date URL artist's name artist's biography artist's URL title artist's URL title medium dimensions year statement image url image width image height category artwork textcontent
2004-08-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=1 Dan Ferro Dan Ferro's website http://www.ferro7.com/fineart pink: from the "cooked" series 13" x 19" 2003 Dan Ferro received his B.A. from the University of California in San Diego where he studied photography, sculpture, and music. He studied commercial photography at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and moved to Iowa in 1989. With over 25 years experience as a photographer and independent software creative director and producer, the use of technology has become a central element in the exploration and development of his vision.
About the artwork: The twelve images in the "cooked" series are direct scans of cooking sheets and baking pans using a flatbed scanner. This work is an exploration of the transitional and disregarded; the unnoticed and commonplace. The images do not replicate what the human eye can see. They are abstract photographic images that explore visual possibilities using light and lens. artimages/08232004.jpeg 225 338
2004-08-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=2 Mel Andringa Mel Andringa received his MA (1971) and MFA (1978) from the University of Iowa with an emphasis in Multimedia/Intermedia. In 1975, he founded The Drawing Legion, a performance art company that toured original productions in over 50 U.S. cities and the Netherlands. In 1990, Mel Andringa and F. John Herbert founded Legion Arts, a multidisciplinary arts organization presenting contemporary art at CSPS, a 115-year old Czech meeting hall, in Cedar Rapids. Mel Andringa and Legion Arts webpage http://www.legionarts.org Jury Duty Installation and performance 2004 On his work, Andringa states, "I produce original performances that blend material from the lives of historical artists with my own experiences. These performances feature 'living pictures' and 'performed painting activity', and explore artistic process." artimages/08242004b.jpg 350 263
2004-08-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=3 Chris Martin Chris Martin received a BFA in Art and Design from Iowa State University and completed an MFA in Furniture Design at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1994. He has run Chris Martin Furniture, where he designs and fabricates studio art furniture, since 1995. He is also an Associate Professor at the Iowa State University College of Design. Chris Martin's website http://www.chrismartinfurniture.com 1400R24 Club Chair Steel & Inner Tube Rubber 31"x 37"x 31" 2001 Chris cites Japanese aesthetics, the natural world and fantasy as influences on his work but states, "I have come to realize, however, that there is a deeper, underlying drive influencing my designs. The environment in which I grew up continues to inspire me. As a child I lived in Keokuk, Iowa, a heavily industrialized river town with huge smoke- belching factories, railroad tracks meandering through it, and a lock and dam that still amaze me. I am intrigued by the resiliency of nature and how she manages in some way, to take back what we try to claim from her...This is what drives my work: the manmade in unity with or in contrast to the natural." artimages/08252004.jpg 350 383
2004-08-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=4 Melinda Theisman Malinda Theisman received her BFA from Arizona State University in 1999. She earned her MA in 2004 and is currently working on her MFA in Painting and Intermedia at the University of Iowa, where she is a teaching assistant in the Intermedia Area. Incident Glass, Wood Furniture variable dimensions 2003 About her current body of work, Malinda writes, "Since my work is seated in a sense of curiosity concerning the nature of my perception, I often reference objects found in my immediate surroundings. These objects serve as reflections of my consciousness, as my perception of them changes in relationship to my condition. The conventions of illusionistic representation have proved insufficient in my attempt to create an inclusive image of an object through time, subjectivity, conditionality, and change. Therefore, I have explored diagrammatic methods of representation, including traced outlines and flat, map-like compositions as I look to supply a more full description of an object." artimages/08262004.jpg 225 343
2004-08-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=5 Peter Feldstein Peter Feldstein received M.A. and M.F.A. degrees in art from The University of lowa, where he currently teaches courses in photography. His work is represented by Olson-Larsen Galleries in Des Moines and Rico-Maresco Gallery in New York City. Feldstein received an individual artistÕs grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, two Iowa Arts Council Grants, and two Polaroid Collection grants. He was artist-in-residence at Dartmouth College. 1165 inkjet prints edition of 21 prints 10" 23" and 43" square About the artwork: Peter Feldstein produced these prints using a process called cliche verre, a method of drawing on a ground-coated transparent material such as glass or film and printing the resulting image on a light sensitive paper or scanning it and printing it digitally. It is a process first practiced by a number of French painters during the early part of the 19th century. Camille Corot was the best known of these. Feldstein has developed techniques for achieving a variety of lines, tones, textures and colors by experimenting with paint and inks and a wide assortment of tools for etching, scratching, rubbing and daubing. In this series, the original images are also manipulated digitally. artimages/08272004.jpg 350 350
2004-08-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=6 Jeff Easley Jeff Easley has been a professional woodworker since 1979. He spent five years working at the Amana Furniture shop building rocking chairs, dressers, china cupboards, hutches, and other furniture. He currently designs and builds custom commissions and produces speculation art furniture and wall sculptures. He has major public sculptures at the University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls), which commissioned ten wall sculptures for its Commons Building, and Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, which received three of Jeff Easley's wall sculptures as a gift through the Iowa Sister State Program. Jeff Easley's website http://www.jeffeasley.net/ Cabinet with straight legs various woods 36"x70"x16" About the artwork: Woodworking is physically demanding and potentially dangerous, but Easley contends that "Wood is like frozen music. [It] has the ability to foster inner peace. It has a calming effect on people because it is so beautiful." Easley uses both machines to mill the wood and traditional joinery and finish techniques to fabricate his pieces. He chooses non-endangered woods and selects pieces for their natural colors and grain qualities. The woods are from different parts of the world and provide local economies with an alternative to slash and burn forest (mis)management. Some of the woods are plantation grown trees that shade coffee plant artimages/08282004.jpg 350 231
2004-08-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=7 Will Hildebrandt Will Hildebrandt received his BA in Art and Art Education in 1975 from Wartburg College, and earned his MA in Drawing from the University of Northern Iowa in 1979. He has exhibited extensively in Iowa, the Midwest, and the East Coast. He lives and works in Le Grand, Iowa. Palace Baths Pastel 2001 30" x 40" About the artwork: Palace Baths was produced based on sketches and photos made on a trip to Spain in 2000. Will Hildebrandt uses a variety of drawing media: colored pencils, pastels, pen and ink, and watercolor, as well as mixed media collage and assemblage techniques. He states that his images are representational and have elements of mystery, symbolism, and the human condition, and he seeks to represent parts of the world that are often overlooked by most people. artimages/08292004.jpg 350 233
2004-08-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=8 J.R. Cambell J.R. holds a B.S. in Environmental Design and Master of Fine Arts degree in Textile Art and Costume Design from the University of California at Davis. He conducts his research/creative activity in digital capture, image development and surface application to textile art and design as an associate professor in Textiles and Clothing at Iowa State University. He explores the visual, cultural and technological aspects of digital textile printing as he creates connections between two-dimensional print design and three-dimensional forms. He regularly shows artwork in national and international juried exhibitions. J.R. Cambell's website https://www.kent.edu/fashion/profile/jr-campbell-mfa-pgcert-phd-supervision Antonplant Kimono Digitally printed polyester georgette kimono 48" x 54" 2000 J.R. Campbell states: "As a human culture, we are each in contact with textiles at almost every moment of our lives. Textile concepts have become inherent in our way of thinking and patterns of speech (ie., the Òstring theory of the universeÓ, Òhanging by a threadÓ, the Òmoral fabricÓ of the country, etc). Textiles are an excellent medium for the expression of identity and transmission of new ideas. We can attach imagery to the surface of cloth and instantly give the image new meaning. We begin to associate with the image, perhaps wear it, walk through it as it is draped in a passageway. We might see it as having a spiritual significance, a functional purpose or an expressive or symbolic ability." artimages/08302004.jpg 350 319
2004-08-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=9 Dan Attoe Dan Attoe was born in 1975 in Bremerton, Washington. He received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and his MFA in Painting at the University of Iowa. He has shown extensively in Iowa, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and internationally in Paris, Naples, and Tokyo. Dan makes a small painting every week day and "puts something" on a larger one. In addition to his paintings, Dan also makes tents. Dan Attoe's website https://peresprojects.com/artists/dan-attoe/ Indiscriminate Love oil on board 7" x 7" 2003 About his images, Dan says, "My paintings are short stories and games. The characters and spaces they inhabit are varyingly real and imaginary. They all come from a wide range of research in popular culture, travel, rural life and people I know or have made up. Humor, mystery and specificity are some of my favorite things to play with...Having grown up in small towns and ranger stations in the west and Midwest with two brothers, much of my formative experience is in dealing with specifically male politics. Subsequently, much of the issues dealt with in my work are rooted in masculinity or issues of the middle class. These things range from confronting femininity, power struggling, and working, to looking for a sense of purpose." artimages/08312004.jpg 350 353
2004-09-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=10 Peter Thompson After receiving an MFA in painting from the University of Iowa in 1986, Peter Thompson spent six years teaching at Auburn University in Montgomery, AL. He returned to Iowa in 1993 to join the faculty of Coe College, in Cedar Rapids, where he teaches painting and digital art. Peter Thompson has exhibited his work all over the US and in Canada. Peter Thompson's website http://www.public.coe.edu/~pthompso/ Table at Connally's oil on canvas 26"x32" 2003 About the work, Thompson writes: I have been painting the human figure in context for over a decade. Bar interiors comprise one of the contexts for the figure that has recurred throughout that time. The setting seems an ideal one for capturing a slice of human experience. It is a setting in which an ordinary moment might be made remarkable. Not through explicit narrative or human interaction, but through perception and spatial organization. The contrasts of light and shadow can be used to define space and to obscure it. There is a tendency toward disorientation in a bar (for more than one reason) and I have tried to capture that shifting reality in my work. artimages/09012004.jpg 350 302
2004-09-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=11 Suzanne B. Aunan An Iowan since 1972, Suzanne B. Aunan is a self-taught artist who has enjoyed painting as far back as she can remember. She was born in New York City and grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York. Suzanne attended the University of Iowa, majoring in Medical Technology, and later graduated from the Physician Assistant Program. She worked as a P.A. at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, then as a full-time mother of four. Now with all four children in school, she is enjoying a career as an artist.
Suzanne paints detailed compositions using acrylic, gouache, and watercolors, sometimes adding pencil or ink pen. Her work has been purchased by collectors world-wide. Suzanne B. Aunan's website http://www.sbaunan.com/ Old Capitol acrylic, pencil, and ink on board 34" x 41" 2004 About the artwork, Suzanne writes: "The Old Capitol is the center of life and activity at the University of Iowa.Ê Built in 1840, it acted as the State of Iowa capital until Iowa's government was moved to Des Moines in 1857, and the Old Capitol was given to the University of Iowa.Ê Built of Devonian limestone quarried from the Iowa River in North Liberty, along with native Iowa oak, the Old Capitol is also a beautiful monument." In this painting, Suzanne has shown the annual Easter egg hunt, dogs and their friends playing Frisbee, a proud family taking a photograph with their new Iowa graduate, picnickers, students heading to class, joggers, tuba players representing the annual December outdoor tuba concert, and the artist herself with her husband, Tom, sitting on the steps on their first date. artimages/09022004.jpg 350 328
2004-09-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=12 Matthew Kluber Matthew Kluber received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1987 and earned his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1991. He is currently a Professor at Grinnell College. Matthew Kluber has shown throughout the United States, and his work is held in public collections in Texas, Oregon, Illinois, and Iowa. Matthew Kluber's website http://www.matthewkluber.com/ Firewire Picture: Deeper Into Movies Alkyd on Aluminum with Digital Projection 44" x 96" 2003 About his work, Matt writes: My recent work attempts to find a new pictorial space in abstraction by creating a dialog between the Color-field and Op painting of 1960's & '70's with the new visual idiom inherent in digital technology. The traditional object of the painting is transformed physically (via color change) and conceptually by a digital projection playing across the surface. The resulting union is a kind of "hyper color-field." artimages/09032004.jpg 350 265
2004-09-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=13 Ina Loewenberg Ina Loewenberg has lived in Iowa City for more than 36 years. In addition to her most recent career as a photographer, she has been an internal auditor at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, a tax preparer for H & R Block, and a philosophy teacher at Coe College. from the From Farm to Subdivision series color photograph 10"x14" 1995 Ina began making photographs when she was 55 years old and states that she "was essentially self-taught but [received] significant help and guidance from more proficient friends." Since she began making work, Ina Loewenberg has shown regularly throughout the region. She specializes in three different subject areas: portraits, including self-portraits, still lifes, and documentation of construction projects, of which this photograph is an example. artimages/09042004.jpg 350 234
2004-09-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=14 David Dahlquist David Dahlquist received his BA degree with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his MFA degree from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. David runs Dahlquist Clayworks, where he designs and fabricates tile, functional ceramics, sculptures, and large-scale architectural commissions. He is included in the Iowa Arts Council's Public Art Artists Roster. David Dahlquist's website https://www.rdgusa.com/david-b-dahlquist Arabidopsis Genomic Rug Porcelain tile 2003 About the artwork: This tile floor is installed in the lobby of the in the Roy J. Carver Co-Laboratory Business Incubator on the Iowa State University Campus, a building dedicated to developing businesses oriented towards the plant sciences. The genomic sequence of Arabidopsis thaliana (wall cress or mouse-ear cress) provides the inspiration for this pattern. While it has little agronomic significance, the small flowering plant is a star in plant biology because of its suitablity for doing research in genetics and molecular biology. The floor links the themes of genetic research, crop farming, and the long-standing interrelationship between humans and plants. artimages/09052004.jpg 225 290
2004-09-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=15 Judith Eastburn Judith Eastburn received a Master of Sciences in Microbial Genetics in 1969 from the University of Iowa. She subsequently earned an MFA in Printmaking and Photography in 1982 from the same institution. She has taught photography in England, Iowa, and Missouri and has shown her work throughout the Midwest for the last twenty-seven years. She currently lives in Des Moines, where she teaches art and photography at Dowling High School and photography at Grandview College. Judith Eastburn's website http://www.jeastburnphotography.com/ Levens Hall, Cumbria gelatin silver print 10" x 10" 2000 Judith Eastburn writes, "I believe we are profoundly affected by the landscape of our childhood. It establishes our sense of space and how we fit into it, and we recognize as familiar those places encountered later in life which resemble it. I was born in Iowa, and grew up in the southeast corner near the Mississippi River in an area of limestone bluffs and wooded ravines. Visiting my grandparents meant drives to central Iowa through gently rising and falling open fields. These are the landscapes which serve as my point of reference when I photograph in other parts of the world. I think Iowa and its openness made me aware of the horizon and sensitive to smaller variations in the land's surface." artimages/09062004.jpg 350 347
2004-09-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=16 Bunny McBride Bunny McBride received his M.F.A. from Alfred University. He is head of the ceramics program at the University of Iowa, where he teaches beginning and graduate-level courses. He has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant from the Archie Bray Foundation, and his work has been exhibited internationally. ash-glazed pitcher About the artwork (ash-glazed pitcher):
The earliest examples of ash glazes are from Shang Dynasty China (c. 1500 B.C.). As the name suggests, ash glazes are derived from wood or vegetable ashes. They were likely produced accidentally, the result of ash from the kiln fire being carried on a draft, settling onto the pots, and vitrifying in the intense heat. Three and a half millenia later, ash glazes are still used to add subtle and pleasing surfaces to decorative and functional ceramic pieces. artimages/bunny.jpg 225 350
2004-09-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=17 Sue Hettmansperger Sue Hettmansperger received her MFA from the University of New Mexico in 1972. Her work is shown internationally, and she has had solo exhibitions in South Dakota, Iowa, Chicago, and New York City. She is currently a Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Iowa, where she has taught graduate and undergraduate courses for the past twenty-six years. Chimera series oil on linen 27" x 24" 2003 About the Chimera series, Sue writes: "In negotiating our lives on earth, human bodies and minds map their internal experiences and perceptions to the natural world. Operating under a set of assumptions that conform to human perception, we may often lack empathy for the dimension of our environment. The work reflects an ongoing interest in this arena: the complex relationship of humans to their environment, molecular organization, botany, and the physics of space." artimages/09082004.jpg 350 393
2004-09-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=18 Daniel Weiss Daniel Weiss was born in 1959 in Mason City, Iowa. He was nurtured by large, industrious families on both his mother's and father's sides. He and his nine siblings were schooled by Catholic P.B.V.M. sisters in his hometown. He currently enjoys a balance between his work as an art instructor and educator and as a studio artist exploring the construction of forms that have that have roots in both the folk traditions of his Belgian and Volga German heritage and the fine art and abstract traditions of modern American Art. Reader wood, paint, book, nails 27.5" x 14" x 1.53" 2003 About the artwork, Daniel Weiss writes that "the nature of these objects begins in an upbringing by parents who were children of European immigrants. It was their practical need to give new life to used paper, boards, and clothing. An aesthetics of redemption is about my tribe and the house I grew up in. Not having my parents' similar struggle to provide, my inheritance of this practice finds its reasoning in my seeking the beautiful...These current works belong to my neighborhood and its place in time as evidenced by the hardware store palettes of certain decades and the lumber cuts of other ones. It is good when a neighbor sees his old dining room boards in one of my pictures. I believe this to be the good story of a human art -- that it originates in and maintains a sense of environment -- that it is grounded by some sort of dialogue between people and place." artimages/09092004.jpg 225 423
2004-09-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=19 Tom Stancliffe Tom Stancliffe makes large-scale metal sculptures that integrate visually and thematically with their surroundings. Stancliffe considers the particular site where he is working, striving to create pieces that echo and complement the architecture, site plan, and landscape in which they are situated. Stancliffe often wins public art commissions and has major pieces in Iowa, Dallas, Texas, and Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. He is currently a Professor of art at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Tom Stancliffe's website http://www.tomstancliffe.com/ Dikhotomia (work A and work B) welded bronze dimensions variable 1995 Dikhotomia is located at the Reiman Gardens on the Iowa State University campus. Stone columns support two bronze sculptures that represent a dialogue between horticulture and agriculture, two of ISU's most important areas of research. Work A and Work B provide a dramatic gateway for visitors strolling through the garden. Dikhotomia is part of the ISU University Museums Art on Campus Collection. artimages/09102004.jpg 350 220
2004-09-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=20 Jay Chesterman Jay Chesterman holds a Bachelor of Science (1995) from Morningside College. He states that he mostly photographs when he is travelling because "It seems to be the only time I can slow down enough to observe the unique things in life." He mostly concentrates on culture; the pastimes and subsistence of people. He looks for subject matter in everyday occurrences and uses his camera to capture the found art that exists all around us. Chesterman says that "art exists everywhere; one only has to be aware." untitled color photograph artimages/09112004.jpg 350 234
2004-09-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=21 Doug Shelton Doug Shelton received his art training at the Art Institute of Chicago and the American Academy of Art. He is a long time Des Moines artist and an accomplished painter who has documented his unique imagination on canvas for many years. Described loosely as surrealistic, his paintings are filled with whimsical and mysterious symbols, settings and characters. Each work can suggest many intriguing story lines or anecdotes to the viewer, but all stem from the artist's experience and stream or consciousness...All of his works are exquisitely painted and he often crafts and ornaments unusual frames that serve as extensions of the piece. Doug Shelton's website http://tucsonartistgroup.com/Gallery/Doug_Shelton Unlimited Possibilities second floor of Parks Library, oil on linen 18' 3" x 22'9" 1996 Unlimited Possibilities celebrates Iowa State's future as a premier land-grant university. Based on the Library Murals designed by Grant Wood, both in process and intent, this mural was commissioned by University Museums and ISU External Affairs. It was Iowa State's contribution to Iowa's Sequicentennial celebration, and it celebrates Iowa State's past and future vision as the best land-grant institution into the next century. The [mllural's title] refers to the life of the student as well as the life of the University. In contrast and complementary to the Grant Wood designed murals in the Parks Library, which depict mature adults in society, [Shelton] focused on student learning activity. The mural is divided into two sections - on the left is an agricultural setting, and on the right is a classroom setting. This can be viewed as town and country, city and rural, nature and civilization... (excerpted from Art on Campus information sheets from the ISU Museums, available at http://www.museums.iastate.edu ) artimages/09122004.jpg 225 297
2004-09-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=22 Rachel Marie-Crane Williams Rachel Marie-Crane Williams received a B.F.A. from East Carolina University in Greenville in 1993. She attended Florida State University, where she earned her M.F.A. (1995) from with a concentration in painting and drawing and her Ph.D. in Art Education (2000). She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Art Education Department of the University of Iowa. Dr. Williams has worked extensively with incarcerated women, teaching art, theater, and writing courses in prisons in Florida, London, and Iowa. She is author and editor of Teaching the Arts in Prison (2003, Northeastern University Press).
Wisdom and Wild Hares aqueous media on paper 36" x 44" 2001-2002 About the artwork, Rachel Williams writes: Wisdom and Wild Hares was about turning 30 and coming to the realization that there are certain deep rooted flaws all of us face in cycles in our lives. The rabbit is a symbol I use in my work a great deal. When I was a child I had rabbits. One in particular had a gruesome overbite. His teeth did not meet each other so they never got ground down. They would grow and grow and even begin to curl. Each month I would literally have to clip his teeth. It made him sort of insane and me squeamish. For me, rabbits represent the frailty of the human psyche and our constant attempt as human being to maintain ourselves and our relationships with others in spite of guilt, jealousy, anger, frustration, love, and selfishness. We are always thumping, digging, watching nervously, and grazing. artimages/09132004.jpg 225 279
2004-09-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=23 Gail Chavenelle Gail Chavenelle's schooling and careers have been diverse. She has a BA in literature and a Master's Degree in computer education. She has been a teacher, curriculum designer, and has sold and administered computer systems. Now, she has found a unique voice in metal. Mentored by a generous blacksmith and critically supported by working artist friends, she is currently studying art history and showing her work on a regular basis throughout Iowa. Gail's work is featured online and in galleries nationwide. Gail Chavenelle's website http://www.chavenellestudio.com/ Con Brio One piece 20 gauge sheet metal, rusted 60" tall 2004 Beginning with childhood paper dolls, chains, pop-out books, and greeting cards, Gail Chavenelle has been intrigued by paper sculpture. She loved the forms, but wanted the works to be more permanent. Instead of a sheet of paper, Gail works with sheets of 20 gauge steel. Gail cuts one-piece sculptures from single, flat sheets, folding and bending them into 3-D forms. Her pieces bound, fly, or dance in the wind on the tensile strength properties of this material. In addition to public sculpture, Gail makes accessible, affordable art, sized for the ordinary sized spaces in which we live. artimages/09142004.jpg 225 300
2004-09-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=24 Alex Brown Born 1966. Lives and works in Des Moines, IA.
In his own words:
I make paintings from found photographs culled from a fairly wide cornucopia of sources; travel brochures, coffee table books, album covers, postcards, etc. Anything possessing an interesting palette and suitable subject are normally my parameters when choosing what to paint. I generally tend to stick with the more traditional subjects of landscape and portraiture painted in a contemporary or fractured manner. Castle oil on canvas 90" x 60" 2003 Most recently, I have been employing a second image in order to define the primary image. This secondary image serves as a sort of grid system itself, but refracts the image in an interesting and more often than not, interesting way. There frequently arises a third image, a sort of conversation between the synthesis of the two formative images. I find this condition of an image resting in the limbo between abstraction and representation ultimately the driving force behind my work. artimages/09152004.jpg 225 340
2004-09-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=25 Jim Shrosbree Jim Shrosbree earned an MFA from the University of Montana. He has received grants from the Iowa Arts Council, the Idaho Commission on Arts and Humanities/NEA and was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts (Midwest) Visual Artist's Fellowship. He is currently Associate Professor of Art at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. His solo exhibitions include: I Space, Chicago; Revolution, Detroit and New York City; Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; Carolyn Ruff Gallery, Minneapolis; William Traver Gallery, Seattle, and Ron Judish Fine Art, Denver. Jim Shrosbree has an upcoming solo exhibition at the Des Moines Art Center in the Fall of 2004 Jim Shrosbree website http://www.jimshrosbree.com/ e9 (transx) chemistry glass, nylon, glue, paint, plastelene, wire 64"x2"x17" 2002 An excerpt from Jim Shrosbree's artist's statement: If something is perfect in the mind, then to bring it forth through the hand and the eye can extend that perfection into the reality of the visual world. The inside and the outside, however, do not truly exist as a duality and are not separate, but unified. It is out of this oneness that perfection arises. Perfection lies hidden between the artist and work and the work and the viewer. To invoke this value means giving up surrendering control over what one may be too comfortable with to reveal a deeper reality. Obviously, it is not realized exclusively through working. One comes to the process with what one is with a certain capacity for experience. Being curious about the world through creative work involves, essentially, an investigation into the nature of the Self, into consciousness and the structure of what one is made of: energy, pattern, intelligence and the connection with origin. Curiosity is a gift which is fulfilled through the ability to listen. Listening to the quietest messages focuses the attention at the moment a "thing" is manifested. artimages/09162004.jpg 350 263
2004-09-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=26 Michael Groesbeck Michael Groesbeck was born and raised in Charles City, Iowa, but at age 16 moved with his mother and sister to Des Moines, where he has lived for 23 years. He graduated from Grand View College in 1999 with a BA in Creative and Performing Arts with an emphasis in communications for Radio/Television and Photography. He has run his own photography studio, Portraits of Iowa, for the last eight years. He has also been a part of Very Special Arts of Iowa, an organization of disabled artists, for the over 15 years. The group curates shows that are displayed at the Iowa State Fair every year and are lent to businesses throughout Des Moines the remainder of the y Web of Life digital photograph 800 x 600 pixels 2003 About his photographs, Michael says: When I look for subjects to photograph, I look into the beauty that radiates to all of us. I use to draw and sketch before my disability (Muscular Dystrophy) worsened. So I redirected my abilities into my photographic works of art. I look at pieces and try to shoot them in a way that captures the inner imagination we all have and the beauty that it emits. I look for details others may overlook and bring that out as well. I have shot 35 mm film for over 7 years and have since moved into the digital age within the last year. Within the pieces I have chosen are a basis of Nature and the beauty that it has to offer. artimages/09172004.jpg 350 263
2004-09-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=50 Gillian Brown and Inga Frick The viewers enter through a dark corridor into an entirely blackened space and find themselves surrounded by a watery void. Slowly a dark swimming figure becomes visible in the bottom corner of one wall. Two adjacent walls in the room have been covered with plexiglass, creating a darkly reflective surface. As the swimmer traverses the width of one plexiglass screen, she is mysteriously both reflected off the surface of the plexiglass onto the second screen and she is also mirrored into the depth of the second screen. The two screens create of third illusory screen which recedes into the background. A seeming trefoil structure joined at the center radiates out in three directions. Through the alchemy of reflection, a single swimmer has become three swimmers who start at the periphery of the screens and slowly make their way to the center. Here they meet in unexpected explosions of reflected light which disappear as the increasingly inchoate, yet symmetrical shapes merge into each other. As the swimmers converge on their shared inner edge, the remnants of their annihilation form an increasingly abstract Rorschach until their limbs are read as simply smaller and smaller emissions of light. This dramatic disappearance is followed by the relative silence of dark, moving water accompanied by a low, repetitive drone. Each/Other on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/115731954 each/other video installation 1998 Because of the multiple reflections, the whole environment, including the floor and back wall, shimmers with reflected waves, and the viewer is encompassed by the same watery substance as the swimmers. As the swimming triplets move slowly toward each other and toward the shared edge of their planes, they are accompanied by a spoken text from The Visible and The Invisible by Maurice Merleau-Ponty and a low droning soundtrack underneath the text. The text operates as a sort of metaphysical poetry, a tumble of subliminal suggestions that can be picked up at any point, without significant loss of continuity ... a sea of floating meaning. Enigmatic movements within the text meld with the motions of swimming and sea to produce crosscurrents and undertows within the medium of comprehension. artimages/09182004.jpg 350 241
2004-09-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=51 Mary Kline-Misol A native of Des Moines, Mary Kline-Misol earned both her BFA and MFA from Drake University, where she studied under Jules Kirschenbaum. Kline-Misol now maintains her studio in Panora, where she has spent the last decade working on painting in series. Large-scale still-lifes of exotic objects, friends, relatives and people she's met travelling, flowers and elements of nature, and a series of real and fictional characters relating to Charles Dodgson's Alice Through the Looking Glass have all been themes explored in her work. Mary Kline-Misol's website http://www.maryklinemisol.com/ The Lady and The Dragon acrylic on canvas 60" x 40" 2001 The Lady and the Dragon is from the series "Conjure: The Story Puppets." The Wayang Golek Pole Puppets have a strong tradition in Java and Indonesia. Traditionally they are used in plays which run from dusk to dawn, representing scenes from the Hindu Vedas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The characters depict episodes from the texts that teach a moralizing lesson about the battle of good and evil.This series of paintings include the pole puppets, juxtaposed with traditional Vanitas objects, such as extinguished candles, botanicals, and time pieces, that serve as reminders of the transitory nature of life. The Vanitas theme is one of the oldest approaches to still life painting. Elements of still life occur in Egyptian tomb paintings, and it is used today as a formal exercise and a vehicle for the painter to exercise skill in composition and lifelike rendering of detail and texture. artimages/09192004.jpg 225 340
2004-09-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=52 Marcia Joffe-Bouska Marcia Joffe-Bouska received her BA in Art and Art Education from Clark College (1973) and her MA from Northern Illinois University (1977). In addition to showing work throughout the Midwest, her art is represented in public and private collections throughout the region. Her glass mosaic, Missouri River Transit, part of the Icon Interpretive Sculpture Project for the Lewis and Clark Voyage of Discovery Bicentennial, is located at Dodge Riverside Golf Club in Council Bluffs, IA. She has taught art workshops to people of all ages, many through the Iowa Arts Council's Artist in Schools and Communities program. She has lived and worked in Council Bluffs, Iowa since 1977. Marcia Joffe-Bouska website http://www.marciajoffe-bouska.com/index.html Auriferous mixed media 15.125" x 6.5" x 4.5" 2002 Marcia Joffe-Bouska writes: My sculpture developed from a series of artworks whose reference was the garden. Early pieces combined unearthed fragments with various elements of refinement. The resulting synthesis suggested a function both protective and primal, as the sculpture seemed to recall ritual pieces from another culture. My current work continues to explore this transcendent and symbolic aspect of art and reveals my interest in cultural icons. My combination of organic forms with natural and found objects, traditional and nontraditional art media, creates a tension between image and the associations suggested by the incongruous materials used. artimages/09202004.jpg 225 474
2004-09-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=53 Jill J. Jensen As a photographer and artist, Jill J. Jensen has displayed her color photographs in solo and group exhibits since the 1970s. Her work is found in galleries and private collections across the United States, including a display at the offices of the Iowa Department of Economic Development in Des Moines, Iowa. She has won top awards at the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum in Mason City, the Charles City Art Museum, and the Polk County Heritage Gallery in Des Moines, among others, and she was a member of The ArtistsÕ Gallery cooperative in West Des Moines, Iowa. Her photographs have been published in books and magazines, as greeting cards, and in other print and multimedia materials. Her work has also been shown at the Ambroz Art Center and CSPS in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Jill J. Jensen's website http://www.jjjensen.com/ Buzzin' In 35mm Kodachrome 800 x 526 pixels 1997 Jill J. Jensen writes: "Buzzin' In" was captured early one late summer morning in the flower gardens at Noelridge Park, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I prefer to work in the light of early morning or late afternoon, the hour or so just before and after sunrise and sunset, when everything is golden, clear, and draped with interesting shadows. In the mornings, the dew may still be on the plants. Insects and animals may be slower to stir and, therefore, more susceptible to image capture. In the evenings, clouds and atmospheric phenomena evolve quickly as the sun changes position in the sky, which changes the quality of the light on whatever is the subject of the photograph. artimages/09212004.jpg 350 230
2004-09-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=54 Jane Robinette Born and raised in Des Moines, Jane Robinette has lived in Iowa most of her life. Since she was a young girl, she has written poetry and prose and combined her words with color or images. Her love for the written word took priority for many years. After earning degrees in social work and law, and holding jobs for several years in each area, she left her law job in April 1998 to begin the Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project (www.lucidplanet.com/IWA) and to do more creative work of her own. Jane Robinette's paintings are shown at galleries in Des Moines and Ames, and her website has images and audio clips of her poetry. Jane Robinette's website http://www.janerobinette.com/ Imagine acrylic & ink on paper 13-3/4" x 13-3/4" (framed) 2004 Jane Robinette writes: My love for color, rhythm, and language led me to begin making "poem-paintings" small-scale, colorful, abstract paintings that incorporate my own handwritten original poetry. Acrylic paint quickly changes consistency when exposed to air, which helps create interesting shapes and textures when I scrape it across paper. Many of the poems contain a voice that is mysterious, heartfelt, thought-provoking, and inspiriting; a voice that I find is speaking to me as much as to the ultimate viewer/reader...Sometimes I wonder why my poems need color and texture and why my paintings need words and lines. Of course, this is not entirely true, but somehow they call for one another. My job is to create the space for their interplay. This acrylic scraped poem-painting invites the viewer/reader to explore the layers of paint and of life. artimages/09222004.jpg 350 342
2004-09-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=55 David Kamm David Kamm earned his MA (1986) and MFA (1988) in printmaking from the University of Iowa. He has shown his work extensively in the Midwest and abroad. Collections that hold examples of his work include the International Museum of Collage, Assemblage and Construction in Cuernavaca, the Vatican Collection of Modern Art, the Print Consortium of Kansas City, Missouri, and the Popular Culture Library at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Art and the Gallery Coordinator at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Pages from a Small World print collage 7.5" x 5.25" 2002 About his artwork, David writes, "I am trained as a printmaker and my work frequently reflects aesthetic concerns inherent in printmaking processes. Those include the concepts of image transfer, serial imagery, and multiple image manipulations that leave a visual record of the creative process." Pages from a Small World is an intimate, modestly scaled collage. The source materials for the piece are David's prints, cut into pieces and recombined to make a new artwork. artimages/09232004.jpg 225 323
2004-09-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=56 Anonymous Incarcerated Women The artists who made Women of Strength are all incarcerated at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women. In collaboration with Rachel Williams and Jane Parsons, they designed, sewed and painted a multi-panel mural incorporating the likenesses of Mother Hale, Marilyn Monroe, Mother Theresa, and Nilak Butler, among others. detail from Women of Strength mural fabric and paint dimensions variable 2002 Art can be a transformative activity for anyone, but it can be especially important for people who live incredibly circumscribed lives inside the walls of a prison. Arts programs give inmates the chance to develop their artistic skills and to feel productive during their period of incarceration. Prisoners who make art or write build self-esteem and self-knowledge and refine their ability to reflect their thoughts and emotions through images or the written word.
This project was funded by the Iowa Arts council and is permanently exhibited in Unit 9 at the ICIW. artimages/09242004.jpg 225 337
2004-09-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=57 Robbie Steinbach Since Robbie Steinbach attended graduate school at the University of Iowa in the mid-1980s, most of her work has examined women's lives. Robbie's images make the work and lives of women visible, highlighting the complexity of their lives and their ambiguous status in our society as their roles change, but many traditional expectations remain. She completed a series of portraits that culminated in the 1998 book Lifework: Portraits of Iowa Women Artists Robbie Steinbach's website http://www.robbiesteinbach.com/ Angel on the Ponte Vecchio gelatin silver print 14" x 11" 1999 After transitional on a body of self-portraits, landscapes, and images of women done in Tuscany and Umbria, Robbie continues to make portraits of women in her new home of Taos, New Mexico. artimages/09252004.jpg 225 331
2004-09-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=58 Emily Martin Emily Martin has been making artists books since the late 70's, when she was in graduate school at the University of Iowa (MFA, 1979). Since then she has produced narrative paintings, sculpture and books. Most of her earlier books were one of a kind sculptural books, but she began producing limited edition books in the late 80's, using images from her paintings and drawings. In 1995, Martin began the Naughty Dog Press, producing books using text either alone or in combination with visual imagery. Emily Martin's website http://www.emilymartin.com/ Slices letterpress printing 8" diameter 2004 artimages/09262004.jpg 350 228
2004-09-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=59 Marilyn Annin Marilyn McMurry Annin was born in 1938, and has spent about equal thirds of her life in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. She painted for many years, but in the 1980s, switched to sculpture, mostly in the form of rigid garments. Marilyn Annin's website http://www.marilynannin.com/ Striving for Perfection sculpture 55" x 40" x 30" 1990 Annin began working in three dimensions in a casual way, experimenting with common materials found in the house or the junk yard. Her appreciation for these ordinary objects grew as she worked with them more. Her material experiments eventually led her to begin making rigid sculptured garments out of bottle caps, wire, pins, and cast-off fabric. Her garments act as metaphors for attitudes and customs in our culture and employ elements of portraiture, landscape, and satire. artimages/09272004.jpg 225 353
2004-09-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=60 Karen Chesterman Karen Chesterman earned her MFA from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. Her has been shown extensively throughout the Midwest, and her work is held in both private and institutional collections. She works full-time in her studio in Sioux City, Iowa and is represented by the Olson-Larsen Gallery in Des Moines. Karen Chesterman's website http://www.olsonlarsen.com/en/artists/?albumID=3773&action=dspalbum Lotus oil on canvas 48" x 42" 1999 The most immediate element of Sioux City artist Karen Chesterman's recent work is the use of vibrant color. Color, vaporous and dense, layered, mobile, sometimes suggesting images but never resolving itself, is the dominant force in Chesterman's work. Chesterman describes her current paintings "as accumulations of thought and decision-making." She leaves traces of a painting's evolution, sanding or scraping layers of paint to reveal the subtle relationships woven into the accumulated strata of color and marks. She says, "What is visible on the surface is not always the most important aspect of the art." artimages/09282004.jpg 225 313
2004-09-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=61 Jan Zelfer-Redmond Jan Zelfer-Redmond earned her B.A. from Briar Cliff College in Sioux City and her B.F.A. in Painting from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions and juried shows. Jan mounted a major one-woman show at the Sioux City Art Center recently. Ms. Zelfer-Redmond maintains a studio in Sioux City, Iowa. Jan Zelfer-Redmond website http://www.olsonlarsen.com/en/artists/?albumID=3779&action=dspalbum Notebook VII oil on canvas 44" x 52" About the artwork, Jan Zelfer-Redmond states: Most often, when I paint, I am responding to ideas which I've heard or read, that seem to verbalize exactly those unfiltered thoughts that were in my subconscious mind and not yet vocalized by me. My paintings start with a pre-verbal, intuitive and spontaneous process in order to recreate that area of ghost-like discovery. It is seldom that I begin a painting with any idea in mind of what that painting will look like when it is finished, but it is also seldom that I begin a painting without an idea in mind. artimages/09292004.jpg 350 297
2004-09-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=62 Jill Schrift Jill Davis Schrift has been teaching in the art department at Grinnell College since 1988. Schrift holds an M.A. in ceramics from Purdue University, where she studied with Scott Frankenberger and Marge Levy. She also has a Masters of Science in teaching from the State University of New York at Potsdam. During the academic year Schrift works primarily in ceramics. In summer, she lives in France and works on pastel drawing and collages. Homage to Anhur II stoneware 15" x 9" diameter 2002 About her pots, Jill Schrift states: "My ultimate goal is to create ceramic works that are soulful and expressive. I draw inspiration from the classical forms of the past and strive to express these forms in my own idiom that speaks to contemporary culture." artimages/09302004.jpg 225 316
2004-10-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=63 Mark Petrick Mark Petrick received his BA in Fine Art from the University of California at Berkeley (1977), where he also did Graduate Studies in Architecture & Design. He earned his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1983). He lives in Fairfield, Iowa. Mark Petrick's website http://www.markpetrick.com/ Sidewalk Poster Display, Ram Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, 1999 from the series an India -- Photographs by Mark Paul Petrick, 1998-2002 quadtone carbon pigment inkjet print 7.5" x 7.5" 2002 About the artwork, Mark Petrick writes: I went to India to look at common things: temples and houses; people sitting, walking, working, worshipping; rivers and mountains; streets and shops; goddesses and gods; signs, pictures, and patterns; the sunrise; the places and happenings of each day; and to make pictures of them. The pictures in an India are not really the result of hard labor, but of perseverance: of walking and taking the steps to move to new places, of walking some more and continuing to look with care at the obvious...These are pictures of a loved one, India, that have been collected and choreographed to convey some sense of her complexity, dignity, charm, ordinariness, contrariness, majestic depth, and mundane squalor: the confluence of the plain, the savory, and the hard to swallow, creating the unfathomable flavor of her beauty. artimages/10012004.jpg 350 350
2004-10-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=64 Sarah Grant-Hutchinson Sticks, Inc. owners Sarah Grant-Hutchison and Jim Lueders began their business in the late 1980s, creating nativity sets and small art pieces for a handful of galleries. With its vibrant designs and excellent craftsmanship, Sticks grew and now employs a crew of more than 70 artisans and sells work at galleries throughout the US. Their business also includes custom installation work that expands their playful aesthetic and vivid palette through large interior spaces. Sarah Grant-Hutchinson's website http://www.sticks.com/ Detail: Iowa State University Day Care Center installation About the artwork:
Sticks makes furniture and sculptures from birch and poplar, often incorporating natually aged and dried driftwood that's been found along riverbanks. Each piece is made by a team of artisans who use a woodburning technique from the thirties to etch the wood and then paint it using a broad range of vibrant colors. This sculpture is part of an installation at the Iowa State University Day Care Center in Ames. Sticks worked with the ISU Architectural department, Child Development, Landscaping, and ISU Administration on the design to create a visually rich, stimulating environment to delight both the children and the adults who care for them. artimages/08222004.jpg 225 345
2004-10-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=65 Vicki Adams Vicki Adams was born in 1931, near Blockton, Iowa. She has received her BFA (1974) and MFA (1978) from Drake University. Random Collection handmade paper and resin 12" x 18" 2000 Vicki Adams is a papermaker and a print artist. Her handmade paper incorporates recycled paper, plant materials, and dyes to produce sensual textures and subtle color variations. Random Collection is an example of her sophisticated use of paper as a sculptural material. Adams has taught and shown her work extensively. She is a member of the Artists' Gallery, a cooperative gallery in Valley Junction West Des Moines, and also is associated with the Octagon in Ames and the Wiederspan Gallery in Cedar Rapids. artimages/10032004.jpg 350 239
2004-10-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=66 Robert Atwell Robert Atwell was born in 1973 in Nevada, Iowa. He has received both a BFA (1995) and MFA (2002) from Iowa State University.
Robert Atwell's website http://robertatwell.com/ Sat, Aug 23, 2003, 12:32PM vinyl and alkyd resin on aspen panel 11.25" x11.25" 2004 Robert Atwell's work is created using a process that embraces both digital and analog sources. Beginning with a sketchbook, Atwell records spontaneously drawn marks inspired from experiences within visual and audio environments. He then draws and redraws, scans, digitizes, and prints these images, using them to build a visual dialog. Tradition and technology come together to create hybrid paintings, uniting the long tradition of abstract painting and the more recent advent of technological tools as art making devices. Final works come in the form of drawings, paintings, digital prints, and interactive installations. The day, month, year, and time become the titles of Atwell's work, marking another moment in history. artimages/10042004R.jpg 350 350
2004-10-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=67 Terri Parish McGaffin Terri Parish McGaffin has worked as a professional artist for many years, and has acquired a regional and national exhibition record. She has exhibited recently in Idaho, South Dakota, Florida, Colorado, and Illinois. Her work is in the collections of the Sioux City Art Center, Morningside College and the University of South Dakota, as well as many private collections. She currently serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. Terri Parish McGaffin website https://tparish.carbonmade.com/ Chicago acrylic and oil on canvas 48" x 60" 2003 Terri Parish McGaffin states: As a representational painter, it is my aim to create work that has both a specific quality and a universal quality. I follow an intuitive approach to content, and a more analytical approach to formal development. I am always engaged in the search for composition and relationships of value and color in the visible world, and engaged in the process of representing these things within the painted surface. artimages/10052004.jpg 350 279
2004-10-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=68 Laurayne Robinette Laurayne Robinette was born in 1928 in southern Iowa. She earned her BFA from Drake University in 1952, taught art for one year in Des Moines, married, had three daughters, started taking art classes at the Des Moines Art Center, and continued her art education over the next thirty-six years. Waterways oil on canvas 30" x 48" 2000 Robinette works mostly in oil. Her representational work is taken from observations of landscapes and interiors, while the non-representational work is produced by using nontraditional methods of applying paint to canvas or paper. Waterways bridges the divide between landscape and abstraction, incorporating the textures of water and trees to knit together blocks of pure color. artimages/10062004.jpg 350 224
2004-10-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=69 John Preston John Preston received his BFA in Painting from Maharishi International University in 1984. Painting full time, Preston has participated in many solo and group shows, and his works hang in a wide range of corporate collections. He lives and works in Fairfield, Iowa. John Preston at Olson-Larsen Galleries http://www.olsonlarsen.com/en/artists/?albumID=3784&action=dspalbum Broken Storm oil on canvas 32" x 38" 2004 John Preston writes, "I've been painting the Iowa landscape for about twenty years. The motivation is nothing flashy, just simple attraction. The same motivation that drives all the big decisions in life: career, marriage, where one lives. Over time I've come to approach the landscape with a portrait painter's attitude. I'm not a native Iowan and was immediately taken with the weather and skies. They seem to form the personality of the landscape..." artimages/10072004.jpg 350 291
2004-10-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=70 Sara Slee Brown Sara Slee Brown received her BFA in art from the University of Michigan and her MA and MFA in Painting from the University of Iowa. Brown has exhibited extensively in the Midwest and her work is included in the Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project. She has been active in local public art projects, including Overalls All Over and Herky on Parade and is the Graphic Designer for the Iowa City Public Library.
Sara Slee Brown website http://www.sarasleebrown.com/index.html Three Bottled Treasures scanner art 5" x 9" 2004 About the artwork: Sara Slee Brown has been producing these scanner art pieces for the past year. She is fascinated with the process itself and the simple, clean contrasts, shapes and beauty that can be produced with a few cherished objects and her scanner. The sense of solitude and serenity these works evoke seems to go beyond the methods and materials used. artimages/10082004.jpg 350 196
2004-10-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=71 Janet Hart-Heinicke Janet Heinicke is a native Midwesterner and a seasoned artist. She holds advanced degrees in printmaking from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and in painting from Northern Illinois University. She has a long history of work as a collegiate educator in Illinois and Iowa and most recently acted as the Fine Arts Exhibition Director for the Iowa State Fair. Experimental Skyline watercolor 16" x 20" 2003 Much of Heinicke's work focuses on close observation of the natural world, the forms found in rocks and trees, and long vistas that take in an expanse of hills and valleys. Scale, materials, surface, and texture are important to Heinicke. Experimental Skyline references an urban landscape, but her interest in scale and surface manifests itself in the juxtaposition of the abstract shapes in the foreground and the cityscape which sits behind them. artimages/10092004_other.jpg 350 228
2004-10-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=72 Joe Hall Joe Hall is a digital artist who lives and works in Iowa City, Iowa. Hall completed his Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Iowa in 2004. Exhibitions include participation in a group show at the Des Moines Art Center, and a solo exhibition in Seoul, Korea. Pink to Blue: 410 Web Pages with Color and Sound four Apple iMac computers This piece was featured in the exhibition "Iowa Artists 2001", Des Moines Art Center Des Moines, Iowa. artimages/10102004.jpg 350 232
2004-10-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=73 Deanne Warnholtz Wortman Wortman was born in 1943 in Sioux City, Iowa. She received her BFA in 1970 and MFAs in both Drawing (1976) and Intermedia (1998), all from the University of Iowa. (K2H) or The Song Of The Woman In the Red Dress performance, Dortmund, Germany 1998 Deanne Warnholtz Wortman states: My working process is very catholic in that it begins with a phrase, a word, an observation, an action, an object from daily life or with something I have read or heard or felt. These shred of information come unbidden and in a way mysterious to me but seeming to be connected somehow. The intellectual analysis comes after. But then I can explain it to you. I use all the tools at my disposal to express these ideas: narrative, action, object, space, environment, music, drawing, painting, video. The audience is an integral component participating by bringing its own shreds of information to the piece, collaborating with me on some level.I cannot separate my art activities from my other activities; it is all of a piece. artimages/10112004.jpg 225 338
2004-10-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=74 Marie C. Cook Helen Marie Casey Cook was born in 1918, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She graduated from the Iowa State Teachers College (now University of Northern Iowa) with a Kg-PRI certificate in 1938. Her specialties are watercolor painting and cut-paper silhouettes. She has done several commissioned paintings for local organizations and businesses. One of her favorite subjects is a large stone barn near Cedar Falls. Marie C. Cook's website http://www.lucidplanet.com/iwa/ArtistPages/cookm.htm Silhouettes by Marie #1 paper cuttings She writes: "It was in December of 1969 when my path crossed that of Lorene Rose Diehl from Waterloo and I began to cut silhouettes of people. It is basically a lot of practice and I have cut many. Some days I would do over one hundred. It takes four to five minutes and then there is the pasting on a 5X7 white card. In the first year or so I began cutting houses and finishing details in India Ink and diluted India ink." artimages/10122004.jpg 350 263
2004-10-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=75 Chris Fletcher Chris Fletcher received his B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1993 and his M.F.A. in 1997 from American University in Washington D.C. His works have been included in exhibitions in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Virginia. Recovery Room acrylic on board 18" x 24" 2003 About his process, Chris Fletcher says: "Isometric projection helps me to consider the dual function of any given shape. A shape may function both as a link in a two dimensional design and as a plane in a representation of three dimensional volume. Keeping shapes of color evenly modulated helps me to feel the character of the relationships between them better. These relationships include those of part to part, part to whole, part to group, group to group, and group to whole. The resulting images evoke things like wooden toys or figures, building blocks, architectural frame construction, wood joinery, and stages. These things may serve to embody the tenuous nature of appearances. However, they may also suggest hope and the process of growth." artimages/10132004.jpg 300 225
2004-10-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=76 Jenna Montgomery About the artist:
Jenna Montgomery was born in 1978 in Loma Linda, California. She received her BFA from the University of Washington in 2000 and is currently pursuing her masters degree at the University of Iowa. the 47 Aimless Men Series: Manny intaglio and watercolor, 19" x 15" 2002 From the image:
L: "It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this."
R: "Manolo 'Manny' de la Espada is a hard man, plagued by bad luck. He sells smuggled Cuban cigars and gambles away his earnings. The last time Manny was arrested, his poor wife, Lolita, killed herself out of despair." artimages/10142004.jpg 225 275
2004-10-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=78 Denis Roussel Denis Roussel obtained a diplome d'ingenieur (1999) in chemistry at the Ecole Nationale Superieure Chimie in Rennes, France. He earned his MFA in photography at The University of Iowa in 2004. Denis Roussel's website http://www.denis-roussel.com/ Detail 3, Blood Experiment 1 Medium Inkjet print, 9" x 13" 2004 I've spent most of my life studying the sciences. Mathematics, physics and chemistry revealed to me hidden and limitless universes. I gained through them a greater awareness of the complexity and beauty of the world around me. Photography is another means of discovery and understanding. It allows me to question my self, and my interpretation of the world, may it be physical or spiritual. ...One can think of blood and dwell in its symbolic qualities associated with a myriad of concepts and emotions. In this project, however, the photographs are the objective record of simple experiments. Extracted from the body, blood is forced to interact with three elements, water, air and fire. Time passes and reactions occur that are guided by the physical and chemical properties of blood. The photographs depict the macroscopic realization of microscopic events. artimages/10152004.jpg 285 313
2004-10-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=81 Kelly McLaughlin and Joe Tekippe Kelly McLaughlin is a graduate student at the University of Iowa. She is pursuing an M.F.A in intermedia & video art, as well as a P.H.D. in American Studies. In both fields she is explicitly concerned with new media technologies. Her work often explores intimacy mediated by technology. Most recently, Kelly has been focused on creating installations that utilize video, the web, and software for authoring kinetic interfaces.
Joe Tekippe was born in 1980 in Marshalltown, Iowa. He received his BFA in intermedia and video art from the University of Iowa in 2003. He was inducted as a Kentucky colonel in the summer of 2004. He is currently living in Brooklyn, NY and working on his MFA in computer art at the School of Visual Arts. His recent work takes the form of choreographed interactions with bank tellers.
installation detail (gelatin screen), Interfascia site-specific installation 2000 InterFascia explores the human-computer interface as an artspace and draws an analogy between this and biological, technological, and interpersonal interfaces. Interfascia used interactivity authoring software to create a space that responds to the viewer's presence. Video cameras and microphones in the installation space relayed signals to computers that processed the live signals which triggered preauthored video and audio tracks and distorted live feed to be retransmitted into the space. Gelatin screens placed on top of each cube absorbed and diffused the visual data and provided a tactile surface for the viewer to interact with. artimages/10162004.jpg 350 233
2004-10-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=84 Jessie Fisher Jessie Fisher was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1971, and grew up in Wayzata, Minnesota. She earned her BFA at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis. Fisher apprenticed with fresco painter Mark Balma, working on a large-scale fresco project for the University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis campus. She received her MFA from the University of Iowa in May, with an emphasis on Painting and a minor in Printmaking. Fisher currently works with several galleries in New York and Los Angeles and paints in her home studio in Iowa City.
Jessie Fisher website http://www.jessiefisherstudio.com/ Killing Wall oil on canvas 36" x 48" Jessie Fisher's paintings present an idealistic and noble visage of the grotesque. Her figures, stoic and self-aware, dominate their canvas and the viewer's eyes. These creatures serve as icons of concealed knowledge; marked by their deformity, they cannot return to a state of innocence. In her search for truths, Fisher gives physical form to the the unseen; she goes beyond mere representation of the natural world and its inhabitants to remake nature itself. artimages/10172004.jpg 225 306
2004-10-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=87 Scott Seebart Scott Seebart attended the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Painting. Seebart completed a post-baccalaureate degree the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and he is in his final year of the MFA program at the University of Iowa. Scott Seebart's website http://www.jessiefisherscottseebart.com/ Cave oil on canvas 40" x 50" Seebart composes paintings that are sensual and visually complex. His flower-laden bushes and trees hover delicately between abstraction and representation. The figures in his arcadian landscapes are so quietly painted that they melt into their surroundings, and the landscapes themselves melt into pure abstract forms and rich strokes of color. artimages/10182004.jpg 350 275
2004-10-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=90 Kim Ambriz Kim Ambriz received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College in Chicago where she studied photography. She received an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa in 2005. Boca del Caballo Lithograph with relief 20" x 15" Kim says: "As a Mexican artist who grew up in a very un-Mexican fashion, I seek through my work to connect to a past that I have always felt very detached from... My recent work is inspired by and references the style of the earliest painted Aztec histories as well as printed works by Mexican relief artists, and also alludes to cross-blood stories and trickster characters prevalent in Native American literature. I have appropriated the pictorial vocabulary of the Aztec manuscripts, altering existing figures as well as creating new symbols. Personal, repeatable symbols, which stand in for descriptions or text, connect my prints together as if they were pages in a book, a tale I create to act as my own history." artimages/10192004.jpg 225 304
2004-10-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=93 Terry Rathje Terry Rathje is working on his MFA at the University of Iowa. He is also currently a design instructor at Western Illinois University. How Can You Be Serious? license plates and scrap metal 2004 Rathje writes: my art is about rearranging reality. I spend half my time taking things apart and learning how they are made, and the other half putting them back together and learning about myself.
By observing and internalizing how the world is put together, the world inside and the world outside meet in some sort of strange juxtaposition that I really don't understand until the process is done. This meeting of the inside world and the outside world is at the heart of what I do. artimages/10202004.jpg 350 283
2004-10-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=96 Kate Carr Kate Carr received her Bachelor of Arts (1999) from 1994-1999 Marlboro College in Vermont. She is completing her MFA in the sculpture area at the University of Iowa and has shown work recently at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in California, the Sioux City Art Center, Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey, and CSPS in Cedar Rapids. Untitled Branch wrapped crochet thread and tree branch 2004 About the artwork, Carr writes: my responsibility as an artist is to pay attention. Repeating an activity, a form, a material, is how I begin to understand my surroundings and identify my artistic interests and concerns. In my work, I continue to address the beauty and the possibilities of the ordinary by making what I see and experience a tangible manifestation of noticing. artimages/10212004.jpg 225 355
2004-10-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=98 Julie Leonard Julia Leonard graduated with an MFA in design from the University of Iowa in 2001. She now operates a binding studio in Iowa City and teaches Bookbinding and Graphic Design at the University of Iowa. She works on her own one-of-a-kind and editioned artist's books, as well as commissions and limited production and edition binding. Her work has been shown nationally and has been acquired by private collectors and special collections libraries. al pha bet French door 4 needle link stitch, letterpress printed linoleum, 4" x 10" 1998 Julia had this to say about book arts: "Making use of the book as an artistic medium is possible partly because of what we (Westerners) bring to the book, our collective connection with it ... Experiencing a book is a tactile, intimate and private activity. It requires time, a slowing down and settling in. Books can act on us as an icon or reliquary does, evoking a spiritual reaction a contemplative psychic space. For me, books speak of the past, of what is gone or perhaps never was: a kind of slow beauty, longing and melancholy..." artimages/10222004.jpg 300 220
2004-10-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=101 Robert Butler Rob Butler grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, and lived with his family in Germany. He discovered early on the excitement of diverse cultures and found that immersion in a foreign culture catalyzed his creativity. Rob earned his MFA in printmaking at the University of Iowa in 2004, and he continues to pursue cross-cultural exchange as a visiting lecturer at the School of Communication in Riga, Latvia. Untitled: IX-XI Monotype 44" X 61" MMIII About his artwork, Rob states: In recent work, imagery is informed by being receptive to physical, emotional, spiritual, and aesthetic events that occur during the process of print and art making. In the collaboration between the elements of process and myself, this dynamic sense serves as a catalyst to inform the next work. This dialogue, between artist and art, leads to serial work that provides a narrative for artistic processes, from the conceptual first work to the non-existential last. My purpose in my art work is not simply to communicate content and imagery with an audience, but to closely view my own actions, therefore placing my environment and myself under close observation, then reexamining those observations through the vehicle of print and art making. artimages/10232004.jpg 350 246
2004-10-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=104 Lael Sale Lael Sale moved from Texas to Iowa to pursue an MFA in painting at the University of Iowa. She will complete her degree in May 2005. Wall Blob I foam and oil on wood 4" x 6" x 4" 2004 About the artwork, Lael Sale writes: I make forms and spaces that are physical manifestations of my psychological and emotional states. Content is found through visceral relationships between the body and material. Pink and crimson oil paint, wax, sand, hair, and latex are experienced first sensually, and then realized intuitively. I am interested in the way these materials can be manipulated to mimic or reference the body, allowing a way for me to metaphorically gut the inside of my mind onto the canvas. artimages/10242004.jpg 350 260
2004-10-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=106 Melissa Newman Melissa Newman earned her BFA at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. She was awarded her MFA in Painting from the University of Iowa in May 2003. Caterpillar oil and wood on panel 24" x 24" 2003 Caterpillar, an example of painter Melissa Newman's brand of hard-edged abstraction, plays with the viewer's sense of perception. She couples single-point perspective that mimics the way we perceive recession in space and painted representations of light playing off a flat surface with half-round molding which juts out from the painted surface into the viewer's real space. The shift between trompe l'oeil* devices and three-dimensional elements engages viewers in a visual and mental game; they are forced to question whether they can trust their eyes to perceive the veracity of what is before them.
*a French term meaning, literally, "fool the eye" artimages/10252004.jpg 350 349
2004-10-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=109 Astrid Hilger Bennett Bennett received her BFA in printmaking from Indiana University and has exhibited and taught at various locations throughout the country. She is a resident of Iowa City, Iowa. Astrid Hilger Bennett website http://astridhilgerbennett.com/ Seeking Scarlet art quilt Astrid Bennett makes large-scale art quilts, using hand painting, monoprinting, screen printing, batik, or immersion dyeing to create her compositions. She says, "I'm happiest with a brush in my hand, and art quilts allow me a large- scale, exuberant canvas. Although visually abstract, my work constantly mines the daily life experiences of family, society and the natural world, with a hefty dose of music to guide the hand." artimages/10262004.jpg 225 399
2004-10-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=113 Elaine Beck Elaine Beck earned her MFA in Intermedia from the University of Iowa in 2004. Her 2001 artwork, the Chair Project, an interactive, collaborative community project in Oskaloosa, Iowa, was featured nationally in the media, and she was awarded Best of Competition in the 2003 Des Moines Art Center Film+Video+DVD Competition. Elaine is currently pursuing an Interdisciplinary PhD program that combines her research interests: art, democracy, and community. Elaine Beck's website http://www.elainebeck.com/ still from the video Flat Black 2004 Elaine Beck grew up on a farm in rural Iowa. Flat Black documents the experience of her father and other individual farmers who were affected by the farm crisis of the 1980s. Beck's father organized a group of farmers in an effort to help each other survive. Her interviews with these men explore what they perceive as the causes of the crisis and effects of the it had on their families, their communities, and the men themselves. The documentary features hauntingly beautiful images of the Iowa farmscape and the rich soil for which the film is named. artimages/10272004.jpg 350 235
2004-10-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=115 John Beckelman John Beckelman graduated with an MFA in Ceramics from Illinois State University in 1978. His pieces have been exhibited nationally. He is currently Chair of the Art Department at Coe College. John Beckelman at the Gilded Pear Gallery http://www.gildedpeargallery.com/john-beckelman.html Narrow-Necked Bottle stoneware 30" x 10" 2004 John had this to say about his pieces: "These vessels are intended to evoke a sense of timelessness, stability and ease. Their forms and surfaces are inspired by early Neolithic storage vessels and their scale is an effort to induce a sense of quiet presence. Having worked with clay, in a variety of forms and formats and in all its varied physical states for close to thirty years now, I find that it's the elemental character and expressive potential of clay which continues to intrigue me. There is, indeed, an enduring, almost archetypal, appeal to clay, which is like no other material." artimages/10282004.jpg 206 310
2004-10-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=119 Joseph Miller Joseph Miller was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin and earned a BS in Graphic Design. He is pursuing an M.F.A. degree in Graphic Design (minoring in Photography) at the University of Iowa. Configuration 191/200 from the Sim City 200 Suite Road Maps + Tourist Guides from MN, IA, and Seoul, South Korea 48mm x 75mm 2004 Joseph Miller writes: The Intuitive Collage process is an exercise in seeing. This practice is concerned with finding, not creating, form. Magazine pages are cut into various geometric shapes with an Exacto knife. These pieces are then scattered on the floor to rest at random. Cropping tools are used to hunt these configurations and transparent tape is applied to splice ends. Type, texture, line, color, and image are embraced and taken simply for the sake of being perceived as beautiful together. As for meaning or associations, I leave the viewer to his/her own temperaments. artimages/10292004.jpg 225 351
2004-10-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=120 Greta Songe Greta Songe earned her BFA in painting and drawing from Louisiana State University in 2000. She is currently in her final year of the graduate program in painting in the UI School of Art and Art History. She has worked as a painting and book arts instructor with Iowa City youth through the Art Share program. Pom Pink mixed media on paper 42" x 37" 2003 Greta Songe's still-lifes consist mainly of fruits or vegetables arranged on densely patterned cloths. In her works, lumpen potatoes, stalks of brussels sprouts bristling with alien-looking heads, and ruby pomegranates sit as if for portraits. But her still-lifes push the boundaries of the genre. Like Cezanne's apples and lemons, Songe's fruits defy gravity but are always on the verge of succumbing to it. Her patterned surfaces lay parallel to the viewer. They never support vegetables from below but push them forward into the viewer's space. Her fruits levitate in front of their backdrops. Sometimes it is only their close relationship to the pattern on which they sit, snared within a plaid lattice or bouyed by a thousand dancing bubbles, that seems to keep them from dropping off the canvas onto the floor. artimages/10302004.jpg 350 311
2004-10-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=124 Catherine Cole Catherine Cole is a graduate student at the University of Iowa where she is working towards her MFA. She currently holds a BFA from the University of Louisiana. Alternative Space (detail) digital photo installation 2003 This is what Catherine had to say about her art: "An economy of materials is an integral subject of my installations and object making. I have an affinity for tape and rough edges. I am interested in the embellishment and recontextualization of what exists and/or of what has been discarded. The often obsessive, vulnerable and revealing nature of 'outsider' art largely influences my work, however, I am more intriqued by the idea of transforming the expectations of art within the gallery setting as the materials reveal evidence of use, functionality and history. Within the gallery walls, I seek and uncover spaces that otherwise go overlooked, covered-up or unused. I intend to transform the function of these spaces within the space and to draw attention to the inner workings, structures or networks behind the scenes. I am intrigued by the element of discovery, the shifts in scale, inhabiting generally uninhabited spaces and in expanding the possibilities and efficiency of the white cube." artimages/10312004.jpg 350 254
2004-11-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=126 Aaron Wilson Aaron Wilson has taught printmaking and foundations in the Department of Art at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls since 1997. Prior to residing in Iowa, he completed his BFA at Wright State University in Dayton Ohio and earned an MFA at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Aaron has been the recipient of institutional and State grants, shown his work widely in national juried exhibitions, and has had solo exhibitions regionally, nationally, and in Canada. Worser detail from the installation Parlor, Drawing and Mixed Media 36" x 40" 2004 Parlor is a mixed-media installation that seeks to visually depict post- September 11th, 2001 America. It combines fine art printmaking processes with digital imaging technology, sculpture, drawing, and painting. I am interested in the amalgamation of evident reactions like fear, terror, and war with other aspects of our cultural palette. Consumer, religious, and political entities have all responded to the horror of terrorism creating a web of relative effects. Auto loans with zero-percent financing, action figures of our President, Internet images of crying eagles, a reevaluation of our civil liberties, and an ongoing war on terror are all the result of a single event. -- Aaron Wilson artimages/11012004.jpg 225 229
2004-11-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=127 Neva Sills Deer Feed acrylic on paper 41" x 85" 2002 artimages/11022004.jpg 396 209
2004-11-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=128 Gillian Brown Gillian Brown earned a BA from Brown University and an MAE from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. She earned her MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles. She shows work all over the nation and holds a professorship at Maharishi University in Fairfield, Iowa.
Gillian Brown's website http://www.gallery51east.com/pastshows/GillianBrown/slideshow/index.html It's About Time(detail) from the blackboard series acrylic on canvas 78" x 66" artimages/11032004.jpg 350 235
2004-11-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=129 Jim Snitzer untitled color photograph artimages/11042004.jpg 446 352
2004-11-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=130 Anne Slattery Anne Slattery received her Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts and East Asian Studies from Oberlin College in Ohio. Anne is currently an MFA candidate in Printmaking and is working towards a certificate from the University of Iowa Center for the Book. Mobile/Planted (Part 3), monotype on paper 22" x 30" 2003 Anne has this to say about her art: "My work deals with issues of dislocation, individuals or objects misplaced within a landscape and how their presence changes the meaning of that location. In this series of work dealing with the wind-turbines of northern Iowa, the monolithic structures are foreign to their agricultural setting, yet appear to be growing out of the fields. Their height adds an unexpected verticality to a typically horizontal vista. I use my prints as a setting in which to tell stories, sometimes imposing a text directly on the print, other times employing the print as a backdrop for a book, thus providing the viewer with both an apparent visual and a more private textual experience." artimages/11052004.jpg 350 261
2004-11-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=131 Darrell Taylor with Deanne Wortman Deanne Wortman was born in 1943 in Sioux City, Iowa. He received his BFA in 1970 and MFA's in Drawing (1976) and Intermedia (1998), all from the University of Iowa.
Darrell Taylor is an intermedia and performance artist with BFA, MA, and MFA degrees from the University of Iowa. He is co-artistic director of the performance group Habeas Corpus, and has exhibited artwork in exhibitions throughout the US and in Dortmund, Germany. He director of the UNI Gallery of Art and overseer fo the UNI Permanent Art Collection. Taylor co-teaches Queer Ballroom, an activist social dance project, at Arts a la Carte in Iowa City. Fall Line mixed media 2003 artimages/11062004.jpg 225 375
2004-11-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=133 Diana Behl Diana Behl receieved a BFA from Bowling Green State University in December 2001. She is presently an MFA candidate in Printmaking at the University of Iowa. record landing intaglio 5" x 12" 2003 "A record landing, recorded to remember. Recorded in order to reflect, to sort out the circumstantial relevance of objects seen and minutes passed. A calendar of events mapped out with a fleeting thought: how faintly the record resembles a blush, even a bruise -- flesh flushes after a moment of recollection." artimages/11072004.jpg 350 142
2004-11-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=135 Nadija Mustapic Nadija Mustapic is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Iowa Printmaking Department. After finishing her BFA at the University of Rijeka, in her native Croatia, she lived in Venice, Italy. She has exhibited in group shows in Croatia, Venice, and in international printmaking exhibitions. Topologies of the Inside (view of the outside and the projection) intaglio print on leather, wire, video, sound (installation) diameter of circle 12' 9" 2004 "Since my arrival to the US, I feel the need to use my memories and my national and cultural history to mentally, emotionally and physically engage myself in the creation of works of art through which I understand and abstract personal narratives of political realities and emotional structures. The line that separates my own memory from the collective one becomes more and more inconsistent. Consequently, remembering becomes an action, which requires empathy. Similarly, the content of my work, the process and the expectations of the product's communication with the viewer are steeped in ethical considerations that find their release through aesthetic applications. Topologies of the Inside is a piece about plugging the viewer into the visceral and raw 'real,' which mirrors the world out of joint, brutally coherent as such."
— Nadija Mustapic artimages/11082004.jpg 350 263
2004-11-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=138 River Branch River Branch received her B.A. in Psychology in 1990 from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. She is currently working on her M.F.A. in Film and Video Production at the University of Iowa. River has created seven films including Conditioned Love, from which this still is taken. Untitled 3, digital video still 800 x 533 2004 Conditioned Love is a digitally shot experimental documentary capturing the relationship between two Southern women who lived together for over forty years. Both women, now in their mid-nineties, stand in for a generation of women brought together across class and racial lines in the domestic space. Historically and culturally configured, Kitty and Matt's relationship has been both vilified and romanticized. The piece engages the viewer through a series of shorts, each stylistically & technically unique, storytelling a unifying element to the otherwise visually fragmented approach. artimages/11092004.jpg 350 233
2004-11-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=140 Ingrid Lilligren Ingrid Lilligren, named after a family friend who was an artist, was born in Springfield, Ohio. She earned a B.F.A. at the University of Wisconsin in River Falls in 1980. She received her M.F.A. in 1986 from Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California where she studied with Paul Soldner. After teaching at colleges in California, she moved to Iowa in 1993 and is an associate professor in ceramics at Iowa State University. Dee's Sniffer stoneware, porcelain, bamboo, horsehair 64" x 32" x 16" 2002 Dee's Sniffer, writes Ingrid Lilligren, is "an homage to my friend, the artist Dee Marcellus Cole. She is exactly as tall as this piece and her nose comes to the opening in the front. A small pouch with herbs hangs inside. Scent is a strong prompt to memory and is a component I have used in a number of pieces. Her work is playful and incorporated mixed media; she often makes use of children's cowboy boots for the feet on her pieces. Her personality is strong and feminine; she buys many of her clothes at thrift stores and usually wears a skirt. During a recent taping for a TV show, she was asked to drape one of her figures as the generalized forms that represented breasts were deemed potentially inflammatory to viewers, so I had to include breasts in this piece." artimages/11102004.jpg 225 356
2004-11-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=141 Brandon Buckner Brandon Buckner is in his third year of the MFA program in painting at the University of Iowa. His current paintings focus on building narratives from his own personal history and background. Presents oil on canvas 17" x 22" 2002 Presents, painted in 2002, is one of Buckner's early explorations in the formation and construction of open and ambiguous narratives. ÊBased on a photo taken from the television, the image from the shopping network QVC has been obscured using photoshop to create an unspecific idea of human beings. Buckner's goal was that the figures would become universal in a situation that is seemingly familiar. The relationship and situation between the figures would then become fodder for the viewer to use while concocting his or her own narrative or context for the figures. artimages/11112004.jpg 350 264
2004-11-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=142 Peggy Jester Peggy Jester is a native Iowan living in Urbandale, Iowa. She earned a BA from the University of Colorado and a MFA (1981) in painting from Drake University. She taught drawing and printmaking at the Des Moines Art Center for ten years and continues to work in her home studio. Peggy has exhibited locally and regionally since 1975. Art Figures in Motion (turning) monotype print 14.5" x 41" 2002 artimages/11122004.jpg 350 122
2004-11-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=143 Jessica Alaniz I am a graduate of Mt. Pleasant Community High School of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa (2002). She is currently studying photography at the University of Iowa. One Orange Rose scanner and orange rose 2004 About the artwork, Alaniz writes: I have always played with computers and Photoshop to give my images the extra edge they sometimes need. My images are about the process; it's all an experiment. I find something common in my house and press it against the glass of my scanner. Sometimes the images come out looking very boring, other times I find something beautiful in their shapes and shadows. artimages/11132004.jpg 288 285
2004-11-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=146 Teresa Paschke Teresa Paschke is an Assistant Professor at Iowa State University in Ames where she teaches in the Fibers program. Her work has been featured in many national and international exhibitions. She recently returned from a residency at the Women's Studio Workshop in New York. Clouds Know No Boundaries dye, iron oxide, photography, graphite, layered cloth 19" x 41" 2001 Teresa Paschke writes, "My work in textiles utilizes surface design techniques of dyeing, embroidery, printing, and other methods of manipulating cloth. Recent compositions combine 'found' and fabricated cloth, pieced together and reworked to suggest a kinship between rational and organic order making reference to both culture and nature ... In particular, references to agronomy--caring for land and community, and domesticity--caring for home and family are intermingled to suggest complementary aspirations and to document ideas about place that are both public and private. Repetition often takes the form of stitches and serves as a metaphor for the experience of time passing. Layering, whether marks, images, or cloth, suggests memories that are barely visible yet always present. The iconography I use is personal yet common, making reference to things both familiar and cryptic." artimages/11142004.jpg 360 204
2004-11-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=149 Nichole Maury Nichole Maury received her B.F.A from the Art Institute of Chicago. She graduated with an M.F.A in Printmaking from the University of Iowa in 2004 and is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. How I Learned My ABCs: W is for Waterlogged screenprint 21.5" x 17.5" 2003 How I Learned My ABCs, a suite of 26 screenprints, explores systems of identity and structure. Emerging from an autobiographical context, these prints examine my evolution into "adulthood" as it is defined by the current social standards; age, morality, financial stability, and emotional responsibility. As a child I found sanctuary in the predictable, repetitive atmosphere of the classroom and the layers of propaganda that surrounded me there. In claustrophobic rooms covered in colorful illustrations, I was taught how to read, how to act, and who to be. Now adequately educated and self-sufficient, I still struggle with that same fundamental question, who should I be? I search my history for answers. Unfortunately, no diagrammatic donkeys or informative insects can help me now. artimages/11152004.jpg 225 283
2004-11-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=151 T. J. Lechtenberg T.J. Lechtenberg is in his third year of the MFA program in The Jewelry and Metalsmithing Department at the University of Iowa. His current work explores silent metal forming with sheet metal, and seeks to establish voluminous forms from the flat pierced metal sheets by pushing, pulling and forming the material. Folded Bracelet Aluminum 4" x 4 "x 2.75" 2004 Circles and squares are two of the most elemental of shapes in our visual vocabulary. A majority of my jewelry and hollowware objects branch out from these basic geometric shapes. Because of their familiarity I can freely push, pull, slice and chop the shapes to create more abstract forms, yet still feel grounded by the still recognizable shape. Regardless of the direction that the objects I make go, they remain ultimately simple, graceful and without excess. artimages/11162004.jpg 336 256
2004-11-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=153 Mark Neucollins 1096 (as of Oct. 16, 2004) particle board, matches, paint, light approx. 4' x 8' (dim. variable) 2004 artimages/11172004.jpg 375 281
2004-11-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=155 Andrew Evans and Wes High Watch Me tv monitors, couch, coffee table site specific installation 2004 artimages/11182004.jpg 375 283
2004-11-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=157 Lydia M. Diemer Rabbit (detail) mixed media 2004 Here are the tales, the first and middle thoughts of the lemon chiffon bits of my sister's cousins, their phantom limbs (as in the marginalized hands of the city, any city), and the mutations of a little girl, all with a touch of scum from somewhere in the corner of my house, in a box full of pieces of my path.
And that box: I gather things (scraps, garbage I have found on the street, in my room, pockets, of a particular appearance- handled, stained, delicate, resilient, beautifully deteriorated, with the refinement of a clean break or an ugly businessman, I adore them), I hoard them, they lose specificity as they sit on a shelf, I remember something about each of them, yet it may only be related to a texture, color, shape, but also availability, accessibility, a level of attraction and a level of repulsion, all intrinsic, necessary questions before I grab it or take it.
These items appear nondescript, indistinct to better fit the purposes of their new home- the paper, the story, new relatives and relationships, a new language, instantaneous occurrences culled from disparate places. Before, during, after this transformation, identity is introduced in an object, figure, ground, mark, but disseminated by the formal circumstances of the composition, whispering to the viewer to see the formal significance of the scene, the compositional and conceptual roles of each spatial decision, with lingering uncertainties leading to: how did he chase the little girl into the background of the needlepoint hill, in the graphite grass of adult numeric maneuverings. artimages/11192004.jpg 350 240
2004-11-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=158 Belindah Mutuku Belindah Mutuku graduated from The University of Iowa with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Design in May 2004. While in graduate school she worked extensively with non-profit organizations particularly health organizations including UNICEF in New York and ICARE in Iowa City, producing health promotional materials geared towards vulnerable populations. Her hope is to work for a non-profit that specializes in International Development, particularly in Africa. Mother, Worker, Educator ink and acrylic on paper 2003 The woman in traditional African society has always been of great interest to me. Her roles play a significant part in defining who she is in society. Mother, Worker and Educator illustrates the overlapping of these roles and how one cannot do without the other. In addition there exist cultural barriers that inhibit the African woman from reaching her potential, such as ownership of land, the right to culturally sensitive, accurate health information, and wife inheritance among others. artimages/11202004.jpg 225 310
2004-11-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=159 Ken Walker Ken Walker earned his BFA from the University of Oregon in Eugene in 1999. He was awarded a Book Arts Certificate and his MFA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa in 2004. Visit his website, which showcases the many men who are Ken Walker. Ken Walker's website http://www.iamkenwalker.com/ Untitled Marine: (Paperwork) handmade paper 19" x 23.5" 2003 This paperwork is inspired by my experience in the water. Sitting there, eyes on the horizon, in the rain, looking for some clue from the ocean. Frequently alone, waiting for enough light to see or soon too dark to tell water from sky.
This paperwork is made from cotton fiber prepared and pigmented with pure pigments by the artist after being beaten. Layers or veils of colored paper pulp are couched one over the other on a colored base sheet during the sheet forming process. Only water is used during the process to “mark†the veils. Untouched by hand or tool. Water carries the palette of color and water is the brush. Each piece is then pressed and dried; I must wait two days to see the final result. It is well worth it! artimages/11212004.jpg 350 286
2004-11-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=161 Shawn Reed Shawn Reed received his BFA from the University of Northern Iowa in 2003. He is currently a graduate student in the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History's Intermedia program. untitled woodblock print artimages/11222004.jpg 225 277
2004-11-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=164 Jason Moore Jason Moore is completing his final year in the MFA program in printmaking at the University of Iowa. His work frequently incorporates animals as stand-ins for humans as he examines the frailty and shortcomings of humanity. An Offering woodcut 2002 artimages/11232004.jpg 225 334
2004-11-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=168 Jeanine Oleson and Ellen Lesperance Off the Grid (Florida VII) C-print 30" x40 " 2003 About the artwork, Oleson and Lesperance write: the Off the Grid project of performance-based large format photographs was initiated in 2001. As collaborators, we want to explore the gestures and performances of survival by setting up open-ended situations in the natural landscape where we perform as the only human presences in the actual frame and perhaps the world. We evoke images of pure escapism from contemporary life into pre-modern fantasy. During the performances, there is a tension between an intuitive, earnest intent and a self-conscious humor that comes from indulging in the fantasy of living outside of society while being absolutely rooted within it.
Guided by cultural politics, feminism, film theory, popular culture, revisionist history and ethnography, the content of the work also celebrates things commonly associated with the derogatory, including queerness and low brow culture, while always employing the oppositional aesthetic ideas of form and structure. By fusing New Age spirituality with the Hudson River School, out-of-date natural history displays with Feminist history, earnest vision quests with barely-off-the-interstate wilderness—a perverse hybrid emerges. artimages/11242004.jpg 360 249
2004-11-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=169 Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson is working on his MFA in ceramics at the University of Iowa. Serving Bowl Stoneware 6" x 14" x 14" 2003 artimages/11252004.jpg 350 223
2004-11-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=172 Lance Edmonds Let's Get Pacific (detail) photography 10' x 10' 2004 artimages/11262004.jpg 339 223
2004-11-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=173 Mgbore Okore Mgbore Okore is finishing her MFA in sculpture at the University of Iowa. Okore's work, which often employs ordinary magazine paper, brings a critical focus to bear on American consumer culture. She often utilizes materials which are disposed of in the United States, but are considered usable commodities in her native Nigeria,. Her work highlights our wastefulness with beautiful, graceful forms made of materials which Americans discard. paper sculpture dimensions variable 2003 artimages/11272004.jpg 288 435
2004-11-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=176 Paula Brandel Paula Brandel grew up in rural Minnesota, and her work frequently deals with the geography that was her formative visual milieu. Her abstract paintings reference structures that humans impose on the landscape, but she softens the rational geometry of roads and architecture with paint handling that allows the material to assert its own character on the canvas.
Barn acrylic on canvas 2004 artimages/11282004.jpg 350 349
2004-11-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=180 Mary Merkel-Hess Mary Merkel-Hess was born in Waterloo, Iowa. She grew up in an extended family near Gilbertville, Iowa. She attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI and graduated in 1971 with a BA in sociology and philosophy. She attended art school and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and received a BFA in 1976. While there she studied with Ruth Gao and Mary Tingley.
In 1977, she began graduate work at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA. She studied metalsmithing with Chunghi Choo and received an MFA in 1983. After graduation, she became a full-time studio artist. She gave up metalsmithing but continued to work in paper, developing her own techniques for making paper structures. She takes occasional breaks from studio work to teach and give workshops. Her work is exhibited widely and is held in many private and public collections. Kalo Reed and paper 36" x 22" x 15" 2002 artimages/11292004.jpg 225 355
2004-11-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=181 Michael Perrone Michael Perrone is currently a visiting faculty member of the University of Iowa's School of Art and Art History. Pennsylvania (detail) acrylic on wood 36" x 48" 2003 About the artwork, Perrone writes: My recent paintings are based on imagery which I viewed/experienced while driving on highways in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, most notably on the New Jersey Turnpike, and more specifically on my way to and from New York. When I am driving I tend to clear my head and get lost in a meditative state. I am visually acute at these times, and see paintings everywhere. Additionally, with the recent work, I’ve been trying to challenge myself with regard to my conceptions of what a painting is and how it is made. I’ve been attempting to subvert my own notions of art, taste, and beauty, with the hope of expanding my technical and conceptual skills, and breaking down some long held beliefs. The idea of the artificial landscape has offered me a visually inspiring starting point, as well as an apt metaphor for approaching my specific process goal. artimages/11302004.jpg 350 273
2004-12-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=184 Christopher Miller Warm Front Looking North oil on canvas on panel 16" x 34" 2003 artimages/12012004.jpg 350 159
2004-12-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=185 Sandra Dyas Sandra Dyas's website http://www.sandydyas.com/ Maya, Rolly World, near Bellvue, Iowa gelatin silver print About the artwork, Dyas writes: What strikes me about compelling artwork is the passion that lies within it. Like great music, it must hold some brand of magical mystery ...soulful honesty.
My work reflects my life. Small town carnivals, abandoned houses, gravel roads, broken down little towns. I find it everywhere I go, not just here in Iowa. Robert Frank said that he wanted to describe what it felt like to drive into "the sad American night". It is the antithesis of the shiny new America we see on T.V. and in our media. It is a side of life that not everyone knows about, nor cares to. Tom Waits' music reminds me of the sort of photograph that I am fascinated with finding. I love the oddness of life, its beauty and its honesty. I take photographs because I am drawn to the spirit, hope and hopelessness of life. artimages/12022004.jpg 360 240
2004-12-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=186 Adam Krueger The Hole Project earthwork and performances 2002-3 artimages/12032004.jpg 225 329
2004-12-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=187 Lee Emma Running Lee Running received a MFA in Sculpture at the University of Iowa in 2005, and received her BFA from Pratt Institute in 1999. Lee Emma Running's website http://leeemmarunning.org/ Bathtub wheat paste, bathtub 2004 Lee Running's work poses the question: What if the floral prints of old wallpaper, were indeed the flora of an interior natural world? These patterns are embedded in the walls of our lives. Past generations have left them there, covering them with layers of paint, but what if the patterns were revealed, forced into the light, or allowed to grow wild? artimages/12042004.jpg 350 263
2004-12-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=188 Arbe Bareis Arbe Bareis earned an MA (2004) and an MFA (2005) in Painting and Drawing from the University of Iowa. Apple, Horn, Vase oil on canvas 2004 artimages/12052004.jpg 350 274
2004-12-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=189 Darrell Taylor / Habeas Corpus Darrell Taylor is an intermedia and performance artist who holds BFA, MA, and MFA degrees, all from the University of Iowa. He is Co-Artistic Director of the performance group Habeas Corpus, and has exhibited artwork in many solo and group exhibitions including at the Beall Park Art Center in Bozeman, Montana; Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio; and the Sites of Desire Project in Dortmund, Germany. At present, he co-teaches Queer Ballroom, an activist social dance project, at Arts a la Carte in Iowa City. A History of Yes performance 2003 artimages/12062004.jpg 235 340
2004-12-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=190 Olga Lomshakova Velasquez Diptych oil on canvas 2003 artimages/12072004.jpg 350 204
2004-12-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=191 Crit Streed Crit Streed is Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Northern Iowa. The Geography of Drawing graphite on paper 22" x 30" The Geography of Drawing is one drawing from a series of performative acts focused on the physical process of drawing. Human imperfection renders the drawing as a form unplanned while the distinctive shape language feels to me as if I had dredged them from some remote place, where the integrity of my own physical presence in the act of drawing might connect with all organic structures.
The drawing act is deliberate and intense but the imprecision and inaccuracy of my own hand announces what we give shape to is always in concert with our limitations. It is the impact of imperfection on what is resolute that makes the drawing become perfect. artimages/12082004.jpg 350 263
2004-12-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=192 Jeremy Chen Jeremy Chen is a native of Iowa City. He is currently finishing his MFA in Printmaking at the University of Iowa. Quietly They Go Installation detail 2003 About the artwork, Chen writes: The body of work with which I am currently engaged explores longing. Longing is somewhere between pathos and beauty. And it seems to me that beyond want and need there is a certain kind of longing that is truly American. When I think about the United States and American culture, I think about this sense of longing. This shows up in various forms including sunny optimism, nostalgia for the past-- or the future, belief in progress, waiting for redemption, and audacious hope. I particularly want to explore simultaneous feelings of endless possibilities juxtaposed with ultimate human vulnerability. This becomes interesting to explore within a narcissistic culture flirting with infinite possibilities and a rejection of limits. artimages/12092004.jpg 350 263
2004-12-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=193 Annadora Khan Annadora Khan was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She moved to Iowa at the age of fifteen. Annadora has an MFA in Drawing from the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History in Iowa City. She has worked at the Information Arcade in the University Main Library for the last 12 years and run the day to day operations of this multimedia lab for the last 6 years. Annadora is a member of the Pleiades Gallery in Chelsea Manhattan and has a solo show planned for July 2005. Moonlight photography, digital collage dimensions variable 2000 artimages/12102004.jpg 300 350
2004-12-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=194 Marcia Wegman Marcia Wegman is an artist living in Iowa City. Her work has been featured in national arts magazines. Cornfield and Barn pastel on paper The Midwest landscape has surrounded me all of my life. Having spent most of my childhood in Ohio and my entire adult life in Iowa, it is the images of these vistas which periodically inspire me to try a new way of expressing this subtly beautiful landscape. I enjoy hiking in some wilder parts of the country so am also challenged by the unique forms of beauty found in each of these places. In the past I have worked in acrylic and collage. Now I am using the medium of soft pastel to capture the qualities of undulating hills, overlapping rhythmic forms, textures of trees and vegetation, rich colors, dynamic patterns, changing light, and, always the sky. The land remains constant, the colors transform subtlety from season to season, but the sky is an ever-shifting panorama of light, color and form. The possibilities are limitless. artimages/12112004.jpg 225 289
2004-12-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=195 April Katz April Katz is an associate professor who teaches printmaking at Iowa State University. She is currently serving as president of the Southern Graphics Council, the largest printmaking organization in the world. Katz exhibits her work extensively in juried shows throughout the country. She has presented workshops at Arrowmont and at Frogman’s Press. Her prints are in the collections of the Fogg Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. From lithograph, acrylic paint 20" x 16" 2004 Through juxtapositions, transparent overlays of paint and ink, shifts in space, grid-like structures and implied narratives I convey the sense of time's passage along with personal and cultural memory. The images incorporated into my work refer to issues of identity and communication. I examine the factors that help to shape us as individuals. References to our biological foundation and to cultural and environmental roots are important elements in these prints that reflect my research into cellular biology and ancient Mesopotamian cultures. These themes are metaphorically conveyed through images that include cellular structures and scientific visual notations, clusters of chairs, figures, ancient writing and family photographs. artimages/12122004.jpg 214 266
2004-12-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=196 James Renier James Renier earned a BFA in printmaking and papermaking from the University of Iowa in 1983. He lives and works in Europe, and his course of production and discovery recently led to a museum exhibition in The Netherlands. James Renier's website http://www.e-sinom.com/ Second Chances sign (to be installed in a shop window) My project is a satirical look at the price we must pay for everything. The idea stems from one of the oldest advertising techniques: window signs. Through such signs we are attracted into shops and stores and enticed to purchase, often mindless products... I want to make consumers (passers-by) re-evaluate where their thoughts and money are flowing. I would not only like to question our position in a global economy, but also our loss of attention span. We see a summer sale sign, feel fortunate and go buy something...I wish not to make a protest but strive to tell a story in a way our cultures have done for centuries. Perhaps we will soon realize that we hold so many qualities within ourselves. We simply do not take the time to realize them. artimages/12132004.jpg 350 233
2004-12-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=197 Michael Close Michael Close will receive a BFA in Intermedia form the University of Iowa in the Fall of 2004. Michael Close's website http://www.myweb.uiowa.edu/mjclose/ train photographs 36" x 12" 2002 artimages/12142004_small.jpg 400 115
2004-12-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=198 Lauren Cook Lauren Cook is completing her MFA in film/video production in the Department of Cinema and Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa.
Altitude Zero 16mm (film still) 5 minutes By dissecting and reconstructing the filmic corpus, Altitude Zero acts as a palimpsest of cinematic representation. artimages/12152004.jpg 360 241
2004-12-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=199 Bruce Morrison Bruce Morrison earned a BFA in 1975 from the University of Iowa. He majored in Photography and minored in Painting and Serigraphy. His work has been exhibited across the United States and Canada, as well as overseas. He lives with his wife Georgeann in rural northwest Iowa in the Tallgrass Praire pothole region. Bruce Morrison's website http://www.morrisons-studio.com/ Spring Run, photograph, Kodak EPP 6 X 7 cm 1996 Bruce Morrison favors the landscape as a subject in his photography, paintings and drawings. He uses large or medium format cameras to capture stunning images of the Iowa landscape. When painting or drawing, Morrison prefers a plein aire approach. Like the Impressionists, he works outdoors, painting the landscape he sees in front of him, usually on a smaller in scale than his photographs.
Bruce has a deep personal interest in the natural heritage of our remaining Tallgrass Prairie, and much of his work over the past decade has been deeply influenced by this subject. In addition to recording the beauty of the prairie, he has devoted much time and energy to furthering and encouraging Prairie reconstruction/restoration projects and education in northwestern Iowa. artimages/12162004.jpg 350 233
2004-12-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=200 William Pergl William Pergl received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Painting from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1993. After completing his BFA, Pergl lived in Seattle and Chicago where he worked as an art preparator, mill worker, and custom cabinetmaker. In 1997, Pergl entered Cornell University's Master of Fine Arts program in Sculpture and received his MFA in 1999. Pergl is currently an Assistant Professor at Grinnell College where he teaches sculpture and drawing. Boat Buoy Island Installation View 2004 "My investigations and efforts in the studio revolve around the connections between the physical world and the world of ideas. I do not communicate a narrative or statement to my audience but rather provoke the viewer to respond to the objects directly; this leaves the interpretation of meaning up to the individual, yet I am not interested in presenting an ambiguous object. My interest is in complex relationships within a specific object and the ability of the single object to evoke emotional and intellectual responses relating to the human condition. Emotional and intellectual responses begin with the viewer bringing their thoughts and past experiences into experiencing the artwork. I ask my audience to bring themselves to my work by presenting them with an image that has a reference to the physical world, reveals a high level of craft, and has a poetic presence that does not explain itself." artimages/12172004.jpg 350 271
2004-12-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=201 Jane Robinette Born and raised in Des Moines, Jane Robinette has lived in Iowa most of her life. Since she was a young girl, she has written poetry and prose and combined her words with color or images. Her love for the written word took priority for many years. After earning degrees in social work and law, and holding jobs for several years in each area, she left her law job in April 1998 to begin the Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project (www.lucidplanet.com/IWA) and to do more creative work of her own. Jane Robinette's paintings are shown at galleries in Des Moines and Ames, and her website has images and audio clips of her poetry. Jane Robinette's website http://www.janerobinette.com/ Palace of the Fields acrylic on matboard 12-1/2" x 14-1/4"(framed) 2004 Jane Robinette writes: My love for color, rhythm, and language led me to begin making "poem-paintings"--small-scale, colorful, abstract paintings that incorporate my own handwritten original poetry. Acrylic paint quickly changes consistency when exposed to air, which helps create interesting shapes and textures when I scrape it across paper. Many of the poems contain a voice that is mysterious, heartfelt, thought-provoking, and inspiriting--a voice that I find is speaking to me as much as to the ultimate viewer/reader...My job is to create the space for their interplay. This acrylic scraped poem-painting invites the viewer/reader to explore the layers of paint and of life. This painting was inspired by and created for a new musical theatre production called Palace of the Fields. artimages/12182004.jpg 350 238
2004-12-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=202 Michael Groesbeck Michael Groesbeck was born and raised in Charles City, Iowa, but at age 16 moved with his mother and sister to Des Moines, where he has lived for 23 years. He graduated from Grand View College in 1999 with a BA in Creative and Performing Arts with an emphasis in communications for Radio/Television and Photography. He has run his own photography studio, Portraits of Iowa, for the last eight years. He has also been a part of Very Special Arts of Iowa, an organization of disabled artists, for the over 15 years. The group curates shows that are displayed at the Iowa State Fair every year and are lent to businesses throughout Des Moines the remainder of the y Cross Pollination digital photograph 800x600 pixels 2004 About his photographs, Michael says: When I look for subjects to photograph, I look into the beauty that radiates to all of us. I used to draw and sketch before my disability (Muscular Dystrophy) worsened. So I redirected my abilities into my photographic works of art. I look at pieces and try to shoot them in a way that captures the inner imagination we all have and the beauty that it emits. I look for details others may overlook and bring that out as well. I have shot 35 mm film for over 7 years and have since moved into the digital age within the last year. Within the pieces I have chosen are a basis of Nature and the beauty that it has to offer. artimages/12192004.jpg 350 263
2004-12-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=203 Jim Shrosbree Jim Shrosbree earned an MFA from the University of Montana. He has received grants from the Iowa Arts Council, the Idaho Commission on Arts and Humanities/NEA and was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts (Midwest) Visual Artist's Fellowship. He is currently Associate Professor of Art at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. His solo exhibitions include: I Space, Chicago; Revolution, Detroit and New York City; Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; Carolyn Ruff Gallery, Minneapolis; William Traver Gallery, Seattle, and Ron Judish Fine Art, Denver. Jim Shrosbree has an upcoming solo exhibition at the Des Moines Art Center in the Fall of 2004 Jim Shrosbree website http://www.jimshrosbree.com/ TWN TWR (detail) ceramic, flocking, paint 8" x 10" 2000 An excerpt from Jim Shrosbree's artist's statement: If something is perfect in the mind, then to bring it forth through the hand and the eye can extend that perfection into the reality of the visual world. The inside and the outside, however, do not truly exist as a duality and are not separate, but unified. It is out of this oneness that perfection arises. Perfection lies hidden between the artist and work and the work and the viewer. To invoke this value means giving up—surrendering control over what one may be too comfortable with—to reveal a deeper reality. Obviously, it is not realized exclusively through working. One comes to the process with what one is—with a certain capacity for experience. Being curious about the world through creative work involves, essentially, an investigation into the nature of the Self, into consciousness and the structure of what one is made of: energy, pattern, intelligence and the connection with origin. Curiosity is a gift which is fulfilled through the ability to listen. Listening to the quietest messages focuses the attention at the moment a "thing" is manifested. artimages/12202004.jpg 225 300
2004-12-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=204 Gail Chavenelle Gail Chavenelle's schooling and careers have been diverse. She has a BA in literature and a Master's Degree in computer education. She has been a teacher, curriculum designer, and has sold and administered computer systems. Now, she has found a unique voice in metal. Mentored by a generous blacksmith and critically supported by working artist friends, she is currently studying art history and showing her work on a regular basis throughout Iowa. Gail's work is featured online and in galleries nationwide. Gail Chavenelle's website http://www.chavenellestudio.com/ Musicians One piece 22-20 gauge sheet metal, rusted 24,30,48,60" heights 2002-2003 Beginning with childhood paper dolls, chains, pop-out books, and greeting cards, Gail Chavenelle has been intrigued by paper sculpture. She loved the forms, but wanted the works to be more permanent. Instead of a sheet of paper, Gail works with sheets of 20 gauge steel. Gail cuts one-piece sculptures from single, flat sheets, folding and bending them into 3-D forms. Her pieces bound, fly, or dance in the wind on the tensile strength properties of this material. In addition to public sculpture, Gail makes accessible, affordable art, sized for the ordinary sized spaces in which we live. artimages/12212004.jpg 225 278
2004-12-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=205 Dan Ferro Dan Ferro's website http://www.ferro7.com/fineart prairie: from the “cooked†series 13" x 19" 2003 Dan Ferro received his B.A. from the University of California in San Diego where he studied photography, sculpture, and music. He studied commercial photography at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and moved to Iowa in 1989. With over 25 years experience as a photographer and independent software creative director and producer, the use of technology has become a central element in the exploration and development of his vision.
