Artist’s love of art begins in childhood

When asked when she first discovered her love for the arts, Chamber replied that she has a photo of herself painting at an easel when she was 3-years-old. Through the years, that passion she developed for the arts at a young age has not diminished one bit.

“I always loved drawing and painting and it always gave me a sense of accomplishment,” Chambers said.

Judy grew up in Manhattan, not the Manhattan found in New York, but a much smaller university town in Kansas, where she went to a small private school.

“The school didn’t have an art teacher so I took some private lessons on Saturdays and some evening community classes,” Chambers said. “Anywhere I could find out more about art that was where I wanted to be.”

When asked what type/media of art she has found most interesting over the years, she replied that it has evolved over the years.

“My BFA and MFA are in Drawing and Painting, but 20 years ago, I fell in love with printmaking and it became my primary medium,” Chambers said. “My knowledge of drawing and painting was a perfect marriage with many of the printmaking processes. I have since produced prints using a variety of procedures, many of which combined two or more techniques and many have mixed media additions.”

She added that presently, she has been making collagraph plates and then printing them in the viscosity technique.

“This technique consists of an intaglio wipe first and then two or three rolls of different colors of inks that have been mixed to different oiliness and then run through the press only once,” Chambers said. “This process produces monoprints because each time you make a print, they are unique. The richness of the colors that I have been able to get with this technique has helped me convey the seasons on my pond and water series.”

Judy has remained focused this year on her art and has made it a priority to participate in numerous shows.

“This has been a great year for getting into juried shows,” Chambers said. “I had one piece in the Assistance League of Houston Celebrates Texas in the Williams Tower Gallery, which is formerly the Transco Tower.”

She has also had three pieces in the Mono y Mono exhibit in Austin as well as three pieces presently on display at the Live Oak Art Center in Columbus in the 2012 Annual Juried Art Exhibition, which lasts until the end of June, and will have three pieces featured in the upcoming exhibit, “Nexus in Texas,” also to be at the LOAC beginning in July.

Judy received Honorable Mention for one of her pieces in this year’s Annual Juried Art Exhibition at the LOAC, which she said was a great incentive.

“Some other exhibits I have been in the past couple of years would include the Second Annual Parallel Universe Exhibit in Houston, the 2010 Annual Juried Exhibition at the LOAC in Columbus, Houston Community College Faculty Exhibition at U of H in Clear Lake and the Visual Arts Alliance 27th Juried Membership Exhibition,” Chambers said.

Some other awards Chambers has received for her artwork in the past include the Award of Distinction in the Third National All on Paper Exhibition, Buffalo, N.Y. and a Purchase Award at the Five State Art Exhibition, Sixth Biennial, Port Arthur.

Judy found out about the LOAC in Columbus when two of her artist friends got into the 2009 Juried Exhibit and she went to see it.

“I was extremely impressed with the quality of work, and it just so happened that the juror, Liz Ward, was someone who I worked with at the Blaffer Gallery and also knew quite well as we were in graduate school at the same time,” Chambers said. “I joined that year and then entered the next year’s competition. I am very proud when my pieces get selected into the Live Oak because their standards are very high and the jurors are always of exceptional quality.”

Judy is the oldest of five siblings, growing up in Manhattan, Kan. She has been married to the same man for 41 years this July.

“I have one daughter who is married and has my first grandbaby, a 2 ½ year old girl and the light of my life,” Chambers said.

Judy and her husband moved to Houston in 1972, less than a year after they were married.

“I finished my BFA at the University of Houston main campus, and then taught art for a variety of institutions, including the Museum of Fine Arts Glassell School, and the Contemporary Arts Museum,” Chambers said. “When my daughter was in the second grade, I went back to school while working part time and got my MFA from U of H.”

Chambers said that she and her husband bought land in the Cat Spring area in the spring of 2005.

“He is a remodeling contractor and built one room as a studio for me,” Chambers said. “It is not very big, but it is extremely efficient. I have room for my press and lots of built in storage space and work areas. The house was finished by the summer of 2006 and we came out during weekends and holidays for a year.”

Judy added that she drives in to Houston and teaches for the Houston Community College at the Spring Branch location (Interstate 10 and Sam Houston Parkway, i.e. Beltway 8) on Mondays and Wednesdays. She usually stays overnight on Wednesdays to see her granddaughter and give her daughter and son-in-law an opportunity to schedule a date night.

Chambers has also given a one-day workshop for Print Matters in Houston on different Monotype processes and a demonstration on viscosity printing to the Women’s Printmaking Association in Austin.

“I also taught art for the Boys and Girls Club in Bellville one day a week for a year,” Chambers said.

When asked what artists have inspired her over the years, Judy said that Jasper Johns is one for sure.

“Especially for an exhibit I saw at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston around 2002 where he took a group of 13 below standard proofs of a print edition and reworked them, sometimes with paint, sometimes with drawing materials, sometimes using collage elements from another print, etc.,” Chambers said. “I was fascinated by the variation on a theme. I have made light ghost prints from some of my plates and used them to reconstruct both the image and its meaning.”

Another artist that has inspired Judy is Monet, she pointed out, especially his series of haystacks that show the different colors of the times of the day and the times of the seasons.

“My recent works are influenced by our pond and the ecosystems that exist in ponds and other water resources,” Chamber said. “I started this series when our pond dried up during the recent drought here in Texas and we lost our fish, frogs and turtles as well as the organisms that help sustain their life. I missed the beauty of our pond and its many different colors and reflections that it produced with the changing of the seasons and the times of the day. I did a series of the pond in the different seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter and of course in Texas you have to have the fifth season … August.”

In Judy’s previous works, she has concentrated on the cycle of life, an eternal dance that starts and ends and then repeats, leaving echoes that remain for a time.

“The images and diagrams of the moon represented the cycles of the seasons and the renewal of life,” Chamber said. “They were combined with shells that leave a negative imprint of the living matter they once contained, spiral galaxies that suggest creation, evolution and the gravitational pull into the center and the unknown, and additional visual parallels for the cyclic nature of birth, death and regeneration such as plants, bees and microscopic organisms. These prints were made using a variety of printmaking processes, many of which combined two or more techniques and usually had some mixed media attentions.”

LOAC member and artist Eileen McClellan, of Houston, has been a friend of Judy’s for more than two decades.

“I feel like I have known Judy all my life,” McClellan said.  “We share a love of art combined with a sense of fun that can’t be measured.  When I met Judy over 20 years ago, I was struck by her passion for teaching, and, quite frankly, she has been my role model and inspiration ever since.”

Eileen added that Judy is the consummate art educator.

“She is knowledgeable, enthusiastic and organized,” McClellan said.  “Her students have often won top honors in local, state and national competitions.  But, above all, they know that she cares.  Kindness and humor have always been her strong suit.  Combine that with her knowledge of art and you can’t beat it!”

Eileen also pointed out that Chambers’ artwork exemplifies all that she brings to her teaching.  

“She sets the bar very high for herself and it shows in her rich, colorful compositions,” McClellan said. “They intrigue the viewer by suggesting other worlds, pulling you deep into a space that you sense is very personal.”  

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Teaching art and loving it

Deborah Petrosky, who is a resident of Colorado County, said she discovered her love for the arts in early childhood.

“My mother has told me, I drew before I spoke,” Petrosky said.

Deborah has been a public education art teacher for 32 years.

“My first year of experience was at Spring Branch Junior High,” Petrosky said. “The next eight years I taught Art at Sealy Independent School District. I taught junior high and high school classes.”

Deborah started the art department at the Columbus Junior High (now called Columbus Junior High School-Riverside Campus) in 1989.

“I am currently still teaching there and have not determined a retirement date yet,” Petrosky said. “I love my position as Art teacher. I enjoy sharing my interest in the arts with my students. You never have a boring day when you work with students.”

She added that children learn to see more, sense more and recall more through art.

“Art provides experiences that will later coalesce into sophisticated reasoning and problem solving abilities,” Petrosky said. “Art is an international language. It communicates meaning without the use of words. Art helps students create their own identity. Art enhances basic learning as well as improving skills in perceiving, reading, analyzing and building vocabulary. I believe art is the most important subject in anyone’s educational experience.”

Petrosky’s higher education consists of two years at Wharton County Junior College where she earned an Associate in Arts in May of 1978. She then transferred to the University of Houston-Central Campus and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1980.

“I majored in the fine arts at both colleges,” Petrosky said. “I am certified to teach all levels, K-12.”

When asked what artist has influenced her most during the years, Deborah said Georgia O’Keefe comes to mind.

“She had a strong sense of nature,” Petrosky said. “She loved to paint the wide open spaces around her on the family’s ranch. Georgia’s greatest achievements are the close ups of flowers. To catch the attention of people too busy to notice, she made the close-ups huge. Each fills its canvas with graceful curved surfaces and flowing lines.”

She added that the beauty of every petal is seen again and again in the art pieces, over the beauty of the whole flower.

Another artist who has influenced Petrosky is Faith Ringgold, an African American artist and native of New York City, especially in the fiber arts.

“She was a painter, collagist, sculptor and quilt maker,” Petrosky said. “Ringgold draws her subjects from everyday life and experiences. By integrating fabric, textiles and storytelling into her work, Ringgold has added new and innovative dimensions to art. I tell my students, that their artwork should reflect them and their experiences. It is essentially, an extension of themselves.”

Petrosky has been recognized for her years of teaching. She was given Association of Texas Professional Educators Grant for Teaching Excellence and in 2001, the Christa McAuliffe Grant for Teaching Excellence in the Second Category.

“Each year I was awarded $1,000 to purchase supplies for my classes,” Petrosky said. “In 2001, I was selected for the Secondary Soil and Water Conservationist Teacher of the Year for Colorado County.”

Before the new junior high campus was built in Columbus, the art students created an art garden.

“It helped teach the importance of nature in our world,” Petrosky said. “It provided a wonderful subject for many assignments.”

Along with teaching at the junior high, Deborah has taught summer classes at the Live Oak Art Center in the past on a regular basis.

“The art center is a strong advocate for the arts in our community, both for the youth and adults,” Petrosky said. “The Columbus Independent School District holds its Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Western Art Exhibit at the center. We have won the Super Show Award several times. I believe it is in part, because of the excellent environment at the center. It is very aesthetically pleasing.”

Deborah also said that she shares her art abilities with her church, family and friends.

Tamalyn Neuendorff, a longtime friend and colleague of Deborah’s, who teaches at the junior high, said their friendship dates back to when they knew each other in their high school days in Columbus.

