Driftless Area Land Conservancy--Silent Auction

L. Kelen absolutearts.com Portfolio

I am one of many artists who have donated art to the Driftless Area Land Conservancy... http://www.driftlesslandtrust.org/ for a silent auction being held at
the House on the Rock Resort...(near American Players Theater)
in Spring Green, Wisconsin...
Sunday, March 9th from 3-6pm
$30 per person reservation
Feel free to contact me through this website...
you can post a comment and it will get to me...
or the contact information on the driftlesslandtrust.org website.
Details:

All donations go to the Driftless Area Land Conservancy...which I fully support.
3-3:30...socializing, tasty hors d'oeuvres & dessert tarts, complimentary wine/coffee
3:30...Doug Cieslak, Executive Director..opening remarks, challenges met
4:00...David Lowe, researcher...Prehistoric Rock ARt of Southwestern Wisconsin
4:45...Silent auction/socializing continues until the 5:05 bell ending auction.
5:15...Mark Mittelstadt, president...anticipations...closing remarks.

That's the line up....
Other artists are:
Karen Bassler, Kathy Cahill, Pamela Callahan, Karen Fitzsimons, Kathy Halverson, Sue Moore, Lauren Thuli, Ramona Palzkill, Jeb Prazak, Sue Quale, Geri Schrab.
This is the best I can do...
contact me if you've got questions.

I've got everything else scribbled out on paper here
since, I've managed to misplace the invitation with all the details....
or MeMe ate it.

"Wedding Procession led by the
Small Dog of Power. Once a
common sight...this and
other traditions of the
Driftless Area have been
forced by mondern mans
activity and expansion
into deeper seclusion." Kelen 2008

"Accustomed to formal attire
when performing in St. Elmo's
Circus of Indigenous Animals
which traveled about the
Driftless Area...the Small Dog
of Power continues to dress
appropriately for various
processions." Kelen 2008

L. Kelen absolutearts.com Portfolio

Art Show~~February13-March29

This was an interesting show for me to participate in.
Focusing on "THINGS" I love... my mind bounced about
landing on thoughts and ideas
which caused some interesting writings to slip out my pencil
producing my "commentary".

It's a strong show.
From February 13 through March 29, near the top of the hill,
Carol Spelic' and Richard Moninski's Green Lantern Studios
will have something that may just stick in your head for some time.

I let all my words out the one time, on the paper that is hanging with my THINGS....

I'll post it all, complete with the words, when the show comes down...

trying to remember what I wrote for each

would be like trying to remember word for word a conversation....

so you will have to wait...

or go see it for yourselves.

Captive Heart

Completed...framed...and delivered to the Verona Rapsody Center Art Gallery
for Valentine Show.

(don't have the details handy, so check back...I'll get that stuff posted)

"Captured Heart"...work in progress

Haven't posted in a while...

been busy...arting....

it's not done yet.............but, here's a peak....

New Year's Eve Custom

On the New Year's Eve, in some parts of the Driftless Area...

the Indigenous go door to door

asking in Rude Rhyme for cake or money.

When the wench does yelp
God us do help
Who knows what will be
In the year ahead of ye
There may be riches
Or there may be bitches
But what is in the air
Will our eyes dare
To let us breathe
and Let it all be

by S. Donnelly, December 31,2007

who very kindly allowed me to print it here.

Pounded Copper Christmas Present

One of the latest poundings...
Tony's Christmas Present...

Wiro..the Electric Boy in a 3 3/8" square piece of scrap copper...

It's a work in progress...as I don't know enough about working with metal to be able to take this further...

at least not yet.
I'm figuring it out as I go...
I'm taking Wayne Farra's soldering (riveting) class in February, which will definately help with a lot of these other things I've been pounding on.
I want to know about patinas, so I ordered the book Japanese Patinas, by Eitoku Sugimori.

I found it in the Ganoksin archives.
This next year I'm making the studio friendlier to this whole process.
It's too much fun to be fighting with the awkward nature of how it is now.

Rocket...Stars and Saturn.....

the first of more.....

(Stars are 4 1/2", 5", 3 1/2")...........(Saturn is 10" wide)

Rocket size coming...I forgot to measure it...

(one group picture still coming)

the Squirrels

I've never been successful at buying anyone any kind of gift...
so, I made this set to bring to a baby shower...

