Art on the Fox Fine Art Show

Artist Statement: From a very early age, I’ve always seen the world in an artistic way. A self-taught artist, I’ve been sketching and creating since the age of seven. As a teenager, I would recreate album covers of favorite rock bands for friends or myself. As a young man, I became interested in political cartoons and mastered those. There was a fairly long period of time between my teen-age years and my adult years before I picked up a pencil again. When I did, I suddenly found that I saw the world in a whole new way and in much greater detail than I had as a young boy. It’s as if I had to live life a little bit in order to see the world in a more complex and detailed way. This new way of seeing the world suddenly translated into my being an even better artist than I was years before, without even having drawn in all that time. I started to re-create postage stamps, carefully and painstakingly capturing every tiny detail. I then moved onto mastering portraits of everybody from friends and family to celebrities or old movie stars. Now as a grown man, I’ve become intrigued with the beauty and subject matter of coins. Though I’ve drawn many coins, my fascination is primarily with French coins and commemorative medals who’d beauty I find unparalleled. Before each coin I choose, I review a multitude of reference photos and actual coins, studying light, shadow, sizing, angles and layout. I choose coins that are not only beautiful but coins or medals that may hold some historical significance or coins that are rare. I think I hold such a high fascination for coins because each one has its place in history with its own unique story to tell. The person on a coin is special and though we may hold coins and trade coins and use coins to purchase items throughout life, very seldom does anyone stop to actually think about the story of the coin or the person so honored enough to be placed on a coin. Each portrait takes approximately 50-100 hours, Each coin 75-125 hours. I only use 6h to 8bb Kimberly pencils and 96 lb Canson Bristol sheet stock paper.

Artist Statement: I am a fourth-generation Montanan with a background in fine arts and design, including interior design and children's theater. Because of my background in scene and costume design, manipulating fabrics and found objects into sculptures comes second nature to me. They are each a piece of theatre and inspiration can come from anywhere. A name, a piece of fabric, or a discarded brooch can be the basis of a character. Next the skeleton is roughed out of electrical wire, stuffing, and wooden dowels. Bits and snatches of fiber, fabric and accessories are pulled together on a story board. Bit by bit the costume is fitted to the character and sometimes the body is fitted to the costume. Next I start the rehearsal process, with posing the character into his or her stance, adding a piece of jewelry, changing a hat, scuffing a boot. Last their face is created, hair and makeup applied appropriate to this new character. Each one has its own voice, its own story. Only from my patterns and designs can these characters come to life.

Artist Statement: “Anything is a Photograph.” This is a motto developed from my aspiring career that turned into a feasible, potential business. My work is all over the board, including the living and inanimate, animal and portrait, urban and natural. I specialize in candid aspects, as well as in-the-moment captures. Wherever I am, I end up with a composition worth visualizing behind the lens of my Nikon D200. My artistic mind conjures up ideas that conform to the situation at hand, such as angle, framing, and potential post-processing outcomes. All I carry with my Nikon are two lenses, a tripod, an external flash, and also a four-feature lens attachment for my smartphone. My work is mostly printed as archival inkjet, otherwise it is in stretched canvas form, in a metallic panel form, or another form due to the interest of my client. I post-process my work with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and photo-editing smartphone apps.

Artist Statement: Hand crafted gourds - Native American, Southwest, Western and Nature influenced designs. Incorporating pyrography, carving and painted with water colors and acrylics.

Artist Statement: A native Illinoian, I've lived in McHenry County for 32 years. Art has always been a part of my life and has recently become my central focus, My work is Encaustic. This process uses heat to fuse layers of of beeswax to create smooth or textured pieces. The medium is applied to a cradled birchboard panel. The beeswax may be used alone for its transparency or pigment may be added.The medium is melted and applied with a brush, or other tool, to the surface. Each layer is then reheated to fuse it to the previous layer. A variety of materials can be encased or collaged into the piece, using the encaustic medium to adhere them to the surface. I have enjoyed experimenting with oil paint, paper and found objects in my pieces.

Artist Statement: Each stained and fused glass piece I create leaves me amazed at the way glass moves and comes to life. I work with 2d and 3d stained glass and utilize fused and slumped techniques as well. All of the 2d glass pictures are made completely of glass and drawn with powdered and/or crushed glass. I work in stained glass using natural materials in a more contemporary style. Since I started to pursue this passion 16 years ago, I have learned one thing: each day brings new possibilities.

Artist Statement: I travel extensively throughout the United States chasing the light. I capture images in digital form and process that image to reflect the emotions and the presence that I'd experienced when taking each photograph. For processing I use a mix of tools including Photoshop, CaptureOne and PT GUI as appropriate for a given image. In creating each piece of art, my tools are used only so far as to recreate and interpret my experience in capturing the raw image. Each piece of art is created using the highest quality archival inks and printed on Baryta or cotton based paper, on photographic canvas, or on Aluminum. Images range in size from 8x10 to multi-panel canvas pieces over to 210" in length. Prints are available either matted or matted and framed. All canvas pieces are first coated with an archival protectorate, then stretched for presentation. All aluminum pieces are printed directly upon the aluminum sheet, then covered with a UV protective cold laminate. Note that by printing directly upon the Aluminum I achieve a deeper, truer color and much finer detail, than the more common dye-transfer printing process. For all of my work, I'm careful to use ecologically sound methods and materials wherever possible.

