In the Gallery: November

In the gallery this month!

THE COMPANY YOU KEEP: Print Media by Brian Stuparyk

In his artist's statement, Brian Stuparyk tells us that through his explorations, he has found that success and failure are equally important. He has depicted in his work tokens of life's little defeats, everyday failures, impossibilities and things that don't necessarily need to be celebrated. They are life sized mementos of the individual pursuit of elusive personal happiness and success. Although great time and care is taken to faithfully reproduce these items and sentiments, they remain by their nature disappointing. The point is further emphasized by the large amounts of negative space surrounding this metaphorical evidence of human endeavor, aspiration and desire that, too often, results in only brief fulfillment, pleasure or reward. The victories are hollow and the credit undue. Often trying to fix a bad situation only makes it worse.

Bells cannot be un-rung, nor toothpaste returned to its tube, just as some wrinkles simply cannot be ironed out. But then again, for all your trouble, the absolute worst that could happen is that you just might learn something; if only what not to do a second time. So with practice and perseverance, there is always a chance to improve, for it is truly through failure and defeat that success is ultimately achieved It is those instances that Brian tries to highlight in his prints. Those thoroughly inconsequential moments of frustration – if they don't kill us - help us to grow.

Brian Stuparyk was born in Grande Prairie, Canada in 1981. A graduate of Loveland, Ohio High School, he holds a BFA in Photography Studies from Ryerson University in Toronto and an MFA in Print Media from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, USA. He has taught studio art at Missouri State and Drury universities. He lives and works in Loveland, Ohio.

Brian has exhibited his work at galleries and on College Campuses in Georgia, Wisconsin, Missouri, Oregon, Kansas, California, and in Illinois from 2006 until the present.

HOOKED ON BEADS by Caroline Erdahl

In her artist's statement, Carolyn Erdahl tells us that "Jewelry design continuously strikes her innermost creativity. She loves all elements of this medium, whether at her torch flame working with her own glass beads, manipulating silver, stringing components or wrapping gemstones, each design's unique beauty is a pure delight."

Growing up with a mother who was a practicing stained glass artist, Carolyn felt destined to become one herself. She never guessed she would follow in her mother's footsteps, but here she is, working with glass, though in a very different way.

Carolyn was introduced to beaded jewelry eight years ago by a cousin from St. Louis who attended her annual Thanksgiving bash. Carolyn and her husband tended to the dinner while guests sat around the dining room table making beaded jewelry and having fun. After looking at her cousin's bead stash - that was it – she was hooked on beads!

She has always been an arts and crafts enthusiast working in different mediums, but had never before been this intrigued. As a lover of color, she was now exposed to the most vibrant palette she had ever seen. She played with the glass beads first and then jumped into semi-precious gemstones. Se was so amazed at the beauty that God's earth could produce and what artists could do with it that she found herself reading books on geology and gemology at the library. She found that learning about the physical properties and conditions of the stones was as incredible as viewing them.

Her next endeavor was learning to wire wrap with sterling silver wire, then to solder sterling silver wire. Now she had the ability to make her own chain, findings and components.

Five years ago she ventured into lampworking, which is defined as a manipulation of glass rods or tubes in a flame. Many moons ago, Venetian artisans utilized oil lamps as their flame source in the creation of a variety of glass objects.

With a mandrel in hand and a 1700 degree flame fluttering 18" from her face, Caroline slowly introduces her glass into the fire. Eventually, a small blob forms, which gets evenly wound around the mandrel resulting in a bead footprint. This base is comparable to a painter's blank canvas where creativity is at its height. At this point she can choose a distinct pattern or go freeform; does she create something whimsical, use a primary color palette or customize the colors for originality? Who knows where her passion will drive her?

Carolyn, a self-taught glass artist with no formal training, enjoys sharing her passion with others who delight in her creations.

These exhibits will be in the Mary Bishop Memorial Art Gallery from Friday, October 29 until Tuesday, November 30, 2010.