The twelve images in the "cooked" series are direct scans of cooking sheets and baking pans using a flatbed scanner. This work is an exploration of the transitional and disregarded; the unnoticed and commonplace. The images do not replicate what the human eye can see. They are abstract photographic images that explore visual possibilities using light and lens. artimages/12222004.jpg 350 233
2004-12-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=206 Mel Andringa Mel Andringa received his MA (1971) and MFA (1978) from the University of Iowa with an emphasis in Multimedia/Intermedia. In 1975, he founded The Drawing Legion, a performance art company that toured original productions in over 50 U.S. cities and the Netherlands. In 1990, Mel Andringa and F. John Herbert founded Legion Arts, a multidisciplinary arts organization presenting contemporary art at CSPS, a 115-year old Czech meeting hall, in Cedar Rapids. Mel Andringa and Legion Arts webpage http://www.legionarts.org Footballs/Baked Potatoes Jigsaw collage 16" x 22" 2000 Mel noticed that many commercially produced jigsaw puzzles are cut frome one dye, producing pieces that are the same shape, no matter what images are printed on them. He began recombining pictures from different puzzles to make new images and new meanings that often play with or subvert the subject matter of the original puzzle pictures. artimages/12232004.jpg 350 263
2004-12-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=207 Dan Attoe Dan Attoe was born in 1975 in Bremerton, Washington. He received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and his MFA in Painting at the University of Iowa. He has shown extensively in Iowa, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and internationally in Paris, Naples, and Tokyo. Dan makes a small painting every week day and "puts something" on a larger one. In addition to his paintings, Dan also makes tents. Dan Attoe's website https://peresprojects.com/artists/dan-attoe/ Christmas Ornament oil on board 7"x7" 2003 Of his artwork, Attoe writes: My paintings are short stories and games. The characters and spaces they inhabit are varyingly real and imaginary. They all come from a wide range of research in popular culture, travel, rural life and people I know or have made up. Humor, mystery and specificity are some of my favorite things to play with...Having grown up in small towns and ranger stations in the west and Midwest with two brothers, much of my formative experience is in dealing with specifically male politics. Subsequently, much of the issues dealt with in my work are rooted in masculinity or issues of the middle class. These things range from confronting femininity, power struggling, and working, to looking for a sense of purpose. artimages/12242004.jpg 350 349
2004-12-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=208 Melinda Theisman Malinda Theisman received her BFA from Arizona State University in 1999. She earned her MA in 2004 and is currently working on her MFA in Painting and Intermedia at the University of Iowa, where she is a teaching assistant in the Intermedia Area. Ascent Interior Latex Painting 9" x 14" 2004 About her current body of work, Malinda writes, "Since my work is seated in a sense of curiosity concerning the nature of my perception, I often reference objects found in my immediate surroundings. These objects serve as reflections of my consciousness, as my perception of them changes in relationship to my condition. The conventions of illusionistic representation have proved insufficient in my attempt to create an inclusive image of an object through time, subjectivity, conditionality, and change. Therefore, I have explored diagrammatic methods of representation, including traced outlines, and flat, map-like compositions, as I look to supply a more full description of an object." artimages/12252004.jpg 225 314
2004-12-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=209 Sandra Dyas Sandra Dyas's website http://www.sandydyas.com/ HOPE, Hope, Maine gelatin silver print About the artwork, Dyas writes: What strikes me about compelling artwork is the passion that lies within it. Like great music, it must hold some brand of magical mystery ...soulful honesty. artimages/12262004.jpg 221 296
2004-12-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=210 Chris Martin Chris Martin received a BFA in Art and Design from Iowa State University and completed an MFA in Furniture Design at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1994. He has run Chris Martin Furniture, where he designs and fabricates studio art furniture, since 1995. He is also an Associate Professor at the Iowa State University College of Design. Chris Martin's website http://www.chrismartinfurniture.com Dragonfly Floor Lamp Steel, Chichipata, Rice Paper 88" x 36" x 28" 2003 Chris cites Japanese aesthetics, the natural world and fantasy as influences on his work but states, "I have come to realize, however, that there is a deeper, underlying drive influencing my designs. The environment in which I grew up continues to inspire me. As a child I lived in Keokuk, Iowa, a heavily industrialized river town with huge smoke belching factories, railroad tracks meandering through it, and a lock and dam that still amaze me. I am intrigued by the resiliency of nature and how she manages in some way, to take back what we try to claim from her...This is what drives my work: the manmade in unity with or in contrast to the natural." artimages/12272004.jpg 225 338
2004-12-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=211 Katherine Parker Katherine Parker earned her BA in Studio Art and Art History from the University of California, Davis in 1995. She is currently pursuing an MFA at the University of Iowa with an emphasis in intermedia. Apartment interior digital photograph dimensions variable 2004 artimages/12282004.jpg 324 243
2004-12-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=212 Will Hildebrandt Will Hildebrandt received his BA in Art and Art Education in 1975 from Wartburg College, and earned his MA in Drawing from the University of Northern Iowa in 1979. He has exhibited extensively in Iowa, the Midwest, and the East Coast. He lives and works in Le Grand, Iowa. Barcelona Alley Pastel 40" x 30" 2001 Will Hildebrandt uses a variety of drawing media: colored pencils, pastels, pen and ink, and watercolor, as well as mixed media collage, and assemblage techniques. He states that his images are representational and have elements of mystery, symbolism, and the human condition, and he seeks to represent parts of the world that are often overlooked by most people. artimages/12292004.jpg 224 336
2004-12-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=213 J.R. Cambell J.R. holds a B.S. in Environmental Design and Master of Fine Arts degree in Textile Art and Costume Design from the University of California at Davis. He conducts his research/creative activity in digital capture, image development and surface application to textile art and design as an associate professor in Textiles and Clothing at Iowa State University. He explores the visual, cultural and technological aspects of digital textile printing as he creates connections between two-dimensional print design and three-dimensional forms. He regularly shows artwork in national and international juried exhibitions. J.R. Cambell's website https://www.kent.edu/fashion/profile/jr-campbell-mfa-pgcert-phd-supervision Digital Shadows Digitally printed knit fabrics, stretched through wood frame 47" x 15" 2001 J.R. Campbell states: "As a human culture, we are each in contact with textiles at almost every moment of our lives. Textile concepts have become inherent in our way of thinking and patterns of speech (ie., the “string theory of the universeâ€, “hanging by a threadâ€, the “moral fabric†of the country, etc). Textiles are an excellent medium for the expression of identity and transmission of new ideas. We can attach imagery to the surface of cloth and instantly give the image new meaning. We begin to associate with the image, perhaps wear it, walk through it as it is draped in a passageway. We might see it as having a spiritual significance, a functional purpose or an expressive or symbolic ability." artimages/12302004.jpg 350 140
2004-12-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=214 Peter Thompson After receiving an MFA in painting from the University of Iowa in 1986, Peter Thompson spent six years teaching at Auburn University in Montgomery, AL. He returned to Iowa in 1993 to join the faculty of Coe College, in Cedar Rapids, where he teaches painting and digital art. Peter Thompson has exhibited his work all over the US and in Canada. Peter Thompson's website http://www.public.coe.edu/~pthompso/ East Side 2 oil on canvas 11" x 16" 2003 About the work, Thompson writes: I have been painting the human figure in context for over a decade. Bar interiors comprise one of the contexts for the figure that has recurred throughout that time. The setting seems an ideal one for capturing a slice of human experience. It is a setting in which an ordinary moment might be made remarkable. Not through explicit narrative or human interaction, but through perception and spatial organization. The contrasts of light and shadow can be used to define space and to obscure it. There is a tendency toward disorientation in a bar (for more than one reason) and I have tried to capture that shifting reality in my work. artimages/12312004.jpg 350 248
2005-01-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=79 Robbie Steinbach Since Robbie Steinbach attended graduate school at the University of Iowa in the mid-1980s, most of her work has examined women's lives. Robbie's images make the work and lives of women visible, highlighting the complexity of their lives and their ambiguous status in our society as their roles change, but many traditional expectations remain. She completed a series of portraits that culminated in the 1998 book Lifework: Portraits of Iowa Women Artists Robbie Steinbach's website http://www.robbiesteinbach.com/ Three Graces gelatin silver print 1999 14"x11" After transitional work on a body of self-portraits, landscapes, and images of women done in Tuscany and Umbria, Robbie continues to make portraits of women in her new home of Taos, New Mexico. artimages/01012005.jpg 350 235
2005-01-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=80 Jay Chesterman Jay Chesterman holds a Bachelor of Science (1995) from Morningside College. He states that he mostly photographs when he is travelling because "It seems to be the only time I can slow down enough to observe the unique things in life." He mostly concentrates on culture; the pastimes and subsistence of people. He looks for subject matter in everyday occurrences and uses his camera to capture the found art that exists all around us. Chesterman says that "art exists everywhere; one only has to be aware." Boy with Umbrella photograph 1997 artimages/01022005.jpg 225 340
2005-01-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=82 Matthew Kluber Matthew Kluber received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1987 and earned his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1991. He is currently a Professor at Grinnell College. Matthew Kluber has shown throughout the United States, and his work is held in public collections in Texas, Oregon, Illinois, and Iowa. Matthew Kluber's website http://www.matthewkluber.com/ Firewire Picture: Deeper Into Movies Alkyd on Aluminum with Digital Projection 44" x 96" 2003 About his work, Matt writes: My recent work attempts to find a new pictorial space in abstraction by creating a dialog between the Color-field and Op painting of 1960's & '70's with the new visual idiom inherent in digital technology. The traditional object of the painting is transformed physically (via color change) and conceptually by a digital projection playing across the surface. The resulting union is a kind of "hyper color-field." artimages/01032005.jpg 350 175
2005-01-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=83 Jessica Alaniz I am a graduate of Mt. Pleasant Community High School of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa (2002). She is currently studying photography at the University of Iowa. Leaf Scanned digital image, dried plants 2004 My images are about the process, it’s all an experiment. I find something common in my house and press it against the glass of my scanner. Sometimes the images come out looking very boring, other times I find something beautiful in their shapes and shadows. artimages/01042005.jpg 349 362
2005-01-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=85 Teresa Paschke Teresa Paschke is an Assistant Professor at Iowa State University in Ames where she teaches in the Fibers program. Her work has been featured in many national and international exhibitions. She recently returned from a residency at the Women's Studio Workshop in New York. Detritus: Composition III Photocopy, gold leaf, found cloth, layered 33" x 28.5" 2003 My work in textiles utilizes surface design techniques of dyeing, embroidery, printing, and other methods of manipulating cloth. Recent compositions combine "found" and fabricated cloth, pieced together and reworked to suggest a kinship between rational and organic order making reference to both culture and nature. Working within the context of landscape, my work contains many contrasts; nature/culture, urban/rural, public/private, male/female, concrete/abstract. In particular, references to agronomy--caring for land and community, and domesticity--caring for home and family are intermingled to suggest complementary aspirations and to document ideas about place that are both public and private.
Repetition often takes the form of stitches and serves as a metaphor for the experience of time passing. Layering, whether marks, images, or cloth suggests memories that are barely visible yet always present. The iconography I use is personal yet common making reference to things both familiar and cryptic. artimages/01052005.jpg 348 401
2005-01-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=86 Aaron Wilson Aaron Wilson has taught printmaking and foundations in the Department of Art at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls since 1997. Prior to residing in Iowa, he completed his BFA at Wright State University in Dayton Ohio and earned an MFA at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Aaron has been the recipient of institutional and State grants, shown his work widely in national juried exhibitions, and has had solo exhibitions regionally, nationally, and in Canada. Parlor installation 2004 Parlor is a mixed-media installation that seeks to visually depict post September 11th, 2001 America. It combines fine art printmaking processes with digital imaging technology, sculpture, drawing, and painting. I am interested in the amalgamation of evident reactions like fear, terror, and war with other aspects of our cultural palette. Consumer, religious, and political entities have all responded to the horror of terrorism creating a web of relative effects. Auto loans with zero-percent financing, action figures of our President, Internet images of crying eagles, a reevaluation of our civil liberties, and an ongoing war on terror are all the result of a single event. artimages/01062005.jpg 225 300
2005-01-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=88 T. J. Lechtenberg T.J. Lechtenberg is in his third year of the MFA program in The Jewelry and Metalsmithing Department at the University of Iowa. His current work explores silent metal forming with sheet metal, and seeks to establish voluminous forms from the flat pierced metal sheets by pushing, pulling and forming the material. Circle Teapot Sterling silver, Delrin 8 1/8" x 3 1/4" x 6†2003 Circles and squares are two of the most elemental of shapes in our visual vocabulary. A majority of my jewelry and hollowware objects branch out from these basic geometric shapes. Because of their familiarity I can freely push, pull, slice and chop the shapes to create more abstract forms, yet still feel grounded by the still recognizable shape. Regardless of the direction that the objects I make go, they remain ultimately simple, graceful and without excess. artimages/01072005.jpg 225 300
2005-01-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=89 Paula Brandel Paula Brandel grew up in rural Minnesota, and her work frequently deals with the geography that was her formative visual milieu. Her abstract paintings reference structures that humans impose on the landscape, but she softens the rational geometry of roads and architecture with paint handling that allows the material to assert its own character on the canvas.
redformhorn acrylic on canvas 2004 Her abstract paintings reference structures that humans impose on the landscape, but she softens the rational geometry of roads and architecture with paint handling that allows the material to assert its own character on the canvas. artimages/01082005.jpg 350 353
2005-01-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=91 Chris Fletcher Chris Fletcher received his B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1993 and his M.F.A. in 1997 from American University in Washington D.C. His works have been included in exhibitions in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Virginia. Spaceship Workshop acrylic on paper 9" x 11.5" 2003 Keeping shapes of color evenly modulated helps me to feel the character of the relationships between them better. These relationships include those of part to part, part to whole, part to group, group to group, and group to whole.
The resulting images evoke things like wooden toys or figures, building blocks, architectural frame construction, wood joinery, and stages. These things may serve to embody the tenuous nature of appearances. However, they may also suggest hope and the process of growth. artimages/01092005.jpg 350 253
2005-01-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=92 Robert Atwell Robert Atwell was born in 1973 in Nevada, Iowa. He has received both a BFA (1995) and MFA (2002) from Iowa State University.
Robert Atwell's website http://robertatwell.com/ Thu, Jan 22, 2004, 10:37PM vinyl, enamel, and alkyd resin on aspen panel 11.25†x 11.25 2004 Robert Atwell's work is created using a process that embraces both digital and analog sources. Beginning with a sketchbook, Atwell records spontaneously drawn marks inspired from experiences within visual and audio environments, which he draws and redraws, scans, digitizes, prints and uses to build a visual dialog. Tradition and technology come together to create hybrid paintings, uniting the long tradition of abstract painting and the more recent advent of technological tools as art making devices. Final works come in the form of drawings, paintings, digital prints, and interactive installations. The day, month, year, and time become the titles of Atwell's work, marking another moment in history. artimages/01102005.jpg 348 348
2005-01-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=94 Julia Leonard Julia Leonard graduated with an MFA in design from the University of Iowa in 2001. She now operates a binding studio in Iowa City and teaches Bookbinding and Graphic Design at the University of Iowa. She works on her own one-of-a-kind and editions artist' books, as well as commission , limited production and edition binding. Her work has been shown nationally and has been acquired by private collectors and special collections libraries. Fifty-two words stiff leaf binding, laser print text, cut outs, japanese dyed papers 4"x10" (closed) 2001 "Making use of the book as an artistic medium is possible partly because of what we (Westerners) bring to the book, our collective connection with it ... Experiencing a book is a tactile, intimate and private activity. It requires time, a slowing down and settling in. Nooks can act on us as an icon or reliquary does, evoking a spiritual reaction a contemplative psychic space. For me, books speak of the past, of what is gone or perhaps never was: a kind of slow beauty, longing and melancholy. I am drawn not only to the stories within, but the texture of the type, the smell of the paper, the fell of the covers, the physical presence of the book. Drawing on these impressions, I am looking at the visual quality of writing, language in its physical form ... Text, visually, can weave its own stories. In much of my edition and one of a kind work I am using words and the book, its physical form and textual content, as image, in order to weave a meaning that can be sensed rather that literally understood." artimages/01112005.jpg 350 227
2005-01-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=95 Terry Rathje Terry Rathje is working on his MFA at the University of Iowa. He is also currently a design instructor at Western Illinois University. Even in The Driest Hole license plates and scrap metal 2004 My art is about rearranging reality. I spend half my time taking things apart and learning how they are made, and the other half putting them back together and learning about myself.
By observing and internalizing how the world is put together, the world inside and the world outside meet in some sort of strange juxtaposition that I really don’t understand until the process is done. This meeting of the inside world and the outside world is at the heart of what I do. artimages/01122005.jpg 348 149
2005-01-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=97 Vicki Adams Vicki Adams was born in 1931, near Blockton, Iowa. She has received her BFA (1974) and MFA (1978) from Drake University. Passages handmade paper, string dimensions variable Vicki Adams is a papermaker and a print artist. Her handmade paper incorporates recycled paper, plant materials, and dyes to produce sensual textures and subtle color variations. Random Collection is an example of her sophisticated use of paper as a sculptural material. Adams has taught and shown her work extensively. She is a member of the Artists' Gallery, a cooperative gallery in Valley Junction West Des Moines, and also is associated with the Octagon in Ames and the Wiederspan Gallery in Cedar Rapids. artimages/01132005.jpg 350 231
2005-01-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=99 Kate Carr Kate Carr received her Bachelor of Arts (1999) from 1994-1999 Marlboro College in Vermont. She is completing her MFA in the sculpture area at the University of Iowa and has shown work recently at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in California, the Sioux City Art Center, Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey, and CSPS in Cedar Rapids. 2.5 miles (detail) rope, wrapped pillar 2004 My responsibility as an artist is to pay attention. Repeating an activity, a form, a material, is how I begin to understand my surroundings and identify my artistic interests and concerns. In my work, I continue to address the beauty and the possibilities of the ordinary by making what I see and experience a tangible manifestation of noticing. artimages/01142005.jpg 225 333
2005-01-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=100 Concetta Morales We Stick Together: Home/At Sea/Preserving Freedom, detail: At Sea, mosaic triptych at Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center, Waterloo, IA 2002 artimages/01152005.jpg 350 263
2005-01-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=102 Robert Butler Rob Butler grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, and lived with his family in Germany. He discovered early on the excitement of diverse cultures and found that immersion in a foreign culture catalyzed his creativity. Rob earned his MFA in printmaking at the University of Iowa in 2004, and he continues to pursue cross-cultural exchange as a visiting lecturer at the School of Communication in Riga, Latvia. Unintended Likeness of La Virgen de Guadalupe Digitally Informed Monotype 30" x 42" MMIII About his artwork, Rob states: In recent work, imagery is informed by being receptive to physical, emotional, spiritual, and aesthetic events that occur during the process of print and art making. In the collaboration between the elements of process and myself, this dynamic sense serves as a catalyst to inform the next work. This dialogue, between artist and art, leads to serial work that provides a narrative for artistic processes, from the conceptual first work to the non-existential last. My purpose in my art work is not simply to communicate content and imagery with an audience, but to closely view my own actions, therefore placing my environment and myself under close observation, then reexamining those observations through the vehicle of print and art making. artimages/01162005.jpg 225 291
2005-01-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=103 Marcia Joffe-Bouska Marcia Joffe-Bouska received her BA in Art and Art Education from Clark College (1973) and her MA from Northern Illinois University (1977). In addition to showing work throughout the Midwest, her art is represented in public and private collections throughout the region. Her glass mosaic, Missouri River Transit, part of the Icon Interpretive Sculpture Project for the Lewis and Clark Voyage of Discovery Bicentennial, is located at Dodge Riverside Golf Club in Council Bluffs, IA. She has taught art workshops to people of all ages, many through the Iowa Arts Council's Artist in Schools and Communities program. She has lived and worked in Council Bluffs, Iowa since 1977. Marcia Joffe-Bouska website http://www.marciajoffe-bouska.com/index.html Sentinels Glass mosaic 77" x 12" to 14" x 7.5" 2003 Her glass mosaic, “Missouri River Transitâ€, part of the Icon Interpretive Sculpture Project for the Lewis and Clark Voyage of Discovery Bicentennial is located at Dodge Riverside Golf Club in Council Bluffs, IA. She has also taught art workshops to people of all ages, many through the Iowa Arts council’s Artist in Schools and Communities program. artimages/01172005.jpg 225 300
2005-01-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=105 Hanus of Prague Born and raised in Iowa and a self-taught, accidental artist, I am now in medical school and spending more and more time in Prague and Olomouc of the Czech Republic. Hanus has received grants from the Iowa Arts Council, exhibited at the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories, and had a one-person show at Legion Arts/CSPS in Cedar Rapids. Hanus works in tile murals, sculptures, watercolors and digital paintings. His tile murals have been placed in Prague and Olomouc, Czech Republic. He is currently working on a mural for Valletta, the capital of Malta. Hanus' work often depicts universal models of meta-identity and supraculture. He also likes to explore arts-infused social mechanisms to elevate public discourse, nurture critical thinking and enrich private/public lives through various cultural events. untitled (signature logo) digital image dimensions variable 2003 Due to my increasing residence in Prague, I have taken the name Hanus of Prague. My signature is a form of art in itself. Hanus was the clockmaker who created the glockenspiel clock for the town square in Prague, many centuries ago. In order to ensure that he did not duplicate his masterpiece for another town, the town elders of Prague had his eyes gouged out. My signature takes the basic H shape of my name. The bar is curved as in a smile but also represents the diacritic placed over the S in Hanus, that gives the pronunciation an SH sound (HA-noosh.) The eyes have been restored but are advanced and evolved, able to give perspective from a number of vantage points. This signature symbolizes the power I believe art has to offer new and insightful perspectives, void in the standard political, academic, religious, corporate and legal discourses that permeate society today. artimages/01182005.jpg 349 349
2005-01-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=107 Sara Fletcher Sara Fletcher grew up in Western New York State. She received her BFA in ceramic sculpture from Alfred University in 1998, and a post-baccalaureate certificate in painting from Brandeis University in 2003. She is currently an MFA candidate in painting at the University of Iowa. Birds oil on canvas 22" x 25" 2004 Recently, my subjects, in addition to the light and architecture of the room, have been arrangements of animal sculptures. The animals are a way of making the imagination visible. They represent real animals and their mysterious inner workings, but even more, as sculptures, they reflect an act of imagination present in real space, with real light affecting its appearance. Paintings within the paintings, as well as windows and mirrors, offer opportunities for another level of imagined space. artimages/01192005.jpg 349 287
2005-01-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=108 Kristin Quinn Kristin Quinn earned her BFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in 1984 and her MFA in painting from Indiana University in 1988. She has been a Professor of Art at Saint Ambrose University in Davenport since 1989. Kristin Quinn's website http://web.sau.edu/art/quinn/default.htm Punchinello 44" x 36" 2000 I grew up in a house of optical phenomena. My father was a physicist with a specialty in optics (although neighbors claimed he worked at the Optical Department at Sears). Lasers, lenses, prisms, and holographs were plentiful; as were lessons on the natural world. In our house, a solar eclipse became a graduate level seminar. On long car trips, we passed the time with questions to stump Dad: Why was the sky orange, what caused hail, and how were tunnels built under the bay? (Incidentally, we refer to these questions now as "Tunnel Talk" questions).
I begin my paintings with questions like those of "Tunnel Talk" times. What is the color of amber, iron-ore, pollen? How can wind and water be suggested? The paintings gradually grow in layers. In the strata of paint, the shape of a microscopic protein hovers beneath a planet's elliptical orbit and decorative ironwork cancels out dense foliage. It is these strange alliances between the common and uncommon, natural and synthetic that I find compelling to paint. The compressions, connections, and contradictions of the layers shape the personality of the painting.This knotted, painted combination forces a continual shift of attention among the many levels. I compare this to a single moment in landscape and the competing levels of activity. When I stand on Devonian limestone on the levee of the Mississippi, the barges and riverboats pass, herons fly, behind, a train noisily rumbles and streetlights flicker on, the smell of diesel fuel drifts in while rain clouds build. It's the density of experience that continues to raise questions and excite me as a painter. artimages/01202005.jpg 226 279
2005-01-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=110 Thomas Knauer Thomas Knauer holds a Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College, an MFA from Ohio University in Athens and an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Dept. of Print Media, Bloomfield Hills, MI. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Drake University in Des Moines. Thomas Knauer's website http://www.thomasknauersews.com/ four inches of ego: or why everyone should be more like me [the only soldiers would be toys] book [page] 4"x 4" 2003 In his own words:
Recently I have made political activity the central focus of my public design practice. Within the context of design as conversational, design necessarily occupies the space of a voice. Thus it is incumbent upon me as designer to determine what I can do with my voice. Within the context of the continued drive for design to maintain an apolitical position, to regard itself as a tool, I believe it is of vital importance the practitioners continue design's history of social and political involvement and its long tradition of self-authored activity.
While I would never make so grand a claim as that anything I might do as a designer will change the world, at least I can use my voice to impact some part of it. To be honest, the way the world is going often scares me and I believe it is my responsibility to my role as a designer to give voice to my horror. When the communicators cease to care what they are saying, then we are all ultimately screwed. artimages/01212005.jpg 350 350
2005-01-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=111 Jay Ryan, Rafael Salas, Lydia Diemer 2003 artimages/01222005.jpg 150 337 60 artists, 20 pieces, 1 show, 2003
2005-01-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=112 Ryan Standfest, Kristen Martincic, Aeree Han 2003 artimages/01232005.jpg 150 344 60 artists, 20 pieces, 1 show, 2003
2005-01-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=114 Vibeke Schroeder, Jon Lee, Rob Butler 2003 artimages/01242005.jpg 150 340 60 artists, 20 pieces, 1 show, 2003
2005-01-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=116 Nicole Timmin-Bormann, Leo Lee, Mike Sudmeier 2003 artimages/01252005.jpg 150 340 60 artists, 20 pieces, 1 show, 2003
2005-01-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=117 Nichole Maury, Jon Glazier, Jon Mahnke 2003 artimages/01262005.jpg 150 349
2005-01-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=118 Nathan Mckee, Matt Clark, Neva Sills 2003 artimages/01272005.jpg 150 335 60 artists, 20 pieces, 1 show, 2003
2005-01-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=121 Kevin Heisner, Melissa Newman, Chris Kerr 2003 artimages/01282005.jpg 144 332 60 artists, 20 pieces, 1 show, 2003
2005-01-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=122 Catherine Cole, Melissa Newman, Melissa Grubbs 2003 artimages/01292005.jpg 150 332 60 artists, 20 pieces, 1 show, 2003
2005-01-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=123 Lyndia Diemer, Min Song, Steve Krakow 2003 artimages/01302005.jpg 150 335 60 artists, 20 pieces, 1 show, 2003
2005-01-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=125 Doug Hanson Doug Hanson is Chair of the Art Department at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, where he maintains a home studio and gallery. He also teaches classes in Mexico, exhibits his work internationally, and has worked with Potters for Peace, an international network of potters concerned with peace and justice issues. Doug Hanson's website http://www.cornellcollege.edu/art/faculty/hanson.shtml platters porcelain with soda vapor glaze approximately 17" in diameter 2004 For almost four decades I have devoted my art making energies towards works primarily in clay. I began that career as a sculptor who made a few pots. However, visiting internationally known potters, plus museums filled with pots while on a one-year Fulbright Teaching Fellowship in England reversed my production completely. Since that year I have made only pottery. Coming from the functional life of a Midwestern farm family may have had a hand in that decision.
Western and Eastern influences come together in the earthiness of the soda fumed skin on bare clay exteriors, but with a smooth functional glaze covering the interior surfaces. All these elements combine to form a cohesive whole, but equally important in my work is the consideration of the function of each piece as it is to be used in our eating and drinking. artimages/02082005.jpg 348 263
2005-02-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=132 Susan Coleman Susan Coleman was born in eastern Missouri, along the banks of the great Mississippi River. She received her BFA in drawing from Webster College, in St. Louis, and her MA (drawing) and MFA (painting) from the University of Iowa. Susan has shown widely in numerous venues throughout the Midwest and Eastern United States. Her work focuses primarily on landscape themes encountered in the local environment.
Susan has taught at the University of Northern Iowa, Kirkwood Community College (Iowa City Campus), as a visitor at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, and most recently at Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where she has served as Gallery Coordinator and Lecturer for the Art Department since February 2000. Susan Coleman's website https://www.mountvernoncreates.com/susan-coleman/ Above River pastel 2004 For as long as I can remember I've loved drawing. Over time, the practice of sitting down to really look at something, has become part of me. Nature has been a source of inspiration since childhood. Drawing from nature encourages spontaneity and playfulness, because in nature there is more than one right answer.
The search for meaning is at the heart of my interest in landscape. Hope is rekindled by the creative spirit I see revealed in nature and the beauty of this world; rivers that continue to flow, and days that continue to dawn. Drawing from nature helps me recognize the sacred in the commonplace, something I'd prefer not to take for granted.
Metaphors as old as human memory are embedded in the themes of landscape. The mysteries of nature still exist, and are akin to the mysteries within us. The garden in the wilderness is as ancient as human imagination, and that yearning for a place of peace is as much a part of our inner world as the vague fear of unforeseen tragedy we glimpse in a nightmare, or on any evening newscast. Despite its long history in western art, I feel that the subject of landscape can serve as a fresh and relevant path for interpreting the human condition. Landscape can make reference to a larger journey. artimages/02092005.jpg 351 292
2005-02-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=134 Michael Clinard Michael Clinard is currently a graduate student at the University of Iowa with an emphasis in Photography and minor in Intermedia. video still from "Spurkatory" digital video 2004 Michael Clinard's video pieces explore the human condition, placing their characters (often played by Clinard) in awkward situations that expose the characters' flaws, inability to communicate, or moments of failure. artimages/02102005.jpg 350 263
2005-02-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=136 Shumpei Yamaki Originally from Japan, Shumpei Yamaki is working toward his MFA in Ceramics at the University of Iowa. untitled vessels 2004 My former experience in the Hip-Hop culture, Break dance, and Capoeira, the afro-Brazilian Martial arts, still exists in my body and soul blending with pottery wheel throwing techniques. When water flows on the surface of a pottery wheel, my hands dance to rhythm and my mind stretches into meditation. As I throw on the wheel, my imagination and feelings about clay and water takes me to a state of "second nature". The whole idea of learning street dance has taught me about how to share my voice with others visually and emotionally. I want to express the energy of my wheel-thrown pottery flowing internally and externally through my art. My total desire is that my visual form of pottery, three dimensional touch of surface, and nature of my work unite at the point where we all can communicate in same language. artimages/02112005.jpg 350 238
2005-02-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=137 Shelagh Gamble Shelagh Gamble was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and moved to Okoboji, Iowa at the age of 14. Shelagh began her pursuit of art under the direction of Hank Hall and ended up in the Art department of the University of Northern Iowa. Graduating with a BA in Art in 2003, Shelagh moved back to Okoboji where she began working in her home studio. Starting out as a ceramics artist through school, Shelagh recently has taken up painting and is now working with both mediums simultaneously. Transparancies Mixed Media 30 x 24 Jan 2005 Shelagh has this to say, "I am an artist interested in capturing the translucency of colors and the spontaneity of the everyday life... In each piece I use transparent colors with the light of the canvas, allowing the viewer to make their own assumptions about the layers and objects involved in the piece. My themes are derived from fashion, popular culture and the world around me, and are composed by materials collected, purchased or found... When a piece is finished it seems to shout "stop", however some pieces never seem to be done and are perpetually being reworked. In recent works of mine, I have been experimenting in color and materials. The creation of flowing translucent glaze colors mixed with the permanence of black rigid lines are recurring paradoxes in my recent pieces." artimages/02042004.jpg 350 277
2005-02-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=139 Carol Macomber Carol Macomber was born in 1938, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She received her B.S. from Lawrence College, Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1960. Carol does black-and-white photography and alternative processes and is deeply concerned about nature. Her work is shown in the Artisan's Gallery in Iowa City, BlueStem Gallery in Parkersburg, Campbell-Steele Gallery in Marion, and Henry W. Myrtle Gallery in Cedar Falls. Prairie Cord Grass 2 cyanotype photogram 74" x 28" 2004 Carol has this to say about her work, " My background includes work in biology and photography. The cyanotype photograms that I make involve local botany and simple photochemistry. The antique technology lends a degree of authenticity that I find lacking in modern technologies and presents a dramatic way of seeing some remnants of the past." artimages/02052005.jpg 225 517
2005-02-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=144 Joleen Dentlinger Joleen was born in Storm Lake, Iowa. Her work with pen and ink began in the early 1980's. Joleen works as a graphic artist for Silk Screen Ink in Storm Lake and also does freelance work under her personal company name, Unique Inque. Her work has been seen at numerous businesses, galleries and art shows. Quiet Times pen & ink 36.5" x 29.5" 2004 About her work, Joleen has this to say, "History and its preservation rate very high in my heart, right behind home and family. With my drawings I can document places and things that touched me, whether it's an old farm house, an old Chicago hotel or an intriguing landscape. By working in pen and ink, I strive and accomplish depth, intensity, detail, "color" and texture - in just a subtly way - as simple as black and white." artimages/02062005.jpg 350 273
2005-02-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=145 Lily MicHaud Lily Michaud was born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa. She earned her BA in Art and Mathematics from Smith College, and her MFA in Photography from University of New Mexico. In recent years she has had a number of solo shows across the country. She creates photo-based installations in order to transmit experiences stemming from her spiritual practices. Michaud’s subjects are often overlooked elements of the everyday life. Whether photographing constellations made out of debris, or asking viewers to look again at being in their bodies, she shares her awe at the ordinary. Michaud manipulates the viewing environment to provide a relaxed, intimate experience. The play between the elusive subject matter, (meditative experience), and the concreteness of the photographic medium peak the viewer’s curiosity. Refreshing the sense of wonder that makes the everyday a portal to the Absolute. Michaud currently lives and works in Iowa City. Lily MicHaud's website http://www.lilymichaud.com Floris folia (slide from Spiritual Anatomy) silver gelatin image printed on glass (microscope slide) 8mm diameter artimages/02072005.jpg 350 350
2005-02-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=147 William Lieb William was born and raised in Spirit Lake, Iowa and attended Iowa State University, receiving a Bachelor of Architecture Degree in 1967. He practiced Architecture in Colorado and received many local, state, regional, national and international Architectural awards for design excellence. Following his retirement in 1993, he and his wife explored the world for five years on their sailboat and have now returned to Spirit Lake. For the past year William has had the opportunity to begin a career in sculpting, a life-long desire. So far he has participated in two group exhibitions, one at the Lakes Art Center in Okoboji and one at Arts on Grand in Spencer. Posting the Future painted wood and polyethylene sheet 23"h x 20"w x 6"d 2004 To quote William, "The main thrust of my work is to create art that engages and energizes the human spirit. In this journey I am renewed." artimages/02082005b.jpg 350 263
2005-02-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=148 Therese Murdza Therese Murdza is a painter, born and raised in Edgewood, Maryland and received her B.S. in Theater from Towson University in 1986. She works with acrylic and/or oil paint on stretched canvas, using pencil and water-based crayons to mark maps, make records and add line. The swaths and blobs of color and breakdown of image become music, are not music, perform within their frame, push the limits, and fly beyond it. Therese Murdza's website http://www.theresemurdza.com ochre I acrylic paint, pencil on canvas 54" x 72" 2004 Therese has this to say about her process, "Before I could tie my shoes, I played a small accordion... I studied piano and saxophone and then jazz and music theory in a music program my dad built at an otherwise limited public high school. And then, in college, I put down the instruments and took myself to the theatre, to new forms of moving, composing and materializing sounds in transitory space... After graduating in 1986, I distilled this playwriting into the efficiency of poetry. I found a welcomed pause in the quiet of the words on paper, whittling down the images and the bodies and emotions into as few words as possible... A move back to the city had me drawing on big paper and literally taking the words apart. Disintegrating the shapes of the words into lines. Freeing the movement to create energy there on the page, into the squares and out of the circles. I began painting images and concepts using elements--those circles and blobs and squares and moving lines--that I’m still exploring. I work on my own, influenced by a vibrant community of artists and activists, to paint the unpredictable musical form, the movement of bodies and words, the paragraphs and stories and sounds set free. It is this movement that I push into color and shape, both framed and unfettered." artimages/02092005t.jpg 225 362
2005-02-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=150 S. Bailey Jacobson S. Bailey Jacobson is an Intermedia B.F.A. candidate at the University of Iowa. In addition to studying video, installation, and performance art, she is an Art Education and English student. Bailey will spend the semester working as an Artist in Residence at United Action for Youth as part of Intermedia's Artist in Community course. Dartboard digital photos and found object collage 18'' diameter 2001 Since moving to Iowa in 2001 Bailey has explored concepts of artist and audience exchange, striving to engage the viewer in active, tactile, and emotional participation. Themes of intimacy and interpersonal relationships are integrated into her art pieces. Dartboard is a self-portrait in which Bailey invites the viewer to attack and interact with the artist's image. artimages/02102005s.jpg 350 239
2005-02-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=152 Louise Kames Louise Kames, a native of the Chicago area, teaches at Clarke College in Dubuque, IA. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in drawing and printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Arts degree in Art History from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art and art history from Clarke College. Source pastel on paper 23" x 18.5" 2002 In recent years her work has included drawings of organic imagery, roots and leaves arranged in an iconic manner as well as installations honoring personal history. Drawings of transitory organic forms and installation works present the viewer with timeless, meditative spaces. In many cases the still life subject of drawings has been reclaimed from compost piles and roadside clippings. Each diverse ecosystem she encounters, ranging from the excavated college parking lot to mountain pathways yields potent subject matter. The paradox that natural decay can be beautiful suggests a universal yet everyday cycle of death and resurrection. Kames is attracted to the flux between life’s fullness and death, and the traces of life after death. The time-charged transformative process yields form that is beautiful to the attentive eye. She experiences the sense of awe in perhaps unexpected places. In her artwork the experience is translated to formal arrangements that draw the viewer into that act of attention. artimages/02112005l.jpg 225 275
2005-02-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=154 Thomas Aprile Tom Aprile is a sculptor and tenured Associate Professor in the Sculpture Area at the University of Iowa. He received his BFA from Cleveland Institute of Art in 1976 and his MFA from Syracuse University in 1978. VCCA Labyrinth glass blocks 12'x12'x6' 2004 Tom has this to say about his current bodies of work, "The terror and anxiety of the people who were trapped in the stairwells and floors of the World Trade Center moments before the collapse, is unimaginable. It must have been akin to the experience of the seven boys and seven girls who were trapped in Daedalus’s labyrinth with the Minotaur. For me, Ground Zero as it has become to be known where the World Trade Center once stood and Daedalus’s Labyrinth evoke a similar response of fear, anxiety and disorientation. Images of walls and labyrinths have occupied my drawings and sculptures and have led to a career-long exploration of other archetypal structures such as caves, stairways and mineshafts. As an artist and creator of metaphors, I am compelled to continue planning and drawing these structures. I need to build and draw labyrinths so that I may physically create the arena, in order to dig deeper into these disturbing experiences of terror, and thereby give others the opportunity to share my experience by exploring and getting lost in the endless paths and corridors and even perhaps to ultimately find peace at labyrinth’s end." artimages/02122005.jpg 350 271
2005-02-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=156 Anthony Plaut Anthony Plaut was born in Boston and raised in California and Washington DC. He grew up in Iowa where he attended Cornell College. Later he did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He now teaches art at Cornell College. He has been a participant in many group shows in the region including a number of “Iowa Artists†exhibitions at the Des Moines Art Center. He is currently represented in by the Olson-Larsen Gallery in Des Moines. Weekly Counter Clock Wise mixed media 8" round x 3" deep About his current body of work Anthony writes, "This year I have embarked upon a new series of objects that merge many of my longstanding interest and abilities ... I categorize these recent pieces as ‘assemblages’ (3-dimensional collages) because they are comprised primarily of ‘found’ materials. Each of them has a mechanical aspect that is actuated by the human activity of winding a spring-driven motor. My hope for these pieces is that they appear, at first glance, to be one of two things: either a pile of miscellaneous junk or a commercially manufactured object. In both of these cases I hope that closer scrutiny leads to the realization that the sculptures are actually carefully crafted from familiar objects for a particular effect, albeit an effect that is difficult to translate into words. I want them to thrive like some poems do, with ideas of beauty, a bit of nostalgia, and an unspecified but familiar sense of something important and shared. The inherent beauty of collage and assemblage work is that it takes items from the ‘ordinary world’ and allows them to retain their individual associations, yet at the same time creates a new set of unexpected and unpredictable associations. This is the ordinary made extraordinary. I use puns and other plays of language as titles for the pieces. These linguistic supplements are, in a sense, another set of ‘collage’ elements because they pull a piece of language from one use and apply it to another in a way that allows both meanings to function simultaneously with or against one another." artimages/02132005.jpg 225 284
2005-02-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=160 Aoife Cassidy Aoife grew up in Ireland and left at 18 to travel the world, but has not made it too far. Aoife has spent quite a bit of time in Spain and studied for four years at the University of Iowa and now currently lives in Washington State. Lemon Yellow Orange Giant Tip oil on canvas 12"x12" 2004 Aoife has this to say regarding the work: "I work from microphotographs that I find from various sources and I use them as a brief guide to what I want to create, which is a little trip for myself and the viewer. There is an alter ego, but he is not ready to be fully revealed. He is busy in his lab. " artimages/02142005.jpg 350 342
2005-02-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=162 John Fender John Fender has taught graphic design since 1995 and been on the faculty of Drake University since 1999. He is head of the graphic design program and acts as the Design Director for the Anderson Gallery. Professor Fender holds an M.F.A., an M.A., and a B.F.A. degree, all from the University of Iowa. Getting Fat On Your Own Fear Inkjet print 30" x 40" 2005 About his work, John writes, "My work attempts to create a location, where there is no content, only a construct formed through interpretation ... I present ideas, objects, places or people as component factual elements and symbols, then place these artifacts into a context that forces one to create a relationship. I see art as an activity of inquiry, existing in an intangible space between social structures and the individual. Its purpose is to explore the moral and ethical underpinnings of our culture. In my art, I attempt to create situations that force an individual to question the assumptions one must make in order to achieve understanding. This work is a new direction for me where as much of my previous work was introspective and inward looking this work is directed toward the culture it reflects. It urges the viewer to construct the various cultural and political references into a narrative that comments on various concerns of mine. Specifically this work is based on my reaction to the current political and cultural decisions that are shaping the future of our world." artimages/02152005.jpg 250 333
2005-02-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=163 Jeffery Byrd Jeffery Byrd is a performance and video artist who has presented work all over the globe. His work explores the relationships between artifice and reality. He has exhibited in over 75 group exhibitions, and has performed at notable venues as Lincoln Center in New York and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Byrd has participated in performance and video festivals in major cities throughout the US and in Canada, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Columbia, Mexico, Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales and Cuba. Jeffery Byrd's website https://www.jefferybyrd.com Raft of the Medusa performance 2001 artimages/02162005.jpg 324 245
2005-02-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=165 Marc Moulton Marc Moulton graduated with a B.A. from Weber State University, Ogden, Utah in 1985. He received his M.F.A in Sculpture just two years later from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Marc's pieces can be seen all over Iowa and in other states including Wisconsin and Utah. Marc is currently a Professor at the University of Northern Iowa. This particular piece is at the African-American Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa in Cedar Rapids. It is a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was just recently installed at the Museum. Trumpet stainless steel & high-pressure sodium lighting 20' x 5' x 5' 2005 artimages/02172005.jpg 350 290
2005-02-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=166 Laura Young Laura Young is a landscape and still life painter and currently lives in Iowa City, Iowa where she is an Associate Adjunct Professor in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Iowa. She has won numerous fellowships and awards and has been shown across the United States in museums, commercial galleries, juried and group shows, as well as internationally in Denmark and Nigeria. Still Life With Baguette oil on canvas 22" x 24" 2004 About her process, Laura writes, "I became involved in painting the landscape during an eight-month stay in Ife, Nigeria in l992-l993 after having been an abstract painter of city forms in New York ... I thought about landscape painting not only as a recording of natural phenomena, but also as a potential theater for metaphor. This latter aspect has continued to interest me the most. In l995 I moved to Iowa City and I continued to investigate various aspects of the landscape ... In 2001-2002 I have been in residency at The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Sweet Briar, Virginia at various times of the year. The landscape there which is enclosed by the Blue Ridge Mountains holds a familiarity for me not unlike the landscapes on the east coast of my childhood ... I became very interested in painting these darkening skyscapes as a response to the unspeakable tragedy of the September eleventh, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center ... In 2003 due to operations on both hands, I was forced to paint smaller in scale. I produced 8â€x10†landscapes on panel and one day I painted part of my lunch just for fun. I became fascinated with the interaction between me and the object and painted another small still life ... I am now interested in looking at other kinds of objects, particularly those that seem to appear during a specific experience or in a way at a specific site." artimages/02182005.jpg 350 316
2005-02-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=167 Deborah Boardman Deborah Boardman currently resides in Chicago. Boardman received her MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston in 1987 and her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art in 1984. She taught at the University of Iowa from 1988-1994. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she has taught since 1997. Picturing Death Project mixed medium installation (CSPS/Legion Arts) 2001 About her work, Deborah writes, "I see my work as a space for symbolic thinking. In the Picturing Death Project, I have created a series of installations in which individuals may contribute personal narratives on death and dying in provided journals, and participate in small group workshops facilitated by professional grief counselors from the field of hospice. I am fascinated with imagined spaces and narrative. My current paintings cull narrative imagery from fairy tales and art history, including Watteau, Kenneth Noland, and George and Doris Hauman. They operate on the level of symbolic dream, in which multiple spaces and realities intermingle. My intention is to practice painting in such a way that allows me to connect to the Divine in both process and imagery, and thus regard my work as an ongoing and evolving picture of consciousness." artimages/02192005.jpg 350 235
2005-02-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=170 Richard Colburn Richard Colburn is a faculty member in the Photography area of the Department of Art at the University of Northern Iowa. The thrust of his work over the past twenty years has been documenting life in the Midwest. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has been selected for numerous awards and grants. He is a graduate of Western Washington University and the University of Minnesota. Gaylne Repairing His Fences chromogenic color contact print 8"x10" 2003 Richard writes about Taking Stock, the series from which this picture was taken, "The series recognized the continuing depopulation of the region. The series describes the present. Those who live in the rural upper Midwest and what they do. It also describes the past through the most evident example of population decline - closed local schools. There are nearly one hundred images in this series to date about evenly divided between the school and contemporary life images. Although the subjects of these photographs suggest a division, they cooperate to describe contemporary life in the rural Midwest ... These are quintessential photographs in the "real" experience is transformed into an image bristling with all the characteristics of the medium. The physicality of the subject finds its analog in the visually visceral character of the prints which are packed with minute detail and offer so much information as to make one's eyes ache." artimages/02202005R.jpg 350 271
2005-02-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=171 Matt Moyer Matt Moyer received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Illinois State University in 2001. He had special graduate status at the University of Iowa last year. His has been seen in many states including Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico and in a few others. Filter Device clay, bolted to Reebar cage and steel table 32" x 10" x 10" 2004 About his work, Matt writes, "The examination of artifacts and implements from our past is the driving force behind my sculpture. My interest in industrial artifacts is the focus of this current work, and originates with my family having worked in the pipefitting union for three generations including my own. The longevity of industry, and its ability to change, adapt, and mold itself to an ever-evolving society intrigues me. The industrial artifacts that I find most interesting are those where a specific utility is not immediately apparent but rather slow to reveal it’s self. A sense of history, through layers of pealed paint, or the patterns of rust caused from an existence in a caustic environment reveals a great deal about not only the object but the people who used it, or worked in proximity to it. Though I am not always certain what the artifacts that interest me were used for, I remain interested in them for their shape, composition, surface, potential utility, but most of all the sense of it’s existence in time prior to the present. In my own pieces, I strive to engage the viewer to examine the nuances of each piece to determine for themselves what the object might be or may have been and how it might relate to something in their own they recognize in their own history." artimages/02212005.jpg 400 169
2005-02-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=174 Julia Ciaccio Julia Ciaccio was born outside of Chicago to her mother the painter, and
her father the pianist. With art flowing through her veins, she began painting at an early age. Challenging her love of the Windy City, she chose to study at the University Iowa to broaden her visual vocabulary. Julia will be graduating in May with a BFA, and will continue her studies of art and art history. Inner Explosion acrylic and oil on canvas 36" x 48" 2004 About her work, Julia writes, "I view my work as alive and growing. Each piece nourishes and evolves into the next, traveling through the world of abstraction. My visual vocabulary consists of a number of image generating techniques in both a representational and non- representational manner. Compositions are triggered by emotional responses therefore making my paintings highly personal. I am extremely passionate about painting and use it as a psychologist, an outlet for my emotions and feelings. Although non-objective, my paintings are rich with subject matter extracted from my life. My love affair with abstraction began with an encounter of Dada and Surrealism. My exploration through the history of Modern art inspires me to experiment and invent. I celebrate Automatism’s direct access to the mind, and Decalcomania’s festivity of paint. I pay homage to Josef Albers and his squares, and share the same devotion to subject matter as the Color Field Painters." artimages/02222005.jpg 275 368
2005-02-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=175 Cherie Sampson Cherie earned her B.F.A. from the Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa in 1986. In 1997, she finished her M.F.A. at the University of Iowa. Currently, Cherie is an Assistant Projessor of Art at Maharishi University of Management. Fresh Water-Root Hut environmental sculpture project, driftwood/fire 1994 About her work, Cherie writes, "My artwork encompasses a broad, interdisciplinary range from environmental sculpture and performance to digital and video art. I work primarily outdoors and in the natural environment making site-specific works with wood and other local materials at both remote and public locations. As an artist living in modern society, my work within the landscape comes from a desire to connect with the raw forces of nature and its seasons of generation, decay and renewal. I seek to ‘re-member’ in my art a primal link between human life, culture and nature, being aware of all aspects of an environment from sensory and elemental to historical ... Indigenous wood has been a primary medium because it signifies the spirit of a place for me ... My ritualistic performance is characterized by an extremely slow and deliberate pace in an embodiment of the imperceptible movement of seasonal time and change in nature. " artimages/02232005.jpg 350 229
2005-02-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=177 Chad Cooney Chad Cooney was born and raised outside of the city of Chicago. He is now currently working towards his B.A. in Photography at the University of Iowa. He is also an undergraduate Research Assistant for the Intermedia area at the university. Geoff as a Ghost photograph 8" x 10" 2004 About his work, Chad writes, "This photo was taken early last year when I had no access to digital equipment. The camera had no light meter and therefore, I had nothing to meter the scene by. This photo came from a series of other long exposure shots I had taken with that camera. Being able to set the camera and operate elsewhere in the scene while the shutter was open allowed me to add different effects to the scene. I try to produce work that is interesting to the viewer through the use of color, light, and the overall aesthetic of how each object visually interacts with the objects around it in the frame. I want the viewer to respond to the image in the whole, instead of different fragments that create a unified image." artimages/02242005.jpg 350 236
2005-02-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=178 David Boelter David Boelter received his B.A. from Buena Vista University in 1997 and his M.F.A in Sculpture (with a minor in Drawing) from the University of Iowa in 2000. He currently works as an Assistant Professor of Art at Buena Vista University in Strom Lake, Iowa. IVIXMMIII polyester resin, pine, foam 11' x 4' x 4' 2005 About his work, David writes, "My work has always had a relationship with the human form, whether it was directly or implied. Much of the time, my own proportions and measurements are used. This seems natural to me as a way for me to directly relate myself to the world. With my new work, I wanted to develop a relationship between an underlying form and the skin that encompasses it. I do feel that materials and their fabrication is the core of my work. The privilege of being able to chose a material, and the decision of why to chose a material have always seemed to me to be as an important part of the work as the form itself. Many of my decisions are a direct result of my local environment and the craftsmanship of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s." artimages/02252005.jpg 350 263
2005-02-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=179 Laren Leland Laren received her B.F.A. in Photography from the University of Oregon. In May of 2006 she will complete her M.F.A. in Intermedia Art at the University of Iowa. She makes work in various media including: interactive video installation, book arts, drawing, and new media. Main areas of interest include intimacy, communication, and technology. Laren Leland's website http://larenleland.org furniture march net art 2004 Much of her work is made in collaboration with Kelly McLaughlin and Mark McCusker. She currently teaches Intermedia II and is a research assistant for the Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry at the University of Iowa. artimages/02262005L.jpg 350 262
2005-02-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=182 Lyndia Diemer Derived from a parlor game (draw the head, fold the paper with only a glimpse of what is present, hand it off to the next person to conceive a middle region, fold and pass for the entails and the end), in the grand tradition of Surrealism, these images rely on chance, the meeting of sewing machine and Bible, intestine and giraffe, the meeting of disparate minds (ranging from Copenhagen to Saint Claire Shores)on a scrufty page.
Lydia Diemer, curator of the Exquisite Corpse show and MFA candidate in Printmaking at the University of Iowa. exquisite corpse: 60 artists, 20 pieces, 1 show 2003 artimages/02272005.jpg 150 314
2005-02-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=183 Steve Strait Steven Strait received his B.S. from Northwest Missouri State University in 1976 and his M.F.A in Intermedia from the University of Iowa in 1981. He continues to work at the University of Iowa Intermedia program as a Professional & Scientific Staff member. Wind Harp 1 (acoustic environmental sculpture) stainless steel, aluminum, wood 25'h x 50' diameter About his work, Steve has this to say, "The foundation of my work comes from my fascination with cosmology. This core element has generated a wide variety of works in different mediums, running a gamut from conceptual expressive works to documentation of Tibetan Buddhist practices. Works from my distant past have explored the nature of environment through acoustic constructs (these are activated by local elements such as wind, water, heat and light); and video expressions of physics principles (Entropy, Chainwaves, Virtual Space).
Current projects include: Digital paintings; Icons of Annihilation and pictograms of natural disaster. artimages/02282005.jpg 350 224
2005-03-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=374 Joshua Haringa This marks Joshua's final semester in the University of Iowa's Intermedia MFA program. Joshua came to Iowa by way of New York University's Film and Television BFA program and the University of Richmond's School of Law. Simultaneously, an MFA and PhD candidate, in the University's Communication Studies program, Joshua has made maintaining his perpetual adolescence a full-time profession. He explores his unresolved relationship with formal education and the academic institution through sculptural installation and performance art. Wal-Mart Study #2 installation 20' x 20' 2003 About his work, Joshua had this to say, "I like to make stuff." artimages/03012005.jpg 350 263
2005-03-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=375 Kangying Guo Kangying Guo is currently a M.F.A candidate at the University of Iowa Intermedia & Video Arts. Now she devoted the better part of her time and energy to everything she have explored: Video, installation, sound, writing, paintings in iowa city. Sight - Happiness of copy Video 12/2004 "This project is from the perception of my life: Every object and each event proceeds at its own incommensurate and mercurial pace. Western culture, traditional culture, commercial and popular culture, combined with socialist thinking proceed in variable speed. Views of the crazy development of China's urbanism form the background as I fold Chinese money with the portrait of Chairman Mao again and again theatrically, revealing prospects of life experience as foreground and displayed in context. artimages/03022005.jpg 350 233
2005-03-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=376 Richard H. Dutton Richard graduated with a B.S. degree from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri in 1960. In 1962, he received his M.A. from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Seasons, Winter watercolor, acrylic, gold leaf 38" x 36" 2004 About his process, Richard writes, "My art works are developed from on site sketching, painting and information gathering. I taught art history classes in college and this forms a basis for my work. I have always loved to travel and the images I gather are from historical and ancient places ... I use transparent watercolor on 140# and 300# watercolor paper. I also may include gold leaf and acrylic as part of the painting. The larger watercolors use a heavier 500# watercolor paper. The paint is applied in many layers during the development of the painting. The first coat is very fluid and subsequent layers are more and more exacting as the composition is developed." artimages/03032005.jpg 350 230
2005-03-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=377 Sharon Burns-Knutson I went to undergraduate school at UNI as a chemistry major. It was during the Vietnam War and because of this I became much more involved in my art classes. I finished a BA in painting. I wanted to go to graduate school right after I graduated, but was offered a job teaching in Iowa City Schools. I took the job because it housed the University of Iowa and the art department was a good one. I only applied for one job in Iowa and this was because Iowa City had a good graduate art program. I thought I would only teach for a year and then go back to school. I ended up teaching for 5 years before I attended grad school at University of Iowa in painting. I received a MA and MFA in painting.I went back to teaching 1/2 time and painting the other half-time. The mix was good for me. I liked the freshness of the young childrens work. I also have always liked how they do not like to linger too long on a project. I think our temperaments are in synch. Chickens Shopping in Oaxaca and My Boys Fighting in a Rowboat oil paint on a black Arches printer's paper 30"x44" My oil paintings are imaginary narratives about my life and common, ordinary things that are going on around me. They can be complicated and mixed up at the same time, much like dreams tend to be. People can be shown in their animal forms and animals may become anthropomorphised. One time someone asked me if I had been influenced by Kafka's Metamorphosis-a story about a man who turns into a cockroach. I told them no since I had never read the book. After reading the book I enjoyed the connection.I find myself getting involved in other art forms-like pastels,making clay pieces with picture writing on them, photography,stained glass, anything. Again, I am sure this has to do with my quick moving temperament. It is close to a child's. I enjoy playing:with paints,clay, whatever gets in the way. artimages/03042005.jpg 225 334
2005-03-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=473 Diane Naylor Raised in the rolling hills of Grant Wood County, Eastern Iowa, Diane attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) and acquired her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) & then further her studies at the Maharishi University of Management (MUM). Diane Naylor's website http://www.dianesfineart.com/ Peaches oil painting 8.5"x14" 2004 About this body of work, Diane writes, "The current series named “Eternity†is based on utilizing antiques that house her paintings. The recent artwork has given way to fantasmic landscapes capsulated in a surrealistic old world where the land was the prime source of power. Several paintings are placed within a Black Forest Coo-Coo Clock from the early 1900’s. The paintings are in amber tones in harmony with the inlayed wood juxtaposed within the dark chocolate colored exterior." artimages/03052005.jpg 225 285
2005-03-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=474 Aaron Tucker His inventive use of charcoal drawing, prints, collages, and stop-animation have inspired me to use my BFA emphasis in drawing to explore the variety and originality that Kentridge has achieved ... I tackle a variety of subject matters ranging from emotion driven abstraction, to hyper-surrealism. My art critically analyzes current events and often attempts to blend the past and present. I combine age-old methods with modern technology to provide a timeless and timely atmosphere for my audience. Liberty is Glass digital collage 24"x37" About his work, Aaron writes:
" I create art that responds to injustices and applies my experiences to the many opportunities and problems I see facing our world today. My work can provide an open and honest place to encourage constructive criticism of our consumer culture and promote liberation among all people. I see liberty as a half full cup of bitter-sweet that you can throw in somebody's face and not say you're sorry. I relate to artists that have broken the boundaries and challenged themselves to be innovative. I specifically most identify with William Kentridge, an artist that approaches subjects of injustice and societal eccentricities in a similar way to my own." artimages/03062005.jpg 225 351
2005-03-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=476 Kathleen Van Hyfte Kathleen was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa. Her formal education was at the University of Iowa where she was a studio art major, graduating in 1973 with a BFA. She has been included in many juried shows in Iowa and Illinois. The Juggler acrylic on canvas 40" x 36" 2004 About her work, Kathleen writes, "The paintings which I have submitted have all been done within the last year. During this time, I have concentrated specifically on painting the figure ... My work with acrylics continues to be intriguing and I am utilizing more and more of the mediums in conjunction with my acrylic paints. There is so much to be learned about these new age pigments and I plan on discovering everything I can about them." artimages/03072005.jpg 225 320
2005-03-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=475 Mary Snyder Behrens Mary Snyder Behrens was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As an undergraduate, she studied at Mount Mary College (Milwaukee), and in Minneapolis College of Art and Design. In 1982 she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in painting and drawing from the University of Wisonsin-Milwaukee. Since 1990, she has resided in northeastern Iowa, where she lives on a farm with her husband (graphic designer Roy R. Behrens), and a surfeit of curious creatures, both wild and tame. Trammel Box (Vest) cloth, thread, twine, pin, nails, tar over metal form 3.75"h x 2.5"w x 1"d 2005 About her work, Mary writes, "Drawing. Arranging. Making. My materials and methods have changed over the 25 years since art school, over the 47 years of my lifetime. I have no great allegiance to any particular style, method or material. These change and evolve. What has remained constant is my fidelity to certain shapes and patterns and certain formal sensibilities that are employed in the arranging of these to form a dialogue within the parameters of the page. Many of my visual emblems are metaphors of memory, both wonderful and the horrible. They are inextricably tangled up with the experiences of my waking life and become for me, the larger universal paradigm within which we all struggle to coexist." artimages/03082005.jpg 238 350
2005-03-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=477 Shawn Skabelund Shaw Skabelund graduated in 1987 with a BFA in Drawing from Utah State University. From there, Shawn traveled to the University of Iowa where he earned an MA (1989) and an MFA (1990). He currently teaches Figure Drawing and Installation art in the School of Art at Northern Arizona University.
Pioneer Spirit installation 10'h x 49'w x 46'd 2004 About his work, Shawn writes, "My installations, which juxtapose the present and the past, the living and the dead, the natural and the artificial, reflect my desire to create art that gives viewers time and space to think about the local communities, economies and ecosystems they inhabit. My hope is that my art will initiate questions about issues as varied as responsibility, compassion, preservation, conservation and diversity. To prepare for each piece, I research the history of the place where it is to be displayed to learn how the interaction between the wild and the human has determined the direction and cultural makeup of the local community. This research, what I call "collaborating with a place," helps me understand what I want to say in my work and what I want to share with my audience." artimages/03092005.jpg 350 230
2005-03-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=478 Roy R. Behrens Roy R. Behrens is currently a professor of art at the University of Northern Iowa, where he teaches graphic design, illustration and design history. Vision of Grace digital montage 7.5" x 5" 2004 About his work, Roy writes, "I've taught at various art schools and universities for more than 33 years. I find few things more satisfying than to be a strong, contributive force in the careers of gifted young people. As a person who delights in teaching (although it is always a challenge), I purposely make no distinction between my classroom teaching and my "studio work" (which, in my case, is an amalgamation of research, writing, exhibiting and designing). I learn from students every day, and then use what I gain from them to inform and strengthen whatever I do. Specific techniques and styles of art are faddish, and of little or no importance to me, while the form of a work is enduring. To quote an old blues song: "It ain't what you do, it's how what you do it." Whatever I work with (students, words, letterforms, books, or image forms), I am determined to make it the finest I can at the moment." artimages/03102005.jpg 350 246
2005-03-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=479 Jon Winet Jon Winet is Associate Professor and Area Head of Intermedia in the School of Art & Art History at The University of Iowa. He also directs "The Daily Palette" and wishes to thank all the participating artists in-and visitors to- the project, as well as the production staff without whose tireless efforts the Daily Palette would not be possible.
Over the past twenty years, Jon Winet has worked with Margaret Crane to produce hybrid intermedia work that revolves around the language and images of the information age, focusing on the psycho-social dynamics of contemporary urban life. Click for America & The Globe http://www.america-the-globe.net/dw/ The Globe sculpture with red carpet and theatrical lighting 69"h x 54"w x 7.5"d 2004 "The Globe" is from "2004-America & The Globe," a collaborative multimedia project commissioned by DiverseWorks in Houston, Texas. The project focused on the U.S. presidential elections and democratic practice in the nation. artimages/03112005.jpg 350 233
2005-03-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=480 Aoife Cassidy Aoife grew up in Ireland and left at 18 to travel the world, but has not made it too far. Aoife has spent quite a bit of time in Spain and studied for four years at the University of Iowa and now currently lives in Washington State. Autumn Leaf oil on canvas 5'x6' 2004 Aoife has this to say regarding the work: "I work from microphotographs that I find from various sources and I use them as a brief guide to what I want to create, which is a little trip for myself and the viewer. There is an alter ego, but he is not ready to be fully revealed. He is busy in his lab. " artimages/03212005.jpg 350 297
2005-03-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=481 Vanessa Partridge Vanessa Partridge is completing her undergraduate studies this summer with a B.F.A. in Graphic Design. Next year she will be living in Wuhan, China teaching college English courses. Balloons Installation 2003 "This project was created by filling my third story attic apartment with 1600 blue balloons. My Intermedia classmates crawled through the space and then, when given the cue, used safety pins to pop all of the balloons.
I was intrigued that my audience would not know their surrounding and see and feel the beautiful balloons through natural light. But that was all I knew.
The audience’s reaction created new dimension and completed the installation. They became childlike, giggling, and interacted with each other on a playful level. Bystanders stood outside the apartment as the balloons were aggressively popped and remarked that it sounded like a large popcorn machine." artimages/03222005.jpg 200 298
2005-03-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=482 David Thole David Thole is a student at the University of Iowa and a major in Computer Science, with heavy emphasis in Mathematics. David uses his knowledge of computers to create these 3-D images. David Thole's website http://www.thedarktrumpet.com/ Glow Ball digital image 1280 x 1024 pixels 2004 About this piece, David writes, "As with most of my images, there isn't much of a rhyme or reason to why I create these. Most of my abstract images are just what come into my head at the time. I'm really big into symmetry and relatively simple objects (although I spend a good deal of time on the objects, even though simple)" artimages/03232005.jpg 350 280
2005-03-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=483 Missy Fauser Missy Fauser received her BA in Art and Psychology at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in May of 2002, and her MA in Art Therapy from Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico in November of 2004. Heuristic Vortex acrylic on masonite 24" x 24" 2003 "This piece was done over a few months as I completed a heuristic research project for my grad class ‘Foundations in Human Science Research’. I was exploring my process as I unearthed some of the feminine archetypes I had been repressing for many years. I painted on a piece of masonite for one and a half hours, once a week for three months. What was left was a vortex which I like to think I held around myself for protection during the rough times." artimages/03242005.jpg 350 345
2005-03-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=484 Bailey Jacobson & Katherine Parker Katherine Parker earned her BA in Studio Art and Art History from the University of California, Davis in 1995. She is currently pursuing an MFA at the University of Iowa with an emphasis in intermedia.
S. Bailey Jacobson is an Intermedia B.F.A. candidate at the University of Iowa. In addition to studying video, installation, and performance art, she is an Art Education and English student.
Fabulous color copy on paper 8.5" x 11" 2005 Posters for art events are artworks in and of themselves. Intermedia Research Assistants Bailey Jacobson and Katherine Parker collaborated on this deceptively simple poster for Intermedia's semi-annual "Open House." Katherine's signature style, which meets at the intersections of drawing and painting, naive art and high end contemporary figurative practice is complemented by Bailey Jacobson's careful choice of design, font selection and color palette. artimages/03252005.jpg 250 326
2005-03-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=485 Benjamin Chait While studying architecture I pursued conceptual design as a manifestation of my vision. In my early experience the expression of art was not a traditional practice in architecture; the guiding principle from which I rebelled was that of form following function. When I moved into my own realm of work, the guiding principle of my architecture became committed to both my expression and to the experience of those interfacing with my work ... Window-autumn printed digital image 56" x 33" 2003 "As my interests turned more in the direction of pure artistic expression, I found that my underlying principles did not change. I continue to be intensely interested in the singular and unusual. Within my body of work in photography and image making, I seek to present the unique elements that I observe - such as the art of the architecture around us. Details that may have become a transparent background to many become paramount in my interpretation. I have chosen large format presentation to emphasize the particle in the whole. Images range from 16x20 to 30x40 inches, often times even larger.
Large format material constitutes my work as an image maker and reflects both my interpretation of the world around me and my presentation of this world to the community in which I live.." artimages/03262005.jpg 225 360
2005-03-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=486 Maria Hernandez I first began taking photo booth pictures in 1993 at the urging of a fellow student and good friend. I value the photo booth because of its history, the sense of nostalgia inherent in the finished product, and the wonderful tension I experience from simultaneously being in a very private, yet obviously public space. Somewhat related to the photo booth strips, yet conceptually independent in their intent and process, is another body of work I call "Icons." Iconic Medallion mixed media This work arose from a period of personal crisis and deep depression that lasted nearly three years. The images of me were initially made using the photo booth and Polaroid, which were then used as a template for healing the inherent expressions of anger, longing, loneliness, and passion. My mentality in creating these images is one where if the exterior world could not accept or recognize the complexities which I know to exist within me, then I can attempt to release the inward sorrow by doing the only thing I can do as a artist - I must create a space for myself in which I can once again be a whole person. It is paramount that this space be a sacred realm, as I believe myself to be deeply spiritual. Many of these images are influenced by my Catholic upbringing. As an adult, however, I have rejected much of the Catholic dogma, thus numerous images also contain symbols outside that tradition." artimages/03272005.jpg 350 314
2005-03-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=487 John Schirmer John has carved wood professionally for 25 years. His career began in northern Michigan, where he created from scratch hand-carved wooden signs for villages, businesses, and private residences. Evolution woodcut 11"x18" "The woodblock print is an art form that began in antiquity. After experimenting with other media, my deep appreciation for carving wood and printmaking in general, led me to the wood cut as a means of expression. The design is transferred to a block of wood that is then carved. When the carving is complete the block is inked, the paper is applied and it is pulled through a press. Each original print is colored by hand." artimages/03282005.jpg 400 174
2005-03-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=488 Kathy Thor My background is conventionally grounded in drawing and painting; however, my work is often described as quirky or surprising. I make sculptural work that blends both animal and human forms. My sculptures have evolved into three-dimensional canvases incorporating unconventional materials. Imp Man clay 48" x 20" x 20" The work centers around lo-fired, brightly colored ceramic pieces. Along the way I may use animal remains such as hair, bone or horn, found objects such as glass, beads, jewelry, and taxidermy eyes, or building materials such as chicken wire, re-bar, fiberglass, feram insulation and concrete. The juxtaposition of these materials helps accentuate the blurring of human and animal forms while exploring the emotional state. artimages/03292005.jpg 180 397
2005-03-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=489 Warren Staal Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, Warren had previously run his own graphic design and printing company before coming to the University of Iowa to earn a BA in Communication and a BFA with an emphasis in Studio Art. Warren currently works for University Relations at the University of Iowa, where he holds the position of Associate Designer. Stille Nacht Silver Gelatin Print 11" x 14" 2005 "My work is an introspective look through the Freudian shadows of life. The Freudian concept of 'das Ich' (understanding of the psychological 'I') and how my search to make sense of who I am, where I come from, and where I am headed. All the lives I have come into contact with; a working quid pro quo relationship with those who have taught me many a valuable lesson, as I too have left with them, an imprint of my experiences in life. As an information gatherer, experiencing various environments and the cultures, religions & traditions, through the eyes and language of the most obscure, I create through various media, an external representation of the unique; things or people I have had the privilege of being juxtaposed to." artimages/03302005.jpg 350 235
2005-03-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=490 Stephen Silva Stephen Silva was born in upstate New York. He studied film production at New York University. He currently resides in Iowa. Lonetree photographic print 16x20 2004 About his work, Stephen writes, "My work reflects my interest in space – as it is in nature – land, water, sky - and how humans construct, arrange and inhabit it. Much like the work of painters Edward Hooper and Andrew Wyeth, I am drawn to the spaces between things – between objects and people, between what is organic and what is artificial, between the accidental and the intentional." artimages/03312005.jpg 225 339
2005-04-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=491 Catherine Adams The sources from my images come primarily from the Berlin-Potsdam palace gardens. The decaying sculptures from this past era of pleasure and statesmanship caused me to return to photography after a decade of not using a camera. In my 18 years of experience with the history of art, no works—except for those of Michelangelo—so moved me by their mythic, yet human, gestures. Cobwebbed and scuffed, they lunge toward one another or huddle into their isolation. They both inspire and frighten me. The Fruit Giclee 16.5" x 32" In my images, I attempt to draw baroque and neo-classical beauty close to pain, isolation, violence, and memory. In this way, I can study the lessons of the past and the concerns of the present. For instance, in returning to 18th century mythological painting, I explore the tales of mortal women often abused by ancient myths or by contemporary interpretation or forgetfulness. My aim is to inspire the viewer to physically touch the flesh and stone depicted, but also to hold back in trepidation because all is fragile in this world. Pleasure is a taunt relationship between past and present moment, between fingertip of self and surface of another. artimages/04012005.jpg 450 150
2005-04-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=492 Aaris Sherin Designers operate as cultural intermediaries; the nature of visual communication straddles traditional artistic and commercial media and resides in a space connecting production and consumption. My work lives in the place between art and design, informed by both and residing in neither - alternately stepping further into one sphere and then the other, but always returning to the gray area between the two. This is a place that mimics the contemporary human condition in its combination of gradation and blurs. I am more interested in the concept than the object; embracing a commitment to a set of ideas, a working process, and an outlook on the world that transcends the final artifact, the product, the saleable item. Whether writing, working in professional practice or making art, my work is unified because I am consistently informed by this conception of my creative process Shadow Pot 2 ceramic sculpture 5.5" x 9" 2003 This body of work deals with reproduction and multiplicity. The process of slip casting makes it possible to produce numerous identical objects. Using the same process that industry uses for mass-market production allows me to reference both art and commercial goods. The work in this series to operates as combination of two and three-dimensional porcelain collages and challenges the viewer to consider ideas of artistic choice, repetition, authenticity and juxtaposition. artimages/04022005.jpg 350 285
2005-04-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=493 Lila Borg Rohrer Lila received her Masters Degree in Art Education from the University of Iowa. She currently resides in Victor, Iowa.
Zeus Pitches the Sun Into Place ink monoprint 11 x 15 2002 About her work, Lila writes, "My work is apolitical: I offer the images and the viewer makes the story. I feel that what I have to give the world of art is energy and spontaneity. If the work allows, I also work a bit of whimsy into paintings or collages. I consider myself a designer, whether pouring inks, brushing color or making collages. I combine disparate found images with prepared and oriental papers and, sometimes, words from ads. My favorite reappearing guy is my bungee jumper and Zeus, who pitches the sun into place. I'll try anything. I am convinced that nothing is wasted, not even failure. Because I taught for many years, I was inhibited by students who were product-oriented. Now, I'm retired, so stand back." artimages/04032005.jpg 275 335
2005-04-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=494 Margaret Stratton Margaret Stratton's work in photography and video has been exhibited and collected nationally and internationally. She has taught photography and digital imaging at the University of Iowa since 1986. Margaret Stratton's website http://www.margaretstratton.com/ Presentations House, from the series: "Women's Bathrooms" photograph 2004 "I make photographs all the time. For me photography is a lifestyle. When I am on the road I always have my camera, and like all travelers, I am careful with my equipment. I usually have to go to the bathroom, and taking my camera with me is a safety precaution. I have found that bathrooms, at least women's bathrooms, are very lively, sometimes vibrant places, and are among the most interesting spaces I have visited in my far-flung travels. I am happy to say that multi-tasking comes naturally, and that cultural investigation is ubiquitious, thus this ongoing series of images. Basically, if you are an image-maker you are always discovering pictures where ever you find yourself" artimages/04042005.jpg 350 257
2005-04-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=495 Julie Quick-Alcorn Chippewa charcoal 14" x 18" 2005 "I enjoy releasing the inner beauty of humans. Native Americans epitomize the strength and spirit of the best of humankind. Their respect for the earth and all of creation is unparalleled. The treatment these people received was sorrowful and disgraceful ... yet they reacted with dignity and truth. I strive to honor their spirit and reflect their strength and reverence." artimages/04052005.jpg 225 343
2005-04-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=496 Douglas Eckheart Douglas Eckheart attended Concordia College in Moorhead and received a B.A. degree in 1965. He earned an M.F.A. in 1967 from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Douglas is currently a Professor of Art at Luther College in Decorah.
Harvest Aglow oil painting 24" x 36" 2005 About his work, Douglas writes, "My paintings explore the delicate balance between nature’s mysterious cycles and subtle moods. I utilize these themes and concepts as a way to organize thoughts, create visual patterns, and develop color shapes. My work should not be considered photographic realism; colors are exaggerated, moods expressed and form modified to portray nature as a life giving force – a personification of the spirit in the land’s inhabitants and its creator. I define this process as the use of color, light, texture, and shape to visually interpret or transform nature in the same way a poet uses linguistic metaphor, or a musician uses tonal sounds to communicate feelings or moods. My “tone poems†reflect a desire to create visual poetry.†artimages/04062005.jpg 350 248
2005-04-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=497 Andrew Crooks Andrew Crooks is an Iowan artist who earned his B.F.A. degree in Fine Art Photography at the University of Northern Iowa in the Spring of 2005. He is represented in the permanent art collections of Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center and Rod Library, UNI. Crooks will enter graduate school in the Fall of 2005 to pursue an M.F.A. in Photography at the University of New Mexico. Andrew Crooks's website http://www.andrewcrooks.com/ Poppy Field (Indoors) chromogenic color print 20" x 20" 2005 "When a person encounters a photograph, they often think of it as an impartial record of fact. It is my belief that, even when the photograph seems to show unequivocal truth, it’s purpose or meaning can be shaped by the photographer. Things may not be as they seem. I express this idea by mixing painted backdrops, three-dimensional props, and real life subjects. The backdrops act as a synthesized reality, juxtaposed with real-life objects and people. The organic, human presence in these photographs provides contrast to the synthetic backdrops, pulling your eyes back and forth between natural and contrived elements. The sober expressions on people’s faces contrast my overt, sometimes hokey props and brightly colored backdrops. Unlike some images that try passing a contrivance off for truth, I amplify the contrast between the two worlds. By mixing reality with fiction, I highlight the maker’s power to shape an image, and ultimately create a new reality." artimages/04072005.jpg 342 261
2005-04-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=498 Justine Zimmer Sculptor/arts activist Justine Zimmer received her MFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry from the University of Iowa in 1999. In 1997, she co-founded Studiolo, an Iowa City Fine Art and Craft Gallery which closed in 2002. Catherine 36 x 20 x 20 in She is the creator of "Dorothy," the tornado sculpture at the Dubuque Street entrance of the pedestrian mall, representing the "Cultural Epicenter" of Iowa City. She has exhibited her work in juried competitions and invitational exhibitions throughout the United States. Justine is well known locally for her efforts in the drive to save and restore the historic Englert Civic Theater. artimages/04082005.jpg 225 365
2005-04-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=499 Doug Russell Doug Russell moved to Kansas City in 1999 after a two year teaching position in Bursa, Turkey. He holds an MFA in printmaking from the University of Iowa and a BFA in painting from Columbia College. He has shown in Kansas City at The Michael Cross Gallery, The Morgan Gallery, The Late Show Gallery, and at The Framing Girl Gallery. He currently teaches at Central Missouri State University and Maple Woods Community College. When not working, he's out exploring the world on his bicycle or puttering in his garden. Necessary Reductions 16 mixed media 14 x 20 in. "My work is an intuitive dialogue with character and surface. Within the chaotic and worn surfaces of our industrial and natural landscapes, I search for an underlying pattern of order and hope. By staining, scrubbing clean, marking, layering, splattering, dissolving, obscuring and revealing, I examine how moments of great beauty and clarity are the result of a continual and often seemingly random flux of action upon object. I look in my work for a point of both saturation and emptiness, wherein one may find strength in stillness." artimages/04092005.jpg 359 248
2005-04-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=500 Anne Perkins "I attended the Harrow Art School taking an evening course in basic painting and drawing for many years. When we arrived in Iowa City I was able to continue my training at the University of Iowa Art Department on a part time basis. Eventually I felt confident enough to work on my own in a studio in the basement of our house. A great influence in Iowa has been the feeling of space, the clear skies and sun and atmosphere of encouragement to explore and develop new ideas." Autumn Leaves #2 mixed media "My work is mainly abstract with color defining the space and form. The inspiration comes from places, landscapes I have seen and many different influences in my life, which include people, conversations etc. Color to me is very important and a great stimulus in what I paint.
I use charcoal on large paper to help free my thinking and working. My career in England was Occupational Therapy, always with a particular interest in art and painting." artimages/04102005.jpg 250 320
2005-04-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=501 Dani Henke Dani Henke grew up in Wapello, Iowa, in the southeast corner of the state and is currently a graduating senior at Iowa State University.
Untitled wood with metal bearing 12" x 12" x 33" "I've spent most of my time [at Iowa State] in the ceramics studio. Something about the massive transformation from soft and pliable to hard and brittle fascinates me. Even in my beginning ceramic classes, many of my pieces incorporated other media. I took classes in fabric manipulation, wood carving, and metals to gain a better understanding of the materials I choose to incorporate with ceramics. I've always had a love for art, and have been drawn to working three dimensionally. Texture... it's all about texture." artimages/04112005.jpg 350 237
2005-04-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=502 Corrine Smith "My subject matter is a combination of organic and geometric form. The blending of the two reveals ambiguous spatial relationships with a compostion. The thoughts and decisions I am making are the pulling together of my own artistic expressions. I rely on my personal experiences of the world to create. My largest source of applicable information is from the preceding painting. Posture Series #31 mixed media 18" x 24" One of my considerations is to create a powerful composition. I am interested in the place between form and space and I often reverse the positive with the negative. Rendering the dimension of organic and geometric form is the underlying structure of my work. Consistently dealing the this notion, my forms are stylized and function as flat shapes instead of realistic representations. The more familiar I become with these froms, the more possibilities I discover. I am interested in the concept of opposites.
The use of opposites can create a dynamic quality revealing high contrast and tension. I am always striving for an aesthetic surprise. My inner feelings are a key element of my color and medium choice.
My work is growing in closer touch with my being. The evolution of my art is a slow, natural, additive process. My art is a reflection of my life. The attitudes, symbols and complexity of my life have become visible is my art. I do not precieve any of my work as a end in itself. From each piece springs new ideas. My goal, to date, is to keep an open mind, expand my perception and continue to create. " artimages/04122005.jpg 350 263
2005-04-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=503 loana Mamali loana Mamali has graduated in architecture from the University of Bucharest, Romania. Since 1990, when she and her husband, a social psychologist, are living in the USA, she worked as a drafter-designer. Hibiscus Water Color 18x24 2004 After enjoying five years in Iowa City in 1995 they moved in Dubuque, Iowa. loana is an amateur artist, using watercolor medium. She is participating in Roundtree Gallery-Platteville, Wl exhibitions. In April 2003 she also displayed as 'Artist of the month' some of her paintings to Clare Bank, Platteville artimages/04132005.jpg 250 357
2005-04-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=504 Larry Mendenhall Photography has been one of my main interests in life, it began as a high school hobby and transformed into an important job skill during my newspaper career. After leaving journalism and taking art classes, I began concentrating on landscape photography. I currently work for The University of Iowa as a Program Assistant.
Superior Morning photograph 2004 Waiting for a sunrise with only the dew and a few chirping birds for company or following a sunset in a wilderness area is a very precious experience. For me these quiet places are a respite from the chaotic pace of life, which seems to leave us all wondering whether we are coming or going.
I didn't feel this way when I began landscape photography. The landscape was simply something to shoot. But that changed as my appreciation for these quiet places grew. It also changed my approach to photography I began looking for places that were quiet rather than just pretty. My enjoyment comes when I'm successful in communicating the quiet of a particular location in a photograph. artimages/04142005.jpg 350 220
2005-04-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=505 Margaret R. Polson Untitled mixed media, 35.3 x 27 in. "My interest in layering visual material can be given effective expression through foil stamped printmaking, an innovative fine art printmaking process. I believe that this approach is a metaphor for life. We experience an event, than as we encounter other experiences, the meaning of the first grows deeper or is given fresh intepretation. Giving visual form to these deepening experiences is a challenge. Rendering the object or experience as completely as possible helps; then it is a matter of learning what to leave out. A telling line, shape, or color can awaken a mood, an event, or an observation without the entire object being present. When this occurs, the visual form resonates with a strong sense of tightness and the artist and observer share in the recognition." artimages/04152005.jpg 250 349
2005-04-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=506 Tina Delia Almost from the moment I first picked up a camera, I have been utilizing self-portraiture as my favorite means of expression. As a one-time theater student, I was trained to use my physicality to express myself emotionally. Enmeshed photograph 10 x 8 in. In effect, I photograph “the outside of the inside of me.†Naked, inside and out. I recently found it necessary to expand my process to include one additional figure. I tend to shoot on impulsive inspiration and I began to find it impossible to express everything in my head with only my own form with which to work. However, regardless of whose form I am utilizing, my preference is not to show faces or, when including them is unavoidable, to blur them or show only the profile. My intent is to allow the viewer the opportunity to inhabit the prints. To place themselves inside of them. To find or learn something about themselves that might otherwise not have occurred to them. Just as I learn something new about myself with every picture I make. artimages/04162005.jpg 255 323
2005-04-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=507 Kee-Ho Yuen Brooch 3x3x1 "We are living in a world that is changing at an extremely fast pace. We are witnessing great developments ar changes in science, economy, social structures and many other fields. However, regardless of these develop and changes, I believe basic human emotions remain the same. I use my work to express my fascination with the psychological nature of time and how perceive it. I try to express in my pieces that beauty and youthfulness will eventually become yesterday's news. We live in a society that overly glorifies beauty and youthfulness. In the brooch (see image of baby brooch), I integrate the ABS plastic (made from a 3-D printer) gold, silver, brass and aluminum by using the same lazertran paper transfer technique that I use in the "Egon Schiele" necklace. I want to point out in this piece that the love for food and sex is just part of the nature; but 1 human beings there are some things more important beyond those natural instincts." artimages/04172005.jpg 350 291
2005-04-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=508 Tom Wegman Tom and Kathy Wegman met in 1969 and have been married since 1987. Their Artistic focus on beading is a of their common interest in collecting Native American crafts Tom began beading ten years ago, Kathy five, then, they have developed a strong artistic partnership. They have shown their work together at the Smithson Craft Show in Washington, DC, 13 Moons Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, and the Snyderman Gallery in Philadelpr PA. Although they both create beaded sculptural objects, Kathy and Tom have styles each their own Beaded Spool mixed media Tom and Kathy collect antique American Indian beaded pieces, Mexican folk art both new and old. The two display pieces at craft shows as well as buy pieces from other art shows such as the outdoor show in Iowa City. They enjoy shopping at antique shops and shows both for old pieces to add to our collection as well as looking for items to bead. artimages/04182005.jpg 350 298
2005-04-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=509 Elizabeth Shriver Elizabeth Shriver is a native lowan and a 1987 graduate of the University of Iowa. Three Sectional Vase ceramic About her work, Elizabeth writes, "My interest in ceramics dates back to my first studio ceramics course in 1985. I work with clay to create an array of graceful, organic forms. These pieces are made though a variety of hand-building methods such as slab-building, coiling, pinching, and forming with molds. Rarely relying on glaze, I use textures, stains and colored clay to add visual and tactile interest. I am drawn toward neutral earth tones, and my work reflects the natural landscape, plant and undersea life that are my inspiration. The curving lines of nature inherent in my work generate an illusion of movement, giving each piece an almost lifelike quality. A successful piece is one that begs to be touched as well as explored visually." artimages/04192005.jpg 225 374
2005-04-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=510 Louise Rauh Louise Rauh has received a BFA, an MA, and an MFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry from the University of Iowa. Fire Poppy aluminum 5.5 x 5.5 x 2.8 in "I see landscape in all types of surface. I tend to isolate small portion of these and then expand upon the minutia to fill my pieces. Life in transformation, with inevitable growth, deterioration and regeneration are articulated as seasons and situations pass. Working with several layers of color on a deeply etched or hammered surface I attempt to narrow the line between delicacy and durability. My intention is to convey a visual impression of fragility grounded in the inherent strength of materials used." artimages/04202005.jpg 350 302
2005-04-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=511 Elena Yeo Elena Yeo has earned her B.F.A. from New Mexico State University, New Mexico and her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 2000. She is currently teaching at a community college in Arizona. Unseen Path ceramic and wood 34" x 24", 2004 "The human form is always the foundation of my art. I use the human figure as a symbol because it can direct or evoke individual and shared human experience. In many of my prints, I integrate Chinese pictographs with human forms. The Chinese characters that I choose are based on Tao and Buddhism philosophies that favor universal compassion, individualism, freedom, modern familial roles and personal happiness. In my work, the marriage of handmade papers, ancient Chinese pictographs and human figures nestled in the womb of a circle reflects my understanding and acceptance of the inevitable, harmonious and continuous nature of life. My life is a circle, a concept as well as a process." artimages/04212005.jpg 225 331
2005-04-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=512 International Collage Research And Production Team From February 27 to April 23, 2005 the International Collage Research and
Production Team has set up a temporary laboratory at Arts Iowa City. Located at 129 E. Washington Street [on the lower level of the historic Jefferson Building], the laboratory is the site of creative research and production by the team and the visiting public. Click Here For International Collage Research and Production Team webpage http://www.icrapt.com/ In a press release they write: "As part of their artists' residency the team invites the public to participate with and observe the Midwest Regional research and production unit on Fridays and Saturdays from 12-4 pm until April 23.
The International Collage Research and Production Team is a small group of individuals (originally based in Basel, Switzerland but now scattered around the globe) who are devoted to inquiry into collage as art form, cultural phenomenon, and modern lifestyle.
Their cross-disciplinary mission is to produce collage objects, activities and situations while studying the cultural impact of objects in society. Like superheroes, each artist/researcher in the group draws upon specific skills that help the team conduct its research. Areas of study include clothing collage, mental collage, sound collage, video/film collage, software collage, collaborative collage, traditional collage, collage preservation, collage dissemination, urban and rural collage tactics, non-adhesive collage, and modular collage. The exhibition includes installations, performances, sound, video, sculpture and works on paper.
The International Collage Team will begin a parade in the pedestrian mall at 6 pm, Friday April 22nd. The parade will filter around the downtown area from 6 until 7pm with various factions of the team arriving from other locations. Following the parade, a closing reception will convene in the Arts Iowa City gallery, Jefferson Building Basement from 7 pm until 9 pm." artimages/04222005.jpg 500 185
2005-04-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=513 Susan White Susan White is on the Painting faculty in the School of Art & Art History at The University of Iowa. Anatomy of Sharing acrylic and enamel on canvas 82" x 66" 2004 About the work the artists writes: "Presented on a painted field, these emblems are at once anatomical and spiritual as they slip back and forth between references to the body and images of Buddhas and Virgins of Guadalupe. The images can also become botanical, insect-like, or mutations of some hybrid futuristic organism. These equivocal figures mark the precarious intersection between my intentions and the unique constellation of responses brought to the work by the viewer. The controlling objective of this new body of work is to press further into the exploration of the boundaries between the decorative impulse and the much darker, emotional, philosophical sources." artimages/04232005.jpg 225 296
2005-04-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=514 Craig Dietrich Charing Cross digital photograph 36" x 27" 2005 The collaborative new media team Mary Agnes Krell + Craig Dietrich is currently in a year-long production looking at the incidents and accidents of urban fabric in America and Europe, of which the included photograph is part. The project catalogues and redefines the nature of the lens in a century where technology obsoletes before a photo can be printed, depicting through site and sound the robust natural collisions of human form, skyscraper, and sidewalk structures. artimages/04242005.jpg 350 263
2005-04-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=515 Cathy Palmer Cathy Palmer received her B.F.A. in Painting from the University of South Dakota in 1995. Today, she is living and working in Sioux City, Iowa. Her work has been seen all throughout Iowa.