“I met Debbie when she moved to Columbus while we were in high school,” Neuendorff said. “I can always remember being amazed at her talent as an artist. Not only was she talented but her love for art shows in the pride she takes in demonstrating for her students and helping them to achieve success and meet their artistic potential in her classes.”

Tamalyn also said that each year Debbie produces a Cardinal picture for the secret Santa gift exchange which everyone hopes to get.

“I have been fortunate to get one of her marvelous drawings in the gift exchange and a second from her daughter for a gift when I was her teacher,” Neuendorff said. “Debbie’s talent and pride in her work shows each and every day and is a motivating factor for her students to achieve the best they can too.”

Before becoming a Colorado County resident, Deborah was born and raised in Hallettsville by her parents, Emma and Albin (Sonny) Woytek.

“My family moved to Waller when I was three,” Petrosky said. “I attended Waller ISD from K through 11th grade. I moved to Colorado County in the summer of 1975. It was the summer before my senior year in high school. At the time, I thought it was the end of my world as a teenager.”

She said, however, the first weekend she was in Columbus, she met her future husband, Gregory Petrosky, a third generation rancher. They were both classmates who graduated from CHS in 1976.

“He is a pharmacist at our local Walmart,” Petrosky said. “We married on August 8, 1981. Our home is located on the family’s ranch outside of Columbus. We have one child, a daughter, Simone. Simone is a senior at Texas A&M, majoring in Wildlife and Fisheries Management.”

Simone said she believes her mom is an asset to the junior high as a teacher because she encourages every student that comes through her classroom door to become the best person that they can be.

“She always expresses the importance of the arts by telling her students that art is in everything that we do,” Simone Petrosky said. “Without art we wouldn’t have clothing/designs, cars, houses, textbooks with visual aid and more.”

Simone said even when the students lack desire to learn, Mrs. Petrosky tries to instill a drive in them to help create a better work ethic no matter how difficult that may be.

“The best teaching aid that she ever had was the garden she created when her classroom was in an old garage,” Simone Petrosky said. “She had trees dedicated to deceased students and plants that would attract birds and insects. When the weather was nice, she would open the garage doors to let in fresh air and to provide inspiration to students drawing.”

Simon added that when most people think of art classes, they think of simple drawings or paintings, but that her mother makes it more than that.

“She incorporates weaving, basket making, paper mache, different art contests and stitching,” Simone Petrosky said. “If she could, she would love to teach her students clay sculpture but lacks the kiln needed.”

Simone emphasized that her best memories from Columbus ISD were in her mom’s classroom.

“I wouldn’t be the small time artist that I am or have gotten this far without her support,” Simone Petrosky said. “She has overcome so much to get to where she is today and I hope that I can mirror her passion and determination in my life.”

Betty Hovis, niece and former student of Deborah said it is a treat to have an artist in the family.

“It was especially nice to take an art class with her through the school system,” Hovis said.

Hovis said Mrs. Petrosky provides her students with the opportunity to experience a vast array of media and in an inviting environment.  

“My Aunt Debbie tries to get her students to think outside the box,” Hovis said.  “She encourages her students to think for themselves and allow their own creativity to flow.  Now the next generation of our family is enjoying the same benefits that I did.  Debbie is an asset to the Columbus Junior High.  Because of her talents and knowledge in the arts students become rounded individuals and are being exposed to how liberating art can be for expressing yourself in a positive manner.”

Deborah said when she decides to retire, she wishes to become a full time artist and gardener.

“Until then, I will enjoy teaching the youth of our community and sharing my love of the arts with them,” Deborah Petrosky said.

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Columbus poet wows library audience

We continue the Local Artist Series with a Columbus native who has found a love for writing and reciting poetry.

Alvin Thompson, who has spent most of his life as a Columbus citizen, discovered an enjoyment for reading at the age of 5 and a gift for rhyme. Over the years he has found a love for writing poetry and was given an opportunity to share his talent with the local community during a presentation at the Nesbitt Memorial Library in Columbus March 13.

He is proud to say readers will find no curse words or anything derogatory in his poems. Over the years, he has worked many jobs in the community from being an employee at Kayser’s Meat Market and Schobels’ Restaurant to hauling scrap metal, but after living more than 60 years, writing has become his true passion.

On the evening of March 13 at the Columbus library, Thompson was introduced at his request by Nesbitt Memorial Library Director Nancy Koehl as “That crazy fool-no telling what he might say.”

Thompson quickly put the audience at ease with what he described as a “delightfully shocking invitation.”

All who were in attendance for the event at the library were invited to think of a subject title for any subject matter. Thompson said, no matter what the subject was, he would spontaneously compose a 6-8 line poem in two minutes or less. To the surprise of the audience, Thompson was able to fill every request. Topics varied from “sisters’ to “live oak trees,” from “Two mules named Dave and Buster” to

“scrap metal,” from “Quasimodo,” to “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

Thompson’s rapid fire, yet enthusiastic, on the fly compositions came so natural that the audience’s reaction was that they could not have been better performed if they were scripted with ample preparation time during the 15-minute segment of the evening event at the library.

Thompson followed up the spontaneous compositions with recitations from two of his previously published books of poetry.

Thompson’s deceptive wittiness could be said to be underscored with excerpts from his first book of poetry, “Alive and Well –Without Sex!”

Thompson said later in an interview that those present at the library during the evening of his presentation had no trouble paying rapt attention to each poem he delivered with all the skill he could muster, breathing life into each story and doing his best to capture the minds of the audience with his writings.

“I explained why I penned each title, lifting the feelings and emotions from the printed words,” Thompson said.

During the latter portion of his presentation, Alvin’s love of people and family beamed forth as he brought to life selections from his second book, “I Have Seen Your Tears, I have Heard Your Prayers.” He graciously gave a heart-warming explanation of why he wrote this title as well.

“If you have read it yourself and enjoyed it, your mind will be stimulated and your heart soothed by hearing my passionate and comforting rendition of my works,” Thompson said.

During the evening’s event, Columbus citizen Laura Ann Rau requested if Alvin could perform a poem about solitude.  He said to Rau that he had written a poem on that subject titled, “Grief, Ecstasy, Solace” found in his second book of poetry and read it with emotion to the audience.

Alvin’s closing 10 minutes of his presentation at the library on March 13 featured his latest production, “One Million Reasons Why Women Deserve Respect.” He described it as a book of poems written for both women and men to enjoy.

He piqued the crowd’s attention when reading “She Had a Tattoo on her Titanic.”

Thompson then both verbalized and acted out the first poem he had written, but not the first composed, when he was eight years old, “A Rabbit Plays in the Grass.”

He then talked about his present works in progress which include a CD of his three publications in print and an upcoming audio CD of his works. He announced that he is presently working on a new book of poetry, “Blossoms and Blooms of Barcelona,” with consultation and input for an associate in Barcelona, Spain.

When later asked how poetry has touched his life, Alvin replied that it softens the blows of bitter experiences in his life.

“Since we have to take the bitter with the sweet, adding a little sugar or honey with the bitter makes it not as bitter,” Thompson said.

He also pointed out that writers who have influenced him over the years include James Russell Lowell and his poem “The Creation.”

“It has given me inspiration because he stays close to God,” Thompson. “I took the ideas from his poem and later expanded it into one of mine.”

He also said he has enjoyed the writings of Maya Angelou.

“I have really enjoyed her body of work overall,” Thompson said. “She has a resonating manner and she has a way of making her poetry live in the way she reads it. It is what I strive to do when reading mine.”

He also said whenever he reads poetry, he does it in a way of a critic and is always thinking of ways he can make his poetry even better with a variety of themes.

Alvin also said during an interview that he has a love for music, and with being a longtime Houston Astros fan as well as a fan of Texas sports teams that have been on top through the years, he has written a few sports songs in support of the teams.

In 2005, he penned a song for the Astros during their successful run toward the World Series and titled it “The Straight Az and KILLA Bz,” describing it as having a psychedelic style similar to the songs of Jimi Hendrix and it was written with English and Spanish lyrics. He said while he wrote the song, the late Elmer Mosby “June Bug” Jr. composed the song and sang English lyrics while Raquel Rivera voiced the Spanish lyrics of the song. Thompson described it as a song for those who love the game of baseball.

He said it is a song he is quite proud of and that it was scheduled to be played in a playoff game, but the playoff series that year did not last as far as when the song was scheduled to play.

He also wrote a song in 2008 for the San Antonio Spurs, titled “The Spurs Came Bouncing Back.” Alvin composed the song as well and played base on the piano while Robert Clayton Sanders sang vocals.

He talked about how he sent the song to representatives of the team, and even though it is not confirmed, Alvin said with a smile, he is sure that the members of the team heard it at some point and that it inspired them during their championship run that year.

Poetry continues to be a force in Thompson’s life along with his love for writing words on paper.

He has also planned to introduce his works to the world in a Youtube video production.

Henry Potter, a resident of Colorado County, was in attendance at the event at the library along with his wife Pamela,  and talked about how the Potter family and the Thompson family go back a long way.

“I have known Alvin for a long time but I was not aware of his talent for poetry and rhyme and that he was so brilliant and entertaining,” Potter said.  “His vocabulary is also terrific.”

Henry Potter also said he was quite impressed with the brilliance of Alvin’s ability to be able to compose poems spontaneously within just a few minutes after being given a random subject.

“It was almost like a magic show,” Potter said.

Pamela Potter said she has also known Alvin for a long time and did not know of the vastness of his writing talent until attending the library event.

“He certainly has a way with words and speaks from the heart,” Pamela Potter said. “It is truly clear in his writing.”

She also said he has a talent that is a gift that few people have.  She added that she has enjoyed reading poetry through the years and after reading Alvin’s books of poems, she said his writing is truly insightful.

“I wish him well with his future endeavors,” Potter said.

Nesbitt Memorial Library Assistant Bernadette Marsh said she was fascinated by Thompson’s 15-minute impromptu poetry session during the evening event at the Columbus library and how he could so easily come up with a poem so quickly from topics suggested from the audience.

“He was amazing,” Marsh said.

She also said she enjoyed his poems that he read from his books that have been published which are available to read in the Nesbitt Memorial Library Archives.

“I thought the best one had to do with grief and solitude,” Marsh said.

Roger Wade, Chairman of the Nesbitt Memorial Library Advisory Board, was also in attendance during Thompson’s poetry reading event and enjoyed Alvin’s overall presentation, including the impromptu poetry session and his readings from his published works.

