ANTRIM TWISTED FISH
EMMET THREE PINES STUDIO Located in tiny Cross Village, Three Pines is the vision of the husband-and-wife team of Joann Condino and Gene Reck, following their retirement from Wayne State University. Reck’s woodblocks and ceramics are complemented by Condino’s fiberworks, and the gallery also includes pottery, fiber art, jewelry, worked wood, paintings (watercolor, oil, pastels, acrylic), glass, yarn and block printed cotton goods. One of the studio’s themes this summer is polka dots. It was inspired by a display by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in Washington, D.C. In response, Three Pines is showcasing a dizzying variety of polka dots both indoors and out, from ornaments and lanterns to snakes, even offering Kusama classes for kids. If you’re looking for something more abstract, take a look at Condino’s felt cones. “Triangles are my favorite shape. Cones are 3D triangles,” she said, and in addition to their abstract artiness, displaying the cones can lead to a reduction in noise as they absorb the sound waves. Function follows form.
TVEDTEN FINE ART HARBOR SPRINGS
Jerry Gates, former art instructor at Elk Rapids schools and Ferris State University, has been a lead artist at Twisted Fish Gallery since its inception 17 years ago. His work is the focus of “Earth, Wind, Water,” an exhibit running through June 24. Gates is a major donor to the Conservation Resource Alliance, which has been caring for northern Michigan’s rivers and other natural treasures for 50 years, and ten percent of all art sales from this exhibit will be donated to the CRA. “Jerry has bequeathed all his works when he’s done to the CRA and it’s the co-sponsor (of the exhibit),” said gallery owner Bob Streit. Gates has spent his life studying the texture, shape, and composition of natural surroundings, and his work ranges from realistic images of his favorite rivers and fields to a study of fine details in abstract form.
BLUE HERON
The second of three Elk Rapids art galleries (Mullaly’s 128 is the other) is owned by Dan Reszka and Pat Curran. “Elk Rapids has three really nice galleries,” said Reszka, championing the entirety of the Lake Michigan town. Blue Heron is home to art in a variety of media: paintings, woodwork, charcoal, pencil, “a lot of pottery,” according to Reszka. Blue Heron features artists from across the state and from northern Michigan, including Reszka’s work. “They’re mostly watercolors, with an Oriental feel. There’s a lot of white space,” he said. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch sight of Reszka at work in his on-site art studio.
Tvedten Fine Arts has been a mainstay of the arts scene in downtown Harbor Springs for 24 years. Owner Margaret Tvedten features nearly 30 different artists in her gallery, hailing from across the state and across the country. From folk art to ralism to abstgracts, Tvedten focuses on what she calls “quality art” in the 100-yearold building the gallery calls home. The displays and artists represented are everchanging, and Tvedten said that makes it a must-stop for her regular seasonal visitors, as they know each visit will showcase something different.
CROOKED TREE ARTS CENTER Through Aug. 18, Crooked Tree Arts Center of Petoskey is hosting an exhibit featuring local artists Cynthia Rutherford and Susan Offield. Rutherford focused on oldworld faux painting techniques, trompe l’oeil and gilding from 1985 to 2008. She created unique, hand-painted furniture, murals, and on-site paintings for her Harbor Springs design company, Birchtree Studio. Her “Mind Into Matter” exhibit is a visual journey of interpretation informed by the memories, people, and events that have impacted and influenced her. By superimposing textures, images, graffiti, glazes, and washes of paint, she says she creates a “visual threshold” which allows the viewer to look at, as well as through, the painting. The Petoskey-based Offield began studying painting in the early 2000s. In 2006, she returned to school, earning her BFA (2009) from the Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) where she studied drawing and painting the figure. She says painting the human being, standing before the inspiring person, is the ultimate opportunity for her as an artist. “The portrait is composed of everything under the sun: shape, form, color, light, energy. It offers endless challenges, not just in the technical sense, but also emotionally and personally,” she said.
12 • june 04, 2018 • Northern Express Weekly
OTSEGO GAYLORD AREA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS
“The 100 Days Project” is a way for artists to while away the winter doldrums and an exhibit for the summer as well, according to Jan Kellogg, arts manager at the Gaylord Area Council for the Arts. “During winter everyone is eager to create,” she said, so she and other artists from the area vow to do something creative for 100 consecutive days. The results can be seen at the exhibit opening June 6 and running through July 7. This is the third year for the exercise and exhibit, and past years have seen
paintings, pastels, woodworking, crocheting, embroidery, charcoal and pencil drawings – it’s all welcome. “we have weekly chekins where people share what they’re working on. We learn from each other and inspire each other,” said Kellogg. GACA was also chosen by the Detroit Institute of the Arts as a partner in its “Inside|Out Program” this year. Every year the DIA chooses two communities outside the greater Detroit area to have an outdoor exhibit of reproductions of art work owned by the DIA. The DIA came up about a week ago and installed 15 reproductions in various public places around Gaylord, and GACA is planning some special events to go along with this exhibit.