Violations, Deviations, Exceptions oil on canvas 40" x 47" 2003 About her piece, Cathy writes, "These paintings - through layering, destroying, seeking and renewal - are trying to capture the vibrant feeling of nature and its innate spirituality. There is evidence of struggle, while striving to maintain a feeling of spontaneity and soul. The mystic language of color and abstraction is paramount because of its embodiment of things non-limiting and mysterious." artimages/04252005.jpg 225 265
2005-04-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=516 George Walker George Walker currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa. Sail on series Mixed media 2004 About his piece, George Walker writes, "The Imagery I have used in my paintings is derived from a great interest in early Greek and roman history. For over fifty years I have continued to visit the Countries that border the Mediterranean Sea and were once part of that earlier period. What I paint is not a literal interpretation, but rather, a very personalized version of all that I have absorbed during this ongoing fascination into another time in history." artimages/04262005.jpg 325 271
2005-04-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=517 Ed Noveshen Noveshen is a stone carver, who has been drawing and practicing several forms of art all of his life. At age 27 he discovered the art form of sculpture, he stumbled upon his new love interest accidentally. He was standing beside a stone that I thought resembled a cat. Turning to his human counterpart he says," That looks like a cat." So then he carried it home and carved it with a flat head screw driver and a claw hammer. As he recalls, there is a good chance that it looked more like a cat before he got his hands on it, but in any case he learned a lot about his relationship with stone. Woman Sculpture 1992 Ed studied off and on at universities, but learned the majority of what he knows through talking to other artists and experiencing things for himself. "I enjoy the process of stone carving, that's why I do it. The whole process relaxes and soothes me." Carving without any apprehension of a finished product, he focuses on the sound the stone makes, through this communication he is guided by the sounds and instructed on what to do. This process often results in a shape or form that sometimes makes sense but most often does not. Regardless, the hope is that people enjoy the art and use it to bring warmth and meaning to their lives. artimages/04272005.jpg 180 455
2005-04-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=518 Donald Colin As an artist with a deeply rooted respect for both the Eastern and Western traditions of Craft, I find "use" to be a very important aspect in most of my work. Whether I am creating a functional object, a sculptural object not intended to function in a traditional sense, a piece of jewelry for everyday use, or a site specific piece, my intention is for the work to engage the viewer, not just visually, buy physically. I favor working directly with my hands, or with hand tools. !t is natural for my hand-on working methods to translate into a tactile experience for the viewer, or participant. Scarlet Fold Fan Sculpture 1993 A frequent trend in my jewelry work is the tendency towards miniature site specificity, or as I like to refer to it: body specific. A body specific piece (or sculptural wearable piece) does not typically come with a pedestal, as a small-scale sculpture typically does. Instead a body specific piece interacts with the human form. artimages/04282005.jpg 150 438
2005-04-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=519 William Nowysz William currently lives in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa Landscape Watercolor 1994 William Nowysz writes,"Watercolors as a snapshot. Whenever traveling I started to do fast impression watercolor sketches to record the moment, generally of buildings and landscapes. The same scene different days and times of the year, changes of mood and light. Capturing these changes in the Iowa landscapes, that are subtle, dramatic and beautiful allows me to know the place I live better." artimages/04292005.jpg 350 144
2005-04-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=520 Bekah Ash Bekah Ash received her B.A. in Art Education from the University of Iowa, and continues to live in Iowa City, while teaching in Washington, Iowa. Red Chair Girl oil on canvas Bekah paints fictional characters with oils on canvas. Each piece begins with a charcoal drawing on the canvas to help her get a feel for the character and composition. This drawing serves as a foundation for each painting, but doesn't often make it to completion. Usually the first painting won't work out, in which case, Ash will begin a new drawing directly on top of the old, resulting in different layers of under painting showing through the finished top layer. This relationship between the layers of paint ironically adds another level to what is already happening with the characters in her work. artimages/04302005.jpg 350 237
2005-05-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=521 Gene Anderson Gene Anderson received his degree in Architecture from the University of Illinois in 1958. He is a licensed architect in Illinois and Iowa, and has been an Iowa resident for most of his life. Bang/Flying Mobile Mixed Media 40" x 36" x 22" "In the past several years, my work has found focus on defining basic forms that relate ti unconscious memory and sessitivity at the core of human experience. Through my travels in Africa, Europe, and the United States, I have observed and studied prehistoric, ancient, medieval, and recent forms that humans have produced to express their feelings. In most cases, these forms relate on a subconscious level and are felt to be positive, humanistic, peaceful, uncommplicated, refined, and resolved. Consequently my work is evolving into a very basic expression of human scale forms." artimages/05012005.jpg 250 334
2005-05-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=522 Alicia A. Brown Ms. Brown's work can be seen at Hudson River Gallery and The Chait Galleries Downtown in Iowa City. Beautiful Love mixed media 12 x 14 in. "I view my work as dances that speak to image, color, light, shape and rhythm. I usually have no pre-determined subject in mind—it evolves in the process of creating. An 'emotional tone' within the work must resonate with me as I allow the work to emerge. Major influences are the movement and dynamism that lies in all life, and in my personal explorations I like to work with this subtlety and complexity. Ultimately, each work is an expression of my person, sometimes straightforward, sometimes elusive and each carrying with it the stamp of my experiences." artimages/05022005.jpg 250 363
2005-05-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=523 Alexander Bojadschan Toy water color 38.5" x 28.5" Alexander Bojadschan explores the bueaty of St. Petersburg city by using the two contrary elements that are intermingled on canvasses: the transparent brightness of southern sun and the mysterious theatrical charisma of St Petersberg. Southern cheerfulness ignited with the cool south explodes into beauty that penetrates the senses. In order to capture the complete essence of St. Petersberg, Bojadschan uses a principal well know from collage technique, of merging different contexts that were torn from their original context in order to create a unified partnership. The marriage of the different materials are then combined with different painting techniques that create a breathtaking composition. artimages/05032005.jpg 250 365
2005-05-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=524 Judy O. Gray Born and raised in the Quad Cities, Judy Gray attended the University of Iowa while raising her family, later getting a degree in art from Augustana College. Uprooted to Denver, Colorado, she began a fun-filled work schedule while continuing her studies at the Denver Art Student League, The Colorado Institute of Art, and Loveland Academy. I Wish I Were A Cowboy pastel 2002 "My work is impressionistic in both creation and outlook. Capturing a feeling or a moment in time with the varied uses of color have become a passion, an accomplishment to be honed and worked. This process is a concept of both refinement and simplicity. Art is within the emotions of us all, we are surrounded by it in all that we do. It is my purpose to affect an emotion in my art, your art, and in our meeting." artimages/05042005.jpg 225 357
2005-05-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=525 Gretchen Caracas Gretchen Caracas is a graduate of the University of Colorado and studied at the Brooklyn Museum School and the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria. An adjunct faculty member at the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History from 1973 through 1992, Gretchen has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States, Spain, and Italy. Summer Painting acrylic on canvas 1994 Her subject is the landscape of her two homes-one in Ibiza, Spain and the other in Iowa City. While some of her paintings depict urban scenes, many represent garden-like interiors. She often combines elements from her studio with fruits, vegetables, household objects, and, on occasion, animals to form still life vignettes. Whether inspired by Spain or Iowa City, the paintings communicate Caracas's intimate familiarity with and emotional attachment to her environment. artimages/05052005.jpg 270 310
2005-05-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=526 Adam Fleming Stump wood, stone, copper 2002 "Sculpting is telling a story as it relates to the space in which we live. Not all spaces are created equal. Some sculptures are meant for a holy place; a window or entry into a home, a garden, a library or music room, or perhaps quite literally a holy place of mediation or a chapel. Other pieces find a less sublime spot in the world. Your desk, for example, needs a caution against excessive worry, or your bathroom, between the mirror and the scales, a reminder to laugh each day. All of these are the things, which make us successful and beautiful. If I do not retain a sense of playfulness, my reward is bitterness, frustration, and defeat, but if I recognize my smallness up front, the humbling, imperfect business is not a curse but a strong sense of my place in this world. a place of peace and laughter. I hope that my work serves as a reminder of these ideals: truth, humility, and vulnerability through playfulness-that is, simplicity." artimages/05062005.jpg 225 340
2005-05-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=527 David Fleming David currently resides in Fairfield, Iowa. For more of his works, he can be contacted at martige@iowatelecom.net. July Fourth Tulips acrylic on board 2004 "What interests me is the intensity that isolated objects assume when approached as subjects for drawing or painting. There is nothing still about the life of a vase of flowers on a table. Perhaps this is why there are so many awkward angles, vivid colors, and unstable perspectives in my paintings—a coffee cup just won't sit still. Simplicity of form, line color-yet with an infusion of life. If I can make the viewer see the familiar in a new way, then I'm happy. Particularly if it gives them a new sense of life, some new sense of intensity that is joyful. I like working in acrylic because it demands that you paint quickiy. You have to be alert because it dries so fast. But this also allows for almost instant repainting and layering." artimages/05072005.jpg 225 302
2005-05-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=528 Abdala Faye Abdala currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa. Where Am I Standing acrylic on board 2004 "Art is my voice and fingers, the tools I use to manifest the depths of the unknown and the subconscious mind. My art is the connection between the known and unknown, or conscious and unconscious-translating my perception of this crossroad. Therefore, it respects no boundaries, no conventional representations. In respecting the way of inspiration, there is no place for convention becase its sole purpose is to reflect creativity and respect the process of art, which is free. My art has no identity but its own, meaning it does not fit one category or definition, whether this is style, medium, or measurement, it transforms with time as I do my work and display, therefore, where I've been, who I am. This is who I am right now." artimages/05082005.jpg 250 288
2005-05-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=529 Manuel Coradin I believe that an artist's work is a reflection of his inner vision. I am constantly searching for light or truth to reveal my inner vision more clearly.In the process of assessing each of my pieces, I rely on intuition and feeling rather than intellectual analysis. My forms not only contain or imply the processes within, but they reveal and celebrate their unforlding nature. Bottle Making Machine ceramic 2001 In my work, I find that juxtaposed, abstract, organic, and geometric forms emerge, while concentrated areas of color appear to penetrate the pieces. The interaction creates a dynamic relationship between surface and form. I find that through observation, exploration, and experimentation, I get new and unique objects. For me, it is most rewarding to explore new possibilities that I have not previously imagined. When I take risks my work becomes more interesting. artimages/05092005.jpg 330 315
2005-05-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=530 Naomi Kark Schedl Naomi Kark Schedl received her B.F.A and M.F.A. in Painting from School of Art at Yale University. Other post graduate work has been done at American University, University of Iowa, and Penland School of Art and Crafts. She is currently living in Iowa City, Iowa.
Two Trees = Five Doors oil, photographs 48" x 46" 2002 About her work, Naomi writes, "My paintings have moved from river landscapes to woodlands which now include figurative aspects. I am also interested in social comment. Encroaching Woodland [another piece] is a comment on the destruction of woodland for a development. I therefore used a strong diagonal line for the window in contrast to the movement of the foliage. Similarly, Two Trees = Five Doors is an ironic comment on cutting down trees. In both I have used the reality of photographs against the hand of the artist and the enjoyment of the painting process." artimages/05102005.jpg 340 308
2005-05-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=531 Keith Achepohl Before retiring in the spring of 2004, Keith was the head of the University of Iowa printmaking program. He has been appointed to many visiting artist and lecturer positions in the last forty years. His work is in more than 80 museum, institutional and corporate collections around the world. Beach Seen 262 ink drawings, chine coile onto intaglio prints 8 x 8 Keith Achepohl's prints are investigations of nature that feature layers of rich textures and earthy hues. Many of his prints reflect his extensive exploration of the Mediterranean region, which he visits yearly as part of his duties as director of the University of Iowa Summer in Venice program. This is especially evident in his recent work, which centers on the sea. Plant life and shells float on textured backgrounds that resemble beaches and water. The dream-like quality of these works is amplified in several instances with the appearance of a hand, face or foot among the oceanic elements. This disembodied figure is labeled Narcissus in one work, an allusion to the Greek god who was in love with his own image. artimages/05112005.jpg 350 327
2005-05-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=532 Charles Barth Charles received his undergraduate degree from Chicago State University. He holds a Doctorate in Art Education from Illinois State University and continued post-doctoral studies at the University of Iowa. He was Professor of Art at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids from 1972 to 2003. Atras Decada Hombre Fuerte Hay Una Mujer Mas Fuerte color intaglio 24 x 18 My prints involve images from Mexico and popular cultures such as Kitsch, current fads and fashions, pop stars, t.v. images, films, rock music and disco. The images are expressed in a "fantastic" style and are abstracted, exaggerated and satirized. I am interested in color and light and try to express the 'brassy' sights and sounds of the environment. The end result involves bright or garish colors, exotic images and feeling of light moving over the surfaces. I have a strong interest in art history and often incorporate historical art images and symbolism. artimages/05122005.jpg 250 336
2005-05-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=533 Larry Zox Zox received his education at Oklahoma University and Drake University. He studied with George Grosz at the Des Moines Art Center. He has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and has received grants from the National Council of the Arts and the Ester and Adolph Gottlieb Foundation. He has been an Artist-in Residence at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Dartmouth College, and Yale University. Blue & White gouache and acrylic on arches paper 40 x 60 A native of Des Moines now living in Connecticut, Zox is an abstract artist who utilizes color and space in a unique way. He utilizes color combinations with references to nature, music, or the city that surrounds him. But often there is a black section that is placed in the work for the sake of the painting’s aesthetic alone. The work ranges from the harmonious to the unexpected. All the work is done with a tremendous amount of technical control. artimages/05132005.jpg 350 213
2005-05-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=534 Amy Worthen Amy Worthen is a well known Des Moines printmaker and scholar in the art of printmaking. Her engravings, often architectural in content, combine humor, history and a dedication to expressing the full effect of the printmaking medium. All of her compositions are rendered in fine line detail. She is perhaps best known for her Capitol and Terrace Hill series which combine local landmarks with fanciful characters and perspectives. Amy is currently working on prints influenced by her time spent abroad in Italy. Iowa Alphabet Q hand-colored engraving 4 x 3 Amy is known nationally and internationally and has been exhibited in shows in major cities all over the U.S. and included in several shows in Europe. artimages/05142005.jpg 212 287
2005-05-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=535 Blair Benz After taking a BA in Psychology from the University of Northern Iowa in 1979, Benz returned in 1987 for another BA with a major in Art, and then in 1991, he graduated with an MA with a major in drawing. Between 1987 and 1996, he also served as Acting Director of the Gallery of Art and Adjunct instructor in the Art Dept. at UNI in Cedar Falls as well as Art Director for the North American Review.
Untitled (42) charcoal on arches paper 7x6 With imagery suggesting 19th century prints, Blair Benz demonstrates highly polished skills in the difficult charcoal medium. In this series of refined, small pictures, he offers some masterful works.
Works of Blair L. Benz have been shown in the Gallery of Art in Eugene, Oregon, in the Mayor’s Choice Exhibition in the Metropolitan Galleries in Cedar Falls, in the Iowa Artists Exhibit at the Des Moines Art Center, and in the Midlands Invitational 2000 at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha. artimages/05152005.jpg 275 311
2005-05-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=536 Carola Wincenti Carola holds a Master of Photography degree from the Foto-Akademie Munich, Germany. She has worked as a free-lance photographer since 1986. Her collaborative efforts have led her to work with a host of organizations, including museums and newspapers. Because of the diverse nature of her work, Carola's photographs have been used in a variety of publications, including art books and scientific journals. Her work has been exhibited in Munich, Rottach-Egern/Tegernsee, and Berlin, Germany. It has also been exhibited in Massachusetts and Iowa. Blue Line fujichrome 43 x 43 "In the unmanipulated beauty of nature I found the possibility to bring forth a new aspect in my photography. The works are images of structures and colors that nature and time have painted. New growth, the relativity of size or simply the fascination of nature in a moment of transition is represented in these pictures." artimages/05162005.jpg 350 343
2005-05-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=537 Gary Bowling In 1983, Bowling left the security of academic life at Westmar College for full-time studio work near Lamar, Missouri where now —working from photographic notes —he produces his large oil paintings which go regularly into exhibitions throughout the country. Although, occasionally, he still conducts workshops, Bowling focuses on his canvases. This ability to maintain a rigorous schedule is manifested in his exceptionally long lists of exhibitions, publications, and professional credits. Study: April 1, 2004 oil on paper 26 x 41 One of the Midwest’s most prolific painters, Gary Bowling recently moved away from the roadways and farm fields of Iowa into deeper, less populated territory. These latest works invite the viewer to enter them as an early explorer or Huckleberry Finn might have, finding a path along clear streams rushing through lush, sun-sprinkled woodlands or winding into open marshlands. artimages/05172005.jpg 350 215
2005-05-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=538 John Vruwink John taught all facets of art for over 30 years at Central College in Pella, Iowa, and is now retired. He received his B.A. from Central College and his M.F.A. from Drake University. He also studied at the Rietvelt Academy in Amsterdam and The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. His work has been shown at the Des Moines Art Center, The Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York City, and the Brunnier Art Museum in Ames in addition to several other venues throughout the Midwest. Gather Up the Fragments Form #8 blow glass, mixed media 52 x 20 x 10 John’s sculptures are created of the unlikely combination of stone, steel, and glass. The glass component is suspended from or attached to a hunk of limestone, creating a visual balance between the opposing sculptural forms of rough limestone blocks and smooth, curvilinear pieces of blown glass. artimages/05182005.jpg 225 378
2005-05-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=539 Byron Yron Burford Born in the South, Burford came to Iowa to study with Grant Wood before World War II, then left to serve in the U.S. Air Force, and later returned to take his M.F.A. in Iowa City, where he settled down to capture his semi-remembered, semi-imagined world through paintings and prints and to teach decade after decade of grateful students. Two Showgirls giclee 18 x 13 If America holds a living counter-part of Frederico Fellini, it is Iowa’s venerable visual artist Byron Burford. Both larger-than-life creators, ebullient bon vivants, observers of the human condition, and both deeply fascinated with the worlds of circuses, legendary entertainers, and jazz, these giant talents both captured the innocence, lyricism, gaudy diversity, and pathos of their generations before and after World War II. artimages/05192005.jpg 250 346
2005-05-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=540 Suzanne Skon Suzanne, an Des Moines native, now lives in Minneapolis. Her work has been shown at Premier Gallery, Gallery 96 Art Center, the Minneapolis Insitute of Arts, as well as at several other venues in the Midwest. She also serves on the board of the Studio@700 Artists’ Affiliation. Suzanne has a B.A. from the University of Iowa and studied at the University of Minnesota Split Rock Arts Program. Wild Lupine acrylic, oil on board 34 x 44 Suzanne’s research of roots at the Department of Natural Resources and her field observation of flowers provided a scientific starting point for her creations. Spidery clusters of roots take on earthy colors, which balance the vibrant hues of flower varieties such as blazing stars, blooming sallys, and lupines. In several works, she juxtaposes delicate flowers and roots with images of heavy, decorative ironwork. artimages/05202005.jpg 350 267
2005-05-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=541 Mary Koenen Clausen Mary resides in Tipton, Iowa and has a B.F.A. from the University of Northern Iowa. She was part of the “Iowa Artists†show at the Des Moines Art Center in 1991 and has been in group shows in Kansas City, Boston, and New York as well as at the Davenport Art Museum and Augustana College in Rockford, Ill. Mary has had solo shows at Quad Cities Arts, Iowa City-Johnson County Arts Association, and Maharishi International University in Fairfield. Two Angels mixed media 41 x 30 She gathers her material from Italian magazines, 17th and 18th century Bibles, antique books, among other sources. Mary also uses photographs of her surroundings in her work. Her home and studio are full of paintings, photographs, wall hangings, dolls, and other collected objects, an environment that reflects the complexity of her works. artimages/05212005.jpg 250 376
2005-05-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=542 Jeanine Coupe Ryding Jeanine Ryding earned her BA at the University of Iowa, then took her Meisterschuler (MFA) in Berlin and taught in print departments in various college and universities before settling in Chicago where she enjoys wide respect in her field and pursues an evolving series of unique expressions in printmaking. Targets collage 12 x 9 In her new prints, Ryding no longer deals with single actions of figures in space, but rather abstract images derived from nature and from human tools. In her 2003 statement, she writes: I collect seeds, buds, blossoms and leaves … (which resemble) the human made world of diagrams, plumbing, and tools . . .(and) provide an endless parade of forms and functions . . . I am interested in bringing the 4th dimension (movement) into a 2 dimensional medium. Shapes swing, recede, draw nearer, or sway. Some are playful . . . and others more ominous and sculptural. In several her elegantly complex prints, the viewer, if relaxed, may have a sense of motion. artimages/05222005.jpg 225 319
2005-05-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=543 Pat Edwards Pat Edwards, an independent artist living in Iowa City, paints in oil and chooses familiar subjects, ranging from intimate backyard views to large canvases of country hillsides. Her smaller images prompt memories of peaceful summer days, and her manner of portraying light and shadow often suggests the mood and time of day. Both large and small works can be read easily from a distance, but they also reward the viewer who studies them at closer range. Some Trees oil on canvas 10 x 10 Pat earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in art from The University of Iowa. In addition to teaching, she also serves as an artist-in-residence through the Iowa Arts Council. Her work was recently featured in a one-person exhibition at the Dubuque Museum of Art and has work included in several corporate collections including Farm Bureau, Hubbell Realty, and Sprint headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. artimages/05232005.jpg 315 323
2005-05-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=544 Dan Powell Dan Powell currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, but taught photography at the University of Northern Iowa for several years. black & white photograph selenium toned 8 x 13 Dan's recent work is inspired by several trips to Europe where he studied the antiquities of Greece and Italy. His black and white photographs of partial ruins and statuary provide a base for such series as Traces In Passing and Classical Measures. Dan will often manipulate his images to a degree by sepia toning and other techniques. Both the black and white image and the toning accentuate his subject matter. Recent prints have taken on a diptych format, with two distinct images almost read as book pages. One image will often appear blurry or obscured while the other is in distinct focus. There is a mystery to his photographs that imply myth or stories from long ago, but they also contain a modern day narrative open for interpretation. artimages/05242005.jpg 350 266
2005-05-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=545 Carlos Ferguson The steady productivity of Carlos Ferguson since his BA degree from Grinnell College through his MA and MFA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa is impressive.
In less than a decade, he has completed a demanding program of study and produced a large body of work, as well as fulfilling teaching assignments at Berea College in Kentucky, Ithaca College in New York, Arrowmont School of Art and craft in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He now paints full-time in his studio in Northfield, Minnesota.
Series #1, Untitled I cyanotype & gum bichromate 8x8 From the small, lofty views in his earlier work delicately detailed scenes of interstate clover-leafs, distant landscapes, quiet winter streets set in solid walnut frames of his own construction, Ferguson’s recent vision has expanded. His large new oils depict the distant Busch Gardens under a moist sky, an urban swimming pool with swimmers’ heads bobbing in reflected blue light, a diner’s view of a large restaurant, or a passenger’s perspective from the back of a metropolitan bus. artimages/05252005.jpg 315 316
2005-05-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=546 Joseph Patrick Joseph Patrick is an artist from Iowa City and a long time professor of art at the University of Iowa. Glow oil on linen 48x32 His watercolors and oil paintings draw their inspiration from the life and landscape of Oaxaca, Mexico where he and his wife Genie spend their summers. In his oil paintings, Joe highlights hidden beauty in the tarps and boxes prevalent in outdoor Mexican markets. The domestic side of Mexico comes through in his watercolors, which feature patios and gardens full of plant life rendered in his exacting style. Joe describes his work "as being like stages for human action . . . past, present and future." He wants to convey an awareness of time, both passing and standing still. The Mexican streets, buildings and gardens become metaphors for the lives passing through them. Joe received his B.F.A. from the University of Georgia and his M.F.A. from the University of Colorado. He has taught at the University of Iowa since 1965 and served as head of the drawing program at the School of Art and Art History. artimages/05262005.jpg 225 357
2005-05-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=547 Sarah Grant Schooled first in Colorado, then at the University of Iowa, where Sarah earned first her BFA in Intaglio Printmaking in 1976, her MA in printmaking in 1978, then her MFA in painting in 1980, Sarah is a talented designer and skilled in a range of techniques beyond those usually apparent in her paintings. Over a period of 20 years, she has taught as guest artist and mentor in many public schools and colleges in Iowa. Arrangement acrylic on paper 20 x 20 A "colorist" with a lively sense of design, Sarah produces abstracts depicting a decorative record of emotional journeys sometimes sunny, sometimes turbulent almost always dynamic. These works consistently appeal to both young and mature collectors.
Her honors and commissions include: Louis Comfort Tiffany Grant nominee finalist; Visiting Artist Residency for the Iowa Arts Council; Kirkwood Hotel Mural Commission; and the Jerome Foundation Invitational Grant. Sarah's works hang in over 23 permanent collections. artimages/05272005.jpg 325 327
2005-05-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=548 Gary Olson Olson has been the subject of a one-person exhibition at Central College and has been included in the Iowa Artist Exhibition at the Des Moines Art Center. He received his M.F.A. from George Washington University and his B.A. in Art Education from Central College in Pella. Untitled XXXXVIII assemblage, mixed media 19 x 15 Gary Olson is a teacher and artist from Mitchellville, Iowa. He creates collages or box constructions that mysteriously layer bits of wire, mesh and objects that together create a "floating drawing." His works are abstract studies but often incorporate found objects such as chalk, fishing lures and dice that function on both a formal and symbolic level. artimages/05282005.jpg 275 328
2005-05-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=549 Bill Innes A 1988 graduate of Drake University with a BFA and majors in graphic design and printmaking, Bill showed his work in exhibitions consistently beginning as early as 1978 and has been with Olson-Larsen Galleries since 1994. His work attracts a diverse range of admirers; from veteran art patrons to young first-time collectors. Trees By The Water oil pastel/stick 25 x 20 Within the last several years, Bill Innes has moved into a subtle and progressive series of images while exploring variations in technique, usually in his favorite medium of oil pastels. From simple, densely layered mound like forms —almost childlike in simplicity but not in execution —he moved to images of fish, palm trees, and increasingly abstract landscapes that contain simple land forms, bulbous clouds, and aspen trees with white trunks. In addition, Bill has created still lifes depicting elaborate flower bouquets using his characteristic palette of rich blues, yellows, greens, and reds. artimages/05292005.jpg 275 361
2005-05-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=550 Dan Mcnamara Dan received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His work has been seen in exhibitions in Des Moines and Minneapolis and can be found in several private collections. New American Paintings featured his work in the 2000 Midwest Edition. Circus Scene I oil pastel on paper 30 x 23 A Des Moines native, Dan creates lush monoprint landscapes. Using a subdued palette consisting mostly of various shades of green, he depicts river and pond banks lined with rocks, tranquil bodies of water, and towering trees. Each work radiates a certain sense of serenity and harmony within nature.
Dan says of his work, "I am a firm believer in the study and reflection on the work of the masters so as to build upon a firm foundation. In my own work I strive for balance and harmony coupled with past and present ideas regardless of the subject matter." artimages/05302005.jpg 248 338
2005-05-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=551 Genie Patrick Genie received her B.F.A from the University of Georgia and her M.A. from the University of Colorado. Genie has shown her work extensively in Iowa and surrounding regions and is included in the collections of Farm Bureau Insurance Company, Pioneer Hi-Bred International and The Iowa Medical Society. Late Light oil on linen 40 x 60 Genie Patrick is an independent artist from Iowa City. All of her work is based on landscape - that of Oaxaca, Mexico where she spends her summers or the rural areas around Iowa City where she lives the rest of the year. Her oil paintings capture the effects of light and atmosphere on lush, Mexican hills or young corn in the fields of Iowa. The build up of glazed layers of paint render all of her subjects with a soft and simplified tranquillity. artimages/05312005.jpg 350 231
2005-06-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=235 Dan Mason Dan Mason received his Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from the University of Iowa. He currently teaches at North Hennepin Community College in Minnesota. His work is in the corporate collections of Norwest, Star Tribune, General Mills, Dayton Hudson, and Unisys, to name a few. Seaward Hill IV oil on linen 45" x 54" He creates images in which architecture and landscape interact. These are settings that suggest scared sites, temple precincts, city squares, and landscape vistas. Both the landscape and architectural elements are radically simplified, to express an underlying geometry and sense of order.
These paintings are also experiments with form, color, texture, and light. Mason considers these as colorists paintings, because of the role of color as a subject in itself. The forms are defined by laying down oil color in the form of glazes. Many thin, transparent layers of oil color are applied in order to arrive at the final color and surface. “I’m looking for harmony and dissonance,†says Dan of his work. artimages/06012005.jpg 350 291
2005-06-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=236 Mark Peterson Mark Peterson brings formal training in traditional disciplines to his own work as a painter. Originally from West Des Moines, Peterson earned his B.F.A. in painting from Drake University in Des Moines under the influence of Jules Kirschenbaum, at the same time he worked as studio assistant to Jack Wilkes. Confirming his skills in drawing and painting through his work with these two exacting masters of realism, Peterson then spent the Summer of 1996 at the Taller Cultural School of Art in Santiago de Cuba. There in workshops and discussions, he interacted with artists from Cuba. Returning to Iowa, he served as instructor of art at the Des Moines Art Center and at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Structures II mixed media on canvas 36" x 34" Of his paintings, Peterson writes: Structures in my work are not objects immediately readable, nor do they exist in a place you can visit. My hope is to draw viewers into the paintings with these techniques (of shadow, texture, and reflection) and then free them of responsibility to figure it out. In creating the objects and compositions, I use small pieces of distressed paper torn into random shapes. I then arrange these pieces on a small color field until the composition feels complete, then paint into the objects and background defining new spatial relations. I find this way of working results in more organic and spontaneous images. artimages/06022005.jpg 300 319
2005-06-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=237 Sheryl Ellinwood After "a strict religious upbringing, coupled with a 12 year business career, raised ... doubts about values ...practices ...and underlying beliefs of the society that had instilled those values," Ellinwood turned to art. Assisted by scholarships, she graduated from the University of Toledo with a BFA in 1991. Then, with a graduate fellowship to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, she pursued her MFA, graduating in 1994, Coming to Iowa to visit her father, she liked the area around Lake Red Rock and decided to settle and build her studio where she sustains herself as a professional glass-blower part of each year, then concentrates on her art as a sculptor the remaining months. The Birth of Faith steel, glass, mixed media 40" x 6" x 5" Sheryl Ellinwood writes: "First and foremost, art is communication, not a display of technical mastery, but the conveyance of an idea." artimages/06032005.jpg 225 581
2005-06-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=238 Betty Fitzsimmons Fitzsimmons received both her B.F.A. and M.A. from the University of Iowa. Her work has been included in the Des Moines Art Center's Iowa Artists Exhibition as well as other regional galleries and museums. Untitled X watercolor 16 x 20 Betty Fitzsimmons is an artist and art educator from Des Moines. Betty's art, whether it takes the form of a mixed media work on paper or a handmade book, symbolizes human interaction on a spiritual and unconscious level. Drawn to native cultures, Betty often derives inspiration from Indian folktales and history. In her works she will often blend cultural ideas into her own artistic interpretation. She describes her work as a search for depicting "the spiritual characteristics of two individuals that strike me as equal--equivalent--but who on the surface are dramatically different." Her longtime interest in Robert Scott's exploration of the Antarctic has produced several series of artwork inspired by the explorer's diaries and journals. artimages/06042005.jpg 350 256
2005-06-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=239 Timothy Frerichs Born in Forest City, in 1965, Frerichs earned his BA with Departmental Distinction at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, then took an MA at the University of Iowa and stayed on to earn his MFA in 1991. He went to the Universitaet Osnabrueck in Germany on a Fulbright Fellowship. He a Visiting Artist at Truman State University in Kirksville, and is now an Assistant Professor of Art at Central College in Pella. Chestnut (4) collage on handmade paper, encaustic, white pencil 18 x 19 Of his work, Timothy Frerichs writes: "My imagery has developed out of my interest in historical and cultural views and perceptions of nature."
His drawings clearly follow from these interests in nature and attitudes pertaining to it. His recent collection of forty botanical studies, mounted as a composite, derives from a grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation for study in the Linnaeus gardens at Uppsala University in Sweden. Frerichs appeals to those interested in botanical subjects and drawing as a tool of observation, and those who value the art of the line, calligraphic or representational. artimages/06052005.jpg 350 340
2005-06-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=240 Jane Gilmor Professor Jane Gilmor says that certain works are intended "to create a ritualistic ambience not unlike that of some bizarre roadside shrine. I am interested in both the construction and deconstruction of myth and in the deeper relationships between myth, experience, and culture.†Jane Gilmor, more than most artists, satisfies our universal human desire to encounter something different, unusual, and fascinating. Jane received both her MA and MFA from the University of Iowa, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and earned her BS at Iowa State University in Ames. She has served as Professor of Art at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids for almost three decades. Blind Backpack mixed media 36" x 14" The shrines and constructions of Jane Gilmor have appeared in over 74 exhibitions and more than 30 collections. The lists of her publications, lectures, special installations, awards, and honors fill pages. Wherever her unique works appear, they attract adults and children, and individuals without any experience interacting with artists, as well as discriminating art collectors. Her pieces sometimes include the words of people in diverse and extreme situations. Moving from large and complex installations in public spaces, the artist recently is creating pieces appropriate to private settings. artimages/06062005.jpg 240 320
2005-06-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=241 Steve Herrnstadt Those familiar with the nature photography of Steven Herrnstadt will find interior visions from his creative psyche in this current show. Long concerned with government affairs, Herrnstadt offers access to his creative Yin/Yang, the darker side of his awe-inspired depictions of our natural planet Earth. With technology finally capable of experiments he began decades ago, Herrnstadt uses archival inks and paper to produce lasting images originating from manipulated FS70 Polaroid film, peeled back for insertions of photos and etched in elements. His process results in a combination of collage, photography, and printmaking. Scanning at 3200 pixels per inch, he uses Photoshop for color and contrast checks. Then a computer serves instead of a dark room for large size images from an Epson 7500 or 9500 printer. Sacred Trust Badlands (207) photogiclee 23" x 28" His message in these new works, obvious in several, puzzling in some, is left to the discomforted viewer. Warnings? Probably. Strong images? Definitely! While revealing another side of his emotional and technical artistry, Herrnstadt intends to continue nature photography as a major part of his total artistic out-put. Associate professor of art at Iowa State University, Herrnstadt lives and teaches in Ames, but travels widely to select his photographic subjects and to shape his world view. artimages/06072005.jpg 350 272
2005-06-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=242 Mac Hornecker Possibly the Midwest’s most distinguished sculptor, Mac Hornecker is certainly Iowa’s most accessible, versatile, and productive. From his studio near the campus of Buena Vista College in Storm Lake where he taught with the Art Department from 1971 to 2001, or from his home in Arkansas, Hornecker brings forth works of wood, steel, stone, bronze, aluminum, and combinations thereof with expertise. From small pedestal pieces to massive works destined for rolling lawns on private estates or signature squares in corporate office parks, this sculptor has produced steadily for over three decades. Falling Rocks painted aluminum 19" x 10" x 17" Asked about his inspiration, Hornecker states: "My work is built around my interest in the history and topography of the landscape. Rivers, land forms, rocks, trees, and the way they effect one another as well as man and vice versa are constant themes. There is a play of tensions and balances."
He adds: "The weather is the most important!" and so must it be in his considerations about the integrity and permanence of all his major works. Hornecker is a sculptor with intentions for works lasting centuries, not decades. artimages/06082005.jpg 300 317
2005-06-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=243 Thomas Jewell-Vitale Thomas Jewell-Vitale, Professor of Art at Loras College in Dubuque, returned to his Alma Mater in 1976 almost a decade after leaving: first to pursue religious studies at Gregorian University in Rome, then to study figure drawing at Academie der Bildenden Kunste in Vienna, and finally to take a BA and MA in Studio Art from the University of California at Berkley. In 1955, he took a sabbatical post as Professor of English at Eichi University in Amagasaki, Japan. Jewell-Vitale’s art evolves from and certainly adapts to a wide variety of local and international settings. Sottomare oil/wax on paper 17" x 14" From a distance, Thomas Jewell-Vitale's abstract works do not seem abstract. Harmonious colors and soft textures invite the viewer with a sense of familiarity and comfort. Close up, the viewer studies the images expecting to see something more apparent. One feels, indeed, that something is there, only thinly concealed and slightly below the surface, waiting to be known.
Thomas writes: "I make paintings in which shapes are tied intimately to their surroundings "Their edges are not fixed boundaries, but fingers which probe, revealing a myriad of allegiances: hiding, nestling, isolated, adrift, consumed" artimages/06092005.jpg 275 327
2005-06-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=244 Karen Kurka Jensen Karen, a native of Minnesota, now calls Iowa home, where she lives with her husband, children, and grandchildren. She studied sumi-e from masters in the Chinese art form for over 15 years. She has exhibited and sold her paintings throughout the Midwest, and has been honored with several awards in Minnesota , Wisconsin, and Iowa. Brule Peaks ink on paper 17 x 26 Karen conveys life’s inner and outer beauty through her medium of natural materials: pine soot ink, rice paper, bamboo brush and grinding stone, and her adaptation of the basic Chinese sumi-e painting techniques. artimages/06102005.jpg 350 240
2005-06-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=245 Jack Wilkes Dedicated and restlessly searching, Jack Wilkes is a teacher, painter, and explorer in concrete images and abstract ideas. After studying at the Cleveland Art Institute, Jack finished his BFA in Art Education at Drake which included a Certificate in Art Therapy; and he was both painting and teaching before he completed work for his MFA in painting from Drake in 1983. Teaching at Simpson College, Iowa State University, serving as Artist-in-Residence at the Des Moines Art Center, then Drake, he exhibited the first of his series of paintings and served in residencies, special projects, and workshops, some as far away as New Smyna Beach, Florida and Verenna, Italy. Now painting full time, Wilkes heads an active family and participates in school/community affairs when he isn't in his studio. Instrument of Sound oil on canvas 78" x 60" As Wilkes summarizes: My work . . .has revolved around sign, symbol, allegory, and architecture. I gravitate to historical, social, and spiritual references in both object and architecture in trying to understand the power these objects . . .possess and provide. artimages/06112005.jpg 275 333
2005-06-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=246 Jules Kirschenbaum Jules Kirschenbaum was a former professor of art at Drake University where he taught for over 25 years. His work has been shown on a national level and has been awarded several prizes and fellowships throughout his career, including a Fullbright scholarship, the Sawyer Prize for Painting and the Grumbacher Gold Medal both from the National Academy of Design. Jules' work is included in numerous private and public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art. Meditations On Death S Mallarme acrylic on canvas 62" x 44" 1975-77 Jules' paintings are predominantly large scale still lifes that include objects of all kinds including bones, books, mannequins, mirrors and other elements that held symbolic importance for the artist. He was inspired by history, philosophy and architecture and references to these disciplines were made frequently in the objects he selected to paint. The denseness of his compositions and the precise manner in which the objects are painted create a complexity that draws the viewer in to inspect each level of detail. artimages/06122005.jpg 266 350
2005-06-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=247 Thomine Wilson Thomine Wilson is a native Iowan who can't wait for tomorrow to come, but doesn't want to leave yesterday behind. It is her love for the old and the new that have been the inspiration behind Designs By Thomine. Feminine Touch web-rhinestone pendant Timepieces from the past have been added to contemporary finds to create wearable art with distinct personality.
Each piece is unique, and is designed with sentimentality and expression. Time is the central theme, reminding us of new possibilities and the potential for reinvention. Custom pieces can also be made from family heirlooms or combined with other jewelry to create art reminiscent of the past, to represent life's work or hobbies, or as a simple reminder of the comic and eccentricity in all of us. artimages/06132005.jpg 300 332
2005-06-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=248 Katherine Lock Now living in Brooklyn, New York and associated with the Guggenheim Museum, Katherine Lock has Iowa connections in both Iowa City where she graduated with honors in painting and the Des Moines Art Center where she served in a variety of roles from 1993 through June 2000. Restored oil on canvas 18" x 18" The highly personal paintings of Katherine Lock offer combinations of shapes and colors which are immediately distinctive as statements without obvious artistic derivations. Two-dimensional shapes, isolated linear arabesques and brushed textures blend pleasantly with muted, harmonious colors in medium-size oils on canvas.
She says of her work: I develop a personal vocabulary of objects. The objects are recognizable, ordinary things that begin to describe a tangible idea and end as a painting a sort of reverse interpretation. The materiality of the painting becomes its own language that is relinquished of traditional contexts and functions to describe relationship, balance or counter-balance, and intrigue. artimages/06142005.jpg 310 308
2005-06-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=249 Bobbie McKibbin Former Des Moines Register visual arts critic Eliot Nusbaum commented more than a decade ago about McKibbin’s “intuitive sense of place.†He wrote “McKibbin is interested in investigating the character of the landscape and what makes each of these locations unique . . .(doing it) through . . .(a) feel for the place, accomplished with a multitude of sense(s) other than visual but which in the end enhance the visual sense. As a result, we get a strong feeling of McKibbin’s reaction to the physical world —and a good starting point for us to start feeling that world.†Steaming Pool 3-Yellowstone, Wyoming pastel 35" x 25" This intuitive and illuminating spirit of McKibbin lifts each rendering of a specific place to a reassuring confirmation of both the beauty of nature and value of an artistic depiction of it. Fortunately, McKibbin has chosen to remain in the Midwest and create excellent work appreciative private buyers can still afford.
A variety of publications are available at Olson-Larsen Galleries about Bobbie McKibbin, who was born in Philadelphia, who graduated with an MFA from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and who has served for two decades as Professor of Art at Grinnell College, Iowa. artimages/06152005.jpg 247 350
2005-06-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=250 Barbara Fedeler Barbara Fedeler holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Drake University, Des Moines. She also has studied at Scuola Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, Italy. She currently serves as a Lecturer in Art at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. Before taking that position, she served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, North Iowa Community College, Mason City, and Loras College, Dubuque. Toward Elkader charcoal on paper 17" x 48" Working in willow charcoal, Barbara Fedeler's landscapes reflect her interest in the varied terrain of northeastern Iowa. She is intrigued with the area's geological history, the cycles of time and seasons, and the vagaries and the permanence of nature.
The panoramic format she uses encourages a fluid movement across the vistas and through the sculptural relief of land forms. Willow charcoal is a malleable media capable of high tonal contrast and textural manipulation. artimages/06162005.jpg 400 140
2005-06-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=251 Wendy Rolfe Wendy Rolfe studied at Parsons School of Design in New York and Le Atelier D’ Etampe in Paris. She produced art in New York City for several years before moving to Iowa. Along with other demands, the artist maintains a daily schedule in her studio, set on 600 acres near Dubuque. Isadora with Black Birds mixed media 15 x 19 x 4 Wendy Rolfe creates with a unique visual vocabulary and creative juxtapositions. After 9/11, she entered a new period in which her works became more prayerful in context and essence. Although her feminine mythic symbols continue, she is working with more urgency and clearly spiritual themes.
Influenced by primitive tinwork from New Mexico (1840-1940), imaginative work enriched with decorative elements and innocence of spirit, Rolfe uses more tin, decoupage, wire and beads, painted glass, even candles in her wall collages. Seeing creation as both feminine and masculine, she explores spiritual hidden selves and vast landscapes of the soul, and the softening aspects, which persist despite what she sees as a time fraught with harsh, moralistic appeals to God, prayers linked destruction, war, and despair. Rolfe presents prolific and personal symbols, which, she insists, must be processed through each viewers own life experiences and attitudes. artimages/06172005.jpg 279 325
2005-06-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=252 John Li An artist, teacher, writer and scholar, John Li attended the School of Art
at the University of Iowa. During those years, Li studied with Muricio
Lasansky and James Lechay, who were renowned artists in the University. Dancing lithograph 25" x 19.3" At the University of Iowa, Li was initiated to a different system of learning
and creation, and gained deeper understanding of tertiary educational
ideals, local art developments and the latest art activities. It was during
his time at the University of Iowa that he began to blend together Eastern
and Western artistic representations in his creative works. What we see
today is actually the result of unceasing efforts in this direction over the
past decades. artimages/06182005.jpg 243 325
2005-06-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=253 Priscilla Steele Priscilla received her M.A. in Printmaking and her M.F.A. in Printmaking from the University of Iowa in 1990 and 1992 respectively. Spring Amaryllis #2 mixed media "I like drawing almost as large as I am. My mixed-media drawings are observed directly from life. They demand energy and engagement with both the subject and materials. Using both my hands, I work with traditional and less conventional materials including: pencil, charcoal, pastel, shellac and tar. The combination of materials allows the drawing process to take on a tactile, "call and response" quality. In every drawing I hope to create a variety of marks that records the range of my thoughts and emotions as I explore the organic structure and tension that permeate any living thing, as it exists in space. I am most satisfied with a piece when passages of urgent or sweeping gesture lead into quietly meditative areas and delicate detail that, together, can be read as a rich and coherent whole." - Priscilla Steele - artimages/06192005.jpg 215 350
2005-06-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=254 Michael Brangoccio In two decades since his MA from the University of Northern Colorado, Brangoccio has accumulated over 20 solo exhibitions and participated in 35 group shows in Florida, Maine, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, and California. Now working in Des Moines, the artist leaves no doubt about the intensity of dedication and energy behind his unique work. Calling acrylic on canvas 63" x 59" Brangoccio's original content and textures create picture worlds like no others. A well-trained draftsman comfortable with formal composition, Brangoccio juxtaposes objects, sizes, and relationships to arrest attention, to provoke questions, and to prompt observers into finding personal meanings for his canvases.
Intentionally symbolic, Brangoccio's works present puzzles. Certain objects reoccur and present contradictions and inconsistencies of size, placement, object-selection. Elephants float. Bears roam in unlikely settings. Miniature airplanes seem aggressively out of place. Even in those few canvases which fit within the boundaries of realism, there is a hint of mystery, of something more-to-be-known. With Brangoccio's paintngs, a viewer must address enigmas and engage both left and right sides of the brain. artimages/06202005.jpg 301 310
2005-06-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=255 William Barnes Growing up in California, William Barnes attended UCLA before studying painting at Drake with Jules Kirschenbaum. He then studied with Byron Burford in Iowa City, whose course in materials and techniques introduced him to egg tempera and casein, his major media since. Soon after his Iowa City period, signs appeared of what has become Barnes' signature style - landscapes noted for their "loneliness" by a local critic alternated with still-life studies of odd combinations of small objects. Recently, after sojourns in Tucson and Santa Fe, Barnes is bringing a warmer, more relaxed ambience to his exotic works. Study For Love Notes II acrylic on rag paper 8" x 8" Of the many Midwestern artists focusing on landscape and still-life compositions, Barnes creates compositions which seem to contain some mystery or situation beyond the sum of the visual parts revealed. Although obviously aware of artists of the past, Barnes approaches but skirts any direct links with the surrealist or trompe l’oeil genres. Occasionally defined as a “magic-realist,†Barnes remains at the edge of that definition, or slightly outside it. His early realistic work with simplified forms and subdued coloring suggested Hopper without deriving directly in any way. Early collages contained figures —unlike later work —in situations and settings reminiscent of illustrations for 19th century French or German novels. artimages/06212005.jpg 320 321
2005-06-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=256 Richard Black Richard Black is a highly regarded printmaker who has made a significant contribution over the years to the arts in Iowa. For thirty years he was a professor of art at Drake University where he founded the Drake University Biennial Print Symposium. The symposium brought nationally known artists to the state to demonstrate and lecture on the art of printmaking. Black himself has been the subject of a one-person exhibition at the Des Moines Art Center and has been honored with the DRAKE AWARD for excellence in teaching and artistic achievement. Black's works are included in many museum collections and have been shown in invitational and competitive exhibitions all over the country. Genesis Two: Sodom/Gomorrah intaglio 18" x 13" Using the intaglio process, Black creates prints that have a collage-like feeling. Tightly rendered textures and color patches are layered and structured to create overall pattern. The work appears to be abstract, but when closely examined recognizable forms sometimes emerge. These images are enigmatic and are woven into the intricacy of the print, there for the viewer to decipher. Black's works are often inspired by tales and interpretations from The Old Testament. artimages/06222005.jpg 259 345
2005-06-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=257 Tilly Woodward Tilly Woodward is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Central College in Pella and is the Director of the Pella Community Art Center. Tilly’s career includes involvement in many community outreach projects throughout the state. Her work is in the collections of the Des Moines Art Center, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Meredith Corporation, and the University of Iowa Museum of Art. Double Hand Grass Sunflower oil on board 4" x 6" Tilly creates small glimpses of lush flowers and grasses. Her oil on board paintings show human interaction with nature as a hand tangled in grass or holding a flower blossom.
Tilly writes: “…I have pursued a series of highly detailed oil paintings that explore longing and loss, emotional landscapes that are often configured as intimate views of items from my garden, presented in hand. When I paint I think of the beauty of the garden, a small landscape, as well as mudras, gang signs, offerings, prayers and fairy tales.†artimages/06232005.jpg 350 247
2005-06-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=258 Ellen Wagener Ellen Wagener served as Adjunct Professor and Visiting Artist in several Iowa colleges; however, as demonstrated by her rapidly growing numbers of exhibitions and of works in private and public collections, her primary focus is creating her serenely still landscapes. One October Sunset pastel 12" x 12" The pastels of Wagener are distinctive, evocative, and popular with both urban and rural collectors. Although she often does her studies on site —sometimes from the top of her van —and her finished studio works are easily recognizable as rows of corn or beans, her landscapes seem to exist in an endless twilight or dawn of a time not quite now. Her well-tended fields are devoid of human forms; and, above them, vast skies —clouds stretching to distant horizons —glow with a slightly eerie light.
After attending Marycrest in Davenport and the University of Iowa, Wagener finished her formal study at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC. and returned to settle in the small town of DeWitt where she is deliberately surrounded by nature. Believing in the power of the landscape to transform, she says of her work: “My mission as an artist is to present the ordinary in a way that avows majesty in quietness. I don’t seek the spectacular.†artimages/06242005.jpg 269 273
2005-06-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=259 Ken Smith Ken Smith, originally from Des Moines, is a photographer from Riverside, Washington. Ken uses medium and large format photographic equipment to produce his still life images. He works primarily in black and white, though sometimes incorporates split-toned or hand-colored images and has just started digitally printing his work Ken Smith's website http://www.kensmithart.com/ Black Locust hand-colored silver print 20" x 16" Although his subject matter is simple, Ken creates a strong sense of tranquillity and focuses on the beauty of nature. He chooses these subjects because, for him, they have a recurring theme of permanence and change. Ken remarks, “when I do my work well, it may be that those who view it discover not something new, but the essence of something they already deeply know, a kind of innate recognition of human connectedness. A validation and celebration of existence.†artimages/06252005.jpg 250 333
2005-06-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=326 Dennis Dykema Dennis Dykema is rooted in the rolling countryside of northwest Iowa and his paintings catch the energy of the fertile land. However, a viewer won't locate a specific place from his images, and a European viewer may see a kinship to Van Gogh's later landscapes. Working primarily on medium-sized oils on paper and large oils on canvas, Dykema produces bright and boldly textured paintings that appeal to a wide range of collectors.
First attending Northwestern College in Orange City, IA for his BA, then Morningside College in Sioux City, and then the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls for his MA, Dykema settled into Buena Vista College in Storm Lake where, except for sabbatical studies in England, at Notre Dame and the University of Iowa, he has taught for three decades. Monet's Dream: Part 3 oil on paper 22" x 30" Dykema maintains six gallery affiliations, and in the past decade, participated in over 32 selected exhibitions. His medium-sized works whether oils or acrylics on canvas or paper pass quickly from gallery into private and institutional collections, as yet a majority of them in the Midwest. artimages/06262005.jpg 350 260
2005-06-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=327 Dave Gordinier David is an Iowa native, now living and working in Mesa, Arizona. He attended Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids and received his BFA from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. David has had one-person exhibitions at Kirkwood Community College, Coe College as well as Mercy Hospital, all located in Cedar Rapids. Red Mountain On The Salt River Reservation oil on canvas 10" x 15" David approaches his subjects in a traditional manner, painting in a realistic style that concentrates on the way light defines an object or space. His landscape works are inspired by both the drama and serenity of the western vistas he sees near his home as well as secluded roads and streams near his former home of Cedar Rapids. David’s own collection of pottery and vases provides the subject matter for his still life paintings. artimages/06272005.jpg 350 233
2005-06-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=328 Gary Horn Gary Horn is a Des Moines native who now lives in New York City. He teaches studio art to middle school and high school students at the Metropolitan Musuem of Art in addition to his teaching jobs at the Academy of Mt. Saint Ursula and the New York Sta te Summer School of the Arts. Untitled 8 oil and metal leaf on panel, 16" x 12" Gary’s oil paintings of flowers and still lifes have a strong traditional feeling to them with some contemporary elements. In the floral paintings, the image is drawn on panel and metal leaf is applied around the design and varnished. The paintings change dramatically depending on the light due to the many layers of transparent glaze over the underpainting. With these, Gary is responding to philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer’s view on the contemplation of nature. Gary writes: “The work of art no longer represents the singular flower but the universal qualities of the flower that always exist.†artimages/06282005.jpg 250 330
2005-06-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=329 Steven Lauterwasser Steven Lauterwasser is a Cedar Rapids, Iowa native early in his career whose work has been shown several times at Wiederspan Gallery in Cedar Rapids. His paintings are in the collections of St. Lukes Hospital in Cedar Rapids and Dipavali Corporation. O'Hara's Bridge II oil on canvas board 5" x 5" Steven paints small oils of Iowa’s rural roadways, including curves in the road and upcoming bridges. Steven is drawn to the solitude and character of these Level B roads. He writes that he’s “always looking for the next bend or scenic hillside… These roads speak to me, and I strive to make that evident in my paintings.†artimages/06292005.jpg 290 300
2005-06-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=330 Cornelis Ruhtenberg With roots in northern Europe, training in Germany, early artistic success in New York, and sojourns in Pennsylvania and Italy, Cornelis Ruhtenberg now lives in Des Moines and is unquestionably one of the Midwest's most creative and distinguished living artists.
That her work holds broad appeal in subject matter and excellence of execution is evident by the long list of permanent collections and major museums owning it. From the Berlin Museum in Germany, to the Hirshorn and National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., to the Palm Springs Art Center, to the Springfield Museum of Art in Missouri, the Des Moines Art Center, Oklahoma City Museum, Denver Museum, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and to the Sheldon Memorial Gallery in Lincoln, Nebraska, Ruhtenberg's paintings fascinate viewers of various ages and cultural backgrounds. Heaven, Transfiguration acrylic 60" x 86" Her portraits, still-life studies, and figure compositions follow a realist tradition centuries old, yet evolve beyond patterns to speak directly to contemporary viewers. These expressions offer a distinctive and uncommon harmony, elegance, and imagination. artimages/06302005.jpg 350 243
2005-07-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=333 Carol Macomber Carol Macomber was born in 1938, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She received her B.S. from Lawrence College, Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1960. Carol does black-and-white photography and alternative processes and is deeply concerned about nature. Her work is shown in the Artisan's Gallery in Iowa City, BlueStem Gallery in Parkersburg, Campbell-Steele Gallery in Marion, and Henry W. Myrtle Gallery in Cedar Falls. Northern Sea Oats cyanotype photogram on cloth 48" x 22" Carol has this to say about her work, " My background includes work in biology and photography. The cyanotype photograms that I make involve local botany and simple photochemistry. The antique technology lends a degree of authenticity that I find lacking in modern technologies and presents a dramatic way of seeing some
remnants of the past." artimages/07012005.jpg 350 196
2005-07-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=334 John Fender John Fender has taught graphic design since 1995 and been on the faculty of Drake University since 1999. He is head of the graphic design program and acts as the Design Director for the Anderson Gallery. Professor Fender holds an M.F.A., an M.A., and a B.F.A. degree, all from the University of Iowa. Programming War Inkjet print 30" x 40" 2005 About his piece, John writes, "My work attempts to create a location, where there is no content, only a construct formed through interpretation ... I present ideas, objects, places or people as component factual elements and symbols, then place these artifacts into a context that forces one to create a relationship. I see art as an activity of inquiry, existing in an intangible space between social structures and the individual. Its purpose is to explore the moral and ethical underpinnings of our culture. In my art, I attempt to create situations that force an individual to question the assumptions one must make in order to achieve understanding. This work is a new direction for me where as much of my previous work was introspective and inward looking this work is directed toward the culture it reflects. It urges the viewer to construct the various cultural and political references into a narrative that comments on various concerns of mine. Specifically this work is based on my reaction to the current political and cultural decisions that are shaping the future of our world." artimages/07022005.jpg 244 325
2005-07-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=335 Marc Moulton Marc Moulton graduated with a B.A. from Weber State University, Ogden, Utah in 1985. He received his M.F.A in Sculpture just two years later from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Marc's pieces can be seen all over Iowa and in other states including Wisconsin and Utah. Marc is currently a Professor at the University of Northern Iowa. Whisk stainless steel & high pressure sodium lighting 10' x 4' x 6' artimages/07032005.jpg 240 320
2005-07-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=336 Aaron Wilson Aaron Wilson has taught printmaking and foundations in the Department of Art at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls since 1997. Prior to residing in Iowa, he completed his BFA at Wright State University in Dayton Ohio and earned an MFA at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Aaron has been the recipient of institutional and State grants, shown his work widely in national juried exhibitions, and has had solo exhibitions regionally, nationally, and in Canada. Archetype, detail from the installation Parlor Drawing and Mixed Media 36" x 40" 2004 Parlor is a mixed-media installation that seeks to visually depict post September 11th, 2001 America. It combines fine art printmaking processes with digital imaging technology, sculpture, drawing, and painting. I am interested in the amalgamation of evident reactions like fear, terror, and war with other aspects of our cultural palette. Consumer, religious, and political entities have all responded to the horror of terrorism creating a web of relative effects. Auto loans with zero-percent financing, action figures of our President, Internet images of crying eagles, a reevaluation of our civil liberties, and an ongoing war on terror are all the result of a single event. artimages/07042005.jpg 274 350
2005-07-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=337 Peter Feldstein Peter Feldstein received M.A. and M.F.A. degrees in art from The University of lowa, where he currently teaches courses in photography. His work is represented by Olson-Larsen Galleries in Des Moines and Rico-Maresco Gallery in New York City. Feldstein received an individual artistÕs grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, two Iowa Arts Council Grants, and two Polaroid Collection grants. He was artist-in-residence at Dartmouth College. 1172 inkjet print 22" x 22" About the artwork: Peter Feldstein produced these prints using a process called cliche verre, a method of drawing on a ground-coated transparent material such as glass or film and printing the resulting image on a light sensitive paper or scanning it and printing it digitally. It is a process first practiced by a number of French painters during the early part of the 19th century. Camille Corot was the best known of these. Feldstein has developed techniques for achieving a variety of line, tone, texture and color by experimenting with paint and inks and a wide assortment of tools for etching, scratching, rubbing and daubing. In this series, the original images are also manipulated digitally. artimages/07052005.jpg 315 315
2005-07-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=338 Mark Petrick Mark Petrick received his BA in Fine Art from the University of California at Berkeley (1977), where he also did Graduate Studies in Architecture & Design. He earned his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1983). He lives in Fairfield, Iowa. Mark Petrick's website http://www.markpetrick.com/ Ayyappan Pilgrims at Meenakshi Temple, Madurai, Tamil Nadu quadtone carbon pigment inkjet print 7.5†x 7.5†1998 About the artwork, Mark Petrick writes: I went to India to look at common things—temples and houses; people sitting, walking, working, worshipping; rivers and mountains; streets and shops; goddesses and gods; signs, pictures, and patterns; the sunrise; the places and happenings of each day—and to make pictures of them.
The pictures in an India are not really the result of hard labor, but of perseverance—of walking and taking the steps to move to new places, of walking some more and continuing to look with care at the obvious...These are pictures of a loved one, India, that have been collected and choreographed to convey some sense of her complexity, dignity, charm, ordinariness, contrariness, majestic depth, and mundane squalor—the confluence of the plain, the savory, and the hard to swallow, creating the unfathomable flavor of her beauty. artimages/07062005.jpg 300 300
2005-07-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=339 Anamika Holke Anamika is a senior studying studio art at the University of Iowa. This is
her first experience working with video and time-based media. 60 HZ (214) photogiclee 28" x 23" His message in these new works, obvious in several, puzzling in some, is left to the discomforted viewer. Warnings? Probably. Strong images? Definitely! While revealing another side of his emotional and technical artistry, Herrnstadt intends to continue nature photography as a major part of his total artistic out-put. Associate professor of art at Iowa State University, Herrnstadt lives and teaches in Ames, but travels widely to select his photographic subjects and to shape his world view. artimages/07072005.jpg 286 350
2005-07-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=340 Carola Wincenti Carola holds a Master of Photography degree from the Foto-Akademie Munich, Germany. She has worked as a free-lance photographer since 1986. Her collaborative efforts have led her to work with a host of organizations, including museums and newspapers. Because of the diverse nature of her work, Carola’s photographs have been used in a variety of publications, including art books and scientific journals. Her work has been exhibited in Munich, Rottach-Egern/Tegernsee, and Berlin, Germany. It has also been exhibited in Massachusetts and Iowa. Deepscape Fujichrome photograph 43" x 43" Carola’s photographs are intriguing views of nature. Whether close-ups of engravings found on a canyon wall in Colorado, a decaying willow tree in Bavaria, or a shaded lane in New Orleans, her photographs provide a one-of-a-kind perspective. Her large, color photographs are taken with a Hasselblad 6 x 6 camera and are digitally laser printed on Ilfochrome/Fujichrome paper and fixed under/on an acrylic plate. Carola also creates black and white silver prints.
She says of her work: In the unmanipulated beauty of nature I found the possibility to bring forth a new aspect in my photography. The works are images of structures and colors that nature and time have painted. New growth, the relativity of size or simply the fascination of nature in a moment of transition is represented in these pictures. artimages/07082005.jpg 315 317
2005-07-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=341 Jules Kirschenbaum Jules Kirschenbaum was a former professor of art at Drake University where he taught for over 25 years. His work has been shown on a national level and has been awarded several prizes and fellowships throughout his career, including a Fullbright scholarship, the Sawyer Prize for Painting and the Grumbacher Gold Medal both from the National Academy of Design. Jules' work is included in numerous private and public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art. Toy Series: Plane acrylic & mixed media on canvas 36" x 44" Jules' paintings are predominantly large scale still lifes that include objects of all kinds including bones, books, mannequins, mirrors and other elements that held symbolic importance for the artist. He was inspired by history, philosophy and architecture and references to these disciplines were made frequently in the objects he selected to paint. The denseness of his compositions and the precise manner in which the objects are painted create a complexity that draws the viewer in to inspect each level of detail. artimages/07092005.jpg 325 274
2005-07-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=342 Jill Schrift Jill Davis Schrift has been teaching in the art department at Grinnell College since 1988. Schrift holds an M.A. in ceramics from Purdue University, where she studied with Scott Frankenberger and Marge Levy. She also has a Masters of Science in teaching from the State University of New York at Potsdam. During the academic year Schrift works primarily in ceramics. In summer, she lives in France and works on pastel drawing and collages. Homage to Sati II stoneware 17" x 18" 2004 About her pots, Jill Schrift states: "My ultimate goal is to create ceramic works that are soulful and expressive. I draw inspiration from the classical forms of the past and strive to express these forms in my own idiom that speaks to contemporary culture." artimages/07102005.jpg 271 310
2005-07-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=343 Robert Atwell Robert Atwell was born in 1973 in Nevada, Iowa. He has received both a BFA (1995) and MFA (2002) from Iowa State University.
Robert Atwell's website http://robertatwell.com/ Thu, Apr 22, 2004, 7:22PM vinyl, enamel, and alkyd resin on aspen pane 11.25†x 11.25†2004 Robert Atwell's work is created using a process that embraces both digital and analog sources. Beginning with a sketchbook, Atwell records spontaneously drawn marks inspired from experiences within visual and audio environments, which he draws and redraws, scans, digitizes, prints and uses to build a visual dialog. Tradition and technology come together to create hybrid paintings, uniting the long tradition of abstract painting and the more recent advent of technological tools as art making devices. Final works come in the form of drawings, paintings, digital prints, and interactive installations. The day, month, year, and time become the titles of Atwell's work, marking another moment in history. artimages/07112005.jpg 300 300
2005-07-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=344 Terri Parish McGaffin Terri Parish McGaffin has worked as a professional artist for many years, and has acquired a regional and national exhibition record. She has exhibited recently in Idaho, South Dakota, Florida, Colorado, and Illinois. Her work is in the collections of the Sioux City Art Center, Morningside College and the University of South Dakota, as well as many private collections. She is currently serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. Showmen mixed media on canvas 42" x 46†2003 Of her work, Terri writes: "As a representational painter, it is my aim to create work that has both a specific quality and a universal quality. I follow an intuitive approach to content, and a more analytical approach to formal development. I am always engaged in the search for composition and relationships of value and color in the visible world, and engaged in the process of representing these things within the painted surface." artimages/07122005.jpg 325 300
2005-07-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=345 Sara Slee Brown Sara Slee Brown received her BFA in art from the University of Michigan and her MA and MFA in Painting from the University of Iowa. Brown has exhibited extensively in the Midwest and her work is included in the Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project. She has been active in local public art projects, including Overalls All Over and Herky on Parade and is the Graphic Designer for the Iowa City Public Library.
Sara Slee Brown website http://www.sarasleebrown.com/index.html Solitary Conch scanner art 10" x 7" 2004 About the artwork: Sara Slee Brown has been producing these scanner art pieces for the past year. She is fascinated with the process itself and the simple, clean contrasts, shapes and beauty that can be produced with a few cherished objects and her scanner. The sense of solitude and serenity these works evoke seems to go beyond the methods and materials used. artimages/07132005.jpg 225 321
2005-07-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=346 Joe Hall Joe Hall is a digital artist who lives and works in Iowa City, Iowa. Hall completed his Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Iowa in 2004. Exhibitions include participation in a group show at the Des Moines Art Center, and a solo exhibition in Seoul, Korea. Untitled, Intermedia: live and on tape CSPS, Cedar Rapids, Iowa artimages/07142005.jpg 325 246
2005-07-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=347 Will Mentor Born in 1958 in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Will Mentor would go onto to receive his B.F.A from Rhode Island School of Design in 1981. Will is now a resident of Iowa where his piece "Bionic Farm" was shown at the Karolyn Sherwood Gallery in Des Moines. Mini Capsee oil and acrylic on canvas 48" x 48" 2002 artimages/07152005.jpg 300 305
2005-07-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=348 Richard Kelley Richard was born in Davenport, Iowa in 1944. In 1967, he received his B.A. from the University of Iowa and later received his M.F.A. in Painting from the University of Cincinnati in 1969. Ship Graveyard oil on canvas 45" x 44" 2003 "I increasingly feel that the deeper an artist burrows into himself, the greater become the odds of his saying something profound. I have no desire to be well-rounded artistically. The risks that I have taken and contemplate taking relate to this 'burrowing' process of getting ever deeper into my art. The resultant imagery has always been, in my mature work, metaphoric to the themes of impermanence and decay..."
- Richard Kelley - artimages/07162005.jpg 310 325
2005-07-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=349 Joe Biel After being born in Boulder, Colorado, Joe Biel would go on to receive his B.F.A. in Painting and Art History from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Two years later in 1990, he earned his M.F.A. in Painting at the University of Michigan. Strike acrylic on canvas 12" x 12" 2004 artimages/07172005.jpg 330 323
2005-07-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=350 Brandon Buckner Brandon Buckner is in his third year of the MFA program in painting at the University of Iowa. His current paintings focus on building narratives from his own personal history and background. Finding Home stoneware, porcelain, Braille text 32" x 25" diameter artimages/07182005.jpg 225 332
2005-07-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=351 Julius Schmidt Born in 1923 in Stamford, Connecticut, Julius Schmidt would go on to receive his B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Sculpture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. His work has been shown in galleries all across the U.S. Julius was the head of the Sculpture Department at the University of Iowa from 1970 - 1993. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa. Untitled (B-03-01) bronze 16 5/8 in. 2003 artimages/07192005.jpg 250 323
2005-07-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=352 Bill Hamilton William Francis Hamilton II was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He is the son of nationally-known artists Gene and Carlie Hamilton. In addition to learning from his parents, Bill attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco and also mentored under internationally-acclaimed artist, Jim Buckels.
Hamilton spent two years touring and painting the countryside of the Republic of Georgia, where he was given a solo exhibition. His latest works feature a series of paintings depicting vintage San Francisco signs. Hamilton has also painted Georgian landscapes, California coastal and urban scenes, and flower gardens. In addition to oil painting, Hamilton works in found scrap metal to create abstract sculptures. Collaboration #! oil on canvas, 38" x 57" 2004 Hamilton spent two years touring and painting the countryside of the Republic of Georgia, where he was given a solo exhibition. His latest works feature a series of paintings depicting vintage San Francisco signs. Hamilton has also painted Georgian landscapes, California coastal and urban scenes, and flower gardens. In addition to oil painting, Hamilton works in found scrap metal to create abstract sculptures. artimages/07202005.jpg 350 232
2005-07-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=363 Shannon Kennedy Shannon Kennedy earned her BFA in Painting from the University of Oregon and then went on to earn MA and MFA degrees in Painting from the University of Iowa. She currently teaches at the University of Iowa as an Adjunct Assistant Professor for the Painting and Drawing department. Diptych oil on canvas 29" x 34" 2004 "My work is inspired by my everday life and by the profound experience of being in the world. I am in search of outer images which correspond with inner psychological, spiritual or metaphysical experience. I often compose using two figures in a dramatically simplified space. I am interested in the implied meaning of a third unnamed element that develops as a result of the spatial or contextual relationship of the figures. In my work there is a search for the point at which abstraction and representation can be made to meet. I emphasize formal relationships in an effort to infuse my domestic images with a heroic or monumental quality." - Shannon Kennedy - artimages/07212005.jpg 310 255
2005-07-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=364 Larassa Kabel Born in 1970 in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, Larassa would go on to earn a B.F.A. with honors from Iowa State University in 1992. Larassa's work has been seen all over Iowa and Michigan. Larassa is currently an instructor at the Des Moines Art Center and is on the Board of Directors at the Metro Arts Alliance in Des Moines, Iowa. Welcome oil on canvas 24" x 60" 2005 artimages/07222005.jpg 375 146
2005-07-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=365 Gary Komarin Gary Komarin, a New York native, received his M.F.A. in Painting from the Boston University Graduate School of Fine Artis. Gary has done countless exhibitions and both coasts and everywhere in between and his pieces can be found in numerous private collections all over the country as well. One of the various teaching positions that Gary held was at the University of Iowa under the Visiting Painter Graduate Program. English Bob mixed media on canvas 71 1/2" x 55" 2001 artimages/07232005.jpg 221 288
2005-07-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=366 Thomas C. Jackson Born in Rock Island, Illinois in 1950, Thomas Jackson holds a B.A. from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois and an M.F.A. from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He received these degrees in 1972 and 1974 respectively. After earning his M.F.A, Thomas went on to become an Assistant Professor of Art at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Since then, he has held various positions in Iowa using his graphic and design capabilities. Thomas C. Jackson's website http://www.thomascjackson.com/ Stella of Chief Carpenter Amunnakhte 2 pastel 34.5" x 25.5" 2003 artimages/07242005.jpg 225 295
2005-07-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=367 Luther Utterback Luther earned his B.F.A, M.A. and M.F.A. for Sculpture and Design from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He has held various teaching positions including Graduate Teaching Assistant for Sculpture and Design as well as an Instructor of Sculpture, both at the University of Iowa. Woman acrylic on architectural linen 72" x 41" 1985 artimages/07252005.jpg 225 351
2005-07-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=368 George Walker Born in Michigan in 1924, George Walker joined the U.S. Army for two years before going on to do graduate work at the Academia Delle Belle Arte in Rome, Italy. George then continued his artistic instruction at Michigan State University where he earned his B.A. and M.F.A. degrees. His work has been seen in solo and group exhibitions all over the country and internationally which includes solo exhibitions in Brazil and Italy.
George is currently working as a Professor at the University of Iowa.
Big Bird acrylic on paper 9" x 6 3/8" artimages/07262005.jpg 206 288
2005-07-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=369 Jay Vigon Jay Vigon, acclaimed world wide for his innovative and influential graphics is a graduate of The Art Center College of Design in southern California. Vigon earned his reputation by applying distinctively bold conceptual graphics to logo design, album covers, and fashion advertising. His clients include George Lucas, Warner Bros., Cole of California, Gotcha sportswear, and Swatch watches. Jay is the author of two books: Marks and Marks II, which are considered a must have for any designers library. Jay Vigon's website http://www.jayvigon.com/ (image from) Masked Men and Little Monsters acrylic on vinyl 2003 Jay Vigon's pioneering style led him into broadcast graphics for television commercials with such clients as AT&T, Diet Coke and Toyota. He then moved behind the camera to assume the role of director. Among Jay's many projects are spots created for Mercedes Benz, GTE, Seiko watches and Keiser Permennte. In 1994 Vigon established Made On Earth, a boutique built around character driven products that are now sold across the country. Jay Vigon continues to do graphic design, while working on a series of fine art projects and filming a documentary based upon the life of Cesar Chavez. artimages/07272005.jpg 225 339
2005-07-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=370 Pete Goche Pete is a native Iowan, born in Buffalo Center, Iowa in 1966. He earned his B.A. in Architecture from Iowa State University in 1991. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe to fine tune his craft. His exhibitions have been shown throughout Iowa and even London, with his most recent piece being shown at the Karolyn Sherwood Gallery in Des Moines, Iowa. Abandoned by the sacrament of consumption, we adorn the empty crib with translucent screams Iris print 30" x 20" 2001 artimages/07282005.jpg 233 292
2005-07-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=371 Karen Strohbeen (Please see Bill Luchsinger tomorrow, July 30th)
Karen Strohbeen and Bill Luchsinger, two of the Midwest’s most successful fine artist for the past 25 years, expanded their audience when they created the nationally syndicated Public Television gardening series, “The Perennial Gardener with Karen Strohbeenâ€. With Karen as the on-air talent and Bill behind the camera writing, producing, and directing each segment, the television series combines their life-long love of gardening and their innovative artwork.
Having met as art students at Drake University in Des Moines, Karen and Bill now live on 80 acres of idyllic central Iowa farmland. Widely known for their paintings, printmaking, sculpture, and now their innovative works on ceramic tiles, they have been at the forefront of digital printmaking, which is their ongoing focus. Available images in their portfolio number in the hundreds. Rabbits digital print variable dimensions Love of nature has inspired both Karen and Bill as they continue to explore their distinctive artistic styles. Whether it is Karen’s whimsical and fantastic interpretations of flowers and garden life or Bill’s peaceful studies of nature born out of the photographic medium, their styles have found the perfect home in their limited edition prints and tile works.
With the introduction of their tile works over the past ten years, Karen and Bill have created an incredibly popular medium on which they can reproduce their limited edition images. Whether the image is captured on a single 12-by-12 inch tile or enlarged and printed on tiles in groupings of four to fifty, this new medium has multiple applications in home décor.
Karen Strohbeen and Bill Luchsinger are committed to pursuing their art wherever technological advances take them. artimages/07292005.jpg 350 219
2005-07-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=372 Bill Luchsinger (Please see yesterday's page, July 29th, for Karen Strohbeen)
Karen Strohbeen and Bill Luchsinger have forged an innovative path in taking their limited-edition prints to a new medium. Their tile works represent a unique way to collect their work, whether that is a single tile or a single image on multiple tiles. Lady in a Window (1) digital print variable dimensions Creating the tiles requires a process called Dye Sublimation.
The tiles themselves are “printedâ€, but not in the usual sense. Instead of using pigment and inks as with the works on paper, the tiles require chemical dyes. These dyes are digitally printed in reverse on special paper and then applied to the pre-glazed ceramic tiles. Placing the tile and dyed image under 500 degree heated pressure, the chemical dyes turn to gas and are forced into a hardened, polymer surface.
Images can be ordered on tiles as part of their limited editions in 6 inch, 8 inch, or 12 inch tiles. They also can be created as “multiplesâ€, taking the same image and spreading it out over multiple tiles.
The tiles come with an attached wood block and are ready for easy installation with common picture hangers. Tiles can also be ordered without the wood blocks for direct installation in conjunction with other residential tile work in kitchens and on bathroom walls, as examples.
Karen and Bill are at the forefront of the digital technology that allows them to create new works in a medium that other artists are just toying with – but their work has a clarity and definition that very few can equal. artimages/07302005.jpg 225 300
2005-07-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=373 Mitchell Squire Mitchell Squire was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1959. In 2001, Mitchell earned a Master of Architecture from Iowa State University Graduate College. He has been an Assistant Professor at Iowa State University, as well as a Visiting Professor of Architecture at the University of Minnesota. Most recently, Mitchell has participated in the group exhibition entitled "New New 2" which appeared at the Karolyn Sherwood Gallery in Des Moines, Iowa earlier this year. Untitled 1-4 (Bulk Law Enforcement Targets, Shot Through) found objects and spray paint 55 1/5" x 29 3/4" (each panel) 2004 artimages/07312005.jpg 426 200
2005-08-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=565 John Andrew John Andrew received his B.F.A from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska in 1984. He would go on to earn his M.A. and M.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 1988 and 1991 respectively. John has had many solo and group exhibitions all over the country and has a permanent place in collections from Chicago to Varese, Italy.
The Repetitions #1 monotype 54 1/2 x 56 inches 1993 artimages/08012005.jpg 290 298
2005-08-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=566 Phillip Chen Born in Chicago, Illinois, Phillip Chen would continue on to earn his B.F.A from the University of Illinois, Chicago in 1975. Four years later in 1979, Phillip earned his M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Beginning as an Instructor of Drawing at the Cook County Jail, Phillip is currently an Associate Professor of Printmaking and Drawing at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Prairie Breaker relief etching 31" x 23" 2002 artimages/08022005.jpg 325 240
2005-08-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=569 Ryan Jennings Clark Ryan was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1979 and would later earn his B.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 2002. Most recently, Ryan participated in a solo exhibition at the Karolyn Sherwood Gallery in Des Moines, Iowa. Window Series I: Untitled #4 digital print, polyeurathane 11" x 16.25" 2003 Here is a brief overview of his show, "On the Morality of Memory":"This exhibition is about the construction and continuity of human identity through memory and experience. I am focusing on the disconcerting fallibility of memory as a recording device that is based in “realityâ€, and I am glancing at the un-navigable paths through the subconscious and the imaginary. These issues become important if one considers their memory and experience to define who they are/were/and will be.
I have divided the exhibition into two sections: Subjective Memory and Objective Memory. The 'Subjective Memory' pieces are divided into three sections that are based on theories of the metaphysical divisions of man. Part I, for example, pits the conception of linear, unfaltering time against the actualities of the human experience. Part III, is identity without memory. The Objective Memory pieces deal with cultural identity and the placement of that in an historical context. I am interested in the subtleties we employ to communicate and universally accept these concepts (identity and narrative), even in the midst of our individual relative knowledge." artimages/08032005.jpg 340 232
2005-08-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=570 Janel Swangstu Janel earned a B.F.A. in Sculpture and Photography from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1990. In 1998, Janel received an M.F.A. in Sculpture from Hunter College in New York, New York. She has had numerous solo exhibitions since starting her career in 1991, including a number of exhibitions in Des Moines, Iowa. The galleries are as follows, Des Moines Art Center, Harmon Fine Arts Center, The Furnace Gallery, and the Iowa Heritage Museum. Untitled #16A color photogram 14" x 14" 2002 artimages/08042005.jpg 250 250
2005-08-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=571 Fred Truck Fred Truck is a true Iowan artist. Born in 1946 in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Fred would go on to earn his B.A. at Iowa Wesleyan College in 1969. He currently lives and works in Des Moines, Iowa. Something to note about Fred is that he was a co-founder of the Art Com Electronic Network, the first computer network for artists, with Carl Loeffler in 1986. See more of Fred's work here http://www.fredtruck.com/ Mr. Milk Bottle in His Balloon Dream bronze 9.5" x 7" x 4" 2001 "I work from 3D computer imagery I generate in CAD/CAM programs. Drawing in three dimensions makes it easy for me to move a given idea into a print or even a constructed object such as a bronze. Of course, there is a trick to this. I realized early on that the ideas I had were always connected to matter. I’ve never had an idea independent of matter. Moving an idea from my computer CAD/CAM rendering to a sculpture is a process of understanding that the electrons making the image on my computer monitor are the same as those electrons making up the bronze of my sculptures. When the electrons are represented by 1s and 0s, changing their outward form is like pouring water from a fish bowl in to a swan-necked vase." artimages/08052005.jpg 250 302
2005-08-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=572 Vivian Torrence Vivian Torrence was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois. After receiving her B.S. degree in Painting and Drawing from Eastern Illinois University in 1967, Vivian continued on to earn her M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa in 1978. Her work has been seen throughout the Midwest as well as in Germany where she now resides.
Vivian Torrence's website http://www.viviantorrence.com/ Ariel (Shakespeare's Tempest Series) mixed media (collage) 19.75" x 15.75" 2004 artimages/08062005.jpg 250 316
2005-08-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=573 Michael Peter Cain Currently living and working in Iowa, Michael Peter Cain was not always a Midwest resident. In 1959, Michael graduated Cum Laude from Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut. He then graduated with an A.B. in English from Harvard in 1964, also Cum Laude. Going on to Yale, Michael would earn both his B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Painting there. His work has been seen across the globe, with his pieces being in private collections in the United States, Europe, and India.
Seed of the World Forming Process #37 patina on bronze 6" x 2" x 5" 1989-94 artimages/08072005.jpg 325 215
2005-08-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=574 Charlotte Cain Charlotte Cain is another East coast graduate transplanted into Iowa. She received her B.S. in Painting and Education from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1963. She has participated in many group and solo exhibitions in Iowa as well as Illinois, New York, California, Colorado, Indiana, and Rhode Island. One of her major commissions can be seen in the Music Hall Building at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. All Is Well, Very Well (hands) waxed gouache on paper, laminated to birch 22.25" x 16" 2003 artimages/08082005.jpg 225 314
2005-08-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=575 Bill Hamilton William Francis Hamilton II is the son of nationally-known artists Gene and Carlie Hamilton. In addition to learning from his parents, Bill attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco and also mentored under internationally-acclaimed artist, Jim Buckels.He was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1976 Fino, oil on canvas 57 x 38 in. 2004 Hamilton spent two years touring and painting the countryside of the Republic of Georgia, where he was given a solo exhibition. His latest works feature a series of paintings depicting vintage San Francisco signs. Hamilton has also painted Georgian landscapes, California coastal and urban scenes, and flower gardens. In addition to oil painting, Hamilton works in found scrap metal to create abstract sculptures. artimages/08092005.jpg 225 334
2005-08-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=576 Laurel Farrin Laurel earned her B.F.A. in Studio Art at Ohio University in 1977 and later received her M.F.A. in Painting from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1993. She now works as an Assistant Professor for Painting/Drawing at the University of Iowa, where she has been since 1997. Laurel has shown her pieces in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Iowa, Maryland, Virginia, and countless other states. Practice I oil and acrylic on canvas 18" x 18" 2002 artimages/08102005.jpg 270 268
2005-08-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=577 Gary Komarin Gary Komarin, a New York native, received his M.F.A. in Painting from the Boston University Graduate School of Fine Artis. Gary has done countless exhibitions and both coasts and everywhere in between and his pieces can be found in numerous private collections all over the country as well. One of the various teaching positions that Gary held was at the University of Iowa under the Visiting Painter Graduate Program. Normandy in Red water based enamel paint, oil paint, oil crayon, pencil, and charcoal on linen 48 x 42 inches 2004 artimages/08112005.jpg 275 317
2005-08-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=578 Thomas c. Jackson Born in Rock Island, Illinois in 1950, Thomas Jackson holds a B.A. from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois and an M.F.A. from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He received these degrees in 1972 and 1974 respectively. After earning his M.F.A, Thomas went on to become an Assistant Professor of Art at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Since then, he has held various positions in Iowa using his graphic and design capabilities. His personal website can be viewed here. http://www.thomascjackson.com/ Funerary Brick, Han Dynasty oil on canvas 80" x 38.25" 2004 artimages/08122005.jpg 167 350
2005-08-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=579 Luther Utterback Luther earned his B.F.A, M.A. and M.F.A. for Sculpture and Design from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He has held various teaching positions including Graduate Teaching Assistant for Sculpture and Design as well as an Instructor of Sculpture, both at the University of Iowa.
Child acrylic on architectural linen 72" x 41" 1985 artimages/08132005.jpg 215 358
2005-08-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=580 George Walker Born in Michigan in 1924, George Walker joined the U.S. Army for two years before going on to do graduate work at the Academia Delle Belle Arte in Rome, Italy. George then continued his artistic instruction at Michigan State University where he earned his B.A. and M.F.A. degrees. George is currently working as a Professor at the University of Iowa. Mediterranean Series acrylic on paper 10.25" x 14.25" 2000 His work has been seen in solo and group exhibitions all over the country and internationally which includes solo exhibitions in Brazil and Italy. artimages/08142005.jpg 350 251
2005-08-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=581 Jay Vigon Jay Vigon, acclaimed world wide for his innovative and influential graphics is a graduate of The Art Center College of Design in southern California. Vigon earned his reputation by applying distinctively bold conceptual graphics to logo design, album covers, and fashion advertising. His clients include George Lucas, Warner Bros., Cole of California, Gotcha sportswear, and Swatch watches. Jay is the author of two books: Marks and Marks II, which are considered a must have for any designers library. More work by Jay Vigon can be seen here. http://www.jayvigon.com/ (image from) Masked Men and Little Monsters acrylic on vinyl 2003 Jay Vigon's pioneering style led him into broadcast graphics for television commercials with such clients as AT&T, Diet Coke and Toyota. He then moved behind the camera to assume the role of director. Among Jay's many projects are spots created for Mercedes Benz, GTE, Seiko watches and Keiser Permennte. In 1994 Vigon established Made On Earth, a boutique built around character driven products that are now sold across the country. Jay Vigon continues to do graphic design, while working on a series of fine art projects and filming a documentary based upon the life of Cesar Chavez. artimages/08152005.jpg 250 342
2005-08-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=582 Pete Goche Pete is a native Iowan, born in Buffalo Center, Iowa in 1966. He earned his B.A. in Architecture from Iowa State University in 1991. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe to fine tune his craft. His exhibitions have been shown throughout Iowa and even London, with his most recent piece being shown at the Karolyn Sherwood Gallery in Des Moines, Iowa. Exhumed from the obscurity of light, we await the emergence of silence (crysalis) Iris print 30" x 20" 2001 artimages/08162005.jpg 225 300
2005-08-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=583 John Andrew John Andrew received his B.F.A from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska in 1984. He would go on to earn his M.A. and M.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 1988 and 1991 respectively. John has had many solo and group exhibitions all over the country and has a permanent place in collections from Chicago to Varese, Italy. The Repetitions #20 monotype 54 1/2 x 56 inches 1993 artimages/08172005.jpg 275 281
2005-08-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=584 Julius Schmidt Born in 1923 in Stamford, Connecticut, Julius Schmidt would go on to receive his B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Sculpture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. His work has been shown in galleries all across the U.S. Julius was the head of the Sculpture Department at the University of Iowa from 1970 - 1993. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa.
Untitled (B-71-08) bronze 4.25" x 4.75" x 5.5" 1971 artimages/08182005.jpg 325 226
2005-08-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=585 Joe Biel After being born in Boulder, Colorado, Joe Biel would go on to receive his B.F.A. in Painting and Art History from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Two years later in 1990, he earned his M.F.A. in Painting at the University of Michigan.
One Eye (Rag in Mouth) graphite and pastel on paper 11.75" x 11.75" 2003 Joe's work has been seen in California, Texas, Oregon, Washington, and Nebraska. This not including his most recent group piece entitled "NEW NEW 2" that was shown at the Karolyn Sherwood Gallery in Des Moines in 2005. artimages/08192005.jpg 310 310
2005-08-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=586 Brian Andreas Brian Andreas is a storyteller whose tales are rendered in prints, books, wall figures from recycled barn wood, and furniture. He currently resides in Decorah, Iowa. prints "I've always made up things, from the earliest time I can remember, but it wasn't until the last several years that I figured out what that meant: I am a storyteller. With that flash of understanding, my life suddenly became much less complicated. My life & my art became as easy as breathing for me. What I do is what I have always done; I'm no longer casting about looking for what I will do with my life. As an example, my emphasis for my degree in Fiber & Mixed Media was in Electronic Community; I think of my ongoing interest like this story as the fiber of human community. Like a weaving, my life is composed of many strands that all blend together in a more or less coherent fashion (but I'm sure this is only a transient phenomenon, as some days I'm convinced that incoherence is our most natural state of being...)" artimages/08202005.jpg 350 255
2005-08-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=587 Richard Kelley Richard was born in Davenport, Iowa in 1944. In 1967, he received his B.A. from the University of Iowa and later received his M.F.A. in Painting from the University of Cincinnati in 1969.
River of Life, oil on canvas 32" x 42.5" 2003 "I increasingly feel that the deeper an artist burrows into himself, the greater become the odds of his saying something profound. I have no desire to be well-rounded artistically. The risks that I have taken and contemplate taking relate to this 'burrowing' process of getting ever deeper into my art. The resultant imagery has always been, in my mature work, metaphoric to the themes of impermanence and decay..." artimages/08212005.jpg 320 238
2005-08-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=588 Marilyn Davis A resident of the Quad Cities, Marilyn is one of tile original founders of Iowa Artisans Gallery. Her studies in art and art history have taken her to Hunter College in New York City, Denmark, Montana and the University of Iowa. Marilyn has participated in numerous shows in Iowa and Illinois. salt-fired vases Ceramist Marilyn Davis uses animal, plant and abstract imagery to create intricate patterns that move the viewer's eye around the work. By inlaying thin slabs of porcelain clays, she creates a sense of overlapping, where one pattern begins to encroach upon another.
Tile millefiore technique of rolling layers of multi-colored clays and slicing cross sections adds to the richness of color and design she strives for. The work is salt fired at Cone 8, approximately 2500F. The salt vapors react with the multi-colored raw clays, achieving an orange-peel texture on the unglazed outer surfaces. artimages/08222005.jpg 350 248
2005-08-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=589 Nate Evans Nate currently resides in New Albin, Iowa. view inside wood-fired kiln Nate and Hallie Evans are two young potters devoted to functional wood-fired ceramics. Wood-fire is an ancient, labor intensive process in which the interaction of ash, flame and pots determines much of the final look. The kiln must be monitored around the clock for several days. This differs from raku, a low-fire process done in a shorter time period. By contrast, wood-fire is a high temperature firing, resulting in durable pots for everyday kitchen use. artimages/08232005.jpg 212 306
2005-08-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=590 Hallie Evans Hallie currently resides in New Albin, Iowa. wood-fired ceramic pitcher and cups After graduating from Luther College in the late 1990s, Nate and Hallie spent two years as apprentices at the W.M. Hewitt Pottery in Pittsboro, North Carolina. There they participated in all aspects of a working pottery, including the more unusual approach of preparing their own clay and glazes. While most potters purchase their supplies from clay supply houses, Nate and Hallie still try to use as many indigenous clay and glaze materials as possible. "Using these local clays and rocks enables us to create pots that could not be duplicated even by us, in another location," they explain. Their current studio is nestled in a deep valley near New Albin, in extreme northeastern Iowa. The firing of their large, tube-shaped kiln to a temperature of about 2400 degrees takes place over four days, fueled by oak and ash slab wood (a sawmill waste product). artimages/08242005.jpg 339 255
2005-08-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=591 Shannon Kennedy Shannon Kennedy earned her BFA in Painting from the University of Oregon and then went on to earn MA and MFA degrees in Painting from the University of Iowa. She currently teaches at the University of Iowa as an Adjunct Assistant Professor for the Painting and Drawing department.
Untitled oil on canvas 29" x 36" 2005 "My work is inspired by my everday life and by the profound experience of being in the world. I am in search of outer images which correspond with inner psychological, spiritual or metaphysical experience. I often compose using two figures in a dramatically simplified space. I am interested in the implied meaning of a third unnamed element that develops as a result of the spatial or contextual relationship of the figures. In my work there is a search for the point at which abstraction and representation can be made to meet. I emphasize formal relationships in an effort to infuse my domestic images with a heroic or monumental quality." artimages/08252005.jpg 350 239
2005-08-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=592 Earlene Giglierano A native of southern Ohio, Earlene lives in Iowa City and is a founding member of the Iowa Artisans Gallery. woven baskets Earlene believes that the things with which we surround ourselves should be beautiful and feel good to use. "I see my baskets as containers for objects, and I want them to be sturdy and functional."
Each of Earlene's baskets is unique. "I make up my own basketry styles while using traditonal basketweaving techniques." Of primary concern is that the basket can withstand its intended function. She points out that so many commercial baskets sold today use design elements that don't hold up. For example: a handle that is not anchored in the structure of the basket and consequently falls off under pressure.
Earlene's baskets are easily cared for by dusting with a soft paintbrush. Because these baskets are made from natural reed fibers, they also benefit greatly by being placed in a humid environment two or three times a year (bathroom, or other room with a humidifier). Only tea is used to stain the brown baskets, making them safe for contact with food. Earlene uses no oils during the finishing process. artimages/08262005.jpg 343 187
2005-08-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=593 Dan Lechay Dan Lechay grew up in Iowa City and earned a Ph.D. in English at the University of Iowa. He lived in New York for many years, and for a decade directed investigations into health and other issues for the New York City Council President. He has also taught college English and edited a quarterly magazine for ACT. His book of poetry, The Quarry, was published last year by Ohio University Press. photography "I'm not a professional photographer, but I like taking photos that give a sense of how strange and interesting people are, whether they live in Iowa or in Kathmandu. I was particularly impressed by the friendliness of people in Delhi. They were very welcoming and, as you can see from the photos, many were delighted to have their pictures taken. In Nepal, as in India, people have very hard lives, but visitors are overwhelmed by their good nature, dignity, and industriousness, and by the omnipresence of Buddhist and Hindu spirituality." artimages/08272005.jpg 452 190
2005-08-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=594 Amy Dobrian Amy is currently a resident of Iowa City, Iowa. A New Heart original print "For the last several years my images have been concerned with the exploration of memory, as it evolves through time and as it manifests itself in the present moment. I am interested in time as both a linear and a non-linear experience, and in how our perception of time evolves from the relationships constructed by the mind of memory, present, and expectation. I am interested in the relationships between thought and event, and physical and emotional 'reality' as they affect our perception of time inside and outside of our own sensory experience. A memory is transformed and reconfigured by linear time and its interaction with the 'outside' events of one's life; and, paradoxically remains fixed within the psyche as the symbol of self within a single moment transcendent of time." artimages/08282005.jpg 200 269
2005-08-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=595 Michael Roberts A resident of Iowa City, Iowa, Roberts is a native of California. He received his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1975 and has participated in numerous exhibitions nationwide.
medieval style paintings,defaced acrylic on board Michael Roberts is known for his highly realistic portrait cut-outs on wood. His subjects have included well-known political or historical figures as well as ordinary citizens. The cut-outs appear three dimensional instead of flat, with facial features augmented by intense lighting at close range. artimages/08292005.jpg 349 245
2005-08-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=596 Jim Kasper Jim Kasper maintains his wood-fire kiln on his rural property near Tipton, Iowa, where he lives with his wife Lucy and Great Dane, Bert. On his land, he is establishing 20 acres of native prairie grasses and about four acres of trees. Untitled wood-fired ceramics His work has a wonderful combination of wit, intelligence and primal wood- fire, reflecting his years of scholarship in physics and his love of ceramics. He is a member of the Society of Creative Anachronism in which he hand-cuts dies for the hand-striking of medieval style tokens. His work has been featured in Ceramics Monthly as well as exhibitions such as the International Orton Cone Box Show. artimages/08302005.jpg 225 343
2005-08-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=597 Carl Homstad woodcut prints "Art gives us an understanding of place. One of the things an artist does is show us the way each place is beautiful, or awesome, or terrible. I have lived in the same place for nearly twenty years, where I have built my own studio and house. Like the 'One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji,' doing pictures of the same area again and again in the different seasons and times of the day is a way to gain a deeper understanding of a place. Just as it takes a long time to understand the subtleties of an area, I like to make pictures that 'grow on you.' Although realistic, my work is not photographic. Naturalistic is perhaps a better description.
With my woodcuts I am constantly trying new techniques as well as working on the old ones. I try to get the most out of each cut, each color and each block. In this age of the reproduction I believe in carrying on the tradition of the color woodcut, and I enjoy the challenge. I work mostly from memory, creating images of ordinary places at extra- ordinary times, for example, in the rain or snow in the last rays of the sun." A native of Colorado, Carl is a graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he continues to make his home. artimages/08312005.jpg 405 228
2005-09-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=598 David Luck David Luck's Sculpture Portfolio http://davidlucksculpture.blogspot.com/ Untitled hammered metal wall quilt and detail Enter David Luck's studio and you immediately confront his fascination with metalworking. Every available inch is packed with work spaces, older yet well- maintained tools, scraps of sheet metal, shipping crates, files, books. In a studio that could easily enter a state of chaos, David's is ordered, layered.
Like the modular quality of his work, a series of small intensely used spaces is ordered into onb entity known as the Metalworks in Iowa City, Iowa. With an undergraduate degree in photojournalism, it was graduate work in metals with Chunghi Choo at the University of Iowa that brought David closer to his present sculptural involvement with metal. "As I designed and made functional metal objects, I became interested in the expressive qualities of the metalworking craft. Metal is part of our visual culture and seems to express a certain subject matter and content by itself."
The mainstay of David's work is his jewelry: handmade link bracelets, pendants, bangles and earrings for the most part, in sterling silver. However, he also makes sculptural pieces and metal wall quilts. When working in sculptural forms, David's preference is for sheet metal and casting. In investigating these techniques, he explored structural systems used to fabricate metal items in everyday life. Ductwork is an example of this. As he describes, "I adapted structural systems to make forms on a larger scale. The patterns of the structural components and joints broke up the surface of my forms, becoming part of the decorative system. This led to the use of hammered surface patterns and relief. I composed these rhythmic patterns, trying to make compositions with internal harmony."
Some of David's pieces employ colored surface patinas, which he achieves chemically in the studio. In addition to jewelry, David Luck has executed commissions of large hammered metal wall quilts for public buildings such as Iowa State University's Horticulture Building and Carver-Hawkeye Arena at the University of Iowa. artimages/09012005.jpg 350 300
2005-09-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=599 Larry Welo Larry Welo has been creating etchings since the early 1970's. A graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, Welo operated a studio in Minneapolis until moving to Wisconsin, where he currently lives with his family. An Unusual Destiny etching A popular Midwestern artist, Larry Welo's etchings cover a broad range of topics. Scenes from small Midwestern towns, spirited cats, images of baseball diamonds or bicyclists, colorful zany portraits titled An Appetite for Art -- all of these subjects are fertile territory for Welo's wit and skill as a printmaker. When viewing his work, always notice the title; his witty perceptions about the world set him apart from many other artists. Welo executes his work in both black and white and in color, with the occasional addition of monoprint or chine colle.
His prints on baseball themes are included in the Sports Art Archives at the Butler Institute of Art and in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as corporate, private and university collections in the Midwest. His works have also been featured on several covers of the North American Review.
"My etching have always been inspired by various aspects of my life; they are, in a sense, self portraits. My imagery is often rooted in the natural world. I create my etchings entirely in the studio; I find my information in sketches I have drawn, written notations and most importantly, my imagination. My images are not intended to be duplications of the world, but instead interpretations of it. It is important to me that the creative process be a voyage of discovery, always looking in new directions and following new avenues." artimages/09022005.jpg 200 375
2005-09-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=600 Randy Richmond Protected #1, archival digital pigment print, 20" x 15" (framed) "I am a photographic and digital artist living Iowa. I strive to make digital art more natural and organic by using actual objects that are scanned and then separated from their original backgrounds. These objects are combined with other objects as well as photographic images that I have created over the last 20 years. Sometimes I feel like a psychic who works in reverse. An object triggers a memory and then transforms itself into something visual while drawing from emotions and feelings from my past." artimages/09032005.jpg 350 255
2005-09-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=601 E. Douglas Wunder "My art career began in the late l980's while in college at the University of Iowa. The last two years I took a number of metalworking classes. One of the attributes of this study was that the homework was marketable. By the last year in school, my jewelry was selling regularly at shops and art fairs around Iowa. Perseverance, determination, hard work, and resourcefulness resulted in my work being displayed at various high quality galleries and art fairs nationally.
titanium jewelry The most appealing aspect of this profession is experiencing creativity. Inspiration for my jewelry comes from details of natural and technological objects. Different parts, shapes, and angular movements of an industrial building, for example, can be quite inspiring. The manner in which the individual components flow and contrast with one another, completing interesting geometric patterns, is much the feel of my work I find similar inspiration by looking at the sky. A focal point might be the moon. Captured in and around the celestial body are many shades, unique forms, and interesting cloud formations that intermlate with the surface. Each piece of jewelry expresses a detailed esthetic that looks as if it has purpose and function.
