Member Profile - Robin Koehler

http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.com 
http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com 

Something deep down inside each of us has a distinct reaction to fabric:  We are born into it, attach memories to it, and search for the perfect pieces to embrace us as we walk through life.  I choose fabric as my medium because of the tactile quality to it.  The colors, patterns, and layers all around me challenge me to freeze moments in time adding texture as I go to create original textural stories.
 
My passion for painting and beading has added new layers to my art.  It is a unique and exciting challenge to find a way to merge these mediums into something that speaks to people.  The goal is to manipulate the fabric as much as possible without losing the tactile quality that draws the viewer in and makes them WANT to touch it.

Member Profile - John Phillip Davis

http://johnphillipdavis.com

When looking at the work of John Phillip a few things come to the forefront. Muscularity is one. Davis relies not solely but significantly on actual and implied texture. Having had an extensive career in design, 3d modeling and animation, when similar principles are applied to a flat surface a unique quasi-dimensional aspect appears. Another significant attribute is the almost inescapable polarities involved. Davis weaves a visual tapestry challenging the viewer to accord the beauty of line and composition with the “controlled” chaos at work on the surface. Davis asserts that he hopes that the overall result is a pleasant but unexplained passion that grows with the viewer.  

Member Profile - Michael Aldag

www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/a/aldag

I am a fine artist that works with mixed media.  Issues of contemporary spirituality drive my artistic vision. Images of church edifices, crosses, and stained glass windows pervade my work, with overtones of sobriety, nostalgia, and brokenness.  My body of work sheds a unique light on modern-day spirituality, provoking the viewer to reflect on the increasing influence of culture on religion. 

  

Member Profile - Teri Rosario

www.terirosario.com 

I'm a Nebraska based artist whose paintings have graced the walls of corporate, government and private collectors alike. Working in a realistic style, I have translated the visions of my clients into works that inspire conversation, pride, inner thought and sometimes simply a serenity of place.
 
Traditional Realism is the genre I am most passionate about and within which I work in my Oil Paintings.  I have studied and researched the methods of oil painting, which the old masters used.   The use of successive layers of paint, each with more oil content, gives a painting depth that I think is unsurpassed in any 2D medium.  I have also employed some of the techniques used by the great illustrators of the 20th Century. Those methods help to give the right “pop” to the central elements. I find that combining these methods give my paintings drama and power.  
 
In addition, to make my work more durable for the Public Art Market, I again use a tried and true method of painting on primed, wood panels, specifically Masonite. Unlike other composite wood panels produced using formaldehyde-based resins to bind fibers, Masonite is made using natural ingredients only, which makes it an environmentally friendly product. 

Member Profile - Darrell Hagan

www.mnartists.org/darrell_hagan

Darrell Hagan is a self-taught artist whose work explores a variety of interesting themes. He has worked in the Minneapolis Arts District for the last 15 years and continues to be a vital member of the community. His work examines the idea of environmental change and its affect on the many different animals and people that belong there. His work shows a respect for the surrealist masters that have come before and pays homage to artists of the twenty-first century.

 
His acrylic paintings allow the viewer to feel as though they might walk into the scene by utilizing space and wide openness as a major part of the composition which makes the art about the hidden meanings inherent in the work.  His intriguing command of color forms a common denominator throughout his body of work.  It allows him to capture the provocative narrative between subject and surroundings. His spin on traditional figure work gives the work a presence that is both striking and seductive.

Member Profile - Karen Kamenetzky

Fiber Art 

www.karenkamenetzky.com

Currently, my fiber wall hangings are inspired by microscopic/cellular imagery. All changes in essence happen on that infinitesimal level and result in the world we experience. My work is a kind of invented biology zooming in on that fundamental nature of things and bringing it into

vision.

Starting with white cotton and silk, I add vibrant saturated color using dye and paint. Stitching adds lines of light and shadow as well as color. There is a tactile pleasure to handling and making art with fabric. I work loosely from sketches and concepts but each piece travels a route of evolution and change. My challenge is to trust the process to unfold.

Member Profile - Scott Campbell Reuman

Conundrum Designs, Inc.

Nederland, CO

http://www.ConundrumDesigns.com

ScottReuman@ConundrumDesigns.com

"Creativity is the source that sustains and connects all humanity. Without it, there would be no change. With it, we are small but real gods and goddesses.   We are all artists, even if you never pick up paint and brush, chisel and hammer, or pencil and paper. Art is a way of thinking, a way of being, a way of life."

There are certain things I believe deeply: We are all artists. Like the form hidden in the stone awaiting the artist to see and release it, the same is true of the artist in each of us. The artist is there, awaiting release. The older we get, the more forceful the chiseling required, and the more 

intoxicating the reward.

I also believe in reciprocity of reverence. Applied to humans, this principle helps us feel valued, respond positively and contribute to society. The artist/medium relationship is built of this same bond, fiber upon fiber.

These two things - the hidden art in all of us and a reverence for all things - guide me as woodworker, sculptor, painter, writer and even in previous lives (biomedical engineer and physicist). In a sense, we are all very real gods and goddesses, creating each day with our eyes and minds and hands.

Certain elements of my work repeatedly appear: flowing forms, curves, the contrast of mixed materials, river imagery, and water. Wild things, diversity, human insignificance in the universe, all serve as inspiration.

My work, then, is not contained within a theme. It is instead from within; born in the seat of unconscious, heated in the forge of mind, fueled by a life of observation, and tempered by the heart of soul.