This is Home An online exhibition by the members of the South Central Chapter of Wisconsin Visual Artists Exhibition dates May 15 – July 15, 2022 More on the WVA website at: https://www.wisconsin visualartists.org/thisis-home/
“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” - Matsuo Basho
Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Exhibiting Artists (in alphabetical order) Jane Barnard Deb Bushy Barry Carlsen Roberta Condon Ann Haberl John Hallett Virginia Huber Elizabeth Ivers Jayne Reid Jackson Elizabeth Sawyer Kelly Annette Knapstein Michael Knapstein Linda Koenig Kathryn Lederhause Michelle Louis Nancy Macgregor Valerie Mangion
Beth Mastin Susan Merritt Bethann Moran-Handzlik Mary Nevicosi Julie Raasch Cyndie Rauls Jan Richardson Jean Sandrock Paula Schiller Sue Sewell Jeff Stern Mary Tilton Kathleen Walter Karen Watson-Newlin David Williams Ray Zovar
This is Home This virtual exhibition of thirty-three artists came together as we are starting to venture away from home. Covid pandemic restrictions are lifting and there are places to go and interesting things and people to see. When our wandering is over, we return home, wherever that may be. If we are fortunate, comfort awaits. When we asked the member artists to portray “Home” the responses ranged from nature, to comfort (including food!), to memory, to evocative depictions of place. Our place. Our home.
We want to thank the artists who participated to make this a thought-provoking show. We also thank the viewers of this exhibition for supporting the artists with your kind words and your appreciation of their work. Wherever “home” may be, we have the constant of our art – we always have our art – to express the journey of life and whatever comes next.
- May 2022 Presented by Jayne Reid Jackson, Mary Tilton and David O. Williams
I believe that one can never leave home. I believe that one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and the dragons of home under one’s skin, at the extreme corners of one’s eyes and possibly in the gristle of the earlobe. - Maya Angelo
To purchase artwork, please email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org with the name of the artist and the title of the piece and we will forward your request to the artist. Some pieces are designated Not For Sale (NFS).
Jan Richardson Determination in the Face of Sadness and Loss Oil on Canvas 48 x 30 “I grew up in the 1950s-60s. This is my attempt to let go of the difficult years of my childhood and recognize and celebrate the strength of my mother. What I've tried to show is the anguish and lost hope of her situation. Catholic, five daughters, divorce not an option, this painting is from a haunting photo (taken by my father) which I believe captured her spirit of defiance early in their relationship. Late in life my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and was placed in a facility which freed my mother from her situation. This was part of an exhibit that was a tribute to my mother, Dorothy Jane, recognizing what a strong woman she was, trapped in an untenable situation, but devoted to her children.”
NFS www.janrichardsonart.com
Roberta J Condon American Pastoral 30 Soft Pastel 40 x 32
“The image in this submission represents a view of the Wisconsin landscape encountered while hiking on the Ice Age Trail. This is where I spend my time when not in the studio, and this is what I call home. Wisconsin small farms are in crisis as we lose more than two family farms a day. This image, along with my book, have been painted to call attention to the beauty and the changing landscape of our family farms in rural Wisconsin.”
$3000 www.robertacondon.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Julie Raasch Orange Sky at Morn Photograph on Metal 16 x 24 “I woke one morning in 2021 to an orange world. My first thought went to my camera and how I needed to capture this! I climbed out of bed, grabbed my camera, stuffed my feet into my black rubber boots, and exited my home via the back door. I stopped on the stoop, knowing how fleeting the perfect lighting can be I composed my first image of the sky and the prairie. Did I mention I live with a 2-acre restored prairie in my backyard? The prairie is its own work of art, one which we collaborated with Mother Nature to restore, by knitting prairie remnants back together... but I digress. With at least one composed image captured, I walked down to the prairie and composed another and another. Basking in the orange glow until I was satisfied that I had captured the light and moment perfectly. Then I strolled back up the hill and reentered the house, took off my black rubber boots, hung up my camera, and climbed back into bed. This is life living in and with the natural world. Always changing and you just need to roll with it. The prairie is as much home to me as the structure in which I live.”
$350 www.hoverflystudio.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Cyndie Rauls An Artist Walks Into Her Garden Wood sculpture 57 x 76 x 16
“"An Artist Walks Into Her Garden" is a reflection of myself in my happy place. The garden is an extension of my home where visitors of all species are welcome and continually drop in unexpectedly and delightfully. The piece is 3 dimensional in an effort to capture the complexities of the garden and how much it will vary by a shift in perspective.”