Within each piece of work, the majority of parts are hand-sawed. I cut intricate shapes and pierce lines almost as if the saw blade were a pencil. Cutting is done in the interior by piercing a small hole and inserting the saw blade. Care is taken not to pass outer dimensions. I always work from a design, each component is specifically made, and I do not use found objects." artimages/09042005.jpg 330 172
2005-09-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=602 Janel Swangstu Janel earned a B.F.A. in Sculpture and Photography from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1990. In 1998, Janel received an M.F.A. in Sculpture from Hunter College in New York, New York. She has had numerous solo exhibitions since starting her career in 1991, including a number of exhibitions in Des Moines, Iowa. The galleries are as follows, Des Moines Art Center, Harmon Fine Arts Center, The Furnace Gallery, and the Iowa Heritage Museum. Untitled #5A color photogram 14" x 14" 2002 artimages/09052005.jpg 287 288
2005-09-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=603 Ryan Jennings Clark Ryan was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1979 and would later earn his B.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 2002. Most recently, Ryan participated in a solo exhibition at the Karolyn Sherwood Gallery in Des Moines, Iowa. Here is a brief overview of his show, "On the Morality of Memory": Archive/ Archetype mixed media 37.5" x 26" 2005 "This exhibition is about the construction and continuity of human identity through memory and experience. I am focusing on the disconcerting fallibility of memory as a recording device that is based in “realityâ€, and I am glancing at the un-navigable paths through the subconscious and the imaginary. These issues become important if one considers their memory and experience to define who they are/were/and will be.
I have divided the exhibition into two sections: Subjective Memory and Objective Memory. The 'Subjective Memory' pieces are divided into three sections that are based on theories of the metaphysical divisions of man. Part I, for example, pits the conception of linear, unfaltering time against the actualities of the human experience. Part III, is identity without memory. The Objective Memory pieces deal with cultural identity and the placement of that in an historical context. I am interested in the subtleties we employ to communicate and universally accept these concepts (identity and narrative), even in the midst of our individual relative knowledge." artimages/09062005.jpg 225 344
2005-09-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=604 Phillip Chen Born in Chicago, Illinois, Phillip Chen would continue on to earn his B.F.A from the University of Illinois, Chicago in 1975. Four years later in 1979, Phillip earned his M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Beginning as an Instructor of Drawing at the Cook County Jail, Phillip is currently an Associate Professor of Printmaking and Drawing at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Flower Water relief etching 31" x 23" 2002 artimages/09072005.jpg 350 263
2005-09-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=605 Will Mentor Originally from Massachusetts, Will Mentor is a former professor at the University of Iowa and is currently teaching at St. Michael’s College in Vermont. Mentor has exhibited his work nationally and internationally in group and solo shows every year since 1984. His work is included in many public and private collections, including the Des Moines Art Center, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, New York, and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
Wide Screen Plot oil and acrylic on canvas 35.5" x 20" 2004 artimages/09082005.jpg 350 204
2005-09-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=606 Fred Truck Fred Truck is a true Iowan artist. Born in 1946 in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Fred would go on to earn his B.A. at Iowa Wesleyan College in 1969. He currently lives and works in Des Moines, Iowa. Something to note about Fred is that he was a co-founder of the Art Com Electronic Network, the first computer network for artists, with Carl Loeffler in 1986. Cartoon Bomb plastic, automotive paint, nylon 10" x 6" x 6" 2005 "I work from 3D computer imagery I generate in CAD/CAM programs. Drawing in three dimensions makes it easy for me to move a given idea into a print or even a constructed object such as a bronze. Of course, there is a trick to this. I realized early on that the ideas I had were always connected to matter. I’ve never had an idea independent of matter. Moving an idea from my computer CAD/CAM rendering to a sculpture is a process of understanding that the electrons making the image on my computer monitor are the same as those electrons making up the bronze of my sculptures. When the electrons are represented by 1s and 0s, changing their outward form is like pouring water from a fish bowl in to a swan-necked vase." artimages/09092005.jpg 250 342
2005-09-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=607 Stephen Maxon Stephen Maxon is a native of Mason City, Iowa He is a graduate of North Iowa Area Community College. He earned a B.A. in Anthropology and both the M.A. and M.F.A. in Sculpture from the University of Iowa.
bronze sculptures His initial interest in painting shifted to sculpture during graduate school. He studied with Julius Schmidt at the University of Iowa, earning the M.F.A in 1980.
After teaching sculpture at Marycrest College in Davenport, Maxon set up his own backyard foundry, MAX-CAST. MAX-CAST has subsequently grown to become commercial art foundry and gallery in Kalona, Iowa. At the foundry, he divides his time between producing his own ware and that of his partners and clients. artimages/09102005.jpg 338 278
2005-09-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=608 Doris Park Doris Park has enjoyed drawing, painting, and sculpture since early childhood. Primarily self-taught, she became interested in metal casting while studying at the University of Minnesota.
Along with Steve Maxon, Doris is an owner of MAXCAST, based in Kalona, Iowa. metal cast sculptures An appreciation of the natural world and an empathy for animals characterizes the art of Doris Park. Her charming, beautiful bronze and iron sculptures often portray unusual or unappeciated animals, such as snapping turtles or toads. But the wonderful detail and accuracy of her work creates a level of realism which is almost unbelievable, and the character of the individual animals, as well as their own special beauty, is readily discernable. artimages/09112005.jpg 438 175
2005-09-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=609 Connie Roberts Trained as a figurative painter, Constance Alyce Westvig Roberts calls herself a "thing- maker." Sandwich Purse with Potato Chip Strap carved wood In her work, she bridges the realms of fine art and folk art and tackles many subjects with sharp wit and unrestrained humor. Roberts creates carved wooden whistles, but this isn't always obvious at first glance. Usually, the viewer gets caught up taking in all the images presented by these sculptural pieces: a wedge of chocolate cake with a birthday candle whistle, a dog angel, or perhaps a bag of whistling circus peanuts. Her work seems to follow three different tracks: popular culture where, for example, real- looking candy bars with familiar names are altered slightly to bring new meaning such as Sneakers Bars or Nestegg Crunch. Nursery rhymes and cartoon images, and political commentary are two other themes that influence her ideas.
Roberts also collaborates with hers husband Michael, an artist specializing in realistic portraits and allegorical paintings. California natives, the Roberts are long-time residents of Iowa.
Connie has created works for well know entertainers such as Steven Spielberg. Mike Roberts and Connie collaborated on Congressman Jim Leach's portrait, which hangs in the halls of the US Banking Committee in Washington, DC. artimages/09122005.jpg 252 185
2005-09-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=610 Hank Goodman Somewhere between the distinctive glazes and graceful forms of Hank Goodman Stoneware lies another layer, one you sense more than see. This is where individual artistry comes alive, drawing on subtle yet strong influences from centuries of art history, decades of family tradition, and years of personal experience. Hints of historical Oriental and Western vessels show up in each vase and bottle, teapot and sculpture. An appreciation for the lush landscape of the North Carolina mountains is expressed in the natural tones of the ash glazes. And the importance of family, education, and travel lend shape to the work as surely as Hank's own skilled hands. text and image from hankgoodman.com http://www.hankgoodman.com/ Untitled shino jar with ash overspray 20" tall Like all good art, it has taken a lifetime to develop Hank Goodman Stoneware, starting years ago on the family farm in northwest Iowa. Hank grew up working with his hands, guided by a mother who loved crafts and provided him with many opportunities to create objects in clay and other media. In his senior year at Buena Vista University at Storm Lake, Iowa, he was drawn to the potter's wheel and the centering of clay. After graduating with an Art Education degree in 1972 and three years later with an MFA in ceramics from the University of Iowa, he returned to the family farm to set up his first studio. artimages/09132005.jpg 230 315
2005-09-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=611 Jim Kasper Jim Kasper maintains his wood-fire kiln on his rural property near Tipton, Iowa, where he lives with his wife Lucy and Great Dane, Bert. On his land, he is establishing 20 acres of native prairie grasses and about four acres of trees. Untitled wood-fired ceramics His work has a wonderful combination of wit, intelligence and primal wood- fire, reflecting his years of scholarship in physics and his love of ceramics. He is a member of the Society of Creative Anachronism in which he hand-cuts dies for the hand-striking of medieval style tokens. His work has been featured in Ceramics Monthly as well as exhibitions such as the International Orton Cone Box Show. artimages/09142005.jpg 194 200
2005-09-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=612 Megan Berner Megan Berner received her B.A. in Photography from the University of Nevada Reno and is currently a graduate student in the School of Art and Art History’s Intermedia program at the University of Iowa. She mainly works with photography and video but also uses other media including drawing, collage, and printmaking. Main themes in her work include being a twin, identity, and the use of narratives and storytelling.
Oaxaca, Mexico Type-C Print 2004 artimages/09152005.jpg 350 260
2005-09-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=613 Hanus Of Prague Born and raised in Iowa and a self-taught, accidental artist, I am now in medical school and spending more and more time in Prague and Olomouc of the Czech Republic. Hanus has received grants from the Iowa Arts Council, exhibited at the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories, and had a one-person show at Legion Arts/CSPS in Cedar Rapids. Hanus works in tile murals, sculptures, watercolors and digital paintings. His tile murals have been placed in Prague and Olomouc, Czech Republic. He is currently working on a mural for Valletta, the capital of Malta. Hanus' work often depicts universal models of meta-identity and supraculture. He also likes to explore arts-infused social mechanisms to elevate public discourse, nurture critical thinking and enrich private/public lives through various cultural events. Salvation in Five poster 11" x 17" 2004 Due to my increasing residence in Prague, I have taken the name Hanus of Prague. My signature is a form of art in itself. Hanus was the clockmaker who created the glockenspiel clock for the town square in Prague, many centuries ago. In order to ensure that he did not duplicate his masterpiece for another town, the town elders of Prague had his eyes gouged out. My signature takes the basic H shape of my name. The bar is curved as in a smile but also represents the diacritic placed over the S in Hanus, that gives the pronunciation an SH sound (HA-noosh.) The eyes have been restored but are advanced and evolved, able to give perspective from a number of vantage points. This signature symbolizes the power I believe art has to offer new and insightful perspectives, void in the standard political, academic, religious, corporate and legal discourses that permeate society today. artimages/09162005.jpg 225 354
2005-09-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=614 Sara Fletcher Sara Fletcher grew up in Western New York State. She received her BFA in ceramic sculpture from Alfred University in 1998, and a post-baccalaureate certificate in painting from Brandeis University in 2003. She is currently an MFA candidate in painting at the University of Iowa. Family oil on canvas 18" x 24" 2004 artimages/09172005.jpg 325 292
2005-09-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=615 Kristin Quinn Kristin Quinn earned her BFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in 1984 and her MFA in painting from Indiana University in 1988. She has been a Professor of Art at Saint Ambrose University in Davenport since 1989.
Click here for more of the artists' work http://web.sau.edu/art/quinn/default.htm Bemsha Swing 56" x 48" 2003 "I grew up in a house of optical phenomena. My father was a physicist with a specialty in optics (although neighbors claimed he worked at the Optical Department at Sears). Lasers, lenses, prisms, and holographs were plentiful; as were lessons on the natural world. In our house, a solar eclipse became a graduate level seminar. On long car trips, we passed the time with questions to stump Dad: Why was the sky orange, what caused hail, and how were tunnels built under the bay? (Incidentally, we refer to these questions now as "Tunnel Talk" questions).
I begin my paintings with questions like those of "Tunnel Talk" times. What is the color of amber, iron-ore, pollen? How can wind and water be suggested? The paintings gradually grow in layers. In the strata of paint, the shape of a microscopic protein hovers beneath a planet's elliptical orbit and decorative ironwork cancels out dense foliage. It is these strange alliances between the common and uncommon, natural and synthetic that I find compelling to paint. The compressions, connections, and contradictions of the layers shape the personality of the painting.
This knotted, painted combination forces a continual shift of attention among the many levels. I compare this to a single moment in landscape and the competing levels of activity. When I stand on Devonian limestone on the levee of the Mississippi, the barges and riverboats pass, herons fly, behind, a train noisily rumbles and streetlights flicker on, the smell of diesel fuel drifts in while rain clouds build. It's the density of experience that continues to raise questions and excite me as a painter." artimages/09182005.jpg 250 313
2005-09-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=616 Thomas Knauer Thomas Knauer holds a Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College, an MFA from Ohio University in Athens and an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Dept. of Print Media, Bloomfield Hills, MI. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Drake University in Des Moines. Thomas Knauer's website http://www.fourinchesofego.com/front.html chimera: brad pitt's abs digital print 10" x 10" 2003 Recently I have made political activity the central focus of my public design practice. Within the context of design as conversational, design necessarily occupies the space of a voice. Thus it is incumbent upon me as designer to determine what I can do with my voice. Within the context of the continued drive for design to maintain an apolitical position, to regard itself as a tool, I believe it is of vital importance the practitioners continue design’s history of social and political involvement and its long tradition of self-authored activity.
While I would never make so grand a claim as that anything I might do as a designer will change the world, at least I can use my voice to impact some part of it. To be honest, the way the world is going often scares me and I believe it is my responsibility to my role as a designer to give voice to my horror. When the communicators cease to care what they are saying, then we are all ultimately screwed. artimages/09192005.jpg 350 233
2005-09-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=617 Joleen Dentlinger Joleen was born in Storm Lake, Iowa. Her work with pen and ink began in the early 1980's. Joleen works as a graphic artist for Silk Screen Ink in Storm Lake and also does freelance work under her personal company name, Unique Inque. Her work has been seen at numerous businesses, galleries and art shows. Lewis Home pen & ink 36.5" x 29.5" 2004 About her work, Joleen has this to say, "History and its preservation rate very high in my heart, right behind home and family. With my drawings I can document places and things that touched me, whether it's an old farm house, an old Chicago hotel or an intriguing landscape. By working in pen and ink, I strive and accomplish depth, intensity, detail, "color" and texture - in just a subtly way - as simple as black and white." artimages/09202005.jpg 340 268
2005-09-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=618 William Lieb William was born and raised in Spirit Lake, Iowa and attended Iowa State University, receiving a Bachelor of Architecture Degree in 1967. He practiced Architecture in Colorado and received many local, state, regional, national and international Architectural awards for design excellence. Following his retirement in 1993, he and his wife explored the world for five years on their sailboat and have now returned to Spirit Lake. For the past year William has had the opportunity to begin a career in sculpting, a life-long desire. So far he has participated in two group exhibitions, one at the Lakes Art Center in Okoboji and one at Arts on Grand in Spencer. Hello PVC board 26" x 18" x 11" 2004 To quote William, "The main thrust of my work is to create art that engages and energizes the human spirit. In this journey I am renewed. artimages/09212005.jpg 288 325
2005-09-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=619 Helen Gunderson Helen Gunderson is an independent videographer and photographer, a local historian, and a seminary graduate with a passion to interpret her rural Iowa heritage. Presently residing in Gilbert, Iowa, she works under the business name of Gunder-friend Productions.
The Upper Midwest was home to her until 1981 when she enrolled in a Presbyterian seminary near San Francisco and earned a Master of Divinity. As part of that program, she served as parish intern in St. Helena. After graduation, she returned to that town and began Gunder-friend Productions. Then in 1993, she moved back to Iowa. She also has a Master's Degree in Instructional Media from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and a degree in physical education from Iowa State. She has taught in Duluth and Eagle Grove, worked in sports information at North Dakota State University, and directed the YMCA of NDSU. #029 color photography 12" x 18" "Currently, I am producing a set of photographs for a rural sociologist to publish in a book he is writing on the Practical Farmers of Iowa. Also, in 2001, I equipped my computer with all the right stuff to do digital video editing and completed a 30-minute program called Growing against the Grain that interprets the work of the Audubon County Family Farms who are involved in sustainable agriculture and direct-marketing their produce. Having the capacity to do quality video editing with my own equipment should enable me to complete the show, The Road I Grew Up On, and one called The House at the Homeplace." artimages/09222005.jpg 250 171
2005-09-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=620 Therese Murdza Therese Murdza is a painter, born and raised in Edgewood, Maryland and received her B.S. in Theater from Towson University in 1986. She works with acrylic and/or oil paint on stretched canvas, using pencil and water-based crayons to mark maps, make records and add line. The swaths and blobs of color and breakdown of image become music, are not music, perform within their frame, push the limits, and fly beyond it. blue 1 acrylic paint, pencil, water crayon on canvas 24" x 28" 2004 Therese has this to say about her process, "Before I could tie my shoes, I played a small accordion... I studied piano and saxophone and then jazz and music theory in a music program my dad built at an otherwise limited public high school. And then, in college, I put down the instruments and took myself to the theatre, to new forms of moving, composing and materializing sounds in transitory space... After graduating in 1986, I distilled this playwriting into the efficiency of poetry. I found a welcomed pause in the quiet of the words on paper, whittling down the images and the bodies and emotions into as few words as possible... A move back to the city had me drawing on big paper and literally taking the words apart. Disintegrating the shapes of the words into lines. Freeing the movement to create energy there on the page, into the squares and out of the circles. I began painting images and concepts using elements--those circles and blobs and squares and moving lines--that I’m still exploring. I work on my own, influenced by a vibrant community of artists and activists, to paint the unpredictable musical form, the movement of bodies and words, the paragraphs and stories and sounds set free. It is this movement that I push into color and shape, both framed and unfettered." artimages/09232005.jpg 270 312
2005-09-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=621 Tony Winchester Tony received his BFA in sculpture and ceramics from Bellevue College, a small school in Nebraska. His love of sculptural form finds its match in, as he puts it, "the emotional and gestural qualities of clay." The flowing qualities of ash glazes over matte glazes create a richness of surface which enhance the movement and mood of his work. In these wheel-thrown and altered stoneware pieces, colors create small landscapes, all different. untitled red pot stoneware Winchester is a resident of Persia, Iowa. He has worked as an independent studio potter since 1993 and has received national recognition. Winchester's work is lead free, oven and microwave safe. artimages/09242005.jpg 320 213
2005-09-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=622 Mary Weisgram untitled pitcher and teapot ceramic Mary Weisgram creates functional ceramics while residing in Ames, Iowa.
"Her pottery is gorgeous; autumn leaf patterns adorn several of her larger bowls. In addition to its aesthetic appeal, Mary's work is completely functional. Her smaller bowls, vases, and porcelain boxes are as eye-catching as her larger bowls."
(quote from Campell Steele gallery) artimages/09252005.jpg 350 233
2005-09-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=623 Sharon Neff Sharon Neff has been a potter since before she had permission. As a child she played in the woods behind her house on the Mississippi River bluff. When discovered by her mother, she insisted she was not playing with fire, but explained that she was firing pottery made of clay she found. Her undergraduate and graduate professors at the University of Iowa tried to channel her interests. She still dug her clay and worked at perfecting replicas of ancient pottery fired in pit firings often fueled by manure. Sharon has now left mining to the miners and the manure at the barn. She uses her constant and intimate observations of nature as the subject for her works in stoneware and porcelain. decorative plate, stoneware and porcelain "I work with several stoneware and porcelain clays ranging from warm brown to bright white. I throw most shapes from a lump of clay on my potters wheel. I hand roll and cut all of my tiles. I fold, tear, overlay, model, stamp, inscribe, and impress on each piece while the clay is still damp. When fully dry I bisque fire everything to 1300 F. I then pour, dip, and paint the glaze designs. The completed pieces are re-fired to 2307 F. Some of the glazes melt to glossy black, brown, green, and amber, others stay dry and velvety on the exposed surface of the clay." - Sharon Neff - artimages/09262005.jpg 350 258
2005-09-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=624 Marsha Myers Marsha Myers is former long-time resident of Iowa City, Iowa currently living in Colorado.
bundt cake mold, stoneware and clay "Pottery is an art as old as humanity. Clay vessels have been used for cooking and decorative purposes by people worldwide throughout history.
For over 30 years, I have been making pottery and mixing my own glazes for a variety of clays and selected minerals. Each piece is wheel-thrown, hand-decorated, and gas-fired twice -- the second time to more than 2300º F. The result is pottery with a range of rich, warm glazes and individualized decoration with the unmistakable print of the maker's hand." artimages/09272005.jpg 350 233
2005-09-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=625 Bob Anderson Bob Anderson grew up in Waterloo, Iowa and now is the owner of Sunflower Pottery, located in Pella, Iowa. He throws his pots, pie dishes, plates, etc. on a potter's wheel, then attaches sculpted or molded rural images to them. Some of these images include cows, pigs, grain silos, and wood ducks, among others. About the response to his pieces, Bob says, untitled cow casserole dish, stoneware "They look like real animals. But the idea of having the dishes used is really great. People tell me how well the pie and bread pans bake. That makes me feel good." artimages/09282005.jpg 350 233
2005-09-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=626 George Lowe George Lowe is a living and working resident of Decorah, Iowa. untitled ceramic jar His work has a very natural feel to it, while being both versatile and beautiful. Many of his pieces are fired multiple times in order to achieve the kind of surface that Lowe finds are up to his standards of interest. Pieces of his have been sold throughout the midwest and remain very popular. More of his work can be seen at the Iowa Artisans Gallery in Iowa City, Iowa. artimages/09292005.jpg 225 338
2005-09-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=627 Steve Peterson Steve is a resident of Decorah, Iowa. untitled pot, clay burnished, pit-fired ceramic vessel "I apply fire to my pots, rather than glazes. I do this because I love the feel and look of raw clay and I believe that, for my purposes, glazes hide the clay and give it a 'cold' feeling. I strive for warmth in my pottery. Unglazed clay that is fired to low temperatures warms up quickly in your hand. The shapes I use, the steeply sloped sides, and enclosed 'holes in the earth' mouths, and the gently undulating vessel lips all are designed to give an emotional feeling of warmth and enclosure. The passage of fire around the pots also gives them warmth because it leaves behind on the surface a complex history of the fire's progress, painted in warm colors and tones." artimages/09302005.jpg 350 233
2005-10-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=628 Wyatt Lane Wyatt Lane received a B.F.A. in ceramics from Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri in 1996. Active in the art scene, Wyatt has worked as a practicing artist since the summer of '96, displaying work throughout the midwest in both galleries and outdoor festivals. Returning to his hometown of Evanston, Illinois in 2001, Wyatt has become a member of the Midwest Clay Guild. He currently teaches at the Evanston Art center, Lill Street Art Center, and is director of the ceramics program at the Winnetka community House. Before his return to Illinois, Wyatt lived and worked in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. untitled stoneware vase "My stoneware and porcelain combine a variety of decorating and glazing techniques. Using colored slips and textures I am able to produce a surface that, once glazed, reveals a wealth of depth and motion. The glazing process involves the use of up to 5 layers of sprayed and brushed glazes and washes. The spraying and layering of glazes helps to enhance the texture, while maintaining a semi-translucent appearance which allows the colored slips to shine through. The glazes chosen, and more importantly, the order they are applied, determines the final shade of copper green, blue or brown which dominate this body of work. The last step of the glazing process is a selective spraying of copper red and cobalt blue, which provide contrast and an accent to the design and base glazes." artimages/10012005.jpg 225 338
2005-10-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=629 Jim Kerns "My first serious experience with clay was in 1968 as an art student at the University of Northern Iowa. We participated in our first art festival that year. The endless potential of clay tested through fire has kept my interest all these years. I have taught clay at several levels, including five years at the University of Northern Iowa. My real interest is in creating. I continue to work primarily in functional pottery, with occasional forays into sculpture. untitled clay wall plate My artist statement is a limerick:
(this comes from some rather tedious discussion on the boundaries of art and craft)
The process for making of urns.
Clay wet, clay dry, clay burns.
Is it art is it not.
Is it only a pot.
You be the judge, Jim Kerns" artimages/10022005.jpg 350 233
2005-10-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=630 Nancy Briggs Nancy Briggs has been on the faculty of the Des Moines Art Center since 1986 and currently teaches ceramics to adults and children. Her work has been shown in regional and national juried exhibitions. untitled ceramic vase Using the raku pottery technique, Nancy is able to give her pottery and sculpture a mysterious, ancient quality. The pottery is quickly heated to melt the glaze, then is removed from the kiln while red hot and placed in beds of sawdust to smoke the wares. This smoking gives the clay its black color and the glazes their rich metallic look. Due to the process, raku pottery is therefore fragile and porous. artimages/10032005.jpg 350 233
2005-10-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=631 Suzanne B. Aunan An Iowan since 1972, Suzanne B. Aunan is a self-taught artist who has enjoyed painting as far back as she can remember. Born in New York City, she grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York. Suzanne attended the University of Iowa, majoring in Medical Technology and later graduated from the Physician Assistant Program. She worked as a P.A. at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, then as a full-time mother of four. Now with all four children in school, she is enjoying a career as an artist. See more of Suzanne's work at http://www.sbaunan.com http://www.sbaunan.com/ Happy Halloween mixed media Suzanne paints detailed compositions using acrylic, gouache and watercolors, sometimes adding pencil or ink pen. Her work has been purchased by collectors world-wide. artimages/10042005.jpg 350 210
2005-10-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=632 Schlabaugh & Sons From Kalona, Iowa, Schlabaugh & Sons specializes in producing clocks made of the highest quality native & imported hardwoods. We take particular pride in our continued emphasis on distinctive design and quality. untitled pendulum clock cherry and sapele wood In this age of mass produced items, we are confident that you will immediately recognize the tradition of exceptional craftsmanship, while expressing the simplicity and unique beauty of contemporary design. artimages/10052005.jpg 225 338
2005-10-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=633 Randy Ferguson Randy's passion for woodworking provides a welcome diversion from his full time occupation. He is a resident of Iowa City. untitled wooden end table Having the good fortune of growing up next door to his grandfather's woodworking shop, Randy spent countless hours gaining knowledge and inspiration that he benefits from to this day. As a proud native Iowan, he prefers using native Iowa woods whenever possible. Whether he is crafting with cherry, walnut, maple or some other type of wood, Randy uses the characteristics of each type of wood, combined with meticulous attention to detail, to create beautiful lasting pieces. artimages/10062005.jpg 225 338
2005-10-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=634 Richard Hanson Richard Hanson is an accomplished watercolorist whose subject matter explores natural and botanical themes so realistically portrayed they are often mistaken for photographs. One body of work consists of tropical flora. The other group is comprised of rock and leaf formations with reflective water. Hansen paints on 300lb Arches watercolor paper approximately 18x24†in size. He is an art educator in the Fort Dodge, Iowa community schools and is also a life-long Fort Dodge resident. untitled watercolor painting 18" x 24" Since the early 1970s, Hanson has exhibited his work in more than one hundred major watercolor exhibitions throughout the country as well as regionally in Iowa. Recent highlights include Art for the Parks in Jackson Hole, WY (2001); the San Diego Watercolor Society’s 20th International Exhibition, where he won a Presidents Award (2000); the National Watercolor Society 81st Annual Exhibition, San Pedro, CA, where he was designated a Selected Signature Member (2001); and The Artist’s Magazine 2002 Annual Art Competition (Finalist Award), to name a few. He has also won “Best in Show†awards on numerous occasions. artimages/10072005.jpg 350 249
2005-10-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=635 Vernon Skip Willits Skip Willits earned a degree in studio art with an emphasis in art education from Western Illinois University in 1978. His predominant medium is welded metal, using materials such as steel, aluminum and bronze with various techniques from arc to torch welding. In 1983 he completed and placed "Ring of Life," his first large-scale work. Since then he has created and placed dozens of public and private indoor and outdoor sculptures locally and throughout the United States and Europe. He currently resides in Camanche, Iowa.
untitled flower from Steel Perennials collection sculpted metal "The flower has been a subject I return to again and again. As I cut and weld the steel parts together, I let the flower grow and mature on its own. The shapes come together almost magically in my studio. each time I make one, I'm transported to a metaphysical garden where all things are clear and peaceful" artimages/10082005.jpg 204 350
2005-10-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=636 Peggy and Steve Kittelson Peggy and Steve live and work in Clermont, Iowa. untitled kaleidoscope glass and oil Peggy and Steve have been creating fine handcrafted kaleidoscopes since 1987 when they combined their stained glass studios. Their goal was to create unique scopes that are not only beautiful to look at but very pleasing to touch and hold. They have achieved this goal by incorporating many facets of their glass craftsmanship, creating kaleidoscopes that are distinctive and original. Their work can be found in major collections all over the world and is in demand by discerning collectors. They are known for their classic 2-mirror kaleidoscope imagery and the highest quality optical illusions are defined by the incredible display of miniature glass sculptures found in the object chambers. the exteriors of their copes are of fused and slumped glass combined with finely machined metal turning ends which house the object chambers. artimages/10092005.jpg 350 176
2005-10-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=637 MARTI Freund "Raised on an Iowa Farm and being involved with 4-H gave me an appreciation for different crafts. I briefly studied arts and crafts at Iowa State University and then followed my longing for the mountains by moving to Colorado. untitled kaleidoscope stained glass Since 1978, stained glass has been my medium for artistic expression. I began designing stained glass windows, lampshades and other items. Kaleidoscopes, remember the fun you had with them when you were a child? Well that 'fun' has once again entered my life. By 1981, the intrigue of capturing a rainbow had won my heart. It still seems like magic when viewing through a newly made scope and finding that spectrum of color inside. My newest scopes reflect my enjoyment of wildlife and of the outdoors with the addition of decorative 'filigree' and 'scratchings' to the scopes exterior.
My father, Ed Freund, is instrumental in helping me craft my scopes by machining all the metal mechanisms for the wheels. From hand threading and cutting the brass pieces to machining the washers out of a solid rod, truly make my scopes hand made." artimages/10102005.jpg 350 233
2005-10-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=638 Shawn Nelson Shawn works with his wife Sarah Nelson at their family business, The Rhythm of Color, in Iowa City, Iowa. untitled glass vase Shawn's enjoyment comes from the creative energy he puts forth while creating glass art. The world of glass has allowed him to combine his love for individualism and creation. He hopes you will take pleasure in his work and find it equally as captivating to own.
Shawn became a Lampworker quite accidentally. He was working in the Heating and Air industry installing ventilation when he moved from his birthplace of North Carolina to Colorado. He began installing ventilation for various Lampworkers on the west coast, and became enthralled with the art form. He soon began to trade ventilation installations for glass art lessons and apprenticeships. His excitement comes in utilizing his artistic and technical mind to create beautiful pieces of art for other's enjoyment.
Shawn's specialty is Borosilicate glass. It is the most durable and purest form of glass in the world. Due to its strength, Borosilicate can be crafted directly in the open flame of a torch. After he creates each piece, it is placed in the kiln for proper firing and finishing, thus ensuring the art piece will be enjoyed for years.
Glass offers Shawn a constant challenge. He combines ancient techniques, with a modern influence to offer you his own unique style of craftsmanship. he continues to hone his talents and skills as he works on new techniques and products for your future enjoyment. He feels a great sense of accomplishment in his work and is proud to share it with you. artimages/10112005.jpg 231 350
2005-10-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=639 Sarah Nelson Sarah Nelson, an Iowa City native, works alongside her husband Shawn Nelson in their family glass studio, The Rhythm of Color. untitled glass plate fused and slumped glass She was introduced to the wonderful possibilities of glass art while living in Boulder, Colorado. While experimenting with the many facets that glass has to offer, she developed a love for fusing glass. When creating her pieces, Sarah enjoys working with simple lines and patterns. She believes that there is an effortless beauty in all things simple. Sarah enjoys creating functional pieces that people can enjoy. From one of kind plates to unique jewelry, she takes great joy in creating pieces that make people smile. artimages/10122005.jpg 350 230
2005-10-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=640 Jessica White Jessica White spends most of her time making illustrations for stories that don't exist. Along with prints and drawings, she also makes books and zines. She loves photocopiers. See more of Jessica's work at www.bittersweetnessandlight.com http://www.bittersweetnessandlight.com/ The Present ink & watercolor 22" x 15" 2005 artimages/10132005.jpg 339 287
2005-10-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=641 JK Creative Wood JK Creative Wood is the creative outlet of the Brokaw family, based out of Kalona, Iowa. They create many wooden pieces including mouse pads, serving trays, cutting boards, and quilt racks. Joel and Karma Brokaw, the patrons of the family, both have many years of woodworking experience. They are helped out by their sons, Justin, Jeremy, Jordan, and Jackson, and their three daughters Keilah, Kidron, and Kaylin. Lazy Susan walnut, red oak, padauk, purple heart woods 12" in diameter About their work and how their family fits into their business, the Brokaws had this to say, " The children have all just grown up with it. We've always taken them to art fairs where they've gotten to meet other artists' kids... Each piece [of woodwork] is individually designed. I don't want to know how long it takes to put one of these things together." artimages/10142005.jpg 350 241
2005-10-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=642 Charley Groth I am a BFA student in Intermedia Art at the University of Iowa. I am also a Journalism Major and a student producer for AM 910 WSUI's Weekend America Iowa Edition. My artwork has appeared at Intermedia open houses and in the International Building where the Intermedia Department is located. Sock Rock performance/ interactive installation 2005 Sock Rock was my last open house piece. It consisted of a room iconicly split between good and evil. People were encouraged by me, the evil announcer on the PA to come in and sock wrestle which consists of getting on your hands and knees and trying to take the opponents loosely worn sock off their foot. The first person to snatch the others sock won. The combatants had to choose whether they wanted to wrestle for the Good or Evil side. Before they could compete they had to complete initiation rituals for their side. This project was about melodramatic perception. How what began as a simple narrative form has slipped into our realities and is considered real. It was over the top and loud in order to jolt people out of their black and white/ good and evil mind traps. artimages/10152005.jpg 350 263
2005-10-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=643 Warren Staal Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, Warren had previously run his own graphic design and printing company before coming to the University of Iowa to earn a BA in Communication and a BFA with an emphasis in Studio Art. Warren currently works for University Relations at the University of Iowa, where he holds the position of Associate Designer. 21 Jinn digital photographic archival inkjet print 11" x 14" 2005 "My work is an introspective look through the Freudian shadows of life. The Freudian concept of 'das Ich' (understanding of the psychological 'I') and how my search to make sense of who I am, where I come from, and where I am headed. All the lives I have come into contact with; a working quid pro quo relationship with those who have taught me many a valuable lesson, as I too have left with them, an imprint of my experiences in life. As an information gatherer, experiencing various environments and the cultures, religions & traditions, through the eyes and language of the most obscure, I create through various media, an external representation of the unique; things or people I have had the privilege of being juxtaposed to." artimages/10162005.jpg 350 262
2005-10-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=644 Andrew Crooks Andrew Crooks is an Iowan artist who earned his B.F.A. degree in Fine Art Photography at the University of Northern Iowa in the Spring of 2005. He is represented in the permanent art collections of Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center and Rod Library, UNI. Crooks will enter graduate school in the Fall of 2005 to pursue an M.F.A. in Photography at the University of New Mexico. Andrew Crooks's website http://www.andrewcrooks.com/ Roadside chromogenic color print 20" x 24" 2004 "When a person encounters a photograph, they often think of it as an impartial record of fact. It is my belief that, even when the photograph seems to show unequivocal truth, it’s purpose or meaning can be shaped by the photographer. Things may not be as they seem. I express this idea by mixing painted backdrops, three-dimensional props, and real life subjects. The backdrops act as a synthesized reality, juxtaposed with real-life objects and people. The organic, human presence in these photographs provides contrast to the synthetic backdrops, pulling your eyes back and forth between natural and contrived elements. The sober expressions on people’s faces contrast my overt, sometimes hokey props and brightly colored backdrops. Unlike some images that try passing a contrivance off for truth, I amplify the contrast between the two worlds. By mixing reality with fiction, I highlight the maker’s power to shape an image, and ultimately create a new reality." artimages/10172005.jpg 253 350
2005-10-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=645 Richard H. Dutton Richard graduated with a B.S. degree from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri in 1960. In 1962, he received his M.A. from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Seasons, Late Summer watercolor, acrylic, gold leaf 28" x 36" 2004 About his process, Richard writes, "My art works are developed from on site sketching, painting and information gathering. I taught art history classes in college and this forms a basis for my work. I have always loved to travel and the images I gather are from historical and ancient places ... I use transparent watercolor on 140# and 300# watercolor paper. I also may include gold leaf and acrylic as part of the painting. The larger watercolors use a heavier 500# watercolor paper. The paint is applied in many layers during the development of the painting. The first coat is very fluid and subsequent layers are more and more exacting as the composition is developed." artimages/10182005.jpg 350 250
2005-10-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=646 Lily Michaud Lily Michaud was born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa. She earned her BA in Art and Mathematics from Smith College, and her MFA in Photography from University of New Mexico. In recent years she has had a number of solo shows across the country. Lily Michaud's website http://www.lilymichaud.com/ Untitled water sequence, stretched and mounted silver gelatin print 15.5" diameter She creates photo-based installations in order to transmit experiences stemming from her spiritual practices. Michaud’s subjects are often overlooked elements of the everyday life. Whether photographing constellations made out of debris, or asking viewers to look again at being in their bodies, she shares her awe at the ordinary. Michaud manipulates the viewing environment to provide a relaxed, intimate experience. The play between the elusive subject matter, (meditative experience), and the concreteness of the photographic medium peak the viewer’s curiosity. Refreshing the sense of wonder that makes the everyday a portal to the Absolute. Michaud currently lives and works in Iowa City. artimages/10192005.jpg 310 308
2005-10-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=647 Terry Rathje Terry Rathje is currently finishing his MFA at the University of Iowa. He is a design instructor at Western Illinois University. Wheel of Misfortune license plates and scrap metal 2004 "My art is about rearranging reality. I spend half my time taking things apart and learning how they are made, and the other half putting them back together and learning about myself.
By observing and internalizing how the world is put together, the world inside and the world outside meet in some sort of strange juxtaposition that I really don’t understand until the process is done. This meeting of the inside world and the outside world is at the heart of what I do. " artimages/10202005.jpg 350 233
2005-10-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=649 Rob Butler Rob Butler grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, and lived with his family in Germany. He discovered early on the excitement of diverse cultures and found that immersion in a foreign culture catalyzed his creativity. Rob earned his MFA in printmaking at the University of Iowa in 2004, and he continues to pursue cross-cultural exchange as a visiting lecturer at the School of Communication in Riga, Latvia. Untitled: XXX serial monotype 31" x 66" 2004 About his artwork, Rob states: "In recent work, imagery is informed by being receptive to physical, emotional, spiritual, and aesthetic events that occur during the process of print and art making. In the collaboration between the elements of process and myself, this dynamic sense serves as a catalyst to inform the next work. This dialogue, between artist and art, leads to serial work that provides a narrative for artistic processes, from the conceptual first work to the non-existential last. My purpose in my art work is not simply to communicate content and imagery with an audience, but to closely view my own actions, therefore placing my environment and myself under close observation, then reexamining those observations through the vehicle of print and art making." artimages/10212005.jpg 469 210
2005-10-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=650 Joseph Miller Joseph Miller was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin and earned a BS in Graphic Design. He is pursuing an M.F.A. degree in Graphic Design (minoring in Photography) at the University of Iowa. Configuration No. 088 magazine page spreads and transparent tape 56mm x 99mm 2003 Joseph Miller writes: The Intuitive Collage process is an exercise in seeing. This practice is concerned with finding, not creating, form. Magazine pages are cut into various geometric shapes with an Exacto knife. These pieces are then scattered on the floor to rest at random. Cropping tools are used to hunt these configurations and transparent tape is applied to splice ends. Type, texture, line, color, and image are embraced and taken simply for the sake of being perceived as beautiful together. As for meaning or associations, I leave the viewer to his/her own temperaments. artimages/10222005.jpg 196 350
2005-10-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=652 Wonjae Lee Wonjae Lee is in his first year of MFA Program in the Design Department at the University of Iowa. His current works explore the spaces and forms that could be captured within his cultural background, East Asia; temples, traditional costume, dance movement, music, etc. He also is engaged with lighting design. Since light is one of the strongest elements for recognizing a form, you should not put it aside when you create a form. Form III wire 15" x 15" 2004 "The lines from Life Drawing inspired this piece. Every object and space is created by endless numbers of lines, which create surface. The lines created by wires illuminate the spaces between wires. It is simple form, however, shadow created by the light adds the existence of space even stronger. People recognize spaces by contrast of dark and light shadows or the objects juxtaposed each other. That is why a certain object or space is pleasing to one’s eyes when it has an appropriate relationship with surroundings. I call it 'Communication'." artimages/10232005.jpg 350 276
2005-10-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=654 Bill Wohlford "I recently won the creativity award at the International Woodcarver's Congress and often place among the top three in several categories of competition judged at that prestigious event. I have won juried shows with Mid-coast Fine Arts at Window Walk, Art in the Mark, Art at the Iowa Visitor's Center, Art Under Glass, The Great Mask Auction, and in 2003 at the Transportation Center. I have public art in the Evangelical Church in Moline, the Catholic Church in Rock Island and banners in Davenport and Moline. I am an accepted artist at Quad City Arts sales gallery. I have won best-of show awards for the last four years at Quad City Senior Olympics.
I am a sculptor in wood combined with found objects, and two-dimensional painted backgrounds. I have created sculptures for over 25 years on a part time basis and since 2000 almost full time. My work includes realistic and stylized human forms in the act of being humans, realistic birds and geometric forms. Some of my work is whimsical, some simply expressive using the natural beauty of wood to create pleasing 3-dimensional pieces. Grampa's Violin walnut, pine 50" x 30" x 22" "I sculpt in wood and I favor human figures, particularly female. The two things contradict. Wood is heavy and solid while the forms that I capture are light and airy. I absolve the conflict by leaving much of the human body to the observer. Violins and orchestral music are light, almost weightless. This piece is made light by the absense of everything that is unnecessary to the impression of a young girl concentrating on a musical lesson." artimages/10242005.jpg 225 381
2005-10-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=657 Amy Clarke Moore Born in 1969 in Boulder, Colorado, Amy Clarke Moore grew up in a nurturing environment of literature and visual arts. Tell Tale Apple seed beads Her work reflects a passionate interest in fairytales, myths, and art. She is currently the Editor of Spin-Off magazine, published by Interweave Press. Amy started beading in 1998 to complete a staff project for Beadwork magazine; she was hooked from that moment on. She enjoys the process of stitching the beads to the canvas. She views each bead as a thought and the spiral path of her beadwork is like the passage of time, ?each moment building on the next until an image emerges. Clarke Moore earned her B.A. from Cornell College in Iowa in 1990, majoring in Art, Latin American Studies, and Spanish, and her M.F.A. in Fibers from Colorado State University in 1997. She has participated in numerous exhibitions across the country and is currently represented by Thirteen Moons Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. artimages/10252005.jpg 233 350
2005-10-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=658 Mary Vandergraft Mary Salome Vandergraft grew up in a small farming community in southern Idaho. One of her earliest memories is of getting her mother's sewing scissors and cutting up a pair of pajamas "because of the way the scissors felt cutting through the cloth." Thus began her love affair with cloth. untitled hand painted silk banner Currently a resident of North Carolina, Mary Salome Vandergraft, (formerly Mary Rudesill) lived in Iowa City from 1969-1978. She developed an interest in weaving here, apprenticed at the Weaving Studio and began doing custom work for individuals as well as selling her work in area shops and craft shows.
After a stint in Saudi Arabia, Vandergraft moved to North Carolina, where she teamed up with a clothing designer. Together, they marketed their silk clothing in galleries and specialty boutiques throughout the United States. Their work was sold at The Flying Shuttle in Seattle, the Real Mother Goose in Portland, Oregon, and Studio 40 at the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia, among others. Vandergraft's scarves were featured in an exhibit at the Renwick Museum Gift Shop in Washington, DC.
In 1993, the business partnership was dissolved, and Vandergraft began marketing her own line of hand-dyed silk clothing, accessories and interiors under the name, Salome Silk. She has won numerous awards for her work. She currently lives in Durham, North Carolina, where she has a studio in a renovated tobacco warehouse. artimages/10262005.jpg 210 219
2005-10-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=659 Tom Sheppard Sheppard has been painting for thirty years. He spent 27 years as an art educator in Iowa and Nebraska, as well as an adjunct professor at Luther College in Decorah. Sheppard has shown work at galleries in San Diego, Santa Fe, Denver, Colorado Springs, St. Louis, Luther College and various Nebraska galleries. He has participated in many exhibitions, with work included in the permanent collection of the Addison Museum of American Art, Andover MA, as well as the Texas National Show, juried by nationally known artist Leon Golub.
Sunset mixed media on board 40" x 30" While in Nebraska, Sheppard partnered with the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Nebraska for extended learning, launching the production of a 4-part video for distribution to Nebraska schools. He also hosted workshops of art teachers as part of the State Teachers’ Convention. Sheppard was the first Nebraskan to receive National Board Certification in secondary art, which was awarded in 1999. He was also named the Secondary Art Teacher of the Year in 1999. Sheppard and two of his colleagues were awarded the 2000 Nebraska Teacher Achievement Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching from the Peter Kiewit Foundation. He has won many awards in shows of works by art educators. artimages/10272005.jpg 210 284
2005-10-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=661 Susan Coleman Susan Coleman is Gallery Coordinator for the Peter Paul Luce Gallery at Cornell College in Mount Vernon. Susan Coleman's website http://www.cornellcollege.edu/art/faculty/coleman.shtml Revival pastel 2004 For as long as I can remember I’ve loved drawing. Over time, the practice of sitting down to really look at something, has become part of me. Nature has been a source of inspiration since childhood. Drawing from nature encourages spontaneity and playfulness, because in nature there is more than one right answer.
The search for meaning is at the heart of my interest in landscape. Hope is rekindled by the creative spirit I see revealed in nature and the beauty of this world; rivers that continue to flow, and days that continue to dawn. Drawing from nature helps me recognize the sacred in the commonplace, something I’d prefer not to take for granted.
Metaphors as old as human memory are embedded in the themes of landscape. The mysteries of nature still exist, and are akin to the mysteries within us. The garden in the wilderness is as ancient as human imagination, and that yearning for a place of peace is as much a part of our inner world as the vague fear of unforeseen tragedy we glimpse in a nightmare, or on any evening newscast. Despite its long history in western art, I feel that the subject of landscape can serve as a fresh and relevant path for interpreting the human condition. Landscape can make reference to a larger journey. artimages/10282005.jpg 350 294
2005-10-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=662 Marvin Conrad Marvin is a newcomer to Iowa City, having lived for many years in Massachusetts. Vault from Bath Abbey silver bromide print Marvin works primarily in large-format black and white film, using either a 4x4†or a 5x7†view camera. He prints his photographs by hand on silver bromide paper in a darkroom he designed to his own specifications.
Aside from his studio photographs, which have appeared in solo and group shows in the Northeast and Iowa, Marvin has also done a great deal of photography for musical instrument makers in the US. Among others, these include Brannen Brothers Flutemakers, Lopatin Flutes, and Verne Q. Powell Flutes. He has done documentary photography of antique musical instruments and archival musical documents, including Theobold Boehm’s first ring-keyed (1847) flute, plus archival documents at the Royal Opera House (London) and the Teatro della Scala (Milan.) His photographs are included in The Works of Giuseppe Verdi: I masnadieri (Chicago: University of Chicago Press & Milan: Casa Ricordi, 2000.) artimages/10292005.jpg 255 332
2005-10-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=664 Katherine Parker Katherine Parker earned her BA in Studio Art and Art History from the University of California, Davis in 1995. She is currently pursuing an MFA at the University of Iowa with an emphasis in intermedia. Sugar Boy micro-installation (sugar, paper, branches, video) 2005 A piebald paper horse stands alone in a sugar-coated forest made of branches. Birds fly in an endless loop on the video screen behind him. The installation, set up behind a blacked-out window with two small peepholes in it, can only be viewed from the outside. This photo, however, shows what is normally hidden from the viewer's gaze. artimages/10302005.jpg 350 263
2005-10-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=665 Tricia Coulson Tricia Coulson has been a fiber artist for the last ten years. She recently moved to Iowa and is a member of Quad Citiy Art.
Circles #1 fiber 10" x 14" 2005 "My own personal variation of textiles comes though patterning, piecing and embellishment. The repetitious elements produce a rhythm that is a continual source of pleasure. This pleasure is derived from the physical motion of printing and the visual sensation of the repeated image." artimages/10312005.jpg 350 256
2005-11-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=666 Kangying Guo and Katherine Parker Concept: Kangying Guo
Video: Katherine Parker
Kangying Guo is currently a M.F.A candidate at the University of Iowa Intermedia & Video Arts. Now she devoted the better part of her time and energy to everything she have explored: Video, installation, sound, writing, paintings in iowa city.
Katherine Parker earned her BA in Studio Art and Art History from the University of California, Davis in 1995. She is currently pursuing an MFA at the University of Iowa with an emphasis in intermedia.
untitled site specific installation (fairy lights, bedsheet, video projection) 2005 artimages/11012005.jpg 350 262
2005-11-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=669 Bill Luchsinger Karen Strohbeen and Bill Luchsinger have forged an innovative path in taking their limited-edition prints to a new medium. Their tile works represent a unique way to collect their work, whether that is a single tile or a single image on multiple tiles. Yellow Bike digital print variable dimensions Creating the tiles requires a process called Dye Sublimation.
The tiles themselves are “printedâ€, but not in the usual sense. Instead of using pigment and inks as with the works on paper, the tiles require chemical dyes. These dyes are digitally printed in reverse on special paper and then applied to the pre-glazed ceramic tiles. Placing the tile and dyed image under 500 degree heated pressure, the chemical dyes turn to gas and are forced into a hardened, polymer surface.
Images can be ordered on tiles as part of their limited editions in 6 inch, 8 inch, or 12 inch tiles. They also can be created as “multiplesâ€, taking the same image and spreading it out over multiple tiles.
The tiles come with an attached wood block and are ready for easy installation with common picture hangers. Tiles can also be ordered without the wood blocks for direct installation in conjunction with other residential tile work in kitchens and on bathroom walls, as examples.
Karen and Bill are at the forefront of the digital technology that allows them to create new works in a medium that other artists are just toying with – but their work has a clarity and definition that very few can equal. artimages/11022005.jpg 310 310
2005-11-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=671 Karen Strohbeen Karen Strohbeen and Bill Luchsinger, two of the Midwest’s most successful fine artist for the past 25 years, expanded their audience when they created the nationally syndicated Public Television gardening series, “The Perennial Gardener with Karen Strohbeenâ€. With Karen as the on-air talent and Bill behind the camera writing, producing, and directing each segment, the television series combines their life-long love of gardening and their innovative artwork. Amsterdam Shoe Store digital print variable dimensions Having met as art students at Drake University in Des Moines, Karen and Bill now live on 80 acres of idyllic central Iowa farmland. Widely known for their paintings, printmaking, sculpture, and now their innovative works on ceramic tiles, they have been at the forefront of digital printmaking, which is their ongoing focus. Available images in their portfolio number in the hundreds.
Love of nature has inspired both Karen and Bill as they continue to explore their distinctive artistic styles. Whether it is Karen’s whimsical and fantastic interpretations of flowers and garden life or Bill’s peaceful studies of nature born out of the photographic medium, their styles have found the perfect home in their limited edition prints and tile works.
With the introduction of their tile works over the past ten years, Karen and Bill have created an incredibly popular medium on which they can reproduce their limited edition images. Whether the image is captured on a single 12-by-12 inch tile or enlarged and printed on tiles in groupings of four to fifty, this new medium has multiple applications in home décor.
Karen Strohbeen and Bill Luchsinger are committed to pursuing their art wherever technological advances take them. artimages/11032005.jpg 225 365
2005-11-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=673 Beth Nobles A longtime Iowa City resident, Nobles has recently moved to Texas. She has exhibited nationally and internationally for many years, most recently at Hibberd McGrath Gallery (Breckenridge, CO); Mobilia (Cambridge, MA); Thirteen Moons (Santa Fe, NM) and the SOFA in Chicago. She has been awarded artist residencies at Ragdale Foundation and the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. Trouble embroidered hand-bag “I see the work approaching the question from many angles—serious and funny, searching and observing, cutting and reassuring, from memory and conjecture. The lessons are coming from women—elders, family, and friends, real role models and fictional ones—and sometimes from a melding of several sources. Needlework seems to tell the story well, as it is the expression handed down through our family, from great-grandmother to grandmother, to mother to me. I have difficulty writing and I sure can’t tell a joke, but through these pieces, I become an author and storyteller. I create characters and a setting, and devise a narrative, which may or may not be discernable in the final piece. Lately, I’ve been thinking more deeply about narrative structure. This has lead to greater attention paid to the development of characters in my pieces. With my three-dimensional pieces, I’m trying to make the actual structure of the piece further the story.†artimages/11042005.jpg 163 300
2005-11-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=675 Chad Cooney Chad Cooney was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. He is now currently working towards his B.S. in Computer Science at the University of Iowa while also taking classes in photography. He is also an undergraduate Research Assistant for the Intermedia area at the University.
Black Mountain Tree digital image, variable size 2005 "What I enjoy most about this piece is the overall sense of motion. It feels as though you are spinning slowly towards the ground in some sort of altered state where you can only perceive the generality of the objects around you, the space that they exist in, but not the specifics of the objects' visual definition. Like a constantly changing flame." artimages/11052005.jpg 350 212
2005-11-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=696 Dani Henke Dani Henke grew up in Wapello, Iowa, in the southeast corner of the state, and graduated from Iowa State University. Optimus Prime ceramic with metal hinge 4.5" x 4.5" x 1.75" "I've spent most of my time [at Iowa State] in the ceramics studio. Something about the massive transformation from soft and pliable to hard and brittle fascinates me. Even in my beginning ceramic classes, many of my pieces incorporated other media. I took classes in fabric manipulation, wood carving, and metals to gain a better understanding of the materials I choose to incorporate with ceramics. I've always had a love for art, and have been drawn to working three dimensionally. Texture... it's all about texture." artimages/11062005.jpg 350 239
2005-11-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=697 Missy Fauser Missy Fauser received her BA in Art and Psychology at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in May of 2002, and her MA in Art Therapy from Southwestern College in November of 2004. Somatic Foot soft pastel and charcoal on paper 18" x 24" 2003 "I have always been drawn to do feet as a subject for my work, partly because of the many pains they have given me, and I them, and partly because I am always wondering where they are going to take me next. In this particular piece I was exploring the somatic association between the foot problems I was having and my fear of the transition from student to art therapist." artimages/11072005.jpg 326 248
2005-11-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=698 Julia Ciaccio Julia Ciaccio was born outside of Chicago to her mother the painter, and her father the pianist. With art flowing through her veins, she began painting at an early age. Challenging her love of the Windy City, she chose to study at the University Iowa to broaden her visual vocabulary. Julia currently holds a BFA from the University of Iowa and continues her studies of art and art history. Untitled acrylic and oil on canvas 2004 About her work, Julia writes, "I view my work as alive and growing. Each piece nourishes and evolves into the next, traveling through the world of abstraction. My visual vocabulary consists of a number of image generating techniques in both a representational and non- representational manner. Compositions are triggered by emotional responses therefore making my paintings highly personal. I am extremely passionate about painting and use it as a psychologist, an outlet for my emotions and feelings. Although non-objective, my paintings are rich with subject matter extracted from my life. My love affair with abstraction began with an encounter of Dada and Surrealism. My exploration through the history of Modern art inspires me to experiment and invent. I celebrate Automatism’s direct access to the mind, and Decalcomania’s festivity of paint. I pay homage to Josef Albers and his squares, and share the same devotion to subject matter as the Color Field Painters." artimages/11082005.jpg 325 325
2005-11-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=699 Jessica Alaniz I am a graduate of Mt. Pleasant Community High School of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa (2002). She is currently studying photography at the University of Iowa. One Rose scanner and rose 2004 I have always played with computers and Photoshop to give my images the extra edge they sometimes need. My images are about the process; it's all an experiment. I find something common in my house and press it against the glass of my scanner. Sometimes the images come out looking very boring, other times I find something beautiful in their shapes and shadows. artimages/11092005.jpg 263 350
2005-11-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=700 Larassa Kabel Born in 1970 in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, Larassa would go on to earn a B.F.A. with honors from Iowa State University in 1992. Larassa's work has been seen all over Iowa and Michigan. Larassa is currently an instructor at the Des Moines Art Center and is on the Board of Directors at the Metro Arts Alliance in Des Moines, Iowa.
The Littlest oil on canvas 30" x 24 " 2005 artimages/11102005.jpg 250 314
2005-11-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=701 Mary Merkel-Hess Mary Merkel-Hess was born on April 6, 1949 in Waterloo, Iowa. She grew up in an extended family near Gilbertville, Iowa. She attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI and graduated in 1971 with a BA in sociology and philosophy. She attended art school and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and received a BFA in 1976. While there she studied with Ruth Gao and Mary Tingley. Windblown reed and paper, acrylic paint 25" x 17" x 8" 2004 In 1977, she began graduate work at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA. She studied metalsmithing with Chunghi Choo and received an MFA in 1983. After graduation, she became a full-time studio artist. She gave up metalsmithing but continued to work in paper, developing her own techniques for making paper structures. She takes occasional breaks from studio work to teach and give workshops. Her work is exhibited widely and is in many private and public collections. artimages/11112005.jpg 210 355
2005-11-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=702 Sheryl Ellinwood After "a strict religious upbringing, coupled with a 12 year business career, raised ... doubts about values ...practices ...and underlying beliefs of the society that had instilled those values," Ellinwood turned to art. Assisted by scholarships, she graduated from the University of Toledo with a BFA in 1991. Then, with a graduate fellowship to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, she pursued her MFA, graduating in 1994, Coming to Iowa to visit her father, she liked the area around Lake Red Rock and decided to settle and build her studio where she sustains herself as a professional glass-blower part of each year, then concentrates on her art as a sculptor the remaining months. Renewal fused glass wall panel Sheryl Ellinwood writes: "First and foremost, art is communication, not a display of technical mastery, but the conveyance of an idea." artimages/11122005.jpg 150 344
2005-11-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=703 Richard Krogstad Richard’s work is in the collections of American Express Financial Advisers, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Norwest Corporation, Cargill Corporation, and Wells Fargo Corporation. He received a M.F.A. in painting from the University of Massachusetts and a B.A. in art from the University of Iowa. He’s been in numerous shows at Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis. Several of Richard’s paintings have been selected by the U.S. Department of State Art in Embassies Program for loan to the U.S. Embassies in Berlin, Germany and Kalonia, Micronesia. Sole Survivor oil on arches paper 26" x 41" Richard Krogstad, an Iowa native who now lives near Minneapolis, paints the Midwestern landscape, concentrating on the region’s skies, rivers, lakes, and “strong, honest farm buildingsâ€. He is particularly drawn to skies, as is evident from the sometimes threatening, sometimes wispy clouds that dominate many of his paintings. Richard sees painting as a way of preserving the pastoral landscape. He writes, “Perhaps what is left can be considered worth saving, if it is seen with new eyes.†artimages/11132005.jpg 350 219
2005-11-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=704 Jocelyn Chateauvert Jocelyn Chateauvert was raised and educated in Iowa City, Iowa. At the University of Iowa she earned a M.F.A. in metalworking and jewelry with extensive hours in handmade paper and a minor in sculpture. After teaching in London at Middlesex Polytechnic, then establishing herself as a professional artist in San Francisco, she settled in 1999 in Charleston, South Carolina. There she was awarded the South Carolina Arts Commission highest award of "Craft Fellow" of the state in 2005. Recently recognized for her work in the Smithsonian's American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery's prestigious 2007 Craft Invitational "From the Ground Up." She pursues her work full time creating jewelry, lighting, sculpture and installations inspired by the paper she makes by hand. Marsh table lamp, wood base, abaca paper, rope light 14" x 35" x 11" Papermaking has been at the core of Chateauvert’s creative work for many years. She incorporated her papers in unusual ways, first with sterling silver jewelry and later into more sculptural yet functional forms that are lit from within. artimages/11142005.jpg 350 227
2005-11-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=705 David Puls Puls exhibits nationally through the American Craft Council and in private galleries. Recent exhibitions include “Rocking Chairs†at the Kentucky Museum of Arts and Design, and the 35th annual Celebration of American Crafts, at the Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven, CT, as well as numerous one-of-a-kind furniture shows. He is also an Iowa native. untitled wood stand Awards in numerous national student competitions encouraged David Puls to pursue his vision of furniture made from alternative materials. “I made the decision to forego working in traditional hardwoods and instead chose to use the new engineered wood products available. These included plywoods, particleboard, laminated veneer and oriented strand lumbers. Each material is unique and allows great freedom in form and structure. My furniture designs grow from understanding both the structural properties and the aesthetic possibilities. The imagery I use is a reflection of my surroundings, subject to change, and not intended to be taken too seriously.†artimages/11152005.jpg 173 276
2005-11-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=706 Shawn Reed Shawn Reed received his BFA from the University of Northern Iowa in 2003. He is currently a graduate student in the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History's Intermedia program. untitled mask synthetic fur, built in voice manipulation and amplification artimages/11162005.jpg 350 286
2005-11-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=707 Scott Charles Ross Scott, a Waterloo, Iowa native, received a B.A. from Grinnell College and has done graduate work at Iowa State University and Drake University. He has completed several private commissions throughout the country and abroad. Scott had a solo show at the newly renovated Marshall Fields store in Chicago and his work is part of Grinnell College’s permanent art collection. Journey V oil on linen 52" x 42" Scott Charles Ross’s paintings are grounded in both abstract and figurative forms. He is inspired by the people and travels of his life as well as his environment. He writes, “Merging concrete visual elements with inner observations, I intend to transfer abstractions into a perceived reality for the viewer.†Scott’s process involves many layers of charcoal, oil paint, wax and glazes, which results in a painting with a hard and glossy surface with much texture underneath. The paintings are produced on linen and stretched over wood panels. artimages/11172005.jpg 225 278
2005-11-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=708 Dan Powell Powell has been recognized through photographic exhibitions throughout the country and has received a grant from the Iowa Arts Council/National Endowment for the Arts to produce a catalog and an exhibition that traveled the State of Iowa. His photographs can be found in the corporate collections of Allied Group Insurance, National Travelers Life, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Norwest Bank and the Maytag Company. Nafplion, Greece black & white photograph selenium toned 15" x 15" Dan Powell currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, but taught photography at the University of Northern Iowa for several years. Dan's recent work is inspired by several trips to Europe where he studied the antiquities of Greece and Italy. His black and white photographs of partial ruins and statuary provide a base for such series as Traces In Passing and Classical Measures. Dan will often manipulate his images to a degree by sepia toning and other techniques. Both the black and white image and the toning accentuate his subject matter. Recent prints have taken on a diptych format, with two distinct images almost read as book pages. One image will often appear blurry or obscured while the other is in distinct focus. There is a mystery to his photographs that imply myth or stories from long ago, but they also contain a modern day narrative open for interpretation. artimages/11182005.jpg 320 317
2005-11-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=709 Ken Smith Ken Smith, originally from Des Moines, is a photographer from Riverside, Washington. Ken works in both digital and traditional photographic processes. When working digitally, he produces his still life compositions by scanning an actual leaf or flower and then manipulating the color and contrast of the image. He also works in black and white and often incorporates split-toned or hand-colored images. Revealed Root 2 pigment ink on paper 20" x 16" Ken creates a strong sense of tranquillity and focuses on the beauty of nature in his simple compositions. He chooses these subjects because, for him, they have a recurring theme of permanence and change. Ken remarks, “…when I do my work well, it may be that those who view it discover not something new, but the essence of something they already deeply know, a kind of innate recognition of human connectedness. A validation and celebration of existence.â€
Ken’s photographs can be found in private and public collections in the United States as well as in Europe. Corporate collections include Fifth Avenue Suites Hotel in Portland, OR, Japanese Cultural Center in Spokane, WA, Washington State Arts Commission, and Hewlett-Packard in Dublin, Ireland, Hubbell Realty, Rain & Hail, and Loras College. artimages/11192005.jpg 250 324
2005-11-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=710 Meiji Zhang Meiji Zhang graduated from the Industrial Design Department in the Beijing Institute of Technology in 1999. After graduation, he worked as a motorcycle designer, graphic designer, and a web designer for three years. He now studies 3D design at the University of Iowa. Lap Chair 3D Model PUC 24 x 14 x 38 inches April 2005 His recent works are about lost and found. He misplaces the forms and functions of objects and get different combinations. This can give people a new approach for design and gives the audience a new concept to experience. artimages/11282005.jpg 225 379
2005-11-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=711 Tammy Petro Tammy is currently a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Iowa.
Bada Bop installation piece Tammy Petro’s work focuses on challenging human behavior through changes in the environment. Her work utilizes post consumer materials in their construction. It’s important to her as a designer to recognize the entire life cycle of a product and envision ways to repurpose those materials.
Bada Bop draws inspiration from a musical selection by Beaumont of the same name. Bada Bop transforms an interior hallway with its circular forms and primary colors encouraging people to view it from all angles and change their walking patterns through the hallway. artimages/11292005.jpg 225 311
2005-11-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=712 Byron Burford Born in the South, Burford came to Iowa to study with Grant Wood before World War II, then left to serve in the U.S. Air Force, and later returned to take his M.F.A. in Iowa City, where he settled down to capture his semi-remembered, semi-imagined world through paintings and prints and to teach decade after decade of grateful students.
Lists of Burford’s honors and awards fill many pages and exhibition catalogs. Iowa is lucky to claim him. However, the magic of Byron Burford, like that of his Italian counter-part, belongs not only to the state, or our country, but to the entire western world. Victory Acrylic solution 33" x 35" If America holds a living counter-part of Frederico Fellini, it is Iowa’s venerable visual artist Byron Burford. Both larger-than-life creators, ebullient bon vivants, observers of the human condition, and both deeply fascinated with the worlds of circuses, legendary entertainers, and jazz, these giant talents both captured the innocence, lyricism, gaudy diversity, and pathos of their generations before and after World War II. artimages/11302005.jpg 300 274
2005-12-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=713 Sticks untitled wooden tea tray STICKS makes a wide range of heirloom-quality furniture painted in bright colors and incorporating text. It is the ultimate in family-friendly art. Each STICKS piece is a little bit different, but incorporates themes and icons from a list the group has put together. There are also several color families.
The process involves constructing the furniture from scratch out of regulation lumber, and then a sequence of drawing, wood burning, staining and painting the designs. Last come the final touches such as hand painted knobs and a final coat of polyurethane. Designs are derived from a series of themes, icons and color palettes that galleries or clients may choose from, making STICKS furniture easily customized. Customers can also add their own text or image ideas to custom orders.
Because of their ability to deliver joyful, custom-designed pieces, STICKS furniture has become a national phenomenon. Founder Sarah Grant-Hutchison, the creative mastermind behind the decoration, is a Des Moines resident and a graduate of the University of Iowa. Jim Lueders coordinates the furniture construction portion of the business. artimages/12012005.jpg 324 231
2005-12-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=714 Mauricio Lasansky Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mauricio Lasansky is one of the few modern artists who have limited their works almost exclusively to the graphic media. Due to his early contributions in the development of graphic techniques and his dedication to printmaking, Lasansky is considered to be a forerunner in the evolution of the graphic arts as a critical art form and has become recognized as one of the "Fathers of 20th Century American Printmaking." Amish Boy intaglio print 27" x 17 7/8" 1967 In 1936, at the age of twenty-two, he had already become the director of the Free Fine Arts School, in Villa Maria, Cordoba, Argentina. In 1943, Lasansky was offered the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in which he came to the United States and studied the print collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This opportunity not only afforded him a wealth of knowledge about prints and printmakers but created an opportunity for him to be exposed to and work with a number of European masters who had fled to the United States during wartimes. By 1952, he had not only received a great deal of recognition, prizes and awards, and an impressive line of exhibitions, but also had established himself as an American citizen.
During the 1940's, the interest in printmaking as a fine art was revitalized by the Works Progress Administration graphic arts workshops and many artists continued to explore the method after the WPA projects were discontinued. The most important of these studios was the New York Atelier 17 established by Stanley William Hayter. His was the first independent American workshop developed for exclusive experimentation of the intaglio process of printmaking. Through Hayter's efforts, the studio gained the attention of artists from around the country. Many of these artists are now referred to as the New York School. These artists adopted Abstract Expressionism as a means of stylistic expression and their work radically altered the course of intaglio printmaking in America.
Many artists, including Lasansky, worked extensively at the Atelier 17 formulating new methods and creating new techniques for their subjects as well as their prints. Several were later invited to develop printshops in university art departments around the country. One of the first artists to accept this challenge was Mauricio Lasansky. He established the vital printmaking workshop at the University of Iowa. To this day, it serves as a model for numerous other university printmaking departments led by many of Lasansky's former students.
It is the passing down of established techniques and ideologies about innovative printmaking techniques from generations of these teachers and students that marks the legacy of Atelier 17. And, it is Lasansky, one of the first generations of these printmakers, who has influenced the course of printmaking in the United States.
Best known for large scale prints in which he uses multiple plates and full ranges of color, Lasansky combines a spectrum of graphic techniques including etching, drypoint, aquatint and engraving. Throughout his stylistic evolution, he has created eloquent figural statements that are colorful, fresh and spontaneous. His early and late works show that his imagery has consistently dealt with elements which have undergone change and expansion as the work was created. Therefore, the subject of his art is as important as the technical aspect of his printmaking.
Lasansky has been the recipient of a total of five Guggenheim Fellowships, six honorary Doctorate of Arts degrees and numerous prizes and special honors. His work is represented in more than one hundred public collections including virtually every major museum in the United States. Internationally recognized, he has been exhibited throughout North and South America, Europe and Russia. Now retired from the University of Iowa, he continues to be an inspiration to artists for his contributions, his richly and intensely printed surfaces, and his highly personal style. artimages/12022005.jpg 236 350
2005-12-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=715 Steve Shock Steve Shock is an award-winning illustrator and graphic designer from Waterloo, Iowa. His TIME Boxes and Letterboxes are both original concepts utilizing mized media collage on ready-made wood boxes. The media used include xerograpy on stock bond and recycled colored papers, acrylic paint, water-based varnish, and pastel. Mr. Shock begins by applying wood stain to both the exterior and interior surfaces of a box. A glaze of metallic copper acrylic paint and varnish is applied over the interior stain. Letterforms are copyright free and date from between the late 1700s through the 1920s. They are manipulated to achieve a variety of textures. Methods include sanding, scraping, and erasure. They are then printed on paper stock, cut into squares, and applied to the exterior surface. Pastel is scumbled and rubbed over the letter collage. The next step is the distressing of the box and collage. This is done using several tools including hammer, chain, file, and sanding sponge. The collage is then varnished. Next, acrylic paint is applied to the open area of the box's lid. There is some cracking of the paint along with "chipping" and sanding the surface to suggest the effects of time. The lid is then finish-coated with varnish. The entire box is lightly scuffed to reduce shine. artimages/12032005.jpg 475 207
2005-12-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=716 Russell Karkowski Russell Karkowski has been living and working in Iowa City, Iowa for 25 years. He specializes in furniture for the home and office and will make price quotations free of charge. untitled wooden table Russell Karkowski's custom designed furniture combines classical elements within modern forms. Unique combinations of wood; cherry walnut oak and mahogany lend themselves to Russell's simple beautiful designs.
Pieces that are designed with the environment in mind require a one on one relationship with the client. When one works directly with the craftsman they are assured a piece of furniture that is unique, and they are allowed the option of adding pieces in the future that can compliment existing furniture. artimages/12042005.jpg 305 229
2005-12-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=717 Sharon Burns-Knutson Sharon is an artist from Cedar Rapids who received her Masters of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Iowa and her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Northern Iowa. She has served as a visiting artist at Mt. Mercy College in Cedar Rapids and at the University of Minnesota. Sharon's work hangs in the collections of the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, the University of Iowa, and Luther College in Decorah in addition to many other public and private collections in Iowa and the Midwest. She’s been included in many museum and gallery exhibitions throughout the country, including one-person exhibitions at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Nina Liu Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Brunnier Art Museum in Ames. UNTITLED XXXVIII pastel 8 x 6 Sharon's artwork varies between large-scale “picture stories†and small pastel studies of summer flowers and autumn trees. She expertly captures the vibrant colors of nature in the smaller works. Her larger works are fanciful assemblies of individual stories and tales. Working with oil paint on a dark surface (black paper) she creates a rich tapestry that from a distance appears to be abstract. But closer inspection reveals the intricate interweaving of many characters, animals and objects of all kinds. Her color usage is always vibrant with the overall effect likened to that of a stained glass window. artimages/12052005.jpg 248 350
2005-12-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=718 Bruce Morrison Bruce Morrison earned a BFA in 1975 from the University of Iowa. He majored in Photography and minored in Painting and Serigraphy. His work has been exhibited across the United States and Canada, as well as overseas. He lives with his wife Georgeann in rural northwest Iowa in the Tallgrass Prairie pothole region. Broken Kettle Winter oil on paper 8.5' x 5" 2001 Bruce Morrison favors the landscape as a subject in his photography, paintings and drawings. He uses large or medium format cameras to capture stunning images of the Iowa landscape. When painting or drawing, Morrison prefers a plein aire approach. Like the Impressionists, he works outdoors, painting the landscape he sees in front of him, usually on a smaller in scale than his photographs.
Bruce has a deep personal interest in the natural heritage of our remaining Tallgrass Prairie, and much of his work over the past decade has been deeply influenced by this subject. In addition to recording the beauty of the prairie, he has devoted much time and energy to furthering and encouraging Prairie reconstruction/restoration projects and education in northwestern Iowa artimages/12062005.jpg 350 233
2005-12-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=719 Vinicius Rebello Lima Vinicius Lima was born in Brazil in 1982. He received a Bachelor in Architecture and Urban Planning Degree in July, 2005 at Federal University of Rio de Janiero, Brazil. He is currently a first semester Graduate Student at University of Iowa School of Art and Art History where he is studying in the Design Graduate Program. While an undergraduate student, he did an internship time with many architecture and urbanism projects, including apartment buildings, street renovations, and interior design. His current work at University of Iowa has been based on exploring the geometry as a tool to make design. He uses medias like wood sticks, foam board paper and computer software.
Space Experience #1 Foam board and glue variable dimensions This piece comes from a constant search for beautiful spaces. He is interested in creating spaces that have a lot of visual quality using design skills. Items like the background, the views from interior spaces, light, shadow, and color are items he always tries to put together in his work. artimages/12072005.jpg 350 263
2005-12-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=720 Katherine Parker Katherine Parker earned her BA in Studio Art and Art History from the University of California, Davis in 1995. She was awarded her MA in Art from the University of Iowa in 2005 and will complete her MFA work in May 2006. Still in Center video 1 minute Still in Center references wallpaper patterns and nineteenth century Victorian paper silhouettes and is intended to provide the viewer with a moment of quiet contemplation. artimages/12082005katherine_parker.jpg 425 283 Iowa at 30 Frames per Second
2005-12-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=721 Mel Andringa Mel Andringa received his MA (1971) and MFA (1978) from the University of Iowa with an emphasis in Multimedia/Intermedia. In 1975, he founded The Drawing Legion, a performance art company that toured original productions in over 50 U.S. cities and the Netherlands. In 1990, Mel Andringa and F. John Herbert founded Legion Arts, a multidisciplinary arts organization presenting contemporary art at CSPS, a 115-year old Czech meeting hall, in Cedar Rapids. Footballs/Baked Potatoes Jigsaw Collage 16" x 22" 2000 "The puzzle collage is an example of artworks I make out of jigsaw puzzles I find that have different pictures but are cut with the same stamp." artimages/12092005.jpg 425 319
2005-12-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=722 Laurayne Robinette Laurayne Robinette was born in 1928 in southern Iowa. She earned her BFA from Drake University in 1952, taught art for one year in Des Moines, married, had three daughters, started taking art classes at the Des Moines Art Center, and continued her art education over the next thirty-six years.
Co-Tangent oil on canvas 30"x48" 2000 Robinette works mostly in oil. Her representational work is taken from observations of landscapes and interiors, while the non-representational work is produced by using nontraditional methods of applying paint to canvas or paper. artimages/12102005.jpg 250 320
2005-12-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=723 Annadora Khan Annadora Khan was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She moved to Iowa at the age of fifteen. Annadora has an MFA in Drawing from the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History in Iowa City.
Dream Riddle Photography/digital collage various sizes 2000 She has worked at the Information Arcade in the University Main Library for the last 12 years and has run the day-to-day operations of this multimedia lab for the last 6 years. Annadora is a member of the Pleiades Gallery in Chelsea Manhattan. artimages/12112005.jpg 425 364
2005-12-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=724 David Kamm David Kamm earned his MA (1986) and MFA (1988) in printmaking from the University of Iowa. He has shown his work extensively in the Midwest and abroad. Collections that hold examples of his work include the International Museum of Collage, Assemblage and Construction in Cuernavaca, the Vatican Collection of Modern Art, the Print Consortium of Kansas City, Missouri, and the Popular Culture Library at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Art and the Gallery Coordinator at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
Harp print collage/wooden sculpture various dimensions About his artwork, David writes, "I am trained as a printmaker and my work frequently reflects aesthetic concerns inherent in printmaking processes. Those include the concepts of image transfer, serial imagery, and multiple image manipulations that leave a visual record of the creative process." The source materials for Harp are David's prints, cut into pieces and recombined to make a new artwork. artimages/12122005.jpg 250 384
2005-12-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=725 Chris Fletcher Chris Fletcher received his B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1993 and his M.F.A. in 1997 from American University in Washington D.C. His works have been included in exhibitions in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Virginia. Shallow Stage acrylic on paper 2003 As a painter, my chief concern is the unique internal logic of the singular painting. Isometric projection helps me to consider the dual function of any given shape. A shape may function both as a link in a two dimensional design and as a plane in a representation of three-dimensional volume.
Keeping shapes of color evenly modulated helps me to feel the character of the relationships between them better. These relationships include those of part to part, part to whole, part to group, group to group, and group to whole.
The resulting images evoke things like wooden toys or figures, building blocks, architectural frame construction, wood joinery, and stages. These things may serve to embody the tenuous nature of appearances. However, they may also suggest hope and the process of growth. artimages/12132005.jpg 425 272
2005-12-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=726 Dan Ferro Dan Ferro received his B.A. from the University of California in San Diego where he studied photography, sculpture, and music. He studied commercial photography at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and moved to Iowa in 1989. With over 25 years experience as a photographer and independent software creative director and producer, the use of technology has become a central element in the exploration and development of his vision.
Dan Ferro's website http://www.ferro7.com/fineart/ dance: from the "cooked" series 13" x 19" 2003 Dan Ferro received his B.A. from the University of California in San Diego where he studied photography, sculpture, and music. He studied commercial photography at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and moved to Iowa in 1989. With over 25 years experience as a photographer and independent software creative director and producer, the use of technology has become a central element in the exploration and development of his vision.
About the artwork: The twelve images in the "cooked" series are direct scans of cooking sheets and baking pans using a flatbed scanner. This work is an exploration of the transitional and disregarded; the unnoticed and commonplace. The images do not replicate what the human eye can see. They are abstract photographic images that explore visual possibilities using light and lens. artimages/12142005.jpg 300 450
2005-12-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=727 Blair Benz After taking a BA in Psychology from the University of Northern Iowa in 1979, Benz returned in 1987 for another BA with a major in Art, and then in 1991, he graduated with an MA with a major in drawing. Between 1987 and 1996, he also served as Acting Director of the Gallery of Art and Adjunct instructor in the Art Dept. at UNI in Cedar Falls as well as Art Director for the North American Review.
Untitled (015) Charcoal 5" x 4" With imagery suggesting 19th century prints, Blair Benz demonstrates highly polished skills in the difficult charcoal medium. In this series of refined, small pictures, he offers some masterful works.
Works of Blair L. Benz have been shown in the Gallery of Art in Eugene, Oregon, in the Mayor’s Choice Exhibition in the Metropolitan Galleries in Cedar Falls, in the Iowa Artists Exhibit at the Des Moines Art Center, and in the Midlands Invitational 2000 at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha. artimages/12152005.jpg 325 397
2005-12-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=728 Gretchen Caracas Gretchen Caracas is a graduate of the University of Colorado and studied at the Brooklyn Museum School and the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria. An adjunct faculty member at the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History from 1973 through 1992, Gretchen has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States, Spain, and Italy.
Invernedero #2 acrylic on canvas 52" x 58" Her subject is the landscape of her two homes-one in Ibiza, Spain and the other in Iowa City. While some of her paintings depict urban scenes, many represent garden-like interiors. She often combines elements from her studio with fruits, vegetables, household objects, and, on occasion, animals to form still life vignettes. Whether inspired by Spain or Iowa City, the paintings communicate Caracas's intimate familiarity with and emotional attachment to her environment. artimages/12162005.jpg 425 373
2006-01-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=219 Sara Fletcher Sara Fletcher grew up in Western New York State. She received her BFA in ceramic sculpture from Alfred University in 1998, and a post-baccalaureate certificate in painting from Brandeis University in 2003. She is currently an MFA candidate in painting at the University of Iowa. Duet oil on canvas 22" x 24" 2004 Many of the most vivid moments in my life have been the quietest. I paint to find the meeting place of visible reality and imagination; that place can engage the senses, the mind, and the heart all at one time. artimages/01162006.jpg 500 453
2006-01-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=220 Shelagh Gamble Shelagh Gamble was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and moved to Okoboji, Iowa at the age of 14. Shelagh began her pursuit of art under the direction of Hank Hall and ended up in the Art department of the University of Northern Iowa. Graduating with a BA in Art in 2003, Shelagh moved back to Okoboji where she began working in her home studio. Starting out as a ceramics artist through school, Shelagh recently has taken up painting and is now working with both mediums simultaneously. Typical mixed media Shelagh has this to say, "I am an artist interested in capturing the translucency of colors and the spontaneity of the everyday life... In each piece I use transparent colors with the light of the canvas, allowing the viewer to make their own assumptions about the layers and objects involved in the piece. My themes are derived from fashion, popular culture and the world around me, and are composed by materials collected, purchased or found... When a piece is finished it seems to shout "stop", however some pieces never seem to be done and are perpetually being reworked. In recent works of mine, I have been experimenting in color and materials. The creation of flowing translucent glaze colors mixed with the permanence of black rigid lines are recurring paradoxes in my recent pieces." artimages/01172006.jpg 500 405
2006-01-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=851 Amy Leach Amy Leach received an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Iowa. Her essays have been published in The Iowa Review, A Public Space, and The Wilson Quarterly. She is working on a collection of essays about Eta Carinae (a star), Love-Lies-Bleeding (a flower), the takahe (a bird), and Phobos (a moon), among other things. "When Trees Dream of Being Trees" was first published in Spring 2006 issue of The Iowa Review. When Trees Dream of Being Trees artimages/01172006.jpg 500 405 Iowa Writes The tree decided to stop growing after it grew its thousandth leaf. No more, it whispered, and started throwing flimsily attached twigs and old nests down, and shaking the birds out. I am a terrible tree! A thousand leaves is more than enough to prove that! I am slow and slight and my leaves are not lustrous. I have never made a flower, never made an apricot, never made an acorn. Go away birds! I am an impostor tree! I will be a post, if I can just shake off these redundant branches, and the tree bounced up and down, twirled violently, and tried some catapulting maneuvers in an effort to fling off its limbs. Nothing much was flung, except for some leaves and a butterfly, and they were instantly free from its flinging force, and ended up drifting away instead of zinging through the air. And so the tree started to slam itself against the earth. Its branches were most certainly broken this way, but they were not broken off: such fibrous material does not easily come loose, does not easily separate from itself. So the tree was hung with broken creaking branches. Aghast, it felt itself growing. And, knowing it would only grow more of itself, it cried, I must get out of the sunlight! I must get out of the rain! It tried to sink into the dirt. But trees with their spreading root systems are even harder to push down into the dirt than they are to pull up. So the tree finally just stood there with its smashed branches, exhausted, in the late afternoon sunlight. The other trees around regarded the tree going mad without much comment. They had seen this dreadful thing happen before, when trees dream of being trees.
2006-01-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=221 Janet Hart-Heinicke Janet Heinicke is a native Midwesterner and a seasoned artist. She holds advanced degrees in printmaking from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and in painting from Northern Illinois University. She has a long history of work as a collegiate educator in Illinois and Iowa and most recently acted as the Fine Arts Exhibition Director for the Iowa State Fair. Apartment in Soho, NY ink, mixed media on paper 36" x 30" 1991 Much of Heinicke's work focuses on close observation of the natural world. She finds value in calling to the viewer's attention frequently overlooked textures and surfaces of sticks, stones, and bony structures. Apartment in Soho, NY, despite being an urban scene, calls the same kind of attention to the skeletal structure of the fire escapes and window frames in the quintessential haunt of the urban artiste. artimages/01182006.jpg 257 387
2006-01-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=222 April Katz April Katz is an associate professor who teaches printmaking at Iowa State University. She is currently serving as president of the Southern Graphics Council, the largest printmaking organization in the world. Katz exhibits her work extensively in juried shows throughout the country. She has presented workshops at Arrowmont and at Frogman’s Press. Her prints are in the collections of the Fogg Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Between lithograph, chine colle, acrylic paint 20" x 16" 2004 Through juxtapositions, transparent overlays of paint and ink, shifts in space, grid-like structures and implied narratives I convey the sense of time’s passage along with personal and cultural memory. The images incorporated into my work refer to issues of identity and communication. I examine the factors that help to shape us as individuals. References to our biological foundation and to cultural and environmental roots are important elements in these prints that reflect my research into cellular biology and ancient Mesopotamian cultures. These themes are metaphorically conveyed through images that include cellular structures and scientific visual notations, clusters of chairs, figures, ancient writing and family photographs. artimages/01192006.jpg 321 400
2006-01-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=223 Mary Kline-Misol A native of Des Moines, Mary Kline-Misol earned both her BFA and MFA from Drake University, where she studied under Jules Kirschenbaum. Kline-Misol now maintains her studio in Panora, where she has spent the last decade working on painting in series. Large-scale still-lifes of exotic objects, friends, relatives and people she's met travelling, flowers and elements of nature, and a series of real and fictional characters relating to Charles Dodgson's Alice Through the Looking Glass have all been themes explored in her work. Mary Kline-Misol's website http://www.maryklinemisol.com/ Garden of Live Flowers acrylic on canvas Highly accomplished as a figurative painter, Mary Kline-Misol has created several series of paintings throughout the past decade. She has painted large still life compositions using colorful puppets and unusual objects from around the world, then a series of friends and relatives and a few models encountered during her travels, then works focusing on flowers and elements in nature, and recently a series of fictional characters relating to Charle's Dodgdon's Alice Through the Looking Glass. artimages/01202006.jpg 281 400
2006-01-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=224 Matt Moyer Matt Moyer received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Illinois State University in 2001. He had special graduate status at the University of Iowa last year. His has been seen in many states including Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico and in a few others. Bolted Wedges clay bolted to steel, on steel table 20" x 9" x 20" 2004 About his work, Matt writes, "The examination of artifacts and implements from our past is the driving force behind my sculpture. My interest in industrial artifacts is the focus of this current work, and originates with my family having worked in the pipefitting union for three generations including my own. The longevity of industry, and its ability to change, adapt, and mold itself to an ever-evolving society intrigues me. The industrial artifacts that I find most interesting are those where a specific utility is not immediately apparent but rather slow to reveal it’s self. A sense of history, through layers of pealed paint, or the patterns of rust caused from an existence in a caustic environment reveals a great deal about not only the object but the people who used it, or worked in proximity to it. Though I am not always certain what the artifacts that interest me were used for, I remain interested in them for their shape, composition, surface, potential utility, but most of all the sense of it’s existence in time prior to the present. In my own pieces, I strive to engage the viewer to examine the nuances of each piece to determine for themselves what the object might be or may have been and how it might relate to something in their own they recognize in their own history." artimages/01212006.jpg 500 241
2006-01-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=225 Michael Perrone Michael Perrone is currently a visiting faculty member of the University of Iowa's School of Art and Art History. Hedge acrylic on wood 24" x 36" 2003 Michael says about his work, "My recent paintings are based on imagery which I viewed / experienced while driving on highways in Pennsylvania and New Jersey – most notably on the New Jersey Turnpike, and more specifically on my way to and from New York. When I am driving I tend to clear my head and get lost in a meditative state. I am visually acute at these times, and see paintings everywhere. Additionally, with the recent work, I’ve been trying to challenge myself with regard to my conceptions of what a painting is and how it is made. I’ve been attempting to subvert my own notions of art, taste, and beauty, with the hope of expanding my technical and conceptual skills, and breaking down some long held beliefs. The idea of the artificial landscape has offered me a visually inspiring starting point, as well as an apt metaphor for approaching my specific process goal." artimages/01222006.jpg 500 374
2006-01-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=226 Shawn Reed Shawn Reed received his BFA from the University of Northern Iowa in 2003. He is currently a graduate student in the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History's Intermedia program. Square Knife video 4 minutes Square Knife is an order of imagined ritual and transformation starting with the slobbery masses of a young bearded man. Dug up from the earth and holed up in its hole, Square Knife shows the ceremony of three pre teen witches and their fantasy hunter follower. artimages/01232006.jpg 500 375 Iowa at 30 Frames per Second
2006-01-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=227 T. J. Lechtenberg T.J. Lechtenberg is in his third year of the MFA program in The Jewelry and Metalsmithing Department at the University of Iowa. His current work explores silent metal forming with sheet metal, and seeks to establish voluminous forms from the flat pierced metal sheets by pushing, pulling and forming the material. Folded Ring sterling silver 2002 Circles and squares are two of the most elemental of shapes in our visual vocabulary. A majority of my jewelry and hollowware objects branch out from these basic geometric shapes. Because of their familiarity I can freely push, pull, slice and chop the shapes to create more abstract forms, yet still feel grounded by the still recognizable shape. Regardless of the direction that the objects I make go, they remain ultimately simple, graceful and without excess. artimages/01242006.jpg 291 398
2006-01-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=228 James Renier James Renier earned a BFA in printmaking and papermaking from the University of Iowa in 1983. He lives and works in Europe, and his course of production and discovery recently led to a museum exhibition in The Netherlands. James Renier's website http://www.e-sinom.com/ Thinkers sign (to be installed in a shop window) My project is a satirical look at the price we must pay for everything. The idea stems from one of the oldest advertising techniques: window signs. Through such signs we are attracted into shops and stores and enticed to purchase, often mindless products... I want to make consumers (passers-by) re-evaluate where their thoughts and money are flowing. I would not only like to question our position in a global economy, but also our loss of attention span. We see a summer sale sign, feel fortunate and go buy something...I wish not to make a protest but strive to tell a story in a way our cultures have done for centuries. Perhaps we will soon realize that we hold so many qualities within ourselves. We simply do not take the time to realize them. artimages/01252006.jpg 500 246
2006-01-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=229 Diane Naylor Raised in the rolling hills of Grant Wood County, Eastern Iowa, Diane attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) and acquired her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) & then further her studies at the Maharishi University of Management (MUM). Clock oil painting 2004 About this body of work, Diane writes, "The current series named “Eternity†is based on utilizing antiques that house her paintings. The recent artwork has given way to fantasmic landscapes capsulated in a surrealistic old world where the land was the prime source of power. Several paintings are placed within a Black Forest Coo-Coo Clock from the early 1900’s. The paintings are in amber tones in harmony with the inlayed wood juxtaposed within the dark chocolate colored exterior." artimages/01262006.jpg 425 425
2006-01-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=230 Crit Streed Crit Streed is Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Northern Iowa. The Geography of Drawing graphite on paper 22" x 30" The Geography of Drawing is one drawing from a series of performative acts focused on the physical process of drawing. Human imperfection renders the drawing as a form unplanned while the distinctive shape language feels to me as if I had dredged them from some remote place, where the integrity of my own physical presence in the act of drawing might connect with all organic structures.
The drawing act is deliberate and intense but the imprecision and inaccuracy of my own hand announces what we give shape to is always in concert with our limitations. It is the impact of imperfection on what is resolute that makes the drawing become perfect. artimages/01272006.jpg 500 375
2006-01-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=231 Jan Zelfer-Redmond Jan Zelfer-Redmond earned her B.A. from Briar Cliff College in Sioux City and her B.F.A. in Painting from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions and juried shows. Jan mounted a major one-woman show at the Sioux City Art Center recently. Ms. Zelfer-Redmond maintains a studio in Sioux City, Iowa. Jan Zelfer-Redmond website http://www.olsonlarsen.com/en/artists/?albumID=3779&action=dspalbum 00697a-Untitled (blue) oil on canvas 72" x 48" 2003 About the artwork, Jan Zelfer-Redmond states: Most often, when I paint, I am responding to ideas which I've heard or read, that seem to verbalize exactly those unfiltered thoughts that were in my subconscious mind and not yet vocalized by me. My paintings start with a pre-verbal, intuitive and spontaneous process in order to recreate that area of ghost-like discovery. It is seldom that I begin a painting with any idea in mind of what that painting will look like when it is finished, but it is also seldom that I begin a painting without an idea in mind. artimages/01282006.jpg 350 451
2006-01-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=232 Cathy Palmer Cathy Palmer received her B.F.A. in Painting from the University of South Dakota in 1995. Today, she is living and working in Sioux City, Iowa. Her work has been seen all throughout Iowa. Only Way Out Is Through oil on canvas 2003 About her work, Cathy writes, "These paintings—through layering, destroying, seeking and renewal—are trying t capture the vibrant feeling of nature and its innate spirituality. There is evidence of struggle, while striving to maintain a feeling of spontaneity and soul. The mystic language of color and abstraction is paramount because of its embodiment of things non-limiting and mysterious." artimages/01292006.jpg 500 453
2006-01-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=233 Megan Berner Megan Berner received her B.A. in Photography from the University of Nevada Reno and is currently a graduate student in the School of Art and Art History’s Intermedia program at the University of Iowa. She mainly works with photography and video but also uses other media including drawing, collage, and printmaking. Main themes in her work include being a twin, identity, and the use of narratives and storytelling. Typing video 1 minute 37 seconds Typing is an observation of repeated action and the quotidian. artimages/01302006.jpg 500 371 Iowa at 30 Frames per Second
2006-01-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=234 Bill Hamilton William Francis Hamilton II was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He is the son of nationally-known artists Gene and Carlie Hamilton. In addition to learning from his parents, Bill attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco and also mentored under internationally-acclaimed artist, Jim Buckels.
