Come and be WOWed!

 
Photo by Curt Knoke
 

Here are some of the artists from around Wisconsin who have
participated in earlier juried shows at the WOWSPACE.

Bonnie (Bonita) Kostrzak, Ogdensburg, WI...my art is inspired by fond memories of rural life on a family farm in mid-century Wisconsin.
My brush strokes, in oil, acrylic and mixed water media; on canvas, board, and a variety of paper supports; represent my attempt to share with the viewer the love and respect for my Wisconsin heritage. I work in a soft, representational style, in bold "feel good" colors with themes that tug at the heart. When I finish a piece, I feel I have put a memory in place for all to enjoy. When you see my art, please know that you are sharing an artist's heart in her journey home.

Sharon Feathers, Ringle, WI, a retired kindergarten teacher who now has time to pursue her interest in art, always looking for that found moment to capture her love of the natural work. Photography is her favorite medium, but she also works in watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink and colored pencil.
She says, "I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it."  Visit my website: www.sharonfeathers.zenfolio.com

 Patrick Plunkett, Wausau, WI, is a retired manufacturing engineer who worked in the metals working industries. He has been creating abstract metal sculptures since 1998. Each piece is unique. "Pinwheel" has been fabricated from 3" electric conduit tubing and .06" thick annealed copper sheet. The base is painted in hammer metal black, the copper is hand polished and coated with varnish--an abstract view of the simple pinwheel. His work has been in many shows as well as galleries and private collections. He is the sculptor of "International Peace Sculpture" in Wausau, WI.

 Laura Krasinski, Menomonee Falls, WI..."I have been working with fabric and making quilts for about 9 years now...and I am an award winner!
My quilts have been in many galleries in Wisconsin and other states, including a special exhibit in the "Out on a Limb" exhibit at the Houston International Quilt Festival. I have a passion for quilting and teaching others to quilt."

Sharon Rotz, a textile artist, designer and quilting instructor living in the woodlands of Mosinee, WI. Inspired by the beauty of nature surrounding her, Sharon uses fabric pattern, texture and color to translate this world into quilted art works. Her award-winning quilts have been juried into major quilts shows and art exhibits and have been purchased by both public and private collectors. Sharon has written four books, and her own line of quilting patterns. She enjoys sharing her expertise through workshops and lectures.

Myra Nye, Antigo, WI... Myra's scratchboard drawings are done on inked clayboard where line by line the subjects come to life.
This scratchboard, "Power in the Pines", is a memorial to the early lumbering industry in northern WI where her great uncles and grandfather
were teamsters. With an offset color printer used, all lines were printed in an ed. of 100.

Alan Clough... "I am a retired Art teacher residing in Eland, Wi.  Landscapes have commonly been the subject of my work in Acrylic painting.  Recently, my subject matter has taken a turn from realism toward surrealism.  Realistic subjects and details have been applied to abstract compositions.  I enjoy viewer comments and reactions to these paintings.  It is a pleasure to know that people enjoy my work."
 

Rhonda Bengtson, Antigo, WI...Being a full-time special education teacher doesn't let me paint nearly as much as I would like.
It has become a great way for me to relax. A move from Oklahoma to Wisconsin in 2003 got me started painting.
I've never had any formal art training but I have become passionate about painting large, colorful flowers in acrylics.

Faye Barber says "There has never been a time in my life where I thought I wanted to be anything other than an art teacher and artist. If I could use three words that describe how I feel about teaching art, I would say, 'Share, Care and Inspire.'" Faye retired this year after 27 years teaching art in Oakfield Middle and High School. Her interests are wide-rangeing: she has taught mask making, puppetry and has been a professional photographer, clown and puppeteer. She spent 3 years presenting "The History and Culture of the Woodland Indians through the Art of Puppetry," performing over 300 shows as she traveled around Wisconsin. Summer classes improve her skills as an artist but are also personally enriching. Having taken stained glass classes, she now teaches work in stained glass. Her current focus is working on an Armor series of ceramic sculptures and a series of large acrylic canvasses that she hope to unveil late in 2012. She prefers to work in photography, ceramics, fabric design, traditional Native American arts, watercolor and acrylic painting.

Donna Barber-Schwefel started painting seriously at the age of 13 when her Mother and Father gave her some oil house paint and an old linen window shade.  Her Mother, a self taught artist, then gave her lessons and tubes of oil paints.  At age 17, she received a Certificate of Merit from the Milwaukee Journal H.S.  Art Contest for her painting "Pot of Gold."  This was fitting because Donna's birthday is March 17.  At age 18 she was commissioned by Tigerton High School to paint a large snow scene which is still on display at the school.

From age 40 - 52 she developed a 3D effect with acrylic paste and a palette knife on natural wood.  She painted wildlife on free form wood, knots and bark.  She did indoor and outdoor art shows all over the state and a few outside of the state.  She has now returned back to acrylic painting on canvas.  She paints mainly to gift friends and family.  She works mainly from photographs, fantasy and memory.

At the Age of 83, after a life time of painting, she has enough work built up to do a one woman show. 
She strives to always improve her own work.  Presently she is seeking a retrospective show.

Julia Collins (retired from the graphic arts and exhibits industry) works in a variety of media including watercolor, oils, acrylic, wood, fabric, pencil portraiture of people and/or their pets, and leaded glass. She is currently devoting her time to illustrating her poetry and compiling it into what she hopes one day will be a flashy, full color coffee table book. Her lists of awards include, and are not limited to, an award of excellence at WOWSPACE for which she is flattered and grateful and a blue ribbon at the Lake County Fair in Grayslake, Illinois for what she recalls to be a finger painting rendered at the age of five. Bearing in mind the wide span of years between those two successes, she considered it a good thing that she creates art for the challenges and the joys it brings into her life…and not the recognition.

Ron Zdroik is a life-long artist by vocation and by avocation. He has been in the graphic arts and printing industry for many years, having owned and operated a design firm for twenty years specializing in advertising literature and illustrations. He is now a patent illustrator with numerous ancillary responsibilities such as patent searches and firing up the grill for lunches. Being creative in many mediums, he has worked with airbrush, scratchboard, ink, pencil and photography as well as wood (wood turnings and furniture), metal and concrete. He resides in Wauwatosa with his wife Julia (a fabulous artist and poet) and their Airedale dog, Copernicus, who truly believes that the universe revolves around him.