$9700 www.wanderbrookglen.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Deb Bushy Survivor Original photography 12 x 6
“I try to get out and walk in nature everyday. I walk with my camera at my side most days. I capture bits of the ever-changing world. Most days are same old, same old... Then there are extraordinary days that create a bond, a story and a chance at renewal and hope.”
$228 www.Dbushyart.wixsite.com/photography to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Bethann Moran-Handzlik A Mind of Winter Oil 32 x 30 “I made this painting "A Mind of Winter", 32x30 oil, standing at home in our back yard in winter 2022. I paint from life because I desire a relationship with the subject. The painting, the subject and I are all conditioned to the same effects of cold, changing light, unexpected events…a gust of wind, a bird's movement. In the words of Joyce Cary, the painting becomes “ a dream which is truer than actual life and a reality which is only there made actual, complete, and purposeful to our experience.” The frisbee reminds us of the summer that was, and the unseen bees give us hope for the coming season of blossoms & honey. It is in this larger cycle that I ultimately, beyond my family, feel truly at home. For onsite, in-progress images please see @pasmeche “
$4000 www.bethannmoran.com/ to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Michael F Knapstein Window Box Archival Pigment Print 30 x 30 “When I think of home, I think of simple, quiet moments. I remember small visual details. I recall the feel of the summer sun. The smell of fresh-cut lawns. The sound of crickets at night. While this image of a flower box is not from my home, it does remind me of home in many ways. The glow of the summer sun is peaceful. The open interior door seems inviting. The straw hat belongs to someone who will soon step out to care for the flowers. This is home.”
$1500 www.knapsteinphotography.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Elizabeth Ivers Passing Storm Watercolor
14 x 21
“For me, the sky is a constant source of inspiration and comfort. No matter where I am, the sky's beauty, its ever-changing cloud patterns, and its sense of expanse, helps me to feel at home in the world.”
$600 www.elizabethivers.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Karen L Watson-Newlin When Spring Returns Acrylic 30 x 30
“At home in Wisconsin, spring can be a fickle season. With remnants of snow still on the ground and the daffodils popping through the wet soil, the return of robins give us hope for warmer days.”
$900 www.karenwatsonnewlin.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Valerie Mangion Imminent Collapse Oil on panel
40 x 30
“"Home" is not just your own property. "Home" is your neighborhood, your community, your group identity. It's the geographic area you name to describe where you live. "Home" is the place your restless heart yearns to get back to when you're away. I live in Wisconsin's Driftless region in the Southwest corner of the state. Living in the Driftless becomes part of your identity, a bond shared with other people who know how lucky we are to live in such a spectacularly beautiful place. I passed this barn every time I went into town for decades. By the spring of 2018, the barn, on Hwy 14 outside of Richland Center, seemed ready to go. It became a topic of speculation among my friends. Whenever there was a big storm or high winds, we couldn't wait to drive by and see if it was still standing. I photographed the barn several times in the months before it finally toppled in July. "Imminent Collapse," in addition to being a metaphor for our times, is a tribute not just to this one barn, but to all fallen barns, as well as to the landscape that surrounds it, the place I call home.”
NFS www.valeriemangion.com
David O Williams Kitchen Elements Watercolor on paper 14 x 18
“What is the most welcoming, comforting part of the home? For me, it is the kitchen. It is warm and cozy. Preparing and offering food is a pleasure. Especially in an old style kitchen where a pantry cabinet may be hung on the wall with various pans and utensils alongside. Character instead of chrome. Now about those dishes...”
$475 www.williamswatercolors.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Mary Tilton Shelter From The Storm Watercolor
14 x 20
“Many years ago, a cute boy asked me to go camping in a bright orange pup tent. The isolated site we staked out on the shore of a peaceful lake was idyllic. That evening a terrible storm came through, and when the sky grew bright, we thought we were in the clear. But then the wind increased and we had to hold down the tent with all our strength. After the wind finally subsided, we were able to laugh at the terror we had both felt in the face of that power. Many expeditions later, with a dozen houses and a few states behind us, that boy and I are still weathering the storms and lulls of life together. That is home for me.”
NFS www.marytilton.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Jeff Stern Camp Wakanda Oil on Canvas 15 x 25
“If I lived in the desert, I would interpret the desert for my art, but I don't. My home is Wisconsin. The aesthetic of its geography and landscapes are abundant with inspiration. Oil on canvas is the medium of choice for my painting displayed in this virtual exhibition.”
$500 www.jeffsternartist.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Paula C. Schiller Doll Clothes Oil on canvas
11 x 14
“This little work is the first I did on moving back to the US after 25 years overseas. It is painted over a framed painting my mother started just before she died. I think she knew it was not finished but still wanted a sense of completion. My subject is completely different, although some of the red showing through is hers. She used to make us handmade doll clothes and I found some at an antique market. There was nothing on my walls so I taped up the clothes like little art works and painted them on the only canvas I had, hers, using her paints. The filminess of the painting serves as an analog to my memories of my mother and her making things by hand.”