Hamilton spent two years touring and painting the countryside of the Republic of Georgia, where he was given a solo exhibition. His latest works feature a series of paintings depicting vintage San Francisco signs. Hamilton has also painted Georgian landscapes, California coastal and urban scenes, and flower gardens. In addition to oil painting, Hamilton works in found scrap metal to create abstract sculptures. Hot Popcorn (Iowa State Fair) oil on canvas 38" x 57" 2004 artimages/01312006.jpg 500 330
2006-02-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=267 S. Bailey Jacobson S. Bailey Jacobson is an Intermedia B.F.A. candidate at the University of Iowa. In addition to studying video, installation, and performance art, she is an Art Education and English student. Bailey will spend the semester working as an Artist in Residence at United Action for Youth as part of Intermedia's Artist in Community course. Collecting Installation view, mixed media 2006 "This project began as a fascination and attraction to American resale and flea market ephemera from the 1940's1950's, 1960's, and 1970's. Growing up in a family of antique dealers, I never much cared for the antiquated and old-fashioned styles abundant on my paternal grandparent's farm. Yet, the farther I move from my family the more pleasure I take in such items. I find Americana appealing as reminders of the histories of my families, as ongoing symbols of idealized American morals and characteristics, and as reminders of the sentimental attitudes towards America's past." artimages/02012006.jpg 500 394
2006-02-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=268 Anamika Holke Anamika is a senior studying studio art at the University of Iowa. This is
her first experience working with video and time-based media. Time video 2 minutes 30 seconds 2005 This piece is based upon time. The three images used are symbolic of the
observation of time. In particular, they represent three particular aspects
of time; starting and ending, continuation and repetition. Together these
elements show the passing of time. Some images are played forward and in
reverse or overlapped with other images to explore how time can be
interpreted differently. artimages/02022006.jpg 500 335 Iowa at 30 Frames per Second
2006-02-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=269 Pat Edwards Pat Edwards is an independent artist living in Iowa City. Pat received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in art from The University of Iowa. In addition to teaching she has also served as an artist-in-residence through the Iowa Arts Council. Her work was recently featured in a one-person exhibition at the Dubuque Museum of Art. Red Car, Green Bush oil on poplar 7" x 8" Pat paints in oil on small-scale panels and large canvases to create intimate backyard scenes. Loosely painted, her images conjure up a nostalgic mood of peaceful summer days. The manner in which she portrays light and shadow help to define the mood and time of day in each painting. Although often small in scale, these paintings can be read at a distance, but the intimate size invites the viewer to inspect at a closer range. artimages/02032006.jpg 494 460
2006-02-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=270 Vivian Torrence Vivian Torrence received her MFA in painting and drawing from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She currently lives and work in Germany. Vivian Torrence's website http://www.torrence.de Hand No Rope (Shakespeare's Tempest Series) mixed media collage 19 3/4" x 15 3/4" 2004 Torrence writes about her art: 'My work is "on paper". I love the character of paper as a material; its tangibility; its reactions to different media. I use printed pages from various sources for collages, watercolor, gouache and various printing techniques. Fine surfaces, beautiful color and tone are important to my aesthetic. Over the years my collages have evolved as my main means of expression. More than a technique, collage is a method and represents a synthesis of thoughts, a thinking process that is central to my work – bringing together diverse elements to create a new reality or meaning. Dream, poetry and nature are sources and reinforce this process of renewable meanings. My work often displays a drama of ambiguous outcome. Intuition and chance have their roles to play in the theater. Though narrative in appearance, with figurative elements interacting, the collages also have important abstract elements which change the atmosphere and create another world – a separate world for the spirit.' artimages/02042006.jpg 341 425
2006-02-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=271 Thomas Jewell-Vitale Thomas Jewell-Vitale, Professor of Art at Loras College in Dubuque, returned to his Alma Mater in 1976 almost a decade after leaving: first to pursue religious studies at Gregorian University in Rome, then to study figure drawing at Academie der Bildenden Kunste in Vienna, and finally to take a BA and MA in Studio Art from the University of California at Berkley. In 1955, he took a sabbatical post as Professor of English at Eichi University in Amagasaki, Japan. Jewell-Vitale’s art evolves from and certainly adapts to a wide variety of local and international settings. San Zen oil, wax, and acrylic on paper 11" x 9" Thomas writes: “I make paintings in which shapes are tied intimately to their surroundings…Their edges are not fixed boundaries, but fingers which probe, revealing a myriad of allegiances: hiding, nestling, isolated, adrift, consumed…â€
He will have new work featured in an exhibition at Olson-Larson galleries in Des Moines, Iowa from February 24-April 1, 2006. artimages/02052006.jpg 336 425
2006-02-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=272 Dustin Dow Mason Dustin Dow Mason is a B.F.A candidate in the School of Art and Art History Intermedia Area at The University of Iowa. His major concentration areas include: video, sound, assemblage/collage, and sculpture. He graduated from English Valley High School, North English, IA in 2003. Fairwell video 1 minute 2005 He writes: " Fairwell is a short film demonstrating how people move on and continue to grow in life. We find our most precious possessions and we bring something old leaving some room for our new experiences. This relates to me at this time in my life as I progress to the next level in my career as an Intermedia B.F.A. " artimages/02062006.jpg 500 377 Iowa at 30 Frames per Second
2006-02-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=273 Laurel Farrin Laurel earned her B.F.A. in Studio Art at Ohio University in 1977 and later received her M.F.A. in Painting from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1993. She now works as an Assistant Professor for Painting/Drawing at the University of Iowa, where she has been since 1997. Laurel has shown her pieces in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Iowa, Maryland, Virginia, and countless other states. Practice II oil and acrylic on canvas 24" x 24" 2002 artimages/02072006.jpg 425 422
2006-02-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=274 Betty Fitzsimmons Fitzsimmons received both her B.F.A. and M.A. from the University of Iowa. Her work has been included in the Des Moines Art Center's Iowa Artists Exhibition as well as other regional galleries and museums. Spacial Conundrum #3 watercolor 16" x 20" Betty Fitzsimmons is an artist and art educator from Des Moines. Betty's art, whether it takes the form of a mixed media work on paper or a handmade book, symbolizes human interaction on a spiritual and unconscious level. Drawn to native cultures, Betty often derives inspiration from Indian folktales and history. In her works she will often blend cultural ideas into her own artistic interpretation. She describes her work as a search for depicting "the spiritual characteristics of two individuals that strike me as equal--equivalent--but who on the surface are dramatically different." Her longtime interest in Robert Scott's exploration of the Antarctic has produced several series of artwork inspired by the explorer's diaries and journals. artimages/02082006.jpg 500 394
2006-02-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=275 Jane Gilmor Professor Jane Gilmor says that certain works are intended "to create a ritualistic ambience not unlike that of some bizarre roadside shrine. I am interested in both the construction and deconstruction of myth and in the deeper relationships between myth, experience, and culture.†Jane Gilmor, more than most artists, satisfies our universal human desire to encounter something different, unusual, and fascinating. Jane received both her MA and MFA from the University of Iowa, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and earned her BS at Iowa State University in Ames. She has served as Professor of Art at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids for almost three decades. Wishing Fountain wood and metal 9" x 7" x 1" The shrines and constructions of Professor Jane Gilmor have appeared in over 74 exhibitions and more than 30 collections. The lists of her publications, lectures, special installations, awards, and honors fill pages. Wherever her unique works appear, they attract adults and children, and individuals without any experience interacting with artists, as well as discriminating art collectors. Her pieces sometimes include the words of people in diverse and extreme situations. Moving from large and complex installations in public spaces, the artist recently is creating pieces appropriate to private settings. artimages/02092006.jpg 353 425
2006-02-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=276 Thomas C. Jackson Born in Rock Island, Illinois in 1950, Thomas Jackson holds a B.A. from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois and an M.F.A. from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He received these degrees in 1972 and 1974 respectively. After earning his M.F.A, Thomas went on to become an Assistant Professor of Art at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Since then, he has held various positions in Iowa using his graphic and design capabilities. Thomas C. Jackson's website http://www.thomascjackson.com/ Untitled No. 43 color photograph 60" x 30" 2005 artimages/02102006.jpg 254 500
2006-02-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=277 Dennis Dykema Dennis Dykema is rooted in the rolling countryside of northwest Iowa and his paintings catch the energy of the fertile land. However, a viewer won't locate a specific place from his images, and a European viewer may see a kinship to Van Gogh's later landscapes. Working primarily on medium-sized oils on paper and large oils on canvas, Dykema produces bright and boldly textured paintings that appeal to a wide range of collectors.
First attending Northwestern College in Orange City, IA for his BA, then Morningside College in Sioux City, and then the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls for his MA, Dykema settled into Buena Vista College in Storm Lake where, except for sabbatical studies in England, at Notre Dame and the University of Iowa, he has taught for three decades. Where the Sky and Ground Appear to Meet: Forecast on the Horizon oil on paper 22" x 30" artimages/02112006.jpg 500 363
2006-02-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=278 Timothy Frerichs Born in Forest City, in 1965, Frerichs earned his BA with Departmental Distinction at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, then took an MA at the University of Iowa and stayed on to earn his MFA in 1991. He went to the Universitaet Osnabrueck in Germany on a Fulbright Fellowship. He a Visiting Artist at Truman State University in Kirksville, and is now an Assistant Professor of Art at Central College in Pella. L5 Flower 3 monoprint, intaglio, digital print on handmade paper 7" x 8" Of his work, Timothy Frerichs writes: "My imagery has developed out of my interest in historical and cultural views and perceptions of nature."
His drawings clearly follow from these interests in nature and attitudes pertaining to it. His recent collection of forty botanical studies, mounted as a composite, derives from a grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation for study in the Linnaeus gardens at Uppsala University in Sweden. Frerichs appeals to those interested in botanical subjects and drawing as a tool of observation, and those who value the art of the line, calligraphic or representational. artimages/02122006.jpg 500 390
2006-02-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=279 Audrey Cropp Trees video 9 minutes 26 seconds 2005 This piece was first presented as a sculpture and ambient video project. A large chicken wire case was created in the shape of a tornado and covered in gauze. A large fan was secured to the bottom and the inside of filled with leaves. When the fan turned on the leaves would erupt in motion and cause a wonderful noise. The video was projected from a wall mount and played along the sculpture and on the back wall. The video takes you up through the trees never stopping and never touching the ground.
Audrey says this about her work: "Art is using and reusing any and all inspiring resources available. Choosing one medium over another helps to define our style and models and in turn communicates our own specific language to our audience. I choose to use video because nothing is more challenging than a constantly moving tool whose ability to be changed, edited, and interpreted are infinite. I tend to choose real situations in an attempt to evoke real feelings or at least a reaction. A need to have purposeful work leads to my success just as much as it adds to my mistakes." artimages/02132006.jpg 500 350 Iowa at 30 Frames per Second
2006-02-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=280 Fred Truck Fred Truck is a true Iowan artist. Born in 1946 in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Fred would go on to earn his B.A. at Iowa Wesleyan College in 1969. He currently lives and works in Des Moines, Iowa. Something to note about Fred is that he was a co-founder of the Art Com Electronic Network, the first computer network for artists, with Carl Loeffler in 1986. Fred Truck's website http://www.fredtruck.com Rubber Heart inkjet print on ultra-gloss photo paper 13" x 19" 2003 "I work from 3D computer imagery I generate in CAD/CAM programs. Drawing in three dimensions makes it easy for me to move a given idea into a print or even a constructed object such as a bronze. Of course, there is a trick to this. I realized early on that the ideas I had were always connected to matter. I’ve never had an idea independent of matter. Moving an idea from my computer CAD/CAM rendering to a sculpture is a process of understanding that the electrons making the image on my computer monitor are the same as those electrons making up the bronze of my sculptures. When the electrons are represented by 1s and 0s, changing their outward form is like pouring water from a fish bowl into a swan-necked vase." artimages/02142006.jpg 495 368
2006-02-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=281 Charles Barth Charles received his undergraduate degree from Chicago State University. He holds a Doctorate in Art Education from Illinois State University and continued post-doctoral studies at the University of Iowa. He was Professor of Art at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids from 1972 to 2003. Diego y Frida por Siempre color intaglio 24" x 18" "My prints involve images from Mexico and popular cultures such as Kitsch, current fads and fashions, pop stars, t.v. images, films, rock music and disco. The images are expressed in a "fantastic" style and are abstracted, exaggerated and satirized. I am interested in color and light and try to express the 'brassy' sights and sounds of the environment. The end result involves bright or garish colors, exotic images and feeling of light moving over the surfaces. I have a strong interest in art history and often incorporate historical art images and symbolism. " artimages/02152006.jpg 348 457
2006-02-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=282 Amy Worthen Amy Worthen is a well known Des Moines printmaker and scholar in the art of printmaking. Amy is known nationally and internationally and has been exhibited in shows in major cities all over the U.S. and included in several shows in Europe. Prospettiva Divina engraving 15" x 24" Her engravings, often architectural in content, combine humor, history and a dedication to expressing the full effect of the printmaking medium. All of her compositions are rendered in fine line detail. She is perhaps best known for her Capitol and Terrace Hill series which combine local landmarks with fanciful characters and perspectives. Amy is currently working on prints influenced by her time spent abroad in Italy. artimages/02162006.jpg 497 303
2006-02-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=283 Richard Black Richard Black is a highly regarded printmaker who has made a significant contribution over the years to the arts in Iowa. For thirty years he was a professor of art at Drake University where he founded the Drake University Biennial Print Symposium. The symposium brought nationally known artists to the state to demonstrate and lecture on the art of printmaking. Black himself has been the subject of a one-person exhibition at the Des Moines Art Center and has been honored with the DRAKE AWARD for excellence in teaching and artistic achievement. Black's works are included in many museum collections and have been shown in invitational and competitive exhibitions all over the country. August Song Three lithograph 18" x 12" Using the intaglio process, Black creates prints that have a collage-like feeling. Tightly rendered textures and color patches are layered and structured to create overall pattern. The work appears to be abstract, but when closely examined recognizable forms sometimes emerge. These images are enigmatic and are woven into the intricacy of the print, there for the viewer to decipher. Black's works are often inspired by tales and interpretations from The Old Testament. artimages/02172006.jpg 325 492
2006-02-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=284 Mary Koenen Clausen Mary resides in Tipton, Iowa and has a B.F.A. from the University of Northern Iowa. She was part of the “Iowa Artists†show at the Des Moines Art Center in 1991 and has been in group shows in Kansas City, Boston, and New York as well as at the Davenport Art Museum and Augustana College in Rockford, Ill. Mary has had solo shows at Quad Cities Arts, Iowa City-Johnson County Arts Association, and Maharishi International University in Fairfield. Voitures Paniers mixed media 42" x 30" She gathers her material from Italian magazines, 17th and 18th century Bibles, antique books, among other sources. Mary also uses photographs of her surroundings in her work. Her home and studio are full of paintings, photographs, wall hangings, dolls, and other collected objects, an environment that reflects the complexity of her works. artimages/02182006.jpg 350 498
2006-02-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=285 Bill Innes A 1988 graduate of Drake University with a BFA and majors in graphic design and printmaking, Bill showed his work in exhibitions consistently beginning as early as 1978 and has been with Olson-Larsen Galleries since 1994. His work attracts a diverse range of admirers; from veteran art patrons to young first-time collectors. Simple Landscape oil pastel/stick 20" x 25" Within the last several years, Bill Innes has moved into a subtle and progressive series of images while exploring variations in technique, usually in his favorite medium of oil pastels. From simple, densely layered mound like forms—almost childlike in simplicity but not in execution—he moved to images of fish, palm trees, and increasingly abstract landscapes that contain simple land forms, bulbous clouds, and aspen trees with white trunks. In addition, Bill has created still lifes depicting elaborate flower bouquets using his characteristic palette of rich blues, yellows, greens, and reds. artimages/02192006.jpg 500 395
2006-02-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=286 Sarah Grant Schooled first in Colorado, then at the University of Iowa, where Sarah earned first her BFA in Intaglio Printmaking in 1976, her MA in printmaking in 1978, then her MFA in painting in 1980, Sarah is a talented designer and skilled in a range of techniques beyond those usually apparent in her paintings. Over a period of 20 years, she has taught as guest artist and mentor in many public schools and colleges in Iowa. Stephen's Racquet acrylic and mixed media on canvas 14" x 14" A “colorist†with a lively sense of design, Sarah produces abstracts depicting a decorative record of emotional journeys —sometimes sunny, sometimes turbulent —almost always dynamic. These works consistently appeal to both young and mature collectors.
Her honors and commissions include: Louis Comfort Tiffany Grant nominee finalist; Visiting Artist Residency for the Iowa Arts Council; Kirkwood Hotel Mural Commission; and the Jerome Foundation Invitational Grant. Sarah’s works hang in over 23 permanent collections. artimages/02202006.jpg 450 451
2006-02-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=287 Cornelis Ruhtenberg With roots in northern Europe, training in Germany, early artistic success in New York, and sojourns in Pennsylvania and Italy, Cornelis Ruhtenberg now lives in Des Moines and is unquestionably one of the Midwest's most creative and distinguished living artists.
That her work holds broad appeal in subject matter and excellence of execution is evident by the long list of permanent collections and major museums owning it. From the Berlin Museum in Germany, to the Hirshorn and National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., to the Palm Springs Art Center, to the Springfield Museum of Art in Missouri, the Des Moines Art Center, Oklahoma City Museum, Denver Museum, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and to the Sheldon Memorial Gallery in Lincoln, Nebraska, Ruhtenberg's paintings fascinate viewers of various ages and cultural backgrounds. Seated Young Woman acrylic 33" x 24" Her portraits, still-life studies, and figure compositions follow a realist tradition centuries old, yet evolve beyond patterns to speak directly to contemporary viewers. These expressions offer a distinctive and uncommon harmony, elegance, and imagination. artimages/02212006.jpg 314 450
2006-02-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=288 Debra L. Hutchison Debra L. Hutchison spent the first eighteen years of her life on a dairy farm outside of Hampton, Iowa. "Iowa has had a great deal of influence on my sensibilities as a poet," she says. She earned a MFA from Vermont College and currently teaches Introduction to Poetry and Critical Writing at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. Burning the Caterpillars Iowa Writes Caterpillars creep up our black walnut trees,
Settle in crooks of branches.
Without eyes. They crawl out of
Milky veils to eat.
A man with nine fingers
searches for dry matches,
while a stray lifts his leg
over the last red zinnia.
The screen door with silver-taped crosses
Slams. Flies cling to it like meat.
Trouble, the trees don't know.
Small fires light.
Pigeons on the barn roof miss
One color. Mother's dress strains
A rope nailed to a post
With its faded message.
The curling caterpillars drop.
Across the dirt road, a cat runs low
Full in her mouth, a small kitten.
Under the burning trees, I tip my cup.
And feel the ice. It hits
My lips, again and again.
2006-02-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=289 Michael Brangoccio In two decades since his MA from the University of Northern Colorado, Brangoccio has accumulated over 20 solo exhibitions and participated in 35 group shows in Florida, Maine, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, and California. Now working in Des Moines, the artist leaves no doubt about the intensity of dedication and energy behind his unique work. Act 3 mixed media 12" x 10" Brangoccio's original content and textures create picture worlds like no others. A well-trained draftsman comfortable with formal composition, Brangoccio juxtaposes objects, sizes, and relationships to arrest attention, to provoke questions, and to prompt observers into finding personal meanings for his canvases.
Intentionally symbolic, Brangoccio's works present puzzles. Certain objects reoccur and present contradictions and inconsistencies of size, placement, object-selection. Elephants float. Bears roam in unlikely settings. Miniature airplanes seem aggressively out of place. Even in those few canvases which fit within the boundaries of realism, there is a hint of mystery, of something more-to-be-known. With Brangoccio's paintngs, a viewer must address enigmas and engage both left and right sides of the brain. artimages/02232006.jpg 375 439
2006-02-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=290 Diana Penny Dianna Penny was born in St. Louis and grew up in downstate Illinois. She completed high school in Muscatine, Iowa, and earned a B.A. in art at the University of Iowa. Biddy: A Childhood Memory Iowa Writes Daddy, who was pastor of Mt. Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church at Chester, Illinois, hosted a religious radio broadcast from station KSGM in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. With the entire family in tow, he would cross the Mississippi River at Chester, our home, and travel to the station every weekend, either to tape our service or to do a live broadcast from Ste. Genevieve. On our way to and from the radio station, we had to pass through the small hamlet of St. Mary. One day, stopping for gas in St. Mary, Daddy noticed the presence of African Americans in the town and inquired about them. As it turned out, there was a small, impoverished black community situated on the town's mud flats, part of a large flood plain. This area contained several shotgun bungalows and a small Baptist church along a dusty, unpaved road. The residents of this neighborhood expressed interest in meeting Daddy and his family, so the local black Baptist pastor invited him to be guest speaker one Sunday, and we all dined with the pastor and his congregation afterward. All the town's blacks lived on the flats--except one.
Members of this community told us about a lady whom all townspeople knew as Aunt Biddy. Biddy, who had been a lifelong member of the AME Church, lived alone in a house situated halfway up a wooded hillside across the highway, accessible via a winding, graveled drive. We decided to call on her and introduce ourselves. A tall and stately lady with silver braids, bent only slightly by the weight of her years, greeted us on her veranda. Having been born a slave, she was now well past her ninetieth birthday. Although her vision was heavily obscured by cataracts, she was independent and moved about easily, if a bit slowly.
Biddy, as her congregation's only surviving member, told us about her church and led us further up the hillside along a footpath through the woods to a clearing, which contained a tiny AME church of weathered clapboard. The hinges of the church's door creaked as Biddy opened it and invited us inside for a tour. Once inside, we saw backless wooden benches and a potbellied wood-burning stove standing at one side of the sanctuary just beyond the front row of benches. Although many years had passed since a pastor had last been assigned to her church, Biddy visited it weekly with broom, mop, and bucket to keep it clean and say a prayer or two. On this day, we prayed with her. Daddy assured her that the spirit of God had remained present in her little house of worship despite the long absence of a preacher.
A few weeks later, having obtained permission from the appropriate AME Church authorities serving the Fifth Episcopal District, Daddy, accompanied by Mama, all six of us children, a fellow AME pastor from nearby Murphysboro, Illinois, his family, and visitors from the aforementioned Baptist church, conducted a Sunday afternoon service, filling Biddy's humble sanctuary with the joy of the Lord. The river of tears, flowing freely from her clouded eyes, bore ample witness to the immense joy she experienced that afternoon. As the Christmas season approached, Daddy would take us children back to St. Mary again and again to sing carols to Aunt Biddy.
2006-02-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=291 Genie Patrick Genie received her B.F.A from the University of Georgia and her M.A. from the University of Colorado. Genie has shown her work extensively in Iowa and surrounding regions and is included in the collections of Farm Bureau Insurance Company, Pioneer Hi-Bred International and The Iowa Medical Society. Turn Through oil on paper 28" x 19" Genie Patrick is an independent artist from Iowa City. All of her work is based on landscape - that of Oaxaca, Mexico where she spends her summers or the rural areas around Iowa City where she lives the rest of the year. Her oil paintings capture the effects of light and atmosphere on lush, Mexican hills or young corn in the fields of Iowa. The build up of glazed layers of paint render all of her subjects with a soft and simplified tranquillity. artimages/02252006.jpg 291 425
2006-02-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=292 Floyd Sandford Floyd Sandford is a Professor Emeritus of biology at Coe College and resides in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. When Floyd went to Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s, he took a Pentax 125 SLR camera with him, and has been taking photographs on his journeys ever since. He used the same camera for nearly 40 years until it was crushed after a 100+ foot fall in a duffle bag from a tree canopy in the Manu Biosphere Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon. He now uses a digital camera and continues to photograph his travels. Vernazza, Cinque de Terra color photograph artimages/02262006.jpg 425 283
2006-02-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=293 Amy White Amy White is a playwright from Mt. Vernon. Her play, "The Knitting Lesson," was produced by the Mt. Vernon/Lisbon Community Theatre in 2001. She performed a slightly longer version of "Blink" at Riverside Theatre, Iowa City, at their 2003 "Walking the Wire" monologue show.
Blink a story Iowa Writes He couldn't live with us anymore. We kept him for a while after Mom died but he would get up in the middle of the night and try to leave the house. We could hear him going downstairs and putting his jacket on over his pajamas and going out the front door. He'd be so mad when we caught him. "Damn!" he'd say. He never said that before he got sick. We hid his car keys and that really made him mad so we gave him some old keys on a chain. One of them was the key to Roy's old Volkswagen and one of them was a skeleton key to one of our closets--just something for him to keep in his pocket. His car keys. He used to drive all the time, for his job, all over the state. He took us on car trips every summer, thousands of miles across the country. He led tanks into France and got the Bronze Star and the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. And now he can't go to the grocery store and come back with what I asked him to get.
I want to tell everybody at the nursing home: look, you didn't know him, but he was so great. He took care of us. He gave us stuff. He was our dad.
Once last spring he walked out the door and down the street and eight blocks to the highway and went right into Gary's restaurant and sat down. Of course Gary came out and brought him the day's special and sat down and ate with him and then drove him back to the nursing home. The staff was pretty upset about it, thinking about what could have happened, but I thought: Yes! Way to go, Pop! Good for you!
In the special Alzheimer's unit there is no escaping. There are ankle bracelets and alarms and aides to guard the doors.
I'd want to escape too if I was in the Alzheimer's unit. When I go up there, I stay as long as I can stand it and then I make sure he is distracted or asleep when I make my getaway. Down that hall past the nurse's station and through the lobby and out the double doors and oh, God! I'm outta there! Free! I don't care if it's a hundred degrees below zero or a hundred degrees above. I can breathe real air. I can see the sky. I can get in my car and drive home and see Billy and Roy and make supper and not be there anymore.
I'd rather get cancer. My mom fought cancer for twenty years, got down to eighty pounds and lost half a lung and she was so sick and it hurt her so much, but she was still my mom. Asking me, how was I doing? Telling me I looked so nice. Cancer is awful but I swear I think I'd rather get that than Alzheimer's. You'd think that people with Alzheimer's wouldn't know what was happening to them, and maybe they don't know exactly, but they sure don't like it. It makes them really mad. They forget the words for everything. The last time I was with Pop, he said, "Where is your answer?" And I thought, I don't know. Where is my answer? What is my question? What does he mean? I thought he must mean something else, but maybe he didn't. I kept trying to figure out what he was saying, and I asked him, "Do you mean where is Billy? Or Roy? Do you mean Mom? What do you mean, where is my answer? Do you mean, where is my car?" It wore him out, all those questions, but I didn't want to let it go. I wanted to talk to him. Like we used to talk to each other.
I told Roy, just smother me with my pillow if I get this stuff. If you get it first, I will definitely smother you.
I've gotten to know one woman pretty well because she visits her husband in the Alzheimer's unit. She says she always watches his eyes when she talks to him and they look cloudy or foggy or something. It's like that with Alzheimer's patients. Like they don't really see you. But if you keep watching them and talking and touch their hand or their arm or their face--if you can get their attention somehow--they blink, and that clears their eyes. Then for a minute, they see you--before they cloud over again. The nurses all say Pop's calm when I'm with him--he thinks I'm my mom. I hold his hand and we just sit there and I want to say: Come on, Pop. Blink. You can do it. Just blink.
2006-02-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=294 Sook-Young Kim Sook-Young received a MA in Drawing and Painting in 2000. Busy People, Busy Night oil, charcoal, pastel 1999 artimages/02282006.jpg 425 262 The Graduate Archive
2006-03-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=295 William Ford William Ford lives in Iowa City and teaches distance learning writing courses for Kirkwood Community College. A designated "Iowa Poet," 2003, at the Des Moines National Poetry Festival, he has published one book, The Graveyard Picnic (Mid-America Press, 2002); a second, Past Present Imperfect, is due out from Wordtech (2006). Distance Learning Circuit Rider Iowa Writes Into the soft yellow and plum-
Colored edges of old Bibles,
I'm driving home, teaching done,
Listening to Mahalia Jackson's
"The Upper Room." It's a prayer
Anyone country would understand.
My students would, some
Who actually went to a small school
And read parts of Huckleberry Finn
Or To Kill a Mockingbird.
Older now, so many of them,
They've left bad marriages
And farms for minimal wages
And this off-campus, part-time
Schooling for the next level up
To a little more respect
And family health insurance.
When I'm not there in the flesh
I see them in the distance
On the sometimes shadowy monitor
Tapping the keys of the keyboard
Or pressing down the speaker bar
To communicate with me
So many miles away
Hoping I've got the word
To solve their language problem
Because the textbook's Eastern
Or Pacific Coast in example,
The middle country missing.
Sometimes I imagine myself
A century earlier on horseback
With a new congregation each week
Thumping my boot on the floor
And clapping hands as a woman raises
Her sweating arms heavenward
For the coming of the spirit, her tongue
Rolling in the good King James
And that tomorrow I'll baptize
Tonight's saved in the muddy river,
Recalling how the Jordan's sand
Must have turned gold when
The Master himself went under.
In this darkness I see young men
Picking at their faces to stay awake
And women who cannot hide bruises
And who sneak a child in
Though it's against institutional laws
And my own expressed wish.
Many of them work so hard
I sometimes wonder what it would mean
If their constructions could be allowed
To run together without punctuation
As though language were seamless,
Everything joined to everything
As in the best Greek manuscripts.
Biblical scholars have argued forever
Over the placement of a period
Lest life become one long stream
Of consciousness or fragments.
2006-03-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=296 Carolyn S. Briggs Carolyn S. Briggs grew up in Eldora, Iowa. She won New Letters' Heartland Short Fiction Prize in 1997 and published her memoir This Dark World: A Memoir of Salvation Found and Lost (Bloomsbury) in 2002. She is an assistant professor of English at Marshalltown Community College. from the story The Killing Station Iowa Writes Corrine entered her bedroom with a man who was not her husband, a knife down her pants, and a suffocating urge to kill. Shag lifted his triangular head from the branch.
"I'd watch it," Corrine said. "You smell like fish. He's hungry, hasn't eaten in a week." She put her hand under her shirt, gripped the handle of the knife and waited for him to bend over.
"I think I can handle him," Swinton said. "I'll take care of him and any other business we might have back here in your boudoir." He pushed back the top of the cage. "This snake makes me weak in the knees with love."
She had the knife out now, up in the air, ready. She moved toward him. He seemed to have forgotten she was even in the room.
"I think I can handle him," Swinton said. "I'll take care of him and any other business we might have back here in your boudoir." He pushed back the top of the cage. "This snake makes me weak in the knees with love."
She had the knife out now, up in the air, ready. She moved toward him. He seemed to have forgotten she was even in the room.
He reached his hairless hand into Shag's cage and traced the body with his finger. "Oh, yeah, that's what I like," he murmured, leaning over until his lips were close enough to kiss. "This is what I came for."
Corrine slashed without hesitation. She plunged the knife into Shag's body, nearly halving him. The ease of it surprised her, not so different from dividing a rump roast for two weeknight suppers.
"What the?" Swinton still held the top half. The rest of Shag's body dangled by a tether of bloody hide. "What did you do that for?"
Corrine had never seen Shag extended to his true length, no coils, no alert head watching, just dead weight with his tail curlicued on top of her pastel blue braided rug.
"Go ahead," Corrine said. "You take half and Gerald can have the other. Sound fair?"
"Jesus. You killed him for no reason," Swinton said, nearly crying."He didn't deserve that, that old snake. That beautiful old thing. What's the matter with you?"
"You should probably go now," Corrine said and held the knife up, waving it at him. She felt a warm trickle down her palm and under her sleeve, but she did not look.
"There was no call for this to get ugly," Swinton said. "It was just a business transaction, that's all."
"Right," Corrine said, her teeth set, her voice lowered.
Swinton laid the snake back in the aquarium, lining up the two halves. He patted the spliced place carefully and stood up. He wiped his hands on his jeans. "It's going to break Gerald's heart when he sees this."
2006-03-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=297 Tilly Woodward Tilly Woodward is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Central College in Pella and is the Director of the Pella Community Art Center. Tilly’s career includes involvement in many community outreach projects throughout the state. Her work is in the collections of the Des Moines Art Center, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Meredith Corporation, and the University of Iowa Museum of Art. Bird on Hand oil on panel 5" x 6" Tilly Woodward creates small glimpses of lush flowers and grasses. Her oil on board paintings show human interaction with nature as a hand tangled in grass or holding a flower blossom.
Tilly writes: "...I have pursued a series of highly detailed oil paintings that explore longing and loss, emotional landscapes that are often configured as intimate views of items from my garden, presented in hand. When I paint I think of the beauty of the garden, a small landscape, as well as mudras, gang signs, offerings, prayers and fairy tales." artimages/03032006.jpg 425 336
2006-03-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=298 Dan Mason Dan Mason received his Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from the University of Iowa. He currently teaches at North Hennepin Community College in Minnesota. His work is in the corporate collections of Norwest, Star Tribune, General Mills, Dayton Hudson, and Unisys, to name a few. Coastal Hill II oil on linen 45" x 54 " He creates images in which architecture and landscape interact. These are settings that suggest scared sites, temple precincts, city squares, and landscape vistas. Both the landscape and architectural elements are radically simplified, to express an underlying geometry and sense of order.
These paintings are also experiments with form, color, texture, and light. Mason considers these as colorists paintings, because of the role of color as a subject in itself. The forms are defined by laying down oil color in the form of glazes. Many thin, transparent layers of oil color are applied in order to arrive at the final color and surface. "I'm looking for harmony and dissonance," says Dan of his work. artimages/03042006.jpg 425 350
2006-03-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=299 John Beckelman John Beckelman graduated with an MFA in Ceramics from Illinois State University in 1978. His pieces have been exhibited nationally. He is currently Chair of the Art Department at Coe College. John Beckelman at the Gilded Pear Gallery http://www.gildedpeargallery.com/john-beckelman.html Small Vase stoneware 2004 John had this to say about his pieces: "These vessels are intended to evoke a sense of timelessness, stability and ease. Their forms and surfaces are inspired by early Neolithic storage vessels and their scale is an effort to induce a sense of quiet presence. Having worked with clay, in a variety of forms and formats and in all its varied physical states for close to thirty years now, I find that it's the elemental character and expressive potential of clay which continues to intrigue me. There is, indeed, an enduring, almost archetypal, appeal to clay, which is like no other material." artimages/03052006.jpg 296 434
2006-03-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=300 John McBride John McBride, Ph.D (English, Univ. of Illinois), MSW (Iowa), taught and held administrative posts at the Universities of Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa, has won awards from many state poetry societies, and is published in a variety of journals. Is Grant Wood's Iowa True? Iowa Writes Past obliging cattle his brush maneuvers,
undulates easily over the crop-rich slopes
of industrious family farms,
and there is much reassurance in
each neat replication
of well-maintained farmhouse, silo, barn.
Take yourself inside the picture, and you can stop
with any question, and know
they will give you their best shot,
and they will chat, as long as you want,
if you appear at all interested,
on wind and rain and sun
and corn and bean rows.
And if you do step in, out of the blue,
into a rambling, century-old farmhouse
for a cup of coffee in the bright kitchen,
you might notice the blinking computer
nodding good-naturedly to you,
specifying yields and the seeding plan
but that was beyond his time,
so now you look out
the lace-framed window
to the small shoots,
so young, so unseasoned,
their rustling sighs at the combine
are still food for the imagination,
and then, sauntering on,
leave there, for another,
and reach one of those acrylic towns
where it always is
high noon,
where weather-beaten homes
disclose white fences,
and all the cats,
demure on front porches,
have that cool, do-I-care stare.
2006-03-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=301 Hayley Barker Barker received a MA in Intermedia in 2000. Cindy Meets Her Match video still 2000 artimages/03072006.jpg 435 292 The Graduate Archive
2006-03-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=302 Elizabeth Duffy Elizabeth Duffy, PhD—also published as Beth Anne Duffy—lives in Solon and is a former professor of international cultural linguistics. Dr. Duffy is actively writing, enjoys reading Russian and Celtic poetry, has written poetry about African Maasai women, and has recited poetry in Germany. Sweet Baby Anne
5 Oct. 2003 Iowa Writes Sweet Anne, little baby in my arms
accepting the touch of my shaking hands.
I stroke your forehead
and bless you with my kisses.
Ten tiny fingers I count
and ten tiny toes, all perfect.
Fine dark hair like your daddy's
delicate nose like your grandma's.
I long to hear you coo or giggle
but silent you remain,? because, because.
Your newborn skin already swells tight
to seal forever your lovely pale blue eyes.
Your daddy takes you in his arms
and wraps you in a satin-trimmed blanket.
He covers your toes and your fingers
and finally, your now-shut eyes.
He kisses the bundle that is your body
and with tears surrenders you for burial.
Never will I hold you again, my Sweet Anne,
my stillborn baby; except in my heart.
2006-03-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=303 Jeanine Coupe Ryding Jeanine Ryding earned her BA at the University of Iowa, then took her Meisterschuler (MFA) in Berlin and taught in print departments in various college and universities before settling in Chicago where she enjoys wide respect in her field and pursues an evolving series of unique expressions in printmaking. Quilt Maps collage 10" x 7" n her new prints, Ryding no longer deals with single actions of figures in space, but rather abstract images derived from nature and from human tools. In her 2003 statement, she writes: I collect seeds, buds, blossoms and leaves...(which resemble) the human made world of diagrams, plumbing, and tools...(and) provide an endless parade of forms and functions...I am interested in bringing the 4th dimension (movement) into a 2 dimensional medium. Shapes swing, recede, draw nearer, or sway. Some are playful...and others more ominous and sculptural. In several her elegantly complex prints, the viewer, if relaxed, may have a sense of motion. artimages/03092006.jpg 331 500
2006-03-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=304 Jim O'Loughlin Jim O'Loughlin is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa. He runs the Final Thursday Reading Series in Cedar Falls and is the publisher of Final Thursday Press. Final Thursday Press http://geocities.com/finalthursdaypress/ The Zone a story Iowa Writes The Zone is a semi-circular arc stretching from our daughter's high chair for the distance of a toddler's reach. Our daughter, Emma, though only two, understands The Zone. At least Emma realizes that all items within The Zone are eligible for play. If we try to put a bib on Emma before clearing The Zone, it is within her rights to twist off the top of a saltshaker and create an anthill-sized mound of salt in front of her.
We respect The Zone, so after we walked into Mycanos Diner and picked out a table as far away from the smoking section as possible, we leapt into action. While I buckled Emma into the high chair, my wife took out a wipe from the diaper bag and sanitized the high chair and the table. Then while my wife took out a plastic bowl with Cheerios, I removed all objects of interest from The Zone: sugar packets, napkins, pads of butter, water glasses, and tips from previous customers.
A waitress approached. Jennifer, according to her nametag. Jennifer smiled at us, but we could tell she did not have children because she placed a set of silverware right in the middle of The Zone. Emma immediately grabbed a knife and started waving it in the air, evading our attempts to disarm her, while Jennifer asked if we wanted anything to drink. My wife distracted Emma with a stuffed animal while I approached out of eyeshot and cleverly snatched away the knife from Emma's hands. Jennifer stood, hand on hips, impatiently waiting. We ordered coffee and attempted to restore order.
Waitresses with children have an implicit understanding of The Zone, and they will assist us in piling up one end of the table with side orders of toast, jugs of syrup, and extra cups of juice. However, Jennifer, I realized, saw The Zone simply as available space. When she returned, she placed a coffee pot right in front of Emma. The coffee pot was a bright Day-Glo orange designed to perk us up, but in the eyes of our daughter it was a shiny bauble come rightfully into her possession.
We lurched forward. Six hands struggled for control of the coffee pot.
Jennifer smiled, blissfully unaware, waiting for our order.
"Cute kid," she said.
2006-03-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=305 Nan Lundeen Poet Nan Lundeen, who grew up on a farm in Clinton County, Iowa, is a staff writer for The Greenville News in Greenville, South Carolina. Her poem "Crate" won best of issue in the South Carolina Writers Workshop 2002 Anthology. Her poetry has been published in small literary magazines. Companion and Mathilda Lundeen Iowa Writes Companion
My little dog
keeps me company
while I brush my teeth.
Nobody else I know
will do that.
Mathilda Lundeen
The wintergreen she rubbed into her knee
mingled
with roses.
I still see her
at age eighty, picking up her skirts
and wading through the creek
to search out
shy ferns hidden in the bluffs.
Or gathering the eggs
scratching chicken dirt with her fingernail,
"Bosh, a little manure can't hurt you."
She argued with her children
stalked upstairs, blue eyes
ablaze,
insisted on molasses in the rye.
Her mother died
when she was eight
and Gram saw her
one night on the stairs.
In her rocking chair, stitching
quilt blocks,
"That was Judith's party dress
and that Aunt Clara's apron,"
she wove
long stories
about Cynthia's cow, goblins, and British generals?
Snuggled close in bed
we whispered late at night
about romance, boyfriends.
"I don't trust that one.
Eyes too close together."
She was right.
2006-03-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=306 John Preston John Preston received his BFA in Painting from Maharishi International University in 1984. Painting full time, Preston has participated in many solo and group shows, and his works hang in a wide range of corporate collections. He lives and works in Fairfield, Iowa. John Preston at Olson-Larsen Galleries http://www.olsonlarsen.com/en/artists/?albumID=3784&action=dspalbum Dickenson's Pasture—265th St Sec.26 Liberty Twnsp watercolor 5" x 5" John Preston writes, "I've been painting the Iowa landscape for about 20 years. The motivation is nothing flashy, just simple attraction. The same motivation that drives all the big decisions in life: career, marriage, where one lives. Over time I've come to approach the landscape with a portrait painter's attitude. I'm not a native Iowan and was immediately taken with the weather and skies. They seem to form the personality of the landscape..." artimages/03122006.jpg 400 371
2006-03-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=307 Michelle Benoit Benoit received a MA in Drawing and Painting in 2000. Installation view cast box interiors, hot glue variable dimensions 2000 artimages/03132006.jpg 300 449 The Graduate Archive
2006-03-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=308 Brian Chambers Brian Chambers, of Eddyville, is a life-long Iowan who retired from the military with twenty years of service. He is currently attending Simpson College in Indianola, majoring in English with a history minor. Beech-Nut, a story,
intrare per unam ianuam et ex per alia* Iowa Writes As I walk from headquarters across camp to the guard tower all I can think about is that there are only two weeks left. I am sick of the sand, the wind, and the dust, and the only place I want to be at is Fort Living Room. The f-ing new guys (FNGs as we call them) arrived yesterday and the Commander gave me the in-briefing detail. As the wind picks up and drives sand against my face, I remember when I was an FNG. I was scared as hell. We were supposed to run convoy security, and this sergeant by the name of Zavacki had been assigned to train us before he rotated back to the States. For some reason he had singled me out from the squad.
"You see that sign there right there, Corporal?" he said.
"Yes, Sergeant." I replied.
"Tell me what it says."
"Complacency Kills, Sergeant."
"Do you know what it means?"
"Yes, Sergeant."
"Why do you think it is posted here, at the gate?"
"I'm not sure, Sergeant."
"When you drive past this gate, that sign serves as a final reminder to keep your head out of your ass and be on guard at all times. It's dangerous out there."
"Yes, Sergeant."
"Good, now get down to the Company area and wait for me. Training starts immediately. I have two weeks left in this dump and I intend to make sure that you don't get yourselves killed."
It couldn't possibly have been a year already. I was promoted after Zavacki left; I took over the squad. They were back at the hootch now, standing down, waiting to help train the replacements. We started with six and we were now five. Hooker took a round in the neck eight months into the deployment. He was fumbling for a piece of gum when he should have been watching the windows.
It was supposed to be a quick run that day to Taqaddum, but the decision to take the shorter route through the heart of Ramadi made it a dangerous one. Hooker knew this; we all knew it. The debris of bombed buildings lying in the street made it slow going and the buildings that were left standing sat close to the street? too close. As we navigated around the debris all eyes were on the windows. I risked a glance at Hooker our gunner? and at the same time I saw him look down and reach inside his vest. "Hooker!" I yelled, but it was too late. In the split-second that Hooker looked down, the sniper pulled the trigger. We lit the window up from where the sniper fired, but little good it did Hooker, he was already dead. I sent a letter to his father. I was told later that almost the entire town had shown up for the funeral. It didn't make any sense. A piece of gum.
Life in the desert isn't easy but there were moments and we made the most of them. My squad, as well as a few others, built a basketball court to kill some time between missions. Three-on-three ball games, some volleyball and poker pretty well occupied the down time. And of course there was the training; it was endless. "Keep the Blade Sharp" was our mantra and, in order to survive, countless repetitive exercises were required. The result was a finely trained squad, each member an extension of the others. It kept us alive through countless convoys, except, that is, for Hooker. Gum. Why did he have to have it? Didn't he remember the sign? If he had just kept focused, I would have bought him all the damn Beech-Nut he could have chewed. I will visit his father when I get back home. I will tell him Hooker was a fine soldier. I won't tell him about the gum.
The FNGs are standing at the base. They are waiting, and then they stiffen as they see me. I pick one out, the soldier on the end. "Corporal?"
"Yes, Sergeant."
"You see that sign right there?"
"Yes, Sergeant."
"Tell me what it says."
* Latin. Translated; "Enter through one door and exit through another."
2006-03-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=309 Nicholas Dowd Nick Dowd grew up in western Iowa, graduated from Drake, and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Though he has not lived in his home state for many years, Iowa is still the object of his affection. Dry Gold Iowa Writes I scale Iowa's western rim, climbing and rappelling Interstate 29, north to LeMars then south to Missouri Valley. Harvest is in full swing, everything moving. Rail cars, mounded with corn, creak and sway among the stubbled fields, glinting brilliant blue in the unfiltered sun. The autumn sacrament is being celebrated. For the first time since moving to Tennessee twenty-five years ago, I am near home on a dry, gold October day.
Recent months have strung together like boxcars for me, my calendar a steady stream of arrivals, departures, PowerPoint presentations, and meetings that last longer than they need to. When I miss my flight from Omaha to Nashville, I am told I can drive to Kansas City and catch a later flight. So, re-renting the same car I have just turned in, I rejoin the caravan jostling toward the Missouri line.
I have tried to convince myself that there is a flow to this type of living, that the numbing cadence of business travel is the natural order of things. After awhile, I find that one can actually begin to draw comfort from discomfort — the Stockholm syndrome of contemporary life. Repetition becomes an anesthetic. Inconveniences, familiar traveling companions.
Glancing at the dashboard clock, I gauge how much time I have. Barring a flat, there is time to grab a slice of pizza, fill my gas tank, locate the rental car return and ride the Avis bus to the terminal. There is time for all of that — and maybe more.
I find myself imagining what more might entail.
East of Exit 10, Iowa Highway 2 shoots arrow-straight into Fremont County, before ricocheting up the side of a bluff. On a whim, I decide to see where it leads and, in the process, discover Waubonsie State Park.
Nosing into a graveled area, I get out of my car and immediately feel like an alien dressed in a gray suit, starched white button-down and club tie, crunching dry leaves under my wingtips. Finding the picnic table furthest from the road, I resolve to sit still — but I struggle. Mile markers continue to flash by in my mind; spreadsheets display themselves in sequential order while my petulant cell phone continually demands an audience. I finally turn it off.
After sitting quietly for a time, I hear a sigh. Someone exhales in the soft, October sun. It is my own breathing. A breeze whispers by, insects drone and a tractor chugs somewhere out along a distant, green terrace until all sounds gradually soften into one padded, ambient hum. A deep settling comes and, with it, remembrance of what I have always known — that all sounds come from one sound.
Then, an immense hush gathers in the Missouri River valley below me, rushes up the hill through the trees, rising a hundred feet aloft before sweeping off to the north. I am left here in its wake, stilled and yielded, left here in the unmediated presence of an Iowa autumn afternoon.
In "My Antonia", Willa Cather writes of the happiness of being "dissolved into something complete and great." Now, hidden away in the southwest corner of the state, I enter that same boundlessness, welcoming sweet dissolution, free again and fully restored.
After an hour lived out of time and with my spirit newly-settled, I re-enter the more immediate. Accelerating back onto I-29, I continue the journey, reluctantly re-attaching myself to the umbilical mechanism that dispenses gasoline, cash and French fries.
Having tasted both light and air, I again bow to the tyranny of the urgent. Is there an ATM at the Rock Port exit? A McDonald's?
Then I remember. It doesn't matter. I have just been fed.
2006-03-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=310 Suzanne Skon Suzanne, a Des Moines native, now lives in Minneapolis. Her work has been shown at Premier Gallery, Gallery 96 Art Center, the Minneapolis Insitute of Arts, as well as at several other venues in the Midwest. Suzanne also serves on the board of the Studio@700 Artists' Affiliation. Suzanne has a B.A. from the University of Iowa and studied at the University of Minnesota Split Rock Arts Program. Chrysallis Aerius 9: Drawing Series charcoal and conte on ingres paper 73" x 61" Suzanne's research of roots at the Department of Natural Resources and her field observation of flowers provided a scientific starting point for her creations. Spidery clusters of roots take on earthy colors, which balance the vibrant hues of flower varieties such as blazing stars, blooming sallys, and lupines. In several works, she juxtaposes delicate flowers and roots with images of heavy, decorative ironwork. artimages/03162006.jpg 330 404
2006-03-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=311 Curtis Bauer Curtis Bauer earned his B.A. from Central College, in Pella, IA, and London, England; and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, NY. After several years based alternately in Mexico, Spain, and Iowa City, he now teaches Creative Writing at Texas Tech University. This poem is from Bauer's collection Fence Line (BkMk Press, 2003), which won the 2003 John Ciardi Poetry Prize. Landscape: Galicia with Two Figures Iowa Writes There is a church,
there are women
sitting in a circle
making gossip and lace.
The waves welcome then
turn us away.
There are always clacking hammers
in the distance, gulls and salt in the air
outside the bars
where we share cafe con leche
while boys play
a football match the future
of the world depends upon. Somewhere
in this I became the man who took
the hand of the woman you became,
a loaf of bread under his arm, in her hand
empanada wrapped perfectly by a woman
who left her shop to watch them walk away.
2006-03-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=312 Amze Emmons Amze Emmons received an MA (2001) and an MFA (2002) in Printmaking from the University of Iowa. Free Parking II intaglio with hand coloring 12" x 18" 2000 artimages/03182006.jpg 425 276 The Graduate Archive
2006-03-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=313 Mani Rao Mani Rao was born in 1965 in India, and moved to Hong Kong in 1993, where she has mostly lived since. She is the author of six poetry collections. A Fall 2005 participant in the UI's International Writing Program, Rao is back in Iowa as the 2006 UI International Programs Writer-in-Residence. This story is from the book H.K.I.D: Stories from the city's hidden writers (Hong Kong: Haven Books, 2005). Writer in Residence http://intl-programs.uiowa.edu/outreach/writer_in_residence.htm Junket a story Iowa Writes Remember the lions outside the Bank of China tower? And how we used to use their jaws to staple extra-thick bank documents? One day, when a security guard went to relieve himself, the teeth disappeared and the Hong Kong stock market crashed.
According to rumors, the teeth got on the list of an auction and the seller was an antique shop really in the business of antique-style furniture. But when the police wrenched open crates in the storerooms on Hollywood Road and Cat Street, they found nothing but ivory, tons of ivory. The shop-owners claimed it was old stock from the 90s; there had been no new deliveries since it had been made illegal to trade in ivory. As for missing teeth, they pointed at the China Resource Centre, try the medicine section, they said.
When the stock market went under it was not a big deal because the really rich turned to Plan B, the really poor lost nothing, and everyone else had jobs. But newspapers and internet sites were still uncensored, and as a result, things were loose and a lot was said. One newspaper looked at their archive of the annual horoscope for the city, which had clearly indicated change beyond control. A legislator (a newcomer), showed off in a radio interview by pointing out that the sound of the original Chinese word for teeth had a syllable that was reminiscent of another Chinese word which sounded similar to the sound of the word for energy; Hong Kong had lost its energy. A Chinese proverb about the impossibility of pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth did the rounds, and if you considered the lion as a kind of tiger, then the impossible had occurred. One proverb said: If you cannot bite, never show your teeth. Another proverb said: When fortune turns against you, even jelly breaks your teeth. Hyped, people soiled themselves. Sewage emptied into the harbor faster than the efficiency rate of the effluent recycling system, the water level rose and the streets were flooded. The water measured five-people deep and would not recede. The death toll was not too bad, numbers somewhere between India and Iceland: Iceland where every single person was rescued from lava by using choppers, India without enough escalators and elevators. Hundreds of security guards died when the water rose and people murmured in private that it was retribution for the negligence over the teeth. Many of the guards were Gurkhas, the same community that fought for the British army.
While the city's lowlife escaped into the hills and fought it out with the illegal immigrants, wealthy construction companies with directors who lived on the Peak flew in cheap labor from Shenzhen and built walkways connecting the high floors of Hong Kong buildings. New airports, car parks and flyovers went up in a matter of weeks. The MTR re-invented itself and turned trains into submarines.
Commercial, shopping and housing infrastructures were already in place. Food was already being imported. Clothes and money were already made of plastic. Having watched what happened in Mumbai monsoons, many buildings had already launched Crisis Management Solutions. This meant that when the bowl of the South China Sea spilled over, there were no expensive assets at the street level anyway, and MIS had already relocated servers to higher floors.
It did not take long for the city to return to business as usual. The stock market recovered. Hong Kong Tourist Association got a new lease on life with an advertising campaign. Two ad agencies competed, one multi-national and one Beijing-based. The gweilo agency recommended "City of Sails" and felt that the controversy about plagiarizing Auckland's tagline would help amplify the impact of the budget. The China agency recommended "Hong Kong Junk City" and proposed retaining the existing campaign with the logo of the Hong Kong junk; they would simply change the text everywhere and save HKTA millions of re-branding dollars. The China agency won. Embankments were built all along the harbor to ensure that the risen waters would stay in the city. Chlorinators and cleaning systems were installed to maintain a beautified waterscape. Hong Kong was hailed as the "Venice of the East" by Dr. Condoleezza Rice. China was proud of the sobriquet. Singapore was now mud.
A memorial was constructed for security guards in Chatter Garden, and HSBC opened a Premier account for each of the surviving families. One artist set up a lounge with tall chairs, a coffee machine and scalloped cookies in case the ghosts of the security guards dropped in. Another artist erected a figure in guard uniform, as if walking on water, and called it resurrection.
2006-03-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=314 Barbara Fedeler Barbara Fedeler holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Drake University, Des Moines. She also has studied at Scuola Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, Italy. She currently serves as a Lecturer in Art at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. Before taking that position, she served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, North Iowa Community College, Mason City, and Loras College, Dubuque. Roadside Scene charcoal on paper 35" x 35" Working in willow charcoal, Barbara Fedeler's landscapes reflect her interest in the varied terrain of northeastern Iowa. She is intrigued with the area's geological history, the cycles of time and seasons, and the vagaries and the permanence of nature.
The panoramic format she uses encourages a fluid movement across the vistas and through the sculptural relief of land forms. Willow charcoal is a malleable media capable of high tonal contrast and textural manipulation. artimages/03202006.jpg 350 328
2006-03-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=315 Terry Savoie Terry Savoie's work has appeared in more than 130 literary journals, anthologies, and small press publications, including Poetry, Ploughshares, and Prairie Schooner. He lives in Davenport. Ventriloquist Iowa Writes Between pencil-
thin moustache
& lower lip,
his limp
smirk
harbors a city
of gold-capped
clenched
teeth & a pot
of honeyed
language
hidden
in the hollow
of his Adam's
apple.
He's
a comic
who wants
us to think
his life's
merely lip
service,
idle chit-
chat,
answering
when spoken to,
never (never?) making
much sense.
In
his world the other's
always the soured
dummy while
he stays
the straight.
His life
even God
(given Time)
might grow
to love.
2006-03-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=316 Danielle Taylor Taylor received a MA in Painting and Drawing in 2001. untitled drawing pen on rice paper 8" x 14" 2000 artimages/03222006.jpg 256 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-03-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=317 Bob Tremmel Bob Tremmel grew up in Sheldon, Iowa, graduated three times from the University of Iowa, and since 1989 has been teaching in the English Department at Iowa State University. Most semesters he has lunch once a week with his friend and colleague, Mary Swander, in Mary's luxurious office suite. Bob is the author of Zen and the Practice of Teaching English and a recent book of poems, Crossing Crocker Township. Lunch With Mary Iowa Writes Today, you have squash
soup, a can of sardines
and a bag of seaweed
little reddish green
leaves that taste
like dried bluegills.
It's called
"dulse"
as if it were
much, much sweeter.
I have my usual
cheese, three mozzarella
sticks, some slices of dried
apple, apricot, peach.
I tell you
about the t-shirt
I got for Christmas
the white one
with the illuminated
map of Trinidad
and Tobago
on the chest.
You tell me
about the leaky glass
bottomed boat, how
you all sang
"dah bucket is gone
and dah water come in"
and how you swam
to safety twice wearing
your flipflops and balancing
your camera bag
above the water
about the deep drumming
rain on a thousand
metal rooftops
and finally the flash
flood and the mountain
flowing through the streets.
not to mention
the Muslim bull calf
who escaped
the knife just
in the nick of time, ran
through the Bingo game
on the beach, straight
to the Hindus and his own
little slice of Nirvana.
2006-03-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=318 Kristin Hall Kristin Hall was recently married and lives with her husband and two cats in Iowa City where she enjoys gardening and fixing up her very old house. A Long Ride to Ottumwa Iowa Writes Flower me in the Day Lily underbelly,
but briefly because the alley is busy
between those of us scraping the fence
and those of you calling it a labor
of love ?like flame like fire,
I'm glad that's not me
smoking the boundaries.
On gameday, an intergalactic highway
painted into our yard prepared for you
with unseasonal sweat motivating down
the stone alley and rounding the corner
to the new white fence you can see
from blocks away. You are drunk
from your Huck and Tom genius,
passionately applied like another major
development in the landscape that has
stopped just for a while
before the blank defeat and long ride back to Ottumwa.
2006-03-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=319 Abel A. Ortiz Ortiz received a MA in Painting and Drawing in 2001. Betsy's Dilemma acrylic on panel 48" x 60" 1999 artimages/03252006.jpg 450 298 The Graduate Archive
2006-03-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=320 Katherine Lock Now living in Brooklyn, New York and associated with the Guggenheim Museum, Katherine Lock has Iowa connections in both Iowa City where she graduated with honors in painting and the Des Moines Art Center where she served in a variety of roles from 1993 through June 2000. Silicon Midnight oil on canvas 18" x 18" The highly personal paintings of Katherine Lock offer combinations of shapes and colors which are immediately distinctive as statements without obvious artistic derivations. Two-dimensional shapes, isolated linear arabesques and brushed textures blend pleasantly with muted, harmonious colors in medium-size oils on canvas.
She says of her work: I develop a personal vocabulary of objects. The objects are recognizable, ordinary things that begin to describe a tangible idea and end as a painting a sort of reverse interpretation. The materiality of the painting becomes its own language that is relinquished of traditional contexts and functions to describe relationship, balance or counter-balance, and intrigue. artimages/03262006.jpg 400 405
2006-03-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=321 Ina Loewenberg Ina Loewenberg has lived in Iowa City for more than 36 years. In addition to her most recent career as a photographer, she has been an internal auditor at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, a tax preparer for H & R Block, and a philosophy teacher at Coe College. Mission Statement Iowa Writes I'm not a look-out-of-the-window poet.
Oh, yes, I love what we call nature but don't know what
To do with it. Beauty in the plump fields of Iowa
Dressed in a mismatch of greens silenced my camera
When it was my instrument; I stood dumb,
Insightless, before what others earlier had done.
This landscape, shy and unassuming, sits
For its portrait patiently but doesn't tell what its
Meaning is. I do only a little better in New York:
Its delicious debris nonetheless can't talk.
I need my percepts bound to concepts as Kant
Demanded, I need allusion & illusion, I want
Speakers from poems and myths and my own
History to inhabit my landscapes, not land alone,
Not even sky and water, clouds and birds.
My landscapes are composed of words.
2006-03-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=322 Meiji Zhang Meiji Zhang graduated from the Industrial Design Department in the Beijing Institute of Technology in 1999. After graduation, she worked as a motorcycle designer, graphic designer, and a web designer for three years. She now studies 3D design at the University of Iowa. Pony Tail Teapot computer graphic 2004 Her recent works are about lost and found. She misplaces the forms and functions of objects to get different combinations. This gives people a new approach for design and gives the audience a new concept to experience. artimages/03282006.jpg 400 393
2006-03-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=323 Dian M. Gottlob Dian M. Gottlob works in the University of Iowa's Center for Credit Programs, where she coordinates two extended learning undergraduate programs: the Bachelor of Liberal Studies and the Bachelor of Applied Studies. She also has an adjunct teaching appointment with the College of Public Health. She resides in Kalona where she writes both fiction and nonfiction. The First Return Iowa Writes Even in the midst of a midwinter storm when scattered piles of white slide across my driveway and down my rural road and when the wind snaps brittle tree branches, I remember that first return. Summer images, recorded decades ago, are cloudless.
Coils ?green, yellow and red ?speed down the line; wires wrapped in color that I carefully dip into a hot pot of wax. My clothes are crusted with circles, which I peel from my pants each night. Within the Connecticut Audio Dynamics Factory, machines, voices of authority, and chatter between stations manned by women briefly interrupt the incessant loop of top-forty music that repeats itself for eight and a half hours. I await the 15-minute break; I think about Iowa City.
"It's the coldest place on earth," I'd said to my brother who lived in Oswego, a blizzard-ridden town that abuts Lake Ontario. Even for an upstater like me, who'd skied down the icy Adirondacks, my first December on the plains seemed monstrous. By the end of spring, when I could afford only breakfast charged to my university bill, I considered abandoning the frigid landscape.
"You'll need to get all 'A's' to get any money," the department chair had told me, and I did, so that summer when the Audio Dynamics bell rang and the line briefly shut down, I called him.
"Where are you?" he asked, as factory clatter filtered through the phone. When I explained, he fell silent. "There's a teaching assistantship available, but it's only for the first semester."
Early morning the following Thursday, too early for factory work, I boarded a crowded commuter train with my green duffel bag, canvas backpack and jean jacket. Dumped onto a long platform in Grand Central at 7:30, I walked across the street to the LaGuardia bus stop where cars, cabs, people and a humid August day folded in around me.
I released a smile only after the plane had landed in Cedar Rapids, when I was swallowed up by rows of crops and friends who raced east towards the Mississippi River. In the evening as we sat on a fractured concrete wall, we cast out fine blue fishing lines into the darkening water. The sun set behind us without a nibble, but when I caught sight of the barge lights that brightened down an iron side as the engine sent splashes of water towards my feet ?my memory became photographic. I flipped from a morning to an evening print, from a chaotic Grand Central to a composed Mississippi, and I was illuminated. Like a shed skin, I peeled away the summer and floated the summer sights and sounds south towards St. Louis, a tumble of troubles that I deep-sixed.
"I'm staying on this side of the river, forever," I stated, a promise that wasn't kept. Years and a degree later, I moved to New York, the Twin Cities and again, Connecticut. Yet always when in doubt, when life forced a change, I returned to Iowa. Even after my last foray to Texas, when I'd retreated from success along the north/south route in my little red sports car, cats in the back, friend in the front, I marked home by the number of miles it took me to place myself between the Missouri and the Mississippi.
My last arrival in early October I was greeted by golden fields. I rolled in all directions during the twenty-mile drive from an I-80 exit to my new Kalona home, as my friend inhaled the hogs and horses while tractors and buggies scrolled across the windshield.
"Why would anyone ever leave here?" she commented, after we surveyed my new Amish neighbor's garden ?the autumnal lines of fat, fresh vegetables and fruits.
And like the first return, the last one has ended in a promise. When road ice keeps me housebound, when summer skies blister the back of my neck, I try to retrieve the evening snapshot of the Mississippi from my mental scrapbook. I dredge up that image of a brilliant barge and relax, remind myself of the first return and renew my commitment to a place and space just west of the Mississippi.
2006-03-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=324 Allison L. Bush Bush received a MA in Sculpture in 2002. House of My Grandmother's Mother mixed media 41" x 14" x 27" 2001 artimages/03302006.jpg 252 425 The Graduate Archive
2006-03-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=325 John E. Archer John E. Archer is an Iowa native, born in Centerville, who lives in West Liberty, Iowa. He has authored technical articles while working for several industrial firms. His latest project is a first-person account of growing up in Muscatine and Davenport, Iowa, along the Mississippi. Lemon Meringue Iowa Writes Just five years old and no one to play with; the new place we had moved to on Maiden Lane in Muscatine was not remote, but I hadn't met anyone my age yet. It was a warm morning in 1944, a good day for a walk for a bored five-year-old boy.
I decided to walk downtown. I knew I wouldn't get lost because I had done it once with Mama and Paul. It was about a mile and I would walk slow. I would go down Maiden Lane towards Roscoe, which I knew would lead me to Eighth Street, where I had to turn at the bottom of the hill onto Cedar, and Cedar would take me right downtown.
It was simple.
I was about two blocks from our house when I saw a man fixing his car. Daddy had said his name was Johnny and he was a good mechanic. I walked by blowing on my little harmonica that Paul had got for me by sending in ten cents and a Cheerios box top.
"Hey bud!" he yelled, "Can you play that thing?"
"Sure," I replied. I crossed the street to where he was working.
"Let me see that harp." he said, as he spit a stream of tobacco deftly over his shoulder. "Here's how you do it." Taking the harmonica from my outstretched hand, he pointed out how you had to hold your tongue over the holes you didn't want to play. He spit again and stuck out his tobacco-flecked tongue and covered two holes and blew on the others. The sound was a single note, not the jumble I had been playing.
"See bud," he said, "Now we'll see if thing's got any music in it." With that he played a short version of Yankee Doodle and then Oh! Susanna. He was really good. "Now you give it a try, bud."
I blew a few notes but the sweetish aftertaste of his tobacco made it hard for me to think about playing.
"Well, you just keep trying," he said, and he turned back to his car.
I blew a few notes and walked down the street. When I was out of sight, I stopped and spit several times to get rid of the tobacco taste. I wiped the harmonica off and put it in my pants pocket. Maybe I'd give it to Paul when I got home.
I watched squirrels playing tag on Eighth Street. They ran away when I got too close. On Cedar, I passed a postman who said, "Hi son," as he walked by. A fat lady smiled at me as she pushed a baby carriage past me. I wasn't tall enough to see the baby.
I came to the first traffic light of downtown. It was green. Mama had told me to only cross when it was green. The green one is on the bottom. I walked to a restaurant just past the Courthouse. It was painted red and white and had a big sign out front but I couldn't read. Paul had told me that it said "Maid-Rite." I could smell hamburger cooking so I went inside and sat on one of the high stools at the counter.
I was looking at the pies in the pie case behind the counter when a lady came up with a glass of water and set it in front of me. I took a long drink.
"Can I get you some pie, Hon?" she asked.
"What kind of pie is that with the white stuff on top?" I asked as I drank some more water.
"That's Lemon Meringue, Honey."
"I don't have any money," I said, "but I sure would like some of that pie."
"I can't give you pie without money, Hon." And she added, "Don't you think you should go home now, son?"
As I walked back up Eighth Street hill I wondered if Mama could make a pie like that. I was picking up buckeyes from under a tree about a block from our house when a police car stopped across the street.
"Hey kid! Are you John?" the policeman yelled.
"Yes I am!" I said proudly. I really liked my name.
"Well, you better get home quick. Your mother's been looking all over for you. She thought you were lost."
"I'm not lost," I replied. "I just went for a walk."
2006-04-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=378 Scott Charles Ross Scott Charles Ross, a Waterloo, Iowa native, received a B.A. from Grinnell College and has done graduate work at Iowa State University and Drake University. He has completed several private commissions throughout the country and abroad. Scott had a solo show at the newly renovated Marshall Fields store in Chicago and his work is part of Grinnell College's permanent art collection. Window oil on linen 44" x 44" Ross's paintings are grounded in both abstract and figurative forms. He is inspired by the people and travels of his life as well as his environment. He writes, "Merging concrete visual elements with inner observations, I intend to transfer abstractions into a perceived reality for the viewer." Scott's process involves many layers of charcoal, oil paint, wax and glazes, which results in a painting with a hard and glossy surface with much texture underneath. The paintings are produced on linen and stretched over wood panels. artimages/04012006.jpg 425 431
2006-04-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=379 Mary Vermillion Iowa native Mary Vermillion pens mystery novels and teaches English at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids. Her first novel, Death by Discount—a finalist for two Lambda awards—portrays Wal-Mart's impact on small towns. Her second novel, Murder by Mascot, features Hawkeye basketball. Mary Vermillion's website http://www.maryvermillion.com Excerpt from the opening pages of Murder By Mascot Iowa Writes My face hurt from fake-smiling through the game's first half. The source of this pain came from the seating arrangement in Section A, Row 5 of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. My ex, Anne, had the aisle seat—which I didn't mind, given her legginess. What I did mind was her new partner, Orchid, who wedged herself in between us and made it nearly impossible for us to talk. She bumped my right side every time she turned to whisper in Anne's ear or to grab a handful of their organic popcorn. Things were no better on my left where I was saving an empty seat for Neale, my long-distance girlfriend. She was supposed to meet us for dinner before the game, but still hadn't shown.
Our mascot, Herky, paced the court's perimeter, his huge plastic hawk's head bobbing atop a tall, spindly body. His beaky grin looked every bit as stiff as mine felt, but that didn't stop the hordes of children who wanted to high-five him or hug him. He flapped his arms—or wings—as we scored, and Orchid clapped along.
Narrowly dodging her elbow, I adjusted my glasses and checked the scoreboard: Iowa Hawkeyes 45, Missouri Tigers 41.
"We should be way ahead by now," Orchid grumbled.
"It's the first game," Anne said. "We're just rusty."
At least that's what I thought she said.
"We don't have much depth." Orchid nodded toward the bench, which was directly in front of us. Orchid's season tickets are much better than mine, as are her luck and her job. She is the program director at the alternative radio station where I work. In other words, my boss and my constant reminder that life isn't fair.
She jabbed me in the arm—on purpose this time. "I wonder what's keeping your girlfriend," she asked. Her eyes were the same color as her steely buzz cut and vulva-shaped pewter earrings.
I shrugged and summoned another fake grin before grabbing my cell phone and punching in my own number. If my housemate Vince answered, I'd inquire about his Persian, Norma Desmond. That was our code for get me outta here. Alas, Vince did not answer, so I left a message for Norma and turned my attention to the game.
Coach Bridget Stokes waved a clipboard in the air and yelled at her team to play defense. Technically speaking, Bridget was not the coach. She was Carol Oliver's most experienced assistant and therefore in charge while Coach Carol visited her dying brother in Pennsylvania.
Our standout point guard, Win Ramsey, dribbled the ball downcourt and heaved it to our only freshman starter. She squared her feet to the basket and nailed the three.
"Jessie March," Orchid said. "She's gonna be good. Check out that jump shot."
What I noticed about the freshman was that she was the only player with auburn hair. For the most part, that's how I keep track of the players—their 'dos. Granted, it's not foolproof given all the faux-blond ponytails.
"The rookie is family," Orchid said. "Elaine saw her at the Alley Cat with our shortstop."
For Orchid, no women's sporting event is complete unless she determines which players are lesbians. Me, I have better things to do than ponder the sexual orientations of nineteen-year-olds.
After the Tigers scored an easy two, our center, Kate Timmens, set a nice pick for Varenka White, who drove to the hoop and got hacked by the Tiger center. It was the fourth foul on their top scorer, so the crowd erupted, hushing only when Varenka stepped to the free-throw line.
After she sank the front end of her one-and-one, there was no triumphant riff from the pep band. Except for some scattered applause, the arena was freakishly quiet.
Anne gasped, her eyes fixed on the other side of the arena. I followed her gaze past the players lined up at the key for Varenka's second shot. There, sprawled in the front row—right across the court from our women's bench—was the infamous hoopster, Dave DeVoster. With his disconcertingly blond hair, the star forward looked like a Nordic model for Abercrombie and Fitch. His outstretched legs grazed the out-of-bounds line as he laughed with two guys who looked like linebackers.
Why shouldn't he laugh? Not only had the senior forward just avoided jail, but he had also gained an extra year of eligibility when the university granted him a red-shirt season and the remainder of his scholarship. This, after being charged with raping one of its female athletes.
2006-04-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=380 Jason Urban Urban received a MA in Printmaking in 2001. Mismatched Pair intaglio 6" x 9" 2000 artimages/04032006.jpg 400 283 The Graduate Archive
2006-04-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=381 Tim Trenkle Tim Trenkle is a resident of Dubuque, Iowa, where he writes a column for the Telegraph Herald. "My people have all been farmers and meatpackers," he says. "I write human interest pieces about Iowa and the values of our world, seen from the banks of the Mississippi." Echoes of America Iowa Writes The train rumbles the ties that hold the rails on the bed of stones. It moves sound up from the earth into the chairs at the long, green-topped tables where the veterans sit in the conference room of the newly decorated restaurant. A round-faced old man touches his gold-rimmed glasses as he listens to the conversation above the rumble that holds his chest at his throat.
Tables are pushed against each other across the length of the room to form two rows. Veterans are seated along one of the rows and friends and family at the other. A splash of food graces the tables in color on dozens of plates. Little rolled fingers of chicken are set by taco shell salads and French soups. Ham dinners are ladled upon mounds of potatoes. Potato soup steams above the rich napkins, and the silverware is long and heavy enough to accommodate the biggest hands.
The banquet honors the passing of an old soldier.
A speaker places his hands on the table. He's talking to several of those acquainted with the departed. He wears a tie striped in red, white and blue that moves diagonally up the knotted cloth. The tie is held to the white shirt by a gold clip. He looks down the length of green and turns to his left where a bounty of food covers thirty feet of tables. On his right is a window that gives up a view to the flashing, red railroad crossing lights.
He shifts his weight from his hands and as he stares down this last supper the lights from the window extract a gleam from his eyeglasses.
Some of the people are red-eyed.
One of the men seated with the veterans shifts in his seat and his suspenders shift on his shirt while the train rumbles past in the yard next door.
The words of an earlier service today still hang in the air. The talk is about the old days of Dubuque and service to country. Many of the attendees remember the man they've come to celebrate. The veterans have spoken about sacrifice and commitment at the final passing of the flag. The salutes are gone and the rifles are silent.
The old gentleman at the table's edge wears an American flag on his right shoulder. One of the women comments that it appears backwards. "Shouldn't it be turned the other way?" she asks. "The blue field of stars is leading," she says.
In the quiet of the moment a veteran says, "The blue leads because it symbolizes peace."
One of the old men wearing blue trousers with gold stripes trailing down the sides, the man who clicked his black boot heels upon transferring the flag at the casket, is bustling, preparing to leave. A shaded light covers the tables and makes shadows on the plants that hang at all four corners of the ceiling.
One of the people at the table of friends says that the flag was probably made in China. At this a silence, like death, like the funeral procession, like the smoke of the guns before taps, fills the room. Heads turn, one to the other.
Each of these last to pay respects to an old friend is left with their thoughts of him and of America.
Echoes of the lonesome train roll out beyond the bluffs.
2006-04-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=382 David Mitschelen David Mitschelen's boyhood home was Madrid, Iowa. He earned a Master in Library and Information Science from the University of Iowa in 1993 and currently provides answers at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Almost-Noon Whistle Iowa Writes An extended mechanical moan accompanied by our dachshund's mournful descant and Mom's call to lunch: that's how I remember noon as a boy. The noon whistle was a part of growing up in a small town. There was no reason to it. If it marked the beginning of a lunch break, why didn't another whistle mark the end? It certainly didn't mark the end of a work shift. There weren't any businesses in town big enough to work in shifts. Besides, it wasn't a factory whistle; it was the noon whistle. It was a fact of life like green grass, blue skies, and chewing gum on the bottom of school desks.
I'd forgotten about noon whistles and other facts of life while busy learning more important facts at college and various other places far from home. I was reminded of them after settling down in small-town Iowa again.
"What's that? Fire? Police? Ambulance?" But the siren had stopped before my wife finished the question.
"That's the noon whistle," I answered. Providing answers is what I do best.
"But it's not noon," she said. My wife is Swiss. Time is an absolute.
I looked at my watch. It was 11:52. "Noon isn't really an exact time. It refers to the time when the sun is highest in the sky," I informed her. Some answers need elaboration.
"When is the sun highest in the sky?" she asked.
"At 12 o'clock," I replied. I had no intention of trying to explain daylight savings time.
"But it's not 12 o'clock," she repeated.
I tried a different approach. "The noon whistle isn't to set your watch by. It's a tradition. A person at the town hall turns it on as a kind of signal that it's time to go to lunch," I explained.
"Today he must have been really hungry," she said.
I couldn't swear that the whistle always blew at exactly 12:00 when I was growing up. Kids didn't have watches, and time wasn't important back then. Noon was whenever the noon whistle blew. But now I had to look at my watch to see when hunger struck the designated town official. It generally ranged from five to ten minutes early, though occasionally it was as early as twenty till and once it was five minutes late.
Then, without warning, it sounded at exactly 12:00 for a full week. Was the person on a diet? Had the clerk been fired and replaced with a more efficient bureaucrat? Had the fallible human been replaced by an automatic timer?
On Monday the whistle blew at 11:48. My wife and I looked at each other.
"Back from vacation."
2006-04-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=383 Wonjae Lee Wonjae Lee is in his first year of MFA Program in the Design Department at the University of Iowa. His current works explore the spaces and forms that could be captured within his cultural background of East Asia—temples, traditional costume, dance movement, music, etc. He also is engaged with lighting design. He says, "Since light is one of the strongest elements for recognizing a form, you should not put it aside when you create a form." Space III (interior renovation project of room S128) crescent/bristol board, wood stick, acrylic paint "Gerrit Rietveld inspired this project. Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was born in Utrecht in the Netherlands in 1888. After working in his father's joinery business, he apprenticed at a jewellery studio. In 1911 he started his own cabinet-making firm, which he maintained for eight years. In this same period, he studied architecture. Through his studies he became acquainted with several founders of De Stijl."
"I created the spaces by panels, which do not have to necessarily be called 'Wall', but rather would be called 'Space Divider'. Since these spaces are communal spaces, there are no doors between spaces which makes the spaces more interrelated." artimages/04062006.jpg 425 315
2006-04-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=384 Claire Kean Claire Kean lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is twelve years old and a sixth grader at Harding Middle School. "I like reading just about any type of story, but I like to write non-fiction the best," she says. Tap Tap, Knock Knock Iowa Writes "Click, tap, tap." I glance out the French doors lining the plain white living room walls. My dog Blaise, a gigantic, fluffy, loving collie, is smiling in at me. "Click, click, tap." Once again he gently taps on the glass doors, just like a little gentleman. Part of me wants to go out and face the blistering cold, to take my dogs out for a beautiful walk to the river. Yet, another part of me wants to be lazy and sit at home and sip tea all day.
"Click, click, tap tap." With Blaise's big, warm, brown eyes staring through me, I melt and go to the laundry room to get my shoes. The dogs go crazy. Every 30 seconds there's a loud, anxious whine at the door. "I'm coming," I assure them. Another loud wail. I open the door and they prance around the garage. Blaise sounds as if he's singing, he howls so long and loud. "Let's go for a walk!"
We walk out the side door, and while walking across the yard to the woods, FLASH! I see a blur of deep brown and beige. Here comes Ted, the neighbor dog, rocketing by to join us. We head down the deep, white, untouched, snow-topped trail into the large, frozen meadow. The dogs occasionally run off to dig up an innocent mouse to eat. Luckily the mouse usually escapes through the grass. The dogs still stand there sniffing as if thinking, "Huh? Where'd he go?" They always trot back to me to make sure I'm still there, wag their tails, and then trot off again.
A stand of trees looms before us. We enter the woods. The tall dark trees stand like people watching us, but they never speak, or follow us. I hear a cracking noise. Bailey, the middle-sized dog of the three, is sliding on the ice ahead of us, cracking the ice in some spots. Now I hear a splash. Over one hundred pounds of dog plunges in through the ice. Blaise just lumbers up and seems to say "I did that on purpose," and saunters off. He gives Ted a dirty look, as if he's jealous that Ted never falls in.
After an hour of this, three wet, dirty dogs walk back to the house. The wind is whipping my hair. I am no longer cold. It was great to get out, and now I have earned my hot tea, in my bright red velvet armchair by the fire.
2006-04-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=385 Pete Goche Pete is a native Iowan, born in Buffalo Center, Iowa in 1966. He earned his B.A. in Architecture from Iowa State University in 1991. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe to fine tune his craft. His exhibitions have been shown throughout Iowa and even London, with his most recent piece being shown at the Karolyn Sherwood Gallery in Des Moines, Iowa. At will, the body kneels in mortal intercourse as its shadow lies beneath Iris print 30" x 20" 1999 artimages/04082006.jpg 350 450
2006-04-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=386 Mary Iber Mary Iber is Consulting Librarian for the Sciences at Cornell College, and teaches in the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Iowa as an adjunct assistant professor. She has lived in Iowa for 23 years. Shoveling or How Long to Delay Shoveling? Iowa Writes Fresh
light
pure
white
snow.
Petite
paw
prints
define
edges.
Erase
traces
of the
pathfinder.
Shovel
But
Remember.
2006-04-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=387 Joshua Huyser Huyser received a MFA in Painting and Drawing in 2001. Untitled oil on canvas 20" x 18" 2001 artimages/04102006.jpg 425 467 The Graduate Archive
2006-04-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=388 Kristy Parker Kristy Parker was born and raised in Waterloo and is currently an Art Education major at the University of Northern Iowa. She has been writing poetry since she was 12 years old. Gaia's Cave Iowa Writes Rattled rivers of fear glide through her thighs
Her own glimmering scarlet waters course to the center of her Underworld
To the forbidden fruit left untasted, the essence of Gaia hides in her cave
Waiting for Orpheus, with his sweet music of abandon
To unlock the entryway with echoes of song and mirth
His hands that so deftly plucked Cupid's harp, will make the walls tremble
And eyes that could see through Athena's biting armor
See what lies at the end of the living tunnel
That welcomes its warrior home...a place inviting, warm
Full of the truth that lies hidden behind the shadows of her eyelashes
That she can cast down no more....because Orpheus would never let her look away
From love so real, it makes the gods jealous
2006-04-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=389 Catherine Adams Bodies of Stone #10 (find) giclee "The sources from my images come primarily from the Berlin-Potsdam palace gardens. The decaying sculptures from this past era of pleasure and statesmanship caused me to return to photography after a decade of not using a camera. In my 18 years of experience with the history of art, no works—except for those of Michelangelo—so moved me by their mythic, yet human, gestures. Cobwebbed and scuffed, they lunge toward one another or huddle into their isolation. They both inspire and frighten me. In my images, I attempt to draw baroque and neo-classical beauty close to pain, isolation, violence, and memory. In this way, I can study the lessons of the past and the concerns of the present. For instance, in returning to 18th century mythological painting, I explore the tales of mortal women often abused by ancient myths or by contemporary interpretation or forgetfulness. My aim is to inspire the viewer to physically touch the flesh and stone depicted, but also to hold back in trepidation because all is fragile in this world. Pleasure is a taunt relationship between past and present moment, between fingertip of self and surface of another." - Catherine Adams - artimages/04122006.jpg 400 400
2006-04-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=390 Walter Richard Knupfer Walter Richard Knupfer received his B.A., M.F.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Iowa. His work has appeared in The Paris Review, The Antioch Review, Ploughshares, The Ohio Review, Turnstile, The Great Lakes Review, and elsewhere. In the Bed of Iowa Iowa Writes where you and your brother were born
in the rolling landscape of corn, beans, rivers
and fogs of fireflies where you can't tell
the fireflies from the stars, born in an ancient
seabed that became topsoil layered and layered
until shoots of grassland filled with meadows
of phlox, Indian paint-brush, daisies, blue asters
and lavender sunsets and purple thunderstorms.
We used to race under the rainbows through clapping
lightning storms, breaking through the waves of color
of showers again, dousing ourselves when the line moved
through pouring streams, the soil draining down-river
to the muddy blues' oily muck. A conch, a coral reef,
a whorl, an aching noise when the earth burst into the sea
and all swirled into all, a calamitous, cacophonous blast,
a chorus of noisy crickets, a cochlear shell that amplifies
nothing but the whistling wind and tinnitus, a petrous
hardness, an undulating crust of shaken blankets of tin
soldiers who die and die in crusted paint in pink flesh.
From there you were reborn, from word from word,
in a cloudy world under the Iowa sun, fistula, fistula,
burst into another word, another word, another word.
I love you, my son, who has taken me from the gentle
speech through the left hemisphere in another life of my own,
the map of the heavens through the fourth sign and beyond
through unbalanced semi-circular canals, losing our balance,
from watershed to watershed. We can wait for the shoe to drop,
like the flat Missouri fault buckling, bubbling and blistering
in fissures and cracks, tremors and temblors in rolling land
pounding the flat table, shaking the tablecloth with crystal vases
and ground glass and sand, correcting the plate of earth
of petrous rock that calcifies into a limestone escarpment,
but everything pales like your ossified petrous inner ear
glued by flaps of skin that connects you with the world,
and the light of your eyes on campfire, transfixed
in flickering embers, stupefied by the mystery of the stars.
2006-04-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=391 Carlos Ferguson The steady productivity of Carlos Ferguson since his BA degree from Grinnell College through his MA and MFA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa is impressive.
In less than a decade, he has completed a demanding program of study and produced a large body of work, as well as fulfilling teaching assignments at Berea College in Kentucky, Ithaca College in New York, Arrowmont School of Art and craft in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He now paints full-time in his studio in Northfield, Minnesota. Series #2, Untitled III cyanotype and gum bichromate 25" x 40" From the small, lofty views in his earlier work delicately detailed scenes of interstate clover-leafs, distant landscapes, quiet winter streets set in solid walnut frames of his own construction, Ferguson's recent vision has expanded. His large new oils depict the distant Busch Gardens under a moist sky, an urban swimming pool with swimmers' heads bobbing in reflected blue light, a diner's view of a large restaurant, or a passenger's perspective from the back of a metropolitan bus. artimages/04142006.jpg 415 258
2006-04-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=392 Robert Tillman Tillman received a MA in Printmaking in 2001. Think waterless lithograph 14" x 11" 2000 artimages/04152006.jpg 400 507 The Graduate Archive
2006-04-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=393 Sheena Smitley Sheena Maree Smitley was born in Des Moines, Iowa. She is 20 years old and a sophomore at Simpson College. An English major, she plans to teach high school after graduating. Porcelain Memory Iowa Writes Who gave you right
To call yourself Daddy?
I remember the pressure
of your large palms
like wind on a black umbrella tent
smashing my skull
into the thick, dark, crimson carpet.
Your dry, paint-stained fingers
wrapped firmly 'round my shoulders
as my frail body, shoved
through air, finds a wall
tough as your fist
that used to scrape
itself across my cheek.
Who gave you right
to call yourself Daddy?
The sting of alcohol
in your breath,
burning beneath the blood
stained cuts on my skin
and causing my tears to well.
Your forceful roar, so close to me
that I could feel your droplets of
alcoholic saliva landing upon my freckles,
blending with the tears of blood
that dripped helplessly down
the side of my face.
I remember your head would shake
in complete rage
until your voice no longer existed.
It thundered through my home
what used to be our home,
and the walls began to tremble
as your beer-stenched self
made way through the front door.
My tiny feet were left with no choice
but to hide and pray
that someday an angel would come
and carry me away.
The fury in your eyes
seeped into me
like hell's tempestuous black hole
and eventually swallowed me whole.
Who gave you right
to call yourself Daddy?
2006-04-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=394 Savanna Snead Savanna lives in Cedar Rapids. She enjoys reading, riding her bike and hanging out with her mom and friends. Savanna dreams of becoming a president, judge, lawyer, writer and actress. The Beast Iowa Writes Ever since I was ten I have been afraid to go to my grandparents' house.
I remember one particularly horrifying day when I was forced to spend the night there.
My mom opened the screen door and knocked hard on the cruel red wood door.
My grandma opened the door and smiled. It was terrifying.
Her yellowish-green teeth glowed in the moonlight, her eyes were squinty, and I swear they were turning black!
I half expected to see the numbers 666 appear on her wrinkled forehead!
I clung on to my mom but she pushed me away into the hands of evil.
"No! Don't leave me here! I don't want to die!" I screamed, but she just walked away.
My grandmother shut the door and locked all eight locks.
"It's feeding time," she said in her scratchy voice.
She led me into the kitchen and pulled off my only protection from evil, my coat, and hurled me into a cold wood chair.
There it was. The monster.
Its titanium skin gleamed in the yellow light. Its sixteen eyes flashed red. The monster's mouth was wide open and I could see its glassy tongue.
My grandma pulled open the white refrigerator door, reached in, and grabbed a frozen cheeseburger.
What would she do with it?
She placed it on a plate and on the beast's tongue.
Ugh! She was feeding it.
She pushed on its eyes and it screamed in rage and pain!
What evil and madness was this?
She closed its mouth and touched another eye.
"Mmmmm," went the beast as it fed.
I sat paralyzed in my seat.
After a minute or two of shock, the beast roared loudly three times and my grandmother opened its mouth and took the cheeseburger out of the beast's mouth.
Disgusting!
She set the plate down in front of me and smiled again.
"Enjoy, my little angel," she cackled.
I was sure she had fallen off her rocker and could not get back up!
I poked it. Ugh! It was soggy and damp from being in the beast's mouth.
I picked it up and sunk my teeth into it.
Well, it could have used some ketchup, but oh well!
2006-04-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=395 Gene Anderson Gene Anderson received his degree in Architecture from the University of Illinois in 1958. He is a licensed architect in Illinois and Iowa, and has been an Iowa resident for most of his life. The Goddess mixed media 30" x 72" x 72" "In the past several years, my work has found focus on defining basic forms that relate to unconscious memory and sensitivity at the core of human experience. Through my travels in Africa, Europe, and the United States, I have observed and studied prehistoric, ancient, medieval, and recent forms that humans have produced to express their feelings. In most cases, these forms relate on a subconscious level and are felt to be positive, humanistic, peaceful, uncommplicated, refined, and resolved. Consequently my work is evolving into a very basic expression of human scale forms." - Gene Anderson - artimages/04182006.jpg 425 287
2006-04-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=396 David Zollo David Zollo is an Iowa City-based singer, songwriter, keyboardist, and the founder of the music label Trailer Records. His CDs include The Big Night, Uneasy Street, and The Morning is a Long Way from Home. David Zollo's website http://www.davidzollo.com Parnell Iowa Writes They said I'd never hold your arm,
They said I'd never hold my head up high;
They said I'd never hold the nighttime in my hands,
So they said, and they was right.
They said the pills and liquor would not raise me,
Such a shame to see a young man die.
They said my emotions were the distance between two points,
So they said, and they was right.
If I make it back to Parnell,
I ain't never coming back here;
Where my dreams were tossed like whiskey across the bar
And the whole place smells like my fear.
I took off west with both legs running
To find myself some of your happiness,
But my hopes were scattered like husks in the field;
I've given up on life I guess.
If I make it back to Parnell,
I ain't never coming back here;
Where my dreams were tossed like whiskey across the bar
And the whole place smells like my fear.
So baby, if you see me walking,
Back home, all alone, in the moonlight,
Then you'll know that place got the best of me,
So they said, and they was right.
If I make it back to Parnell,
I ain't never coming back here;
Where my dreams were tossed like whiskey across the bar
And the whole place smells like my fear.
© 1999, David Zollo, BMI, all rights reserved. From the CD Uneasy Street, on Trailer Records, Iowa City, USA.
2006-04-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=397 Tom Snee A Duluth, Minnesota native, Tom Snee now lives in Iowa City with his wife and son. His work has appeared in the Wapsipinicon Almanac, The Long Story, Elysian Fields Quarterly, and Exquisite Corpse. His story, "First Start," was recently included in Fenway Fiction, an anthology of stories about the Boston Red Sox. He works in the University News Service of the University of Iowa. Venus Banging on the Windshield Iowa Writes Hey, you OK in there? I fought the day-old whiskey and scotch and cheap tequila to pry open my eyelids, gasped at the rancid sour smell of myself, squinted through the summer sun high in the sky to Venus banging on the windshield. Stunned, I mustered only a thick and bubbly-throated ungh and gawked at her startling beauty, hair that flowed like a golden river, eyes blue as icebergs that chilled my skin, a body I would have paid to see naked, right then and there. She needed only to stand in a giant open clam shell to complete the picture.
You've been in there all day, we're starting to get worried, she bent over so her shirt fell open to me and only me and when I peered down, making no attempt to hide where I was looking, I knew I would marry her, I knew I would never leave this town of Wherever I Am and marry her and she would become Mrs. Venus Robinson, and I would get a job at a hardware store, the one right across the street with the hand-lettered help wanted sign in the window, and work my way up to manager, maybe some day buy the place when the owner retires to Tucson, and we would have two children, Romulus and Roy, and become scions of this town of Wherever I Am, known by everyone, friends to all, benefactors, civic do-gooders. We will sing songs at Rotary, slice frozen cod at the Lion's fish fry, lead the Pledge at PTA meetings and hack away at the Chamber of Commerce golf tournament, and at night we will retire to our three-bedroom ranch in the nice subdivision on the edge of town and put our kids to bed after a story and count our blessings and then make love, wild animal love, sweaty and intense, loud and passionate, the kind that brings you closer to God, the kind that solves all the riddles of the universe and makes sense of the pain of it all so broken hearts can be endured and dashed lives put back together.
So where you from, anyways, she pushed her collar up to close the gap and I looked up to her face, soft as a pillow, warm as the midday sun, eyes bright as jade and teeth white as stars, and I said would you marry me. She laughed like it was the silliest thing she'd ever heard, a sharp you-can't-be-serious laugh, just like I'd heard the day before, on bent knee, a diamond that cost me two month's salary (just like the ads said it should), a laugh that revealed to me the profound understanding that my destiny was to spend the rest of the day in a bar and drive all night to Wherever I Am to marry Venus banging on my windshield.
Take it easy and I hope you get home all right, she laughed and walked away, her jeans a half-size too small for her sparrow body, but I knew we would be married, I knew it was only a matter of time.
2006-04-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=398 Israel Davis Davis recieved a MA in Ceramics in 2002. Destinednation printed ceramic 8.5" x 10" 2001 artimages/04212006.jpg 425 316 The Graduate Archive
2006-04-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=399 Bonney Goldstein Earning her BS degree from Mills College and her MFA from Goddard, Goldstein also studied at Arts Students Leagues in both New York and Denver. With more than 24 major exhibitions to her credit, she also has works in major corporate collections such as IBM in Dallas, American Airlines in Denver, and in Iowa, at Maytag, Iowa State University, Davis Law Firm, and Pioneer Hi-Bred International.
With impressive arts training and a long string of major shows to her credit, Bonney Goldstein now produces her distinctive works in a studio in New Hampshire. Adept in various media and in mixing materials and techniques, her recent series of oils on canvas or paper present the viewer with relatively direct and evocative images, appealing in color, rich and varied textures, and a fresh sense of spontaneity. Where Does It Come From oil on canvas 30" x 30" These appealing works, while firmly within abstract boundaries, suggest both landscapes and interior close-ups of not-quite definable objects. Goldstein, immersed in art history and especially fascinated with the means by which past artists achieved their surfaces, tends toward the plastic rather than symbolic elements in painting. Her works are definitely contemporary, yet they hold a resonance with past traditions. artimages/04222006.jpg 400 403
2006-04-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=400 Chris Kilgore Chris Kilgore is an Iowa writer. He was born in Dubuque but has lived in Iowa City since 1997 (with a 10-month hiatus in Missoula, MT). He has a few stories posted on online journals, one of them published in an e-zine called Johnny America. Johnny America http://www.johnnyamerica.net/ How Man Came to Know That the Merilles Fish Was Poisonous and Inedible Iowa Writes One morning in the summer of a year before years were counted two men with brown leathery skin waded out far into the cold waters that stretched away to Hedvana, the land of the dead and unborn spirits. Armed with long spears poised high above their heads they scoured the glassy waters for food. The one called Bu tè flung his spear at a blue fish with yellow spots, impaling it. Bu tè retrieved his spear, raised it and examined the bright blue and yellow creature on the end of it. This was a fish that no man had ever seen before and Bu tè's heart became full, he rushed back to the beach at once, splashing and flailing. The other, called Bu yà , noticed this unusual behavior by his friend and so came ashore to see what the matter was. Bu tè had already gutted and splayed the fish, and was now making an obeisance over it. Bu yà beheld the fish before Bu tè and was awestruck by its brightness. He took his seat next to Bu tè and also began making an obeisance. Bu tè looked at his friend and made a grave expression. He then made guttural noises in his throat. What Bu tè said to Bu yà was: "You can't have any."
"What do you mean," asked Bu yà , not a little offended. "There is enough for both of us. We are great friends you and I. We share everything."
"I'm sorry, Bu yà , but this fish I cannot share with you because it is a gift from Hevis, the lady of Hedvana and it was sent to me. If you were meant to have some, Hevis would have sent you your own Merilles fish." At this Bu yà became suspicious, wondering how Bu tè knew that the name of this fish was Merilles, which in their guttural tongue meant 'magic fish for a great warrior.'
Bu tè began to devour the Merilles fish while Bu yà watched jealously. When Bu tè had gorged himself he lay back on the sand, his lips shiny from the tetrodoxin-containing oil of the Merilles, secreted in the ovaries, eggs, blood, liver, intestines, and, to a lesser extent, skin. Bu tè began to moan and mumble in ways Bu yà did not understand. Bu yà jumped to his feet believing that Bu tè was having a divine vision.
"What do you see!?" Bu yà hollered. Bu tè looked up at Bu yà with blood-red eyes that then rolled back into his head as he vomited and soiled himself many many times. When there was nothing left inside his stomach he was left heaving and convulsing on the sand. For about twenty minutes Bu yà sat next to him and watched intently as the tremblings of his friend's body and the rise and fall of the chest grew less and less until at last Bu tè became still. Bu yà , upon examining the body, found his friend to be without spirit.
"Truly," Bu yà thought, "this was a fish sent by Hevis to bring Bu tè back to Hedvana. Indeed, Bu tè must have been the greatest warrior in the life of the land."
Bu yà gave a great tribute to the body of Bu tè, he built an altar and a pyre on the beach and bid him good speed on his journey to Hedvana and then returned alone to his village. Bu yà related with great ceremony the story of Bu tè and the Merilles fish. His story became known to all people for many miles around who, from then on, always did two things: they exalted the memory of the great warrior Bu tè and were wary of the Merilles fish and knew not to eat of it, lest they should be carried away to Hedvana.
2006-04-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=401 T. Watson Bogard T. Watson Bogard was born in Nevada, Missouri. The Five Senses Series: Smell waterbase 17" x 14" The artist says this about his work: "I lived in Japan and Germany for nearly fourteen years. Painting and photography helped me understand the cultures I observed as I spun around in my world. In Japan, I studied ink painting; in Germany I painted castles, cathedrals, and myths; in Monterey I painted the ocean; and in Houston I painted the nightlife.
My philosophy is that we are all in this car together and whatever we do affects everyone, so I try to do my very best with whatever I'm doing. I have traveled down many different roads, met a lot of interesting people, and had some powerful experiences along the way. My paintings reflect what I've observed and how my journey is going.
