Education
1999-2004
BFA in Painting, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
Solo Exhibitions
2020
Trying to Find Our Way Home, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2018
All I Can Get, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2016
Old Souls, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2015
River Journal, Winona Art Center, Winona, MN
2014
My Peeps, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center, Brookfield, WI
2013
River Journal, Grand Hand Gallery, St. Paul, MN
2011
River Journal, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center, Brookfield, WI
2009
Artist and Model, Charles Allis Museum,
Milwaukee WI
2008
Drawn from Life, Elaine Erickson Gallery, Milwaukee WI
James Watrous Gallery, Wisconsin Overture Center, Madison WI
2007
Anderson Art Center, Kenosha WI
2006
Elaine Erickson Gallery, Milwaukee WI
Mode Art Gallery, Davenport IA
2005
West Bend Art Museum, One from Wisconsin, West Bend WI
Selected Group Exhibitions/Juried Competitions and Awards
2021
Birds in Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Ann Arbor Art Fair, Ann Arbor, MI
Award of Exellence
Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, MO
Invitational Award
2020
Birds in Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Watercolor Wisconsin, Wustum Art Museum, Racine, WI
Purchase Award
2019
Birds in Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Watecolor Wisconsin, Wustum Art Museum, Racine, WI
Merchandise Award
Uprooted: Plants in a Changing Climate, James Watrous Gallery, Madison, WI
Lakefront Festival of the Arts, Miwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Top 10 Artist
Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, MO
Artist Award
2018
Birds in Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Watercolor Wisconsin, Wustum Art Museum, Racine, WI
Second Place
2017
The Salon Show, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Lakefront Festival of the Arts, Miwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Top 10 Artist
2016
Summer in Wisconsin, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Nature Works, MOWA St. John’s on the Lake, Milwaukee, WI
2015
Lakefront Festival of the Arts, Milwaukee, WI
Top 10 Artist
Rittenhouse Fine Art Fair, Philadelphia, PA
Bayou City Fine Art Festival, Houston, TX
Ann Arbor Art Fair - The Original, Ann Arbor, MI
St. James Court Art Show, Louisville, KY
Uptown Art Fair, Minneapolis, MN
Group Show, Wild and Domestic, Artisan Gallery, Paoli, WI
Wildlife Biennial, Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI
Spring Exhibit, PS Gallery, Columbia, MO
2014
Art City Austin, Austin, TX
Best in Show
Best in Painting
Old Town Art Festival, Chicago, IL
Best in 2D
Cherry Creek Art Festival, Denver, CO
Juror’s Award
Peoria Fine Art Fair, Peoria, IL
Best in Show
Rittenhouse Fine Art Fair, Philadelphia, PA
Botanical Show, Grand Hand Gallery, St. Paul, MN
Drawing: A Group Invitational, Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI
Seven Objects, Peninsula School of Art, Fish Creek, WI
2013
LakeFront Festival of the Arts, Milwaukee, WI
Top 10 Artist
Peoria Fine Art Fair, Peoria, IL
Best in Show
Absence and Presence- Contemporary Portraiture, Center of the Visual Arts, Wausau, WI
People, Places, Things, SG Gallery, La Crosse, WI
2012
Forward 2012, Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Stillife, Artisan Gallery, Paoli, WI
2011
Hidden River Art Festival, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center, Brookfield, WI
People’s Choice
Door County Quickpaint, Peninsula School of Art, Door County, WI
Best of Show
The Art of Black and White, Peninsula School of Art, Door County WI
Background in the Foreground, Peninsula School of Art, Door County, WI
2010
National Art Premiere, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL
Contemporary Wisconsin Portraits, Wisconsin Museum of Art, West Bend, WI
2009
Elaine Erickson Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Cincinnati Summerfair, Cincinnati OH
Award of Excellence
WI Artist Biennial 2009, Rahr-West Art Museum, Manitowoc WI
Award of Excellence
Subject Matters: Three Woman Show, Cedarburg Cultural Center, Cedarburg WI
2008