NFS www.paulacschiller.com
Barry Carlsen Penumbra II Lithograph 20 x 15
“Where you live has a way of shaping people. The sense of place is powerful; it can express feelings of belonging, separation, distance, and loss. Landscape can be an avatar. I'm increasingly involved in creating a body of work that blend that sense of place with figurative elements that reflect on personal relationships and the human condition.”
$700 www.brcartworks.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
John S Hallett Nurturing Nature Bronze
13 x 34 x 31
“From my earliest memories, the thought of "home" has given me a sense of safety, security and comfort. I was watching a crane on her nest in my neighborhood when she opened her wings and revealed two colts (chicks) hidden close to her body. I immediately thought of how her body and her wings created a safe, secure, comfortable home for her two youngsters as they were all nestled among the cattails. Home can exist in many forms in our neighborhoods as well as in the wilderness.”
$14,000 hallettironworks.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Kathryn H Lederhause Peonies Photography canvas print
18 x 12
“Peonies remind me of home. I grew up with a yard lined with peonies planted by my mother. I planted these because they remind me of home. A bright spot of 2020, it was a particularly lush year for peonies.”
$225 to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Michelle Louis When the Power of Love Acrylic on canvas
40 x 60
“We are always home. We are open to new experiences. We explore, listen, respect, and take action. We are curious and want to know more and have things, but aren't compelled to consume more than we need. We open our eyes, hearts, and hands to the knowledge of all living beings. We are always home. Powerful, bold, and bright, this abstract landscape is a nod to icon Jimi Hendrix - "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."”
$3710 www.michellelouis.com/ to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Virginia Huber Neighborhood Watch Committee Watercolor/graphite 20 x 16
“Our homes, our neighborhoods are shared with our beloved animals. Animals are as involved in its safety and happy outcomes as are their humans. "Neighborhood Watch Committee" speaks to the politics of dealing with happenstances on a neighborhood scale. The humans are focused on problem solving outcome but their dog has noticed a newcomer, the artist, and wishes her to be on notice.”
NFS
Nancy J. Macgregor Prairie du Sac circa 1952 Acrylic paint
36 x 36
“During the second summer of the Pandemic, when my husband and I were desperately looking for a place to visit that would not expose us to Covid, I volunteered: "Let’s go to Prairie du Sac, visit places of my youth, and the home of my cousins." Back in the day, Dad drove our family, which included Mom, myself, and my two sisters, to Prairie at least once a month. We couldn't wait to see my aunt Marj, (mother's sister) and her family, which included Uncle Ray, and our two cousins, Betty and Corinne. Our car would come down out of the hills, then I would get my first view of the City Service Station my Uncle Ray and Aunt Marj owned, with the large white house in back, once belonging to Grandpa Bill. Maybe the road (highway 60) wasn't quite this steep, and maybe that station wasn't the pride of the whole town, but that's the privilege of painting your memories. Turns out that I had to get old pictures from Cousin Betty's son Jeff to recreate my vision of the town, because so much has changed. But you know what? This painting will always be 1952.”
$2500 www.nancymacgregor.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Kathleen Walter Murmurations of Home Mixed media/paper sculpture 19 x 9 “Home for me has always meant wherever I am surrounded by family and friends whom I know and love. This includes those in my wider community. I have always thought of flocks of birds, specifically Starlings and their murmurations as a symphony of community, working together as a family for the benefit of all.”
$200 MARN artists directory/ Mixed Media to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Mary E Nevicosi The Dance Pen
18 x 24
“This piece represents an ongoing artistic evolution, an extreme departure from my loose, impressionistic oil landscapes to detailed pen drawings influenced by Aboriginal paintings. The work is delicate, intricate and intense.”
$1000 www.instagram.com/marenevi to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Elizabeth Sawyer Kelly Red Onion Harvest Watercolor 15 x 22
“Home to me is a place of nurture, safety, completeness and in my life "home" typically is about the daily decisions: what we are currently eating out of our garden, what wildlife is running or flying through our yard; what flowers are blooming; or how big the snow piles are. My submission reminds me of the food we eat to sustain our days.”
