Vignette: M.J. Kinman

“Fire, the most dramatic of the four elements. You can't make excellent bourbon without it.”    – M.J. Kinman

"Char #4" by M.J. Kinman, Hand-painted cotton; poly batting; poly thread, 48x81in, 2017, $6500

M.J. Kinman creates fiber art compositions of geometric shapes in kaleidoscopic patterns. In her Bourbon Diamonds Series she captures the fire and brilliance of Kentucky's iconic spirit, with each piece inspired by a particular label from Kentucky’s most famous export. For example, “Char #4” recognizes Old Forester bourbon's heritage of crafting their barrels themselves, a process that requires setting the new oak aflame. 

“Bourbon isn't bourbon without fire,” explains Kinman.“Unless the interior of a new oak barrel is allowed to burn, there can be no blackening and crackling of the wood. Those tiny cracks invite the whiskey to penetrate the oak during the hot, lazy Kentucky summers, providing it's amber and smoky tones.” 

“I make the biggest diamonds in the world…but instead of working with the hardest substances on Earth, I work with the softest. For the past 20 years, I’ve used fabric and paint to create larger-than-life portraits of colored gemstones. My goal is to find a stone’s personality – the story of light and color – encased within. This work, part of my Bourbon Diamonds series, celebrates the importance of fire in the making of Kentucky bourbon.”

"Fire & Ice" by M.J. Kinman, Hand-painted cotton; poly batting; poly thread, 82x50in, 2017, $7500

Kinman will be showing at the Jackson Dinsdale Art Center at Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska, January 2 through 30, 2018. There will be an Artist’s Reception on Friday, January 12.

M.J. Kinman will be participating in the 2017 Open Studio Weekend, sponsored by Louisville Visual Art and University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute. Her studio, located in the Clifton neighborhood, will be open the weekend of November 4 and 5. Tickets for Open Studio Weekend will go on sale October 16. Click here for more information.

Hometown: Hastings, Nebreska
Age: 55
Education: Bachelors of Social Work (BSW), Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, Ohio; Masters in Social Work (MSW), University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan
Website: www.mjkinman.com
Instagram: mjkinman709

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"Angel's Share" by M.J. Kinman, Hand-painted cotton; poly batting; poly thread, 58x58in, 2017, $5500

"Devil's Due" by M.J. Kinman, Hand-painted cotton; poly batting; poly thread, 53x78in, 2016, $7500

"Blush" by M.J. Kinman, Hand-painted cotton; poly batting; poly thread, 85x55in, 2014, $7500

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

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Vignette: Claudia Hammer - Open Studio Weekend Artist

Beauty In Everyday Objects

"General Electric" by Claudia Hammer, 20x20in, 2017

The Greeks saw the divine in themselves and depicted the gods in human form, and for thousands of years it was deemed that art should only celebrate the extraordinary. Eventually artists found grace and beauty in the common people in society, and Modern Art found worthwhile subjects in the mundane and ubiquitous. Think of Pop Art’s fascination with media and advertising.

Claudia Hammer has a considerable reputation for painting portraits, and the human figure, but more recently she has turned her attention to static objects.
“Drawing or painting the figure has always been a pleasurable challenge,” says Hammer. “However, in the last few years I have really have been loving the still life. I seek the beauty in everyday objects like coffee cups, scissors, marbles, crossword puzzles, bottles, and appliances. In focusing on these items I hope to show gratitude for the overlooked but useful things that engage us in life.”

There is a thick layer of nostalgia over the objects Hammer chooses to paint. How many of the current population has ever seen an old-style, black rotary telephone? We have fancier electric mixers in today’s kitchens, but the sleek, mid-20th century design of the one we see here is classic. It might give us a warm feeling to remember our grandmother’s kitchen or grandpa’s workbench, but could it be possible that the utilitarian tools of their day were actually this beautiful? Hammer renders the objects with a sufficient degree of realism to impress us with her technique, but there is also an atmosphere, crafted from evocative background textures and a sophisticated sense of light, that places these things in the realm of misty memory.

"Old School Communication" by Claudia Hammer, oil on wood, 20x20in, 2017

Hammer will be showing at PYRO Gallery, where she is a member, with Mary Dennis Kannapell. The exhibit, called Modern Muse is scheduled for April 12 - May 26, 2018.

Claudia Hammer will be participating in the 2017 Open Studio Weekend, sponsored by Louisville Visual Art and University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute. Her studio, located in the NuLu neighborhood, will be open the weekend of November 4 and 5. Tickets for Open Studio Weekend will go on sale October 16. Click here for more information.

