my mind. Once our proposal was accepted we followed a detailed timeline to organize and plan the exhibition. I locked myself in my studio and painted like a crazy women.

Many artists find art to be a solitary experience, where creating community can be difficult. I wonder if you have a similar or different experience. How would you describe the Twin Cities art community and your place in it?

For me, creating art is a truly solitary experience. Even if I am collaborating or working with others, time in my own head is a huge part of my creative process. I love working alone and can do so for days at a time but it is not a lonely process. There is a huge community of other artists doing the same thing. Whenever I emerge from my cave it is easy to find them. It would be hard to describe the art community because it is always changing (galleries, artists always coming and going) and every person’s experience with it is unique. Some find it welcoming and open, others not so much. It is what you make of it. I have met so many amazing and inspiring people at art galleries. What’s not to love?

You have exhibited in Boston, Ontario, Los Angeles, and Atlanta (that I am aware of). Have you ever considered leaving Minnesota for a bigger art market?

Yes. I do get the itch to move on sometimes. However, my situation right now is ideal for me. I am able to support myself making my art with out a job, my BF and I each have a studio in our house and I really like it here. Artists have so much control of their own work now that it is easy to live in the Midwest and still show all over the world. I don’t rule out a move. Someday…

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

Have thick skin. Stay true to my own vision and allow disappointments to roll off quickly.

Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?
Many of the same artists that have already been listed on this site! Instead I’ll list some shows I want to see that are happening right NOW:

• Andrea Carlson at the Plains Art Museum
• Aniela Sobieski At Kopplin's Café
• Drew Peterson at FoxTax Gallery
• David Bowen at SooVAC
• The annual “Open Door” show at Rosalux Gallery

What was the last local exhibit you saw and what were your impressions?

“Trust is the New Money” by BrokenCrow (John Grider and Mike Fitzsimmons) at XYandZ Gallery. I have loved their work since the first time I saw it but this show really blew my face off. The entire gallery was one big giant painting. It was beautiful, scary, cute, hopeful, hilarious…I loved it. (It closes this weekend so giddy up if you want to see it!)

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?

• Daily Serving http://dailyserving.com/
• Beautiful Decay http://beautifuldecay.com/
• Hi-Fructose http://www.hifructose.com/
• Juxtapoz http://www.juxtapoz.com/
• My Love For You Is A Stampede of Horses http://www.myloveforyou.typepad.com/
• Art Hound http://arthound.net/
• Fecal Face http://www.fecalface.com/SF/
• etc, etc, etc.

How do you incorporate your blog, Facebook, and other social media/internet resources into your life as an artist?

Like many, I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I enjoy making my blog and I know that all of these tools are so useful for sharing art outside of my little bubble. Now there are so many tools that it has become overwhelming. To update my flickr, blog, website, etsy, twitter…YIKES! My time is better spent making paintings.

Do you have any exhibits or any interesting things going on in your life or coming up in the near future?

This winter/spring I’ll be showing my work in NY, NH, Canada- and a couple of places in Mpls, MN. I took a tiny break after finishing my work for the MAEP but now I am back to work.

Other Links:
http://www.jenniferdavisart.com
http://www.jenniferdavisart.blogspot.com/
http://www.FlourishMAEP.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferdavisart/
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=6702