$800 www.elizabethkellygallery.com/ to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Jane Barnard Into the Light Watercolor
15 x 22
“Home is a spiritual place -- quiet, sometimes otherworldly. It's an inner landscape--elusive and often fleeting. It's accessible through meditation or when I'm creating "in the zone." It's a place of light, of mental rest, of feeling at peace. If I could bottle it or summon it at will, I would! But when it comes, it's a magic carpet. So I just say thank you and carry on. The transparent, dreamy qualities of watercolor are perfectly suited to this magical place. As a child, I was told, "you have your feet firmly planted in the clouds." (said with affection.) This gets me in trouble sometimes. But it's a precious gift, creativity. It feels like I'm home.”
$500 www.barnardstudio.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Susan Merritt Walk in the Woods Photographic Composition
12 x 17
“I feel comforted when I walk through the forest. The solitude and sweet, fresh air gives me peace. The beauty of our earthly home inspires me. My birch woodland self-portrait, tells a story of my walk with the trees, and the birds I love to watch.”
$300 www.suemerrittphotography to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Annette Knapstein Nest Easy Photography
20 x 23
“Most of the art I make is inspired by my love for nature and my relationship with it. When I created this composite photograph of a hummingbird and a nest it reminded me of those times we pause for a moment and dream of home. Home. The cozy nest that protects, surrounds and comforts us. Home. The place where we can rest easy.”
NFS www.annetteknapstein.com
Ray Zovar Deep Breath Acrylic mixed 36 x 64
“Warm beiges, peaceful corals, an always welcoming, warm, gold space. Restful, playful, with depths of emotions overlapping and building on each other to infinity. That is my home.”
$3900 www.zovar.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Beth Mastin Crane River Watercolor
20 x 16
“I was raised near the Platte River before ecotourism had been invented. Every March my grandparents took us to the river and corn stubble fields where sandhill cranes bowed, danced and called. In early April thermals took them north in an upward spiral of thousands of wings. Lake Mendota's cranes arrive in March, gracing us until late October. I look for them and their colts on daily walks, and trips to the garden. This is home.”
NFS www.bethmastinart.com
Jean Lynn Sandrock Cosmic Journey Mixed Media 18 x 18 “"Look again at that dot: That's here. That's home. That's us. …To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known." Carl Sagen, American Astronomer Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space My mixed media collage, COSMIC JOURNEY, interprets how tiny our earth, our home, really is. Viewing earth from the magnitude of space with its amazing colors, asteroids, comets and stars puts us in perspective. The small blue dot in the upper middle location is Earth-my home. It is such a different scale of our home yet it gives us a glimpse of the vast beauty and our size in the universe.”
NFS www.jeansandrock.com
Linda Koenig Mom's Bread Watercolor
5x5
“As the only daughter in a large farm family, Mom spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Her first try with this bread was at age seven. Now she is eighty-nine and still baking the same bread, five loaves, every other Saturday. In our family, we simply call it "homemade bread." It is always there, in the freezer and in the breadbox. When the crust cracks in just the right way or the loaves are especially golden, Mom will sometimes call, wishing I was there. I smile, knowing what's for supper that night. Homemade bread, cold butter, coffee with cream. There is nowhere I would rather be.”
NFS
Sue Sewell Lonely Swing Stained Glass Mosaic 17 x 22
“I'm home. I see the old swing hanging from my favorite tree. Is it sad? Does it miss me? I sit on the swing. It feels small. I slowly move back and forth. I feel the gentle breeze on my face. I smell the grass. I love this place. I am at peace. I feel warm inside. I love this place. This is home.”
$350 www.s2squareddesigns.net to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Ann Haberl Up North Home Oil on linen
12 x 24
“Tucked into a secluded woods, so silent that the wind sounds loud, this cabin at the end of a retired logging road is home.”
$425 www.annhaberl.com to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
Jayne Reid Jackson We Are Stardust Mezzotint, intaglio method of printmaking 18 x 12 “WE ARE STARDUST A warm summer night in northern Wisconsin with a breeze off of the lake. One of my favorite things about being "up north" is the fact that you can see the stars. Sitting by the campfire or from down on the pier, you only need to look up and the longer you look the deeper and more abundant the stars become and our smallness is revealed. This mezzotint began as a contemplation on aging and becoming older, inevitable with each day of our lives. Looking to create a self-portrait, the concept of wearing glasses became a symbol of age as my eyes no longer focus on the details of my work without them, something my work greatly depends on. One of my signatures in my mezzotint work is the use of glass and by extension my glasses became a focus and a tool to represent how "one" we are with the world and the universe around us, our home. All things come from the stars..."We are Stardust".”
$450 www.jaynereidjackson.com/ to purchase, email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org
If you would like to purchase artwork, please email scchapter@wisconsinvisualartists.org with the name of the artist and the title of the piece and we will forward your request to the artist. Some pieces are designated Not For Sale (NFS). Dimensions are in inches: height x width (x thickness where appropriate).
Thank you for viewing!