I work with bright colors, light, curiosity, and hope. It is an intense feeling to know I have connected with someone through one of my creations. My paintings hold lots of secrets." artimages/04242006.jpg 316 425
2006-04-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=402 Aliona Hairetdinova Aliona Hairetdinova, originally from the Republic of Moldova, is a sophomore at Drake University majoring in international business, finance, and English. "I write both prose and poetry in my spare time; usually both are in the abstract or lyrical form," she says. The Corporate Iowa Writes She chaotically pulls out metallic sounds of a packaged wooden trapezoid through a round plastic hole. Maybe ten, she stands alone. Blue cashiers rush boxed Pepsi cans and White Stag socks across the laser-jolting X. It beeps in recognition of each set of barcode lines. Barcodes on childhood pinks. Rainbow clouds. Even ponies and butterflies are laser-ed in. She checks her left hand. Bites the pinkie nail. Pulls on the strings behind the plastic. Scratches her nose. Everything in her life is barcoded. She has no control over the numbers, as long as spiders crawl on the bathroom walls and the ladybugs slip through windowsill cracks. She could crawl and slip, if she wanted. If only barcodes wouldn't sting her under the sheets. Oh, she just ate an oatmeal cookie! Lights would turn up on the road and she wouldn't pay attention because she plucks metal out of plastic and polished wood.
She will ring a terribly unkempt turnpike somewhere in Tennessee or Colorado and would never reach the bell. Or the phone for that matter. Or any other sort of communicable disease. She washes her hands before meals with soap and water and brushes her teeth at night to avoid gingivitis in ten years. It is the Pepsi that causes cavities—she knows, but she hates going to the dentist. That swooshy-wheezy thing hurts her teeth in the bright light. Metal on human bone. Like raw steel, or oxidized hemoglobin—all metal in a plastic bag, so who gives a damn.
She has to eat broccoli and spinach because they say so. When she grows older, she'll indulge herself in overcooked carcinogens from Teflon pans and bright yellow boxes of Arm & Hammer baking soda. Clean like a squid, she'll be another ringing barcode. Singing in a digital downpour. Lost souls, found bodies, and deep black eyes in orange veils with golden bracelets from the East. They used to call it the Orient and shun the name now—orient yourself within pi and pick the right line of spices. And some religious Confucianism. Somewhere in Shambala or Jerusalem, squared away, she'd divide her awls into water and corn and build little people in shattering sand castles.
She might just stay at the strings behind the plastic cover. In the electric lights of the optical clinic. Searching the floor for the right speck. It would search for her too and she'd be lost in tall dry grass, hugging her knees, hoping, counting bugs in the air. Twenty or thirty. Who would pay for them all? The ice cream is running all over and she can't help the heat. She could run away to the mounds and play in the dirt. There are rocks there, after all.
She knows how to plant beans. It doesn't take much—grandpa's earth grows eternally with plenty of water. It's not your Chia Pet. It needs care. She grew into it and turned around to find her sneakers hanging from the door handle. Striped. Like endless barcodes. The calendar tells her about her own—own—beans. The date. Time. Place. It is all a set of empirical calculations. In moon years. She learns about them in school, wearing her sneakers, wet from the water in the garden. Forest, tall dry grass. Muddy shoelaces and a lonely dandelion on the kitchen counter top. She already forgot about them. She already lost herself, as she has done before, to the Cartoon Network.
Tomorrow, she will plant the tree—she knows, and she won't even have to take out her shovel. It already grows outside her window, on the corner. Yes, she will plant it tomorrow. And set two corn people in its shade—it wouldn't be lonely that way. She will play for them the corporate barcode. String after string. Her ponytail tick-tocks, as she pulls on the metal under the plastic. She turns around. Quizzically flows beyond the blue cashiers and beeping lasers, still somewhere in the dry grass, with squeaky sneakers, still reaching for that bell at the turnpike.
2006-04-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=403 Jinman Jo Jo received a MA in Sculpture in 2002. Self-Consciousness steel and nail 78" x 30" x 30" 2001 artimages/04262006.jpg 266 430 The Graduate Archive
2006-04-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=404 Robert Dana Robert Dana is Poet Laureate of Iowa. Taking Down the Christmas Lights Iowa Writes Our neighborhood's gone dark again,
all its Christmas lights down now.
We unclipped from our eaves, two
weeks ago in the unseasonable, late
December warm, thirty yards
of blue icicles, accordioning them
into fist-sized bundles, securing them
with green plastic ties, the kind
meant for staking up garden
plants in summer, then packing them
neatly in a box marked Outside.
Our P-E-A-C-E sign with its mad
racing combinations and slow fade-
out-fade-in hangs blankly green
once again for another whole year
with the tools in the garage: crowbar,
loppers and pruners, step ladder.
And tonight, the season at last grown
wintry, knuckles cracking with cold,
my wife coils up snaking extension
cords and dismantles our white,
skeletal, antlered reindeer, Horatio,
—he of the moving head—last
and best of show, folding him down
and packing his separate parts
into his proper carton for storage
in the basement, along with boxes
of bulbs, strings of lights, tree
ornaments, some with family histories.
And the two small, robin sized,
feathered birds, one red, one white,
that top our tree as shining spikes
and stars and archangels do others'—
the one descending, the other rising.
2006-04-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=405 Bobbie McKibbin Former Des Moines Register visual arts critic Eliot Nusbaum commented more than a decade ago about McKibbin’s “intuitive sense of place.†He wrote “McKibbin is interested in investigating the character of the landscape and what makes each of these locations unique . . .(doing it) through . . .(a) feel for the place, accomplished with a multitude of sense(s) other than visual but which in the end enhance the visual sense. As a result, we get a strong feeling of McKibbin’s reaction to the physical world —and a good starting point for us to start feeling that world.†Carey Barn, Western Iowa pastel 20" x 30" This intuitive and illuminating spirit of McKibbin lifts each rendering of a specific place to a reassuring confirmation of both the beauty of nature and value of an artistic depiction of it. Fortunately, McKibbin has chosen to remain in the Midwest and create excellent work appreciative private buyers can still afford.
A variety of publications are available at Olson-Larsen Galleries about Bobbie McKibbin, who was born in Philadelphia, who graduated with an MFA from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and who has served for two decades as Professor of Art at Grinnell College, Iowa. artimages/04282006.jpg 425 279
2006-04-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=406 Benjamin Chait Med Ed/Research Giclee 16" x 20 "While studying architecture I pursued conceptual design as a manifestation of my vision. In my early experience the expression of art was not a traditional practice in architecture; the guiding principle from which I rebelled was that of form following function. When I moved into my own realm of work, the guiding principle of my architecture became committed to both my expression and to the experience of those interfacing with my work ... As my interests turned more in the direction of pure artistic expression, I found that my underlying principles did not change. I continue to be intensely interested in the singular and unusual. Within my body of work in photography and image making, I seek to present the unique elements that I observe—such as the art of the architecture around us. Details that may have become a transparent background to many become paramount in my interpretation. I have chosen large format presentation to emphasize the particle in the whole. Images range from 16x20 to 30x40 inches, often times even larger. Large format material constitutes my work as an image maker and reflects both my interpretation of the world around me and my presentation of this world to the community in which I live..." - Benjamin Chait - artimages/04292006.jpg 420 297
2006-04-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=407 Kim Bridgford Kim Bridgford is a professor of English at Fairfield University, where she edits Dogwood and Mezzo Cammin. Her third book of poetry, In the Extreme: Sonnets About World Records, recently won the Donald Justice Poetry Award and will be published by the West Chester University Poetry Center in spring 2007. The Most Ferocious Freshwater Fish Iowa Writes The piranhas like their appetizers plain—
A scent of blood, a frantic human splash.
A school of fish will gravitate to pain
And turn the naked body into hash.
They race for food, and gobble up their meals:
The make a dietitian shake her head.
Of course, one is distracted by the squeals
When making a nutrition pyramid.
They pick bones clean, with single minded ease;
And in this sense they are easy to please.
No fancy food, just flesh and flowing blood:
And these ferocious fish will call it good.
Like diners who've survived the Great Depression,
The piranhas eat with little hesitation.
2006-05-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=408 Jean Marie Hall Jean Marie Hall is a feature story writer and columnist for the Clayton County Register in Elkader, Iowa. Her column is entitled "Flora, Fauna and Folks." She has worked for this weekly newspaper for nearly twenty years. Life as a Creek Iowa Writes I am water and moss and sand and rock and mud. Water primarily, rock always, moss in late summer, mud along my banks, and sand when floods roll it down my path.
I don't know how old I am. I don't remember how or when a gush of water, rockslide or just plain erosion caused me to break away from my mother, the Turkey River, and find my own path in life. At first I wandered wide and shallow trying to decide where I wanted to go. But by and by, the soil under me washed away and banks began to form at my side and my fate for centuries was decided.
Animals love me and depend on me. Deer and turkey come to me for drinks. Birds come to drink too and they eat the bugs above me and the seeds on the weeds that grow on my banks. They decorate me with bright colors. Raccoons live close by and use my water to wash their food, persnickety as they are about that kind of thing. I used to have muskrats that would do their water ballet in my deeper parts and live in my banks. I haven’t seen them here lately. There have been possums and other animals, even an occasional nasty-looking snapping turtle.
If the water is just right in the spring, the fish called red horse swim down me. I have pools filled with minnows.
A hundred years or more ago, Indians crossed me or pitched their tepees beside me. Indian women carried my water to their cook fires and washed their clothes here in my water and on my rocks. Indian children played with twigs for arrows and sticks for ponies along my banks. They swam in me when they were hot. When they were teenagers, they flirted and courted beside me.
Later people built a wonderful bridge across me that took them in their vehicles down a road across the country. Under the bridge, I grew very deep and people came to swim in those depths and dived off that bridge.
Now I am old and lazy and just roll slowly along my path. For the most part, I am gentle although when winter snows melt, it sometimes causes me to become angry. One time when the big waters came I went a long way out of my path and caused a lot of damage to my banks and nearby trees. Giant boulders crashed down through my water. I left some of the trees bare-rooted and they will die. For that I am sorry, but I couldn't stop the big water.
One year I lost all of my water. It was called a drought, but when the rains came, I got well again.
The bridge is old and rickety and the people do not use their vehicles on it anymore. Many of the rocks that help hold it up have washed away. But sometimes the people walk across it or sit on it and just watch me. I think it brings them peace. Sometimes they even have picnics on it.
It's quiet for the most part but sometimes those same people bring children in the summer to paddle around in me. Those children don't mind getting moss between their toes. Sometimes the children come in the winter to walk timidly on my ice. I love to hear their laughs and squeals. It makes me feel young again.
Some people love my rocky bottom because I have fossils that tell of a time long, long ago, much longer than I can remember. They make me feel that my story is important and that I should keep rolling along this old path for many more centuries.
2006-05-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=409 Adam Wolpa Wolpa received a MFA in Printmaking in 2001. Pine Hollow collage 8" x 9" 2000 artimages/05022006.jpg 425 386 The Graduate Archive
2006-05-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=410 Guy Loraine Guy Loraine was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He studied photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and also studied in Derby, England. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and has worked as a photographer for The Smithsonian Institution, The National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. Untitled photograph 4" x 6" artimages/05032006.jpg 425 284
2006-05-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=411 John L. Kies John Kies, his wife of fifteen years, Emerita, and their two children, Clarice and Luke, live in rural Jackson County. The Curator Iowa Writes It was a graveyard of sorts, a place where worn-out machinery rusted quietly under the summer sun. My grandfather picked his way, stopping occasionally to point at an ancient haymaker or a broken harvester. I was not listening. I resented watching grandpa. There were many places a boy my age wanted to be on a summer day, that day I remember.
Star Wars was a smash hit and every radio I passed taunted me with the theme song. I chafed under daily farm chores and the injustice of being too young to possess a driver's license. My older brothers would not allow their younger brother along on their evening escapes from the farm. I sat in those evenings, after milking and chores, and I dreamed of attending a fantastic movie event.
My salvation came on a stifling summer morning, while the sun beat on rows of corn. The animals lay sheltered in the shade of oaks and maples; and by midmorning I lay sheltered in the basement of the farmhouse. I left the coolness of the stone foundation to take a call from my brother's girlfriend. She invited me to the movie theater and I accepted immediately. It did not matter that she was only ingratiating herself with the family—I was going to see the movie!
The old man changed all of that, the old man who came home from the hospital. He needed "watching." The movie needed watching! Not this feeble stranger.
He prattled and moved stiffly through the machinery. Tall thistles did not impede him, nor did the honeybees that erupted from flowers. I hoped the old man would get stung. I was sure several thistles stuck him.
I approached him, picking my way past the weeds. He was standing next to an ancient machine once pulled by horse and harness. He was explaining how the complex contraption worked, how he had worked long hours in the field with it. What more he said was wasted breath.
I found an old wagon seat and climbed upon it, pretending I was piloting an interstellar craft. As my grandfather droned in my ear, I saved the galaxy, beating back tyrannical forces and rescuing captive women. He called for me and I motioned for him to wait—one second more and I would have the enemy!
I found him among the weeds and tall grass. He was tired and had lain down for a nap. I knelt to help bring him to his feet. Steely fingers dug into my shoulder and I cried out in pain.
"Did you hear me, boy? Did you hear what I told you about the old days?"
I told my mother he had died at once, but in fact he lived almost the entire time I carried him back to the house. He asked several times, as I carried him, whether I had heard him. I lied and his eyes told me he knew.
I went back a week later, to the spot where my grandfather stood among the thistles and honeybees. Here was an old plow, there an iron-wheeled manure spreader. There was nothing of any interest there, nothing exciting. I sat on the wagon seat nearly the entire day.
That machinery is still standing out in that field, still rusting, safe from the covetous eyes of scrap dealers—I have seen to it.
2006-05-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=412 Wendy Rolfe Wendy Rolfe studied at Parsons School of Design in New York and Le Atelier D’ Etampe in Paris. She produced art in New York City for several years before moving to Iowa. Along with other demands, the artist maintains a daily schedule in her studio, set on 600 acres near Dubuque. Women With Tomatoes mixed media 17" x 9" Wendy Rolfe creates with a unique visual vocabulary and creative juxtapositions. After 9/11, she entered a new period in which her works became more prayerful in context and essence. Although her feminine mythic symbols continue, she is working with more urgency and clearly spiritual themes.
Influenced by primitive tinwork from New Mexico (1840-1940), imaginative work enriched with decorative elements and innocence of spirit, Rolfe uses more tin, decoupage, wire and beads, painted glass, even candles in her wall collages. Seeing creation as both feminine and masculine, she explores spiritual hidden selves and vast landscapes of the soul, and the softening aspects, which persist despite what she sees as a time fraught with harsh, moralistic appeals to God, prayers linked to destruction, war, and despair. Rolfe presents prolific and personal symbols, which, she insists, must be processed through each viewers own life experiences and attitudes. artimages/05052006.jpg 344 415
2006-05-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=413 Nicole Rae Hancock Nicole Rae Hancock is 14 years old. She lives in Ames, Iowa, and goes to Ames Middle School, where English is her favorite subject. "I started writing when I was in sixth grade and haven't stopped since," she says. Drowning Iowa Writes No windows or doors. The room begins to fill with water and you're afraid of drowning. Then the walls begin to move in and there's nowhere to go. You see a dark hole in the bottommost corner. "May I only reach it in time." You suck in a deep breath and plunge down hard. Fighting the water rising. Swimming far below to learn you have not moved at all. Air is slipping from your lungs while you're stuck in a whirl. "Am I upside down and dying or simply asleep?" Your body becomes weightless, slipping so deep. You open your eyes to see the hole one last time, right in front or you.
2006-05-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=414 Astrid Hilger Bennett Bennett received her BFA in printmaking from Indiana University and has exhibited and taught at various locations throughout the country. She is a resident of Iowa City, Iowa. Astrid Hilger Bennett website http://astridhilgerbennett.com/ Two Weeks in Autumn art quilt Astrid Bennett makes large-scale art quilts, using hand painting, monoprinting, screen printing, batik or immersion dyeing to create her compositions. She says, "I'm happiest with a brush in my hand, and art quilts allow me a large-scale, exuberant canvas. Although visually abstract, my work constantly mines the daily life experiences of family, society and the natural world, with a hefty dose of music to guide the hand." artimages/05072006.jpg 435 186
2006-05-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=415 Christine Dale Christine Dale is a nontraditional student currently pursuing her B.A. in English, with a minor in Creative Writing, at the University of Northern Iowa. For the last year she has been working at the North American Review. One of her poems, also about Iowa life, won third place, college division, in Lyrical Iowa 2005. Claustrophobia
after Annie Dillard Iowa Writes Those who say Iowa is flat have never really looked around. Say rather that Iowa is not flat, but wide open. Try standing outside alongside a country road an hour or so after sunset. There are no orange sodium street lights to protect you from the night sky that stretches from east to west, north to south. There are no trees whose leaves and branches hide parts of the sky like fingers over your eyes during the shower scene of Psycho. There is only you and the unnerving whisper of the wind through the corn. Add to that the ghostly green of the northern lights, shifting silently in the sky above you. Or perhaps meteors shoot across the night in bright orange streaks at the rate of one hundred per hour. Maybe a total lunar eclipse is turning the full moon an unearthly shade similar to that of dried blood. Truly awesome sights, in every primitive sense of the word.
Is that why you joke about Iowa's flatness? Is it that you are afraid to stand in the open spaces under the sky? Most city dwellers have forgotten the night sky. In the light-polluted cities, there is no longer a need to tell either the season or the direction by the stars. No need to know that Orion rises in the winter or that the Big Dipper is in the northern part of the sky. You have clocks and day-planners to do that for you.
Do you even remember what the Big Dipper looks like? Can you find the North Star? Don't you feel disconnected? Come with me out into the openness that defines Iowa's night. We'll leave the tree-crowded city streets behind; leave the overbearing protection of the orange sodium lights. I'll hold your hand, if you like, to help you shake loose the agoraphobia that city life has burdened you with. It is long past time you learned to see the sky again.
2006-05-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=416 James C. Perley James C. Perley was born in Iowa and lives with his wife on their farm in Little Sioux. After serving in the Air Force, he earned an MA from the University of Iowa. "We raised two children. My wife teaches school. And I chase storms," he says. Homecoming Iowa Writes I was coming home. It was 1970, and the United States was in turmoil over the long Southeast Asian war. Some anti-war protesters vented their frustration on returning soldiers like me. Jeers and tomatoes greeted troops. I had been gone for two years and did not realize how much the country—and I—had changed. It was too much to absorb. All I wanted was to once again set foot on Iowa soil.
Earlier that day, I had been on a small Air Force base as medics loaded a bleeding woman onto a helicopter. Hours later, I was on a plane bound for Iowa. So much had happened it was difficult to distinguish dream from reality. Civilian life was minutes away, but my mind remained on my old base.
Then I saw her. She was a young flight attendant, only six months on the job. Her sparkling eyes and ready smile invited conversation. We soon learned her uncle worked where my wife and I bought our wedding rings. We compared landmarks until we realized we knew people in common.
The flight attendant returned to chat during free moments, and during her break, she took me to first class. We talked, and then we talked some more.
I relived my adventures, and she told me of the places she had visited. My spirit brightened as the night wore on. It was as though we were the only two people on the plane. Neither realized how far our voices carried.
Finally, it was time to leave, and my new friend returned to her post. After we landed, I stood to leave. As the flight attendant gave me a Disneyland balloon and wished me luck, someone behind me began to clap. Then another and another did, until all of the passengers gave me a standing ovation.
I didn't realize that given the national mood, my experience was close to unique. As I basked in the good feelings, I silently thanked the woman whose conversation made it happen.
Ten years passed. I thought of the woman and what the evening meant to me. I wanted to thank her and know if she was enjoying a happy life. Several halfhearted attempts failed. I didn't even know her name.
Two years ago, I accidentally found one of her high school classmates. She was certain my description matched the girl she knew in school, a girl who had become a flight attendant to see the world. Were they still in touch? I could thank her at last.
I can still see her sitting in the seat ahead that night. Her infectious smile shows her teeth well, and her eyes sparkle like diamonds. She loves her job. It takes her to interesting places and she enjoys meeting people. The woman tells me, "Oh, you should see..." this place or that, and I promise to try. We laugh at a bad joke.
I want to break through the years and thank her, to ask about her life, but I can't. She died of cancer over twenty-five years ago. I was too late.
2006-05-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=417 Elise Kendrot Kendrot received a MA in Sculpture in 2002. Fairytale #2 plexiglass, foil, objects 16" x 11" 5" 2002 artimages/05102006.jpg 299 455 The Graduate Archive
2006-05-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=418 Sasha Waters Sasha Waters is an award-winning documentary and experimental filmmaker, and assistant professor at the University of Iowa. Her diverse range of films and video all address, in one manner or another, the experiences of culturally marginalized populations and the subversion of social, sexual, and political hierarchies of power. Waters' work has broadcast and screened widely in the U.S. and abroad, including on the PBS series Independent Lens, the Sundance Channel, the Ann Arbor Film Festival and Tour, and the Videoex International Festival of Experimental Film in Zurich. She has received grants and fellowships from the Jerome Foundation, the Iowa Arts Council, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, and the Corporation of Yaddo. Sasha Waters's website http://www.room135.com Her Heart is Washed in Water and Then Weighed 16mm film 12 minutes 45 seconds 2006 Her Heart is Washed in Water and Then Weighed is an irreducibly complex meditation on movement, monuments and mortality that takes its title from a procedure in the autopsying of a human corpse. Filmed in Super 8 and 16mm in Rome, Italy and Iowa City, Iowa the film is a love letter to the abject beauty of human frailty. artimages/05112006.jpg 425 286
2006-05-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=419 Lidija Dimkovska Lidija Dimkovska participated in the 2005 International Writing Program residency at the University of Iowa. Born in 1971 in Skopje, she has lived in Bucharest, where she attained a doctoral degree in Romanian literature, and now lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia. "Nail Clippers" is from her first collection in English, Do Not Awaken Them With Hammers, which was published in 2006 by Ugly Duckling Presse. Nail Clippers Iowa Writes Since I took their nail clippers abroad with me by mistake,
my family's nails have been growing out of control and unevenly,
their toes and fingers are lengthening rampantly
and breaking out through their shoes and handshakes with strangers,
and the horrified neighbors no longer try to eavesdrop.
I call them from far away wishing, between two surges of shouting,
to mollify them, singing them popular newly-written folk songs,
begging their forgiveness with the great thoughts of small nations.
So what are long nails compared with my thirst for the truth,
don't you see you're becoming immortal already?
But you take it so hard.
The nail clippers gape at me from the bedside table,
just as unhappy with the change of environment.
This is madness, I scream, I'll mail them to you,
but then they all shriek on this and that end of the line:
"No way! Customs confiscates nail clippers!"
When crossing the border, I hid them in my right sneaker.
My family threatened to cut their nails with the kitchen scissors.
No matter what, they weigh on my conscience like a plaster collar.
All night I dream of them with bleeding fingers and fainting.
The next morning I woke up with hemorrhoids,
and desperation plugged my spirit.
Claustrophobia is more powerful between a nail clipper's blades
than among people who have forgotten God.
The rainbow colored peacock on the clippers
murmured in a human voice:
"Life is the choice of nails, hair and skin,
but manicuring, that's the choice of divinity.
You've been biting your nails all your life,
but brought me here just to spite me. Get me back.
I don't care how, you godless no-nail, or get your family here
to trim their nails like human beings." And come they did,
and never even looked at me, but settled cozily on the bed
and trimmed and manicured their nails with the clippers,
throwing the parings on the floor and smiling contentedly at the peacock:
"A little while, and we'll be going home."
translated by
Ljubica Arsovska and Peggy Reid
2006-05-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=420 Sarah Prineas In addition to working at the University of Iowa's Honors Program, Sarah Prineas is a writer whose stories have appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Paradox, and Cicada, and in the Hugo-nominated online magazine Strange Horizons. Three of her stories have been honorably mentioned in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant. The Dragons of Fair D'Ellene Iowa Writes The cliffs of Fair D'Ellene blush pink in the evening, just as they did when the dragons dropped from them like falling stars, flaming in the last darts of light from the setting sun, falling until the wind was caught within the great sails of their wings, and up they soared over the sea, the last of the sunset gilding their bellies.
Too heavy to launch themselves from the ground, they had to live on the cliffs, you see. They had to fall before they could fly.
When I was young, my mother took me. We borrowed a dory and sailed around the headland. My mother's strong hand guided mine on the tiller; the wind made the boat buck like a pony and I licked spindrift from my lips. In the water below the cliffs, we turned the boat into the wind, dropped the sail, and waited while the sun rolled down towards the horizon. When the rim of the sea took its first nibble of the sun, the dragons began. Only a few at first, then scores, falling and flying, until they filled the sky like—like nothing else at all. You had to have seen to understand what they were, and now they have gone and you can see them no longer.
When they finished, when the sun was gone, we sailed for home, my mother and me. We rowed when the wind died. The sea cradled our boat, humpbacked waves rolling around us. Clusters of stars gathered in the sky, flocks of glittering birds that guided our way home.
My mother is gone now, as the dragons are.
Atop the cliffs now stands a battlement. Stark, gray, slotted with cannons and dotted with squat towers. Soldiers bearing arms pace the wall, their bleak eyes turned outward, seeking enemies.
We are safer, now. But the dragons have gone from the cliffs of Fair D'Ellene.
2006-05-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=421 Bradley Clark Dicharry Dicharry received a MA in Design in 2003. Untitled (Boneyard) photograph 2002 artimages/05142006.jpg 425 282 The Graduate Archive
2006-05-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=422 Floyd Sandford Floyd Sandford is a Coe College Professor emeritus of Biology. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, he does marine biology research in the Caribbean, enjoys world travel and long-distance hiking, and works to encourage habitat preservation and increased biodiversity for wildlife and other entities with no voice on an acreage in Northeast Iowa. Like Two Old Trees Iowa Writes There they go, arm in arm, my two companions Jiri and Marie,
at night along the unlighted street covered with leaves wet from the snow
Life partners for over half a century.
Jiri's steps flag and falter. "A circulation problem in my legs," he says.
And yesterday at tea I was surprised to see the Marie I've known for years
suddenly disappear behind a mask, stolen away by some obscuring
neural veil
"Alzheimer's," says Jiri.
But here they are, lurching and laughing, like two children at a game.
I look at my friends holding on to one another as they weave and falter,
and think of two trees in the woods.
Each bent and leaning against the other, with roots partly exposed,
less strong and secure but still upright, still putting forth leaves
and embracing the sun.
Here they go, my two old friends Jiri and Marie, linked arm in arm,
like two old trees, weaving their unsteady and uncertain course
on rough cobblestones and wet leaves.
Heading home up the narrow darkness of Glinkova Street
on this cold, moonless
November evening in Praha.
2006-05-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=423 Alicia Brown Alicia Brown recently returned to an interest in art that she had as a young girl. Her early studies in art began at the Des Moines Art Center and later she pursued sculpture in the Netherlands. After a career as a professional dancer, she taught at the University of Iowa. Her dedication to teaching and developing young artists contributed to the present national and international reputation of the University of Iowa Department of Dance. Mesa I mixed media 18" x 34" Since retirement in May of 2000, Alicia has been experimenting with collage in her exploration of the layering of color and bringing movement to form. Her medium is assorted papers combined with acrylics and pastels. "I have taken my years of dance and abstracted it to paper. I am continually choreographing, utilizing shape, space, color, rhythm, and line. I view my work as dances, be they abstract or more realistic. My work is an evolving organism—an expression of my person that brings risk, unexpected excitement and a new experience to each work I create. It is an adventure for me and, I hope, for the viewer as well." artimages/05162006.jpg 420 194
2006-05-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=424 Robert Berner Born in Council Bluffs in 1940, Robert Berner was a student in the Poetry Workshop in the 60s, working with Don Justice, Marvin Bell and George Starbuck. He currently lives in New Haven with Cecelia, his wife of 40 years, and publishes poems occasionally in literary magazines. The New High-Tech Telephone Number of the Muse
(With Thanks to Donald Justice) Iowa Writes It's unlisted now, but years ago
you could find it, even on the wall
of the men's room of a certain tavern
in Iowa City: "For a good rhyme
call 1-800-843-
6873." Dial it
today, you'll get a standard "The number
you have reached is not in service."
I tried to call her on my wife's cell,
but, like a maiden in a tower, she couldn't
hear me, and I took a roaming charge.
Used to be, you could get her anytime,
if she was in, but she'd never call back
if I left a message on her machine.
And when I tried again, last night,
her end-carrier cut right in:
"This number is on the no-call list."
2006-05-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=425 Carola Wicenti Carola holds a Master of Photography degree from the Foto-Akademie Munich, Germany. She has worked as a free-lance photographer since 1986. Her collaborative efforts have led her to work with a host of organizations, including museums and newspapers. Because of the diverse nature of her work, CarolaÕs photographs have been used in a variety of publications, including art books and scientific journals. Her work has been exhibited in Munich, Rottach-Egern/Tegernsee, and Berlin, Germany. It has also been exhibited in Massachusetts and Iowa. Decaying Faces of Iowa I black and white photograph 5" x 5" Carola's photographs are intriguing views of nature. Whether close-ups of engravings found on a canyon wall in Colorado, a decaying willow tree in Bavaria, or a shaded lane in New Orleans, her photographs provide a one-of-a-kind perspective. Her large, color photographs are taken with a Hasselblad 6 x 6 camera and are digitally laser printed on Ilfochrome/Fujichrome paper and fixed under/on an acrylic plate. Carola also creates black and white silver prints.
She says of her work: In the unmanipulated beauty of nature I found the possibility to bring forth a new aspect in my photography. The works are images of structures and colors that nature and time have painted. New growth, the relativity of size or simply the fascination of nature in a moment of transition is represented in these pictures. artimages/05182006.jpg 400 396
2006-05-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=426 Jamie Boling Boling received a MFA in Painting and Drawing in 2003. Onion oil on masonite 12" x 12" artimages/05192006.jpg 400 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-05-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=427 Margaret Horn Margaret Horn works at the Center for Credit Programs at the University of Iowa and helps students register for Guided Independent Study, Saturday & Evening, and Distance Education courses. She has written a novel on domestic violence and lives in Iowa City. Cat and Mouse Game Iowa Writes the cat snarls
flexes its claws
strikes out at the mouse
the unsuspecting mouse
just sits there
unprotected
the swift feline
pounces and
easily snares
the mouse in its paws
the mouse is confused
it doesn't know what hit it
the cat plays with the mouse
tossing it up in the air
this way
that way
the mouse is diverted
by the crafty cat
into thinking something
it did
caused the situation
the cat laughs to himself
the silly mouse
he says scornfully
never catches on to my game
2006-05-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=428 Courtney Staudacher Courtney Staudacher is in the eighth grade in Harding Middle School. She wrote her poem last year. Living Withing A Circle Iowa Writes Not knowing what lies beyond
No courage to go and see
Nothing but space ahead
Space that will always be there
No beginning to start at
No end to be found
Nothing to look back on
No memories to cherish
Your mind is wiped blank
There is nothing to know
Each step only brings you back
Nothing to choose from
As sameness surrounds you
And no way to escape
What is holding you back
Your life that goes in a circle
2006-05-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=429 Tabitha Morris Tabitha Morris was born in Mt. Ayr, Iowa and now lives and works in Los Angeles. She received her BFA from the University of Kansas and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in Painting and Printmaking. She previously taught printmaking at the University of Pennsylvania and has had numerous grants awarded to her. Succumb watercolor 12" x 15" 2006 artimages/05222006.jpg 410 314
2006-05-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=430 Ezzat Goushegir Ezzat Goushegir, a playwright, author and film critic, received her M.F.A from the Theatre Department of the University of Iowa. In 1990 she was a Fellow in the UI's International Writing Program. Currently she teaches at DePaul University. "Gang Lu Bought Two Guns," which Ms. Goushegir began writing in 1992, is based on the 1991 shootings of six UI faculty and staff members by a former UI graduate student. Gang Lu Bought Two Guns Iowa Writes Scene 3
WHO AM I?
(Music is heard. Gang Lu unskillfully dances with one of the cardboard soldiers from up the stage. There is a row of Chinese soldiers down stage. He puts a blonde wig on the soldier's head.)
Gang Lu:
You like it ha? (pause) I like it too...Do you have a good time with me? (pause) Me too...(He touches her breasts) You have big ones!... Chinese women don't have big ones, but you...yeah...you do, you have big ones...
(Suddenly music stops. He stops dancing too.)
What's wrong with you? We both are having a good time...Don't we? (pause) Don't be ridiculous!...Don't we have a good time? (pause) No?...(pause) Why?...Because I touched them?...your...What's wrong with that? All right...all right...all right...Don't leave me alone...please...don't...(pause) sit with me and have a beer...(pause) Have a beer with me!...Don't leave me alone...ok?
(He replaces the cardboard soldier down stage. Then brings a pitcher of beer and two glasses.)
Oh damn it! She left me!...O.K....Go away bitch...you stupid bitch!...(pause) No...it's not the way of my talking!
(He sits and drinks alone, talks to the audience.)
It's like a movie to me at least!...It didn't really happen to me...I'm trying to imagine things in my mind...Because I'm trying to make another character of myself. If you want to be accepted in a new society, you have to be a part of them.
I can't be relaxed...I don't know how to act...Perhaps I'm so relaxed...I don't know...I just don't know...I don't know what I'm saying! But I know that those who lie, make me vomit...
I left my Chinese friends, because they've lost their pride...They're licking between the Americans' toes! (pause)
I can't act like Americans...It's so far away from me...far away from me!!...
I feel I'm not a MAN anymore...I'm a WOMAN...The way Americans talk to me...they talk to me like I'm stupid...They smile at you like this...
(He makes an artificial smile.)
And talk behind you like this...
(He makes a face.)
He is so boring! So polite...His English is awful...His accent...oh...and they laugh!...He so polite, it bores me!...He is nice...but you know...He is CHINESE!...You know...
(He drinks beer.)
I chose loneliness because people make me depressed...
(He stands up.)
What's my real character?
(He looks at the mirror.)
Who am I? LU GANG, born in 1963 in Beijing, China...No...I'm not LU GANG. I dont know myself anymore!
(Light shows two rows of cardboard soldiers down stage and up stage.)
I'm between these...I'm not Chinese and I'm not American...Who am I? What am I doing here? Where is my place? China?
(The voice of protesters are heard: "WE LOVE RICE, BUT WE LOVE DEMOCRACY MORE." As the voice grows, down stage we read on a screen: "JUNE 1989, TIANANMEN SQUARE." Then a slogan: "WE NO LONGER TRUST DIRTY PUBLIC SERVANTS, WE TRUST DEMOCRACY." The voice is gone.)
The end of the dictatorship of the proletarian...The dictatorship of the proletarian...Proletariat!...My parents! They are not able to dictate any thing! They are still living with a dream of chairman Mao...They are just an ignorant couple who some day used to believe in communist movement. Time has never changed from 1948...Even though Deng Xiaoping tried to make a reform. (As Deng Xiaoping): "It doesn't matter a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice." But still our tables are empty and the world goes forward very fast...and I'm a bullet of energy who is leaping in this corner of the world...and my voice has no sound for the deaf...and my hand...
(He moves his hand on the air.)
No sound...because it's just one.
(He claps and makes a melody with two hands.)
Two hands together make a sound.
(A shot is heard from distance, the other shot closer...Repetition of several shots. Then the sound of marching soldiers and tanks and screaming and shooting, after a moment, silence.)
The goddess of democracy collapsed. The huge statue of the goddess, because you...you...made it of paper not of the stone!
Where am I? Wait a minute...
Where am I?
Not in the U.S. Not in China!
Where do I belong to?
Nowhere!...
Hanging between the sky and the ground!
2006-05-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=431 Catherine Cole Cole received a MFA in Painting and Drawing in 2004. Nook mixed media painting dimensions variable 2002 artimages/05242006.jpg 400 296 The Graduate Archive
2006-05-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=432 Mike Chasar Mike Chasar lives in Iowa City where he is a frequent contributor to "Poetic License," a Monday feature of the Iowa City Press-Citizen's op-ed page. More of his writing is available online at Poetry, Word for/Word, The Cortland Review, and The Iowa Review Web. Song for the Manatee Iowa Writes Humble, homely, whisker-snouted
recluse—you
were no sultry mermaid and I,
alone in that rented canoe,
was no scurvy Blackbeard
keeping a lookout for you.
Aye! You were a silent passerby,
some strange sea-shape I
did not see swim so much as glide,
nor glide so much as fly.
And yet, O blubber!
What was there to identify?
You were a thought, an endangered
nautical motion
crossing that bare expanse
and headed, it seemed, for the ocean.
You were the legend that the snook
could never be—a silent arrival,
a postmodern sailor's
map to survival,
a Weeki Wachee woman
and reminder of land,
the desire of seeing a shoreline
and seashells, lines in the sand.
2006-05-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=433 Susan Glaspell Susan Glaspell (1882-1848) was born in Davenport, Iowa, graduated from Drake University, and worked as a journalist at the Des Moines Daily News before moving to Cape Cod, MA, where she wrote drama and fiction. The entire text of the 1916 play Trifles is here. http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/trifles.htm from the play Trifles Iowa Writes COUNTY ATTORNEY. Well, Mr. Hale, tell just what happened when you came here yesterday morning.
HALE. Harry and I had started to town with a load of potatoes. We came along the road from my place; and as I got here, I said, "I'm going to see if I can't get John Wright to go in with me on a party telephone." I spoke to Wright about it once before, and he put me off, saying folks talked too much anyway, and all he asked was peace and quiet—I guess you know about how much he talked himself; but I thought maybe if I went to the house and talked about it before his wife, though I said to Harry that I didn't know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John—
COUNTY ATTORNEY. Let's talk about that later, Mr. Hale. I do want to talk about that, but tell now just what happened when you got to the house.
HALE. I didn't hear or see anything; I knocked at the door, and still it was all quiet inside. I knew they must be up, it was past eight o'clock. So I knocked again, and I thought I heard somebody say, "Come in." I wasn't sure, I'm not sure yet, but I opened the door—this door (indicating the door by which the two women are still standing), and there in that rocker—(pointing to it) sat Mrs. Wright. (They all look at the rocker.)
COUNTY ATTORNEY. What—was she doing?
HALE. She was rockin' back and forth. She had her apron in her hand and was kind of—pleating it.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. And how did she—look?
HALE. Well, she looked queer.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. How do you mean—queer?
HALE. Well, as if she didn't know what she was going to do next. And kind of done up.
COUNTY ATTORNEY. How did she seem to feel about your coming?
HALE. Why, I don't think she minded—one way or other. She didn't pay much attention. I said, "How do, Mrs. Wright, it's cold, ain't it?" And she said, "Is it?"—and went on kind of pleating at her apron. Well, I was surprised; she didn't ask me to come up to the stove, or to set down, but just sat there, not even looking at me, so I said, "I want to see John." And then she—laughed. I guess you would call it a laugh. I thought of Harry and the team outside, so I said a little sharp: "Can't I see John?" "No," she says, kind o' dull like. "Ain't he home?" says I. "Yes," says she, "he's home." "Then why can't I see him?" I asked her, out of patience. "'Cause he's dead," says she. "Dead?" says I. She just nodded her head, not getting a bit excited, but rockin' back and forth. "Why—where is he?" says I, not knowing what to say. She just pointed upstairs—like that (himself pointing to the room above). I got up, with the idea of going up there. I walked from there to here—then I says, "Why, what did he die of?" "He died of a rope around his neck," says she, and just went on pleatin' at her apron.
2006-05-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=434 Sarah Nelson Sarah Nelson, an Iowa City native, works alongside her husband in their family glass studio, The Rhythm of Color. She was introduced to the wonderful possibilities of glass art while living in Boulder, Colorado. While experimenting with the many facets that glass has to offer, she developed a love for fusing glass. When creating her pieces, Sarah enjoys working with simple lines and patterns. She believes that there is an effortless beauty in all things simple. Sarah enjoys creating functional pieces that people can enjoy. From one of kind plates to unique jewelry, she takes great joy in creating pieces that make people smile. Fused glass plate artimages/05272006.jpg 400 299
2006-05-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=435 Anne Perkins Landscape charcoal/pastel 15" x 18" "My work is mainly abstract with color defining the space and form. The inspiration comes from places, landscapes I have seen and many different influences in my life, which include people, conversations, etc.
"Color to me is very important and great stimulus in what I paint. I work with watercolor, pastel and collage. I use charcoal on large paper to help free my thinking and working.
"My career in England was Occupational Therapy, always with a particular interest in art and painting. I attended the Harrow Art School taking an evening course in basic painting and drawing for many years. When we arrived in Iowa City I was able to continue my training at the University of Iowa Art Department on a part time basis. Eventually I felt confident enough to work on my own in a studio in the basement of our house.
"A great influence in Iowa has been the feeling of space, the clear skies and sun and atmosphere of encouragement to explore and develop new ideas." artimages/05282006.jpg 293 400
2006-05-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=436 Hamlin Garland Hamlin Garland (1860-1940) was born in Wisconsin and grew up in homesteads in Winneshiek County and Mitchell County, Iowa. "Under the Lion's Paw" appeared in his short story collection Main-Travelled Roads (1891). Read the full story here. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/Garland/paw.html from Under the Lion's Paw Iowa Writes When night began to fall, and the geese, flying low, began to alight invisibly in the near corn-field, Stephen Council was still at work "finishing a land." He rode on his sulky plough when going with the wind, but walked when facing it. Sitting bent and cold but cheery under his slouch hat, he talked encouragingly to his four-in-hand.
"Come round there, boys! Round agin! We got t' finish this land. Come in there, Dan! Stiddy, Kate, stiddy! None o' y'r tantrums, Kittie. It's purty tuff, but got a be did. Tchk! tchk! Step along, Pete! Don't let Kate git y'r single-tree on the wheel. Once more!"
They seemed to know what he meant, and that this was the last round, for they worked with greater vigor than before. "Once more, boys, an' then, sez I, oats an' a nice warm stall, an' sleep f'r all."
By the time the last furrow was turned on the land it was too dark to see the house, and the snow was changing to rain again. The tired and hungry man could see the light from the kitchen shining through the leafless hedge, and he lifted a great shout, "Supper f'r a half a dozen!"
It was nearly eight o'clock by the time he had finished his chores and started for supper. He was picking his way carefully through the mud, when the tall form of a man loomed up before him with a premonitory cough.
"Waddy ye want?" was the rather startled question of the farmer.
"Well, ye see," began the stranger, in a deprecating tone, "we'd like t' git in f'r the night. We've tried every house f'r the last two miles, but they hadn't any room f'r us. My wife's jest about sick, 'n' the children are cold and hungry—"
"Oh, y' want 'o stay all night, eh?"
"Yes, sir; it 'ud be a great accom—"
"Waal, I don't make it a practice t' turn anybuddy way hungry, not on sech nights as this. Drive right in. We ain't got much, but sech as it is—"
But the stranger had disappeared. And soon his steaming, weary team, with drooping heads and swinging single-trees, moved past the well to the block beside the path. Council stood at the side of the "schooner" and helped the children out two little half-sleeping children and then a small woman with a babe in her arms.
"There ye go!" he shouted jovially, to the children. "Now we're all right! Run right along to the house there, an' tell Mam' Council you wants sumpthin' t' eat. Right this way, Mis' keep right off t' the right there. I'll go an' git a lantern. Come," he said to the dazed and silent group at his side.
2006-05-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=437 Nicole T. Bormann Bormann received a MFA in Design in 2004. Her Reality Is Her Memory monotype with chine colle 22 1/2" x 30" 2004 artimages/05302006.jpg 400 297 The Graduate Archive
2006-05-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=438 Tom Mueske Tom Mueske is a graduate of The University of Northern Iowa. He is now attending the San Francisco Art Institute where he is working towards a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting. Untitled oil enamel and marker on canvas 6' x 7' 2006 Tom says this about his work:
"My recent works explore the possibility of transforming two-dimensional elements of painting, such as gestures and marks, into three-dimensional objects. By isolating marks or brushstrokes and removing them from the context of the picture plane, I emphasize their arbitrary qualities, their weakness and emptiness. In my paintings, this pathetic gesture is essentially turned in on itself once again. The enamel paintings combine many different strategies of painting which are then democratized with a black outline." artimages/05312006.jpg 400 345
2006-06-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=439 Octave Thanet (Alice French) Alice French (1850-1934), whose pen name was Octave Thanet, was born in Massachusetts but lived in Davenport, Iowa, from the age of five until her death. She wrote seven novels and seventeen short-story collections. "The Face of Failure" is from Stories of a Western Town (1893). It can be read online here. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2949 from The Face of Failure Iowa Writes "Well, I know one thing, that Uncle ain't EVER going to make money. He—" The last word shrivelled on her lips, which puckered into a confused smile at the warning frown of her brother. The man that they were discussing had come round to them past the henhouse. How much had he overheard?
He didn't seem angry, anyhow. He called: "Well, Evy, ready?" and Eve was glad to run into the house for her hat without looking at him. It was a relief that she must sit on the back seat where she need not face Uncle Nelson. Tim sat in front; but Tim was so stupid he wouldn't mind.
Nor did he; it was Nelson Forrest that stole furtive glances at the lad's profile, the knitted brows, the freckled cheeks, the undecided nose, and firm mouth.
The boyish shoulders slouched forward at the same angle as that of the fifty-year-old shoulders beside him. Nelson, through long following of the plough, had lost the erect carriage painfully acquired in the army. He was a handsome man, whose fresh-colored skin gave him a perpetual appearance of having just washed his face. The features were long and delicate. The brown eyes had a liquid softness like the eyes of a woman. In general the countenance was alertly intelligent; he looked younger than his years; but this afternoon the lines about his mouth and in his brows warranted every gray hair of his pointed short beard. There was a reason. Nelson was having one of those searing flashes of insight that do come occasionally to the most blindly hopeful souls. Nelson had hoped all his life. He hoped for himself, he hoped for the whole human race. He served the abstraction that he called "PROgress" with unflinching and unquestioning loyalty. Every new scheme of increasing happiness by force found a helper, a fighter, and a giver in him; by turns he had been an Abolitionist, a Fourierist, a Socialist, a Greenbacker, a Farmers' Alliance man. Disappointment always was followed hard on its heels by a brand-new confidence. Progress ruled his farm as well as his politics; he bought the newest implements and subscribed trustfully to four agricultural papers; but being a born lover of the ground, a vein of saving doubt did assert itself sometimes in his work; and, on the whole, as a farmer he was successful. But his success never ventured outside his farm gates. At buying or selling, at a bargain in any form, the fourteen-year-old Tim was better than Nelson with his fifty years' experience of a wicked and bargaining world.
Was that any part of the reason, he wondered to-day, why at the end of thirty years of unflinching toil and honesty, he found himself with a vast budget of experience in the ruinous loaning of money, with a mortgage on the farm of a friend, and a mortgage on his own farm likely to be foreclosed?....
There was only one way. Should he make Richards suffer or suffer himself? Did a man have to grind other people or be ground himself?
2006-06-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=440 Mac Hornecker Possibly the Midwest's most distinguished sculptor, Mac Hornecker is certainly Iowa's most accessible, versatile, and productive. From his studio near the campus of Buena Vista College in Storm Lake where he taught with the Art Department from 1971 to 2001, or from his home in Arkansas, Hornecker brings forth works of wood, steel, stone, bronze, aluminum, and combinations thereof with expertise. From small pedestal pieces to massive works destined for rolling lawns on private estates or signature squares in corporate office parks, this sculptor has produced steadily for over three decades. The Man In The Moon bronze 29" x 36" x 18" Asked about his inspiration, Hornecker states: "My work is built around my interest in the history and topography of the landscape. Rivers, land forms, rocks, trees, and the way they effect one another as well as man and vice versa are constant themes. There is a play of tensions and balances." artimages/06022006.jpg 400 360
2006-06-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=441 Bess Streeter Aldrich Bess Streeter Aldrich (1881-1954) was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She graduated from Iowa State Normal School (now the University of Northern Iowa) and moved to Nebraska where she raised a family and wrote fiction. Read the rest of her 1919 story "A Long-Distance Call from Jim" here. http://www.nagasaki-gaigo.ac.jp/ishikawa/amlit/a/aldrich20.htm from A Long-Distance Call From Jim Iowa Writes To Ella Nora Andrews, calm, unruffled, serenely humming a gay little tune, gathering her school things together—her "Teacher's Manual of Primary Methods," a box of water-colors, and a big bunch of scarlet-flamed sumac—came the sound of the telephone.
Ella Nora, in her crisp blue linen school suit, shifted her working paraphernalia and took down the receiver. Fate is a veritable chameleon for changing shape and color. This morning she had entered the fat, puffy person of asthmatic Mrs. Thomas Tuttle, and was saying:
"That you, Ella? Have you heard the news? Jim Sheldon is coming here the last of the week. He'll be here on Number Eight, Friday afternoon. And get ready now for the climax—he's bringing his bride. Wha' say? Yes, his wife. He telephoned Pa from Chicago—imagine anybody telephoning clear from Chicago, Ella! He's waited long enough to get married, I must say. He's thirty-six, if he's a day. I know, because my Eddie's just two months older. Well, we must do something for them, and we'll have to get busy right away. Wha' say? All right; I'll ask Addie Smith and Minnie Adams and Mis' Meeker—she's forever thinking of things to eat—" And on and on went the rasping, wheezing voice of Fate, while, through the window, Ella watched the red and yellow and orange zinnias in the back yard fade and run together into a smudge of prismatic coloring.
Ella hung up the receiver and leaned against the window. There was a pounding in her throat, and she couldn't seem to concentrate her thoughts. The zinnias had brightened somewhat, but were still dancing diabolically with the cosmos behind them. From the chaotic jumble of her mind the naked, leering truth picked itself out: It had happened at last—Jim was married. By which statement one gathers, and rightfully, that Ella had in some indefinable way been prepared for the news she had just heard.
In truth, Ella had been preparing for it for years. She was thirty-one now, and from her twentieth year she had been working consistently on an elaborate defense system that surrounded her heart.
Patiently she had dug the trench of an apparent and complete absorption in her school work. She had piled around it countless sand bags of mere-friendliness toward Jim, put up an intricate entanglement of the barb wire of her sharp wit, and over it all painted the deceiving screen of her evident joy-in-her-freedom. But down under all this complicated protective system was The-Thing-in-Her-Heart, palpitating, vital, strong, held a prisoner for years by the stern edict of her mind, doing penance for having been unwise enough to go wandering out into No Man's Land of Dreams.
2006-06-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=442 Vic Camillo Vic Camillo teaches at the University of Iowa. "A Letter from Barbara" first appeared in The Iowa Review 36.2 (Spring 2006). More of his writing can be found at his web site. Vic Camillo's website http://www.math.uiowa.edu/%7Ecamillo/ A Letter From Barbara Iowa Writes I asked you to tell me what I owe,
What you lost for my not being near you,
The fine I should pay for the shared air I stole,
The rent for the angry words I took for myself from us two.
You told me I will make right by being a distant good
For some people we do not know,
For children who are eaten by soldier machines,
For mothers tortured back to every yesterday.
I will pay you by listening to screams for words I took away,
I will apologize to the dying
For ignorant nights I spent walking by myself
Under the illusions of imaginary rainbows,
For the days when I was alone writing with my toes
In the sand at the edge of the sea of ourselves
That no human wind or weather can control.
2006-06-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=443 Gordon Kellenberger Gordon Kellenberger lives in High Amana, Iowa. He received a degree in Art Education from the University of Northern Iowa and has done graduate work at the University of Iowa and Marycrest College. He is a native of the Amana Colonies and is one of the founders of the Amana Arts Guild. With the belief that art is a combination of nature and the human spirit, he lets nature provide the subject and the inspiration, and allows the spirit to provide the emotion and passion. His media are pastels and watercolor and his paintings are "simple and common to all of us: landscapes, skies, architecture and, from time to time, people." He likes to do his work in a series and tries to transform a view into a mood. Light On Field pastel 15" x 25" artimages/06052006.jpg 415 207
2006-06-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=444 Dana Sonnenschein Dana Sonnenschein graduated from the University of Iowa in 1983 but still comes back regularly to visit family. Currently, she teaches at Southern Connecticut State University. She has published two chapbooks, Corvus and No Angels But These; a full-length collection, Natural Forms, is forthcoming from Word Press in 2006. Family Farm Iowa Writes Not even the corrugated fields,
the well water and Sunday dinner,
could prepare a green college girl
to be left alone to labor:
the closeness of furrow and farrow
when a great sow began to grunt
under heatlamps, to heave like lava,
dropping piglets till only the runt,
dark and reluctant, remained,
coiled beneath her tail. She rocked
the boards with her weight and began
sinking to sit. I panicked.
But slapping her bristled haunch
was like slapping a mountain;
I found myself bound to reach
beneath, feel for that pig, half-in,
half-out of a world with too much use
for him. But I wasn't thinking,
Pigs are smart. Common sense
wiped his fluttering nose clean
and chafed his skin: slippery life
will have warmth and light. And nothing
would have surprised that new midwife
more than the news: Pigs eat their kin,
though she saw blood marking the hand
she carefully wiped on her dress
and silos holding yellowed seasons
in spires of indelicate mesh.
2006-06-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=445 Lee Emma Running Lee Running received a MFA in Sculpture at the University of Iowa in 2005, and received her BFA from Pratt Institute in 1999. Lee Emma Running's website http://leeemmarunning.org/ 4) Rabbit Hunt, detail mixed media installation 2004 artimages/06072006.jpg 410 271 The Graduate Archive
2006-06-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=446 Dan Maloney Dan Maloney is the lead singer of the Iowa City indie/folk/pop band Death Ships, which will release a CD this year titled Seeds of Devastation. Death Ships http://www.deathships.com/ Great American Song Lyrics Iowa Writes Won't you come and sit with me awhile,
the wine's got me talking and I
can't think of anywhere I'd rather be.
I'll lend my ears you can tell me
about your day.
Watch your eyes flicker with excitement over life's
small victories.
Convincing me this is the great American ideology.
This is the great American ideology.
You gotta hold on to what you got.
Convincing me this is the great American ideology.
You can ride with me. But you can't get closer
than you are it's much too hard.
2006-06-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=447 Gail Ariel Brehio Gail Ariel Brehio is originally from Southern California. After years in Seattle, she and her husband chose Iowa to move to, after researching ideal places to raise a family. "Three things that are not so ideal: snow, ice, and tornados!" she says. Solitude and I Iowa Writes Nobody owns me.
No thing owns me.
But solitude and I
Are good friends.
We walk the streets,
Solitude and I,
Stare into windows,
Check out dumpsters.
Solitude says, "Eat to live,
Don't live to eat," as I
Stuff and swallow quickly
Stale bread and rancid potatoes.
Pleasure doesn't own me.
I take pleasure in that.
2006-06-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=448 Lee Ann Conlan Lee Ann Conlan is a Des Moines native and a graduate of Drake University where she studied drawing. She has also studied in Italy and at Rhode Island School of Design. She has been an instructor at the Des Moines Art Center and her artwork is part of various private collections. Katie acrylic on canvas 48" x 36" 2006 artimages/06102006.jpg 305 400
2006-06-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=449 Christopher Merrill Christopher Merrill directs the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. "Logbook" first appeared in The Iowa Review 35/1 (Spring 2005). Logbook Iowa Writes A wooden sailboat riding low in the water, between the harbor and the barrier island given over to great blue herons and wild horses. Someone made off with the logbook, in which a history was recorded in the invisible ink of desire: the scandal surrounding its maiden voyage from London; the ports of call in which the fleeing family took refuge; their decision to dry-dock in Casablanca for the duration of the war they did not survive; the new owner's murky references; how he outfitted the boat to deliver armed insurgents to Albania; how it was stripped of the contraband he picked up off the coast of Peru; the foolishness of the authorities in St. Kit's who allowed him to escape; the changes in the weather on the night his boat capsized near Fiji and he disappeared; the discoveries of the marine biologist who sailed to Savannah, where the boat was torched by a slave trader's crazed descendant and then tugged north by a salvage company along the Intercoastal Waterway... The George III is peeling black paint from its bow to its stern and boards from all of its portholes. No one knows why it was named after the king. And who can explain why the tide is redder than the sun at daybreak? Sand drifts into the channel; the sprawl dredged from the point covers the marsh grass and dying trees in which the horses search for water. The sea is rising, rising. A heron glides over the oyster flats. The war will never end.
2006-06-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=450 Brian Harper Harper received a MA in Ceramics in 2004. Combination Marker: Wall gas-fired earthenware 40" x 12" 58" 2003 artimages/06122006.jpg 400 261 The Graduate Archive
2006-06-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=451 Larry Welo Larry Welo has been creating etchings since the early 1970's. A graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, Welo operated a studio in Minneapolis until moving to Wisconsin, where he currently lives with his family. Spagetti Junction etching "My etchings have always been inspired by various aspects of my life; they are, in a sense, self portraits. My imagery is often rooted in the natural world. I create my etchings entirely in the studio; I find my information in sketches I have drawn, written notations and most importantly, my imagination. My images are not intended to be duplications of the world, but instead interpretations of it. It is important to me that the creative process be a voyage of discovery, always looking in new directions and following new avenues." artimages/06132006.jpg 296 415
2006-06-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=452 Shon Wignall Shon Wignall is a twelve-year-old at Harding Junior High in Cedar Rapids. She is in seventh grade and is an honor student. She participates in extra-curricular activities at her school, likes to read, and also likes music. The Wind in My Hair Iowa Writes The wind in my hair, so smooth and calm, I put my fingers up with my palms. It feels like I just blow away, when everything just stays, stays put. Nothing more I can feel, only my feet on my aching heels. Looking up and thinking why, looking up and thinking, "Why is the sky so high?" Someone answers from behind, I turn around and there's no sign. Nothing, nada, no one there, so I just stood there and stared. Looking back at all my years, it's kind of weird; I don't have a memory of those fears.
2006-06-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=453 Brandon Buckner Buckner received a MFA in Painting and Drawing in 2005. Self-Portrait Around Age 4 graphite and charcoal on paper 41 1/2" x 42 3/4" 2004 artimages/06152006.jpg 373 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-06-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=454 Mario Duarte Mario Duarte is an alumnus of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He has published poems in The American Poetry Review, Carolina Quarterly, and Sycamore Review, among others. Mario is an Academic Advisor in the Academic Advising Center at the University of Iowa. Yes, We Were Always Poor Iowa Writes Like raindrops, like semen, the stars
began to drip into the wide girth
of the towering tree of the night
that echoed with cicada music.
Under a bridge, water flattened
like so many delicate wings
on my eyelids, until I jerked
at the distant ring of a shotgun.
Night, let the testimony begin.
Tree of tomorrow, I am ravenous,
afraid, waiting to be born anew.
Like my father's, the sand may whip
out of my throat, but I am not quiet.
Yes, we were always poor, although
we could not see it—the tortillas
with salt and butter and coffee
were all that could see, until the screen
began to darken—I must close my eyes.
2006-06-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=455 Chris Burd Chris Burd is another member of the growing Radillac group and network. He continues to operate facilities for creating sculpture in cast iron. Half Pint clay "I am fascinated by process, the way it works on me and the ways in which it allows me to work. I am intrigued by its paradoxes—how clay takes time to mature but is fixed and fragile once fired, while metal, which pours and cools rapidly, is so workable and durable when cool. I enjoy taking the same piece I have created in one medium and working it with another—photograph to silkscreen, coiled clay sculpture to cast metal figure. This gives me the chance to understand the distinctive character of each process better and to be engaged by the challenges and insights that come with the transformation. That's why I use so many different media, both tactile and visual. I work in ceramics, iron, bronze, photography, printmaking, and watercolor. Each one has its own niche in my life, its own particular themes, subjects, and forms of reflection." artimages/06172006.jpg 218 400
2006-06-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=456 Matt Corones Matthew Corones is an artist living and working in New York. He is originally from Des Moines, Iowa and earned a BFA in photography from Cooper Union, New York, NY. His artwork belongs to various public and private collections. Swimmers photograph 43" x 43" artimages/06182006.jpg 410 306
2006-06-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=457 Rejeanne Davis Ashley Hankins Rejeanne Davis Ashley Hankins moved to Solon, Iowa, from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, with her husband in 2005. She is an editor, writer, and communications consultant; she also enjoys painting, drawing, making bracelets, cooking, and gardening. from Gray Iowa Writes A small, frail boy with ashen skin sits on the floor of his father's house. He is dressed in handmade blue corduroy overalls with buttons that look like the face of a clock. He wears a small engineer's cap on his head, which makes him seem like a miniature train conductor. In front of him are three coloring books and a 64-crayon box of Crayolas with a built-in sharpener. He leans forward and picks one of the books.
Leafing slowly through the pages, he settles on a picture of a woman holding a kitten. It reminds him of his mother. She walks through the living room as he starts to color. He studies the dress she is wearing and decides to color his picture the same way. He picks up his green crayon and colors her skirt. He is careful to stay in the lines. He picks up his yellow crayon to color her blouse.
His mother walks through the room again on her way to the kitchen. He asks her what color her hair is. She tells him it is brown. He picks the gray crayon out of the box and carefully fills in the woman's hair. He uses the same crayon on the picture of the kitten. When he finishes his picture, he writes his name slowly at the top of the page and tears the picture out of his book and tapes it on the refrigerator. Then he puts his crayons back in the box and puts his books back in his room.
He takes out his Matchbox cars and very quietly drives them around on the squares and circles of his rug. When he gets tired, which he does very easily, he stretches out on the floor and falls asleep. His breath is labored, and the tips of his fingers are as blue as the veins visible through his delicate skin.
***
The day after his operation, I wake up early. It is still gray and quiet in the house. I am in my brother's bed. I look out his window and I can still see the moon—a light gray orb in a dark gray sky. I know my grandmother will be up even though she stayed up late last night talking to my parents as they waited in the hospital. I'm wearing pajamas with feet because the floors are still a little cold in the morning. It is the middle of March. I walk out toward the kitchen, following the smell of sausages cooking. As I pass by the couch in the living room, I see my mother lying out flat. I am surprised to see her. Her hands are covering her face and her body is shaking. I step very quietly toward her and touch the couch near her face. The red fabric is soaking wet. I pat my mother on the arm. She shudders and draws in a deep, strangled breath.
My grandmother hears her sob and peers in the room. She sees me there, wide-eyed and panicked. She crosses the room quickly and scoops me up and carries me into the kitchen. Her eyes are puffy and red. I put my thumb in my mouth and start twirling my hair. She puts me down and offers me a hot buttered biscuit. I can't eat. I point to my mom still sobbing on the couch. I don't know what to ask. My father comes into the kitchen and swings me up into his arms. He takes me for a walk outside, zipping me inside his leather jacket to keep me warm.
***
Thirty years later, my mother gives me a box of photographs and letters and drawings to sort through. The photos are mostly black and white—photos of my brothers and me by the swings in the back yard, photos of us dressed up like ghosts for Halloween, photos of us holding kittens and cats.
At the very bottom of the box, folded into a small square, is the faded page of a coloring book, with the picture of a gray-haired woman holding a gray-haired kitten.
2006-06-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=458 Kathryn Cushman Hall Kathryn Cushman Hall is a local writer and editor. She currently works at the University of Iowa. Sledding Hill Iowa Writes The gods want to help, really,
The white streaked with voices,
If only, if only, the ice celestial,
Ribbons for hair, laughter.
The woods are dark, the branches creak.
At night, it might be here
Where the gods assemble,
Count these footprints, pining for morality.
2006-06-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=459 Lance Edmonds Lance Edmonds earned an MA (2004) and MFA (2006) in Photography from the University of Iowa. Big Sur 4' x 6' 2004 artimages/06212006.jpg 400 342 The Graduate Archive
2006-06-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=460 Meridith Brand Meridith Brand lives and works in Iowa City. from The Twelve Dancing Princesses & Other Bedtime Tales Iowa Writes Prologue
Here are the red shoes that dance her to death.
This one bears fierce iron slippers like flames.
And the sea-sprung—well, she earns a step
of ten thousand knives that she can't ever blame.
Cut through the tongue. Peck out the eyes.
Spill from her lips the vilest vipers and toads.
Set her down in the desert till it changes her beauty.
Lock her up. Make her sleep. Change her name.
VII. Appetite
I crossed the line.
I realize now what I did
was unforgivable.
I understand
there must be some control
and that's why he came in
swinging the axhead.
That's why he's the hero.
But what about me
and the girl—that adorable
redhead? The minute I saw her
I envied her
song, her cap, her concern
for her grandmother.
She stirred up a hunger
I'd never known before.
It was crazy—they'll tell you
I left my right
mind. I followed along
on the trail, trying to win
even a smile. She'd have nothing
of me, I've been warned
about those such as you!
Such as me? My stomach
turned over. I went to extremes.
It's unfortunate he saw what he did
when he found us. On reflection,
I see that my instincts
were off. I'll admit
to that charge, but I'm still not
sure which of my appetites
brought the ax down:
displaying myself as a woman
or doing it for love
of a girl.
2006-06-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=461 John Vruwink John Vruwink taught all facets of art for over 30 years at Central College in Pella, Iowa, and is now retired. He received his B.A. from Central College and his M.F.A. from Drake University. He also studied at the Rietvelt Academy in Amsterdam and The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. His work has been shown at the Des Moines Art Center, The Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York City, and the Brunnier Art Museum in Ames in addition to several other venues throughout the Midwest. Suspended Yellow steel, limestone, glass 33" x 10" x 5" John's sculptures are created of the unlikely combination of stone, steel, and glass. The glass component is suspended from or attached to a hunk of limestone, creating a visual balance between the opposing sculptural forms of rough limestone blocks and smooth, curvilinear pieces of blown glass. artimages/06232006.jpg 177 410
2006-06-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=462 Yiyun Li Yiyun Li grew up in Beijing and came to the United States in 1996. She earned MFA degrees in fiction and nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa and currently teaches at Mills College in Oakland, California. Her essay "The Ground Floor" was first published in The Iowa Review in Fall 2004. from The Ground Floor Iowa Writes They called me Carp at school because I had a big head. I was not the only child who had a big head, but I was the only one stuck with the name of the most stupid fish, the one that had landed on people's dinner plates more than any other fish I had known. Other children had other nicknames—Ping-Pong Ball, Eggplant, Light Bulb—all better than mine because they were not my nickname.
It was not any better at home. Sister Jin called me Piglet. Grandpa called me Little. Mom, when she was in a good mood, called me Bunny, Penguin, Duckling, any name of a harmless animal, but when her sunny mood turned overcast, as it often did without warning, I became Wolverine. Dad was the only one who used my real name, but he spoke the least in the family, so it did not help much.
A second floor auntie called me Rubber Doll, a name reminding me of the mud-covered rubber boots the grownups wore on rainy days. The upper level aunties all called me Little Fat Jin, meaning I was the fat little sister of Jin. Uncles in the building usually responded only with a nod when I greeted them, and when they needed to say a word to me, they called me Li's Daughter.
I was seven going on eight, anxiously waiting for the day I would be the respectable age of ten, when my real name would take a firmer stand.
"Ten years old and you are done with your human years," Grandpa warned me. This was the ancient tale he had told me: at the beginning of the world, Man was assigned a life span of ten years. As he grew older and smarter, Man, naturally, was not satisfied with the short ten years he got. He went to God and asked for more years, but God refused, saying the request would throw off the balance of the world. Man cried and cried, and his tears moved a hundred animals. One by one they entered the palace of God, and asked to give up a year of their own lives for Man. God assented, and Man got another hundred years. "That's why you never hear of a person older than a hundred and ten," Grandpa said. "And a man is a pure human being only in the first ten years. Ten years old and you start to live your animal years."
2006-06-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=463 Karen Kurka Jensen Karen, a native of Minnesota, now calls Iowa home, where she lives with her husband, children, and grandchildren. She studied sumi-e from masters in the Chinese art form for over 15 years. She has exhibited and sold her paintings throughout the Midwest, and has been honored with several awards in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. How Far? ink on paper 18" x 20" The world is alive, and Karen conveys life's inner and outer beauty through her medium of natural materials: pine soot ink, rice paper, bamboo brush and grinding stone, and her adaptation of the basic Chinese sumi-e painting techniques. artimages/06252006.jpg 410 349
2006-06-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=464 Diana Behl Behl received a MFA in Printmaking in 2005. patched and pins screenprint 22" x 28" 2004 artimages/06262006.jpg 400 307 The Graduate Archive
2006-06-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=465 Steven Patterson Steven Patterson grew up on the California coast and lived for many years in the high desert of Idaho. He graduated from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he was a Teaching-Writing Fellow, and has since returned there as a visiting professor. He now lives with his wife in Iowa City, where the mountains are just memories. "Aground and Aloft" was first published in The Iowa Review's Spring 2004 issue. Read the rest of the story here. http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/mainpages/patterson.html from Aground and Aloft Iowa Writes I fly in deep river canyons and come to rest where flat land is scarce. My day is a hopscotch route, up and down, up and down. For the dwellers of remote outposts I am a taxi service, mail carrier and delivery van. On occasion I am called on to be an ambulance driver, an emergency outlet arcing over the granite peaks. Once I have been a hearse of last resort, bearing out the body of a drowned river runner as cargo in the tail, cinched up tight in his sleeping bag. But these are details that don't change my waking day. I attend to the variables around me: the steep slopes, the jutting trees, updrafts and crosswinds and density altitude. My importance doesn't lie in what I carry or where I go. I am responsible for my skill with the yoke, a knowledge of flaps and throttle, an eye for the condition of the air. It is my task to settle the machine to the earth in impossible places, like alighting at the bottom of a soup bowl.
I make runs out of Cascade, where I work for Chimp Atherton. His name is on the hangar and the planes. My husband, Ron, and I hired on eighteen years ago, when it was just the three of us. Today there are four pilots, Chimp not included, as well as two mechanics and three women who run the office and take radio calls. Now, in the summer, is our busiest season. Every pilot and every plane will work steady through until the aspen groves turn yellow and quaky. Then we will bolt skis to a couple of the Cessnas and deliver groceries and mail to some of the ranches that get snowed-in. But the work is slower in winter. Two of the summer pilots head down to Arizona for the winter and run a flight school, and then appear again when the rivers here are high with snowmelt.
I prefer the taxi and supply flights, ferrying cargo around, traveling routes I can see in my sleep. Chimp likes some of the fancy flying, chartering for the Forest Service Aerial Fire Attack when the ridges start to burn. Powell, a moustache with a man attached, likes to get up there and tool around for hours, so he volunteers for the Fish and Wildlife trips to monitor gray wolves they have marked with radio collars. I'm not much for the adventure these days, though. When I go up I want to know exactly when I'm coming down again. I want to picture the landing before I ever take off.
2006-06-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=466 Connie Roberts Trained as a figurative painter, Constance Alyce Westvig Roberts calls herself a "thing-maker." In her work, she bridges the realms of fine art and folk art and tackles many subjects with sharp wit and unrestrained humor. Roberts creates carved wooden whistles, but this isn't always obvious at first glance. Usually, the viewer gets caught up taking in all the images presented by these sculptural pieces: a wedge of chocolate cake with a birthday candle whistle, a dog angel, or perhaps a bag of whistling circus peanuts. Her work seems to follow three different tracks: popular culture where, for example, real-looking candy bars with familiar names are altered slightly to bring new meaning such as "Sneakers Bars" or "Nestegg Crunch." Nursery rhymes and cartoon images, and political commentary are two other themes that influence her ideas. Cow Plane with Milk Cargo wooden whistle Roberts is prolific in her creative range of ideas, which also find their way into larger, complex sculptures with whistle components. One of these was a piece for Steven Spielberg commissioned by the wife of well-known composer John Williams, commemorating the ten movies on which he and Spielberg collaborated. New York City Mayor Giuliani received a Big Apple sculpture with appropriate whistles inside. Other well-known collectors of Roberts' work include celebrities such as Robin Williams and Carol Burnett. artimages/06282006.jpg 400 338
2006-06-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=467 Charlotte Wright Charlotte Wright is the managing editor of the University of Iowa Press. She has published poetry, stories, essays, reviews, and literary criticism. Washing the Ambassador Iowa Writes She had never washed a car before in her life. That wasn't something a fourteen-year-old should be proud of, Aunt Doris had said as she handed her the bucket, sponge, and soap. Marcia took them and walked out the door. She squeezed some Lemon Fresh Joy into the bottom of the bucket then walked around the side of the house to fill it with water, feeling Aunt Doris's eyes on her the whole time.
In the short driveway stood her uncle's truck and her aunt's station wagon. Behind them stood the nearly new Ambassador, which was blue, not red the way it should've been. Her father had bought it. She traced soapy circles all over the hood then moved to the front of the car. Dried bugs and butterflies covered the grill and headlights, so she turned to wash the side instead. If she bent down far enough, Aunt Doris wouldn't be able to see her. Face to face with the tires, she wrinkled her nose at the gray dirt caked on the hubcaps. Did she have to wash these too?
Marcia remembered the bright red car in the brochure her father had brought home. He asked her which color she wanted. She still can't remember why she pointed to the blue.
Her legs were getting tired, so she stood up. The hood of the Ambassador was streaked and cloudy. She wished she knew what time it was. She squatted by the rear door and swished the sponge around in the bucket to make more suds. She tried to remember if the brochure had said royal blue or navy. It didn't matter. Both had sounded dignified. The red had been candy apple.
She was washing the rear bumper when she heard the screen door open. "Marcia!" said her aunt. Marcia squatted a few more seconds before standing up.
"What?"
"Aren't you done yet?"
"No. It takes a long time. It's hard."
"Well, no wonder. You haven't even got the hose running. I guess your dear daddy never taught you how to rinse as you wash, all the way around, so you don't get streaks."
Marcia kept her head down, thinking of her father. Everybody kept telling her how much he'd spoiled her. When she thought of all the work Aunt Doris made her do, she could see why they thought that. Since moving in with her aunt and uncle three months ago, she had managed to burn the shirts she ironed, break the dishes she washed, and turn a whole load of laundry pink. She didn't mean to, but she wasn't sorry, either.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know how to wash a car."
"Well it won't get done just standing there. Go get the hose. I should have known better than to stay in the house while you worked." Aunt Doris stood on the steps while Marcia turned on the hose. "And you'll have to start all over again. Dried soap won't wash off."
Marcia put more soap and water in the bucket, then started rubbing the hood again, this time rinsing each section with the hose before she went on to another. When she worked her way around to the car door, she put her thumb over the hose and directed the spray toward the wheels. Dirty water came pouring out. She used the same technique on the front grill, watching the dead bugs slide down to the driveway.
When she finished, the car wasn't streaked, but it still wasn't shiny. Water spots covered the blue surface. Red was the color she had wanted. But she thought candy apple sounded too immature.
Aunt Doris's voice came toward her again. "There's a cloth in here that'll get those spots off. And hurry it up. The Fosters will be here in twenty minutes. I'm not about to show them a spotted car."
So they were going to sell it. Marcia should have figured it out. Red or blue, it made no difference. Her father had bought the car; now it had to go. Marcia went inside and took the special cloth from Aunt Doris's hand. It made her fingers feel oily. She put it on the hood of the Ambassador and rubbed hard. She wondered again what time it was.
2006-06-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=468 Tam Bodkin Bryk "I am a native of western New York state. I have traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe, living in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco before moving to Iowa City in 1990. I began oil painting at the age of seven and it has been my passion ever since. Although I have painted many landscape and figure pieces, I prefer to concentrate primarily on Classical still-lifes. I often enjoy pushing the genre to photo realism. I also frequently paint in the trompe l'oeil style. Trompe l'oeil is a French term which literally means "trick the eye." Sometimes called Illusionism, it's a style of painting which gives the appearance of three-dimensional, or photographic, realism. Trompe artists are both visually clever and intellectually serious. They toy with their viewers, forcing the observer to raise questions about the nature of art and perception. In each painting I carefully choose my "subjects" so that they play off one another in the attempt to delight and entertain the onlooker. Grandma's Cups oil on canvas 14" x 24" "My art reflects both my classical training as well as the influence of other realists, contemporary and historical. I have studied with such notable realists as Marc Chatov, Constantin Chatov, M. aligur-Doering, and Ramona Simonovich." artimages/06302006.jpg 410 242
2006-07-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=648 Kim Bluth Kim Bluth is an American writer currently living in The Netherlands. She attended the Iowa Summer Writing Festival last summer. "My writing became a true passion there and then," she says. Rainbow Canvas Iowa Writes Late one summer day in Iowa City, I weaved my way from the Student Union to my hotel. A heavy haze of heat and humidity covered the campus and surrounded me like a cocoon, dampening and draining all color, sound, light, and depth, until I uncovered its hidden allure.
Amongst the granite gray buildings that melted into the background of the steely sky, I spotted the shirtless young man in black shorts. His well-browned skin, glistening in the humid thick air, matched his well-etched physique. Crossing the black pavement not too far away from me, he was obviously deep into a vigorous run that I could tell was something he does every day. I regretted my distance from him but was grateful for my opaque sunglasses giving me the ability to watch at my discretion without him knowing. He didn't see me, and if he did he didn't care. For just an instant, I wished to turn back the clock twenty years so I could be the co-ed that he might have noticed.
Back at my hotel, I rode up in the elevator with a young family, the youngest a 16-month old boy just getting comfortable with his legs unstable and mobile underneath him, wearing navy blue bib overalls with a colorful plaid shirt and brown moccasins on sockless feet. He was obviously fascinated with watching himself in the mirror. His mom mentioned something about having been cooped up in a room all day. I was not surprised when he took off, the minute the doors opened, into the foyer with nary a look behind. If he could talk, he would have responded to his mother "...and I will never be contained again." I felt old and burdened as I retired to my room.
I headed down to the Plaza for dinner. Outside the doors of my hotel, I paused to watch a group of children frolicking in a ground fountain. The main draw for them was the rapid shots of water coming from barely visible holes in the pavement. All that mattered to them was the water being cold and them playing together. Chasing, running, jumping. The youngest wore saggy bright blue swim trunks, ill-fitted like they might have once belonged to his big brother. A white water diaper sagged underneath the sagging of the suit. It could have been the first time he had ever seen a fountain like this. He was just as happy watching the water, waiting for it to careen into the air, as playing in it. I wanted to shed my shell of adult clothes and be a child with them. Too many adult reasons why I didn't.
Further on, I passed by a young couple studying under a weathered gazebo. Their open books and white pages of notebooks were strewn over the entire surface of the table along with the unmistakable green logo of two Starbucks coffee cups. Deep in conversation over some pressing college student topic that would probably overwhelm me now, the whirl of color all around was invisible to them because they had created their own. I saw other sights, like punk girl in black carrying a lightly and brightly swathed baby and a mountain bearded man in a red pickup. It was this diversity amongst the people and the transition from shining afternoon brightness to the faltering light of the impending evening that freed me from my initial cocoon. It wasn't so grey and stifling after all.
2006-07-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=651 Ulrike Goerlich Ulrike Goerlich received an MA in Sculpture from the University of Iowa in 2005. Horse Group aluminum screen 25" x 11" x 1 1/2" 2003 artimages/07022006.jpg 410 221 The Graduate Archive
2006-07-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=653 Joshua Kryah Joshua Kryah attended the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa and is currently a Schaeffer Fellow in poetry at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His manuscript, Glean, will be published by Nightboat Books in 2007. "Neverbody" first appeared in The Iowa Review 36.1 (Spring 2006). Neverbody Iowa Writes Unsaid,
but that the hand makes it
known, a gesture not yet clear, but veering
close, close.
And what else should speak for you then?
The sparrow
caught in the soot-limed chimney,
its wings thrashing and thrashing and
thrashing—
What revealed then, what rent?
Bone, ivory, dentin—
the body's bright Braille to sift through
as harbinger, herald, or messenger—each a sign
almost certain
to assemble an architecture worthy of worship,
but that your livid offering,
again enlivened, its parts
quickening to pronounce a way back, should
want only to linger or bide
or persist, uninterrupted, in this, its marrow-house.
2006-07-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=655 Verl Lekwa Verl Lekwa of Columbus Junction, Iowa, was raised in Cedar County, graduated from the University of Iowa, taught high school for 34 years, and retired. "Is this Heaven?....Then It's Not Iowa" appeared in the most recent issue (#11) of Wapsipinicon Almanac. Since 1988 the almanac has been edited by Tim Fay and published at his Route 3 Press in rural Anamosa/Monticello. Each issue features a mix of fiction, reviews, essays, poetry, art and homey information, packaged in the format of a folksy, old-time almanac. Is This Heaven?....Then It's Not Iowa Iowa Writes Iowa looks like hell. And in deep summer, it feels like it, too. I know what Iowa looks like because I'm an expert. (Expert: anyone 25 miles from home.) I've seen every nook and cranny, and I don't even know what a cranny is. But I've seen it. Because I've been in every one of Iowa's cities and towns.
In 2003 when I completed visiting and rating every town on the official Iowa DOT map, my mind went back over 50 years to the first time I went beyond a state bordering Iowa. I loved history and platted a trip that took my family to Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. (Abe Lincoln, Andrew Jackson and Nashville's Parthenon were the major magnets.)
We saw poverty, big time. Broken down houses, rusty cars in yards, unpainted sheds, weeds right up to the porch (which often had an old washing machine in a prominent place). A real eye opener for a boy from a small, generally neat Iowa town. But when I took a critical look at Iowa a half century later, I saw way too much of that same disorderliness and ugliness. The South had moved north.
From childhood my interest was history, and I carried that from a small-town eastern Iowa upbringing to the University of Iowa and into 34 years of teaching, mainly in high schools. The military took me to post-war Korea; to visit relatives I have been to Scandanavia twice. I also have lived on the west and east coasts and in the Rocky Mountains. So to view Iowa cities I had the advantage of having lived in various places in this nation and abroad, with the added benefit of viewing differing urban areas.
My trips started innocently enough one October day on my way home from visiting a cousin. I often travel county roads and with each small town I visited, I remarked at the beauty of the season and considered how much of Iowa I hadn't seen. Maybe I should keep a map and cross out each town as I visit it, I thought. And a later thought: why not try to visit them all. And yet later, why not try to rate them for attractiveness. So when I pulled into my driveway, I had a plan. A man, a plan, Iowa (not Panama).
2006-07-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=656 Marcia Wegman Marcia Wegman is an artist living in Iowa City. Her work has been featured in national arts magazines. A Sweep Of Land pastel She says about her work: "The Midwest landscape has surrounded me all of my life. Having spent most of my childhood in Ohio and my entire adult life in Iowa, it is the images of these vistas which periodically inspire me to try a new way of expressing this subtly beautiful landscape. I enjoy hiking in some wilder parts of the country so am also challenged by the unique forms of beauty found in each of these places. In the past I have worked in acrylic and collage. Now I am using the medium of soft pastel to capture the qualities of undulating hills, overlapping rhythmic forms, textures of trees and vegetation, rich colors, dynamic patterns, changing light, and, always the sky. The land remains constant, the colors transform subtlety from season to season, but the sky is an ever-shifting panorama of light, color and form. The possibilities are limitless.
"The immediacy and directness of pastel is the quality I most value in this medium. I feel I am able to best approximate and express the ephemeral and very magical essence of light as it moves across the land through pastel painting." artimages/07052006.jpg 400 264
2006-07-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=660 J. Harley McIlrath J. Harley McIlrath manages the Grinnell College bookstore and writes powerful fiction. He and his family live in rural Grinnell. "'Possum Trot" appeared in the most recent issue (#11) of Wapsipinicon Almanac. Since 1988 the almanac has been edited by Tim Fay and published at his Route 3 Press in rural Anamosa/Monticello. Each issue features a mix of fiction, reviews, essays, poetry, art and homey information, packaged in the format of a folksy, old-time almanac. from 'Possum Trot Iowa Writes When Bob White bought his National steel-bodied resonating guitar, his momma's heart did a little dance. She thought having an instrument was good news for Bob White's soul. Bob's momma got it into her head that if Bob had an instrument he'd want to play it. And the only place she could think of for Bob to play his guitar was for accompaniment in Pastor Reiland's Church of Hope and Long Suffering.
Her heart did a little two-step at the thought of it.
Whenever she knew Pastor Reiland was out on a mission, Bob White's momma snuck Bob into the sanctuary of the Church of Hope and Long Suffering and stood him in front of the piano. Then she banged out a chord and kept banging on it until Bob found it on his guitar.
Bob's momma hit a chord.
"That there's a G," she says, "G-G-G-G-G-G-G," and the G chord echoed in the sanctuary while Bob White sorted through the strings on his National steel-bodied resonating guitar.
"D-seven," Bob's momma says. "D-seven-D-seven-D-seven-D-seven."
Bob's fingers fumbled around the strings on the neck of his guitar.
"Hell," Bob White says, "This here's more work than freeing the buttons on a bra clasp."
Bob White's momma's heart caught its toe in the carpet and planted its face flat on the dance floor. She stood up.
"Look at that there and don't ever forget it," she says, pointing at the keyboard on the piano. "That there is Music with a capital 'M'."
Bob White stared at the keys on the piano. He was afraid his momma had heard one talk too many from Pastor Reiland. She'd breathed in more sulfur than her brain could corral. Her mind was cooked through and ready to be served.
"There's 52 white keys on that piano," Bob's momma says, "and there's 36 black keys."
Bob's momma gave him a knowing smile.
"Those white keys is the pure ones. Those is God's keys. You want to keep an eye on them black ones. Them black keys is the devil's."
Bob White reached out and hit a black key with his finger. Then he hit it again, hard, and listened to the echo bounce around the sanctuary of the Church of Hope and Long Suffering.
"Amen," says Bob White.
In those days, Bob White had a convertible that had a rumble seat. When Bob White went out driving, his guitar rode in the rumble seat.
"Where you going?" Bob's momma says.
"Momma," Bob says, "I'm off to worship in the Church of Blue Sky and Dusty Road."
"You're going out drinking," Bob's momma says.
"Momma," says Bob as he banged the convertible door shut, "if you can get that piano into the rumble seat, you're welcome to come along."
2006-07-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=663 Kim Ambriz Kim Ambriz received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College in Chicago where she studied photography. She received an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa in 2005. Fantasma 2 lithograph with graphite 22" x 30" 2005 artimages/07072006.jpg 400 295 The Graduate Archive
2006-07-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=667 Dale Divoky Dale Divoky teaches sculpture at Maharishi University of Management and is represented in galleries throughout the US. Koi ceramic Divoky's sculptures are inspired by the deep appreciation of the beauty and eloquence of dimension found in natural forms. In this piece, Orange Circle - Koi Group the seemingly randomness of nature is accompanied by its inherent perfect orderliness. artimages/redcirclegroup.jpg 350 330
2006-07-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=668 Dennis Herrick Dennis Herrick received an M.A. in journalism at the University of Iowa. The former publisher of the Sun in Mount Vernon and Lisbon, he now teaches journalism at the University of New Mexico and writes fiction. He is the 2004 winner of the Tony Hillerman Mystery Contest. "Spirit Journey" appeared in the most recent issue (#11) of Wapsipinicon Almanac. Since 1988 the almanac has been edited by Tim Fay and published at his Route 3 Press in rural Anamosa/Monticello. Each issue features a mix of fiction, reviews, essays, poetry, art and homey information, packaged in the format of a folksy, old-time almanac. from Spirit Journey Iowa Writes They stood by Pioneer Cemetery's stone wall with a gaping hole between the graves and faded limestone markers between them—five young men from Iowa's Meskwaki Tribe dressed in traditional fringed buckskins and moccasins.
A group of angry citizens faced them.
I spotted them while driving down Elm Avenue on my Tuesday morning commute as a reporter at the Union-Sun newspaper. Five Meskwakis digging in a cemetery looked like news to me.
I read the sign leaning against the stone wall as I swerved my dented pickup in behind several cars already parked along the street.
WE ARE CONDUCTING AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION OF PIONEER CEMETERY. WE'LL SELL THESE RELICS AND BONES TO ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND COLLECTORS. EVENTUALLY THEY CAN BE DISPLAYED IN AN INDIAN MUSEUM HONORING WHITE SETTLERS.
"Are you people insane?" a woman yelled above the shouts and the cacophony of car horns. "I've called the police!"
The Meskwakis were sifting pails of dirt through a screen, cheering each time the dirt gave up an antique from pioneer days. The blankets beside them had buttons, broken pieces of old dinner plates, bottles and the rusted remnants of a muzzle-loading musket.
Bones were heaped on a second blanket.
As I elbowed my way through a crowd of about 20 people, more cars and pickups fishtailed in a blaze of brake lights around my parked truck.
"What are you doing?" several motorists shouted.
"My great-grandparents are buried there!" a woman yelled.
A bearish, bearded man ran past me. The Meskwaki he ran toward looked strong and fit, while bearded-man was heavy from 20 extra years of greasy hamburgers, weekend beer runs and armchair quarterbacking.
"Get out of my way," bearded-man yelled at the Meskwaki. He launched a roundhouse swing, but made the poor choice of taking on Iowa's Golden Gloves middleweight champion. The Meskwaki blocked the punch while rocking the man's chin with an overhand right. Bearded-man crumpled to the grass just as two police cruisers roared up to the chaos and four officers emerged running.
I angled straight for the Meskwaki boxer. With the cops hot on the scene, he wouldn't be around much longer to interview.
"I'm from the newspaper," I shouted. "What's your name?"
"Hiram Hawk of the Meskwaki Tribe at Tama," he said, eyeing the police running toward him. "We're protesting the desecration of Indian graves—"
A cop lunged, spinning him around and pinning his arms behind him.
"—at the mounds last week."
* * *
We walked into a dark room. Jay flicked on a light and led me to a table. On it were four clay pots, several arrowheads, a pile of pierced shell beads, a copper blade, clay pipe bowls with carved lines, and stone effigies shaped and polished into small animals. I could see grains of dirt under some pieces.
"Look at this!" he said. His eyes shone from the intoxication of enthusiasm. He handed me a five-inch clay figure of a kneeling woman holding a bird.
"Incredible," I said. "Where did you get it?"
He didn't answer. Instead he began chattering about the ancient wonders arrayed before us.
"The last person to touch this before me was an Indian several centuries ago," he said, holding up a pot with a painted design. "If it wasn't for us collectors, Eddie, these treasures would be lost forever." Jay wasn't slurring his speech as much when he picked up objects. "Of course, they're worth thousands of dollars."
His voice turned to background noise. I wasn't listening. My peripheral vision sensed a white object. Without turning my head, I glanced to the side and saw it—a skull on a bookshelf, staring at me from dark sockets.
"Look at this pot," Jay exclaimed. "At least a thousand years old. Can you imagine its value to a collector? Twenty grand at least."
Jay continued talking and showing me objects. I tried to act interested, but I was chilled by the skull's sightless stare. You couldn't resist, could you Jay? Stealing the burial artifacts wasn't enough for you, was it? I felt nauseous.
"Come back when we're both sober," he said with a laugh. "Collectors like us love this stuff, but you don't look so hot right now." He swept his arm around the room. Decorated buckskin shirts, bows, tomahawks, old photographs and shadow boxes of beaded moccasins and arrowheads covered all four walls.
"Let's go," he said, guiding me back to the door with a hand on my back. "Ya look like you're gonna hurl, and I don't want that in here."
I glanced back. The skull screamed silently at me.
2006-07-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=670 Rachel Anne Lundberg Rachel Anne Lundberg received her MFA in Photography from the University of Iowa in 2004. Sisters 3 silver prints 16" x 20" each 2002 artimages/07102006.jpg 415 163 The Graduate Archive
2006-07-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=672 Annice Frederick Annice Frederick has a BA in Art from the University of Iowa. She has been published in Lyrical Iowa, See Magazine, and Moments in Time. Roman Evening Iowa Writes The street vendor folded
the wings of his windup
bird and put away the
lighted yo-yos. His day
was done, though we were still
wound up and lights were on
the fountains. We had climbed
the winding stairs of Saint
Peter's dome to view Rome
from the rooftops, stood awed
before Michelangelos
and Raphaels, gone down
the Spanish Steps and drunk
from the fountain at the foot.
The steps were lined with people
enjoying multilingual
chatter and the spraying
water sounds. The plastic bird
had flown, white winged, against
evening-darkened buildings,
circling, returning to the
vendor's hand. We left the
square and serpented through
narrow streets, backtracking,
laughing, unfolding maps
and moving on. Rounding
a dark corner, we came
upon the Pantheon's vast
form, face lightened by moon
and street light. Pantheon,
"all deities," by architects
who challenged earthquakes.
I caught my breath a moment
as the ancient edifice
seemed suspended in time
and space. There it stood, base
lower than the streets and
columns rising. Ray took
my hand and we shot back
in time a moment. Then
the laughter urged us on
and we rejoined the group
that didn't know we'd left it.
2006-07-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=674 Ryan Jennings Clark Ryan Clark is an Iowa native. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 2002. Subjective Memory Part II: Proof Set 2 digital print, polyeurathane 14 1/4" x 24 1/2" 2005 He says this about his work: "Conceptually, my works are a grab bag of metaphysical premises without the necessity for conclusions that one would find in philosophy. The freedom to float between opposites in the discourse of art allows me the therapy of sifting through an otherwise unmanageable collection of thoughts. I try to come up with concise, visual metaphors that encompass an idea and might, perhaps, function as a kind of philosophical shorthand. No concept is graspable outside of metaphor. All art is metaphor.
"I work primarily with digital media, both video and two-dimensional. I abstract my imagery, often beyond recognition through degradation of the image or through hyper-real detail. I work with many other multimedia materials in order to manipulate the images and to emphasize the handmade. I realize that philosophy is a risky subject matter to tackle in art. I say this, because I feel, that in order to create good conceptual art one must try to float between the ambiguous (subjective but indecipherable) and the obvious (objective but contrived). I can only hope that I have avoided these traps, but I will at least be rid of a few thoughts." artimages/07122006.jpg 410 238
2006-07-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=676 Shawn Nelson Shawn Nelson's specialty is Borosilicate glass. It is the most durable and purest form of glass in the world. Due to its strength, Borosilicate can be crafted directly in the open flame of a torch. After he creates each piece, it is placed in the kiln for proper firing and finishing, thus ensuring the art piece will be enjoyed for years. Lampworked glass vortex marble Shawn's enjoyment comes from the creative energy he puts forth while creating glass art. The world of glass has allowed him to combine his love for individualism and creation. Shawn became a Lampworker quite accidentally. He was working in the Heating and Air industry installing ventilation when he moved from his birthplace of North Carolina to Colorado. He began installing ventilation for various Lampworkers on the west coast, and became enthralled with the art form. He soon began to trade ventilation installations for glass art lessons and apprenticeships. His excitement comes in utilizing his artistic and technical mind to create beautiful pieces of art for other's enjoyment. artimages/07132006.jpg 400 309
2006-07-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=677 Carol Lauriault Carol Wilson Weller Lauriault, a third-generation Iowan, is a University of Iowa graduate. Born in Des Moines, she attended public schools there, as well as in Macedonia and Council Bluffs. She lives in Gainesville, FL, as do her two adult children, Alec and Clea. Learning Chaos Theory in Macedonia, Iowa Iowa Writes Our house sat square on the edge of a field
that rolled west toward the West Nishnabotna River.
My father strung a wire fence to mark the difference
between prairie and yard, chaos and order.
One spring we peered through the wire mesh
to watch the river flood, its silvery gray
water rising to devour the field. And once
a tornado flew up. Rose out of the corn,
hurtled along the river's bank and was gone,
but not before we'd seen its dark funnel churn
or felt the wind in its wake drive a rain so hard
the pelts stung our arms. When my father yelled
from the side porch "Run," we ran like hell.
Huddled together in the dark storm cellar,
I didn't know much. I was five. But I knew now
what it meant to be so small and still alive.
Compared to weather we weren't much—
spit on the wind's long tongue. Tinier than
the tiniest milk-new kernel of corn,
and only a flimsy wire fence, and a hole he'd dug
and then doored up in the side yard to save us.
2006-07-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=678 Lindsay B. Wood Lindsay B. Wood will be a 2006 graduate of Simpson College, with a Bachelor's Degree in English. A native of Greenfield, Iowa, she has developed a recent love for both fiction writing and poetry, and hopes to write her own book one day. Book Iowa Writes The book is a monster.
It speaks complete jibberish.
The pages smell of dirt, but taste sweet.
Crinkling and crackling with each turn,
They look and feel like rough bark on an ancient oak.
Listen to the symphony of each page.
It's something by Brooklin A. Cedar,
From Chicago Illinois,
Who doesn't exist,
Who's never even been to Chicago.
I'm sure she would know many people,
If she lived there.
It's all pretty janky.
You rip a page and it vanishes into the wind.
The illegible binding of numbers
Closing each chapter
Resembles simple elements of microeconomics.
The book and the author continue
Their stimulating conversations.
The reader dislikes this, it makes her jealous.
How's life treating you?
The book would never ask this, it tells us so.
The book lands on a shelf—
Hides,
Never to be found.
The shelf consumes the cover and the pages...
It will be lost because everyone will remember it.
The book speaks to us all
Its sundry purposes reside.
2006-07-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=679 Danielle Rante Danielle Rante received her MA in Printmaking from the University of Iowa in 2005. Wall Installation #4 (flowers), detail mixed media 120" x 168" x 4" 2004 artimages/07162006.jpg 410 265 The Graduate Archive
2006-07-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=680 Sabit Madaliev, translated by Russell Valentino Sabit Madaliev lives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and participated in the 2004 International Writing Program. The Silence of the Sufi will be published in Russell Valentino's English translation by Autumn Hill Books in Fall 2006. Russell Valentino's essays and translations have been published by The Iowa Review, eXchanges, Two Lines, and 91st Meridian. He teaches at the University of Iowa. "Three Poems" was originally published in the Winter 2006 issue of eXchanges, the University of Iowa's literary e-journal devoted to translations both into and out of the English language. Three Poems Iowa Writes Fate turned with the emptiness of a screen
where white is white and all pristine.