Artist Statement: I am inspired by nature, birds, landscapes, butterflies and flowers

Artist Statement: Jim and Debbie Rauschert began making jewelry in 2007. Together they design and craft each one of a kind piece. Their earrings, necklaces and bracelets are created with sterling links, fold form torch patina copper and beautiful natural opaque gemstones.

Artist Statement: Don Widmer is a book and paper artist who combines hand papermaking, bookbinding, and printing to create works inspired by storytelling and real and imagined histories. His handmade paper is pulp painted, a fiber technique where imagery is "painted" with pigmented cotton fiber during the formation of the sheet. His sculptural artist books include his own writing and incorporate unusual book structures featuring movement and light. "Other" was not a category choice as listed in the submission direction. Please categorize this application as the jury sees fit based on the description above. The majority of my practice is pulp painting, which are the attached submission pieces. "Sale price" is the approximate price of the 3 pieces in the application. Price range of pieces we intend to show will be $5.00 to $1,100 with the median price range $50-$200

Artist Statement: Birdhouses, toad houses, orchid pots as well as functional pieces for the kitchen and tabletop- built by hand and inspired by nature. I love applying texture to my pieces. I enjoy seeing someone touch a piece and explore the surface. My work emphasizes how the glazes and colors play on the texture. This is the result of my own unique glazing process. Each one of a kind piece takes on a life of its own through the creation process. Colorful, whimsical, individually unique works of art for the home and garden.

Artist Statement: Erika Janssen's inspiration for the arts began while attending jewelry courses at Elgin Community College. While there she learned the craft of metalsmithing, stone cutting and jewelry design. She competed in several ECC student art shows and won 1st place three separate times. Her work was also chosen to be exhibited in the Skyway Art Show, a selected juried art show which showcases students work from numerous colleges. Just recently, Erika's work was selected to be published in the upcoming 2018 Spring and Summer editions of Belle Armoire Jewelry Magazine, a nationwide publication. After selecting a stone, the entire piece is ALL HAND CRAFTED and fabricated from start to finish. These steps include sawing, soldering, adding texture, polishing, and/or enameling. Her workspace, Seven Center Studios, is where she continues creating art through the mediums of jewelry, oil painting, stained glass and whatever else motivates her. "Not always knowing what the outcome will be, not having total control of the result - art has a mind of its own. That's the enjoyment I get from what I do and what is created."

Artist Statement: Enjoy the freedom of acrylic ink to show the beauty of nature in an abstract way. Color is dominant in my work.

Artist Statement: My art focuses on sports, landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, sports and religious themes. I like to use color in ways that are warm and invigorating. Capturing these elements in a sometimes realistic and occasionally impressionistic manner is what I aim for. The true beauty of art and its exquisite history enthralls my senses and this is where I derive my creative energy from. Music is another way that I find to express myself, and together, their harmony defines the place where my inspirational and spiritual being is sometimes found. I mostly use oils and hand paint everything.

Artist Statement: Icelandic wool fiber, needle felted onto an Icelandic wool base, embellished with couched applewood, copper and brass wire, embroidery thread, leather, overdyed wool fabric, and found objects.

Artist Statement: I am inspired by nature and light; I am fascinated by the beauty everyday life and the moments people often take for granted. I have been surrounded by art and artists my whole life – but not in a traditional way. My father studied art history in college – he was the most educated car dealer on the lot. My mother paints pictures between developing new drugs to fight cancer. My wife is a poet and a data analyst. I studied modern literature and I always wanted to be a writer. Now, I take pictures; some people like them.

Artist Statement: Hello, I hope you enjoy my work, let the images take you somewhere. Scenic, abstract, colorful and textured, my images are other-worldly. I am passionate about my artwork and am pleased to share it.

Artist Statement: Pulling the first print off a wood block is pure joy. The excitement grows when there are multiple blocks, one for each color involved. Each successive color is a layer that informs the mystery and appeal of the final image. That moment is the culmination of the printmaking process. Influenced and fortunate to have grown up as a third generation printmaker, I started wood block printing by taking an independent study course at Knox College. Photography was a medium predating and paralleling my growth in printmaking. I use many of my own photos to create compositions for prints. Printing has reciprocated the opportunity to create interesting photographs as well. My strong feeling for nature is complimented by using wood. The majority of my creations are printed on Japanese Kozuke paper, using only oil based inks. This medium has become a sustaining passion. I enjoy creating prints which reflect my life experiences. Sometimes the subject is easily identifiable, sometimes less so. Hearing how others interpret and relate to my work adds to my personal story.

Artist Statement: Mother/Daughter local Artists--- Upscale hand crafted beaded jewelry, wine & purse charms and beaded bookmarks....all hand created using crystals, stones, druzys, beads & Swarovski crystals. Each designed item is a One of a Kind.

Artist Statement: We hand craft silver and gold jewelry made with only the highest quality semi precious/rare gemstones and minerals. We use only hand made findings and a technique known as wire wrapping, which utilizes strands of sterling/argentium silver and gold wire to build up dimensions, layers,patterns,and accents.