Meet the artists at weekly open houses

BEULAH, Mich., June 13, 2014 – Live For Art Gallery, located in downtown Beulah, will host weekly Artist Open Houses starting Thursday, June 26th, through Thursday, August 14th, from 5-7pm. Each week will showcase new works by a variety of gallery artists, and each artist will be available to talk about their new works on display during the event. Gallery patrons will also have the opportunity to view the new pieces for a week following each event.

June 26-30
The first Artist Open House event will be on June 26th from 5-7pm, and will feature artists from the current gallery exhibit “Outside the Box.” Local artists Cherie Correll, Jane McElroy, and Barbara Webb will be at the event to talk about their work. These artists are always open to exploring the new approaches that the creative process inspires, and have made beautiful and compelling pieces. The “Outside the Box” exhibit will be on display through the end of June.

July 3-July 9
The work of Honor, Michigan painter Mary Kay Niemiec will be on display the week of July 3rd. The new artwork by Niemiec will highlight the beauty of northern Michigan in a variety of oil and watercolor landscapes. Regarding her most recent work, Niemiec remarked, “the picturesque surrounding area offers endless inspiration for landscape and nature paintings. I love the process of beginning with a blank canvas and making a statement with style and color.”

July 10-16
Award-winning artists Ted Peterson of Glen Arbor, and Rosita Gendernalik of Indian River, will have their Artist Open House on July 10th. Peterson, a well-respected watercolorist, creates pieces ranging from pure abstract to realism. “I delight in captivating the mystery of an old barn, or the sparkle in the river like the midnight sky,” said Peterson. Gendernalik will talk about her ceramic vessel “Petal Pot” technique. This technique uses individual pieces of clay put together piece by piece to form the vessel. Over 4,000 individually placed “petals” are normally used to build her large vessels with intricate designs.

July 17-23
Frankfort summer resident, Lesa Chittenden Lim, will show works created with pastels, pastels with watercolor, and etchings, featured the week of July 17th. An award-winning artist, L.C. Lim uses her creative spirit to compose images that reflect the beauty of nature. She often works on-site, and seeks out locations and images that provoke strong feelings.

July 24-30
Oil landscape paintings by Pam Spicer of Glencoe, Illinois will be featured the week of July 24th. Instead of an Open House on Thursday, Spicer will present an artist talk on Tuesday, July 29th at 5:30pm. She will talk about the layering color in her paintings. Spicer’s oil paintings incorporate favorite images from her travels to northern Michigan, western North Carolina, and beyond. “I photograph light and design in nature and paint from my photographs – incorporating vivid color and energy,” said Spicer.

July 31-August 6
Oil paintings by Janet Grissom, a recent featured artist at the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort, will be shown the week of July 31st. Grissom’s travels and life experiences have had a profound influence on her current work. Speaking of her most recent work, Grissom said, “these experiences led me to work with more vibrant, heavily textured colors, creating landscapes and seascapes that are memorably tactile. I use palette knives and any other tool that best allows me to express my thoughts and ideas about the selected area in nature that I am painting. I work spontaneously, constantly responding to the forms developing on the canvas.”

August 7-13,
New paintings by Columbus, Ohio, abstract painter Sharon Dougherty will be featured the week of August 7th. Nature, and the art of various cultures, inspires Dougherty’s intuitive abstract pieces. Her work can be found in various public and private collections throughout the United States.

August 14-20
Plain-air paintings by local artist Lisa Wilkins Schulte of Traverse City will be featured the week of August 14th. Schulte paints in pastel and acrylic, and feels, “art should be a fun, positive experience for both the artist and viewer.” Her use of vibrant color reflects her gregarious personality.

Live for Art Gallery showcases jewelry, glass, paintings, pottery, and mixed media pieces by artists from Great Lakes states. For more information please call 231.882.9370.