I lost myself in sleepless nights without you,
like an oar carried far out to the sea.
*
At my soul's border, where light splinters,
on the balcony where you still sit, bundling in a blanket,
I am absent, though your things keep my gaze,
as trees keep the foreign breath of planets.
*
You were only a quiet dream in my quiet world,
appearing, disappearing, silent in the crowd.
Why then, again, in the ocean of oblivion,
does my longing for you rise up like a whale from the flood?
2006-07-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=681 Karen Chesterman Karen Chesterman earned her MFA from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. Her has been shown extensively throughout the Midwest, and her work is held in both private and institutional collections. She works full-time in her studio in Sioux City, Iowa and is represented by the Olson-Larsen Gallery in Des Moines. Karen Chesterman's website http://www.olsonlarsen.com/en/artists/?albumID=3773&action=dspalbum Listening Without Straining oil on canvas 48" x 48" The most immediate element of Karen Chesterman's recent work is vibrant color. Color, which seems both vaporous and dense color that is layered and that suggests movement and directions color that occasionally even suggests bits of images or iconography. As the viewer approaches, more textures and suggestions of shapes become apparent. As the viewer withdraws, color again assumes the dominating role. Chesterman, however, describes different, more complex motives and processes in her current paintings: "I think of them as accumulations of thought and decision-making. I leave traces of what is underneath either by sanding or scraping the layers of paint . . . What is visible on the surface is not always the most important aspect of the art." artimages/07182006.jpg 400 401
2006-07-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=682 Adrienne Ho, translating a poem by Sulpicia Adrienne Ho received an MFA in literary translation at the University of Iowa in May 2006. Her work is forthcoming in Burnside Review, Circumference, Denver Quarterly, and Ninth Letter. Adrienne Ho writes that Sulpicia's poems are "the only extant female literary text from the Augustan period (1st century BCE) of ancient Rome." Several of Ms. Ho's Sulpicia translations were published in the Winter 2006 issue of 91st Meridian, the electronic journal of the University of Iowa's International Writing Program—an electronic forum to encourage the frank exchange of ideas. Iowa Writes 3.17 Hot Flash
Heat wracks my body. No, not that kind.
If it were, you'd be here already.
But listen to me, I'm on the brink of death here, just a little.
Do you care?
If not, neither will I.
I'll just keep on these meds and menthols
until something happens. You won't even notice.
2006-07-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=683 Nancy Lindsay Thunder Ridge oil on canvas 16" x 20" Of her work, Nancy Lindsay writes: "Creating art has been a life-long journey for me. As a child growing up in Nebraska, my father's drawings and my grandfather's woodcarvings inspired me.
"Over the years, the landscape has become my inspiration, whether it is the endless Nebraska horizon, the deep woodlands and river valleys of Iowa or the rugged Mediterranean coastline. I prefer to paint on location (en plein air) and complete a painting in one session (alla prima). One always makes friends with a painting easel; people, especially children are immediately drawn to it. I am an ambassador of art. Painting outside gives me the opportunity to inspire those who have never seen an artist at work.
"During the Iowa winter, I work in my studio on larger paintings and private and corporate commissions. I'm constantly experimenting with new texture, color palettes and subject matter. And love the challenge of a new project!" artimages/07202006.jpg 400 323
2006-07-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=684 Carla Aurich Carla Aurich received an MA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Iowa in 1997. Untitled oil on canvas 12" x 15" 1996 artimages/07212006.jpg 400 368 The Graduate Archive
2006-07-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=685 Jamie Richards, translating Meduse by Giacomo Papi Jamie Richards holds an MFA in literary translation from the University of Iowa and is currently pursuing a doctorate in comparative literature at the University of Oregon. Her latest translation is Giacomo Papi's Booked: The Last 150 Years Told Through Mug Shots (Seven Stories Press). This and other excerpts from Giancarlo Pastore's Meduse were first published alongside the original Italian in the Spring 2005 issue of eXchanges. Iowa Writes phase number two. nightmares, etc.
i have lived in other worlds. there are at least four available to me, to attempt a preliminary inventory. one is made of streets, houses, schools, offices, buses, sidewalks, lawns and everything else there—i would say 'people' if the bomb hadn't just exterminated every living thing.
the others open at random.
ex: there i am, walking down a sidewalk in world number one. there are the shop-windows, the mothers and the passersby, the bus stops, people working, dogs pissing, and so on. then a panther suddenly appears and jumps onto the hood of a car right next to me. it watches me walk, aims its muzzle at me and gets ready to pounce, to corner me. i see its yellow eyes, the glints on its black, shiny fur, i hear the low growl rising from its stomach. i see and hear it just like i see and hear the jerk honking at the traffic light. i know, however, that it has come from world number two. at the beginning it was almost always animals, and not only felines: eagles, wolves, hyenas, snakes, and polyps, sharks, orcas, all indifferent to the change of environment.
world number three is different. there are objects, knives mostly, or disasters: explosions, earthquakes, floods, tidal waves. objects and disasters can interact: ex. raining nails.
most frightening is the next world, that of the mutilated bodies. mine, almost always, preferably mine, mangled, chopped, hanged, buried alive, skinned, dissected, etc. it happens—rarely, but it does happen—that others are the ones to fall under the blows of the hatchet.
2006-07-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=687 Shimon Adaf Shimon Adaf is an Israeli poet, translator, essayist and guitarist. In 2003, he participated in the University of Iowa's International Writing Program. Becka Mara McKay was born in Clinton, Iowa. She is currently working on a PhD in comparative literature at the University of Iowa. "Icarus Remembers" first appeared in the premier issue (Fall 2003) of eXchanges, the University of Iowa's literary e-journal devoted to translations both into and out of the English language. Icarus Remembers translated by BECKA MARA MCKAY Iowa Writes 1. In this place
Was it ever autumn here?
Seven wicked birds
gaunt as pins
stitch sky to asphalt,
gnawing on the light's last
crumb.
Inside the trees, the rising stops
like love.
Some of the heart's great silences
entered me, a terrible trembling
in this place.
2. June is becoming
Is there one hour when children are not
forced to adolescence?
One minute when the city is barred from destruction,
like stars beneath the soldier's boot of dawn?
One moment?
I have more time than I want.
A block of light gripped
through the walls
of breathing nights,
breathing days,
wonderful siege of vanishing ages.
I have more than it seems.
Sometimes, even now,
burning blindness of the streets.
June
a name I won't utter again,
June, June
the whole world rings with June,
complaining rasp of warbler wings
determined murmur, like flames, of dandelions
as in another city
the groaning sea appears,
as I've realized since I was a boy
a moment before this day
a single chance, twice missed
to drown.
3. A barrage
Have I fallen? The air's shackles
echo the chrysanthemums' journey—
quick and bitter—
to their ending, like first sex:
always awkward and hesitant
the flesh slower than a dream, more opaque
than glass.
2006-07-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=686 Gary Komarin Gary Komarin, a New York native, received his M.F.A. in Painting from the Boston University Graduate School of Fine Artis. Gary has done countless exhibitions and both coasts and everywhere in between and his pieces can be found in numerous private collections all over the country as well. One of the various teaching positions that Gary held was at the University of Iowa under the Visiting Painter Graduate Program. The Blue Cake mixed media on paper 24" x 18" artimages/07232006.jpg 302 400
2006-07-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=688 Helen Gunderson Helen Gunderson is an independent videographer and photographer, a local historian, and a seminary graduate with a passion to interpret her rural Iowa heritage. Presently residing in Gilbert, Iowa, she works under the business name of Gunder-friend Productions.
The Upper Midwest was home to her until 1981 when she enrolled in a Presbyterian seminary near San Francisco and earned a Master of Divinity. As part of that program, she served as parish intern in St. Helena. After graduation, she returned to that town and began Gunder-friend Productions. Then in 1993, she moved back to Iowa. She also has a Master's Degree in Instructional Media from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and a degree in physical education from Iowa State. She has taught in Duluth and Eagle Grove, worked in sports information at North Dakota State University, and directed the YMCA of NDSU. Untitled photograph 8" x 12" She describes her relationship with her work in the following way:
"Throughout my adult years, I have photographed small town events and farm scenes. In 1980, I produced a slide/sound show for the all-class school reunion in my hometown of Rolfe. Then in 1988, I produced two shows for the 125th anniversary of the town. After that, I intended to go 'cold turkey' and stop photographing Iowa in order to get on with life in Northern California. In 1989, I began coming back to Iowa on photo forays and sowed the seeds for a project called The Road I Grew Up On. It's a work-in-process and consists of video, photography, and oral histories.
"I am discovering more about the history, recognizing myth systems, reflecting on what I observe and creating images. I have deep, albeit mixed feelings, for the area and want to share them via my work. Regardless of format, whether a video, exhibit, or essay, I want to move people and have them explore the truth of their lives. The process can have a spiritual dimension and be healing.
"Currently, I am producing a set of photographs for a rural sociologist to publish in a book he is writing on the Practical Farmers of Iowa. Also, in 2001, I equipped my computer with all the right stuff to do digital video editing and completed a 30-minute program called Growing against the Grain that interprets the work of the Audubon County Family Farms who are involved in sustainable agriculture and direct-marketing their produce. Having the capacity to do quality video editing with my own equipment should enable me to complete the show, The Road I Grew Up On, and one called The House at the Homeplace." artimages/07252006.jpg 400 338
2006-07-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=689 Aaron McCollough Aaron McCollough's third book Little Ease is forthcoming in September from Ahsahta Press. He attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop and currently lives in Michigan. "This poem was written in the fossil gorge outside of Iowa City," he says. "It is a favorite place of mine, as is the state more generally. Having never really felt I 'belong' anywhere, it is amazing how much I feel at home in Iowa." Vernacular Poem Iowa Writes In the crackmud
Bootprint
Deertrack
Scurrying pismire
Some sudsy stuff
My mild passion for
What rattles
Rushes
Bows bobs
Nods waves
Rises falls
Dragonfly Gurgle Small relief
2006-07-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=690 Maggie Booth Maggie Booth received her MA in Printmaking in 2005. Star Shells and Night Vision monoprint (intaglio, monotype) 13" x 12" 2005 artimages/07272006.jpg 366 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-07-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=691 Cecile Goding Cecile Goding is from South Carolina, where she directed neighborhood adult literacy programs for some years. Her essay "Six Degrees of Fluency," set in Charleston, won a GAMA award in 2000 A.D. She lives and works in Iowa City. Do Not Dig Iowa Writes I am sitting in some ordinary place, waiting, arrested by a rendering in a magazine. Thorns puncture the desert sky in a hundred different places.
The Landscape of Repulsion, reads the caption, is a mile-square steel and concrete briar patch, erupting from the American desert two thousand feet above a radioactive burial cave in the future, our future. At present, the briar patch exists only on the drawing boards of The Marker Project, a team of anthropologists, linguists, architects, materials specialists, artists, and psychologists hired by the Department of Energy to devise a keep-off sign for "people." Underneath the Landscape are steel drums full of highly-radioactive tools, gloves, handrags, everything that will stay radioactive for the next ten thousand years.
Am I looking at New Mexico? Or Old Mexico? Why not ship our waste to another country? (We have shipped everything else.) Or why not to my home state of South Carolina where, like New Mexico, we cannot or will not keep any of this from happening. Maybe my old state would welcome the project. According to my map, South Carolina's landscape contains as many nuclear power plants as the state of New York.
I picture a band of people something like us, approaching this landscape ten thousand years from now, wondering what the briar patch has to offer. For some reason, I picture them out in the middle of nowhere, not where people live, but where people have not lived for generations. Yet they have forgotten why not.
Like Elizabeth Bishop in her waiting room, I am "too shy to stop," so I read the story straight through, then look at the date—1998—realizing, and this even scarier, that the cave and the project will have grown since then, and that it grows ever more interesting to me, a literacy teacher.
Other ideas on the drawing board bear similar titles, all in English—monuments called Spikes Bursting through Grids, Menacing Earthworks, Black Hole, or simply, the imperative DO NOT DIG, with its implied OR ELSE. To accomplish its goal, which is to warn three hundred future generations not to open, our hands-off sign will need to grow very old, twice as hoary as Stonehenge, and as sacrosanct as the great pyramid of Cheops, what is left of it. What kind of language will survive the years? Aramaic, once the lingua franca of the Middle East, lasted less than two thousand before it was displaced. What will writing be like then? Will people read the way we do? Will they make the same assumptions about language? For example, that ✉☠✆✉ੀ⌛⌨ in one place mean ✇âœâœŒâ˜œâ˜ºâ˜ ✈ in another?
✠✡♎â—â‘♦◆ੀ DO ▪«✶ ◎å⌖✧Ã○ô. â½â‘¢Ã„✉✈✇ RADIO â€âžâ‘ â¶â—‰â—» ✴⌑✰✆✉k�⑥ â· STAY â‘ à¥â˜ â¬âž” ⌫✰⌑★·â¿â·â‘£ ⌘♦ ♓♎⽠DIG.
The latest, most popular, idea is that the Landscape of Repulsion be replaced by a kind of concrete comic strip, or several of them, a mile long and wide. No words, or hieroglyphics. Just pictures rendering consequences, the consequences of digging. Reading may require travel.
But here is another worry. It has to do with trust in the printed word, or concrete comic. Even if someone does read DO NOT DIG thousands of years from now, why believe? Why not dig right in? I think I might.
One day at school, I start to talk about The Marker Project to the first person I run into, an older man, a teacher, our custodian. I start to explain the whole story—the comic strip and the landscape and the crown of thorns—but he stops me. Waitaminute, Cile, he says. He tells me the solution is simple. Instead of making the marker and its message more eternal, it should be made extra rickety, right? It should be made out of that corrugated cardboard or that cheap plywood. That way, he explains, the warning would need to be rebuilt every few years or so.
I could imagine then such a structure, graffitied with the symbols of our slangy present. It was so simple. The problem did not have to be solved for all time after all.
When next I was in the waiting room, there were no magazines.
2006-07-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=692 Chris Harrision Chris Harrision grew up in Texas, hated it, attends the University of Iowa and loves it. Before Iowa Writes This is before.
They left water running—
Faucet-heads pulled clean, windows boarded and cracks caulked. This is beyond flood insurance, making waterfall of stairwell, making lake of living room. Of course, it only held for a moment, you know—all that water and all that wood.
This is before.
They left water running—
Our house had holes. Different sizes. Holes with jawlines and holes with nose-bridges. Eye sockets and cheek-divots and long Southern wrinkle-stretches. Holes the size of mommy and holes the size of daddy, of brother and sister. Holes that leaked.
Leaked noise. Like trucks on overpass. Like car-bass booms: through pavement, through sheetrock. Pillowcase thunderclap, kitchen below bed: stormy. Conversation-tremors. Words that can't be said.
They used these words, the men. Like spears, really. Threw them round, drew red doodles on us.
"Ow, you're hurting us," we said.
We learned to resemble fish. In that house, on that night.
The men chased upstairs, so filled with water and so filled with sound. We swam, and the men chased. Chased up attic-access. Fold-Out stairs rocking, rickety. Insulation clumping in rising water like floating pink anthills.
And we huddle, we huddle hard, mommy and daddy and sister and me.
This is before.
They left water running—
Just as sinks breached, their surfaces evened with countertop, placid. Like they'd never been carved from it at all, like none of us had ever been harmed. Never cracked from mountainside and cut to size. Never shipped, never paid for.
And the plywood skeleton, it bowed. Sure it did. And the rafters. But they held. But only for a moment, but in that moment the house seemed whole. Like we had never once been pained in all our little lives. Like the foundation was crackless. Like we were crackless.
We'd seen it set-down, the foundation. Portland cement churning. Dark workers, rake-lines, baseball caps atop bandannas. It caked-dry: a huge salt flat. We cheered: quietly though, with modest fists. It was just the beginning.
This is before.
They left water running—
They nailed-up attic-hatch just as water snaked through air vents, just as ceiling-fan blades cut into it like boat-motors, like our house was an ocean liner.
The men, these men, our men: faces pressed to ceiling, faces and hands, as if trying to move it, huffing for air. And all the windows, and all the holes, they realize: they've shut-up. And they claw—smooth ceiling texture, and it dusts their hair like dandruff, and it mats their face. And it is embarrassing.
"Help," they say. "Help!" they say.
"Sorry," we say.
Like we're talking across great lengths of pool.
And when the ceiling lifts and cracks beneath our entangled feet we know they've learned to resemble fish too.
This is before.
They left water running—
Backs-to-rafter we float stomach-down, making hungry-baby-bird mouths at the vent spinning in fresh air where roof timber crisscrosses. We're gulping. And the air—I think stupid things about it, I waste thoughts: laundry detergents smell nothing like this, I think; air fresheners smell nothing like this. Then I can't smell anything.
Daddy: face fat and funny—looking with held breath, and mommy: hair smoky, curling wet brunette. We might be in the ocean, on a cruise, docked and waiting. We might be in the neighborhood pool, playing underwater games: sharks and minnows. Brother diving for quarters daddy flicked into the deep end, bubbles slung under his eyes like zits. We might be.
2006-07-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=693 Paula Grady Paula Grady works in a variety of media, most notably graphic design, with an occasional pastel drawing or collage worked into her designs. She has twice won the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival design contest. Her work has also been on the covers of the Cedar Rapids Symphony programs and in promotions for Riverside Theater and Theater Cedar Rapids. Her interest in masks stem from her work as an actor, as well as her love for African mores. "What's fun and intriguing is that each mask, as it evolves, takes on its own, unique persona." Desdemona mixed media 20" x 16" She has recently expanded into the areas of weaving and knitting, blending it with her talent in assembling collages. She loves vibrant colors and rough earthy textures. She is a self professed pack-rat and strongly believes in recycling any material possible as part of her art. "One man's excess is another man's ornamentation." artimages/07302006.jpg 318 400
2006-07-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=694 Edwin Jager Edwin Jager received his MA in Printmaking in 1997. Iconometer no. 1-5, covers mixed media 4 1/8" x 4" 1995-6 artimages/07312006.jpg 400 276 The Graduate Archive
2006-08-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=695 Warren Slesinger Warren Slesinger, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, retired from the University of South Carolina Press where he was an editor. He lives on the coast and teaches part-time at the University of South Carolina-Beaufort. With Stephen Corey, he compiled and edited Spreading the Word: Editors on Poetry for The Bench Press which he founded twenty years ago. Never Simple or Still Iowa Writes Save for the shorebirds, the beach is empty,
the barren sandbars cold, and the sea in the offing,
the sea that shimmers in the light from a high overcast,
a wind-blown patch of foam.
The man out walking would not be on the beach
but for the blaze of memory, and the distance
of his walk is not of interest unless it reminds him
of a place like this, and it is still visible
in his consciousness: the figure of a girl
in a skin-tight suit with slipped straps; his fingers
slick with lotion; its sweet-tipped scent in the sunshine
that remains within the reach and retreat of his memory
and the interplay of wind, clouds, and light
on the sea that is never simple or still, but the way,
his way, is always the same, and she not sharply defined:
her hair a blur, her face plain, her eyes straining
to find if he meant to quit her entirely,
and yet, he remembers her bare little body chilly with sweat
at the end of sex when the swirling water forms a trough
that drains the colors from the shells as the tide ebbs
from the creeks and oyster beds that seem to shudder
in the surge, and slide forward in the lull;
the sea to withhold, and hurl itself at the shore again,
and his remorse has no resolution.
2006-08-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=733 Peter Balestrieri Peter Balestrieri is a writer and musician. He has writing in Notre Dame Review, Mandorla, and Deluxe Rubber Chicken. His visual poetry appears in local and international exhibitions. As a musician, he's toured and recorded extensively, most notably with the rock group Violent Femmes. He lives in Iowa City. Big Robbery Iowa Writes I'm pulling off a big robbery with Vincent Price and another guy. We go out a window and into an alley. The cops are there. Our arms are loaded with cash. The cops order everybody to freeze. One guy runs. The cops shoot. Vincent drops his money. Cop grabs my money and Vincent's and takes off. His partner screams and takes off after him. We take off. I'm running, running. I see some kids. I say, "Did you see a guy come through here running?" They say, "Oh yeah we saw a guy. He shoved a buncha money in a milk chute." I say, "You take me and I cut you in." They take me. I say, "Hey, you kids are gonna be rich." One kid says, "Nah, I don't want it, it's a Federal offense." I say, "Hey, what do you think this is? You think you're at home having pasta with the family?" We get the money. I can't believe it. I start grabbing big stacks of bills. I say, "How much do you want?" The talky kid says, "Oh, twenty bucks. I just want to try out some new cigarettes." I can't believe it. "No, no," I say. "Are you nuts? Take some money." "I don't want it," he says. "OK, here, take a hundred dollars." He says, "OK." I start counting it out. More cops show up at the end of the alley. They say, "What's going on?" I say, "Nothing, Officer. I'm the boys' uncle and this is play money for their club. They're just playing."
2006-08-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=735 Sarah Smelser Sarah Smelser received her MA in Printmaking in 1996. Globular Bodies monoprint 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" 1995 artimages/08032006.jpg 377 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-08-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=737 Marissa Siegal Marissa Siegel's work draws inspiration from the beauty and abundance of nature and how we, as humans, are a part of it. In this room-sized installation, Siegel incorporated soil and flowers, logs, wall-hangings, audio and video of the Iowa woods to create a space of calm and repose that pays tribute to the natural world. In addition, she invited performer-participants to design their own costumes, which developed into fanciful attire, armor for woodland warriors. Nature Installation site specific installation, mixed media, and performance artimages/08042006.jpg 400 383 Intermedia Undergraduate Open House, April 28, 2006
2006-08-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=739 Jamie Braxton Cooper Jamie Braxton Cooper is a 2004 graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He is currently a freelance writer living in Portland, OR. His poems have previously appeared in The Libertine. 10 p.m. Sharp Iowa Writes There are things I might say about the rain,
The way a dog might yelp, for instance, when the first few drops
Strike its hide
like stray bullets,
Or how the pigeons stick their breasts out and like it,
and waddle off
In the glory of their absurd colors.
In heaven,
Where it does not rain,
Where God continues his
psychiatry of silence,
My mother has been preparing a modest little place for herself,
My mother, who
Right now
Is probably up late again,
folding everyone else's laundry,
The dryer humming along tunelessly,
the metal still warm, still
The temperature of blood.
2006-08-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=741 Olga Balema Olga Balema is a BFA sculpture student at the University of Iowa. She often makes work in which animals or objects infest a space, sometimes subtly, sometimes colonizing it in obvious ways. She is interested in things that exist below the surface, away from sight. Here, potatoes emerge from the crawl space under a University building into a basement room where the concrete floor has disappeared beneath a layer of earth, and the potatoes themselves suffer from yarn growths. Potato Cellar Installation site specific installation, potatoes, dirt, yarn, drawings artimages/08062006.jpg 300 400 Intermedia Undergraduate Open House, April 28, 2006
2006-08-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=742 Stephen Sherman Steve Sherman emigrated to Iowa from New Providence, New Jersey, in the year 2002. He is of average height, average build, and is capable of wonderful things. "Certificate" appeared originally in earthwords, the undergraduate literary review at the University of Iowa. The review's mission is to showcase the creative works of UI undergraduates in literature and the arts, while providing students with an educational experience with the production of a literary magazine. Certificates Iowa Writes i want my whole life's wealth liquidated
into mcdonalds gift certificates
before I die so I can walk into
a mcdonalds with bags of mcmillions
toss them at the cashier and urinate
on the floor and, for one time in my life,
not get stared at by undocumented
with abominable highlights when I
show a coupon, a free extra value
meal, that has no expiration date
which my grandpa on zoloft sent to me
in a mcdonalds envelope for christmas,
even though he knows I am jewish,
still half-believing in the temporal
immobility of the few sacred
tenets in holy life like fast food gift
certificates and the impending chance
of death, incest, disease, rain, and anger.
2006-08-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=744 Anne Beffel Anne Beffel received an MA in Painting and Drawing in 1997. Red food media 9' x 12' x variable 1996 artimages/08082006.jpg 400 262 The Graduate Archive
2006-08-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=746 Genevieve Kaplan Genevieve Kaplan is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and edits the Toad Press International Chapbook Series. Clear enough to lead us all into daylight Iowa Writes You find the shade
of a tree to quell me. I admire
you, your stars, the hedge.
How night looks in the next
elk's eyes. A forest is
for the animals, kept up
by the plants
and the river. No matter,
the story begins: the trees
are a shield
to shoot from and mine
is a vacant thing (the turn
of the storm in winter).
The road must be kept
at a distance, put off. The birds
agree. If you mean
to shake me I'll go
flailing around again;
we have a ritual begun already.
2006-08-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=748 Chris Miller Chris Miller received an MFA in Painting and Drawing in 2005. Approaching Storm oil on panel 18" x 20" 2005 artimages/08102006.jpg 400 360 The Graduate Archive
2006-08-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=750 Chad Chmielowicz Chad Chmielowicz graduated from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 2003 and worked at the International Writing Program for 3 years. He lives in Chicago. In the Morning of the Day Iowa Writes My little sister is at the counter
talking to the dead birds she's
brought in. Little featherless
affairs jettisoned from the nest.
She is kicking her legs on the high stool,
chin in her hands. Each is arranged
on a tidy pile of grass. I am glad
to not be her parent; one of her laces
is undone. It is not her innocence
I envy. She asks me why
they're see-through, why their heads
and bellies are oddly large. They are
very smart and very hungry. What should
we feed them? Dirt. You can't eat
dirt!? (In her alarm, dirt rhymes with cruet.)
2006-08-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=752 Vivienne Plum Vivienne Plumb writes poetry, prose, and drama, and is based in Wellington, New Zealand. She is presently writer in residence at Massey University in Palmerston North, N.Z., where she is working on a new poetry book. In November, 2006, a small N.Z. press will be publishing a small joint collection of poetry in English/Polish translation that will feature poems of Vivienne's and of Adam Wiedemann's, a Polish poet Vivienne met during the International Writing Program's Iowa residency in 2004. The Alternative Plan Iowa Writes Plan A: leave town. Plan B: stay in town but move to another part where no one knows you. Plan C: stay in the old apartment in the old part of town. Plan D: stay in the old apartment and in the old job. Plan E: look for a flatmate. Plan F: look for a new job. Plan G: change apartments, within the same building. Plan H: stay in the old apartment in the same part of town, don't change your job and refuse to look for a flatmate. Plan I: go to Cuba (this plan requires an injection of money to activate it). Plan J: think of another plan. Plan K: get facial surgery (finance dependant). Plan L: dye your hair. Plan M: go out wearing a variety of hats. Plan N: stay indoors. Plan O: become a recluse. Plan P: become a recluse and stay in the same apartment and in the same part of town and in the same job. Plan Q: never say never. Plan R: this is something to do with running. Plan S: this must be swimming. Plan T: swimming every day and long walks in the weekend. Plan U: with your hair dyed. Plan V: and wearing a variety of hats. Plan W: become a recluse in the same apartment and in the same part of town but walk every Saturday in disguise and swim once a week (not in disguise). Plan X: change nothing. Plan Y: do not walk, run, or swim, but stay in the same mankey apartment in the same scodey part of town, flogging yourself in the same boring job, and dream of Cuba. Plan Z: begin your plan for next year.
2006-08-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=753 Art Strong Art Strong is a graduate of The University of Northern Iowa. He has taught art in Waterloo, Estherville, and Charles City, Iowa. He has attended numerous workshops on the art and process of raku, including Raku in the Rockies in Gunnison, CO. He says this about his work: Streets raku 2 .5" x 6" x 6" "I have been a teacher and a working artist all my adult life. As a ceramic potter, I find the raku process of finishing the clay exciting, dramatic, and unique. Its metallic glazes and smoky black clay bodies lend themselves well to my unconventional, non-utilitarian forms. My vases, covered jars, and abstract pots are thrown on the wheel and then altered, often with the addition of vivid sculptural features." artimages/08132006.jpg 400 252
2006-08-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=755 Kurt Folch Kurt Folch, Chilean poet and translator, participated in the 2004 International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. His poetry has received many awards, such as the Pablo Neruda Creative Writing Fellowship (1997) and the Jose Donoso Creative Writing Fellowship (1998). His 2002 translation of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is in circulation across the Spanish-speaking world. He is currently working on Julius Caesar and a translation of a selection of George Oppen's poems to be published this winter. The Lovers Iowa Writes The animal was sacrificed.
And clear, an air bell
sounded (moved by
the breeze)randomly
extending its notes
(those of a ghost
town) under the vines
where summer, which comes
before the end,
was being crushed:
Falling
blood fills the deep
basins, till they flow over.
The face
removed from the rest was washed
and afterwards taken
softly
skirting puddles of light
among lemon and medlar branches
as if a creature.
What followed was just a routine:
perform an incision, divide up, eat.
Keep the leftovers for the dogs.
2006-08-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=757 Kim-Ping Yim Kim-Ping Yim received an MFA in Design in 1995. New Balance? Off Balance? mixed media 60" x 48" x 48" 1993 artimages/08152006.jpg 291 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-08-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=759 Suzanne B. Aunan An Iowan since 1972, Suzanne B. Aunan is a self-taught artist who has enjoyed painting as far back as she can remember. She was born in New York City and grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York. Suzanne attended the University of Iowa, majoring in Medical Technology, and later graduated from the Physician Assistant Program. She worked as a P.A. at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, then as a full-time mother of four. Now with all four children in school, she is enjoying a career as an artist.
Suzanne paints detailed compositions using acrylic, gouache, and watercolors, sometimes adding pencil or ink pen. Her work has been purchased by collectors world-wide. Suzanne B. Aunan's website http://www.sbaunan.com/ The Big Game: An Autumn Day at Kinnick Stadium lithographic print Suzanne is a self-taught and much loved Iowa artist who enjoys painting detailed scenes of life around her as well as iconic landscapes of Iowa. She comments, "special events and happy occasions with people we love are important images that I like to document in paint." To Aunan, "'the good days' are here, now and today. Today we are making precious memories." artimages/08162006.jpg 400 286
2006-08-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=761 Pieta Brown Pieta Brown is an Iowa-based singer-songwriter. Her three albums are Pieta Brown (Trailer Records, 2002), I Never Told (T Records, 2003), and In the Cool (Valley Entertainment, 2005). Pieta Brown's website http://www.pietabrown.com/ switchblade Iowa Writes rain
the dirty sheets i left outside
the cornfield across the highway
a number in which i can hide
my mother gets cold at night & walks the dog
while my father, a few blocks away, steps aside
to hear god laugh
i hear god cry
& like a switchblade in my chest
i turn from what's right to what's left
i pray softly in this strange warm light of rain in the fall
i pray today i will cut away this layer of my country that doesn't sing
i pray today i will give away everything
i pray i am ready to die
the wind is raging
the wind is a beautiful view of my people
the leaves, angels in unison
2006-08-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=763 Peter Carter Wilson Peter Carter Wilson graduated from the University of Iowa in 1990 with a degree in political science. "I initially moved to Washington, DC to work in politics," he says. "In 2004 I relocated with my wife and cat to New Orleans, where I work as a paralegal and try to avoid hurricanes." Redfish Iowa Writes Jordan, why is my fridge open?
Well Thomas a fine hello to you too. How was your day?
Jordan you're a cat. Could you possibly care less about how my day actually went? You do nothing all day but sleep, eat and make baby hairballs.
Not true Thomas, not true. I got up three times to smack that annoying toy around on top of sleeping and manufacturing hair based products; it was very stressful. You're just jealous that I have the skills to work from home.
That's great Jordan, really. Thanks for filling me in on your hectic schedule, but you still haven't explained why my fridge is open?
"Our" fridge is open because I was looking for something decent to eat, not this ptomaine you left in my dish.
Look rodent, I just spent something like 27 hours cleaning out that fridge after the hurricane, I don't need your help ruining it again.
Whatever Thomas. Some chef must have worked his way up through a gulag cafeteria before sliding over to Purina. We all realize dogs will eat this crap, in fact they will eat their own crap, but we cats are a much more discerning lot. My palate demands a higher caliber cuisine.
Cuisine Garcon? Since when did Fancy Feast become cuisine?
My point exactly Thomas. The name implies this gruel is somehow haute cuisine. I can't handle it anymore. Don't you have any more of that grilled redfish from last night?
Jordan, what's left is mine, besides you made out like a bandit.
Precisely Thomas, and that's why I would like a spot more. Here's what we're going to do. You grab your keys and let's take a little ride over to the fish joint. I hear there are tons of those suckers plucked out daily.
Listen Einstein, and I use that name loosely, you wouldn't know a redfish from a bluegill if it bit you on the arse. If one of those critters just jumped out of the sea it would still be twitching, covered in scales and cold, not a particularly appetizing combination.
Thomas, you know I don't concern myself with the details; I leave that to the littles. I'm a big picture kind of gal, so don't give me a bunch of smoke, just deliver the product. And another thing, there will be no stuffing yours truly into that portable torture chamber you call a "cat carrier."
Jordan, you've never been tortured in your life, although now might be a fine time to start. How about I get Dick Cheney on the line?
Thank you warden, tell that to the boys in super-max. I want to ride up front, like a proper cat.
And how may I ask do you know about super-max?
The Discovery Channel of course! They've been running prison documentaries all month, really fascinating television!
Jordan you know you're not supposed to be watching cable unsupervised. Remember what happened last time with the hedge clippers. Mrs. Freepont still doesn't speak to us.
You need to focus on the task at hand, Thomas, my redfish. Just say no to crack.
What does crack have to do with anything?
The first step to recovery is to admit your addiction, which we don't have time for right this minute, but perhaps after my redfish craving has been satiated we can chat.
If you are referring to my cigars they are made from tobacco leaves.
You don't mean that thing growing by the window? It's a killer. I left some hints on your carpet of my dislike for its flavor. Perhaps you missed them?
You idiot, that's a cactus. Tobacco is entirely different and considerably more valuable than your furry butt.
Valuable or not Thomas, I say it kills.
Thanks C. Everett Kat, I'll take that under advisement. Get your collar so we can get this wagon train rolling I want to be home before the Iowa game starts.
Hawkeyes, smawkeyes, we'll get home once my meal is properly prepared.
Out the door Ms. Swanson, it's time for your close up.
Thomas I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
For the love of God, please get in the car. And just so you know Jordan, unsupervised television is off-limits.
That's cool Thomas. By the way, have you seen the new layout design on the Discovery Channel's web site?
2006-08-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=765 Chunghi Choo Chunghi Choo received a B.F.A. from Ewha Women's University, Seoul, Korea and M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI. She is the F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Professor of Art in the Jewelry and Metal Arts program. She teaches beginning, intermediate, mixed media workshop and graduate workshop courses. Her jewelry, hollowware, flatware, sculptures, mixed media objects and textile art works have been exhibited worldwide.
C-12 Spring aluminum, wood, enamel 31" x 32" x 22" artimages/08192006.jpg 400 306
2006-08-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=766 Meredith Glasson-Darling Meredith Glasson-Darling writes: "I grew up in West Branch, Iowa, out in the countryside between two cornfields and started writing to pass the time on road trips up to see my grandparents in Cherokee, Iowa. I currently am a sophmore at the University of Iowa majoring in Russian and International Studies." Once Upon a Table: The Tale of the Life of a Spoon Iowa Writes Once upon a time there lived a spoon. It is to be made sure that the reader note that this spoon did indeed live once upon a time. He lived how most spoons lived and found his life no more interesting than you and I would, for what is there possibly to live for in the life of a spoon? The other spoons were equally discontented with their life as this spoon (the spoon who lived once upon a time), and frankly for all spoons then and now life is of the dull and monotonous sort.
The spoon who lived made his home with many other spoons crammed tight in the kitchen drawer of a farm house made of old pine wood with peeling white paint. All he had ever known was the drawer, the table, a mouth or two, and the various foods or liquids with which he was dipped in. This was also all the other spoons had ever known, and the drawer too had little knowledge of anything else from the spoons themselves and a few hands which pull on it from time to time. The spoon (whom has been said to have lived once upon a time) and the drawer were friends as much as any kitchenware may be, though their friendship consisted largely of long drawn out creaks and metallic sighs. As simple as that friendship was, the drawer and the spoon were quite content with it, as there was little else for them in their drab and monotonous lives.
Now there came a day when the spoon was laid out on the table for supper and met a dish. He and the dish fell quite in love and he said to her: "I am going to run away with you, and you will be my wife, and we shall be happy." The dish agreed and they planned to flee the table at the first chance they got. Halfway through the family's evening meal that chance came when the farmers son bumped the side of the dish (upon which the spoon was resting) and sent both of them crashing to the floor. The spoon fell and was unharmed, but the dish smashed into a thousand pieces and he was left alone.
Later that night as the spoon lay weeping, smashed between his fellow spoonshe asked the drawer why he would never be free to love and leave the kitchen where they were both imprisoned.
"I am sorry for your loss," replied the drawer, moaning with sympathy. "But in a life such as that of a wooden drawer or a lonely spoon, we cannot hope for more than the next glimpse of light so that even in our misery, we can insignificantly make someone else's life a little easier."
The spoon lay all night and thought of this in the cold dark interior of the drawer, in-between the rows and rows of other spoonsall dreaming of the morning sun and mushy bowls of milk-drenched cereal, and just as the sun was rising he thought to himself: "If all I may ever be is a spoon, at least I shall do that best...even if I must try to rise above it and fail one thousand times."
2006-08-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=764 Kelly Bartolotta Kelly Bartolotta writes: "I'm a 21-year-old student originally from the Chicago area, but deeply entrenched in the small-town, quiet and serene life in Mount Vernon, Iowa. The vastness of this state and the beauty of its nature have helped cultivate my work beyond what it ever was before." Her poem was inspired by a photgraph by Edmund Teske. Iowa Writes I. Davenport Iowa
laced between
Le Claire & Maquoketa
the river carved prairie crossroads
in pinstripes fell the corn rows
midwinter arbors & maywet fields
kneeled to their visitors
her city's energy channeled
on stained cathedral glass
imposing homes wear their mourning veils to sow her plains in repentance
II. Shirley Berman
she sculpted symmetries in
the skeletal garden,
drowned daisies in hymnal verse
bay window peripheries marveled
as she dissembled vegetation
the thickets followed, grasping
she wore a raincoat to drain
the poppies in her fingers—
awnings envious
of her well-placed brow
III. Composite with nude
haphazard lawns worship
limestone mausoleums
where asters once bloomed
earth recaptures her fleshy chest
& exposed skin
in opal pools she fizzles incomplete
2006-08-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=762 Priscilla Steele Priscilla is co-owner of Campbell-Steele Gallery in Marion and teaches printmaking at Coe College. Originally from New Jersey, Priscilla moved to the area to complete her graduate work in printmaking at the University of Iowa. She has a strong regional exhibition history and co-founded the Marion Arts Festival in addition to serving on several art boards and committees in the Cedar Rapids area. Spring '06 II mixed media drawing with gold leaf 38" x 24" Priscilla Steele, a printmaker and mixed media artist from Cedar Rapids, is well known in the region for her figurative work, however, she also works with flowers as a subject matter. Priscilla's take on flowers isn't "pretty" in a classical sense but there is an unusual beauty in the large-scale Amaryllis and Day Lily Suites. Perhaps it is the beauty of power through size. The 48 x 48-inch drawings demonstrate how delicate petals and stems become forceful under a magnifying glass. In her smaller mixed media works of amaryllises, Priscilla uses gold leaf, a traditional medium as background color for her contemporary drawings. artimages/08222006.jpg 325 515
2006-08-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=760 Judy L. Buddenbaum Judy L. Buddenbaum writes: "I was encouraged by Ms. Gertrude Hilmer and Mrs. Virginia Rumble, both high school English teachers at Tipton Consolidated School. I'm retired and now a resident of Iowa again. I have attended two weekends at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and I have taken many writers' workshops. I'm a student-at-large." The Seductions Iowa Writes Charlie was a hepcat. He wore a subtle pinstripe suit. Like a ball of cashmere, his soft blond body rolled at our feet. The cock of his head and the look in his baby blues conveyed entire messages. He was the whole package and he used that to play with us. He could lean up against us one moment and then step around us like we were last week's litter box the next. The curve of his long tail was like a come-hither question mark. Almond shaped eyes, like Sophia Loren's, the color of a '98 Simi Chardonnay saw through us. His fluffy buff of tabby fur was what fingers were made for. Bribing for his purrs was useless; he rationed them out, but nothing escaped his pert, attentive ears. Charlie could hang on our words like we were the center of his universe and then dismiss us to study a corner where the walls and ceiling met.
He owned the most comfortable chair in our house and we allowed it. He kept us rooted and unbalanced. After preening his whiskers, he would slink into the night with nary a meow, keeping us up past our bedtime. Returning from his prowls, he seemed impatient to be in. Launching his body at the screen door he jolted us awake. We jumped from our chairs into consciousness. Or he would just hang on the screen door like a live trophy until we opened the door. We knew better than to ask questions.
We were bewitched and life was good for fifteen years. When Charlie left us, he left us empty like the skin of a cicada hanging on an old tree trunk. Through our tears and grief, we vowed never again to let some feline mark our hearts.
But out of the blue, it happened. She came in through the basement window wearing red leather around her slender neck. It said "Bender Is My Name." She stepped softly, one elegant foot, and then the next. She was all in black, except for her ears, which were a delicate pink inside, like a seashell. Sleekly dressed to the nines, even spandex couldn't hug this well. The only thing missing was a string of pearls. She sized us both up with eyes the color of a cold Rolling Rock. Her purr was like Kathleen Turner in heat. She tried both our laps, but never really settled. Stretching her shapely legs and arching her back she ran a pink tongue over her shoulder. Gracefully, she folded her legs under herself. Her look said, "I'll be staying the night." She rested her chin on my leg and shut her eyes.
Our vow was off; we were smitten by this fine-looking feline. As the night gave way to dawn she stood, arched her back, straightened her whiskers and gave a restless look about. Pacing, she was looking for something but it wasn't anything we had to offer. Her restless eyes would not meet ours. The side-to-side movement of her ebony tail spoke volumes. Reluctantly, I held the door open for her. With a gentle swing of her hips she stepped down and out of our lives.
I saw her one morning as I was getting my paper. She was wearing the same little red leather around her neck. She looked well; the bohemian life and late hours never leaving a mark. She pretended not to see me. Unabashed, she was demurely seducing my neighbor with her eyes. She was clearly enjoying a new domination. My neighbor besotted by this false feline flattery was serving her sardines on her best china.
Gathering our pride, we vowed to never fancy a feline again. It's easy to be the Top Dog in a dog's world; a pat on the head and he'll wag his tail and be all over you with kisses. All he wants is to gratify and promise a lifetime of companionship. But a cat...a cat is closely linked to the nameless forces and invisible pulls of the universe; so all a cat really wants is a good domestic. I pulled out the Hoover and sucked the cat hairs from our life.
2006-08-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=758 Yvette Franz Franz received a MFA in Painting and Drawing in 1998. Firmament oil on panel 22" x 24" 1998 artimages/08242006.jpg 348 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-08-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=756 Ramon Lim Ramon Lim is Emeritus Professor of Neurology at the University of Iowa. At a younger age, he reveled in abstract painting and was a winner in a national competition held by the Art Association of the Philippines. While doing science in mid-career in America, he discovered Chinese calligraphy as a means of artistic expression. Currently Vice-President of the Calligraphic Society of the Rocky Mountain area, Lim was a winner in the 8th International Calligraphic Competition held in Shanghai in 2005. At Night Fall, I Descended ink on paper 28.7" x 18.5" "Chinese calligraphy is an art form, a visual art form and, more specifically, an abstract visual art form. Therefore, first, don't ask me what it says. Rather, ask yourself, does it create a visual impact on your inner feeling? If it does, you've got it, and the literary content would be superfluous. If it doesn't, knowing what it says does not really help, as far as art appreciation is concerned. Picasso once told a visiting Chinese calligrapher, "If I were born Chinese, I too would have been a calligrapher." I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the story, but I can easily understand why he could have said that if he did. The tension, the movement, the rhythm, the interactive composition, and even the textural variation, are all there. It is a genre of abstract art that's been in practice for almost two thousand years." artimages/08252006.jpg 310 512
2006-08-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=754 Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure Kaguru's Muted Lament Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure is the author of Lamentations on the Rwandan Genocide (Final Thursday Press), a collection that includes this poem. A professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa, he is also the editor of World Eras Volume 10: West African Kingdoms, 500-1590. Iowa Writes A heavy sigh was heard inside the
Nyarubuye Golgotha Church that
Easter Sunday at the twilight.
Listening to an inside voice,
Kaguru (the withered-leg man) stretched his leg
out,
Silently asking, seeking,
(Ask and you will receive;
Seek and you will find.)
desperately imploring the Son of God to
lay a hand on him,
humbly knocking on His door.
(Knock and the door will be open.)
Several Sundays he had heard his Kirchepfeiler
Father White Missionary the biblical story tell.
Cioavverra-Certo, Cela arrivera-certainement.
Kaguru grabbed his stretcher and left the pew with the
withered leg,
a muted lament welling up within him
Mana yanjye, Mana yanjye,
Kuki wantereranye?
Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani.
Father, Father, Why Have You
Forsaken Me?
2006-08-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=751 Rebecca Roberts Roberts received her MA in Painting and Drawing in 1999. Untitled oil, acrylic on sweater 16" x 20" 1998 artimages/08272006.jpg 400 321 The Graduate Archive
2006-08-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=749 Nicole Zdeb Nicole A. Zdeb is a poet and translator. Nicole spent four happy years living and working in Iowa City, where she met her fianc, fellow-poet Jamie Cooper. She, Jamie, and their two spoiled cats now live in Portland, Oregon. Weightless Boxes Iowa Writes My wife's hands are small.
They fit inside
the eeeooolaaay
of a wood thrush
and I am young
again, the gates
of heaven
not shut
against me, walking
in the woods
behind
the ferry landing.
"No,"
she says
with her hand,
"that is a
Brown Thrasher.
See
the length of
its tail."
Her hand becomes
a length
of feathers.
"It is more
often heard than
seen and can
be heard in
the way light
appears
to sing."
Her hand is
common, spotted
with rust, in fear
of extinction.
It can hold
eight eggs if
the eggs are very small.
2006-08-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=747 Steven Moore Steven Moore is a senior at Washington High School in Washington, Iowa, and will be attending the University of Iowa this fall to major in English while continuing to serve in the Iowa Army National Guard. Excerpt from We Sing the Days in Falsetto Iowa Writes She wakes up from a dream within a dream within the nightmare she calls her life. A man stands near her holding a magnifying glass and kneeling close to the snowy surface of her bedroom floor. He wears a suit and overcoat, along with a scarf. Pinned on his coat is a once-glimmering badge that is now scratched, worn, and faded. He points to the ground and asks her, "Is this yours?"
The bedroom has no walls, no ceiling, and no home to accompany it. It consists simply of furnishings arranged on top of an eternal expanse of icy tundra. No people, no roads, no cars, and no animals exist in this place, only this girl and her bedroom, and the detective rummaging through it.
Her eyes are still groggy and confused, but she manages to respond, saying, "No, officer. No, sir, I don't know what that is." He nods and kneels closer to the ice, closer to a frozen pool of scarlet on the ground. She can see her own breath in the air when she says, "Oh, you meant the blood? Yeah. Yeah, that's mine." And with that, she turns away from him, rolling onto her side, and back to sleep.
When she awakens again, she finds the detective dead. His body temperature fell so sharply that his heart stopped beating. His body lies next to her bed. Crimson runs from his nose, iced over on top of the pool he had been examining, his blood frozen to her blood.
She rises from the bed and steps over him. He died trying to solve her secrets, and she decides this is only fitting, because she is tired of dying in attempts to figure them out for herself.
The girl walks to her desk, where maps and atlases are spread about. All of the edges are charred, and the highways appear to lead in circles, stretching on quickly into nowhere and ending up where they began and vice versa. The edges of these maps become a little more blackened every time she awakens. Another few centimeters burnt away every time the sun rises. Eventually they will incinerate completely. Not that it matters. They didn't lead anywhere. She should know. She drew them herself.
Sitting down on a simple wooden chair, she picks up a pen and stares out across the tundra, projecting her vision through time and space as if she could defy physics if she only had the will to. The unknown that lies beyond is unsettling. She never ventures past the boundaries of the furniture that make up the confines of her bedroom. All that can stop her from doing so is herself, but it's more than enough. She doesn't know what exists past the horizon, where the tundra plummets away from her reality.
The girl wonders if that is where the past rests, if all of the things that used to be still exist, but in a different place now, in a world just out of reach. She wonders if maybe she could have it all, could reacquire the life that slipped between her fingers. This sparks her curiosity, but does not propel her to discover anything. This interests her, but does not inspire her, which has become the central theme in her life.
She remembers the days before the fade, when people still drove the cars that still traveled the streets that still existed like they were supposed to. She remembers the hopeful, blonde-haired boys and the panoramas in their eyes. There were spectacular parties during the evening glow on the beach, parties that would stretch on as long as they had to. There were walks through the midnight-darkened city with friends, talking of dreams and turning streetlights into spotlights and highways into stages.
The girl remembers her life before the fade, when they called her Sweet-Eyes Cincinnati while she slowly became a California girl. While she slowly could have had any boy on the entire coast. She remembers this life, this place that now she can only see in her dreams and her nightmares, and she wonders to herself why it faded, why it disappeared, and she wonders, is it just over the horizon? Is the past still resting there, awaiting her? Are all of the people and cars stuck and frozen in place? Are they waiting just for her?
2006-08-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=745 Noah Doely Noah Doely is an artist from Iowa who earned his BFA degree in sculpture from the University of Northern Iowa in 2005. Doely will enter graduate school in the Fall of 2006 to pursue an M.F.A. degree at the University of South Florida. His work has been exhibited nationally and is in both private and public collections including the University of Northern Iowa Gallery. Knights: Pt. 1 chromogenic color print 20" x 24" 2004 He says this about his work: "I create fantasy escapist images that don't attempt to occlude their handmade-ness. Usually, my process begins with the creation of sculptural pieces. These pieces or props are carefully crafted representations of wonder often inspired by childhood memories, historical hoaxes (such as P.T Barnum attractions), folklore, community theater, low budget films, and long nights of solitude. The sculptural element is the character that I then place in a setting which results in a narrative image. That photo then serves as a relic of the spectacle. My photographs create new worlds, histories, and mythologies whose self-aware quality imparts fragility and absurdity." artimages/08302006.jpg 400 323
2006-08-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=743 Joy Goswami Joy Goswami is regarded as one of the finest poets in the "post-Jibananda Das era" of Bengali poetry. He is the author of twenty-five collections of poetry, ten novels (one of which is in verse), and a book of critical essays. In 2001 he participated in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.
Prasenjit Gupta, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, is the author of A Brown Man and Other Stories (Rupa, 2002). He lived in Iowa City and worked at the UI Press for twelve years, then joined the Foreign Service and is currently serving in Chennai, India. Things Recalled at Night
Translated from Bengali by Prasenjit Gupta The original poem appeared in the collection of poems paataar poshhaak, first published in 1997. The translation was first published on Parabaas.com, the leading web site devoted to Bengali literature in Bengali and translation. Iowa Writes All that rainfall
Laid out in the rainfall, all those dead bodies
Beating at the dead bodies, all that wind
Trembling with the wind but not billowing out, all those
encompassing shrouds
Thrusting their muzzles in, tugging at the cloth, all those night-time dogs
Shouting, driving the dogs away, all those attendants
Half-naked, squatting attendants
Laid down beside the attendants, all those wooden staves
Those clay pipes not burning, in the rain
Those not-burning pyres
Spaced apart, all those not-burning pyres
Behind the pyres, the ragged river-bank
And on all those ragged edges, risen from the water,
All their mothers sit
Their heads covered with uncolored cloth
Risen up from the water after long years, climbed down from the rain,
All their mothers sit like small white bundles
So that at burning time
They can be close to their sons
At burning time when the dead will remember
a wife left behind
An only daughter who ran away with her lover
Unresolved property and a friend's treachery
The dead man will remember the first day at school and
Unseen for so long,
unresisted, the cause of his own death
When he tries, flustered, to sit up on the pyre
one last time
And the attendant's stave strikes hard,
breaking him, laying him out
Then she can touch that fire-burnt skull
With her age-old kitchen-weary pot-scrubbing shriveled hand
And, spreading the end of her sari over those molten eyes,
the widow can say
Don't fret, baba, my son, here I am, here, I'm your mother,
here, right at your side!
2006-09-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=740 Aaron Holst Holst received an MA in Painting and Drawing in 1998. Living Room acrylic 24" x 16" 1998 artimages/09012006.jpg 320 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-09-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=738 John Chehak John Chehak's unique style captures the essence of his Midwestern heritage. It is this style that he uses to express himself in images of American life and scenery. "I'm particularly fond of the symmetry and beauty of buildings and structures, both rural and urban," he says. He has painted diverse subjects from urban New York, Chicago, and New Orleans to the sedate yet captivating elegance of rural America. John was born, raised, and currently lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Landscape Three acrylic 20" x 24" artimages/09022006.jpg 336 400
2006-09-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=736 Viktoria Fomina Viktoria Fomina, an award-winning fiction writer, represents a new Russian generation in whose literary work the memory of the Soviet era is layered with images of a rapidly changing post-socialist urban scene. Fomina attended the 2000 International Writing Program and returned to Iowa City in 2004 as the Writer-in-Residence at the UI International Programs.
Anna Barker is Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa's English Department. Her translations have appeared in 91st Meridian and in International Accents magazine. The School of Presentation: Opus #2 (A comedy)
Translated by Anna Barker "The School of Presentation" refers to an acting method developed by Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, founders of the Moscow Art Theater. The author studied at the Moscow Art Theater School. "Opus #2" is the second of three pieces comprising "The School of Presentation." Iowa Writes X. Where are you going?
Y. You needn't worry. It's only a short walk.
X. Do you have your boots on?
Y. Yes, and a coat.
X. What are you looking for?
Y. It should be here somewhere...
X. Did you lose something?
Y. Oh, yes! Here it ismy suitcase.
X. It's very attractive! Give it to me.
Y. What will you ask for next? Let me go.
X. I want to tell you...
Y. Well?
X. I want to tell you...a little tale.
Y. All right. I'm listening.
X. Once...
Y. It sounds commonplace.
X. No matter. Once there lived a bear.
Y. H-m.
X. One time he went for a walk. From his lair.
Y. So?
X. And met a she-bear. Polar.
Y. Ha-ha-ha!
X. She was quite fluffy. Yes. They had cubs. Eight of them, I believe. One cub...
Y. None of this interests me.
X. Wait. You don't yet know the main thing!
Y. No, and I don't need to know.
X. One of the eight cubs died very young.
Y. Died?
X. Yes, he got scarlet fever. But then the rest lived a long and happy life.
Y. Where?
X. In their lair, of course. But the time came when the she-bear...
Y. What happened?
X. She got sick as well. But with her it was heartache. From worries and old age.
Y. I hope nothing happened to her?
X. Actually, she died as well.
Y. Really? And the he-bear?
X. Oh, I completely forgot! He died even earlier. He was captured by hunters who skinned him.
Y. And what happened to the seven siblings?
X. They were sent to an orphanage. They all grew up, of course. And lost each other. I know that two of them became bandits. Twodrivers. Two morecosmonauts. And onehanged himself. Because of unhappy love. Or out of political considerations. I don't quite remember. Well, will you stay?
Y. Let me go.
X. I'm begging you! I know another tale.
Y. Let go!
X. But I'm begging you!
Y. No-no-no.
X. But it's worth the effort?
Y. Leave me alone!
X. I beseech you!
Y. Keep your hands to yourself!
X. I beseech you! Don't abandon me! Don't abandon me!
Y. Take your hands off of me!
X. (Sobs) Don't abandon me.
Y. (With force pushes X away) What a lunatic! (Leaves).
THE END
2006-09-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=734 Dale Phelps Dale Phelps is a retired orthopedic surgeon who went back to school at the University of Northern Iowa to obtain a BFA in printmaking after retirement. He was raised in Waterloo, Iowa and attended the University of Iowa for both his BA and MD degrees. He practiced orthopedics for 28 years in Waterloo, Iowa.
Towards the end of his career he started taking classes part time at the University of Northern Iowa, Department of Art. In December of 2005 he graduated with a BFA in printmaking. Dr. Einstein, My Inner Advisor #1 reduction wood block print 25" x 18" 1995 He says this about his work: "This are part of my series concerning visualization during meditation for the treatment of cancer. I have been living with prostate cancer since 1993 but it has recently increased its activity. Along with traditional medical treatments I have been utilizing guided imagery in meditation. I produced these images to help me with visualization during imaging. With this and other modalities I have brought my cancer under reasonable control." artimages/09042006.jpg 400 556
2006-09-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=27 Joe Blair Joe Blair graduated with an MFA from the nonfiction department at the U of I. He runs his own HVAC business in Iowa City. He has a wife and four kids. Monday, July 18, 2005 Iowa Writes It's hot. It's been hot for a long time. Mid-nineties every day for the past month. No rain. No clouds. Just heat.
I pick up a hitchhiker on the way up to Cedar Rapids. Seven in the morning, and he's already sweating like crazy. He's a short, thick-set guy with a hook nose. He says he broke his ribs. That's the first thing he says to me. "Broke my ribs. Yeah. That's why I'm here. Had to see a doctor. Get some meds for the pain."
"How'd you break your ribs?" I say.
"Wrong hooker," he says. "Wrong alley. This guy come after me. I ran. I was stupid. All I had was twenty bucks. That's what he got. I shouldn't have ran."
I turn off the radio so I can hear him better.
"Yeah," he says, "I travel all over. Work with the carnivals."
"What do you do there?"
"Two things. Mainly, I do the basket. Where you throw the balls? And then I do the balloons. With the darts?"
"Everyone's a winner," I say.
He smiles. "Yep. Everyone's a winner with that one. Yeah. They pay me more than I could get anywhere else. I make my nut in the summer, and then I just do temp stuff in the winter."
"That's not bad," I say.
"Yeah. You make a lot of money. The basket's about eighty-five percent. The balloons are a little bit lower. But not much. I worked the weekend of the fourth. Walked away with nine hundred. Yeah. It's a thing. But...but you see these young girls all day. And then you've got nine hundred. And you say, 'I'm going to get me some of that,' so you go buy some. That's what gets you in trouble."
"So you travel all over," I say.
"Yeah. I might be up Monticello this weekend."
"They've got a good fair," I say.
"Yeah," he says. "Monticello's always busy. It's either that or Hiawatha. I'm just getting so I can work again. With the ribs."
"Where do you want me to drop you off?" I say.
"Just at a downtown exit. That'll be good. I got to get inside. Out of this heat. All the places are full in Iowa City. They got places up in Cedar Rapids."
"You live in Cedar Rapids?"
"No. I'll just go to a shelter. I got to call some guys I know. I got to get up to Monticello. Yeah, it sucks without a license. I used to have a license. I was like, 'yeah.' Had my camper. My truck. Then you lose it, and it's like, 'this sucks!' You know? It's like, 'I'm screwed. No license. I'm broke. I'm alone.'"
He says this with perfectly good nature. He's quiet for a moment. I know there are days and days and days for this man.
"You get used to it," he says.
I drop him off at the downtown exit. He opens the truck door. It's hot outside. He throws his bags out onto the street. He thanks me for the ride. I tell him maybe I'll see him up in Monticello. He says yeah. He slams the truck door, picks up his bags, throws them over the Jersey barriers, climbs over, picks up his bags again, looks around, and starts walking.
2006-09-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=28 Susan McCarty Susan McCarty was born and raised in Iowa City and now works in New York City as a book editor. Her writing has appeared in Hunger Mountain, Northwest Review, and Boston's Weekly Dig. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2005. Magic Trick Iowa Writes That isn't my wife, is what he says. It's her angular nose, and the side of one fleshy cheek that had made her father call her Chipmunk, even into her thirties. It's her large hand and her bent ring finger, broken playing high school basketball and never set. It's her foot, now paled to some color he's never seen before, and her ribs and her lovely hip. One of two hips that had made him growl, when they were falling in love, that he wanted to fill her with babies. But her parts do not add up, not even at this forgiving angle, where the gunshot wound that must be disfiguring her other cheek and the top of her head faces politely away from him, toward the wall.
This is not his wife, who said to him four days ago, before she left, that she found him selfish and distracted and hopeful to a fault. As if hope itself were a fault. His wife, for instance, did not have a tattoo. And this one, crawling across the inside of the forearm like an insect, just above the elbow, reads, "breathe," a command that the corpse in front of him unabashedly ignores. He sits down hard on the folding chair behind him. The pathologist pulls the sheet back over the body.
"I know this is hard for you. I'm sorry." It's the policewoman talking now. Lieutenant something. She wears a suit. Mitchell can't tell if there is a gun underneath it. He remembers from the movies that you're supposed to be able to tell about the gun.
"My wife hates tattoos."
The pathologist speaks quietly to the lieutenant. "The scabbing around the tattoo indicates that it's a new one. Probably less than a week old."
"When was the last time you saw your wife, Mr. Mitchell?"
"She thinks they're trashy."
"Mr. Mitchell? Do you know where she got the gun?"
He can't look away from the draped sheet, hanging like a magic trick waiting for a magician. Or maybe he could conduct a symphony over that sheet, ?the waving of wands, the rising of things.
"She loves the symphony though," he says, and is vaguely embarrassed for himself, but is not sure why.
"Okay, Mr. Mitchell? I'm going to take you back upstairs."
It's her car he gets into and backs out of the parking space at the hospital. Her blue hair tie hangs off the clutch and is caught in the shifter when he moves into first gear. Her half-empty water bottle is stuck in the console between the front seats. His car is impounded, her head emptied onto the leather interior. He wonders vaguely who will pick it up and clean it and is shocked to realize that he will.
This is why he almost hits the kid in the crosswalk. It's been years since he's had to slam on the brakes and the act sends a nauseating pulse to his extremities. The kid, ?a skinny teenager with a lip ring and a baseball cap, smacks the hood of the car and swears. Mitchell can tell, even with the cap, that the kid is bald. No eyebrows or lashes, no hair on the arms. As he gestures and moves to walk around the car, Mitchell sees the blue-black tip of something tribal and jagged inching up the skin of the neck, from the collar. The thought flashes through him that he hopes the boy will die and just as swiftly it's gone and there is something heavy and painful pushing up from inside him. He coughs twice and draws a breath. Holds it as he pulls into traffic. Holds it as long as he can, until he is very close to home.
2006-09-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=29 Michelle Acuff Michelle Acuff graduated received a MFA in Sculpture in 2002. Her Wounds (detail) video 1999 Acuff received her MA in Sculpture in 2000. artimages/09072006.jpg 400 264 The Graduate Archive
2006-09-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=30 Alecia Magner Alecia Magner writes: "I am twelve years old and have lived in Iowa most of my life. I like to dance, write, sing, read Shel Silverstein's poetry, and dream that I am in my own little world." Poem After a Sarawak Poem Iowa Writes To dream that she was being beaten by her father.
To dream of her mother's death.
To dream of being shot by a cruel person.
To dream of being hurt deep deep deep down inside.
To dream of being somewhere she does not want to be.
To dream of herself happy forever.
To dream of living in a peaceful world.
To dream of her being lovely.
To dream of her shooting among the stars.
To dream of her being released into the wild.
2006-09-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=77 Gerry Eskin As a young man, Eskin was drawn to photography. In high school, his photographs appeared in the daily newspapers and publications. In college, he studied photojournalism, and moved to Minneapolis, MN in 1959. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a doctoral degree in economics and went on to a distinguished career in marketing research. He taught Marketing Research and Quantitative Methods at Stanford University from 1969-72, and at the University of Iowa from 1972-82. In 1979 Eskin, along with an associate, founded a quantitatively-oriented marketing research company in Chicago, the firm pioneered the use of the bar code scanning as a tool for marketing research. Twelve years ago Eskin retired and returned to his passion of making art in the medium of clay.
Over three decades ago clay seduced Eskin at a "Love-In" held in a neighborhood park in Minneapolis. Eskin did not aim to assemble a masterpiece collection of ceramics but sought out works that, to him, were archetypal. The historical references in his work today are very direct. He is fixated with the artistic skills and technical innovations of ancient ceramists. Shaman Urn clay Eskin's work falls into three distinct categories: functional works, funerary urns and figures, and installation works. Eskin's life-long interest in archetypal ceramics is best expressed through his monumental "Spirit Houses," which have occupied a central position in his work for several years, and his more recent "Shaman Urns," in the form of hollow seated figures with separately fabricated heads that serve as a cover for the container.
Throughout his work Eskin reminds us of our shared histories, our ancestral and archetypal memories of shared humanity that links us in time and space to our past and present. artimages/09092006.jpg 300 433
2006-09-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=34 Dan Rowray Dan Rowray was a 29-0 State Champion wrestler in high school, attended the University of Iowa on a wrestling scholarship, and studied art. He has lived in Iowa City for 14 years. Untitled After a Sarawak Poem Iowa Writes To dream that poverty touched my feet.
To dream that puddles of rainwater touched me.
To dream that I was given a gift of incredible value.
To dream that my gift left me and the memory of the dream didn't.
To dream that I was recognized and touched.
To dream that a tree was my brother.
To dream that I was safe.
2006-09-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=32 Sarah Marshall Bee: (celled), detail intaglio with litho chine colle 6" x 6" 1997 artimages/09112006.jpg 400 399 The Graduate Archive
2006-09-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=33 Sherry Gordon Sherry Gordon is originally from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and is a Christian, feminist, liberal, progressive woman. She attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the early 1980s; in September 1990, she relocated to Iowa on a Greyhound bus. She transferred to the University of Iowa, where she is currently a Women's Studies and Sexuality Studies major. The Birds Iowa Writes The myna bird pair was quite a dynamic duo. They spoke very well, as fine imitators of our family's human voices. The birds' intelligence and the crisp, clean-cut quality of their voices were remarkable to behold.
My mother, father, older brothers, and I over sixteen years grew in love and attachment to these marvelous birds. Eventually, they grew old and died within six months of each other. My heart broke. Mother, Joe, and I held a funeral for our feathered friends. We made a cross out of tree limbs for a tombstone.
I am forty-three now. Once a month, I still dream of the midnight black colored myna birds. My heart yearns to see them in heaven. I will always love them.
It is amazing to see intelligence in all of god's creatures. We as human beings have a more sophisticated mental process; as my family and I saw in those beautiful birds, it is uncanny to witness the instinctual brilliance of simple animals. Animals can provide lessons for humankind.
2006-09-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=215 Mark Peterson Mark Peterson brings formal training in traditional disciplines to his own work as a painter. Originally from West Des Moines, Peterson earned his B.F.A. in painting from Drake University in Des Moines under the influence of Jules Kirschenbaum, at the same time he worked as studio assistant to Jack Wilkes. Confirming his skills in drawing and painting through his work with these two exacting masters of realism, Peterson then spent the Summer of 1996 at the Taller Cultural School of Art in Santiago de Cuba. There in workshops and discussions, he interacted with artists from Cuba. Returning to Iowa, he served as instructor of art at the Des Moines Art Center and at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Study: Structure IV mixed media collage 5" x 5" Of his paintings, Peterson writes: "Structures in my work are not objects immediately readable, nor do they exist in a place you can visit. My hope is to draw viewers into the paintings with these techniques (of shadow, texture, and reflection) and then free them of responsibility to figure it out. In creating the objects and compositions, I use small pieces of distressed paper torn into random shapes. I then arrange these pieces on a small color field until the composition feels complete, then paint into the objects and background defining new spatial relations. I find this way of working results in more organic and spontaneous images." artimages/09132006.jpg 400 398
2006-09-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=36 Karen Pace Karen Pace was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, and ended up in Iowa City twelve years ago. She attends Nazarene Church. She has been writing song lyrics since high school and started writing poetry in July 2005, thanks to the Patient Voice Project. "Poem" is also published as a letterpress broadside by Spout Graphic Press and is available for purchase at Prairie Lights bookstore. Poem Iowa Writes My brain reminds me
of a traffic light
red means stop so I won't
get hurt and know
whatever tells me no
for my own good
yellow means caution
to look at what's going
on before going on
green means go ahead
with what's ahead of me
My brain reminds me
of an ocean the waves go
back and forth when I am
sleeping waking and sleeping
But most of all my brain
reminds me of a caterpillar
in a cocoon resting for awhile
until it is ready to take off
its wings creating
a kaleidoscope
of golds in my brain
like a mirror on the wall
seeing my self in it
or an eel going on and off
inside me
2006-09-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=216 Terry Rathje Terry Rathje is working on his MFA at the University of Iowa. He is also currently a design instructor at Western Illinois University. I Felt Like a Moth mixed media My art is about rearranging reality. I spend half my time taking things apart and learning how they are made, and the other half putting them back together and learning about myself.
By observing and internalizing how the world is put together, the world inside and the world outside meet in some sort of strange juxtaposition that I really don't understand until the process is done. This meeting of the inside world and the outside world is at the heart of what I do. artimages/09152006.jpg 300 470
2006-09-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=38 Hamlett Dobbins Hamlett Dobbins's website http://www.hamlettdobbins.com/ Testing, Testing oil on canvas 29" x 18" 1997 Dobbins received a MA in Painting and Drawing in 1998. artimages/09162006.jpg 275 408 The Graduate Archive
2006-09-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=39 Kathy Kapitan Kathy Kapitan's hometown is Yankton, SD, and she currently gardens in Storm Lake, IA. She teaches composition courses at Buena Vista University. An avid reader, undisciplined writer, and enthusiastic gardener, Kapitan loves the Midwest, all four seasons, and the horizon as well as her family, friends, dogs, ducks, and cats. Thankful Iowa Writes Thankful for sweet peppers
Barbara called last night
Sweet Italian red peppers
Smooth thin skinned
Long red curved
Little lipstick peppers
Sun-kissed
Bold scarlet
Corno Di Toro
"Horn of the Bull"
Gorgeous red cones
Chinese Giants
Ripening from green to yellow
To orange to brilliant cherry-red
Arranging peppers
Seeing sweet red peppers again
And again
Spilling scarlet red over the blue crock bowl
Onto the kitchen counter
Five pepper pyramid
Perfect golden balance
Table centerpiece
Luscious blood-red cones lined up straight across the pink Depression glass plate
A prairie sunset of sweet peppers spanning the bookshelves
Her sweetheart joined her play
Then they got just plain silly
Topping the TV with a trio of lipstick peppers
Tumbling pepper cartwheels along the windowsill
Resting across the teacup, a long Italian red
Hanging from a curtain sash, a twisted c-shaped fruit
Trimming the brim of a proper black hat
Filling a Christmas stocking with bells
Balancing on a picture frame
Then replacing the bright abstract
With Uncle Ralph's portrait
Dust and all from the attic
Some peppers wearing lace doilies like shawls
Surprising each other
Seeing sweet red peppers again
And again
Tomorrow afternoon
Barbara and her sweetheart will try eating
Beloved sweet red peppers
Barbara called last night
Thankful for sweet peppers
Thankful
2006-09-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=40 LeeAnn McCoy LeeAnn McCoy is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. She lives in Iowa City with her husband and is working on her first novel. Graffiti Iowa Writes This is not the nice side of town. This is a place to pass through, and each day I do, safe in my subway bubble. After we leave one manicured, sturdy brick world and before we enter the next, we speed through this wasteland: broken cinder blocks, rusted barbed wire fences sprung from their posts, a potpourri of dirty leaves and garbage, plastic bags, styrofoam cups, wadded up tissues, a crushed Dunkin' Donuts munchkin box. But no matter how the light hits, all I see is gray gray gray. Then the T turns on its track and graffiti claims everything.
Over the backs of squat brick buildings, across cement pilings, up the arch of a little tunnel, graffiti swells and blooms with the same unwanted, bright beauty as dandelions. There are letters made puffy and soft, angled and edgy, 3-D and coming toward you. There are abstract designs outlined heavily in black: arcs and waves and shapes like clouds. The usual array of declarations are scribbled beneath and sometimes over: phone numbers, initials, "the bees Forever!," "Nemo Sucks!" But these words ride a great plume of red crested by rust and crash into a blue and green swirl, a shower of yellow sparks.
All this chaos of color builds up to the tunnel and the T slows as we approach it. A heart the height of a man and three times as wide billows up, crooked, cartoonish, blatantly red. At its center, in black letters each as long as my arm, "I LOVE YOU, PK!" It is not new, this heart, and it shows no sign of fading. Oh, PK, where are you? Are you ashamed when you see this, are you regretful, does your heart buoy up and your stomach drop to the crotch of your jeans? This heart cannot blend in, PK, it reduces the declarations around it to nothing.
Maybe you're riding on the T, PK, baby on your hip. You hold the metal bar to keep from swaying. You're wondering when her next booster shot is and if your sister will be on time and then it hits, "I LOVE YOU, PK!" and your baby is patting your mouth and the name of the graffiti artist is singing in your brain, rising to your lips, then the train whirs into blackness and you absentmindedly kiss the baby's fingers and your husband touches your shoulder and gestures to a seat made available and can he tell something's come over you? He doesn't even know you as PK, for you've taken his last name in place of your own, and this old identity hangs outside you, beyond the windows. You have made your life into a round thing, yet the past tags along or ambushes you in all its embarrassing, misplaced glory. How unformed life was then, how limitless in possibility.
True, one explanation does not erase the possibility of others: you never liked him, PK, or you loved him terribly but he was insincere, or he was a she and now she's married, like you, and you wonder, what did it mean? Or you're a man. Or you wish you'd loved him back. Or you wish you hadn't. You were a thirteen-year-old girl, a sixteen-year-old boy, the woman who took the tickets at the roller rink. You were enthralled, you were appalled, you were the laughing stock of your seventh grade class.
Yes, it's true: people seldom love us enough, or in the right way.
So let's say this: you are fifteen, PK, and awkward and wear your jeans too tight and your sweatshirts too big and spray your bangs into a perfect arc, like a wave. Desire is percolating up inside you, the smoothness of his hand on your thigh, the smell of his jean jacket, Brut aftershave and Juicy Fruit and smoke. And this moment of declaration, too tenuous to be re-enacted, is rushing by. And in this moment, oh if only you could see it, that last nearly white shaft of light from a gray November sky, the way the trash is singing in the wind, if only you'd stop and pay attention, you have everything, the whole, perfect weight of love. And the cold of the tunnel is making your back damp and the wind is whipping through your hair and the passing train is shaking your bodies together and however far I've strayed, know this: in the midst of all these broken, used up things, in this place which is a place to pass through, the graffiti artist loves you.
2006-09-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=217 Elizabeth Shriver Elizabeth Shriver is a native Iowan and a 1987 graduate of the University of Iowa. Her interest in ceramics dates back to her first studio ceramics course in 1985. In recent years she has worked in her own home studio, and exhibited her work in the Eastern Iowa region. Village 67 ceramic 6" x 7" She says this about her work: "I work with clay to create an array of graceful, organic forms. These pieces are made through a variety of hand-building methods such as slab-building, coiling, pinching, and forming with molds. Rarely relying on glaze, I use textures, stains and colored clay to add visual and tactile interest. I am drawn toward neutral earth tones, and my work reflects the natural landscape, plant and undersea life that are my inspiration."
"The curving lines of nature inherent in my work generate an illusion of movement, giving each piece an almost lifelike quality. A successful piece is one that begs to be touched as well as explored visually." artimages/09192006.jpg 400 340
2006-09-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=42 Marvin Bell Marvin Bell is the former Poet Laureate of Iowa. Typesetting The Odyssey Iowa Writes Norton is smoking a pipe as he slots the letters
into a type stick, the California job case
thinning out as he uses up the m's and n's
and the e's despite their number. It's a case of
how many individual acts can a man get right
in one hand, yes it's one more revision of thought
sweating into labor and a philosophy of acts
vis--vis the whole tenor of a life. That is,
shall a man be stoned to death by his neighbors,
or is it sufficient to have one representative
of all who are without sin take the rap. How
on this bumpy earth can a typesetter make all
the right draws in perfect order, not even one
upside-down italic x? He can't. The classics
are the place for the gods, aglitter in the ether,
flaming the sea with their haute-supreme
perfection, and sacrosanct on their home turf:
ageless luminaries of an age when the voyage
knocked you off your pins and Troy fell.
Reprinted from Rampant, Copper Canyon Press, 2004. Marvin Bell, 2004.
2006-09-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=218 Lonna Keller Keller received her MA in Jewelry and Metal Arts in 1997. Silver Massage sterling silver, black onyx 32" x 18" artimages/09212006.jpg 400 267 The Graduate Archive
2006-09-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=331 Richard Krogstad Richard received a M.F.A. in painting from the University of Massachusetts and a B.A. in art from the University of Iowa. He’s been in numerous shows at Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis. Several of Richard’s paintings have been selected by the U.S. Department of State Art in Embassies Program for loan to the U.S. Embassies in Berlin, Germany and Kalonia, Micronesia. Richard’s work is in the collections of American Express Financial Advisers, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Norwest Corporation, Cargill Corporation, and Wells Fargo Corporation. Red Pickup 3 oil on panel 40" x 60" Krogstad, an Iowa native who now lives near Minneapolis, paints the Midwestern landscape, concentrating on the region’s skies, rivers, lakes, and “strong, honest farm buildingsâ€. He is particularly drawn to skies, as is evident from the sometimes threatening, sometimes wispy clouds that dominate many of his paintings. Richard sees painting as a way of preserving the pastoral landscape. He writes, “Perhaps what is left can be considered worth saving, if it is seen with new eyes.†artimages/09222006.jpg 400 266
2006-09-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=45 Joanna Klink Joanna Klink was born in Iowa City, Iowa. After leaving the state to attend college and graduate school, she returned to study poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. The author of They Are Sleeping and Circadian (forthcoming from Penguin in 2007), she teaches at the University of Montana, Missoula. The Eventides Iowa Writes You find yourself in complaint in a field of
lodestone This is the human way
Shut of day and its soft-colored float-glass
you too are shutting a slow river of stones
underfoot in the grass The green way the gray way
vesper as the eyelids snow over in dusk
And the field in which you stand a plinth
to the wavering night unwitnessed fathomless
full blind then full dark Are you never
enough as you are knowing the night drops and coils
where you speak should you say anything
Your complaint that you were there at all
Anything is less than this where eventide
and its vacant grasses make a lustrous vacancy
in you make you remember you were there
you lived were helped and loved
Who knows what you are Headlands islands
needles stacked in star-shapes guided by the gem's
crystal structure Dark-in-rain a water
unlike any other water you walk across lands
spread with bones and dust because of you
Because of you the world is warmer the lake-winds warmer
drafts of dry air that wind over corundum
Because this is all you are offered and it dries out
withdraws In inches and degrees
you draw into your ownmost ghostliness
shaped into rain and rain-quiet and the quiet
of each seed in each seed-pod Feldspar
morganite your islands stars in the soil of what was
possible This then was a shape a life
a moment given to the world during the world's
brief passing You are all that you are
You are dayborn abalone open to the stars
You find silence in you Within you
the stars are strange blurs of shell skeined
with the sliding tides A horizon always in your eyes
dayborn born of quiet into quiet a boat to bear you
piecemeal over unclear water An immense
emptiness dropped a sack of dust in dust-gold
cast and scattered asterial a salt born in all quiet
through waves of quiet drawn to shore
Nightborn you are part of everything you want
no part of Solar aster swimmer
you find piecemeal the world within you and move
shore-drawn day-drawn as if nothing were
asked of you To approach this shore is to know
you are borne you are asked the earth waits for you
2006-09-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=260 Jennifer Myers Jennifer Myers is a MA candidate in Intermedia. Her current work is an experimental narrative in five media (drawings, photography, installation, video, writing) that is based loosely on a fictional creation myth. She is excited to be working in the Intermedia department and welcomes feedback on her work. Jennifer Myers's website http://www.punkypip.blogspot.com Recall ink on paper 2006 artimages/09242006.jpg 410 279
2006-09-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=261 Carol Carter Carol received a MA in Photography in 2002. The Factory #1 silver gelatin print 11" x 14" 2000 artimages/09252006.jpg 400 321 The Graduate Archive
2006-09-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=48 William Elliot Whitmore William Elliott Whitmore is an Iowa-based singer and songwriter. His latest album is Song of the Blackbird. Black Iowa Dirt Iowa Writes I'll put that black Iowa dirt on a biscuit
I'll put that black Iowa dirt in my tea
I'll put that black Iowa dirt in a big ol' bucket
and carry it around with me
I took a walk in the corn row this mornin',
last night it rained an inch or two
it was gettin' hard to walk so I looked down at my feet,
I got that black Iowa dirt on my shoes
I got that dirt underneath my fingernails,
I got that dirt runnin' through my veins
That black Iowa dirt turns my blood to mud
every time it rains
In the east field I got a little rye patch,
in the north field I got my corn
up on high ground is where I'll be found,
in the house where I was born
I've seen black Iowa dirt help a family
get by on a wing and a prayer
I've seen black Iowa dirt explode out the ground
and go a thousand feet in the air
I got that dirt underneath my fingernails
I got that dirt runnin' through my veins
that black Iowa dirt turns my blood to mud
every time it rains
I got me a big ol' patch of 'taters,
I got me a big ol' patch of beans
I got that black Iowa dirt on my new white shirt,
I got that black Iowa dirt on my jeans
I'll put that black Iowa dirt on a biscuit,
I'll put that black Iowa dirt in my tea
When they go to fill my grave on the hill
They'll put that black Iowa dirt over me
I got that dirt underneath my fingernails,
I got that dirt runnin' through my veins
that black Iowa dirt turns my blood to mud
every time it rains
2006-09-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=49 Marcia A. Murphy Marcia A. Murphy is a writer and hospital volunteer. She has written extensively and published work on mental illness and recovery. She lives in Iowa City, IA. Dawn Iowa Writes Once one has survived a near-death experience, everyday life is seen with a new perspective. My near-death experience occurred when I barely survived a suicide attempt back in my late thirties. Afterward, buried in a fog of doubt and confusion, I clawed my way into the light of life. Still, over a decade later, I experience rebirth in numerous ways on various occasions.
Recently, my friend advised: "Go outside in the early morning. Listen to the birds. What are they saying to you?"
So I went out. The morning, still dark from the cover of night, came alive with the delicate, yet mighty chorus of birdsong. I walked about. A cardinal in a tree, one on a TV antenna. All around, there were different kinds of birds merging notes and melodies, seemingly joyous, yet with a hint of melancholy. It then occurred to me that birds were not only singing in my neighborhood, but they were doing so all over the city, the countryside, the state, and the region. In fact, they sang anywhere the sun was rising, as it did all over the world. Such a thought captivated me in wonder and awe.
A neighbor opened her door, coffee in hand.
"Good morning," I called out.
"Good morning," she said.
When one has had a close encounter with death, afterwards all that makes life worthwhile becomes more apparent. Now, I don't take the singing of birds for granted. And I'll never forget one particular spring morning when the heavens poured down showers. I still heard one solitary bird somewhere out there in the rain. It sang, giving praise to its Maker. Undaunted. Loyal. So I thought to myself: let this be a lesson for me. Even while in the midst of life's storms. Sing.
2006-09-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=332 Jeff Jensen Japanese Beetles Eating a Yellow Chair mixed media Ideas come to me in the form of a chair. Usually it starts as a small drawing in a journal and then a large pastel. Drawings are important to my process. On paper I can work out color combinations while getting a general feel for the piece I want to build. The 3D forms are approached in much the way as my drawings. The drawing starts out with a raw piece of paper and the 3D forms start out with raw pieces of pine. I choose to build my forms from the ground up and I do not want to use an already existing manufactured chair, I want to control the form. Edges and surfaces and how they can be cut through, broken down and manipulated into many different and new surfaces is what I'm after. Layers of color and how they work off of each other, combined with the different surfaces and how it directs the eye is important to me.
The Japanese Beetle series started about 6 years ago. One early spring morning I was walking past an elderly man in his yard plucking bugs off his plants. I asked him, "how he was doing" and he replied, "these Japanese Beetles are eating everything". After living in Kentucky for some time I knew what he was frustrated about. Japanese Beetles though very colorful, are devastating to plants and gardens. After hearing the man's reply I immediately knew what my next body of work would be. Japanese Beetles eating chairs, the combination has worked well. I have been able to combine my interest in breaking down the forms and at the same time I have been able to use a lot of color as well as interject some humor to my work.
My latest body of work has involved breaking up chair forms and putting them back together with different manufactured elements such as: bolts, screws and nails. I'm still layering the surface with color but the bugs have disappeared for the moment. We will see what comes next. artimages/09282006.jpg 254 430
2006-09-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=263 Don E. Perkins Don E. Perkins has lived in Iowa all his life except for his time in the Navy during World War II. He earned a Masters in Education degree at the U of Iowa. Don is married, has three adult children, and two adult grandchildren. He lives in Des Moines. My Aunt Maggie Iowa Writes If my Aunt Maggie is out in the chicken coop gathering eggs, when we stop for a visit, I might see her sprint for the house. Or if she is in her garden picking green beans, I see her briefly when she hurries to get out of sight. And that's usually all I ever see of her.
It's different if Aunt Maggie sees us coming. I'm sure she scrambles for hiding the moment she spots our car's dust trail on the rock road. Those times I don't see her at all.
Uncle Johnny usually tells us, Oh, Maggie just washed her hair and thinks it looks a mess." Or he says, She's been cleaning out the chicken coop and she's all dirty." My parents appear to accept his excuses.
During our visit Aunt Maggie stays in the bedroom, but I'm sure she listens at the door so she won't miss anything. Later Mom tells me, Maggie hides because she's just a shy country girl. What's more, she doesn't have decent clothes and Johnny refuses to buy her anything nice. When we leave Mom gives him a pair of light blue slacks, two pair of knee high stockings, and two sweaters.
These might fit Maggie and I don't need them. Maybe she can use them."
The next time we stop at the farm Maggie must have seen us coming. I see nothing of her. We sit and talk in the living room, but just before we leave Mom faces the bedroom door and says, I notice Maggie's vegetable garden looks especially nice this year. Not a weed anywhere. And her kitchen is so clean I wouldn't hesitate to eat right off the floor. A weed-free garden and a spotless kitchen are two things Aunt Maggie cherishes most.
On the way home Mom says, All Maggie needs is for people to appreciate what she does. Her parents never praised her for anything and I've seen her own brothers make fun of her."
When Maggie gains some self-confidence Mom thinks she'll stop hiding. She intends to have a serious talk with Uncle Johnny. She thinks he should praise her every chance he gets.
On our next visit Mom says to her brother, Johnny, I'd like to see the garden." When they are outside Mom begins. Now listen here. You've got to stop taking Maggie for granted. You must start complimenting her for all the good things she does around here. You know very well you couldn't run this farm without her."
She goes at him for about ten minutes. Before they go inside she says, I mean it, you get busy doing what I told you." He walks with his head down looking like a youngster whose mother has reprimanded him.
On our next visit Uncle Johnny takes Dad and me out to the barn to show us the calf born that morning. Mom stays in the house, so I figure she has something in mind. The Holstein calf is eagerly taking his dinner. Momma Cow looks at us as though saying, "Well, what do you think? Did I do good or what?"
Dad and Uncle Johnny discuss the weather and corn prices. Now they drift into politics. Dad's a solid Republican and Uncle Johnny is a fiery Democrat and they're close to an argument when Dad decides, We all better go in now."
Mom is drinking a cup of tea. She laughs at something someone next to her just said. The other lady also holds a teacup. She looks at me and says, Well Donnie, what do you think of our new calf?" I realize this lady wearing the pale blue slacks is my Aunt Maggie and she's not hiding.
During the drive home Dad shakes his head in amazement and asks Mom, How in the world did you do that?"
Oh, it was simple. I just stood in front of her bedroom door and said 'Maggie, you'd better get out here and make me a cup of tea or else I'll do it myself and probably dirty up your kitchen so badly it'll take you a month to get it clean.'"
2006-09-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=262 Hai-Pei Chu Hai-Pei received a MA in Design in 1995. Cross Book paper 6.5" x 6.5" 1994 artimages/09302006.jpg 400 272 The Graduate Archive
2006-10-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=264 Millie Frese Millie Frese lives in Marshalltown, Iowa. from "Stitching in Time" Iowa Writes Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost" (John 6:12). I move through life like a scavenger, gathering scraps of fabric, bits of memory, fragments of dreams, and pieces of lives as women have done throughout years, across worlds, spanning generations. The best quilts, I think, are the ones where the fragments are gathered from clothing that has been outgrown or worn out, or from cutting scraps left from garment construction. The whole becomes something that transcends pattern, color, and composition. It becomes something many may look at but few will see. Who but the quilter might recognize fragments of her son's pajamas, the ones with the knees worn through? They were faded and soft, but portions could be saved and stitched into a quilt. Her son will one day see the quilt and the fragments of his life it contains; he will know that he is treasured; that he is not lost. A quilt is warm because of where it takes you. It offers a sense of place. A sense of peace. A sense of belonging to something greater than oneself. Like the other quilters at my table, my hands gather and my heart holds the fragments. I hoard bits and pieces of things to write about or sew into a quilt, working to create something whole out of many parts; I am the thread.
I remember finishing a quilt for my oldest child. I cut out the pieces, mostly triangles and squares, when Sarah was in middle school. She helped me pick out the 1930s reproduction fabrics at a quilt shop to go with yards of creamy muslin I'd been saving for years. There was a note pinned to the muslin, written on a flap that had been torn from a yellowed envelope: Threads of Gold. 7 yards."? A friend had given it to me because she knew I would use it. My friend was in her eighties and made beautiful quilts but didn't think she'd ever use all of the fabric she had collected. She had inherited the Threads of Gold muslin along with other sewing supplies when her mother died, decades ago. Her mother probably acquired the fabric in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
You can travel forward in time, or back, depending on how you look at the quilt. Sarah monitored my progress, watching as squares and triangles became individual blocks and as individual blocks came together. Even before it was finished, the quilt became hers because she loved it. Soon she would graduate from high school and she wanted the quilt to go with her into the next phase of her life. And she hoped I would finish the quilt in time to get acquainted with it before she left home. She wanted the quilt that had matured and grown with her over several years to feel familiar so that when, in her dorm room, she crawled into her bunk beneath the quilt she would know--no matter what had happened throughout the day--?that all is well.
2006-10-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=265 Patricia Ballard Coffie Patricia Ballard Coffie writes and tells stories from home. Her family is Iowan for six generations, back to the 1840s. She has served as president of the Iowa Library Association and the Northlands Storytelling Network, a five-state organization. She has served on the Board of the National Storytelling Network. Insistence Iowa Writes White house, green grass, small heart-shaped leaves on the lilacs, smaller spring green leaves on the maples. Homemade white swingset with porch swing and a child's wooden swing, under one maple.
Shades of brown in the wet branches and tree trunks. Shades of black in the soft wet earth smooth around the tree trunks and scuffed into velvet under the swings. Wet not of rain but of heavy dew.
Grass not yet mowed even once swishing against shoes as she walks to the car. Silver dew drops at the tip of heart-shaped lilac leaves; at the sharp points on the maple leaves; all along every bar of the swingset and at the tips of blades of grass. A silver sparkle in each drop from the pale light of the early sun.
The car door handle smooth and cool and wet--opened softly; slammed shut. Tears running down her face.
"Life is crap. What is this morning doing here?" Her voice and the engine breaking the silence at the same time.
The dog not outside yet. No walkers, no runners. No wind. No birds. No sound but her voice and the racing engine. Anger. Anger.
A look back at the swingset white against the rich browns and blacks and greens and all sparkling with silver drops. Stark pure beauty. Undeniable and painful.
No answer. No one to answer. No thing to answer. Alone and hurting. Alone and more alone.
Brown and black and gray of the gravel. Angry shift and out the driveway. Glass and glasses fogged by the moisture of the morning, including the tears.
No answer for months but no escaping that question; that morning.
Answers came. They flowed and changed then settled gradually until she knew. That morning was spring and beauty, hope and renewal, insistent upon recognition.
2006-10-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=469 Matt Corones Matthew Corones is an artist living and working in New York. He is originally from Des Moines, Iowa and earned a BFA in photography from Cooper Union, New York, NY. His artwork belongs to various public and private collections. Rainbow Matrix Small inkjet print on paper 12" x 12" 2006 artimages/10032006.jpg 410 421
2006-10-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=359 Jeffrey Lyn Nichols Nichols received a MA in Photography in 1998. Untitled wood block print 8" x 10" 1997 artimages/10042006.jpg 328 425 The Graduate Archive
2006-10-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=266 Samuel Stewart Samuel Stewart writes: "I am fourteen years old and homeschooled. My parents graduated from the University of Iowa, and my grandmother lives in Sioux City. My inspiration for this essay came from my grandmother's backyard." A View of Home Iowa Writes It has been in my family for nearly a century. My grandfather was born there, and now both my grandmother and great-aunt live there. It is a part of the Loess Hills of Iowa, which were created from the eolian dust that the glaciers left behind. It is a place of both majesty and fear. It will be my parent's home, and, one day, my home. It is one of the most beautiful places in the Midwest.
On this ridge where my ancestors lived, you can view the Missouri River, see across the paper-flat lands of Nebraska and South Dakota, and with a good telescope, one might see the Rocky Mountains. It was this way when Louis and Clark made their expedition to the Pacific. Perhaps the Sioux Indians used it as a lookout point. It has been this way since the Ice Age, when the glaciers made their trip down towards the south, crushing anything that got in their way, and created the Great Plains. The dust from the crushed rocks scattered to the four winds, and settled, creating these majestic hills. And, as the land is too steep to develop, mankind will not be able to destroy it.
Every hour, a bell tolls, ringing throughout the hills. It originates from a Catholic monastery, where the cloistered nuns ring the bell to recognize the passing of the hours. Though time passes for humans, it does not pass for the hills. Every blade of grass in the pasture is verdant, reminiscent of the past, when nature ruled the land. The pee-wee's call is carried by the summer breeze, and wrens furiously scold those foolish enough to enter into their domains. When my mother was still a child, there were chicken barns, with roofs that stretched almost to the ground. She used to lie on the red, sun-warmed roof. Those buildings are gone now, torn down shortly after I was born. Though some things might not last, the sun, the hills and the good memories do.
But on some hot, sticky, summer days the forces of nature arise; the sky gradually turns from blue to grey, then to black. The clouds begin to swirl as the wind picks up. Rain deluges the once-peaceful hill, and spears of lightning hit their targets on earth. A dark, jagged ring rotates, stalks, above Nebraska, threatening to descend, and destroy all that it meets. In the center of this ring, a column descends to earth. However, it is not the menacing gray of the clouds surrounding it, but a fiery, transparent orange. It is hail, illuminated by the sunset. Golf ball-sized hail falls from the sky, seeking something to break or dent. On the edges, small offshoots of the cloud work their way towards earth. This is nature at its most powerful, its most wrathful, its worst moment. It is a moment that people record on camera, then flee from, to take refuge in some dark, deserted corner of the cellar.
It has been in my family for nearly a century, and things have changed in the past decades. My grandmother installed an automatic sprinkler system, one that I used to run through on hot summer days. There are several stepping stones, made from cool grey concrete, and imprinted with the hands and feet of my relatives. The dates that they recorded in these stones have eroded to the point of illegibility. The milk box that was used to keep milk cool is now used as a doorstop. The barns are gone, and an ornamental hedge has been planted around the yard. The view is the same, but the world around it is not.
One of the most historic and majestic views in the Midwest, it represents transience and permanence, security and fear. It is the home of my ancestors, and, someday, it will be my home.
2006-10-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=470 Justine Zimmer Sculptor/arts activist Justine Zimmer received her MFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry from the University of Iowa in 1999. In 1997, she co-founded Studiolo, an Iowa City Fine Art and Craft Gallery which closed in 2002. She is the creator of "Dorothy," the tornado sculpture at the Dubuque Street entrance of the pedestrian mall, representing the "Cultural Epicenter" of Iowa City. She has exhibited her work in juried competitions and invitational exhibitions throughout the United States. Justine is well known locally for her efforts in the drive to save and restore the historic Englert Civic Theater. Flowers copper artimages/10062006.jpg 322 410
2006-10-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=353 Linda Hime Newberry Linda Hime Newberry writes: "I am a 1986 graduate of the University of Iowa and an Iowa City native. I earned my master's degree from the Harvard Extension School in 2002. I travel widely lecturing and teaching quilting. My husband and I live halfway between Boston and Cape Cod." Darrell Iowa Writes Darrell was heavy-set and at seventeen towered over most of our friends. His thick, black hair was straight and gleamed a bluish hue when hit by the sun. A swath of hair always fell across his eyes, causing him to toss his head back constantly.
Today Darrell's family might be called dysfunctional, as his divorced and remarried parents were constantly swapping custody of their assortment of children. When we sometimes walked home from school together, he never seemed in any particular hurry to get home.