Hometown: New Albany Indiana
Age: 67
Website: http://www.claudiahammer.com/
Instagram: Claudia Hammer
 

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"Singer Sewing No2" by Claudia Hammer, oil on panel, 20x20in, 2017

"Tools and Orbs working together" by Claudia Hammer, oil on panel, 24x30in, 2017

"Old School Communication" by Claudia Hammer, oil on panel, 20x20in, 2017

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

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Vignette: Dawn Middleton - Open Studio Weekend Artist

“I spend a lot of time ruminating and then I create.” – Dawn Middleton

"Shell with Branches" by Dawn Middleton, pendant size is 3x4in, 2016

Dawn Middleton is an art jewelry designer and fabricator who hand fabricate each piece out of sterling silver, gold, bronze, semi-precious, precious stones, and found objects. She finds inspiration in the organic forms and lines of her natural surroundings.

"Shell with Aquamarine Necklace" by Dawn Middleton, 2x3in, 2016

Of course, this is true of so many artists and artisans, and that they bend and shape metal to reflect such an aesthetic is always remarkable. Middleton lets the chosen stone lead the design, so that the Shell Aquamarine Necklace we see here envelopes the delicate shell in tender, scalloped folds, while the stone below it is set a bit more traditionally, yet its weight, appropriately positioned beneath the lighter shell, anchors the design.

Middleton’s origins as an artisan might seem surprising: “Interestingly, it was Ford Motor Company that nurtured me early on. For 14 years, I worked in Ford’s body shop, part of that time as a welder. I left when the company downsized, and from there I took personal responsibility for my growth. I studied interior design for four years, and those studies helped me understand that I could produce artful objects by applying the shapes, colors and textures of nature to jewelry design.”

“This passion and my skill were enhanced through metal smith classes. That changed my desire to bring into this world something special. I am inspired by my natural surroundings, and I love gardening and being one with nature, and my jewelry designs reflect that special part of me.” I have been metal smithing for only five years, and like the right plants, in the right soil, in the right sunlight, with the right amount of rain, my growth and the results have been evident.”

Middleton feels a profound spiritual element in her creative process, and a communal pride with her fellow artisans. “When I light up the torch, design ideas flow to me as I go through the process, and inspiration spills out from my soul. I am blessed to be working in my in-home studio, where I spend four to five days a week on my craft, always giving gratitude for the wonderful abundance that is all around. My Hoosier landscape inspires me every day during every season, leading me to why being an Indiana Artisan is important to me. I wanted to represent the state I live in with my creations and get to know other Indiana Artisans. I am proud that my work represents Indiana, and personally I feel blessed to be a part of a great organization focused on what is flowing from very creative people.”

Dawn Middleton will be participating in the 2017 Open Studio Weekend, sponsored by Louisville Visual Art and University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute. Her studio, located in Greenville Indiana, will be open the weekend of November 4 and 5. Tickets for Open Studio Weekend will go on sale October 16. Click here for more information.

Hometown: Tacoma, Washington
Education: Bachelor Degree in Interior Design and Associates Degree in Computer Science.
Website: dawnmiddleton.com
Instagram: dawnmiddleton/

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"Fire Goddess 2 Necklace" by Dawn Middleton, 3x4in, 2016

"Sea Glass Rose Branches Sapphire Necklace" by Dawn Middleton, pendant is 2x3in, 2016

"Peruvian Opal, Pearl and Peach Branch Necklace" by Dawn Middleton, 3x4in, 2016

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

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Feature: Bill Fischer

"Marketplace" by Bill Fischer, oil on board, 1954. Courtesy of the Hite Art Institute.

Louisville Visual Art (LVA) and the Community Foundation of Louisville (CFL) have announced the Bill Fischer Award for Visual Artists from the Artist Bill Fischer Foundation for Working Artists at CFL. The Fischer Prize is designed to make a meaningful impact on the career of a visual artist residing in the Louisville Metro Area by providing support in the form of grants for the execution and exhibition of artwork and other efforts to foster a professional career as a visual artist. Submissions are now being accepted here. Deadline is October 9, 2017.

"Cookie Scheckles" by Bill Fischer, lacquer on board, circa 1970. Courtesy of the Hite Art Institute.

Bill Fischer is 98 years old, and was an artist and collector his entire life, exerting no small influence on other artists through direct example and by endowing programs and scholarships through the University of Louisville’s Allen R. Hite Institute.

Fischer began painting at a young age, and displayed early work from when he was 14 years old in his home more than 70 years later. His professional gig was as an illustrator for the Courier-Journal in 1936, but left the job over a pay dispute. Although he was a successful business owner throughout his life, Fischer never stopped making art, never stopped pursuing opportunities to grow as an artist. One particular story places Fischer at an historic moment in Mexican Art History.

Stirling Dickinson (from Chicago) founded Escuela de Bellas Artes, which would become one of the most significant cultural centers in Mexico, in or about 1936. It was located in an old convent in San Miguel de Allende. After World War II, the school qualified for students on the G.I. Bill and therefore attracted a good many U.S. veterans interested in studying art. In 1948, Dickinson hired renowned Mexican social realist painter David Alfaro Sigueiros to teach. It was at this time that Bill Fischer and his wife moved to San Miguel and rented a furnished house. 