The Artist's Magazine, International Figure/Portrait Competition
Finalist
Hidden River Show, Sharon Lynn Wilson Art Center, Brookfield WI
Best of Show
Oconomowoc Plein Air Event, Griffin Gallery, Oconomowoc WI
Best in Show
Wisconsin Visual Artists Southeast Chapter Portrait, Exhibition, Milwaukee WI
Third Place
Emerging Artists Show, Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee WI
Lakefront Festival of the Arts, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee WI
2007
National Juried Show, Baker Arts Center, Liberal KS
Third Place
The Artist's Magazine, International Figure/Portrait Competition
Second Place
National Juried Spring Show, Emerald Art Center, Springfield OR
Best in Show
Richeson 75: Figure/Portrait Exhibition, Richeson Art Gallery, Kimberly, WI
Best in Show
Hidden River Art Show, Sharon Lynne Wilson Art Center, Brookfield, WI
Juror's Award
Wisconsin Artist Biennial, Haggerty Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Honorable Mention
Salon International 2007, Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX
Forward: Survey of WI Art Now, Charles Allis Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Best in Show
2006
Allied Artists 93rd Annual Exhibition, National Arts Club, New York, NY
Jerry Berger Award
The Artist's Magazine, International Figure/Portrait Competition
Third Place
Northern National Art Competition, Nicolet College, Rhinelander, WI
2005
Forward: Survey of WI Art Now, Charles Allis Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Director's Choice Award
Wisconsin Artists Biennial, Anderson Art Center, Kenosha, WI
Grants and Residencies
2016 Professional Dimensions Award
2010-2011
Artist –in-Residence, The Pfister Hotel, Milwaukee WI
2007
Mary Nohl Suitcase Fund
Collections
Racine Art Museum, Racine WI
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum, Wausau WI
Marcus Coorporation, Milwaukee WI
Alverno College, Milwaukee WI
Northwestern Mutual, Milwaukee WI
MIAD QUESTIONS
Deciding to buy the farm:
Andy and I decided to buy a farm with out having any prior life experience in managing land or owning barns/outbuildings that need repairs and management. However, this choice wasn’t made on a whim. We had spent time living in Bayview and then moved to Stoddard Wisconsin, which is a town on the Mississippi River with a population of 800. We had successfully made that cultural transition as artists and thrived. So, taking the next step to a more rural area was not so strange. Our search went on for about 8 years and spanned three counties. I, personally, really wanted to move closer to Milwaukee to revive my connections, art wise, friend wise and family wise. Now, we are on a beautiful property with wide open spaces and only 40 minutes from the Marquette Interchange. It’s not a stretch for clients and friends to come up here and it’s quiet enough to see the unblemished night sky and northern lights from. ( I just did this last night)
The main drawback is the political scene out here. I will be all too happy to see this divided election in the rearview mirror. It takes thick skin to maneuver around people that you don’t understand on that level on a weekly basis. With that said, we have made some good friends and our best neighbors extend themselves with grace and generosity.
The Gallery:
We opened up the gallery in August of 2024. It is in a granary from 1892 that resides on our property. The building is made of hand hewn timbers with hand forged square nails protruding from the walls. To preserve all of this, we had it insulated from the outside, reroofed and resided. Inside, Andy and I removed old grain, broken furniture, piles of debris, farm chemicals, mouse nests until we got down to the walls and floor. From there, we had to scape and dust and scrub until it was clean enough to hold art. We wanted to preserve the ruggedness of the interior and not polish it up too much. There are scribbles of handwriting here and there on the wood beams, initials, math, and so on. It’s a very intimate place. We could not have done with without our friends and family. Andy’s dad did all of the electrical work and his cousin installed a couple of heat pumps, so it’s fully climates controlled.
