Alley Art Battle Participants: Chris VanGompel

Throughout the balance of the summer and into early fall, I will be posting some follow-ups on the June 4 Studio 150 Alley Art Battle and its participants: event observations, profile information as of the Battle event, and in some cases, change throughout the summer: new endeavors, directions, etc. These artists are very much real and alive, not simply expired footnotes to an old post, and a sense of this is important to our sense of regional community. Today’s first such post focuses on the event’s first-place artist, Angola’s Chris VanGompel, and on his Blue Men.

You have to smile looking at this, and marvel at how much expression Chris could project with so few and such simple lines and colors. Asked what inspired this unusual but compelling work, he said “I just wanted to show the world what it looks like to see a happy face in a sea of misery.” Honestly, it made me reflect back on the train stop at Chicago’s Union Station on a work day.

Chris’ background in cartooning shines here. He always did cartoons in school, but that ended with graduation. Not until 2005 did he resume, this time with a web-comic called Car Vs Motorcycle. It was very rough but a great learning experience, and in 2006 he started Hockey Zombie, which lasted several years, peaking at 5000 internet reads per day. Now he is working on a Mario Brothers web-comic, though it is currently on hold due to real-world work demands [Chris works as a CAD Engineer, and once designed a calibration rack for General Motors’ transmission gear division].

Wherein lies the “art” in a short, simple comic? This is my answer: Everyone appreciates that a picture is worth a thousand words. The beauty of a good comic is how it achieves that level of communication with just a few words and relatively few simple but artful lines. Really study a comic sometime, and be amazed at its subtlety: extremely different effects are rendered by changing just the smallest strokes; entirely different dynamics are suggested by very simple changes in the visual composition. Yes, a good picture can say a lot – and the art of the comic is in just how utterly simple the graphical and verbal content can be.

That said, Chris himself will tell you that his comics aren’t for everyone: “My humor style doesn't appeal to very many people.  Most people don't get it.” Well, I find no fault there, it simply means that Chris’ viewpoint is very idiosyncratic indeed; but his success with 5000 Hockey Zombie readers per day proves there is genuine art in Chris’ comic work, however idiosyncratic. And his win in the Alley Art Battle is confirmation. Congratulations to Angola artist Chris VanGompel!

Until the next post, know that the Angola area lakes region is an Art Region, and its towns are Art Towns!

Stephen Rowe currently serves as the Angola Regional Artists’ Guild publicity chairman and writes two additional blogs:

     ArtMissionary.blogspot.com

     OriGraphics.blogspot.com

Stephen welcomes correspondence of all sort per StephenRowe.OriGraphics@yahoo.com

Transforming the Way You Experience Art

The last post noted a few artists connected in some way with Cahoots Coffee Café and Sutton’s Deli on the town square, and some of their endeavors. Today we will explore just a bit of the terrain in between and farther beyond, out toward Fremont and Clear Lake. And we will take a little deeper look at how to transform the experience of looking at art.

Let’s start with the Copper Tree Fine Art and Craft Gallery at 108 W Maumee, just a block down from Cahoots. This is a very eclectic, interesting, and welcoming place: my last look there encompassed many exhibitors working in various media, including photography, charcoal, water color, oil, fabric, metals, clay and wax. Really looking at this work, as opposed to the cursory glance as life slips by [CGALSB], will spark delight, wonder, and even awe: Who are the local and regional people creating these works? What moves them to do this? What else are they seeing that I am missing? How did they get started? Might I do this someday? More on these questions in posts to come; for now, just know that pausing to really look will transform your world.

This intriguing gallery was born of Ron Kauffman’s long-time dream, Ron being the visionary Art Missionary and catalyst behind the Angola Regional Artists’ Guild. Ultimately Ron hopes the gallery will operate as an artists’ cooperative. And profound thanks to Kent Alwood, who provides this great space alongside his computer business free of all charge.

Crossing to the other side of the street, we find Judy Houk’s Creative Arts Gallery, also opened this spring. Judy is an accomplished painter and private art teacher – indeed many of the works there are those of her students, though her current exhibit includes watercolors by Merv Russell of Toledo. Before coming to Angola in 2005, Judy founded the Black Swamp Art Guild in Williams County, Ohio, and was (and still is) a member of the Toledo Artists’ Club. Angola is fortunate to have such a talented and productive artist teaching her skills to so many local students.