“I was also taken by the upbeat images that flow throughout his poetry,” Wade said. “He has an ability to take negative situations and create positive lessons. He is better known as a poet internationally than he is in his own community, and that is a shame.”

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Color, designs influence artist’s creations

We continues the Local Artist Series with Diane Callen, a resident of Colorado County who is a retired teacher and a member of the Live Oak Art Center Board of Directors.

After retiring from teaching English and from writing in the medical field several years ago, Diane and her husband Paul moved from the big city atmosphere of Houston to the country property they purchased between Columbus and Weimar. Diane is also proud of her big family.

“We have four grown sons (Bruce, Russell, Wade and James) and four grandchildren living in Dallas, Austin and Houston.”

Once Callen turned her primary focus from words and literature, which she emphasized that she still enjoys a great deal to this day, she has set her sights more on exploring design and color coordination, which is a primary focus in her artwork.

“This shows up not only in my work in glass but also in knitting and fabric creations,” Callen said.

When asked what artist has most inspired her in her work, she replied that she is very drawn to the work of William Morris, poet and designer of wonderful florals. She added that she is also influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, for his architecture and geometric designs.

“Both of these influences are easy to spot in the arts and crafts I pursue,” Callen said.

Diane said her latest piece of artwork she is most proud of is a set of three stacked wooden boxes filled with her glass in a design flowing from the largest on the bottom through the midsize and smallest boxes atop it.

“Also, I’m fond of my freestanding pieces, all my own design of course,” Callen said. “Only occasionally do I still make hanging window pieces or Christmas ornaments.”

Callen also talked about the importance of the Live Oak Art Center in the local community.

“The LOAC has drawn together an impressive number of art lovers and artists from a very wide range of media,” Callen said. “I’m very pleased  to see the center growing as a venue for Texas artists and a ‘crossroads’ center for the Houston-Austin-San Antonio area.”

 Diane has been quite involved at the art center for the past few years after becoming a Colorado County resident, serving as board member for three years in the position of secretary.

“Without a doubt, my greatest enjoyment has come from interacting with members of the board and the center with whom I share many interests,” Callen said. “They have been very welcoming to me as a newcomer.”

Along with her work at the art center, she has also enjoyed doing volunteer work at the Nesbitt Memorial Library in Columbus in recent years. This is how she met the late local historian and Library Director Bill Stein and she would become a participant in the annual Live Oaks and Dead Folks Cemetery Tour taking place in November each year.

“Almost immediately, he roped me into being a guide for the Live Oaks and Dead Folks Cemetery Tour,” Callen said. “After two years of that duty, I begged him to let me enact a character from the past at the tour. Shortly before his death, he promised I could perform in the next year’s event –and I held him to that promise!”

Callen added that it certainly has been fun to become, at least temporarily, a person from the past of Colorado County.

Executive Director of Live Oak Art Center Thomas Truchard spoke with great regard of Diane Callen and said he personally owns two stained glass works of Callen’s.

“Her work is quite remarkable and an attractive addition to my private collection,” Truchard said. “When I first met Diane three years ago she was extremely generous in offering me a free class and demonstration working with stained glass. It amplified my appreciation of the skill it took to create even a small ornament.”   

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A model artist finds passion

LOAC hosts juried art show

First Prize Art Presented Pictured, center, is David Jenkins of Kenney, the first prize winner of the 2012 Juried Art Exhibition at the Live Oak Art Center. The title of his melted/fused glass artwork is “Split Personality.” Pictured left is event Juror, Leonard Lehrer of Austin

The 2012 Annual Juried Art Exhibition opening reception took place at the Live Oak Art Center in Columbus on Saturday, May 19 with more than 63 artists entered in competition.

Project leads to obsession for local artist

Pictured is a photo by Local Artist Lynda Counts, titled “Rice Baskets” taken in a rural area of China close to sunset, off limits to tourists, when she went with a small group of students studying Cantonese with a professor from the University of Hong Kong who had arranged special permission from the PRC government. The woman pictured is dressed in tradition Bai tribal clothing and is washing baskets used for separating rice.

Colorado County resident Lynda Counts has always loved beautiful paintings but her love of photography was a progression that started when, in another life, she was an interior designer as well as a history teacher.

“The two both led me to photography in my work and a quick realization that I desperately needed professional training to get the effect I wanted,” Counts said. “What started out as a project quickly became an obsession that filled my office with photographic equipment, photography books, manuals and of course, photographs.”

Lynda is a native of Houston and has resided on a small farm property in New Ulm with her husband, Richard, and a chocolate lab, Charlie Brown, since 2001.

She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English. She is certified to teach secondary history, English and French and has taught at high schools in Clear Lake and Spring Branch in Houston. Lynda has also taught photography at the University of Houston at Clear Lake and English at a private high school for Chinese girls in Hong Kong.

Lynda and her husband lived in Asia for several years and the couple has traveled to more than 100 countries on six continents. She has written and photographed for several travel magazines while living in Asia and her photographs and writings have been published in both English and Chinese.

Lynda’s photographs of Russia have been exhibited by NASA for events honoring Russian cosmonauts on three occasions.

Her work has been published in several photography books and selected for inclusion in the permanent collection of the Live Oak Art Center in Columbus. Lynda’s photographs were also represented for several years by the Turner/Chapman Gallery.

When asked what types of photography and art she finds most fascinating, she replied that she loves any type of action photography but especially wild animals and people in their local environment in candid shots, also known as “humanism.”

“I take some architectural photographs but it is not my favorite subject because it doesn’t ‘move’ and relies primarily on lighting and composition. Wildlife and people shots are much more challenging combining light and composition but also timing and a lot of time and patience to get people and animals in shots that give a message to the viewer,” Counts said. “To me, a photograph of living things should need no description. If done well, it tells its own story.”

Lynda said she believes photography is one of the most important mediums for preserving current social history.

“I prefer 35 mm photography and do not use digital for photographs that I plan to display or sell because of the lack of some controls in digital as well as the fade factor of the digital prints which has not yet been satisfactorily solved by camera manufacturers,” Counts said. “I use my digital SLRs (single lens reflexes) to show me what my final shot will look like, but then I take the final photograph with my 35 mm SLRs using RAW format.”

For many years, Lynda has used her own dark room and processed her own photographs.

“Now, I have become rather lazy and have two great laboratories, one in Denver and one in New York that process and print my photographs on museum quality acid free paper,” Counts said.

Along with being a teacher in her past life, Lynda has also been an interior designer in Dallas and has owned a travel agency in Clear Lake. It was in these career paths that her passion for photography became further realized.

“Photography has played right into those fields,” Counts said. “I became interested in photography when doing ‘before and after’ photos of homes I was hired to decorate. I realized very quickly that I needed professional instruction and started taking classes.”

Lynda is a member of the Professional Photographers Association and the Adobe Professional Photographers Association.

“As a result of that, I have been invited to attend several seminars taught by the Adobe Photoshop group in Dallas and in Las Vegas,” Counts said. “Although I do not use Adobe in my professional work, I find it a fascinating medium for the new contemporary photography that is popular in university classes. I do not approve of using Photoshop type software to ‘patch’ photographs and consider it a ‘band aid’ and not a tool when used to repair shots that were not properly taken.”

Lynda Counts, said however, for fantasy photography, it is unsurpassed.

“For example, one assignment we were given by the Adobe specialists in Dallas was to take parts of three very different animals and make them into a believable new animal,” Counts said. “It was challenging and great fun.”

Lynda added that Adobe Photoshop has many uses that standard photography cannot provide, such as combining shots of different kids playing soccer and putting them into one picture on one soccer field.

“Unfortunately, I feel that Adobe type software has many times become a crutch for photographers who doctor their photos instead of working to take them properly,” Counts said. “Many photography exhibits are now requiring that submissions be divided into ‘enhanced’ or ‘original’ work since enhancing photos has become so easy and popular and exhibitors and buyers would like to know if a photograph is an original work. Encouraging the use of ‘touch up’ software by new photographers, is, in my opinion, damaging the ability of amateur photographers to improve the quality of their shots.”

Lynda continued by saying that a truly outstanding photograph is one that comes out of the camera ‘tack sharp,’ as photographers say, with excellent lighting and composition and needs no ‘touch up.’

“I try for the ‘perfect shot’ every time, but needless-to-say, that does not happen often,” Counts said. “However, I spent as long as two hours waiting for the perfect lighting and shot when trying to take a herd of gazelles in Tanzania with all of them looking up,” Counts said. “I did get it much to the disgust of my driver who sat patiently all that time.”

Project leads to obsession, part 2

“I have spent time studying several photographers that are classified internationally as ‘Fine Art Photographers’ because of the quality of their work,” Counts said.

Artists who have inspired Lynda the most within her work include Ansel Adams and his ability to “see” lighting in the most artistic way possible and then reproduce it in black and white.

“Truly amazing,” Counts said. “I have studied his work with light and shadow.”

She added that Andrew Prokos has been an inspiration in that he is a master of landscapes and cityscapes.

“This is a medium that I do reluctantly so his work inspires me to think outside the box when faced with boring landscape situations,” Counts said.

James Nachtway, a photo journalist who specializes in war photography, has also fascinated her.

“I obviously do not go to war zones but his composition and insight into creating a photo story of what could be horror photographs is truly great,” Counts said. “I met a number of war photographers when I lived in Asia and learned a great deal from them about getting shots with emotion and meaning that tell a story with sympathy and understanding. I normally called one of them when I was going to a country that was having problems to get their take on safety issues and ended up learning a great deal about candid emotional photography.”

Lynda also talked about the Live Oak Art Center in Columbus and how important of a place it is for the local community.

“I think the LOAC is a jewel in our community that we should support in any way that we can,” Counts said. “Very few towns, large or small, have a facility like this and get to view the quality of art that is presented at the LOAC. Even if the average citizen cannot afford to purchase the art, it is an amazing opportunity to see some excellent artists in many different fields.”

She continued by saying that the LOAC has presented exhibits on everything from traditional oil painting, to national watercolor exhibits, to an amazing exhibit on loan from the Smithsonian, as well as fabric art, photography, sculpture, collages and more.

“They are moving more into education with outstanding art teachers holding classes at the center,” Counts said. “I have been a member for more than 10 years and served on their board for four years. My years on the board gave me a true appreciation of what they are doing for the community. This is an organization that is invaluable to our community and we are fortunate to have professionals involved in the LOAC and bringing art to us here at home.”

