“How do we respond to the stark contrasts and overwhelming misery that exist in our world?”
- Susan Brooks

*"Burkina Boy and His Donkey" by Susan Brooks, 31x20in, pastel on mat board (2017)*

Susan Brooks is a children’s book illustrator, drawing on her own life experience in Mozambique, Africa, and Turkish Cypress to create original stories. Her images are prosaic, with notes of affectionate sentimentalism. “As an artist I am fascinated with the human countenance,” explains Brooks. “I believe every person is created in the image of God, having an inner light that can sometimes be captured or at least hinted at in great art. The challenge of creating a painting that gives the viewer pause, that causes them to feel a connection with the divine through beauty, keeps me returning to my first artistic love, portrait drawing and painting.”

On her website, Brooks talks about how some of her images are inspired by her encounters with poverty: “How do we respond to the stark contrasts and overwhelming misery that exist in our world? How can we help? Guilt and shame are not the answer. The answer is probably different for each one of us.”

Brooks taught art for many years, including her current position at Portland Christian School. She has worked in various mediums, but she uses primarily oil pastels now. “I have developed a style of painting with oil pastels that results in striking portraits that glow with dramatic light, various textures, and complementary color contrasts. I work with oil pastels on a textured surface of mat board or pastel paper, which allows me to build up many layers of color with a thick, buttery, texture in some areas, while leaving other areas thin, allowing the background colors and the texture of the surface to show. For me, working with oil pastels is the best of both worlds, allowing for painterly textures and colors combined with expressive mark making.”

*"Tanzanian Children" by Susan Brooks, 17x20in, pastel on paper (2017)*

Brooks is a member of the American Impressionist Society, Inc. & Louisville Visual Art, and has been included in Fine Art America’s Artist Listings.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts from Lipscomb University 1985; Master of Education from Indiana Wesleyan, 2007
Website: http://www.susanebrooks.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sebrooks81/

*"Keeping Up with Big Sister" by Susan Brooks, 14x11in, pastel on paper (2017)*

*"Ollie at the Beach" by Susan Brooks, 19x25in, pastel on paper (2017)*

*"Tanzanian Children (detail)" by Susan Brooks*

*"Reading with Poppy" by Susan Brooks, 25x19in, pastel on paper (2016)*

*"Ollie at the Beach (detail)"by Susan Brooks*

Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. — *Written by Keith Waits.* *Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.*

Photography

Vignette: Marcia Lamont Hopkins

Josh Jenkins · July 13, 2017

“Time, memory, and the natural world always play a key role in my work.” – Marcia Lamont Hopkins

By applying a poetic and often metaphorical language to her photographic images, Marcia Lamont Hopkins opens the door to the unknown, to multiple realities, both real and artificial, so that one questions what is really happening.

Her images establish a link between the landscape’s reality and the artist’s imagination. While this could, to some extent, be said to be true of any artist using landscapes, Hopkins pushes the limits of our perception of what is real. Each object or environment seems entirely natural and plausible, yet the juxtaposition within the artist’s gauzy, dreamlike atmosphere creates an uneasy sense of mystery. Is our understanding shifting in relationship to time, memory, or some other reality that we can’t quite define?

"Casaubon" by Marcia Hopkins, 17x22in, digital archival print (2017), $500 | BUY NOW — *"Casaubon" by Marcia Hopkins, 17x22in, digital archival print (2017), $500 |* *BUY NOW*

In her artist’s statement, Hopkins explains it this way: “The series, Causabon’s Illusion, crafts a series of metaphorical vignettes rooted in elements of magical realism and the mind’s tendency to search for all-inclusive answers. In George Elliot’s Middlemarch, Edward Causabon spends his life in a futile and absurd attempt to find a comprehensive explanation for the whole of civilization’s knowledge and mythologies. Deluded, he believes that he alone has the key to humanity’s searching, an illusion which may be reflected in our culture today.”

"The Beekeeper" by Marcia Hopkins, 17x22in, digital archival print (2017), $500 | BUY NOW — *"The Beekeeper" by Marcia Hopkins, 17x22in, digital archival print (2017), $500 | BUY NOW*

As part of her 60WRD/MIN project, Art Historian and Chicago Tribune art critic Lori Waxman wrote of Hopkin’s work: “We like to control animals and nature, but when they get beyond our understanding things tend to get interesting. Hopkins envisions overgrown forests, historic graveyards, farm animals, and occasionally people, often in combination, in impeccable digital prints that blend multiple shots into believable wholes. The weirder and more convincing, the better: a sheep enmeshed in a dense forest seems as if it and the trees are made of the same stuff, a lama in a rolling meadow becomes one with the horizon and the clouds.”

Hopkins currently has a solo exhibit at Gratz Park Inn in Lexington, KY.