How the work has changed:
My work has changed a great deal since I graduated. I left MIAD as figure painter and did commissioned portraits on the side, working mainly in oil and acrylic. Nowadays, I rarely paint people. Instead on concentrate on animals, plants and other natural elements in watercolor. It was a big leap, a big change. Making it was like going through puberty again. I was so raw and awkward for a while and people either loved it or hated it. The shift was a response to many things, mainly environment. Andy and I had moved to Stoddard and I found myself living in a wildlife refuge with very little people around. I wasn’t in the city anymore, bouncing off of people and their moods. Instead, I got very quiet and began to make work that was truly out of my head and heart. I had no trouble picking up dead birds, fallen nest, turtles and frogs from the river and bringing them inside to paint. In fact, the one thing that has been consistent throughout all my work is that fact that I work only from direct observation. That practice was drilled into me by my professors at MIAD and I am thankful of that because I am sure it’s much much different now. I feel like students learn a little bit of everything and not enough concrete drawing skills. Drawing in thinking. Art is personal. The two are interwoven, primal, and communicate to the viewer in such an intimate way.
Making a living:
Whenever I go back to MIAD to talk to students, all they ever want o know is how I make a living. They never ask about what I paint or why…. just how do I get my work ‘out there’ in a profitable way. I have been making a full time living as an artist since 2005. While I do contract work occasionally, I have not had a boss for almost twenty years. I like to say that I have gone feral and the idea of having to go to meetings or answer inane emails makes my skin crawl.
I began by doing what I was instructed to do by my MIAD professors: come up with a portfolio and apply to galleries and juried art shows. I was given this murky idea that when I got into a few nice galleries, they would take care of my success and I would hide in my studio and make the work. However, after getting many rejection letters, I had to come up with a better plan. I decided to work backwards and figure out how much money I needed a month to stay alive. Then, I pieced a living together that way. I taught adult art classes, painted people’s dogs and sold a painting once in a while. I participated in regional art museum show and was represented by a few galleries. Things seemed ok.
Then I met Andy and he was in the swing of the Art Fair scene. Luckily for me, he had been doing it for a while and had discovered what was working for him. He was also teaching college classes as an adjunct. While he loved teaching and was good at it, he hated restrictions, administration and academic culture. We took the leap into the Art Fair circuit and began to tour together. He quit teaching. I quit spreading myself out so thinly and concentrated on a solid body of work. We have never looked back.
The Art Fair circuit is an amazing animal. It most definitely has its’ pitfalls: It’s physically demanding and dependent on the weather. However, it is where we’ve found our main art community. Everyone involved is totally independent. They know how to problem solve, fix things, travel, be free and flexible. We handle our own sales, taxes, inventory, schedule and life balance. As a self driven person, I thrive in this environment. I could not imagine having to report to another gallery owner or conform to any other institution.
However, I rarely see anyone from MIAD, academia, or the gallery world attending the shows. It makes me very frustrated because, the artists working in the art fairs are fantastic resources of experience and knowledge that is applicable to the real world outside of sheltered institutions. I say sheltered because there is no safety net as an independent artist, no salary, school ID, not even a parking spot. Nothing is guaranteed and yet, we keep moving forward. We could really teach a great to deal to emerging artists. I wish the MIAD embraced the working artist culture.
A regular Day:
Andy and I paint every day, probably between 5-10 hours, depending on the show schedule. Our studio time is punctuated by meals and games of cribbage. We don’t really wake up too early and we tend to stay up late. People know not to call me before 9 am unless it’s an emergency. We also grow a good deal of our own food. There is a huge garden on the property. That keeps us busy all growing season and fed all winter. It requires daily work but is usually very pleasurable. Before every show, we have to frame all of the work. Andy cuts down all the wood, all of which is reclaimed, and makes all the molding. From there, we make our own frames. I cut the glass, mat board, assemble and wire each painting.
Painting is Dead Gallery:
The name came from a conversation about Rock’n Roll being dead, supposedly. And that led to how people said that Painting is also dead…. Then Andy stopped in mid sentence and said, “That’s it, that’s the name”. We use a lot of humor in our business and so, it really fit the bill. On top of that, I paint dead animals, so it works on a few levels.
We had our first opening in mid August and it went better than expected. From here, the gallery is open by appointment until we have another event. Since we just wrapped up our show season for the year, we plan on taking some time off and tying up loose ends.
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