Lynda has participated in several LOAC shows over the past eight years and currently has two photographs on exhibit as part of the annual Members’ Show.

“I particularly enjoyed exhibits featuring several photographers who each studied different areas of photography,” Counts said. “Discussions with those other photographers during the exhibits definitely broadened by outlook on macro-photography, still life photography and other areas I have not tried.”

In the past, two of Lynda’s photographs have been selected to be included in the LOAC Permanent Collection. One of the photos is called “Forest and Stream,” a landscape taken in South Carolina and the other is “Rice Baskets,” a photograph of a tribal woman washing her rice basket in a river in China.

Also, photographs taken by Lynda of children from around the world were selected by the Columbus Community Hospital to be placed in the children’s play area of the reception area of the Columbus Medical Clinic and are on display for everyone to view.

She is a former president of the Columbus Garden Club and before moving to Colorado County, she has held numerous charity positions in Houston and Dallas.

She has also been involved in the local community, having photographed the July 4th Parade for the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and has presented several power point presentations to various community groups on different subjects using her photographs.

Local Artist Mary Richter said she knows Lynda as a personal friend and that Lynda is very dedicated to her photography.

“She pays attention to detail in her artwork,” Richter said.

Richter also said since Lynda travels all over the world, she has acquired a vast amount of knowledge and knows the details of photography as an art form.

“She has done excellent work,” Richter said.

Check upcoming editions of The Citizen for the next installment of the Local Artist Series.

http://www.coloradocountycitizen.com

Photography sparks passion

Pictured is Local Artist Ken Sparks, seated far left, along with his poker group, dressing up in western attire in a photo titled, “Choir Practice,” which he said is a term used by Sparks and his friends when they call each other at the office and need to leave a message about why they are calling. Also pictured seated are Maurice Kasper, Vance Elliot, Pat Hluchanek, John Bonner and Jay Johannes. Standing are David Divin and Bob Gillespie.

“I have always enjoyed looking at photographs and paintings and studying their composition and lighting,” Sparks said.

After graduating from law school, Sparks worked at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and met Patty, when she appeared in court as a probation officer.

“We got married and I have been on probation ever since,” Sparks said jokingly. “We bought property near Weimar in 1995 intending to be weekenders. After a short time, we decided it would be a wonderful place to raise our children and moved here permanently in 1996.”

Sparks has been Colorado County Attorney since 2001.

“We have two sons, one is an attorney in Fort Worth and the other works for an insurance company in Arlington,” Sparks said. “We have one handsome grandson, one beautiful granddaughter and unfortunately, one cat.”

Sparks began to study photography more elaborately during his college years.

“Years ago, I took two community college courses on photography when I lived in Houston and was a member of the Houston Photo Chrome Club with monthly meetings and competitions,” Sparks said. “This was before digital cameras.”

More recently, Sparks said, he purchased a Canon 7D digital camera along with several different lenses and has been attending monthly meetings and field trips with the Live Oak Camera Club in Columbus.

“I also took a short course offered at the Live Oak Art Center on photography taught by Tommy Truchard,” Sparks said. “My photography has improved by leaps and bounds since I have been active in the Live Oak Camera Club. Membership in the club with its monthly meetings and photo assignments keeps me busy taking pictures, which is the best way to improve. I also do a lot of self study through photography books and magazines.”

When asked who has inspired Sparks regarding his photography artwork he replied that Jerry Brown of Fayetteville has been a mentor.

“He is a leader in the Live Oak Camera Club and his good humor and excellent pointers inspire all of the members to become better photographers,” Sparks said. “Jerry is a premier photographer who spends a lot of his time encouraging other photographers who want to improve.”

Sparks also said Art Stokes, a fellow camera club member from Round Top, has inspired him by literally creating art through his photographs, which look more like paintings.

During the past few years, Sparks has exhibited photographs at the Live Oak Art Center and the Art Guild of Fayetteville and has entered photos in the Colorado County Fair.

“I enjoy photography exhibits and galleries to see what other photographers have done,” Sparks said. “It is amazing how a different set of eyes can compose a much different photo of the same subject matter.”

Ken Sparks photography has also been recently recognized with awards in the local area.

“In 2011, two of my photographs received awards for Best of Show and Reserved Best of Show at the Colorado County Fair,” Sparks said.

Sparks has been a member of the Live Oak Art Center since 1996 and spoke with great admiration of how the art center promotes the arts in the local community.

“It is a cultural oasis,” Sparks said. “The varied exhibits, community outreach and classes for youngsters make it a valuable resource for our citizens.”

When asked how he is involved in the arts in the local community, Sparks responded that he is one of the leaders in the Live Oak Camera Club and the he is always helping to recruit new members.

Also, Sparks has donated framed photographs to various non-profit organizations to sell at live and silent auctions.

LOAC Gallery Administrator Tommy Truchard said Sparks’ photographs can usually be easy to recognize due to their luminous painterly appearance.

“In our current member’s exhibit at the LOAC, there is a great photo of Henry Potter shaping a cowboy hat at Potter’s Western Store taken by Ken that is a great example of this luminous technique also known as Highly Dynamic Range (HDR),” Truchard said. “HDR imaging is a set of techniques that allows a greater dynamic range between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than current standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods.”

Truchard added that this wide dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the range intensity of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight, and is often captured by way of plurality of differently exposed pictures of the same subject matter.

“Sparks has wonderfully mastered this technique and has truly made it his own style by combining this process with his already existing approach,” Truchard said.

Check upcoming editions of The Citizen for more installments of the Local Artist Series.

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Local artist finds passion in photography

Beckey has been a member of the local community since 1968 and has been the owner of Beckey’s Café in Columbus for the past eight years. She is currently a member of the Live Oak Art Center Board of Directors.

Her two sons and their families also reside in Colorado County. Over the years, when Beckey has not been too busy working at the café or spending time with her kids and grandchildren, she has found a love for a variety of the arts.

Zajicek has been passionate for the arts for many years and in the early 1980s, she began to work with painting and oil pastels. Since she has been busy running her local café in recent years, she has found less time to be able to continue her love of painting.

However, a little over four years ago, a friend of Beckey’s lent her a Nikon camera to see if she could figure out how to use it properly.

“I wanted to figure out how to use it and take a good picture,” Zaicek said.

Soon, Zajicek became more and more interested in photography and found out taking a picture was more than just pointing and shooting at a random person, place or thing.

As Beckey continued to pursue her interest in photography, she began reading books on the subject as well as magazines and bought her own Nikon camera within the past year.

“I have worked really hard in self teaching myself on the subject,” Zajicek said.

She also searched for a course to gain further knowledge on such aspects as lighting and depth of field, but could not find a course available at any of the area colleges within an hour radius.

She later found classes available in contemporary photography at the LOAC in Columbus and decided to sign up. The course, instructed by LOAC Gallery Administrator Tommy Truchard, helped Beckey observe things she hadn’t seen before while taking pictures.

“He has become a great friend and is very encouraging with my work in photography,” Zajicek said.

Truchard said he also made a friend for life when Beckey enrolled in his class at the LOAC.

“I never had a student with so much eagerness to learn,” Truchard said. “Even though the class focused on seeing other photographer’s works and taught students to be familiar with known influences in their own craft. I believed Beckey walked away from the class with so much more.”

Truchard added that she produced a wonderful series of photographs derived of people in their living rooms.

“It was the most contemporary thing I had ever seen from her and yet it fit who Beckey is so well,” Truchard said. “Beckey is so great with people and why wouldn’t her artwork say just that.”

She has also become a member of the Live Oak Photo Society in Columbus during the past couple of years where she has been able to discuss her passion for the art form and find ways to continue to improve her craft. She also spends as much of her spare time as she can taking photos whenever she finds the opportunity.

“I go out and practice what I learn from my courses whether it is improving lighting in my pictures while taking photos of blue bells near Fayetteville, or taking photos of wildlife,” Beckey said.

Zajicek recently took a few pictures of an eagle near the Colorado River that she spoke proudly of. She added she has enjoyed taking photos of wildlife and pictures at area events such as parades but her favorite type of photography is travel photography.

“Last year, my friend Mary Frenzel and myself visited the Guadalupe Peak near El Paso where we took a lot of scenic photos and captured the west Texas atmosphere,” Zajicek said.

In the past couple of years, Beckey also received recognition in local contests for her artwork.

She was awarded a reserve best in show in the 2009 Colorado County Fair for a picture of her grandson. Beckey took first place in 2010 in The Citizen’s Kids and Pets photography contest. Also, Beckey’s photo titled, “Not the Last Picture Show” was picked in the Top 40 out of 250 entered works of art to be entered in this year’s Juried Art Show at the LOAC in May.

Beckey said she has passed her love for photography to some of her friends and employees at the café and they have continued a tradition of posting photos they have felt portray artistic merit on a bulletin board near the register of the café.

“Customers have become interested in photos on display and have asked questions of how and where they were taken,” Zajicek said.

Beckey added that her interest in photography has just begun and she hopes to continue to enter contests in the future and hopefully win, to expand her knowledge and improve her artwork in the future.

As a member of the board at the LOAC, she said she loves to be around people who share her interest in art and is proud there are more members of the LOAC art club who share an interest in photography then there have been in the past.

“Now, there are not just painters and sculptors, but many people who truly find art in taking pictures,” Zajicek said. “Photography has been accepted as a popular art form in the local area more than ever before.”

In regards to the future, Beckey said on any given day she can be found walking somewhere in the community and capturing art while taking photos with her camera.

“I hope to continue to take pictures whenever I can and see what makes an interesting photo,” Beckey said.

Artist sculpts history back to life

Amanda Danning has had a fascination for the arts dating back to a young age of 3, when her mother would find her drawing pictures of horses and depicting early indications of what would become an artistic career.

As years went by, Amanda found herself becoming more intrigued by all aspects of art, but most especially sculpting.

“I find it the most enjoyable,” Danning said. “It is a presence you just can’t get with two dimensional paintings.”

She recalls how when she was a young girl in the mid 1970s, she first witnessed an artist’s replica of Michaelangelo’s “David” while visiting Dallas. While seeing and touching the piece of art and studying it in person, she knew that sculpting was the form of art she most identified with.

“It put the awe in me and I realized art was more than just a coloring book,” Danning said. “Prior to discovering the replica of “David,” I knew I could paint or draw but sculpting became something I could aspire to do and for me, art became something divine.”