*Burnaway: The Voice of Art In The South, March 27, 2017

Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Education: BFA in Film and Fine Art and a Ph.D. in Psychology.
Website: http://www.marcia-hopkins.squarespace.com/

"Cemetery Sheep" by Marcia Hopkins, 17x22in, digital archival print (2017), $500 | BUY NOW — *"Cemetery Sheep" by Marcia Hopkins, 17x22in, digital archival print (2017), $500 | BUY NOW*

"Wedding" by Marcia Hopkins, 17x22in, digital archival print (2017), $500 | BUY NOW — *"Wedding" by Marcia Hopkins, 17x22in, digital archival print (2017), $500 | BUY NOW*

"Pyramid" by Marcia Hopkins, 17x22in, digital archival print (2017), $500 | BUY NOW — *"Pyramid" by Marcia Hopkins, 17x22in, digital archival print (2017), $500 | BUY NOW*

Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more. — *Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more.*

Painting

Vignette: Gretchen Treitz

Josh Jenkins · July 11, 2017

“Trees for me are a symbol of strength, a metaphor of hope.” – Gretchen Treitz

*"Sycamore" by Gretchen Treitz, 8x8in, watercolor, silverleaf (2016)*

Trees are important in the work of Gretchen Treitz, the form providing compositional structure while also expressing a highly spiritual theme. Everyone has heard of druids, but Treitz is following a longer, more complicated tradition of using the tree as a religious symbol; their endless cycle of renewal allows an easy metaphor for life, and the evergreen has often represented the eternal or divine for precisely its lack of a cycle of change. No death or renewal, but constant and unending life.

“I am amazed how trees seem to personify a perfect being in adversity. My current series of trees is an attempt to explore a reality beyond appearances. Like many artists from the past, I use nature, light, and celestial luminosity to search for the divine. Painting trees with silver leaf not only highlights their shape but also calls forth the universal tension between matter and spirit. I engage trees to approach the spiritual realms of the wilderness, the cosmos, and the mysteries of the soul. Trees for me are a symbol of strength, a metaphor of hope. Silver leaf, white gold leaf, and aluminum leaf emulate a kind of ethereal light. I utilize these materials to represent the delicate vulnerability of sky, wind, atmosphere, and other environmental factors. Other times I manipulate these metal leaves and watercolor to embody the wonder of the life energy of a tree’s progression against these forces.”

*"Light on Broken Places II" by Gretchen Treitz, 15x15in, watercolor, silverleaf (2017)*

Treitz was just a part of Painting Exhibition #1 at Galerie Hertz in Louisville, and in 2016 participated in Aqueous, Kentucky Watercolor Society, Actor’s Theater, Louisville, and in Horizon: Contemporary Landscape, Community Arts Center, Danville, KY.

Permanent Collections:
The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn New York
National Westminster Bank, New York, New York
Hilliard-Lyons Collection, Louisville, KY
Holcomb Farm Permanent Collection, Granby, CT
Private Collections in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Michigan

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: BFA, Stephens College, Columbia, MO; MFA, Brooklyn College, City University of New York
Website: http://www.gretchentreitz.com/

*"Kentucky's State Champion Swamp Chestnut Oak" by Gretchen Treitz, 14x14in, watercolor, silverleaf (2016)*

"Good Fruit II" by Gretchen Treitz, 25x25in, watercolor, silverleaf (2016), $2000 | BUY NOW — *"Good Fruit II" by Gretchen Treitz, 25x25in, watercolor, silverleaf (2016), $2000 | BUY NOW*

*"Rose on Gerardia" by Gretchen Treitz, 10x12in, watercolor, silverleaf (2015)*

*"Study for In the Shadows" by Gretchen Treitz, 8x10in, watercolor, silverleaf (2015)*

Painting

Vignette: William Pichette

Josh Jenkins · July 7, 2017

What portions of our self do we edit, manipulate, and hide from view for the greater good of likes and followers? – William Pichette

"Under Control" by William Pichette, 8x20in, acrylic on printed canvas (2016), $210 | BUY NOW — *"Under Control" by William Pichette, 8x20in, acrylic on printed canvas (2016), $210 | BUY NOW*

William Pichette is a painter who sees the inherent qualities of his medium as integral to expressing the themes in the imagery. In his own words: “The thrill of the acrylic paint medium comes from how quick you must work to create. The paint dries very fast but each attempt at progress easily hides the previous attempts. Hiding ourselves proves more difficult. Once we reveal our truths through action and speech, it is not so easily undone. In a world where compliance and filtering our daily expression is the norm, muting the brilliance of our emotion is preferred, and it would be an outrageous offense to demonstrate weakness, vulnerability, honesty—humanity—I cherish in sight of visibility.”

Pichette often sets his figures against patterned backgrounds, the human a silhouette initiating a conversation with negative space, full of emotional suggestion, signs and portents.

“My pieces are inspired both by how we see and how we are seen. How do we see ourselves behind closed doors, looking in vanity mirrors, and through the lenses of our Instagram and Snapchat feed? What portions of our self do we edit, manipulate, and hide from view for the greater good of likes and followers? Those raw bits; the understanding of ourselves we hold so true that we would hate for others to see. Those nuances draw my focus; typically not blemishes and physical flaws of our outward appearance, but parts of our body none-the-less. They are the fights with mental illness and turmoil of thought, our agitation and need for direction, the imprints of the souls of others and the scars of love lost.”

Pichette just participated in 2017 Group Exhibition, Queer Voices, at Open Community Arts Center, Louisville, KY.

