Whimsical garden art by Kim Groff-Harrington

Northwest native and popular recycle artist Kim Groff-Harrington has been using tin, bottle caps and 'Stuff', wired together in her unique way for the past 10 years. Her work can be seen around the northwest and around the United States.

She took the Red Bull Challenge in 2006 and was honored to have her piece as one of the thirty-five pieces selected from eighty-six entries and displayed at the Red Bull Art of the Can Exhibit at the Weisman Art Museum in Minnesota. In the summer of 2008 Kim was invited to attend the South Bridgehampton Children's Museum recycled art event in New York.

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My work comes from my desire and need to reduce/reuse/recycle and the challenge of using discarded and surplus materials to revive and continue in the folk art tradition of taking broken, unwanted, discarded items and fringing new life to them. The process includes much pounding, cutting of metal and my unique way of wiring materials together.

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Classes and events

 

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Batton Clayworks

New work from artists Ann and Sandy Batton has arrived.   What fun!!  We met Ann and Sandy when we attended Kentuck Festival of the Arts in October.  Their work is wonderful and very playful - it captured out attention right away.
 
Being lovers of nature, the Battons produce forms that are based on the organic shapes that surround them. Many customers, friends and art lovers alike frequently comment on the Dr. Suess or Alice In Wonderland aspect of the entire body of work. When asked, they generally say that it was not intentional, but they do live their lives with a sense of spontinaity and whimsy.

They are a husband and wife team, in business together since 2003. To start from the beginning, Margaret Ann (Richards) grew up in Fairfax, Virginia and graduated from East Tennessee State University in 1997. In the spring of 1998 she moved to Asheville, NC with a job working for Mangum Pottery in Weaverville, NC. It was there she learned production and business skills. Sandy Batton grew up in Port Gibson, Mississippi and graduated from Saint Andrews Presbyterian College in 1997. He moved to Asheville in the winter of 1997. When they met in 2000, Sandy began to learn the trade and went on to start the business in 2003.

The Battons create all of their work in their home studio. "Our studio is a labor of love. We are always in between projects to improve it and make it more suitable for production, our children and visitors." They operate primarily with three large electric kilns, one wheel and a slab roller. Currently, they are in the process of developing new glaze patterns for the gas kiln.

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New, new, new...

Marcel Flisiuk has sent us 'Sitting in the Pond' and 'Waking Up Far Away #2', both wonderful small oil on canvas paintings.  As his father wrote, "Marcel owns a style of his own - readily recognizable and inimitable as well as literary merit of his images and their titles."

Also new to the walls are the fine art clay wall reliefs by Rhonda Cearlock.  Rhonda's wall reliefs are handmade porcelain stoneware and terracotta clay that are painted with acrylic and oil patinas and then varnished. 

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Fun arrivals from last week

New artwork by Stephen Wysocki - a colorful school of fish, bluegills and a crappie with more to come.  Just like the real things!
 
New work by Fred Conlon.  Gotta love his Venus Flytraps for the garden. 
 
Great fun!

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Art from recycled glass...new artist, Diana Branscome

Branscome Glass came to life in 2005.  Diana Branscome began by using art glass to create pieces that ranged from mirrors to suncatchers to tableware.  In the spring of 2008, she became inspired also to use recycled glass as her raw material.  Diana now works with local restaurants to find and salvage the most unusual and beautiful colors of bottles so that she can give them new lives.

Hunting and gathering of beautiful and unusual bottles is the first step. Most of my raw material comes from just a few miles away, though people farther afield sometimes bring bottles along when they come to my small city.  I wash and de-tag the bottles first. Then I break them into pieces, arrange them for beauty and structural stability, and melt them at more than a thousand degrees Fahrenheit.  I let the pieces cool, then I heat them again to a slightly lower temperature over ceramic forms so that they take on the shapes of bowls or plates.  After washing again to remove the kiln wash remnants, I sign each piece with my name and the piece's inventory number. 

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New artist: Steven McGovney

Artist Steven McGovney has worked in ceramic sculpture for most of his career.  His ceramic work is in several national collections, and he teaches at the college level and gives workshops nationally.

Trained in Design and Sculpture with an MFA at from Otis Art Institute, Steven McGovney has worked in many media, but focused on the sculptural side of ceramics.  He has done whimsical ceramic art, and sculpture. 

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Studio visit: Dieter Stipe

My travels on Wednesday brought me back to the Plymouth area for a visit to the work space of metal artist Dieter Stipe.  Wow.  Dieter's work begins with his drawings that eventually make their way into a computer drawing program similar to a CAD system.  This system is integrated with a huge CNC plasma cutter.  From there Dieter has designed tools specific that help him do what he wants to do with the metal.  His ideas and creations are endless.

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Studio visit - Michael Smith

Self-taught artist Michael Smith loves to create artwork using salvaged items in ways they were never intended to be used.  It was interesting to see his workspace - an array of parts and pieces - all waiting for their transformation.  He thinks of his process as destructive testing - I just think it's fun and creative.  Enjoy!

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Look what the wind blew in

Today started out with a visit to Hidden Hollow Garden Art in New Holstein.  The forty mile an hour winds made for a chilly pickup, but Jaime and Pete's colorful work warmed us up right away.  Thanks you two!  It's going to look awesome in the gardens.  Flowers, birdhouse and more.
 
Our next stop was Abler Art Glass Gallery in Kiel.  John, Bonnie, Josh and Naomi team together to make this family operation a success.  What amazing work.  Here's a photo of Robyn and John chatting about a commission that they are working on for a stained glass hanging light.  They loaded us up with beautiful new work - glass garden flowers, olive oil bottles, hummingbird feeders, and coasters.
 
Last but not least, our new t-shirts are here.  We have a new design on three colors - ash grey seafoam, butter (yellow) and slate.  Very nice.  Thanks to the design crew at Wildwood Productions in Madison for your help in making this happen - finally.  We did it!

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