It was also her love for sculpting that helped lead her into her career in forensic facial reconstruction.

Amanda grew up in a small Texas town called Mabank where she graduated from high school and continued her education outside of the Lone Star State. She studied the arts at Florida Atlantic University where she received a B.S. in Art and a Master’s Degree in sculpture.

Her expertise in facial reconstruction has become not only a passion of hers, but also a career she takes full pride in.

She pointed out that the remains of a skull provide clues to personal appearance. The brow ridge, the distance between the eye orbits, the shape of the nasal chamber, the shape and projection of the nasal bones, the chin’s form and the overall profile of the facial bones all determine facial features in life.

Some of her career highlights so far include being the Director of Exhibits at the Museum of Health and Medical Science in Houston and also for the past six years, a Consultant at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

While working forensic facial reconstruction, Danning works with a forensic anthropologist to interpret skeletal features that reveal the subject’s age, sex, and ancestry, as well as anatomical features like facial asymmetry, evidence of injuries (for example, a broken nose), or loss of teeth before death.

The majority of the forensic work Danning has accomplished has been with Dr. Douglas Owsley of The Smithsonian, the head of Physical Anthropology and Forensic Anthropology. She added that it has been an honor to work with him over the past few years as she continues from one project to the next.

Some of the steps in reconstruction that Danning has worked to excel in her craft include applying markers to indicate the depths of tissue to be added to the skull. Studies over the past century of males and females of different ancestral groups determine the measures of these particular depths. Amanda uses the Manchester Method where she builds the major muscle groups around the eyes and the mouth before filling in between the depth markers and adding skin.

The next step is to begin to refine the features around the artificial eyes as the lips take shape and facial contours are smoothed. Subtle details are then added accurately to personalize the reconstruction.

Through her forensic work, Amanda has also become a storyteller and presenter of the projects she has worked on.

Her enthusiasm for her forensic art and the historical elements connected are shown as she informs the audiences of her projects.

Danning has talked to clubs, civic groups and museums along with a variety of other groups on the subject.

Some of her presentations have included “Skeletons in My Closet” which is an overview of her work as a forensic sculptor with emphasis on the Horn Shelter Exhibit in Clifton; and the “Forgotten Faces of Fort Craig” which is the compelling story of looting of the Fort Craig, New Mexico cemetery and the efforts to identify the remains of Buffalo Soldiers which includes a facial reconstruction of Private Thomas Smith.

Regarding Texas history, her presentation, “Making Heads and Telling Tales of San Jacinto,” Danning tells the story of six skulls of Mexican soldiers killed on the battleground at San Jacinto and collected by James J. Audebon in the late 1830s and includes work on the facial reconstruction of the soldiers.

Also, “The Levi Morris Story,” Danning informed, tells the tragic tale of one of the Buffalo Soldiers buried at Fort Craig Cemetery.

Amanda also talked about a project she worked on regarding a young boy (approximately 17 years old) from Kent England named James Mutton. He traveled on the Godspeed in the early 1600s with a serious tooth ailment to the new world to survive the trip to Jamestown only to be the first casualty of the settlement, killed by an Indian attack in the settlement.

Danning pointed out, that details of Mutton’s tragic life, who was buried in an unmarked grave at the fort in Jamestown, would have remain unknown without the research provided from the forensic work.

The reconstruction of Mutton, Danning said, along with a reconstruction of Bartholomew Gosnold, the Captain of the Godspeed and considered the “architect of Jamestown” is currently on display as the “Written in Bone” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum.

She has also given a presentation of her reconstruction work of James Mutton in the “Written in Bone” exhibit at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival” that takes place the last week of June and first week of July at the mall in Washington, D.C.

“It was quite an event,” Danning said. “An estimate of 2.3 million went through the whole festival.”

Danning added that she is currently working on a reconstruction of remains of a person found as a result of the LaBelle shipwreck that took place in 1658.

“The Texas Historic Commission at Texas A&M did the archaeological dig at Matagorda Bay and actual ship pieces have been discovered,” Danning said.

She said the remains of the person, who at this time may be identified as “C. Barrange” but it is not certain, she has been working on for reconstruction died of dehydration while trying to hide away from the local Indians.

An exhibit featuring actual pieces of the ship and reconstruction of the remains of the man currently identified as Barrange, Danning said, is scheduled to be on display at the Bob Bullock Museum in Austin in 2013.

Though Amanda has received recognition and acclaim for her forensic sculpting abilities, she is also an accomplished sculptor in the artistic sense.

Whenever the opportunity comes calling, Amanda enjoys getting her hands on clay and molding something unique and has worked in and with all sorts of subject material an in various scales using a variety of different media which includes wood, bronze and resin composite.

She revealed two artists that have most inspired her are August Rodin and N.C. Wyeth.

“Both took a slightly new twist in their medium and took their work very seriously in spite of people telling them they did not do it the right way,” Danning said. “These two artists were not rebellious yet were truly creative. They used non-traditional methods in very traditional mediums to interpret traditional subjects creating looks that are uniquely their own. Even today, 100 years later, their work is recognizable at a glance. They took art seriously and made good livings at their crafts without patrons or grants.”

She added that she respects Rodin and Wyeth’s work so much because they moved forward in advancing their craft without being arrogant or condescending.

Along with her passion for sculpting, she continues to enjoy drawing and painting, dating back to when she began drawing horses at the youthful age of 3.

That passion for drawing was the prelude to an artistic journey which continues today when she sets brush to canvas.

Amanda has been commissioned to do portraits, both personal and historical. Even though she paints primarily in oils, she also enjoys drawing in pastels as well.

When it comes to collecting art, Amanda’s favorites are oil paintings and prints (printmaking) and etchings.

When asked about the importance of art in education Danning emphasized that even with state budget cuts reaching a high point in public education, art is everywhere, reflected in the current society and does not have to be limited to one subject.

“Much of human history has been preserved in art from cave paintings, hieroglyphics and more modern events such as the photographs of 9/11,” Danning said. “Art should be incorporated into more traditional subjects including math and how it would apply to carpenters and architects, creative writing and journalism and how illustrations and lay out is an integral part of newspaper or magazine design. Even mechanics use illustration to translate complex mechanisms to individuals both in and out of the field.”

Danning said that there should also be opportunities for students to study painting and sculpture but if the system doesn’t have the money for separate art classes, it is better to show the youth that art is part of everyone’s everyday lives and not leave it a mystery.

“In this way, each individual student has opportunity to connect to what is practical in art while having an avenue to discovering the divine aspects of art,” Danning said.

Amanda has been a member of the Columbus community for nearly two and a half years and spoke highly of the Live Oak Art Center in Columbus. She said it is one of the best art centers in central Texas and respects the board and staff for keeping its reputation of highest regard.

“They are truly committed to keeping alive and sustaining and promoting artists in Texas,” Danning said. “They have a good foot in history and a good foot in recognizing modern/local artists.”

Amanda was also a co-judge for the Texas Society of Sculptors Art Contest that took place on July 17 of last year.

Amanda continued by saying that how much she loves working in forensic facial reconstruction, the work is intermittent and does not pay too well.

She also divides her busy schedule working on the Columbus Chamber of Commerce Board and is working on putting together a new art contest, promoting Central Texas and Columbus at next year’s spring Live Oak Festival.

Amanda also gives talks to local schools and civic organizations about facial forensic reconstructions and how to make a living as an artist.

Amanda has been married to Jim Brasher for the past two years and they live four miles north of Columbus.

Jim spoke proudly of his wife’s artistic background and even mentioned how her exhibit was the second most visited at the Smithson Folklife Festival.

“She is a great speaker and can tell a story to an audience,” Brasher said.

Amanda went on to say she is proud to be connected to such an historic town but that the future of arts in the city could be dramatically improved by improving the art culture.

“Columbus is one of the oldest chartered cities in Texas, has a lot of history and is aesthetically pleasing,” Danning said. “The history of Columbus and its art community is something we need to promote. Art never goes away. We just need to organize and promote it.”

Check upcoming editions of The Citizen for more installments of the Local Artist Series.

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Potter gives credit to God for his talents

Mark Potter, who resides just north of Columbus, where his workshop and art studio are located, has been a carpenter for most of his life. His love for carpentry became his profession dating back to 1978.

“I will always be a carpenter,” Potter said. “The art part is used to enhance what I do. It is something unique, whether it is a dwelling or a simple centerpiece on the table or a wall hanging.”

With a background of wood and metal working supported by mechanical abilities, Mark has created enhancements for homes, churches and business in the central Texas area. His work has incorporated consultation, design and execution into furnishings such as doors, windows, curved staircases, architectural trusses as well as furniture and non-functional art form pieces.

“These unique items are achieved by methods of special milling, carving, turning and custom moldings,” Potter said.

Mark uses woods native to Texas in his art projects and also incorporates iron into his work and occasional hammered artwork into copper clad doors.

Mark has been involved with the Live Oak Art Center off and on since the 1980s and was part of a one-man show in 1985 at the LOAC.

“It was an honor to be asked to do one,” Potter said.

Included in the show were some of Mark’s woodwork, turnings and sculptural work.

He has participated in art shows in the central Texas area including the Winedale Festival where some of his custom home furnishings were on display such as tables. Mark also received the Judge’s Choice Award in the Texas Furniture Maker Show in Kerrville within the past 10 years.

Potter has had some of his artwork, including chairs and tables that he built on display at Copper Shade Tree in Round Top and also on display at the Industrial Country Market off of Highway 71 north of Columbus.

His carpentry work has been hands on and self taught throughout his life and he works hard on bringing creative problem solving to his work.

“It’s what I do every day,” Potter said. “My work comes from a focal point that someone wants something unique and that they can’t buy ready-made.”

When asked where he learned his craft his answer is simple and full of faith.

“More often than not, people want to attribute my success to some influence such as a formal training or an incarnation of some sort or perhaps being lucky. My response of my success is if there is something pleasing about my work, God gets the credit because I am only the tool that he uses to create these things,” Potter said.

His work on completing the double doors at the entrance of the First United Methodist Church in Columbus and the front doors at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Frelsburg demonstrates the artistic detail and passion he puts into building his artwork when his faith in God takes a hand.

Father Wayne Flagg, Pastor for Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Frelsburg and St. Roch Catholic Church in Mentz, said the work he has accomplished at Mentz and Frelsburg is incredible, including the doors at Sts. Peter and Paul and the altar and sanctuary at St. Roch.

“He is always conscientious of his work and has a sense of what they mean to the church,” Flagg said.