(actual small painting on canvasof their home)

studio pictures

I posted 9 more pictures of the studio over at
SardineQueen, which seems a better place to house them.

When the studio is made "presentable", it just doesn't work for me.

Sardine Tins #7 and #8

SardineTin#7...front....

back...

SardineTin #8...front...

back...

SardineTin Number 4

SardineTin#4...sardine tin, paint, wireit is sold.

Self-Portraits

During last year's FallArtTour,
I lined these four up in one of my flat file drawers...

Self-Portraits and PokeyMan

liked them too much to break up...and closed the drawer.

Yesterday I brought them into the house...
I'll get them hinged onto something archival,
and I'm willing to bet Tony will frame them.

Perserverance and the WoodBlock Print

It was a couple years ago, right after I attended a Japanese Printmaking "bootcamp"
that Gravity finally got the better of the architecture which carries me about....
rudely interrupting an intense arting wave I was riding.

A year later, a tendon traffic jam forced the Right hand to retire....
not expected to be re-activated until this month...

I won't accept NO arting....
so the Left was drafted..

Early this year I started pushing things...
between the exercises for my back...
and those for my wrist...
I opened my notes,
and began "bootcamp" again...
spending the good part of this year
working on that tricky balance between water, paper, rice paste and color....

I'm floored by what I'm looking at...

color quality that can only be achieved by woodblocks printing watercolor on paper.

There's no way to repair a bad print....
I've tried...

there 's no short-cut to a good print,
except by printing...printing...printing...printing...printing...printing...printing....printing....

OK...I can cut wood....
and yeh, I could get a print from that wood....
but, it was a so-what result....
I wanted more....
I wanted thrill and carbonation I know I get from arting....
I know it's there...it has to be...
or this process could not have lasted all these years.
The first time I got it right...
that first time I knew I was printing well enough...consistantly...
to maybe get a head nod from my instructor of 2 years ago....
..HA!....I was carbonated.
Now...I'm hooked....
this whole process is so intensely addictive....for me...

It's probably the most difficult thing I've ever attempted...

it will be years before I can say I'm good at this.....
but, it's the challenge...
...I love the challenge....

Some FallArtTour visitors might think I've changed directions a bit....
it's only me picking up where I left off two years ago....
when LittleEve was next....

well....
LittleEve needs one more color....
one more printing...
and then I move on to the next one.

Sardine Tin #6

Completed. . .

Sardine Tin #6

Sardine Tin #2

Sardine Tin #2

Sardine Tin #1

It's been sold!

You can see #1, and others in progress.

The Pig

....He's under 5 feet tall at the top of his ear...

His job is to let people know when LocalChoice is open...

and what's "special"...
living in the market when he's not working.

I make odd signs just for me...

My first for someone else was a tabletop salt&pepper sign for

HerbsSpices&More in Arena Wisconsin...

(there's a picture in the emails I'll find and post)
When LocalChoice started to happen in Spring Green...

and I was asked for just a road-side sign.....

(I'll post the original drawings...which will give some idea of what happened.)

It's almost a year now.

I finally got a camera...so now you can see.

He's been named Franklin.

Green Bridge 2007

I finally got this scanned and assembled to show you...

7 x 32 inches on Mulberry paper.

One of my most favorite places to just be....

It will be framed and present at the 2007 FallArtTour.

Sardine Tins #5 and #6....and a Honeybee

This is the what happened to my poundings after meeting up with Kirsten Skiles...

Sardine Tin #5

the first sawed-out Bee....

Sardine Tin #6

Chasing Tools

THE best tools you can buy, are those made by artists who know how to use them.
Latest tools are from Kirsten Skiles, artist/blacksmith:

they were left over from a tool making workshop, which I will take when she does one again.
Kirsten's arting is simply wonderful...
I'll post links to a few pieces...railings, wall pieces....she's good...really good.

Friends told me about her months ago,
but, I ran into her/her arting on my own
with my pounding curiosities.
I met her the first time when I bought the tools....
and I met her husband, Bill Fiorini,
making a powerful duo....
(Bill also raises amazing finches)
I'm really happy to have made their aquaintance...love their energy.

These are the tools I got from Rene Bluhm...gold & silversmith...

go see what he can do with these....
his site loads slow on my 26.6-28Kbps connection...but it's worth the wait.

(12-27-07...here's the latest work in progress with all these tools.)