Before leaving the Creative Arts Gallery, don’t forget: after the habitually superficial CGALSB, take that second, deeper real look at what is there. And if Judy is there, you will find she simply beams when talking about art, so begin to practice and develop your own art of AQ: asking questions: Who painted that, what inspired it, why does the finish, texture, etc in this work look so different from the finish, texture, etc in that work, how “mature” is this student’s work, what other media does she work in, what future exhibits/events is the gallery planning, etc.

Beyond these two galleries, just as a general practice wherever you go, never leave without AQ: asking questions. It is another sure mode, in addition to really looking, for transforming any experience and “getting more” out of life.

Now that your mind is opening up to new experience, check out Sandy Austin’s Sticks and Stones shop a block back at 208 W Maumee. Some call Sandy the Hippie Bead Lady, and there is some truth to that, but the whole truth is so much more. Along with the crafts (all with some appeal and some quite excellent), you can find some very good art; and the yet-bigger truth is that Sandy’s roots in and connections to regional art are very, very deep. Way beyond whatever you find in her own shop (interesting enough in its own right), orbit very many quite talented artists of all sort, many of whom (but by no means all) exhibit at her annual April New Moon Living History & Art Faire. The 2011 April event was a wonderful, two-day venue – and frankly it is a small miracle that so much excellent work could come together under such meager auspices, while reflecting so well on Steuben County. I am genuinely impressed, and if you are open-minded enough to see beyond clichéd expectations, you will DIT the genuine treasure that is really there in Sandy and her shop.

What does DIT mean? It is an acronym for discover in time. Some understanding, awareness, sensitivity, etc simply takes time to unfold. Do not doubt: the practice of really looking and asking questions will yield immediate rewards and transform daily experience; still, some of your most profound insights will materialize only over some period of sustained practice: discovery in time. So wherever you are in this regional artistic landscape: suspend judgment; try to really look; ask questions; and expect and allow for deeper discovery in time.

Yes, deeper discovery in time: that is where we are headed with these posts. There is still more in downtown Angola we haven’t yet considered, and so very much more beyond: more galleries, many more artists, and more to be shared and said about seeing art, creating art … and about your potential for artistic practice. Don’t scoff. Anyone can learn to practice some form of art, and we have already noted some of the transformative practices above.

For now though, just a few timely notes about what is happening now, this very mid-June weekend:

·         Enchanted Lakes Renaissance Faire & Marketplace, June 17, 18, 19 at Angola’s Buck Lake Ranch.

·         Satek Winery Art Show Saturday June 18, 10:00AM -5:00PM, close to Fremont.

·         Old Mill Art Gallery wine and cheese night, Friday June 18, 5-7PM, on Ray Clear Lake Road. These are frequent events, call 260-316-6554 or email margaretcarlson@hotmail for more info.

Until the next post, know that the Angola area lakes region is an Art Region, and its towns are Art Towns!

Stephen Rowe currently serves as the Angola Regional Artists’ Guild publicity chairman and writes two additional blogs:

     ArtMissionary.blogspot.com

     OriGraphics.blogspot.com

Stephen welcomes correspondence of all sort per StephenRowe.OriGraphics@yahoo.com

Downtown Angola Early Summer Arts Stroll

Memorial Day weekend finally happened … forget now the slowest-unfolding spring in memory, and bask in Steuben County’s summer glory! Today we’ll stroll through downtown Angola. Let’s start with Cahoots Coffee Café at 218 West Maumee and proceed east to Sutton’s Deli on the town square: what have these most-pleasant settings to do with the Angola/Lakes/Steuben area arts?

Cahoots presents a neat encapsulation of the symbiotic relationship between Angola-area arts and commerce. The loft above the café serves as studio space for Heidi Finley, an engaging and interesting fine art painter who also works with traditional crafts.  The studio is not open to the public, but I did see three of her works hanging in the café below.

And what brought me to Cahoots’ Coffee Café? A morning Go Angola meeting there focused on the upcoming Enchanted Lakes Renaissance Faire & Marketplace, June 17, 18, 19 at Angola’s Buck Lake Ranch. This should be an extravaganza – over a year in the making, the first of what is projected to become an important annual happening. Maria Davis, who spearheads that planning, is well known as an excellent contemporary artist, who in 2007 exhibited at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Arts, and was elected to exhibit in the ARTROM (Rome, Italy) on-line Gallery Competition. More on Maria Davis and her work in a future column. The point for now is that Cahoots connects with both commerce and the regional arts, which find natural interplay here in this special region.