Father Flagg was also impressed with a wood carving of a pelican, which symbolizes the Eucharistic Mass, located in the church at Mentz and finding out how it was one of Potter’s earliest works he ever did.

“I was amazed of how beautiful of a piece of work it is,” Flagg said.

Father Flagg also pointed out how Potter was able to salvage some long leaf pine on church property and turn it into cabinets and doors to be used by the church community.

“He has left work at the churches for many to appreciate in the generations to come,” Father Flagg said.

While turning over his faith to his artwork, Potter has been able to share his ability with those who appreciate and acknowledge his talent as Potter continues to produce his unique and artistic carpentry.

Mark’s work can also be seen at his home by calling and making an appointment at 979-732-9535.

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Family’s love of art inspires local artist

Colorado County resident Paulina van Bavel-Kearney has embraced the arts all the way back to her childhood and is proud of her family heritage.

“My parents are Dutch, immigrants to this country after World War II, and they had a strong love of the arts,” Kearney said. “My grandfather taught fine furniture design of the modern style.”

Paulina grew up in Arizona and graduated from high school in Tempe. During those years she, along with her family, spent a lot of time exploring American Indian art, both visiting the ancient pueblo sites and going to see collections of art in the local museums.

“My family always collected art to display in our home,” Kearney said. “I saw their appreciation and wanted to create artwork myself from an early age.”

Kearney said she discovered that she loved to draw and paint but her favorite medium of art through the years has become clay.

“I used to create pottery that was useful, such as dishes and vases, bowls for serving food, but I also loved to make pieces that had symbolic meaning and were just made to look at for decorative or expressive purposes,” Kearney said.

After completing high school, Kearney arrived in the Lone Star State and attended the University of Texas at Austin.

“It was an excellent art school and I was able to study under many fine artists and teachers,” Kearney said. “I paid my way through school with loans and a job showing images of artwork for the art history classes in the art department. I sat in almost every art history class that the school offered over those five years. It was a double education. I am constantly reading, looking at art, staying up with what my friends are doing and studying exhibits that are on display in museums around the world.”

Paulina also pointed out that the Internet is a useful way to stay in touch when living in a remote area.

In regards to her decision to become an art teacher, Paulina said her parents encouraged her to become a teacher so that she would always have a way to earn a living besides making her art, so she had a double major in studio art and education.

“I taught ceramics for the Austin Museum of Art and for several years, I was the studio art ceramics teacher at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin,” Kearney said.

Paulina later married Jim Kearney and moved to Colorado County in 1980 where they raised a family on the Kearney family ranch.  When her children were attending grade school in Columbus, she was asked to begin an art program at the elementary level in the Columbus Independent School District.

Paulina taught at CES for eight years, cycling all of the students through her program in the year.

“It was a very popular part of the school day because it was the first time many children were ever exposed to making creative things with their hands and learning about the great works of art made by man through the ages,” Kearney said. “Priorities changed in the school district and I was moved to the high school where I taught for 10 years, eventually moving into the Marley Giddens Center.”

The facility was completed in 2006 and currently houses the fine arts program at CHS as well as the new gymnasium.

“I retired from teaching after 20 years to devote my energy to my artwork full time,” Kearney said.

Local artist Tracey Wegenhoft spoke of how her son, Tray, who graduated from Columbus High School in 2006, was a student of Kearney’s in high school.

“My son had Mrs. Kearney for four years in high school art,” Wegenhoft said. “He always talked about how she was an inspiration and he really felt privileged to have someone of her talent and prestige that guided him in learning art. He still practices his art today based on what she taught him.”

Pertaining to the importance of art as a subject in public education, Paulina said the creation of art is one of the most basic human urges.

“It is one of the endeavors that set us apart from being mere animals,” Kearney said. “If we live a life just occupied with our need for survival, for food and shelter, never expressing the side of our nature that is developed through music, dance, art, literature, we have not fulfilled our human potential. It would be a poor existence.”

She added that a great public school for a great state and a great nation would embrace the teaching of the creative arts with the deepest commitment.

“It is how we develop empathy for other people, other cultures,” Kearney said. “Respect for the culture and human viewpoint of others is very sadly lacking in our society.”

Artists that have inspired Kearney through the years include a diverse group, from American Indian potters from a bygone era to former teachers.

Two artists that have fascinated Paulina in regards to pottery were Maria Martinez and Lucy Lewis, Pueblo Indian potters from the early 1930s. Also the ancient Greeks and Romans who created the Attic figure vases also informed her artwork.

“My teacher at UT, Ishmael Soto, empowered me  to be involved in all aspects of ceramics, from clay making to kiln construction, the chemistry of glazing, throwing pots on a potter’s wheel and having above all, studying the clay making cultures from around the world,” Kearney said. “I also love the early modern painters such as Cezanne, Picasso, Klee and Matisse. Their drawings are all very inspirational to me.”

Paulina said her first big break as an artist was being chosen to have a six month stipend to create her art in a beautiful location near Austin, the Paisano Ranch, donated to use for writers and artists by J. Frank Dobie, the writer, teacher and collector of Texas cowboy stories.

“Having a woman show at the Austin Museum in Art in the 1980s was also a high point,” Kearney said. “I have had a wonderful series of galleries represent me in Santa Fe, New Mexico and getting to travel there in the summers to bring my artwork for sale has also been a great reward for me.”

Paulina began showing in galleries when her artwork evolved into a unique style that incorporated the American Indian art with ancient Greek and Roman techniques and modern technology. It began with teaching students about ceramic cultures of the past.

“After showing in galleries in Austin and Dallas and Houston, I was asked to prepare numerous one-woman shows of my artwork throughout Texas, and in regional museums in our state,” Kearney said. “My work has been in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston for many years, and most recently the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi acquired a piece for their permanent collection. It is on display right now.”

Kearney said she hopes to get more pieces in other public collections so that her contributions will be remembered in the future.

Through the years, Paulina has dedicated time to her pottery in making her artwork as meticulous and personal as possible.

“My work is polished by hand with a clay and water mixture known as ‘slip’ in potter’s language,” Kearney said. “It is made from the earthenware clay that I use to make the pots, but refined so that it can build up a many layered shine on the surface of a smooth, dry clay pot.  The artwork is individually packed into sawdust filled bowls that are custom made, known as ‘saggers.’ Each piece cools in the ashes of the sawdust and it is the magic of the minerals in the clay reacting to the smoldering patterns of burning sawdust that produces the unique colors on each piece.  The high heat of the kiln makes the shiny surface permanent.”

Paulina added that each year she demonstrates her technique at an all pottery show in Gruene during the month of October.  Next year will be the 20th year of the Texas Clay Festival that invites only artists whose work is of the highest quality. 

“The gallery at Round Top is the closest place to carry my work on a regular basis,” Kearney said.  “My studio is next to my home so it is not a retail place, but is open by appointment for collectors.  You can see several examples of my work in the Live Oak Art Center Members show and a special collection will be available for the Ladies Night Out in December.”

Paulina has been a member of the Live Oak Art Center since the early 1980s when she began teaching children’s clay classes in the summers.

“The early members of the art center had a great vision to enrich our community, and their efforts have been doubled and tripled through the years by many wonderful people who understand how important it is to see and experience creations and to create art yourself,” Kearney said. “It is a remarkable, professional and inspiration asset in our community and I only hope everyone would take advantage of going in there and seeing what they have to offer.”

After retiring from teaching this spring, Paulina continues to contribute to the art community in whatever way she can.

“I have been active as a volunteer teacher at the art center, serving on the board of directors and various committees throughout the years,” Kearney said. “I helped to reorganize the Live Oak Festival many years ago when the Columbus Historic Preservation Trust dropped their sponsorship of the outdoor food and music. In the early days, that was one of the only times the public came out to see the artwork displayed. Now we have an ongoing, constantly changing art display in the LOAC gallery where the artwork may be seen in air conditioned comfort.

Paulina’s husband Jim also has a background in education and teaching. Jim’s father was a rancher while his mother was a school teacher and a librarian. Through the years, Jim has been a German teacher in Columbus and also in Katy.

Paulina and Jim have given their utmost effort to follow in the footsteps of the previous Kearney generation, living on the family ranch and contributing their time to schools over the years and also to raise awareness of history, literature and culture. They have also contributed their time to the Nesbitt Memorial Library and both have played historic roles in the annual Live Oaks and Dead Folks Cemetery Tour.

“The late Bill Stein asked Jim and I to be characters in the first tour in 2003 and we have been involved ever since,” Paulina  said. “I love getting into the characters and thinking about their lives in a very personal way. I imagine what it would be like to go through their experiences and try to portray that.”

Paulina said since she is somewhat familiar with the German language, she can adapt her voice to the accent so Bill Stein often gave her German heritage roles to perform in the cemetery tours.

“This year I played a ‘proper’ Southern lady artist and I had fun doing that accent to,” Kearney said. “I like talking directly to the audience in character and improvising to engage them with a little humor or evoking the sadness of their stories which are often very emotional. One of my most difficult roles was to play the mother of a girl who was murdered at a very young age.”

Paulina said the late Bill Stein used the role playing mini dramas to inform the audience with verifiable facts from original source material about the little known contributions, both good and bad, of former citizens of Colorado County.

“It is a great way to absorb some history and get a unique view of our town in the dark of the cemetery,” Kearney said. “It was great to see so many young people enjoying this adventure. We have some great community people working in our library and volunteering to benefit Colorado County. It is a great place to live.”

Whether it is teaching students in the classroom or the local art center, finding enjoyment in her pottery, or performing in the annual “Live Oaks and Dead Folks,” Paulina van Bavel-Kearney lives art and expresses her passion for the arts in her everyday life.

Richter is living the dream, in her own style

Mary Richter, also known as “Ms. Mary” to the local community, has been a citizen of Columbus for nearly 50 years and has had a passion for art for most of her life.

Whether it is refining her artwork in realism through the years or experimenting in the abstract, Mary has thrived on art.

“My artistic side seems to work in different ways and in a dream-like state I try to think things through,” Richter said. “No sense of scale, no measurement, no apertures, no tricks of the trade. In this dream-like state things just happen for me.”

Mary was raised in St. Louis, Mo. and took art classes while attending high school at St. Joseph’s Academy and at Webster College. Her love of the arts continued after she moved to Texas, where she taught art basics off and on through the years as a traveling teacher in cities such as Columbus, Sealy, Brenham, Bellville and in Houston.

