"Amaryllis to Zinnia" by Jill Michell & Carl Oltvedt

AMARYLLIS to ZINNIA

JILL MICHELL

Jill Michell received a BFA in painting from the University of MN. She works in a charming backyard studio, outside her home in St. Paul’s Tangletown. Jill’s botanical work suggests Chinese painting, given the delicacy of gesture, and the space afforded the figures.

She’s fascinated by process and the wonder of fluency in a time when the world is starved for it. And yet, she recalls Philip Guston’s notion that “painting is more than a process, painting is being possessed.” Along with numerous gallery shows, Jill’s work has been featured at the Katherine Nash Gallery, and the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. She received her MA in Art Education from the University of MN and has been a Teaching Artist in the Twin Cities for 20 years. Jill lives with her husband Richard, a photographer, and their aged dog Gus. Besides gardening, and trying to improve her pickleball game, Jill spends lovely time being nurtured by her three young grandchildren.

ARTIST STATEMENT These still lifes follow a period of Plein Air landscape painting that refined my interest in single objects and plants that I can work from in my studio. I try to distill my subjects to their essence. This minimal approach grows from an affinity to Chinese painting and such American painters as Alice Neel and Fairfield Porter. The writing of Agnes Martin on simplicity has been invaluable. As Martin says, “Stop thinking and work.” I try to coax subject matter into rhythmical designs, using line, color, and shadow to distill poetic meaning.

Somehow, I want these works to express a bit of the life I see.

- Jill Michell

CARL OLTVEDT

Carl Oltvedt works full-time as an artist in a variety of painting and drawing media. He relocated to the Twin Cities following his retirement from Minnesota State University Moorhead in May of 2015, where he was a Professor in the School of Visual Arts. Currently, he maintains a studio at the California Building in N.E. Minneapolis. He has exhibited his work at Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis since 1978. His paintings and drawings are included in numerous public, corporate, and private collections, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Minnesota Museum of American Art. He was a recipient of Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grants in 2014 and 1991, and a Lake Region Arts Council/McKnight Artist Fellowship in 2002.

ARTIST STATEMENT Growing up with parents who loved flowers and gardening, I found that I followed in the footsteps of their passion with a fascination in observing and growing flowers, whether indoors or outside; of course this led me on a path of drawing and painting a great diversity of varieties, including Amaryllis, Irises, Sunflowers, Harebells, Devil's Paintbrush, Gerbera Daisies and so many more. Some of my Amaryllis are over thirty years old and have survived many moves, including my most recent move back to the Twin Cities in 2015; they currently reside in my studio in the California Building, located in N.E. Minneapolis.

I thoroughly relish in the full spectrum of colors, textures, shapes, as well as the delicacy and sensuality of the blooms, whether grown in a pot, or observed and drawn in the open air.

I also rely on my own photographs of the flowers, while my preference is drawing/painting them from life.

The group of Amaryllis drawings were completed this past spring, as I was working on another project, which I took a break from; it was a great release to re-engage with those beloved blooms after over a twenty year hiatus of drawing/painting them. The Harebells and Blue Flag Iris drawings were inspired by studies on location on the North Shore and Mantrap Lake respectfully; the two works here were completed from my photographs taken at the time of the original site studies.

- Carl Oltvedt

Jill Michell Zinnias & Fig 2021 | oil on canvas | $750.00 image: 19.75 x 16" | unframed

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Jill Michell Dahlia & Lemon 2021 | oil on canvas | $1,150.00 image: 32 x 24" | unframed

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Jill Michell Blue Vase 2021 | oil on canvas | $950.00 image: 24 x 24" | unframed

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Jill Michell Bud Vase 2020 | oil on wood | $775.00 image: 16 x 12" | frame: 17 x 13"

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Carl Oltvedt Blue Flag Iris 2021 | pastel on paper | $1,600.00 image: 13.75 x 28.5" | frame: 21.5 x 36.25"

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Jill Michell Petunias & Honeysuckle #2 2021 | oil on canvas | $1,150.00 image: 32 x 24" | unframed

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Jill Michell Still Life with Pomegranates & Lemon 2021 | oil on canvas | $950.00 image: 24 x 20" | unframed

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Carl Oltvedt Minerva Amaryllis I 2021 | pastel on paper | $1,000.00 image: 15.25 x 18" | frame: 21 x 23.75"

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Carl Oltvedt Minerva Amaryllis II 2021 | pastel on paper | $1,050.00 image: 15.25 x 19.75" | frame: 21 x 25"

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Carl Oltvedt Spin: Sumatra Amaryllis 2021 | pastel on paper | $1,100.00 image: 22.5 x 16.25" | frame: 28.25 x 21.25"

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Jill Michell Eucalyptus and Carnations 2021 | oil on canvas | $1,300.00 image: 24 x 36" | unframed

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Jill Michell Eucalyptus & Yellow Chrysanthemum 2021 | oil on canvas | $950.00 image: 24 x 20" | unframed

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Jill Michell Butterfly Weed in Cloisonne Vase 2019 | oil on wood| $700.00 image: 14 x 7.5" | frame: 15 x 8.5"

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Carl Oltvedt Rosetta Amaryllis 2021 | pastel on paper | $1,100.00 image: 21.5 x 14.25" | frame: 27.5 x 20"

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Carl Oltvedt Sumatra Amaryllis 2021 | pastel on paper | $1,050.00 image: 15.25 x 19.25" | frame: 21 x 24.75"

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To purchase artwork please contact: info@grovelandgallery.com or 612-377-7800

25 Groveland Terrace, Minneapolis, MN 55403 | www.grovelandgallery.com