Now back to Heidi. It is often said that some artists view the world as if looking through a window at things happening ‘out there’, while others view the world as if looking into a mirror, at the world inside them. Heidi’s art looks inward.

Most of her paintings do reflect much of the “real world” – you can, for instance, recognize llamas, one of her favorite themes these days. But important aspects of her representation are suggestive and evocative. Beyond the photographic “reality,” Heidi strives to capture the essence, spirit, and mystery of her subjects through the highly personal use of form, brush stroke, and color. In short, her art subordinates ‘verisimilitude’ to emotive expression, and indeed Heidi identifies herself as an abstract expressionist. Heidi has been drawing or painting since she was four years old, and today holds a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from Saint Francis College. This coming September 2011 she will speak to the Angola Regional Artists’ Guild on transforming realism into abstract art.

Despite Heidi’s academic credentials and focus in fine art, she also loves and practices a decorative craft called “marbling.” This is something you have to see to fathom and appreciate. Samples of her actual “marbled” products [some quite inexpensive, just a couple dollars] can be seen in The Copper Tree Fine Art and Craft Gallery at 108 W Maumee, just one block from Cahoots. The process can be seen per Heidi’s excellent demonstration video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e6RM-KxR28. The demonstration takes 9 minutes 10 seconds to reach the spectacular finale, which you could never imagine otherwise. The best thing may be that anyone can learn to make these decorative artifacts, which she markets on  www.MarbledGoods.etsy.com … but again, you really have to see the goods offline “in the flesh” to fathom their special appeal. Weather permitting, Heidi will be demonstrating at the Renaissance Faire; otherwise Heidi can be contacted at midwestartist@msn.com.

Back at Cahoots coffee is served daily by Naomi, yet another artist, who participated in her own right at April’s 4^th annual New Moon Living History and Art Faire, where Heidi made the marbling video.  This New Moon event was very worthwhile – more on that as well in a later column.

Now on to Sutton’s Deli at the northwest town square corner, another above-and-below arts-and-civic story. Most people are familiar with the downstairs deli, where you will find excellent regional scenic photographs by Hamilton photographer Brad Stevens … and where you might find, depending on the day, a meeting of the Angola Professional Business Women. Most patrons, however, are totally unaware of King Oberlin’s Studio 150 above. King describes Studio 150 as “a fine art studio, in the heart of downtown Angola whose members thrive on creating new and modern art.”

The emphasis is definitely on new and modern, and if you want to know what that means, be sure to catch his Saturday June 4 Battle of the Artists, where artists have an allotted time to spontaneously create their “battling” works in a live venue. The battle will occur inside the studio, with live regional acoustic music and a cash bar catered by Sutton’s Deli. Admission is $4 and entitles the ticket holder to vote for a favorite artist, with prize money distributed according to the number of tickets sold. Artistic quality is assured in that each participant must have submitted a portfolio of at least 10 prior works for review in order to participate. King hopes to see all ranges from the regional art community, and expects about 100 spectators.

This is a really exciting summer kick-off here in Angola, and King brings some experience to this venue: “Living in Grand Rapids I was part of a fine art studio similar to Studio 150, and helped with some planning and promotion.” In this case, promotion is primarily via radio, Facebook, web site, flyers, posters, newspaper, and word of mouth. You can learn more about Studio 150 and the Saturday Battle at www.KingOberlinArt.com.

Now back to the downtown Angola streets: as you walked from Cahoots Coffee Café to Sutton’s Deli and around the square, how many places did you note which sell and/or exhibit regional art? I’m sure you missed one or more, so go take a closer look, and take some time to really see some of the art. So often we look at so much without really seeing anything, just a cursory glance as life slips by ...  So do yourself a favor, go out and really see some Angola regional art. After all, it’s free … buying is a mere option!

Until the next post, know that the Angola area lakes region is an Art Region, and its towns are Art Towns!

Stephen Rowe currently serves as the Angola Regional Artists’ Guild publicity chairman, and also writes

ArtMissionary.blogspot.com

OriGraphics.blogspot.com