“I enjoyed teaching students how to get something on canvas,” Richter said. “We would all ‘paint along,’ working together.”

Mary was even featured in the number 43 edition of Palette Talk Magazine, published by Grumbacher, Inc., in 1980 in a “Teacher Feature” article. The feature focused on such aspects as Mary instructing students on color mixing and how to paint a perched seagull.

Mary said even though she has enjoyed the opportunity to teach, she has always been a student of art and recalls being inspired by artists like figurative painter Dick Turner and Joe Perez, an expert in figure drawing, when they taught classes in Houston.

Also, in the mid 70s Mary was part of a three-person art group that worked on paintings as big as two by four feet in TV demonstrations in malls across Houston. She recalled how each artist in the group would work on a specific segment of the painting and would switch locations after a while to another segment where one of their colleagues had been painting and complete the artwork in a matter of hours. The painting would then be auctioned off by the end of the day.

Mary and her two colleague artists dressed in colorful, artsy wardrobes which brought character to their act.

“It was a good time,” Richter said. “We always had a lot of fun.”

Raising six children meant it was not possible to teach art full time over the years, but that did not mean she lost her desire to be involved in the art world and has been a member of the Live Oak Art Center for more than three decades.

In later years,  Mary helped organize along with the late Buddy Rau, the Historical Walking Tours in 1987 and developed a walking tour map and originated the “Texas Pioneer Trail” Map.

She served as a Chairperson for three years for the Magnolia Homes Tour Window Displays, three years on the decorating committee for the Magnolia Black Tie Ball and was a member of the Art Commission for the Columbus Quincentennial Commission.

Mary has served as a judge of children’s art work for schools and the Colorado County Fair as well as being the chairperson of the art show for five years, organizing the first art show for the County Fair and the Fine Arts Catalog rules and regulations.

She served on the St. Anthony School board for many years and contributed to many of the school’s projects. She helped originate the first carnival in 1964.

She also completed a four by eight foot painting of bluebonnets in a country landscape that was donated by the hospital auxiliary to be hung on one of the walls of the Columbus Community Hospital.

She has been happy to find ways to contribute to the local hospital in whatever way she can, whether it’s through donations or having one of her artworks hanging up for everyone to see.

“We are fortunate to have such a wonderful hospital in our community,” Richter said.

In recent years, Mary has studied photography and has even invented her own term in a style of artwork she has made her own.

“All my photos are taken with a point and shoot camera,” Richter said. “The photographs are not manipulated in the computer in any way except to print on water color paper and then to color with Prisma Pencil colors.”

She said the prisma pencils are of the highest quality colored lead and cannot be erased once the color is on the photo.

“The idea came to me when trying to incorporate my years of art into the photograph,” Richter said. “I had taken a class from Tommy Truchard at the Live Oak Art Center, who made me aware that it was alright to see things in a different way than others. This led to my interest in the photo and I joined the class with photographers but I was still looking for a different approach to the picture. I began to experiment with papers and the pencils.”

This led to Mary brainstorming the word for her innovative idea.

“The word Photoprisma came to me to explain just what I was doing with the picture and it made sense in the description of the work,” Richter said. “It gave me my own style, my own art term and it opened new enjoyments to my art world.

LOAC Gallery Administrator Truchard was impressed with Mary’s unique approach to photography while observing her artwork in his classes.

“Mary was never too afraid to take a risk when making art,” Truchard said. “I love how she constantly thinks outside the box. Her ideas are always fresh and inventive.”

Local artist Beckey Zajicek, who has taken photography classes with Mary at the art center in Columbus, said she has been an inspiration in how she approaches art with an open mind.

“Mary is a wonderful artist who is always coming up with great ideas,” Zajicek said. “She is a pillar to the community in the art world and it is a real pleasure to be a friend of hers.”

Mary commented that if she is asked whether she is a painter, an artist or a wannabe photographer, her reply is straight to the point.

“I only know that I need to create and to change things, to see things with a different sense of awareness. I am a ‘how’d they do that’ kind of person.”

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Wegenhoft’s artistic passion

Tracey Wegenhoft, of Columbus, recalled how she grew up and attended school in Wichita Falls. Although she was unable to participate in most of the art classes or programs offered to the youth there, she always found herself immersed in artistic projects in one form or another while growing up. At school, Tracey said she was known as a “brain who was good at art.”

“I have loved art as long as I can remember,” Wegenhoft said. “I remember my daddy buying me my first little art tablet and from then on, no matter where I was, I had my table and pencils in tow in case I needed to capture something that caught my eye. It was almost an obsession with me.”

Tracey added that since she was not able to take advantage of the art programs at Wichita, she had to find her own way.

“In the long run, it worked out best,” Wegenhoft said.

Among the artists in the area who exhibit at the Live Oak Art Center, Wegenhoft is known for her funky, eclectic style of “found art.”

Examples of this style include a painting she completed in the guts of an old 1960s console television or a mock-up of a constructed circus wagon painted to mimic a hurdy-gurdy box with a wildly concocted high heel shoe which was imprisoned behind brass bars. Tracey said the piece included a small trick mirror and a special built-in light for the full effect.

“It was hilarious,” Wegenhoft said. “I could have sold that crazy piece three times over, but I just couldn’t part with it.”

Wegenhoft said that painting on construction pieces and adding mosaics along with other various mixed media in her found art is her newest passion and definitely the most fun, although traditional oils, acrylics, pastels and cray-pas remain a big part of her portfolio.

“People, animals and vivid landscapes are the usual subjects I choose for my traditional artwork, but farcical situations and humor is my focus when I’m devising my found art,” Wegenhoft said. “I like to make people laugh or at least smile.”

After graduating from high school in Wichita Falls, Tracey attended and graduated from Texas A&M in College Station.

Laughingly, she asked, “Can you believe I was torn between going into art or becoming a wildlife veterinarian?”

For Wegenhoft, the science degree ultimately won out. After working in diagnostics at the College of Veterinarian Medicine and in various other animal research positions, she decided to move in a different direction.

“Although at the time I was terribly disappointed to not make it into vet school, life has a way of opening other doors and that was just fine with me,” Wegenhoft said.

She later met Joe Wegenhoft, who she married and moved to Columbus.

Within a year of moving, their son Tray was born. In order to spend time with her baby, Tracey changed careers and began teaching science, history and art at St. Anthony School in Columbus.

“I did not go to school to become a teacher at all, far from it, but much to my surprise, I absolutely loved it,” Wegenhoft said. “Being around kids all day keeps you young at heart. I think it’s the most intrinsically rewarding profession there is.”

Tracey and Joe welcomed a second son, Jake, three years later.

Both her sons attended SAS so Tracey was directly involved in their growing up.

“It’s a real blessing as well as a challenge to teach your own kids in your own classroom,” Wegenhoft said.

She  remained at SAS until their younger son Jake graduated from eighth grade.

Tracey then took a teaching job at Rice CISD where she is a AP biology teacher at Rice High School, but has also taught physics, IPC, environmental science, TAKS, all levels of biology and geography.

“I love working at Rice,” Wegenhoft said. “It’s wonderful. The staff, administration and kids are terrific.”

She said, however, once school starts, it doesn’t leave her time to pursue her art.

Tracey said she especially looks forward to the Christmas holidays and summer break in order to spend time working in her studio and outside in the sunshine.

“Since I don’t have time to paint during the school year, I prepare and plan for what art I’d like to accomplish when school lets out,” Wegenhoft said. “My mind never rests. Everything I see is a potential art project in the making … or a masterpiece wanna-be. I get inspiration from the craziest things and nothing is off limits. Beer caps, a doll leg, fishing corks, chipped dominoes, a broken watch and deer antlers have all found their way into my art.”

Tracey said it is funny because this offbeat and bizarre style seems to be how she is identified among the other artists.

“They seem almost disappointed when I produce a traditional landscape or portrait anymore,” Wegenhoft said. “I don’t want to be thought of as being too far out there with my art but an open mind is essential to creating and appreciating all genres.”

According to Tracey, the Live Oak Art Center is the perfect place to exchange ideas with other artists and viewing all types of art.

“I love talking to other artists in order to learn new techniques of the trade or to pick up background details of a particular piece that I like,” Wegenhoft said. “I am always fascinated to know what draws a non-artist to a piece as well. Often a non-trained eye can grasp an artistic concept amazingly well because they don’t get tripped up on the minutiae of the work such as brush strokes or the thickness of the gesso, etc. They either like it or they don’t for whatever reason. It’s a healthy way to grow in your trade if you listen from all sides.”

Tracey can be described as modest about her work or somewhat hesitant or reserved about entering various art competitions. However, she does participate in a number of local shows and has had her work published on three separate covers of the Nesbitt Historical Journal.

She was also in negotiations with the late Bill Stein about providing the illustrations for his long awaited book on the feuds of Colorado County.

Tracey has continued to retain close ties with the library in Columbus. She is a trustee of the NML Foundation and has been a member of the NML advisory board for many years. Each year she has played an active part in continuing the late Bill Stein’s annual Live Oaks and Dead Folks Cemetery Tour and has been involved with annual production since its inception.

Tracey has been happy to contribute her time as a costume designer, actress and has even executed a tombstone painting on canvas which was used in the program.

Wegenhoft said the characterization must also be historically accurate so she cannot get too crazy or carried way in the performance.

She also talked about how sad she felt when she first found out about the passing of Stein a few years back and how much he meant to the historic and cultural community as an archivist, historian, writer, art enthusiast and collector.

“The loss of this one human being was so profound,” Wegenhoft said. “His contributions to the humanities and to the lives of so many people can never be paralleled.”

Tracey’s theatrical side has also been known because of her many years at the helm of the St. Anthony’s annual Punk-n-Rock show where she was in charge of putting together the music, cast, props, costumes and choreography for each number.

“This was a huge undertaking but I loved every minute of it …except the one show in which my classroom burned up early that morning and then late that night a thunderstorm rained on all of our props and equipment and we had to urgently move everything inside minutes before our curtain call only to find out that we had exceeded the fire code by overflowing our capacity crowd,” Wegenhoft said. “The kids and I gave it our all and actually, that turned out to be one our best shows ever.”

Tracey is currently the vice president of the LOAC in Columbus and has been a member or board member at the art center since moving to Columbus 20 years ago.

“The art center is a real focal point for artists in the Houston, Austin and San Antonio area,” Wegenhoft said. “It truly is one of a kind and has a reputation for promoting and showcasing premiere artists from all over. The community is unbelievably fortunate to have it, in fact, I think it’s one of the most important things that differentiates Columbus from all the other Texas towns.”