Age: 25
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Education: Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Ethnic Studies (Asian-American Studies), University of Texas
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Shquiggles/

"Impressionable Young Minds - Christine" by William Pichette, 8x10in, acrylic and ink on canvas (2016), $140 | BUY NOW — *"Impressionable Young Minds - Christine" by William Pichette, 8x10in, acrylic and ink on canvas (2016), $140 | BUY NOW*

"Wanderlust" by William Pichette, 8x10in, acrylic and ink on canvas (2016), $140 | BUY NOW — *"Wanderlust" by William Pichette, 8x10in, acrylic and ink on canvas (2016), $140 | BUY NOW*

"Impressionable Young Minds - Will" by William Pichette, 8x10in, acrylic and ink on canvas (2016), $140 | BUY NOW — *"Impressionable Young Minds - Will" by William Pichette, 8x10in, acrylic and ink on canvas (2016), $140 | BUY NOW*

"See and Be Seen" by William Pichette, 8x10in, acrylic and ink on canvas (2015), $110 | BUY NOW — *"See and Be Seen" by William Pichette, 8x10in, acrylic and ink on canvas (2015), $110 | BUY NOW*

"Turbulent Thought" by William Pichette, 18x18in, acrylic on wood board (2016), $375 | BUY NOW — *"Turbulent Thought" by William Pichette, 18x18in, acrylic on wood board (2016), $375 |* *BUY NOW*

Photography, Mixed Media

Vignette: Jenny Zeller

Josh Jenkins · July 5, 2017

“I continually look to the past to process the present.” – Jenny Zeller

*"Suckle" by Jenny Zeller, 8.5x8.5in, digital photograph, encaustic and modeling impasto waxes, oil pastels and image transfer on board*

Jenny Zeller is the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest’s first recipient of a ‘Regional Artist in Residence’ award, part of their Arts in Nature program, which includes residencies for artists from around the world.

On her website, Zeller expresses enthusiasm for the opportunity: “Bernheim is providing me a stipend and temporary living quarters in exchange for a work of art to be left to the Bergheim Foundation. This particular residency is also unique in that I have access to all horticulture and operations departments, as well as ecologists, scientists, naturalists and forest managers. I am also allowed admittance to most scheduled hikes and eco classes offered throughout the calendar year. I have literally been invited to become part of the entire ecosystem at this amazing place and I love how this program enhances the visitor experience through arts interaction.”

Zeller, who is primarily a photographer, spent the month of April at Bernheim, working at Lake Nevins Studio and shooting images for a planned multi-panel photography installation to be installed on the Bergheim grounds. Thursday July 6th, she will be speaking about her experiences at Bernheim at the Wildlands Social Club, an event hosted by Kentucky Natural Lands Trust at 21c Louisville, 6-9pm.

*"Through the Trees Comes Autumn" by Jenny Zeller, 30x40in, digital image transfers and oil paint on custom made aluminum substrate*

In 2017, Zeller was also awarded an Artist Professional Development Grant from the Great Meadows Foundation. The travel grant allowed her to attend CONTACT, the world’s largest photography festival, held in Toronto Canada each May.

Zeller has also been the Education Coordinator for the Louisville Photo Biennial since 2015, and is currently teaching a class at Zoom Groups' Studio Works in partnership with the Biennial, a 12-week course that will result in a Studio Works exhibition for the Louisville Photo Biennial in October.

The 2017 Louisville Photo Biennial is a regional festival occurring in over 60 venues throughout the Louisville, Lexington, and Southern Indiana area from September 22-November 11. Through exhibits, receptions, workshops and educational opportunities, the Biennial celebrates the medium of photography in all of its richness and variety, and its ability to touch and enrich our lives.

*"New (found) Harmony" by Jenny Zeller, 24x24in, dye sublimanation print on aluminum*

As an exhibiting artist, Zeller’s work will be seen in two 2017 Louisville Photo Biennial. The first, Altered Perceptions, an LVA Photo-Biennial Exhibit at Metro Hall, runs July 17 through January 12, 2018. Some of the images we see here are featured in that show, many shot using an iPhone with a macro lens. Zeller investigates nature as an explorer, introducing her full-size human self into a world of significantly smaller scale, momentarily shrinking her sensibilities to the task.

Then she will have a solo exhibition at Swanson Contemporary entitled Aluminature, which will run September 27th- October 28th, with an Artist’s reception the evening of October 6th, 2017.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Age: 44
Education: BA in Art Administration, University of Kentucky; attended photography classes, Florida Keys Community College
Website: http://www.jennyzeller.com/

*"Fallen" by Jenny Zeller, 8.5x8.5in, digital photograph, encaustic and modeling impasto waxes, oil pastels and image transfer on board*

*"Florida Reflected" by Jenny Zeller, 30.5x31.5in, digital image transfers and oil paint on custom made aluminum substrate*

*"HerLand" by Jenny Zeller, 24x24in, dye sublimanation print on aluminum*

Vignette: Susan E. Brooks

“How do we respond to the stark contrasts and overwhelming misery that exist in our world?”- Susan Brooks