Unfinished 1940s mural painted by David Alfaro Siqueiros, in Escuela de Bellas Artes, a cultural center in San Miguel de Allende, Gto.

Fischer, on the G.I. Bill, enrolled in Bellas Artes, working, along with a half a dozen other students, for almost a year with Sigueiros on an ambitious mural, doing mostly outline design. During 1949, the U.S. became convinced that, under Siqueiros, the art school had become infested with communists, (this was the height of the “Red Scare” and McCarthyism in the U.S.) and so the G.I. Bill accreditation was rescinded, and most of the students left. Dickinson and Siqueiros had an altercation, resulting in Siqueiros being knocked down a staircase and resigning, leaving the mural uncompleted. Fisher stayed on for a while longer, but then returned with his wife to Louisville, where he started his own business.

He continued to work as an artist, participating in the “Magnificent Mile” art exhibit in Chicago in the late 1950s and the “Interior Valley” exhibit at the Art Museum of Cincinnati. As his career developed he never restricted himself to any one style or medium. If you collected Fischer’s work, you are as likely to have a landscape as you are a cityscape, as likely to own a sculpture as a painting.

Fischer also completed public work including several murals for churches and synagogues. Most notably, he created the stained glass windows for the Keneseth Israel Synagogue on Taylorsville Road.

 
 

2011 photo of Bill Fischer by John Nation for Louisville Magazine

"Fiesta in the Rain N.D." by Bill Fischer, Lacquer on board. Courtesy of the Hite Art Institute

This Feature article was written by Keith Waits.
In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, www.Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.

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Vignette: Shayne Hull

Taking Inspiration From William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus 

"Donald Andronicus, Jr." by Shayne Hull, pastel on board, 2017, $575

When Shayne Hull turns his sardonic eye to public figures, he joins a great tradition of political satirists, such as the legendary Hugh Haynie. Republican Strategist Karl Rove, and President Barack Obama, have all been subjects, and now, partially inspired by the plot of William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, Hull offers portraits of “Mobin Andronicus, Sr.,” “Eric Andronicus,” and “Donald Andronicus, Jr.,” wickedly funny caricatures that strike at both sides of the political aisle and require no pithy caption for their pointed understanding.

Hull’s human heads are often misshapen, so the knack for satire fits him like a second skin, but he also turns his misanthropic perspective on himself, and those whom he holds dear. Self-flagellation in portraiture was not invented by Hull, but few have exposed themselves so ruthlessly on a gallery wall. Barbed wire is a most unforgiving material to wrap a human head, and his own children model adhesive tape and play with wooden rods that are can be suggestive of something more sinister.

On another level, the portraits reveal the malleable plasticity of human form applied absurdly to the skull. Our brains are encased and protected in these rounded shields of bone, and that they are here so easily distorted suggests an awareness of the arrogance by which we take our bodies for granted; a cautionary reminder of our own fragility and the preciousness of life.

Such dark humor may invite squeamishness in the viewer, yet even the most disturbing of Hull’s images (a wooden rod tucked under a boy’s chin) contain a deeply felt humanity; a playfulness that pushes boundaries with what often feels like a child-like sensibility. That quality may come, in part, from his work with young patients at the Kosair Children’s Outpatient Hospital (Louisville, KY) where Hull and his students created a 10′ x 20′ ceramic tile mural.

"Eric Andronicus" by Shayne Hull, pastel on board, 2017, $575

Hull studied painting at Texas A&M and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), and earned a Master in art education from the University of Louisville. The Kentucky Arts Council has honored Hull with the Kentucky Visions 2004 Purchase Award, an Individual Art Professional Development Grant, and the 1998 Al Smith Artist Fellowship. He also won the Frank F. Weisberg Excellence in Painting Award at the 2003 Water Tower Annual (Louisville, KY).

Shaynicus Andronicus, a solo exhibit of Shayne Hull’s work, will be on view at LVA during the performances of Titus Andronicus by Kentucky Shakespeare that runs October 4 – 31 (Thur-Sat 8:00pm), or by appointment through Louisville Visual Art.

Hometown: East Moline, Illinois
Age: 56
Education: BFA in Painting, Texas A&M @ Corpus Christi; MFA in Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art; and MAT in Art Education, University of Louisville
Website: http://www.shaynehull.com/
Gallery Representative: Swanson Contemporary

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"Mobin Andronicus" by Shayne Hull, pastel & oil on panel, 18x24in, 2017, $575

"Are We Not Men?" by Shayne Hull, pastel on board, 18x24in, 2014, $575

"Bad at Pool" by Shayne Hull, pastel on board, 18x24in, 2014, $575

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

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