She recalled when she first moved to Columbus and discovered the art center, she knew she had found her place.

“This is where I was going to be,” Wegenhoft said. “There are so many talented artists who have come through the doors of the LOAC over the years and just as many amazing artist affiliates as well, such as instructors, curators, buyers, collectors and gallery/museum representatives. There is just so much talent here that it is just difficult to describe.”

Tracey is also a firm believer in art education.

“It is essential to retain and promote art classes within the schools and community,” Wegenhoft said. “There are simply too many kids who struggle in subjects such as math or science but who are able to excel in other areas. Art is one of those areas. It affords them a sense of accomplishment and self worth when they can express themselves artistically.”

Tracey continues to help assist with the art camps which take place every summer for local youth at the art center in Columbus. She said she loves the work LOAC Gallery Administrator Tommy Truchard has done with the kids organizing the camps and setting up quality instruction from award winning artists.

“He is incredibly patient and intuitive,” Wegenhoft said. “It doesn’t take Tommy long to recognize an emerging young artist who possesses real talent, but at the same time, he provides encouragement and praise for those kids who frustrate easily in an art setting.”

Truchard said he is enthusiastic about Tracey being appointed as vice president of the board.

“I am looking forward to all the achievements this current board has planned to accomplish,” Truchard said. “Tracey is such an asset to the art center as both a member and a lover of art.”

Tracey continues to enjoy quality time with her husband at their land where they have horses. She was also delighted to see her son, Tray, graduate from Howard Payne University where he played collegiate baseball. She is equally proud of Jake, who is a junior at Texas A&M, majoring in chemical engineering.

Tracey also enjoys fossil and artifact hunting, swimming, horseback riding, baseball games, hiking, reading a good nonfiction book, listening to Texas music and playing with her cat, Earl, and her dog, Imogene.

Check upcoming editions of The Citizen for future installments of the Local Artist series.

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Personal experiences affect artists work

This week’s article focuses on Pat Johnson, who served as the director of exhibits at the Live Oak Art Center from 1998 to 2010.

Johnson has had a passion for the arts for most of her life and, as it pertains to her artwork, life at times imitates art.

“My personal life is revealed in my work,” Johnson said. “A major life change has occurred in my world and I have used my art as an attempt to unveil my fears and desires. “

Pat said she tries to show the fine line between seen and the unseen, humor and sadness and right and wrong.

“Creating art helps me clarify what I feel and believe,” Johnson said. “Be it a social, political statement or a personal one,” Johnson said.

Pat was born in Kansas City, Mo. but became a resident of the Lone Star State when she was six weeks old after her parents decided to move to Texas. She later graduated from North Texas State University with a bachelors of fine arts in Ceramics.

Pat has been working in clay for more than 30 years in the small town of Fayetteville. She also does works on paper and has designed T-shirts for singer Lyle Lovett. Some of her accomplishments include being commissioned to produce tile murals for the College Station Public Library, Monument Hill State Park in La Grange and the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Austin. Also, as a Texas Commission for the Arts artist in residence, she worked as an art teacher and produced murals in Longview, Waco and Austin.

Johnson has been featured in numerous one-person and group shows in Texas. They include exhibits at the Longview Museum of Fine Art, McNay Art Museum in San Antonio and galleries such as the D. Berman in Austin and the Hooks-Epstein Gallery in Houston. While Pat’s art career was receiving significant recognition, she was selected to participate in one of the first “Introductions” art event in Houston and was represented by Houston Gallery Dealer, Thomas V. Robinson.

Johnson’s artwork was included in the 1998 National Council on Education for Ceramic Arts conference exhibition in Texas and the 2004 Juried Craft Houston traveling exhibit organized by the Houston Center for Contemporary Crafts. She has also been the first place winner at the Winedale Crafts Exhibition and placed second in the 15th Annual Ceramic National at the San Angelo Museum of Art.

Pat’s other achievements include winning numerous awards from the Texas Clay Artist Association as well as her tile work being included in the Lark Books publication, “500 Tiles.”

Johnson’s figurative work is coil built, slab built or cast. She uses a unique process in her artwork of drawing on the bisque fired clay with underglaze pencils and pastels. Pat’s recent work incorporates a wax and underglaze technique reflecting an influence from printmaking. Her unconventional use of materials has led her to use oil points on bisque.

“Combining my interest in drawing and clay I have developed a style of working on ceramics with underglaze, underglaze pencils and pastels,” Johnson said. “It is very sensual to smear and draw on clay. A recent exploration in techniques involves wax, underglaze and an etching tool.”

Pat’s current artwork has been a dialog of personal disasters with the protagonist as the artist.

During the 12 years Pat worked part time as a director of exhibits at the art center in Columbus, Johnson also served as a board member and chairperson of the exhibition committee. For over a decade, while working at the Live Oak Art Center, Pat performed such duties as selecting artists for shows, hanging exhibits and helping the art center receive more than $50,000 in written grants.

Johnson’s leadership as well as vision for contemporary art in Texas led the art center to be recognized in the September 2006 issue of “Texas Monthly” and “The Art of Texas” published by the University of Texas Press.

She also helped establish the Brunson Saloon fundraiser, Art and Architecture Day and the Bill Stein Memorial Lecture.

Through Pat’s knowledge of the arts, she has invited such art leaders as Gus Kopriva, Richard Stout and Jim Edwards to jury the annual local Juried Art Show competition.

As of the present, Johnson is employed as an assistant curator of museum collections at the Round Top Festival Institute in Round Top.  Since retiring from her duties at the art center in Columbus, Pat also spends more time with her artwork in her studio in Fayetteville.

This spring, she has worked on completing a 17-foot tile mural for St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Lockhart. However, she continues to find time in her busy schedule to instruct students at the Live Oak Art Center during the summer art camp, helping to teach what she has learned through the years.

“The Live Oak Art Center has a special place in my heart and I hope to continue a long relationship as an artist with the center,” Johnson said.

She also took third place in this year’s Juried Art Show for her clay and under glaze, “Wishing I Was a Bird-Merganser Duck.”

Pat has also been a strong influence on her successor, LOAC Gallery Administrator Tommy Truchard.

Truchard said he was honored Johnson took him under her wing to be his mentor when he began working at the art center.

“I learned so much from her,” Truchard said. “There are some things you can only learn from experience.”

He continued by saying he never thought he would get an opportunity to serve in the community he grew up in doing what he loves most and credit for that has to go to Pat Johnson.“

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2011 Juried Art Exhibition

Pictured center is 2011 Juried Art Exhibition Juror Clint Willour as he takes a break from looking over the artwork on display during the exhibit’s opening reception Saturday, May 14, at the Live Oak Art Center. Also pictured are a few of the artists who received honorable mention in the exhibit including, David S. Hansen, John Linden, Sharon Joines and LOAC Gallery Administrator Tommy Truchard.

Art appreciation was abundant in the local community during the weekend of May 14-15 in Columbus.

The opening reception of the 2011 Juried Art Exhibition took place Saturday, May 14 at the Live Oak Art Center followed by the second annual Bill Stein Memorial Lecture on the Arts in Texas on Sunday, May 15.

This year’s juror for the Juried Art Exhibit and lecture speaker was Executive Director of the Galveston Art Center Clint Willour. He has been an arts professional for over 35 years.

Willour was the director of the commercial art gallery in Houston from 1973-89 and has worked at the Galveston Art Center since 1990. He has curated over 400 exhibitions for the institution at Galveston in the past 20 plus years.

‘’A juried art exhibition is only as good as the people who enter it,” Willour said. “I know much work went into the installation of this exhibit.”

Every year, the juried exhibition is open to artists living within 150 miles of the art center in Columbus. More than 100 artists entered the competition this year with nearly 200 supporters of art in attendance at the reception to view the many types of artwork.  The art on display included such variety as photography to weaving to oil on canvas, printmaking and mixed media to name just a few.

Artists from Houston and Austin entered the juried art exhibit along with local artists Beckey Zajicek and Mary Richter of Columbus, Amy Newland of La Grange. Also, Shawn Roberts and Christi Hellrung, both formerly of Columbus, competed in the art show.

Winning first place in the competition with the soft ground and collage print, “Bruyere,” was Teresa Gomez-Martorell of Austin. Second place went to Orna Feinstein of Houston with her three dimensional mono print on paper and plexi, “Quantum Dynamics #22.” Third place went to Pat Johnson of Fayetteville for her clay and under glaze, “Wishing I Was a Bird-Merganser Duck.”

Receiving honorable mention for their artwork were Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak, Kurt Dyrhaug, David S. Hansen, Sharon Joines, John Linden and David Vollmer.

Prior to beginning the Stein Memorial Lecture on May 15, Willour thanked Live Oak Art Center Gallery Administrator Tommy Truchard for helping to organize the 2011 Juried Art Exhibit and for all who attended the two-day festivities.

“I couldn’t have installed it better,” Willour said. “I’m really happy with how it looks in the space.”

During his lecture, Willour talked about many different aspects of art, including photography, mixed media, sculpture, painting as well as many other types of media and gave a video presentation of the Galveston Art Center’s 2010-11 Exhibitions to show a round view of the art that is being produced and exhibited in rural parts of Texas.

A few of the artists he included in his presentations were Rusty Scruby and Howard Sherman who are part of the Art Museum in Southeast Texas. He also talked about Dornith Doherty, of Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, whose artwork exhibit included X-Ray photographs incorporated in “Archiving Eden,” which were made at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colo. and the Millenium Seed Bank in England. Willour spoke of how the mission of the seed banks was to document, preserve and maintain in an effective way the viable seeds of diverse plants in long term storage.

Willour explained how farmers in the rural Texas community were intrigued by the artwork in observing the seeds being harvested and appreciated the significance of Doherty’s art exhibit.

Willour concluded his lecture by saying he plans to retire in two years after working in a career in the arts for nearly four decades. He emphasized the importance art throughout not only rural Texas but the state of Texas as a whole and he encouraged artists to continue expressing the passion of their craft in the years to come.

LOAC member Becky Zajicek attended the lecture and said the artwork Willour presented in his slideshow was quite spectacular and made her want to visit more rural art centers in the future.

LOAC Gallery Administrator Tommy Truchard thanked everyone who attended the weekend art events and for all those who continue to support art in the community.

The 2011 Juried Art Exhibit remains on display at the Live Oak Art Center through July 2.