|
Gullick & Rohling next featured artists exhibiting at Gallery Ten
Opening reception Saturday, August 19 from 5 - 7 PM
August 15, 2006
by Steve Kastner
GILLS ROCK, WI - When
Cole Porter wrote the lyrics for a silly show tune back in 1938, little did he know that he was creating a timeless
anthem that clearly states the case for daddy love: "Let me warn you right from the start That my heart belongs
to daddy." Charlene Berg and the next two featured artists exhibiting at Gallery Ten in Gills Rock pick up
that theme in their work and in the forthcoming show that opens there on August 19.
Claudia Rohling
credits the influence of her father's office supply and printing company with its seemingly endless supply of pens,
papers, paints and inks for inspiring her artistic imagination.
"For as long as I can remember, it was a place of great wonder," she recalls. "I walked the aisles,
touching the crayons and paint tubes, dreaming about all the creative possibilities. The smell of newly printed
ink on paper and the sound of the printing presses always lured me to the back rooms where the printers did their
work. I loved watching the images magically appear with each pass of the press arm. I learned to love the power
of images, color and pattern. I always knew I wanted to create art."
Rohling practices the art of visual storytelling linking images of the past and the present to reflect on life.
Her latest works tell the stories of people she cares about, universal messages that all 'families" share.
Much of her work is created from artifacts, made interactive.
"My intent is to recapture the past with a feeling, a stroke of paint and a bit of age," she explains.
"About twelve years ago I took a trip out West. The rocks, canyons and caves held the images that Native American
Indians created centuries ago. It moved me deeply that these simple images were a part of their everyday life stories."
She places the making of those ancient petroglyphs alongside the creation of images we experience today… on subway
walls, streets, fences, in magazines and books. "There are images everywhere we look that strive to tell our
stories through art. We call them graffiti, advertisement, or decoration. Museums call them paintings, sculpture
or jewelry."
Johanna Gullick will always remember the summer of 2004. In her 57th year she decided to paint
scenes from the farm where she grew up.
"Our family of seven lived on a hilly farm that was equally divided between woodland and fields just twenty
miles west of Madison," she explains. "The farmhouse is a unique 175-year-old log cabin with frame additions.
Four years earlier dad sold the farm and moved to town; he was 84. During a four-day visit with him in early May,
2004 I spent many hours photographing the farm, hopeful for photos that would be useful in capturing the places
that were important to me."
When she returned with her camera the farmhouse stood empty. For Sale signs indicated the new owner was dividing
the land for resale. As she looked in the windows she was delighted to realize that the farmhouse would remain,
as it was being remodeled. She arranged to rent the house for the summer, moving her studio from Huntley, Illinois
to Black Earth, Wisconsin on June 2, 2004.
"I do not consider myself a landscape painter and had not painted in oils for ten years; however, having a
studio with good ventilation gave me the opportunity to work in oil while I grappled with how to paint this beautiful
land. There is so much history, a lifetime, and change. My eyes saw the present but my mind held the past - the
recent past, the distant past - and it all felt good. I painted the present, while cherishing the past."
"There is a struggle in this work. I grappled with how to say what I wanted to say about the scenes that were
the most important to me. What colors would I use, how would I capture the light, how would I distill the plethora
of textures into a simplified meaningful artistic statement. My emotional and artistic sensibilities were both
involved. I loved it all, the struggles, the beginnings and the endings, the being there."
"From the onset I knew many of the places I wanted to paint, but over the course of the summer some surprises
arose. Memorial Wall is one of them. After fire destroyed the oak timbers of our magnificent barn in the early
'70's the remaining concrete and flint stonewalls stood starkly in the landscape. Early in my stay, I walked into
the barn and stood starring at the walls, thinking how hard it was for my dad to see his barn burn, it must have
broken his heart. He was a small farmer and had a hard time making a living on this hilly farm. He loved it though
and often lamented the loss of the small farm as a viable business when farming grew into big business. I cried,
at this loss too, and for him. He died ten days before I moved into the farmhouse. I sat in the hot sun in the
barn and painted the wall, which became symbol to me for the loss of the small farm and a memorial to my father."
Meet both of these women in person from 5 - 7 PM on Saturday,
August 19 and see their latest work on display through September
22 at Charlene's Gallery Ten.
The gallery represents over 100 artists in a gallery
collection that is contemporary, original and eclectic. GT Coffee, complements the gallery, serving espresso drinks
and Door County cherry pie by-the-slice daily from 8 AM to 5 PM. The gallery is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM at
12625 Hwy. 42 in Gills Rock, Wisconsin. Telephone 920.854.9907 for further information or visit on-line at www.GalleryTen.com.
|
|