Darrell and I dated once, on the night of our senior prom. I borrowed a formal dress from a friend and his rented tux resembled something discarded from one of Elvis's Las Vegas acts. He bought me a wrist corsage of peach-colored baby roses. Dinner was uncomfortable at first, as we were really only casual friends, but we laughed throughout the meal. We decided to order "grown-up" food; it was the only time I've ever had duck l'orange. Realizing we didn't actually want to go to the prom itself, we met up with friends for the party after. We never danced together.
After graduation I attended a small college in northwestern Iowa. Darrell enlisted in the Air Force. I couldn't believe it. During dinner every night of my adolescence, I watched footage of the Vietnam War on the evening news. I had skipped classes in high school to join anti-war protests on the University of Iowa campus and campaigned for McGovern. Now it seemed the war was almost over. I thought no one in his right mind would enlist! All of the guys we knew were doing everything they could to avoid getting drafted or fleeing to Canada. One friend of my sister's tobogganed downhill into a tree on purpose, dislocating a shoulder so he failed his physical.
Many of our friends who had no interest in higher education were scrambling to get accepted to college somewhere. But Darrell didn't have an academic inclination. High school had been fun, but it was over. His home life was not welcoming. Maybe Darrell didn't have anywhere else to go. Perhaps he felt going into the military was his best alternative. I never asked him about his reasons. Instead, I yelled at him and told him I thought he was making a stupid mistake.
One fall weekend when I was home from school Darrell was also home on leave. I was on my way to go somewhere when he called out to me from across the street. Watching him stride across the yard, head up and shoulders back, I realized he had been transformed. He didn't hang his head like he sometimes had. The beautiful, jet-black hair was cropped close, revealing stunning grey eyes I somehow had never noticed before. His trimmed physique took my breath away.
Standing there in my elaborately embroidered bib overalls and earth shoes, I was too immature to appreciate the choices he had made, the dedication, direction, and discipline he had needed and found. Instead, I was furious with him. He told me he was heading to Southeast Asia. I urged him to do something to delay going, even suggested he go north. To his great credit he didn't get angry, but was clearly saddened I couldn't show support or wish him well. He stood his ground and told me he knew what he was doing.
One morning in May 1975, I stopped in the lobby of the dorm to read the Des Moines Register, a daily habit. In the bottom right-hand corner a small headline read, "Iowa City Man, 19, Killed in Helicopter Crash in Thailand." I thought, "Hmmm, I'll read this and see if I know this person." I now know what the expression "the world tilted on its axis" means.
I must have made some kind of sound because people were suddenly rushing towards me. I had to get away. I couldn't let anyone see the horror I felt, the shame. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe. I didn't want to be near anyone. I ran upstairs and into one of the dormitory bathrooms. I hid in a shower stall in the farthest corner, sank to the floor, and sobbed. I cried not only for Darrell's too-short life but also because I am selfish. I knew I would have to live the rest of my life regretting the way I treated him the last time I saw him.
I didn't go home for Darrell's funeral. For many reasons, but primarily because I knew he wouldn't be there, I've never gone back for any of the class reunions. Over the last 30 years, I've wished countless times he had waited just a few more weeks to enlist. By then, the war would have been over and he could have spent his years of service in some relatively peaceful place. Instead, he was one of the last casualties of the Vietnam War. I mourned the loss of his potential and learned to live with my regret.
I think of Darrell often now that we are at war again. I think of him every time I see another flag-draped coffin. I think of the families and friends who will be missing that person. I believe what they say about history repeating itself. I am angry all over again.
About fifteen years ago I was in Washington, D.C., and forced myself to go to the Vietnam War Memorial. As I traced my fingers over Darrell's name engraved on the Wall, I was struck by a couple of things. First, the stone is so shiny my image was mirrored back to me. Not only does the Wall honor those named on it, it reminds those of us who come there we are part of that history. Second, the stone is jet-black, and has an almost bluish tint to it when the sun shines on it...just like Darrell's hair.
2006-10-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=360 Cody Bush Bush received a MA in Jewelry and Metal Arts Ti Food titanium, sterling silver 9" x 1 1/4" x 1/8" (knife) 1999 artimages/10082006.jpg 307 415 The Graduate Archive
2006-10-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=354 Amelia Colwell Amelia Colwell was raised in Waterloo, Iowa. She studied psychology and social work at the University of Iowa. She now lives and works in Minneapolis. The Award Iowa Writes God won an award—
A navy blue ribbon—
for being awesome
God took his ribbon home,
Hung it on the fridge,
And left it there two months.
He liked the way the letters sparkled
God lost his award
One day when he was reading
A book about dreams
He checked out from the library
The water boiling for the manicotti
Spilled over to the stove
So God marked his spot—
Dreams about spiders—
With his blue ribbon
God had laundry to do that day
so he asked his neighbor
to drop his dream
book in the return slot
on his way downtown.
His neighbor felt obligated,
since the dog had chewed
a hole in God’s tire swing,
and God watched the kids
last May
when the baby was jaundiced
in the natal unit
under a buzzing light.
2006-10-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=471 Guy Loraine Guy Loraine was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He studied photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and also studied in Derby, England. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and has worked as a photographer for The Smithsonian Institution, The National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. Untitled 7 copper, patina, and baltic branch 26" x 6" x 9" 2006 Loraine has spent many years as a metal smith, working on conceptual pieces that combine organic shapes with agricultural and industrial forms. He makes minimalist sculptures from copper and stainless steel. artimages/10102006.jpg 205 415
2006-10-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=355 Etgar Keret Etgar Keret was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel in 1967. His latest book, The Nimrod Flipout, was published in spring 2006 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He participated in the 2001 International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.
"600 Words" appeared originally in 91st Meridian, the electronic journal of the University of Iowa's International Writing Program: an electronic forum to encourage the frank exchange of ideas. Etgar Keret's website http://www.etgarkeret.com 600 Words Iowa Writes My mother says I'll never be able to understand what it's like for a nation to be without a country. Now, my mom, she really knows what she's talking about. After all, she went through the Holocaust, saw her home destroyed in Poland, lost her mom and dad and little brother, and finally ended up here, in the land of Israel, her country, the land she swore she would never leave.
Ghassan says I'll never be able to understand what it's like for a nation to live under occupation. No, he didn't go through the Holocaust, and his whole family is alive, thank God, at least for the time being. But he's had it up to here with the Israeli soldiers at the border checkpoint. "Sometimes you make it through the roadblock in a second or two, but sometimes, when they're bored, they can make you feel like life isn't worth living. They force you to wait for hours in the sun for no reason, to humiliate you. Just last week, they confiscated two packs of Kent Longs from me, simply because they felt like it. An eighteen-year old kid with a rifle in his hand and a face full of zits just came and took them."
Adina, the neighbor from downstairs, says I'll never be able to understand what it's like to lose a loved one in a suicide bombing. "No death can be more meaningless than that," she says. "He died for two reasons: ?because he was Israeli and because he felt like having an espresso in the middle of the night. If you can think of any dumber reasons for dying, let me know. And there isn't even anyone to get mad at. After all, the guy that killed my brother is already dead himself, blown to pieces."
My mother says that we have no other place to go, that no matter where we go, we'll always be strangers, hated, Jews. Ghassan says that my country, the State of Israel, is an alien and strange entity and that there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. There it is in the middle of the Middle East pretending to be in the heart of Europe, participating in the Eurovision song contest every year, making sure to send a soccer team to the European cup games, and it just doesn't get that it's located in the heart of the desert, surrounded by a Middle Eastern mentality which it refuses to acknowledge. Adina says we're living on borrowed time, that every time she sees the Palestinian children going wild with joy and handing out candy after every terror attack, she thinks about how these children are going to grow up. So I should stop all that nonsense about peace.
And if there is one thing that my mother, Ghassan, and Adina have in common, it's that they are all certain, absolutely certain, that I simply can't understand what's going on in their heads.
But I'm actually pretty good at figuring out what's going on in other people's heads, sometimes, especially when times are bad, I even manage to make a living at it. All kinds of foreign publications call me and ask me to explain, if possible in 600 words or less, what people in Israel are thinking. It's just a shame that I can't invent new thoughts for them too ones that are a little less afraid, a little less hateful. Thoughts more positive, optimistic, compact, no more than 600 words.
Translated from the Hebrew by Ruchie Avital
2006-10-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=472 Lois Jecklin Lois Jecklin is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where she majored in studio art, was in the Honors program, named to the Scholastic Citation List, and to the President's Honors Convocation. She was a LaVerne Noyes Scholar. Currently, Jecklin is a personal manager for composer Bright Sheng, whom she represented as part of her roster while President and owner of Jecklin Associates, an artists' management firm doing business worldwide. A highlight of her career as an arts executive was managing the John Deere Artist in Residence Program and the residency of sculptor Beverly Pepper. Current volunteer posts for Jecklin include the Board of Direcotrs, Museum of Arts & Design, New York City. Dr. Dirk Jecklin also graduated from the University of Iowa with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. After his retirement, Lois and Dirk began to create slumped glass, following his course work at the Washington Glass School. His skills as a dentist who did his own lab work have been important in the glass studio. Their work is available in museum shops in New York City, St. Louis, Mo, and Davenport, IA, as well as in galleries in Iowa City and Washington D.C. Retro Bowl glass 5" x 5" x 1.5" artimages/10122006.jpg 400 301
2006-10-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=361 Neva Sills Sills received a MFA in Painting and Drawing in 2005 Arizona Green latex on paper 100" x 86" 2002 artimages/10132006.jpg 400 324 The Graduate Archive
2006-10-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=356 Alice Davison Alice Davison has lived in Iowa City and other parts of the Midwest for many years, after graduate study in linguistics at the University of Chicago. She currently teaches linguistics at the University of Iowa. In 2004-5 she underwent medical treatment at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics.
The Patient Voice Project offers free creative writing classes for the chronically and mentally ill in the Iowa City community, taught by Master of Fine Arts students in the Writers' Workshop. The ambition of the program is to explore the therapeutic benefits of writing for those struggling with chronic, mental, and physical pain, to address what medical sociologist Arthur Frank calls the "narrative wreckage" caused by serious injury or illness. Night and Some Narcotics Iowa Writes Last August I made it a point to stay up in the evening, though I was tired and not able to concentrate on either reading or the television. As soon as it was ten I filled the big syringe with water for flushing the feeding tube, and two of the little syringes with the red narcotic painkiller which was only part codeine, the rest was Tylenol. I took the syringes and two cans of food upstairs with me and I went to bed, lying on my stiff pillow to stay propped up while asleep. The feeding tube pump was my constant companion and incubus, purring away if all went well; if not, it tormented me with alarms set off by a kinked plastic tube.
The best part of the evening was when I put the first painkiller dose into the feeding tube. Lying down set off the extreme pain in my shoulder where the surgeon had gone in through my ribs. I could lie, floating on the narcotic until the pain subsided. I read for a while, always an espionage novel. I read John LeCarr's Tinker Tailor. I now understand the plot of it after many re-readings. My surgical wound was large and shaped like a sickle, and had a discharge just like what happened to Jim Prideaux, the betrayed spy in the book. He was shot up in Czecho, shot in the back in an ambush and later returned to England with no job and an aching wound. It was comforting to re-read this book because I knew how it ended. All was finally clear, though not well, when the mole was unmasked and his tangle of betrayal was revealed diagnosis and an explanation of a sort for why things were wrong.
After I finished that book, my favorite reading was in several very noir spy novels set during or just before World War II, in which terrible things happen. Actually what happens in the books is much worse than what was actually reported by the BBC at 8 every morning when I woke up. In the books, the hero might be a French movie director, or a Polish officer, or a Hungarian aristocrat, or a poor boy from Bulgaria. It didn't matter; ?the hero is always good and alive at the end of the story. Surrounded by war, the hero keeps his humanity; he continues his love affairs, keeps writing articles for his newspaper, makes a film and runs his travel bureau, while taking on a secret purpose in defiance of the enemy. The book often takes place in Paris, with careful descriptions of specific metro stations and cheap hotels as they were in 1940. Or perhaps the story is in Warsaw, or on the Danube or in Portugal or Berlin, with everyone spying on everyone. There were descriptions of lavish black market dinners, which I ate vicariously, not being able to eat anything real. I liked it all: ?a literary narcotic.
Then I would sleep until the feeding tube pump started to make a racket, beeping to signal that it was empty. I would then pour more of this gray-brown stuff into the reservoir and gratefully take the second dose of painkiller, assuming it was time ?two or three in the morning, four hours past the first dose. Then I would sleep some more until the feeding tube reservoir was emptied of liquid food and I could turn the pump off. I would sleep until it was very light, as nothing bad could happen in such sun.
I worried about whether I liked the red stuff too much, especially combined with the dark violence of World War II. One of the nurses who came to check on me said that the antidote to narcotics is pain. The pain in my back subsided just as the bottle of red stuff ran out.
2006-10-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=564 Susan Coleman Susan Coleman was born in eastern Missouri, along the banks of the great Mississippi River. She received her BFA in drawing from Webster College, in St. Louis, and her MA (drawing) and MFA (painting) from the University of Iowa. Susan has shown widely in numerous venues throughout the Midwest and Eastern United States. Her work focuses primarily on landscape themes encountered in the local environment.
Susan has taught at the University of Northern Iowa, Kirkwood Community College (Iowa City Campus), as a visitor at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, and most recently at Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where she has served as Gallery Coordinator and Lecturer for the Art Department since February 2000. Susan Coleman's website https://www.mountvernoncreates.com/susan-coleman/ Prairie and Mulberry pastel on toned paper 34" x 24" 2005 She says this about her work:
"The search for meaning is at the heart of my interest in landscape. Hope is rekindled by the creative spirit I see revealed in nature and the beauty of this world; rivers that continue to flow, and days that continue to dawn. Drawing from nature helps me recognize the sacred in the commonplace, something I'd prefer not to take for granted."
"Despite its long history in western art, I feel that the subject of landscape can serve as a fresh and relevant path for interpreting the human condition. Landscape can make reference to a larger journey." artimages/10152006.jpg 415 208
2006-10-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=357 Louis Prokop Louis Prokop graduated from the University of Iowa in Spring 2006. He is originally from Saint Paul, Minnesota. "I find that growing up in the frozen North has influenced the tones and landscapes of my poems on the subconscious and physical levels." To date he has been published in online magazines such as Double Dare Press and the non-online independent Unarmed Journal.
"Fossil Hunting" appeared originally in earthwords, the undergraduate literary review at the University of Iowa. The review's mission is to showcase the creative works of UI undergraduates in literature and the arts, while providing students with an educational experience with the production of a literary magazine. Fossil Hunting Iowa Writes digging through the dry crusty shell of the earth
searching for fossils at age seven.
the youngest to ever cross this particular rock quarry
I carry tiny silver tools in my blue raincoat pocket
bouncing alone they jingle with mirth.
I imagine that this place was once a tropical smudge
and an ocean bottom
that died and was renamed a part of the state.
like out of print stamps
there are lost addresses buried here.
for me to find
for dad to identify
for us to capture in a murky orange jar in my room.
2006-10-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=358 Chris Offutt Iowa City resident and frequent visiting professor at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Chris Offutt is the author of two books of stories, Kentucky Straight and Out of the Woods; one novel, The Good Brother; and two memoirs, The Same River Twice, and No Heroes. "Lucy's People" originally appeared in the Summer 2005 issue of Fence. Excerpts from Lucy's People Iowa Writes Jackie Jackson
I don't know if I was good for her or not. Maybe we helped each other through a bad patch in our lives. I was just out of prison and she was just out of Utah. She was a beautiful woman, a nice armful. She could make a freight train take a dirt road. I hoped we'd be together forever but knew we'd be doing good to last six months. She softened me up. But she could go away inside herself like nobody I'd ever seen. It was like an iron gate dropped and a concrete wall went up. You couldn't shoot your way in.
She had a great laugh, but never used it. Things weren't funny to her like they were for everyone else. Comedy movies, jokes, cartoons. She said knowing it was supposed to be funny ruined it. The hardest I ever saw her laugh was drunk. She was the first woman I trusted in a long time. If I asked her to meet me at the bus station with a bag of money and a pistol, I knew she'd be there.
The night she left, I robbed a liquor store. They never caught me and I never stole again. I'm living on the square now. I believe I owe that to her.
Allie Houston
Lucy waited tables with me at a diner in Casper. She was a good twenty years older and showed me how to smile enough to get a tip but not so much it give the men ideas. She was like a Mom to me. Eat before you drink, she said. Don't get mixed up with married men. Don't answer every question just because somebody asks.
That time in my life was bad. I felt like my insides were dissolving, and I decided to get it over with. I took sleeping pills, then I got scared and called Lucy. She took me to the hospital and came to visit every day. She told me that living was the best thing there was in life, and didn't even think that was funny when I laughed. She gave me little presents, just cheap stuff, but nice. I still have the stuffed dog. I call it Lucy. Not because it looks like her or anything, but so I can say her name sometimes.
2006-10-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=362 Sydney Cohen Cohen received a MFA in Painting and Drawing in 2002. Untitled oil on canvas 18" x 24" 2002 artimages/10182006.jpg 400 301 The Graduate Archive
2006-10-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=767 Doug Russell Doug Russell moved to Kansas City in 1999 after a two year teaching position in Bursa, Turkey. He holds an MFA in printmaking from the University of Iowa and a BFA in painting from Columbia College. He has shown in Kansas City at The Michael Cross Gallery, The Morgan Gallery, The Late Show Gallery, and at The Framing Girl Gallery. He currently teaches at Central Missouri State University and Maple Woods Community College. When not working, he's out exploring the world on his bicycle or puttering in his garden. Remnant 08 (Fallen Page) mixed media 40" x 36" artimages/10192006.jpg 359 400
2006-10-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=729 Roman Antopolsky Romn Antopolsky, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a ground-breaking translator and an increasingly prominent figure in South American avant-garde poetry. He is participating in the 2006 International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.
Michelle Gil-Montero graduated from Brown University in 2002 and is now an MFA candidate in Poetry at the Iowa Writers Workshop. She received an Academy of American Poets' Prize in 2006. Hombre del arroyo (Man from the Arroyo) Iowa Writes Si lluevellvia. Quin no podr or ah el verbo? Lluviar. El no personal llueve ya hace tiempo no acude a nada otro que no sea la accin definida. Lluviar; llvia.Es bello. Llvia en la ciudad, y llvia en los parques. La secreta palabra que acompasa (desmaraa) al mar,es su orilla. Y si llueve en el marlas gotas, si llvia, arredran la costa. El vapor la acorrala; la nieve la exuda. Mar. Si llviael asfalto esplandece; el verde en las plazas se hace al fin pleno, no neutro; el agua en las veredas, sudor ya compacto, lquido casi, se abalanza por fin;lava la acera, refleja luces, acaba en el goce de la vertiente en la vertical alcantarilla. Acequia, si llvia, desplaza el mojn del intelecto y liga los sentidos al ruido, en orillas de lo audible. Aguasi odacosta en la oreja (costa al concepto)consta testigo en la humedad en la calle, en la tierra, en el fruto. Aguaarrojo; quien recoge su humedad, recorre los sentidos,paladn de sus reflejos.
Agua.
en arroyos.
Man from the Arroyo (A translation of Hombre del arroyo by Michelle Gil-Montero)
If it rainsit rainfalls. Who wouldnt hear the verb in that? To rainfall. Too long has the dispassionate it rains landed on nothing more definite than being an indefinite act. To rainfall; rainfall. Its beautiful. It rainfalls in the city and rainfalls in the parks. The secret word orchestrates (unravels) the sea,is its shore. And if it rains into the seathe drops, if it rainfalls, scare away the coast. The steam corners it; the snow exudes it. Sea. If it rainfallsthe asphalt refulges; in the plazas, the green is at last replete, not neutral; the water on the sidewalks, sweat just condensed, almost liquid, finally rushes onit washes the pavement, reflects the lights, and ends in glee with the slope of a vertical drain. The drain ditch, if it rainfalls, dislodges the boundary stone of the intellect and links senses to sounds, along the shores of the audible. Waterif hearda coastline in the ear (a concepts coastline)bears witness to the dampness in the street, in the earth, in the fruit. Waterarrogating; whoever recovers its humanity, covers the ground of the senseschampion of its reflections.
Water.
in arroyos.
2006-10-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=730 Rafael Courtoisie Poet, fiction writer, essayist, and screenwriter, Rafael Courtoisie is one of Uruguays leading writers. He is participating in the 2006 International Writing Program this fall. Insecticide (Chapter VII of Caras extraas) Iowa Writes According to Charles Darwin, a wise Englishman, ants are communists, a scientific advisor confidentially informed General Pesano, Commander in Chief of the Army.
Destroy the anthills, ordered the general.
Goodbye ants.
*
They killed all the ants; not an ant could be found in the entire country.
If I see an ant, Ill have you shot, understand me, Fagndez?
Fagndez, Minister of the Interior, snapped to attention: Understood, General: not one ant.
*
They made students write:
Traitor ants
Death to the ants
Be patriotic: kill an ant.
The only good ant is a dead ant.
*
They imported four thousand ant-eating bears from all parts of the world, of various species. An army brigade adopted the ant-eating bear as the insignia for its shield and the protective patron of its squadrons.
ANTS ARE THE ENEMIES OF PUBLIC WELFARE...said the billboards.
For their part, the insurgents created the Ant column, our principal pride.
*
Support commandos painted enormous ants of tar on the city walls of Salvo and also in the capital, Montenegro.
Victory ant was a slogan and an emblem of war.
2006-10-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=768 Ae Ree Han Ae Ree Han received an MA in Printmaking in 2003 Untitled etching, lithography 23" x 30" 2002 artimages/10222006.jpg 302 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-10-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=770 William Barnes Growing up in California, William Barnes attended UCLA before studying painting at Drake with Jules Kirschenbaum. He then studied with Byron Burford in Iowa City, whose course in materials and techniques introduced him to egg tempera and casein, his major media since. Soon after his Iowa City period, signs appeared of what has become Barnes' signature style - landscapes noted for their "loneliness" by a local critic alternated with still-life studies of odd combinations of small objects. Recently, after sojourns in Tucson and Santa Fe, Barnes is bringing a warmer, more relaxed ambience to his exotic works. Above The Din collage & acrylic on paper 8 x 9 artimages/10232006.jpg 400 376
2006-10-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=731 Laksmi Pamuntjak Laksmi Pamuntjak is a columnist, translator, bookstore owner, and award-winning poet from Jakarta, Indonesia. She is participating in the 2006 International Writing Program. from Lives Iowa Writes 5.
She is the one who crunches numbers and traces the arc of company progress till her eyes give way at midnight and there is nothing in the fridge. She is unabashed about being a right-winger, about her two-minute attention span, about her preference for airport bestsellers. She is skittish, demanding, terrifies both men and women, but what earns her our respect is that she is not scared of being hated.
This is because in a lot of ways we want to be her. Hers has been the sort of post-college release into the world most people dream ofan effortless unspooling, as it were, into the best in the best of possible worlds: a seven-digit salary, upward mobility, and a doting but relaxed family. OK, so that was the 90s, when the word manager was ones ticket to anything from hotel discounts and round trips around the world to house mortgages and marriage proposals, but were always around twenty years behind anyway.
The thing is: most people are also so wrong about her. The only thing that she has going for her really is the doting but relaxed family bit. The rest is not so much all the best in the best of possible worlds as a simple, alienating, dogged single-mindedness. In that she is like Singapore, that peculiar island state whose trees, so methodical, so in place, are almost a put-on, whose sky is so formal that its structures of light and dark might well have been concocted indoors: the loneliest set-up on the planet. And now were five years into the millennium and people are cheating the system right left and centre, collecting a paycheck while staying at home, the true rent of life being the one that lies between job and children. Yet she has chosen her mold and keeps at farthest bay any illusion that the fire will not burn her. Having your cake and eating it too may be the currency of the day, but not hers.
Like yesterday: it was only four days into the New Year, and while all of us were sipping G and Ts in some island resort, she was talking about having five episodes in the can, shouting down all four corners to winnow down the long list of topics. Stay on message! I told them, she told us, failing as usual to see the irony. But its all there: television, PR, marketing, all those 90s buzzwords. She talks in terms of what is appropriate and what is not while batting nary an eyelash at spending nine million rupiahs on a Manolo. And the tube is not even her fieldits just a spinoff of the core business.
But sometime just around midnight the voice that called out from the other end of the line was stricken. She told me, as anyone who appreciates fruit knows when handed a mango by the moon, she has always known what to expect. The age difference. What people think. But its not as if shes known how to keep them as most women who have been kept seem to be adept atdemanding as she pleases both their erections and their nurturing warmth. She has no cunning to keep them in sweet suspense, or to rout another female, no children to sell off as she was once sold. She has nothing else to call green, not pea, not olive, not viridian.
The next morning when I called her, though, she was at the gym. All they want, these boys, is your body. she said with no trace of last nights vulnerability. Like black soldier flies, you know. In Week 28, after they have had enough of you, they leave their pupa casings and disappear. So I have 19 weeks left in which to recuperate my losses, which is really not so badthree weeks to whip myself into shape, give and take a week for the imponderables, and another sixteen to even out the balance sheet.
2006-10-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=732 Partaw Naderi Partaw Naderi has published five poetry collections and several prose books on modern Afghan literature. He heads the media division of the Afghan Civil Society Forum in Kabul. He is participating in the 2006 International Writing Program. Lucky Men Iowa Writes When your star is unseen in this desolate sky,
your despair itself becomes a star.
My twin, the steadfast sun, and I
both grasp its far-flung brilliance.
* * * *
In a land where water is locked up
in the very depths of desiccated rocks,
the trees are ashamed of their wizened fruits.
The honest orchard is laid waste
such a bloodied carpet
is spread before the future.
* * * *
Yesterday, leaning on my cane,
I returned from the trees cremation.
Today, I search the ashes
for my lost, homeless phoenix.
Perhaps it was you who shadowed me,
perhaps it was only my shadow.
Even though the lucky men in my land
lack stars in the heavens, lack shadows on the earth
they welcome any stars
that grace their devastated sky.
O, my friend, my only friend,
turn your anguish into constellations!
Peshawar City
November, 2002
Translated from the Dari by Sarah Maguire and Yama Yari
2006-10-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=769 Jody Boyer Jody Boyer is an intermedia artist originally from Portland, Oregon. She received her B.A. from Reed College and her M.A. in Intermedia and Video Art fromt he University of Iowa. Her work has been shown nationally, including at the Des Moines Art Center, Womanmade Gallery in Chicago, and the bemis UNDERGROUND at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts.
She is the co-founder of Echotrope, a nomadic arts organization in the midwest. Echotrope curates experimental video, film and new media in traditional and non-traditional venues alike. She also collaborates with her husband, Russ Nordman, Assistant Professor of Intermedia and Digital Art at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Jody Boyer's website http://www.jodyboyer.com/ Untitled (Man on Wire) pigment print 12" x 18" 2002 In her work, she explores the interdisciplinary possibilities of photography and new media with a specific interest in landscape, memory, and perception. artimages/10262006.jpg 400 264
2006-10-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=777 Jose Eugenio Sanchez Jos Eugenio Snchez, an award-winning poet from Monterrey, Mexico, is participating in the 2006 International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. MY LANDLADIES Iowa Writes although the three are unmarried,
the youngest is 62,
they requested no references:
one told me I looked
like christ.
I hope the day does not come
when they ask me to fix the door
the flyswatter the shower
I can already imagine myself
with a wrench going into the bathroom
witness to a sad and painful tragedy:
a woman with dust rag skin
and soapy hair saying:
come here little boy,
or if you're afraid of the water
let's go to the bedroom,
just pass me the walking stick,
you can hit me with it.
Translation from the Spanish by Indran Amirthanayagam
2006-10-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=773 Ulfert Wilke Ulfert Wilke was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1907. He immigrated to
the United States in 1938 and died in Solon, IA in 1987. Wilke
received his MA from the University of Iowa and later became the
University of Iowa Museum of Art's first director. Ulfert Wilke was
director from 1968- 1975. 009 ink on paper 20.5" x 15" Wilke had a passion and fascination for the written language, drawing
most of his inspiration from it to create an abstract view of shape,
color, and texture. Wilke found inspiration in the calligraphy of the
Japanese Zen masters and in the numerical symbols of ancient people.
Studying each writing style to further develop his own from of
calligraphy, Wilke saw beauty in all forms of written language,
whether it was found in poetry, on plates, or as engravings. He
utilized acrylics, ink and watercolor to represent his abstract view
of language, space and time. Wilke was a painter who also collected
paintings throughout his pursuit of artistry. artimages/10282006.jpg 292 400
2006-10-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=776 Elias Simpson Elias Simpson grew up in Ames, Iowa, and recently finished his first year at the University of Iowa: "I hope to continue writing, although there is a great possibility of distraction." His majors are English and French. Processions Iowa Writes The ocean comprehends sea turtles,
its gnawing waves accept them.
I would turn out my velvet pockets,
but turtles only bawl for water.
Climbing gray grass mountains
spider ears reflect a streetlight glare,
scrambling in eight directions as my fingers ladle one,
I clasp it in my hands, and push air in whisper
Window men click sharply into line,
hidden in stained suspenders and masked by squeegees.
Black tires splash in mud-tinted potholes;
birds mutter mob-like ploys behind an empty park.
A ripple leaps from dented trash lids onto drainpipes,
my head rotates and heels angle pivots the same.
The trees are forging a path, moonless and fortified.
There is a smell of water: a long walk home.
2006-10-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=774 Nicole Timmins Nicole Timmins received an MA in Design in 2003. Map lithograph on state map & acrylic 23.5" x 37" 2002 artimages/10302006.jpg 400 259 The Graduate Archive
2006-10-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=778 Kodi Scheer Kodi Scheer, an Iowa native, received her B.A. in Literature, Science, and the Arts from the University of Iowa. She is currently a Colby fellow in the M.F.A. program at the University of Michigan. "Three Minutes" is based on her experiences as a research assistant in neurology at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Three Minutes Iowa Writes A light dusting of snow covers the playground adjacent to the emergency room. In the six months I've worked here, I've never seen children playing—just an old man smoking a Marlboro on the blue swingset. Maybe the cancer kids are too weak to run around and play.
I begin my day on the second floor in Neurology. Since I work in research, I test subjects who've experienced some kind of brain injury: stroke, head trauma, encephalitis. Today I'll be seeing Elizabeth J., a forty-two-year old woman with severe amnesia. She was normal for the first three decades of her life, until she developed herpes simplex encephalitis, a rare type of brain infection. Her file says she has a working memory of approximately three minutes.
When I greet her geriatric parents in the waiting room, they want to take a picture of Elizabeth and me, so maybe she'll remember me when they come back next year. Elizabeth smiles, the Polaroid camera clicks, and Mrs. J. shakes the photograph. If Liz has to go to the bathroom, Mrs. J. says, go with her and stand outside the door because she won't remember where she is.
I lead Elizabeth to a testing room, my office really, a plain room with two desks, two chairs, and two fluorescent lights. Thick neuroscience books line the overhead shelves. There's a shaded window with a view of more windows and a small courtyard below. I begin with some preliminary questions.
"What year is it, Elizabeth?"
"1991? I have to warn you, my memory is very bad." Elizabeth fidgets with the buttons on her pale green cardigan. Her champagne blond hair is bobbed. I wonder if her mother takes her to the salon and specifies the haircut.
"Where are we?"
"A hospital?"
"Can you be more specific about city and state?"
"Illinois somewhere? This hospital looks nice, so maybe Chicago." Her parents live in central Illinois, and they drive here for her annual research visits. To Elizabeth, it doesn't matter—she could be in any hospital. It happens to be the largest teaching hospital in the world, with excellent patient care and groundbreaking research. But there's nothing we can do for her.
"Who's the president?" I say.
"George Bush, I think," Elizabeth says. She studies my white coat. "Doctor, your hair is very pretty."
"Thank you," I blush, "but I'm not a doctor. Please, call me Kodi."
"Okay," she says. Her memory problems point to a damaged hippocampus, a small part of the brain shaped like a seahorse. Scientists believe the hippocampus helps us learn new information and make permanent records of it. There's no clinical treatment for Elizabeth's condition.
"How have you been feeling?" I ask.
"I'm well. Sometimes I get anxious because I can't remember anything. I won't even remember this conversation. Ask me questions faster."
"What have you been up to? Any hobbies?"
"Oh, I don't know. Next question." Elizabeth glances out the window. The snow falls in heavy flakes, drifting to the ground.
"Can you think of anything you like to do in your free time?"
"Oh, yes," she straightens in her chair, "I like to play the piano. I play in recitals sometimes." She hums a tune I'm not familiar with and plays an imaginary piano. Her fingers are agile.
I realize I've forgotten a data sheet in another testing room. Since I can't continue without it, I have to leave. Three minutes, I remind myself.
"I'll be right back, Elizabeth," I say. "One minute."
"Be quick," she says.
When I return with the paperwork, she doesn't recognize me. I'd taken too long—the file cabinet had been locked and I had to track down the key. I've failed her. I wonder where she is now, in any hospital, any doctor's office. The place you go to get better.
"Hello, Doctor," she says. "I'm Elizabeth."
"Hi. I'm Kodi."
"Nice to meet you. I have to warn you, my memory is very bad." She begins to hum the same melody, the song I couldn't place, but that I now recognize.
We finish testing about two hours later. For Elizabeth, that's one hundred twenty minutes, forty new beginnings, or maybe forty lifetimes. We return to the waiting room and I tell Elizabeth's parents about the grand piano in the lobby. They're thrilled.
I stand near the railing on the second floor to watch. Elizabeth sits down to the piano and plays the song with gusto, never faltering. She remembers every note.
2006-11-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=779 The Moving Crew The Boat Parade event, PedMall, Iowa City, IA March 3rd 2006 The Moving Crew art collective believes in a constant exchange of critical, confusing, exciting, or redundant thoughts on transition, transformation and transfer-mation of persons, places and things, both locally and globally.
The Moving Crew launched a regatta of hand-made cardboard boats, ships, and canoes with the help of participating public. All sightseers, vacationers, pirates, pleasure cruisers, colonizers, conquistadors, explorers, warriors, refugees, nomads, shipwreck survivors, captains, sailors, navy soldiers, drifters, fishermen and other boat experts were invited to join in, assemble boats on the spot and participate in moving them around the city, inventing their own boat narrative. Messages have been collected in the bottle on the spot and by mail or e-mail during and prior to the event. artimages/11012006.jpg 400 490
2006-11-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=780 The Moving Crew Passport-Home event, PedMall, Iowa City, IA June 2nd 2006 "The Moving Crew is an amorphous art colletive working on enlivening the public sphere. Not quite theater, not quite performance, not quite circus, not quite gallery art, not run-of-the-mill, The Moving Crew thinks of themselves as cultural animators hoping to engage the public in fun interactive art activities that surround ideas of community, movement and transformation.
Examining both humorous and serious issues on local and global scales, The Moving Crew playfully filters them through their sensibilities of profound absurdity. The Moving Crew invites the public to look at things from unusual vantage points and to join in the fun and play of making things. Through the use of inexpensive or found objects and materials, The Moving Crew hopes to invite people into a new space where the normal rules of the world do not quite apply and where the public is welcome to collaborate."
Get your
Passport - Home !
For continuous travel towards home - across all borders.
artimages/11022006.jpg 350 552
2006-11-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=781 Toby Dimmitt Toby Dimmitt, who graduated from the University of Iowa in May 2006, writes, "Soy de Fairfield, IA . . . Soy muy curioso y me gusta encontrar y aprender nuevas cosas que me hacen crecer intelectual y espiritualmente. Especialmente me gusta hacer ejercicio, leer, pasar tiempo con mi familia, los amigos y estar al aire libre. Quiero en el futuro viajar y siempre estar contento conmigo mismo."
"El cisne negro" appeared originally in second volume of NOSOTROS, a chapbook of creative work in Spanish produced each semester by Roberto Ampuero's class Taller de Escritura Creativa (35:108). Roberto Ampuero is a lecturer in the UI Department of Spanish and Portugeuse and the internationally published author of nine novels.
El cisne negro Iowa Writes En un pueblo pequeo y pobre hay un chico que lucha contra todo en su vida. l es bajo, y huesudo con ojos curiosos, pero solemnes. No tiene amigos tampoco. No importa la fuerza con que el chico trata de hacer las cosas, parece que l siempre falla.
- Si quieres ser un estudiante bueno, estudia!
- Seora, yo estudi tres horas.
Suena la campana del receso y todos los estudiantes corren delante del chico y por la puerta una nube de polvo a travs del piso viejo de madera. l se arrastra lentamente detrs del grupo. En el patio de recreo, el viento sopla por los rboles y crea un gemido a lo lejos. Se puede probar el sabor terroso del polvo en la boca. No ha llovido por un mes.
- Tal vez me permitirn jugar con ellos - piensa el chico.
- Puedo jugar?! - grita al grupo que juega ftbol.
- Si quieres la bola en tu cara, otra vez?si, est bien - responde el mejor y ms popular de los jugadores.
l es el jugador ms vigoroso pero no logra nada, como es usual. Cae tres veces y queda con la nariz sangrienta. Por el rabillo de su ojo l ve algo en el cielo.
- Mira, mira! - grita el chico apuntando al cielo.
- Es el cisne negro!
Todos paran inmediatamente y miran hacia el cielo. Reina la tranquilidad sobre todo, salvo el sonido del aleteo de las alas del mtico cisne negro mientras l vuela encima de las cabezas de los chicos.
La leyenda del pueblo dice que el primero que toca la pluma del cisne negro siempre tendr madera para el fuego y ropas para cubrir su espalda.
Mientras el cisne negro desaparece en la distancia, una pluma cae lentamente por el cielo encima de los jugadores. Todava no hay viento. Todos miran asombrados. El mejor y ms popular jugador empieza a correr primero, y el resto lo sigue con furia. El chico corre tambin, pero inmediatamente cae en el grupo cerrado, luchando por coger la pluma.
La pluma se acerca y los brazos se alzan para cogerla. Pero la pluma con su densidad liviana se balancea con la circulacin del aire de la tormenta de todos los brazos que sacuden el aire. Pasa por los brazos del grupo, por las piernas y aterriza en la cara del chico que est inconsciente. Todos se calman y miran la pluma en la cara del chico huesudo.
2006-11-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=782 Matthew Hopson-Walker Matthew Hopson-Walker received an MFA in Printmaking in 2003. Free Range Raised, Speared, and empty handed lithography 18.5" x 30" 2002 artimages/11042006.jpg 237 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-11-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=787 Jack Wilkes Dedicated and restlessly searching, Jack Wilkes is a teacher, painter, and explorer in concrete images and abstract ideas. After studying at the Cleveland Art Institute, Jack finished his BFA in Art Education at Drake which included a Certificate in Art Therapy; and he was both painting and teaching before he completed work for his MFA in painting from Drake in 1983. Teaching at Simpson College, Iowa State University, serving as Artist-in-Residence at the Des Moines Art Center, then Drake, he exhibited the first of his series of paintings and served in residencies, special projects, and workshops, some as far away as New Smyna Beach, Florida and Verenna, Italy. Now painting full time, Wilkes heads an active family and participates in school/community affairs when he isn't in his studio. Fine Line pastel 22" x 30" As Wilkes summarizes: My work . . .has revolved around sign, symbol, allegory, and architecture. I gravitate to historical, social, and spiritual references in both object and architecture in trying to understand the power these objects . . .possess and provide. artimages/11052006.jpg 400 295
2006-11-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=783 Grace Van Voorhis Grace Van Voorhis writes, "Soy un estudiante de Washington University en St. Louis, donde estudio relaciones internacionales. Tom la clase Taller de escritura creativa con el maravilloso Profesor Ampuero durante mi cuarto ano del colegio porque quera explorar mi imaginacin escribiendo en espaol, una lengua que me ama mucho."
"Las palabras vacas" appeared originally in second volume of NOSOTROS, a chapbook of creative work in Spanish produced each semester by Roberto Ampuero's class Taller de Escritura Creativa (35:108). Roberto Ampuero is a lecturer in the UI Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the internationally published author of nine novels. Las palabras vacas Iowa Writes Esta maana, el sacerdote ley unos versos familiares de la Biblia,y, por primera vez en mis diecisiete aos, no sent nada. Absolutamente nada. Antes de hoy, el sacerdote siempre me haba parecido fuerte y sabio, pero hoy me pareci dbil e inseguro. Sus palabras sonaron quebradizas, huecas, metlicas, pero mi madre estaba asintiendo con la cabeza despus de cada verso, e hizo la seal de la cruz espordicamente. Ella estaba al lado de la tumba nueva de mi hermano menor, cogiendo mi mano. Mir fijamente la tumba y despus a mi madre, y derram solamente dos lgrimas debajo de mi velo negro: una por la prdida de mi hermano, y otra por la prdida de la fe que tuve durante mi niez.
Cada noche de mi vida desde que aprend a leer, haba ledo unas pginas de mi Biblia usada. Y cuando era demasiado joven para leer, mi madre me haba ledo a mi cuentos como "David y Goliat," "Jons y la ballena," y "El arca de No." Ella siempre dijo:
- Las palabras de Dios nutren el espritu para que nunca tengas hambre.
Mi familia no tena mucho, pero tena la proteccin de Dios. Pero . . . La proteccin? Mi hermano est muerto. Solamente tena once aos, era apenas un beb, y ya est muerto. Cmo puedo creer en este impostor? Cmo, cmo? Se dice que las personas de fe no tienen preguntas, que son los sujetos del rey y nada ms. Pero ahora yo s que la fe es una fabricacin para obstruir la realidad cruel: que no hay "un plan divino," que nuestras vidas son simplemente casualidades.
Pero hice la seal de la cruz con mis manos entumecidas. Tuve que fingir para mi madre, porque nunca me entendera si le dijera la verdad. Ella siempre dijo:
- No le di mucho a mis hijos, pero les di la fe impenetrable.
Pero la vida brutal la haba penetrado. Con cada pala llena de tierra, el sacerdote enterr no solamente a mi hermanito sino tambin, mi fe. Y ahora, qu tengo yo?
2006-11-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=784 Douglas Trevor Douglas Trevor is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Iowa. His fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2005 and The O. Henry Prize Stories 2006. "Fellowship of the Bereaved" is the final story in The Thin Tear of the Fabric of Space (University of Iowa Press, 2005).
Established in 1969 and housed in the historic Kuhl House, the oldest house still standing in Iowa City, the University of Iowa Press publishes scholarly books and a range of titles for general readers. As the only university press in the state, it is dedicated in part to preserving the literature, history, culture, wildlife, and natural areas of the region. From "Fellowship of the Bereaved" Iowa Writes Jared drove home cautiously, through the familiar streets of his childhood. He didn't have a car in Boston and figured he hadn't driven in the snow since high school. He checked his watch. It was barely eleven o'clock.
Having someone in your family die prematurely ushered you into the fellowship of the bereaved, Jared thought. People who had not similarly suffered stayed away from this fellowship as best they could because they didn't know what to say to a person grieving. But in fact, the horrible truth was that the people within this fellowship didn't know what to say to one another either; each mourner was consumed by his or her own grief, so the group of sufferers that wandered through the social world like emotional lepers wasn't a group at all; it was just made up of crippled people, none of whom could help anyone else.
After Ann died, Jared filled his apartment in Boston with plants: ficuses, ferns, hoyas, bromeliads, and other houseplants that he couldn't even identify. He bought the plants at Bread and Circus, the upscale grocery store two blocks from his apartment, and carried them back one at a time. He didn't know how to care for plants and systematically over-watered every one of them but that didn't stop him; he kept on buying them, stubbornly waiting for the little greenery they provided to make him feel better.
After Ann died, Jared also began to stockpile nonperishables: detergent, trash bags, canned foods. He had never cared for beans but he bought dozens of different kinds. He filled the once empty cupboards of his kitchen with boxes of coffee filters, family sized packs of paper towels, liters of olive oil. He didn't know what he was doing. He wasn't aware that he was afraid to go outside, where people died.
He became accident phobic. He worried about slipping in the shower, or electrocuting himself somehowby mishandling the coffee maker, for example, or the toaster. At the same time he felt so cautious and paranoid, he also wanted to die, or at least he thought he did, so he came up with complicated suicide plans, like the one involving his laundry bag and a first edition of Biathanatos that he had mentioned to Dave earlier in the evening.
Stopped at a light, Jared watched a man carefully cross in front of him, balancing a pie tin in his arms. Living, breathing, keeping our hearts beating, our fingernails growing: we'll do anything to stay alive, Jared thought. We'll say goodbye to our favorite people and go on with our mundane routines because we want so fiercely to fill our lungs with air. In the face of death, we become greedy for life: selfish and hoarding. When he considered how tightly he had held on since Ann died he was filled with self-disgust and considered for a moment steering his father's car sharply to the right, into a storefront on Downing Street. But I'll never do that, he said to himself, and that's pathetic. To hold onto life like this . . . it isn't right. I should be dead. I want to be dead, but I'm too weak to do anything about it.
His eyes filled with tears. At the corner of Seventh Avenue, just a few blocks from home, he thought of the timeduring a snowstormwhen Ann had taken him out in the old Buick and they had done donuts in the Safeway parking lot. It was unlike her to be so reckless, but it was like her too, to be silly and fun. I'll never be able to describe her to people who didn't know her, he realized. To them, she will never seem real. To them, she will always be my dead sister.
2006-11-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=788 Laura Young Laura Young is a landscape and still life painter and currently lives in Iowa City, Iowa where she is an Associate Adjunct Professor in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Iowa. She has won numerous fellowships and awards and has been shown across the United States in museums, commercial galleries, juried and group shows, as well as internationally in Denmark and Nigeria. Field oil on canvas 20" x 30" artimages/11082006.jpg 400 265
2006-11-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=785 Kerry Egan Kerry Egan grew up in Long Island, New York, and received her B.A. from Washington and Lee University and her master's of divinity from Harvard University Divinity School. A year after her father died, she walked through northern Spain on a medieval pilgrimage road called the Camino de Santiago. Fumbling is the journal of her experiences. from Chapter 23 of Fumbling Iowa Writes In a small town on the end of the meseta after Len but before the mountains separating the plains from Galicia, an ATM machine ate Alex's bank card. It would not give him any cash, but neither would it give him a receipt explaining what was going on, or most upsetting, his card. The screen simply flashed an error warning and then went blank.
"Huh. Lumpy, you'll have to go in there and tell them their machine ate my card."
"Why do I have to go in there?"
"Because you're a girl, and people always pay more attention to girls. And you're much more charming than me. People always like you better."
"I don't want to go in there. Besides, it's your card and your account so you have to talk to them."
"I don't speak Spanish. Come on Lumpy . . ." Alex started wheedling.
"Uggh. Fine."
When I approached the teller, hunched over a ledger printout, he said there was nothing he could do to help me. I went back outside into the bank lobby, where Alex waited in front of the machine, and told him the bad news.
"That's ridiculous. We need the card if we want to eat for the rest of the trip. It's not like it fell down a volcano. They just have to open the machine and get it. Go back in there and ask to speak to the manager."
Why couldn't Alex just do this himself? Why do I always have to be the one to deal with strangers? Why do I always have to be the one to pay the pizza delivery guy or tell the cabbie where to go? Why do I have to be the one to talk to the bank manager? But I went in and asked to speak with him. He politely listened to the problem, and then said he was too busy to do anything about it, and shooed me away with the back of his hand, as though wiping crumbs from a table. He went back to his reading. Back in the lobby, I told Alex.
"What's he doing?"
"Umm, it looked like he was reading."
"Oh, but he can't come out here for thirty seconds and give me back my card, a card that his machine swallowed with no provocation or reason? Tell him we're not leaving till I get my damned card."
I sighed and walked back into the bank. Before I could even get the manager's attention, though, a ruckus erupted from the lobby. Alex was bludgeoning the ATM machine with his fists.
"What! What is going on?" The manager jumped from his desk and, with clenched fists and arms straight down by his sides, strode out. I followed.
"What are you doing? What is he doing?" The manager yelled at me and pointed at Alex as if Alex was my dog.
"Alex, what are you doing?" I asked.
Alex started kicking the machine with his heavy boots like an unruly but determined toddler. "I'm getting my card," he said.
"He's trying to get his card," I reported to the manager.
"Tell him to stop this!" the manager said, jabbing his finger at Alex so I would relay the message as quickly as possible.
"Alex, stop this!" I said to Alex.
"Not till I get my card. Tell him I'll stop when I get my card. Gimme my card!" Alex kicked and smacked the console even harder. I could see by the tightly repressed smile breaking out in the corners of his lips that he was enjoying this completely. All of the tellers stood up to watch him, apparently afraid a robbery was in progress.
"He just wants his card back," I said to the manager.
The manager started yelling at Alex in Spanish. Alex started yelling back in English. As far as I could tell, their entire conversation consisted mostly of curse words, but they seemed to understand each other. I backed away and stood in the doorway between the bank and the lobby. Everyone inside was now staring and pointing at me, though I wasn't doing anything. I smiled meekly. After a final flurry of yelling and banging, the manager threw up his hands, pulled a key from his pocket, and handed Alex his ATM card. It took him less than five seconds. Then the manager stormed back into the bank, shooting me a dirty look as he passed.
"Alex, I can't believe you did that," I said, waving at the people in the bank as if this would somehow calm everyone down.
Alex was wearing the little smirk he gets when he is particularly pleased with himself. He said, "I was just getting their attention. I knew they'd pay attention to us if they thought we would cost them money." I stared at him. He kept talking, sort of a corollary to my calming wave. "That's basically what I did all day as a lawyer, only on paper."
Copyright (c) 2004 by Kerry Egan. From the book Fumbling by Kerry Egan, published by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
2006-11-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=786 Margalea Warner Margalea Warner is a writer of poetry and essays. She has lived with mental illness since its onset in her early twenties, and themes of suffering, loss, recovery, faith, and joy run through her writings. She has had poems and essays published in small magazines.
The Patient Voice Project offers free creative writing classes for the chronically and mentally ill in the Iowa City community, taught by Master of Fine Arts students in the Writers' Workshop. The ambition of the program is to explore the therapeutic benefits of writing for those struggling with chronic, mental, and physical pain, to address what medical sociologist Arthur Frank calls the "narrative wreckage" caused by serious injury or illness. She is Still Red Iowa Writes My mom was red.
She had pale skin, wore red lipstick.
I have a snapshot of her wearing a red hooded coat
In the snow.
She smoked Camel cigarettes
Lit them with a flash of red fire.
I remember the red smell
When she would smoke after supper
and she would tell me stories
about when she was little
and her aunts sent her to the store to buy their cigs
(they were flappers in the 20sthey probably wore red).
Once at the table she said,
At work today I had to fire a girl.
I gasped, No!
Before she could explain it
I pictured the girl's hair catching fire
And then her clothes
There were times Mom was angry enough
You'd figure she could do it
Slamming cupboard doors,
Throwing a perfume bottle at a bat
(it killed him)
Leaving my father when I was 13
Saying, "Get off my back!"
She was warm red too.
Between me and my brother and her
We have a code word
"Rhooger!" which means
I want to hold you in a warm red hug.
I still have her furry red bathrobe
I bury my face in it when I miss her.
I have her crystal hanging in my window
Casting rainbows on the wall
She is still red.
2006-11-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=789 Tealia Ellis Tealia Ellis received an MFA in Photography in 2004. Condo Addition Construction lambda print 50" x 41" 2004 artimages/11112006.jpg 309 390 The Graduate Archive
2006-11-13 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=792 Janet Lauroesch "I was born, raised and educated in Upstate New York where I earned a MFA at Rochester Institute of Technology and a BFA from Syracuse University. I also lived in Cincinnati OH, Southampton MA, the Los Angeles CA basin and Ithaca NY prior to settling in Mt. Vernon IA with my husband and two sons in 1997. As a resident of Iowa, I have been awarded Iowa Arts Council grants, a Ragdale Foundation artist residency, and several Cornell College faculty grants where I have taught part time for the art department since 1999. My work has been exhibited throughout the Northeast and Midwest and reproduced in several journals." Our Taboo Janet writes about her work, "My current work, involving handmade books, photographs, drawings and occasional objects, reflects the overarching theme of mortality. The work also addresses materials and process. I am currently creating digital photographs from x-rays films, merging a dying scientific process with contemporary practice. I have also photographed the human cadaver, skeletons, and cemeteries, incorporated vintage photographs as direct xerographic transfers, and created related mixed media objects and works on paper. Regardless of technique, my work explores various levels of intimacy between the subject and the viewer as well as various means for addressing the subject of death: poetic, euphemistic and naked statement of fact.
Although the subject matter is timeless, I find it particularly apt during wartime." artimages/lauroesch-ourtaboo.jpg 400 309
2006-11-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=794 Zack Gauck Zack Gauck is a southerner with no accent, from Cary, North Carolina. In high school he enrolled in Chinese for his foreign language and came to the conclusion that Chinese should be his major in college. He is 21 years old, still watches cartoons, and wishes that he knew ninjitsu. Most of his furniture was found on the curbside.
"Never Closed" appeared originally in earthwords, the undergraduate literary review at the University of Iowa. The review's mission is to showcase the creative works of UI undergraduates in literature and the arts, while providing students with an educational experience with the production of a literary magazine. Never Closed Iowa Writes Coffee rings on countertop, shuffle of waitresses hips;
Late night workers and cancelled flightslayovers until dawn.
Strange town, stranger diner.
Always openalways serving.
Breakfast here is unaffected by time,
Eggs, bacon, side of distress.
Waitress one:
Her husband is drunk again, she has that glazed look.
She is surprised you noticeher pen shakes.
Across the room. Workers
Flannel-clad, soot blackened palms, they talk nonsense,
and forget to tip.
A family sitscorner booth.
Cerulean in hand, coloring the sky.
Father: eyes to the table, hair between fingertips, muttering, meditating, feet on luggage ottoman.
Mother: holding daughter close, pigtails lay motionless.
Juke box plays decades. The cook hums along.
He once worked in a factory just outside of town inspecting undergarments.
#27
His wife left him for a musician, took refuge in a blue-green VolkswagenDead Head sticker proudly attached.
The vespertine lights flicker. Out of the grit, Venus sparkles.
Folded newspaper, crimson O
Wanted: loyal, hardworking individual for third-shift stocking job.
Waitress-two sits curbside, cancer in hand.
Her arms rest on kneesshe lets out a smoke infested sigh.
No one to go home to, no one to call.
She took this job so that she might one day leave this place,
The embers glow.
An ash dance.
Puff.
A few dollars tossed near syrup,
Soiled napkin, knife and fork spoon on platter.
The bell jingles,
Continue on.
2006-11-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=793 Matt Austin Matt Austin is a undergraduate at the University of Iowa. Of his process he says, "it is highly ritualistic, usually involving some sort of sacrifice similar to the one in the movie Dragnet with Tom Hanks and that other guy." He currently lives in Iowa City.
"The So-Called Nazi at the Last Supper" appeared originally in earthwords, the undergraduate literary review at the University of Iowa. The review's mission is to showcase the creative works of UI undergraduates in literature and the arts, while providing students with an educational experience with the production of a literary magazine. The So-Called Nazi at the Last Supper Iowa Writes I regret the fact that you said
I look like a child molester
with my round face and my fly away hair.
But thats what a Fhrer would be
without an umlaut.
We finished our stale beer
and tried to not think about the future.
Not about the war, not about the inoculations.
You asked about growing CFC emissions
and I replied the insurgents would be happy
to find you dead.
2006-11-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=795 Jill Barnes Jill Barnes received a MA in Art Education in 2003. Austerity 8 oil and wax on mixed media 4" x 4" 2001 artimages/11162006.jpg 382 415 The Graduate Archive
2006-11-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=797 David Dunlap David Dunlap is a member of Walnut Farms Interspecies Artists Collective who guarantee you in the SWEETNESS of time all the love in the world. He asks "Please help me. Recently I have been diagnosed with a rare form of Tourette's Syndrome in which I am compelled to draw burning crosses and swastikas." David Dunlap has followed Uptown Bill's (Bill Sackter) story and will follow it to the Framery, 2203 F Street (behind Walgreens on First Avenue and Muscatine), part of The Extend The Dream Foundation where his, Jordan Acker, Kangying Guo, Twyla Bloxham, Harold Van Beck and Lee Johnson will exhibit their work (opening 5-9 p.m., November 15, 2006) in support of extending the dream of Bill Sackter, Martin Luther King jr ("I may not get there", ABW Gallery, January 11-19, 2007).
David Dunlap asks Cody Geiselmann about her appearance at Intermedia Open House which produces a story about Mark McCusker which leads to "An Inquiry About Obscenity" (Jill Baker, Jenn Meyers, Katherine Parker, Mark McCusker, Darrell Taylor), Drewlowe Gallery, November 17-December 1, 2006 which leads toward "The 2007 Obermann Humanities Symposium: OBSCENITY, March 1-4, 2007 including "Figure 97, Without Sanctuary: OBSCENITY" , Media Theatre, ABW, April 26-March 4, 2007. artimages/11172006.jpg 428 640
2006-11-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=796 Julie Claus Julie Claus had a vagabond childhood. The simple question, "Where are you from?" created panic in her soul because she attended eleven different elementary schools in seven states. Now the answer is clear. She's lived in Coralville, Iowa for twenty-two years. She wrote this poem at the Coralville pool. Divers Iowa Writes Waiting in line for the low
board with arms crossed
across cold chests and chain link
shadows crisscrossing sunburned backs,
a school of boys marvels at the bravado of the high
diver.
My son stands on the edge
watching a chain link of light
blue light tread water. He holds
his hands in a pyramid above his head.
High above him Icarus starts a suicide
dive. He rolls onto the balls of his toes
runs the full length at full
speed hits the end and
hes an X in the air
arms and legs splayed open until he draws
knees and elbows to his chest, clenches
his fists in front of his face
and sinks like a little boys stomach.
My son turns and flops belly down
beside me on the concrete. He slaps
his palms in hot puddles
mimicking the rhythm of the resounding
board. Then he rests one cheek flat
against the back of a suntanned hand and falls
asleep. Light catches the pale down
feathering up his spine and melting across his shoulder
blades. High above us
a white line wakes the watery sky.
2006-11-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=798 Karina Cutler-Lake Karina Cutler-Lake received a MA in Design in 2003 and an MFA in Graphic Design in 2004 from the University of Iowa. Find & Manipulate digital print 11" x 8" 2002 artimages/11192006.jpg 400 307 The Graduate Archive
2006-11-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=799 Kelsey Huston Kelsey Huston is 12 years old and is a seventh grader at Wilson Middle School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is involved in volleyball, basketball, and tennis throughout the year. She also plays alto saxophone in band. She spends her free time writing poems or stories in her room. That Girl Iowa Writes "She has a perfect life"
Everyone says
She does great in school
She is talented
But that is all people see
Because that is all she wants to show
She gets talked about
Even her friends talk rude
She doesn't know who to trust
In fear of getting broken
Her hobbies?
Music, Sports, Friends
That is what people think
Really, her favorite thing
Is to sit in the dark just thinking
How wrong people are
Spreading things they don't know
Did you hear that girl is going out with her best friend?
WRONG!
Did you hear that girl cuts herself?!
WRONG!
One day "that girl" is going to be pushed too far
And the next thing they'll say is
Did you hear that girl killed herself?
They said there was a note saying
She could no longer take it
That would be the only thing
True ever said about her
2006-11-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=803 Rachel Hallas Abstract 3 mixed media 42" x 40" Rachel says this about her work: "Everything I use in my work I have purchased at local thrift stores or found at abandoned houses through out the years. The images in my pieces do not belong to me, they are artifacts of others' lives. I have always been drawn to personal objects left behind for public viewing. There is a sense of voyeurism and nostalgia in finding such things. I find others knickknacks to be precious and haunting. In certain ways, I want to project my self onto them. I am compelled to understand why such things are kept, and why eventually they are given up. I am a collector who collects other people's memories, although memory lacks certainty. When we leave, or move, or just clean out our lives, we leave things behind. I love nostalgia and the way it tricks you." artimages/11212006.jpg 400 418
2006-11-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=800 Tad Richards Tad Richards has an MA from the Iowa Workshop (1963) and remains spiritually connected to those roots. His poem about Donald Justice was included in The Iowa Review's tribute issue. Tad Richards's website www.opus40.org The Dead Iowa Writes The dead may not be as dead as you think they are.
Or perhaps you dont think that at all, or
have never thought about it. In any case,
it doesnt matter to the dead. Theyre not ruled
by how you think, though you may be ruled by them, in ways
you may not have thought possible. Or maybe
its your dog who rules you, wont let you go on
with your poem until youve scratched her head, and
behind her ears. Now which is preferable, as a
sovereign, that is, your dog, or the dead? Either way,
youre not going to get the poem done, and at least the dead
may know things you can use once you get back to it,
but so may your dog, who may in fact be the dead,
reincarnated, if only the soul of your last dog.
2006-11-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=809 James Kaufmann James Kaufmann is a freelance writer and artist living in Iowa City. He has written for The American Scholar, the New York Times Book Review, Afterimage, Camera Arts, and many other national publications, and is a coauthor of A Pictorial History of The University of Iowa, published in 1988 by The University of Iowa Press. In 1990 he was a Finalist for the Citation for Excellence in Reviewing awarded annually by the National Book Critics Circle. He is also the book editor of Photographer's Forum magazine. He has recently started a Drawing Club at Herbert Hoover Elementary School in Iowa City, and he is guest curator of a show ("Cut and Paste") of 15 collage artists from across North America that will open at TAG Art Gallery in Nashville, TN, in March 2007. James Kaufmann's website http://jameskaufmanncollages.blogspot.com How To Use An Armadillo collage materials and ink on vintage cabinet card photograph 4.5" x 6" 2006 "My blogsite reveals my interest in collage but for the past several months I have focused on drawing. Virtually always on 8 x 8 inch Stonehenge paper, virtually always with Staedtler Fineliner .03 pens. I sometimes add collage materials or acrylic paint to the drawings. The drawings are mainly heads but heads that mainly serve as the frame for different patterns, designs, doodles, and whatever else seems to fit. The interest in using old photographs in collages stems from my longtime interest in photography as a student in my college days and after and my time on the staff of the International Museum of
Photography at George Eastman House in Rochester, NY." artimages/11232006.jpg 264 415
2006-11-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=804 Gary Wahl Gary Wahl earned an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Iowa in 1998. Picked concrete and cast iron 20.5" x 12.5" x 7" 1997 artimages/11242006.jpg 252 415 The Graduate Archive
2006-11-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=801 Gerald Wickham Gerald Wickham writes, "I am an adoptee of the state of Iowa from Ireland, and I believe in Iowa wholeheartedly." He is associate director of internships at the Pomerantz Career Center at the University of Iowa. Ode to Irish Cows Iowa Writes It's not the salt in the butter,
The heat of the currant scone
Or even the melted and the melting.
It's not the strawberries or sugar
Garbled in cream,
Nor rolling new potatoes --
Translucent skin, lathered and steamy.
Not whiskey in the coffee
With protestant collar.
Crumble of cheddar,
Autumn moon with bite
Isn't it either.
Not dimpled peas sinking a knob,
Nah, not knots of blackberries folded in yogurt.
It's the cows,
Their sober, shock-eyed trundling
And genius use of Atlantic rain,
Irish grass.
2006-11-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=802 Claudine Harris Claudine Harris has a lifelong interest in creative expression through language and the arts. A retired technical writer from University of Iowa Hospitals and past president of NAMI-Iowa, she works in poetry, personal essays, and photography. Her work often reflects her early training in physics and love of nature. This piece was written following attendance at Armando Duarte's "Ten" a few years ago. SPACE TIME DANCE Iowa Writes Steaming evening
of an Iowa July, dancers
fill the stage at North Hall,
legs, arms, and torsos
forming architectural shapes,
space in motion,
a city made of bodies
like glass towers lit by the sun,
buildings jumping to the sky.
Brazilian music breathes
through flowing limbs
reaching away to and from
each other making a human
three-dimensional mosaicsuddenly
dissolving the precise harmony
of their pose, disordered now
in the disharmony of arms and legs
and the disharmony of sound.
Space is defined in front of us
in the hot night, always evolving
like the fields of Iowa
along the Interstate,
unchanging spaceand yet
in time dissimilar
brown fields and stubble,
frozen whiteness unmoving, waiting
for the faintest green blush
of young corn glowing
between fence rows, where
the land rises imperceptibly,
and black calves dot the hillsides
catching light on their backs.
The fields of Iowa
do a slow motion dance.
2006-11-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=810 Britta Urness Britta Urness grew up in Black Earth, WI and received her BFA in studio art from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004. She is currently in her second year of the graduate painting and drawing program at the University of Iowa. Ma oil and acrylic 3' x 3' 2006 The artist writes about the work, "My paintings sew together seemingly disparate elements of a situation by layering images and forging relationships through constructed characters and the props that reside with them. Items or processes within the work can act as a celebration of guilty pleasures. For example, marmosets perch along the edge as a framing device or paint is thickly applied around a desired form. Silhouettes can create a presence that retain some personality, but also embody a sense of deletion- or muteness." artimages/11272006.jpg 300 290
2006-11-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=805 Katherine McLeod Searle Katherine McLeod Searle received a BA in English in 1973 from the University of Iowa. She has been teaching Language Arts at JB Young Intermediate in Davenport for the past 24 years. Generational Decay: Three Women Iowa Writes She liked
to spread it around
the neighborhood.
She didnt dislike sex
just having it with her husband.
In addition to her compunction
to take off her clothes,
she drank.
Saturday afternoons
hed take his daughter
for long rides, the scenery
punctuated by his bilious remarks
about her mother.
She listened well
to the Saturday sermons
and felt his contempt.
She bought her fathers clumsy
rationalizations.
She didnt think it odd
that her father promised
to pay for her pre-med education
then refused to cough up a dime.
Being the dutiful daughter, she simply
changed her major
to home ec. and bitterness.
She didnt blink an eye
when one of her twin brothers
hanged himself.
Her daughter didnt think it odd
when she gassed herself
in the attached garage.
2006-11-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=806 Katherine West Katherine West is a native of Creston, Iowa and received her B.A. from University of Northern Iowa (69). After moving to California with her husband Robert (University of Iowa, 70), she earned M.A. degrees from California State - San Bernardino and California Lutheran University while teaching secondary English. Let the Sun Shine In Iowa Writes Many of the winters I recall growing up in Creston, Iowa, in the 1950s were brutally cold and resulted in little social interaction between children outside of the classroom. One notable exception was Wednesdays when we donned green Girl Scout uniforms and looked forward to after-school Scout meetings.
In my third-grade year, it looked as though we would have no leader, but at the eleventh hour Mary Mahoney stepped forward and said she would take the troop. The Mahoney home was well known in the small town for its rather shabby appearance. Broken toys, old lawn mower parts as well as old tires made up the outside dcor. The preceding year a goat had appeared fettered to a tree in an apparent attempt to trim the grass.
It soon became apparent that Mary Mahoney had no more idea what to do with us than we ourselves did. She greeted us every meeting day as if she were a little surprised to see us. As unprepared as Mary always seemed to be on our arrival, she nevertheless exceeded our expectations. When we expressed a desire to earn a cooking badge, Mary turned us loose in her kitchen to make Girl Scout Soup with Dumplings. We managed to coat ourselves and everything else with flour, scorch several pans, and turn out a rather lumpy tomato soup with doughy blobs. We pulled taffy one day in the fall and managed to attach it to every wall in the house; we threw popcorn at each other instead of making the popcorn balls we were supposed to create. Mary joined in, laughing with us and then turned the two spotted hounds loose in the house to clean up the mess. Another time she handed us all nails and hammers and told us to practice hammering on some boards she had dragged up from the basement. She said we might need to know how to drive a nail someday. Then she had us remove all the nails with the claw end of the hammer. Her husband Mick wandered in and asked for the boards. He had been thinking about building a lean-to for that goat. When he saw what we were doing, he just grinned and told Mary to let him know when we were done.
The best day at Marys house, however, was one January afternoon when Mary greeted us with a surprised little, Ohhi girls! as if we had just spontaneously dropped by. When we entered the tiny living room we were shocked to find the carpet rolled up and the room empty of furniture. She explained she was just getting ready to paint and added, Why dont you girls do some painting first? She pulled out several brushes and from somewhere located several small cans of various colors of paint. One by one we began to shyly dab a bit of blue, yellow, green and orange on the wall. After all, we had been taught all our lives NOT to paint or color on the walls. Oh NO! she yelled and we all cowered. I mean, PAINT! Wide sweeps! Come on now, BIG rainbows! We quickly got into the mood and, to the tune of KSIBs Rocking Radio Hour, painted that living room a bright collage of colors. Huge arcs of orange and greens spanned the walls with trees and a bright yellow sun peeking out of the corner. All the Scout uniforms sported flecks of paint from that meeting on, and we wore them proudly, almost as if they were another badge we had earned.
Mary taught us a lot that year about enjoying life when you have very little to work with. She taught us to stretch our boundaries and that good memories outlive concerns about mundane matters.
When we sat in Marys house during subsequent meetings, I sometimes noticed a splotch of yellow bleeding through the neutral color of the walls, as if the sun were smiling through at us. These days, when I feel restricted by constraints and expectations, I think of Mary urging thirteen third-grade girls to paint huge rainbows across her walls, and I think about that sun bleeding through and smile.
2006-11-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=808 Kelli Spengler Kelli Spengler received a MFA in Intermedia in 2003. Work-Shift multi-media collaboration 2002 artimages/11302006.jpg 400 243 The Graduate Archive
2006-12-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=812 Sarah Shey Sarah Shey writes, A native of Algona, Iowa, I now live in Brooklyn, NY. I travel back often, though, especially because I want my three-year-old son to know the rural way of life. I have written two Iowa-based children's books, Sky All Around and Blue Lake Days. The Only Thing Constant Iowa Writes A line of pickup trucks, second-hand cars, and a motorcycle headed west on Highway 18, a two-lane road that sliced through field after field, simmering in the summers heat. We met only one town ten miles into the journey. It was passed by, as was a Catholic cemetery, a farmhouse here, a farmhouse there, a singular grove of trees popped up like a preacher without a congregation. We did not notice what we had always seen.
It was July 1989. My friends and I were farmer-tanned, farmer-freckled, and farmer-burnt. We could drive, we could spend the evening the way we wanted and, soon, we would leave for the great beyond. We were the same in our blank, hopeful states, enjoying the togetherness that came with our upgraded status as high school graduates. At that moment, in that summer, we had perspective for our age: we already knew we were someone. We didnt need a college degree to tell us that.
Into a modest farmyard we turned. Engines were cut off. Doors opened and closed. A basketball thudded against the side of the barn. A pig snorted. A few shouted hello. Someone giggled. The air smelled fertile: perspiring pigs, baking dirt, staid manure. No one had worried about being fashionably late, whatever that meant. We were eager to be with each other. We had no reason to hide the anticipation we felt. There were no strangers here. Our faces tilted upward, open and unmasked.
A keg had been placed on the patio outside, along with plastic cups; Mark Elberts parents were out of town. People huddled around the keg like it was a fire and they hoped to keep warm. The sun flushed the sky with fruit colors and then everything went black. Only house lamps and a yardlight dented the darkness of the countryside. No one thought to look up, to see stars that people in cities traveled to see. No one thought to consider that the evening would not be repeated, for we would all be changed in a years time, wouldn't we? It was the only thing constant. Or so my father always said.
2006-12-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=813 Jamie Burmeister Jamie Burmeister's sculptures have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the Midwest, including the Des Moines Art Center in Des Moines Iowa, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska, and the Sioux City Art Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Jamie has produced sculpture for various public sculpture exhibits, including "Washburn University Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition" in Topeka, Kansas and "Wind and Water" and "Elements" in Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. Burmeister is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Trickey Memorial Award, Woods Fellowship and Lewis Art Scholarship. He was born in Harlan, Iowa in 1969 and currently lives in Gretna, Nebraska with his wife, Kelli, and two children, Makenzie and Jackson. Jamie is an Art Instructor at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska. Jamie Burmeister's website www.jamieburmeister.com Stir Glass, Plastic Silverware, Wire and Electronics Variable Dimensions 2006 'Stir' is an interactive installation that plays simple melodies on 16 tuned glass jars with plastic silverware when the viewer turns a crank. The artist says this about his work "As I go through my everyday life, I am drawn to seemingly uninspiring observations and experiences, such as watching a bug walking across a leaf, riding a bike, taking apart a machine to see how it works or pondering a question from my child which I just can not answer. These simple occurrences inspire me to explore these ideas further through art. Through experiments with sculpture, installation, mechanics, electronics, computers, the Internet, interactivity, sound and video, I have put together a diverse body of work that revolves around my conscious experience of the world. All of these pieces have elements of humor, absurdity and the mundane. Many of the pieces are interactive, creating situations where the viewer becomes a part of the piece. The experience of the work is unique depending upon how the viewers choose to interact with it. I place common everyday items in situations that give them characteristics of human behavior. By merging new digital technologies with old mechanical technologies I animate these humble materials seeking to change their context." artimages/12022006.jpg 308 410
2006-12-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=814 Paul Denhoed Paul Denhoed received an MA in Design in 1999. 200 paper, light, plexiglass 445 x 400 x 400 mm 1999 artimages/12032006.jpg 218 400 The Graduate Archive
2006-12-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=815 Andy Douglas Andy Douglas is a graduate of the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa. He lives in Iowa City. Articles of Faith Iowa Writes Big-boned women in flower print dresses and pill-box hats rise spontaneously from their pews. Great urns of magnolia and iris radiate splashes of color across the dais. A dark-suited man booms music from somewhere deep in his chest.
The speaker is on a roll, wiping evangelical sweat from his brow. Hes praising the Lord. Hes telling stories.
Thomas had tremendous gifts. He had a generosity of spirit.
Most African-Americans in this insular Iowa town are descendants of those who came to work in the meat-packing plant. Many of them live beneath a railroad trestle in a section of town known as the flats. There are racial fights at the high school.
Thomas lived uptown. He directed his church music program, mentored youth, and did community organizing, gliding effortlessly through his days in his wingtip shoes, crisply ironed denim pants and cashmere sweaters.
Thomas had a special quality, the speaker says. Lets not forget what happened with Sister Oates...
Cries of Amen ricochet through the sanctuary.
I lean forward in my pew. Thomas told that story to me himself only weeks before he died.
The hospital room resembled a florists shop, flooded with get-well cards and shiny Mylar balloons. Thomas lay propped on his bed, looking out of place in the frumpy hospital gown.
Seeing how thin he had become worried me. But Thomas was upbeat about his chances.
I know Im going to beat this thing, he told me. Listen. A few years back, at a revival, there was a woman who was lame. We were feeling the spirit, you know, and something just came over me.
I decided to wash her feet. So I did, and then I laid my hands on her, he said quietly. And believe it or not, that woman rose up and walked.
I stared at him, at a loss for words. The story was not easy to come to terms with. But I trusted Thomas, and so, after the initial shock, I believed. Besides, here was evidence of a relationship with God that might see him through this illness. That was something worth believing in.
The eulogist continues: Thomas loved people. He knew that love was what kept things going.
The mention of love raises an unvoiced question. For all the recognition of Thomass spirituality, his character, there is a part of him not being acknowledged here today.
One evening months earlier Thomas and I sat in his antique-furnished drawing room. A fringed lamp cast a soft glow over the room. We had recently become friends, and as he was always happy to talk about clothes, I had asked for advice.
He flipped carelessly through the pages of slick mens magazines, pointing out styles he appreciated.
You can go a long way with a good pair of jeans, a long way, he said.
Then, coming upon a particular article, he let the page fall open on the floor. A young man in uniform stared unashamedly into the cameras eye, next to an article entitled The Gay Marine.
Lingering over this page, he looked pointedly at me for a moment. I was a little slow on the uptake, but then it dawned that he was trying to tell me something.
Being black in a conservative town had to be difficult. To come out as gay would have complicated things immeasurably.
Traditionally the African-American church had come down hard on homosexuality, portraying it as a particularly odious sin. I suspect that Thomass church would not have supported this side of him, despite his position of leadership there. Perhaps his life had been one long tango between the poles of self-assured expression and guarded restraint.
Thomas was not coming on to me that evening. He was simply using a chance juxtaposition of images and text to tell me something critical about himself. He was showing faith in me.
The congregants break into song: There is power, power, wonder-working power....
A month after he told me about Sister Oates, Thomas died.
I was left with grief, and vague misgivings. How much strength does it take, I wondered, to keep a secret?
2006-12-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=816 Jason Urban Jason Urban is an Assistant Professor of Art at Southern Illinois University Carbondale where he is the head of the Printmaking area. After receiving his MFA in Printmaking from the School of Art & Art History at the University of Iowa in 2002, Urban went on to teach at a number of institutions including Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA), Tyler School of Art at Temple University (Philadelphia, PA), and Maryland Institute and College of Art (Baltimore, MD) before accepting his current position in Illinois. His research focuses on the development of a cross-disciplinary body of prints, paintings, and installations that investigate pattern, repetition, and color. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally. More information and images on Jason Urban can be seen on the artist's website. Jason Urban's website http://jasonurban.com/ Rattesnake Rec Room silkscreen on plywood dimensions variable 2006 artimages/12052006.jpg 329 410
2006-12-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=817 Ashley Capps Ashley Capps received her MFA from the University of Iowa. Her first book, Mistaking the Sea for Green Fields, is forthcoming in October 2006. Hymn for Two Choirs first appeared in the Fall 2006 issue of The Iowa Review. Hymn for Two Choirs Iowa Writes Best apple I ever had was three oclock
in the morning, somewhere outside
San Francisco, beach camping, stars holding
the sky together like sutures. I was thinking
how I was going to get old and ask myself
why did I only live for one thing;
at the same time I didnt know how to change.
I thought I felt like my neighbors huge dog
every day stuffed into a small mans green T-shirt
and chained to a stake in a yard of incongruous
white tulips. Here and there a red bird, a train.
Way down the beach other tents glowed orange.
I heard a stranger call my name
and another stranger, laughing, answered.
2006-12-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=818 Gianna Commito Gianna Commito received an MA in Painting and Drawing in 2002. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Painting at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. For the Moment oil on panel 46" x 38" 2001 "The simplification, or abbreviation, of familiar images allows for visual inconsistencies to emerge. It is these discrepancies that engage me, that are the entry point into abstraction. My drawings and paintings are derived from different architectural constructions and building blocks, either through the literal representation of materials such as wood and bricks or by utilizing the physicality of paint itself as a structural element. Alluding to such a diversity of materials, from rustic logs and stones to slick aluminum and vinyl, provides space to push the varied qualities of oil paint. The subjects are aberrations that either introduce or obliterate detail in an otherwise predictable setting--they are forced to compromise and share. Components are often involved in small struggles or quiet negotiations, giving the paintings a conflicting sense of both insistence and surrender." artimages/12072006.jpg 400 326 The Graduate Archive
2006-12-08 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=819 Jessica White and Cody Gieselman "Common Ground" was an interactive installation about community as a shared experience along personal journeys. For this show and art event, they created a space where people crossed paths, shared stories, and made souvenir books to remember it by. The artists were interested in inviting viewers to participate as collaborators, the intimacy of physically touching the artwork, the temporality of moving through a space, the de-commodification of art, and the creation of a personal object/personal event. Common Ground interactive installation Jessica White and Cody Gieselman have personal websites at www.bittersweetnessandlight.com and www.awkwardlyput.com, respectively. artimages/12082006.jpg 350 530
2006-12-09 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=820 Juan Ramon Jimenez Spanish poet Juan Ramn Jimnez (18811958) received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1956. Michael Carey farms in southwest Iowa near the town of Farragut. He is the author of a teaching manual and five books of poetry. The Little Green Girl first appeared in the Fall 2006 issue of The Iowa Review. The Little Green Girl translated by Michael Carey Iowa Writes The little girl is green.
She has green eyes, green hair.
She comes through the green air
(and the earth turns green).
Her tiny wild rose
isnt pink or white. Its green.
Her sheer shining slip
isnt blue or white. Its green.
She comes over the green sea
(and the sky turns green).
My life will always open
a little green door for her.
2006-12-10 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=821 Julie Hanson Julie Hanson moved to Cedar Rapids in 1978, earned an M.A. and M.F.A. at the University of Iowa, and never moved away. She has poems in recent issues of Meridian and Great River Review, new work coming in Fulcrum and 32 Poems. Flow Iowa Writes I like the bare feet, the cotton knit crop pants and simple
sleeveless tee,
I like unrolling the mat with a snap of the wrists, whipping it out on the
floor
like a frog hurling out its tongue down on the pond in the mist.
I like the dimmed down lighting of the room.
I like the balancing poses like tree and eagle and warrior three
and being reminded of where we fold in half
and the symmetry of every action taken
being taken once again on the other side. And the ujjayi breathing
which enters and exits only through the nose, but does so
audibly, the wave of breath rolling out until all thats left is the last
uneven edge of it and then how it has to come back.
I like the way I dont think once about civil litigation
until long after weve come out of corpse pose and said namaste.
I like thinking of my hip as a melting block of ice
as I slip deeper into pigeon. I like all these animal names
and the stretch in the back of the legs, and the twists
and the nearly indistinguishable versions of the sun salutation,
and the bridge, the plow, and the face of the cow. I like the mild
complaints
from the rear of the room, the pleadings for an extra long
savasana
at the end of the hour. I like feeling that my torso has actually
lengthened
when Ive been reminded once again to lengthen it.
I like rolling up my mat and exiting through the revolving door,
surprised by a blast of heat or by the rain, and by the perfect fit
of my shoes and the ease of my gait, and how I slip in and fold
behind the wheel into the drivers seat like a thin young thing:
My organs are surely glistening. This car was made for me.
2006-12-11 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=822 Matt Lowe A recipient of both the University of Iowa Arts Fellowship and the Wilhelm and Jane Bodine Fellowship, Matt received his MFA in Sculpture from the University of Iowa in 2000, where he also taught through the teaching assistantship program. Following graduation, he focused primarily on bronze casting, and he also worked as Assistant
Preparator for the Joslyn Art Museum. He currently works for the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska. Matt Lowe's website http://www.bemiscenter.org/about_us/board_staff.html?board_staff_item=92&db_item=staff Learning to Fly I fiberglass and wood 3' x 2' x 10" 1999 artimages/12112006.jpg 410 261 The Graduate Archive
2006-12-12 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=823 Adrienne Lamberti Dr. Adrienne Lamberti is a former farm kid and now the Professional and Technical Writing Program Coordinator at the University of Northern Iowa. Dr. Farm Kid Iowa Writes I didn't realize that I was a "farm kid" until I became an academic.
Now, if I said such a thing to an academic scholar, s/he might respond, "Of course not! You couldn't recognize your unique locatedness among oppositional identities until you were equipped with the proper analytical discourse to articulate the boundaries between 'farm kid' and 'academic.'"
A farmer would probably respond, "You don't have much sense, do you?"
But it's true. I didn't realize how much of my family's farm was under my fingernails, until I was a graduate student mewed up in an apartment in the middle of a city. That's when I learned the most important lesson of my academic career.
Having grown up on one of Iowa's Century Farms, having entered a doctoral program at a university renowned for agriculture scholarship, it made sense that my dissertation would follow suit: A case study about farming. Still, it had been a long stretch between my previous life on our dairy operation and my current student life, and during that time I'd evidently suffered a mild bout of amnesia. Passing muster with classmates from Manhattan, justifying my existence to demanding professors, I forgot where I'd put myself. My chore boots somehow managed to disappear. My colloquialism-peppered chattiness evaporated.
It wasn't until four years into my doctoral work that I came across myself in a cornfield. My dissertation research required criss-crossing Iowa to conduct interviews with farmers, and during one trip I overshot my destination and ended up in Clear Lakea town so far north that they keep snow gates on their interstate on-ramps. Frustrated, I began to back-track, and it took a while for me to appreciate the journey. As I drove, I passed prosperous farmsteads with buildings painted in the traditional barn red. Posted on many barns were signs in support of Tom Latham, a Republican congressional candidate, a notable difference from the Democratic leanings of the southern Iowa farmers I'd interviewed. By the end of the trip, I realized that getting lost in the familiar world of farming had been good for me. I'd been reconnected with the fields, the crops, the people.
Fields, crops, and folks: these were the hearts that beat during my research interviewsnot the methodology, the surveys, the data validation techniques that were common entities in my academic life. Try as I might to be the Serious Scholar, whenever I sat down with a farmer we'd end up discussing the rainfall and the efficacy of Roundup Ready beans. He'd tell me the story of how his neighbor wrecked a tractor. I'd tell him the story of how my uncle lost a finger to the haybaler. It was gratifying to watch as my tales about bad weather and barn cats worked their magic, and an initially reserved farmer would relax, less suspicious of the academic with her notepad and tape recorder and Human Subject Release forms.
One farmer, particularly unsettled during our interview, kept nervously petting his dog. Finally, I stopped asking my research questions and instead asked about Guinness. "Is he a lab?" I inquired. "We have a lab mix at our place, but he keeps running off. How do you keep Guinness at home?" Immediately, the farmer began listing detailed instructions on the care and training of a wandering canine. He then proceeded to discuss the rest of his farm's animal population for almost an hour. I left the interview with pages full of notes and a list of other potential interviewees.
In my academic myopia, I'd entered this man's house, sat at his table, and tried to call the shots. I'd fired interview questions at him in a desperate (and failed) attempt to gather evidence. But the moment I code-switched and became a farm kid again, telling stories and asking for advice, the walls fell and the evidence materialized.
And so I learned the most important lesson of my academic career, miles from any classroom. Rather than schizophrenically compartmentalize the farm kid and role-play a scholar, I quit fighting what came naturally to me and instead allowed my farm background lead me to the data. I let myself talk about the fields, the crops, and the people, and the interviews became more revelatory.
On many levels.
2006-12-14 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=825 Jerry Harp Jerry Harp's books of poems are Creature (Salt Publishing, 2003), Gatherings (Ashland Poetry Press, 2004), and Urban Flowers, Concrete Plains (Salt Publishing, 2006). With Jan Weissmiller he co-edited A Poetry Criticism Reader (University of Iowa Press, 2006). He received his PhD in Renaissance Literature from the University of Iowa in 2002. What Year Iowa Writes Once was a red-ribboned babe.
Once was a tire in the grass.
Once became nightfall and gears melting down.
Lights went back and forth across the river.
Outcroppings turned red in morning light,
And breezes spoke a language of lichen on rock.
Once were freshets churning mud,
A hint of dead fish in the morning air,
Sirens going off, footsteps on gravel and glass,
Dirt falling away like crumbled bread.
An infusion of coffee. Cries in the trees.
Stains like a face on the wine-colored rug.
A voice calls from a back room
About time running down, clicks and ticks
And plastic vials. Bring me back a forgotten
Verse tapping time against windows.
2006-12-15 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=824 Jiha Moon Jiha Moon received a BFA from Korea University and an MFA at Ewha Women's University in Seoul, Korea. Later, she received a MFA from the University of Iowa in painting. She has shown in solo and group exhibitions at locations across the US and internationally, including the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center in Atlanta, Georgia, The Drawing Center in New York, and the Curator's Office in Washington, D.C. Skyscape ink and acrylic on Hanji 25" x 40" 2006 "I find rich ground in the remodeling of mysterious natural phenomena, such as in the morphology of weird vegetation, unusual creatures, and in bizarre weather changes. My interest in paradoxical juxtaposition and conceptual opposition extends to my painting style and working process. I apply thin layer against thick layer, translucent colors against opaque colors, and abstract, linear drawings against pictorial space. I rely upon spontaneity in my process, allowing experimentation and chance to play as big a part in my work as do focus and premeditation. By pushing these contradictory approaches at once, I pursue the dynamics of the relationship between abstraction and representation. I want to stay in the boundary between these matters and search for the new beauty of abstraction." This painting is from the Mysthscape series. artimages/12152006.jpg 415 261
2006-12-16 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=828 Philip Mondragn Philip Mondragn is a graduate of Cornell College in Mount Vernon and has attended the University of Iowa summer writing program. He has lived in Japan, traveled through Spain extensively, and now resides in Mexico City. In his writing Philip seeks to weave together the geographies, cultures, and concerns of all people. Winter Iowa Writes I miss the golden leaves of fall
And my African older brother
Thomas Lucius Berkley
He was a Man
As men ought to be
And seldom are
I do not miss the pain of life
Replaced in time
With humility and patience and love
And a semblance of wisdom
Across generations
And cultures
From the song of the zentzontle
And the color of jade
And the enervating perfume of flowers
To Oshima and tradition
And the land of Rashomon
To La Dama de Elche
And endless migrations
Across time and space
The Arabs and Jews of Spain
The towers and tears of Granada
Orange blossoms and scents
Andalusia
Tauromaquia
Jerez de la Frontera
The soul and pride of the South
Unamuno from the North
Demanding immortality
Erroneous focus on the self
Resting in the dreams and madness
Of Don Quijote
And now
The virtual world
Of bits and bytes and quantifications
Secularizations and polarizations
Of populations and civilizations
Science and the coming anarchy
Asgard and the runes of knowledge
The Ice Giant comes tomorrow
Who will be here to slay him?
2006-12-17 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=829 Wan Eui Hong Wan Eui Hong received a MA in Design in 2003. CD ROM design 2002 artimages/12172006.jpg 400 252 The Graduate Archive
2006-12-18 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=831 Marilyn Abildskov Marilyn Abildskov has an MFA from the University of Iowa, lives in Berkeley, California, and teaches at Saint Marys College in Moraga. The Men in My Country was published by the University of Iowa Press in 2004.
Established in 1938 and housed in the historic Kuhl House, the oldest house still standing in Iowa City, the University of Iowa Press publishes scholarly books and a wide variety of titles that will appeal to general readers. As the only university press in the state, it is dedicated to preserving the literature, history, culture, wildlife, and natural areas of the region. from The Men in My Country Iowa Writes It starts as a name, a place, a squiggle on a map. Japan. A country as far away from familiar as familiar can be. I try to imagine the country, what its streets look like, how its air smells. I touch the country on a map, fingering the page of a weathered atlas, spine broken, yellowed pages flying apart. As big as a thumbprint, as small as a canoe. Japan. I like the sound of it.
When my best friend called to say there was a job in Japan, when she asked, did I want to go, I knew I would. I would say yes, I would sign a contract to take me to Japan for the year. The job? To teach at three different junior highs. The town? A medium-sized city in the mountains, someplace called Matsumoto. I had just turned thirty, a watershed year. I would start over that year. I knew I would. I wanted to, I needed to. I didnt know the difference then between want and need. All I knew is that I had to get away and when I stared at my name on the Japanese contract, the squiggles of katakana, my name typed in English sturdily beneath, I liked how it looked. As if itas if Iwere translated, transformed, emerging now as someone new.
And within a month, I had arrived. Sleeping on tatami mats. Eating rice. Washing blue-and-white bowls. Hanging laundry out on the balcony to dry. I loved the smell of sun-dried shirts and cotton sweaters that carried a hint of wind and earth. A new wind. A new earth.
2006-12-19 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=832 Nathan Haenlein Nathan Haenlein was born in Michigan and now lives and works in Northern California. He received his MFA from the University of Iowa and is currently an Assistant Professor of Studio Art at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California. Haenlein's work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and most recently he has had solo shows in Marfa, TX, Washington D.C., and Cleveland, OH (November 2006). His work is in the public collection of the Center for Visual Arts, Toledo, OH; Kalkograsski Ateijie Butkovic, Rijeka, Croatia; the Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA; the National Palace of Art, Minsk, Belarus; the Tama Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan; as well as many others. Haenlein's current body of work explores ideas around consumption and new acts of drawing. Additionally he questions the concepts of patience, the digital age, and repetition. Corner 22 "x 28" ink on paper 2006 He says this about his work: "Conceptually my work addresses capitalist ideologies and new synergistic cultural trends. Our current global community is waging a visual campaign to consume. Much like the cathedrals of medieval Europe, global advertising is dependant on image to convey meaning. At every level of consciousness Ad men and designers are hoping to manipulate our decisions and serve us an Eden that is attainable through their product. My work addresses that urge/need to buy our Eden. I lure the viewer in with pristine surfaces, the flash of commercial design, and objects that emit machine made qualities. With further inspection, the work asks the viewer what she/he is consuming, will this object fit with my Ipod / Volkswagen / Banana Republic lifestyle, or is this a distortion of capitalism? The reality of the work is consumption; art is a commodity or culture for sale. The objects also teeter between, and question the concepts of, patience, the digital age, repetition, and new ideas about drawing." artimages/12192006.jpg 415 315
2006-12-20 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=833 Carl Klaus Carl Klaus, founding director of the University of Iowas Nonfiction Writing Program and professor emeritus of English at the University of Iowa, wrote Letters to Kate: Life After Life (Iowa, 2006) during the first year after the death of his wife, Kate Franks Klaus.
Established in 1938 and housed in the historic Kuhl House, the oldest house still standing in Iowa City, the University of Iowa Press publishes scholarly books and a wide variety of titles that will appeal to general readers. As the only university press in the state, it is dedicated to preserving the literature, history, culture, wildlife, and natural areas of the region. from Letters to Kate: Life After Life Iowa Writes Wednesday, December 18
Dear Kate,
Ever since you died, Ive been getting more and more uneasy about the things of yours that have come into my hands. Please notice that Ive deliberately avoided the word possession, for though Ive inherited all your stuffclothes, jewelry, paintings, quilts, stocks, books, bookcases, and so onI dont feel as if theyre mine, dont feel anything like ownership. How could I possibly own things so distinctively yours, like your shell collection, things you acquired over a lifetime of being who you are. Worse still, how can I lay claim to stuff you inherited from your parents and grandparents. I felt that quite keenly this afternoon when I went to the corner cupboard to get a wine glass for dinner, and there on the top shelf right above our clear glass goblets were the amber goblets, cups, fruit cups, saucers, and dessert plates from your grandmother Orlieshe of the Victorian migraines and morals, whose faded world of white gloves and drawn curtains was so distant from mine it seems outlandish that her goblets should be cohabiting with mine. And Im sure she would feel the same way, thank you. But its not just a matter of profound cultural and personal difference that makes me uneasy. No, theres also something deeply existential thats at stake. And the only way I can suggest the problem is to say that I dont even feel as if I own the things that are purportedly mine. I imagine you looking quizzically at me right now, as if to ask what could possibly account for such a kooky feeling. And I dont know how to explain it except to say that the survival of all your things in the wake of your deathyou gone, they still here, vividly herehas led me to realize that our so-called possessions have an independence of sorts, a life of their own, a durability greater than ours that makes it preposterous to think we could ever own them. At most, Im now inclined to believe that we coexist for awhile, that they pass through our hands, or we through theirs in the case of things like the house, which might outlast us both for hundreds of years. That being the case, it seems more accurate to think of myself as a steward rather than an owner, just looking after things, taking care of them awhile as best I can, hoping I might find them a good home before I shuffle off this mortal coil. Possession, after all, is only nine-tenths of the law.
2006-12-21 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=834 Cole Swensen Cole Swensen is on the faculty of the Iowa Writers Workshop. Her books of poetry include Goest, Such Rich Hour, and Try. Of an Alphabet of Steppes is from The Book of a Hundred Hands (University of Iowa Press, 2005).
Established in 1938 and housed in the historic Kuhl House, the oldest house still standing in Iowa City, the University of Iowa Press publishes scholarly books and a wide variety of titles that will appeal to general readers. As the only university press in the state, it is dedicated to preserving the literature, history, culture, wildlife, and natural areas of the region. Of an Alphabet of Steppes
after the finger alphabet of George Dalgarno, 1680 Iowa Writes But after he was gone, I began to consider
that the I floats above the middle finger
and the deaf with their kites
and the O above the next
who touched
the E above the indexnote
its the vowels that live in air
and the continents distributed
rationally across extremity.
Readiness
is distillation
among strangers.
2006-12-22 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=835 Peter Axelsen Peter Axelsen received a MFA in Painting and Drawing in 2002. Chandelier oil on canvas 60" x 72" 2001 artimages/12222006.jpg 415 345 The Graduate Archive
2006-12-23 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=836 Zine Machine The zine machine just had their very first zine workshop in Iowa City. At the workshop, they talked about zines and looked at zines made by people from all over the country. They demonstrated layout and binding techniques and then spent the rest of the afternoon working on a collaborative zine made by 9 different participants they had throughout the day. Everyone got creative and made 1 or 2 pages for the final and wonderfully eclectic 16-page zine. It's now available for $1 in the zine machine, located on the first floor of the main library on the University of Iowa campus. The Zine Machine www.zinemachine.org. workshop November 12 2006 artimages/12232006.jpg 400 400
2006-12-24 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=837 Angela M. Balcita Angela M. Balcita received her MFA from the University of Iowas Nonfiction Writing Program. She lives in Baltimore. Moonface and Charlie first appeared in the Winter 2005/06 issue of The Iowa Review. from Moonface and Charlie Iowa Writes I tell Charlie we should at least get ourselves some costumes. A fake mustache, a cane, a boa. Maybe some matching tuxedos. Something, I tell him.
Dont get crazy, Moonface, he says. He looks at me and winks. His scruffy voice matches the stubble on his chin, and Im in love with his eyes that sparkle like diamonds even when his eyebrows get in the way.
I always tell him that I think the story could be better, that we could add fireworks, go to parties with roman candles in our pockets and light them up when the questions start flying. Or wear tap shoes and do a little kick-ball-change after every punch line.
Are you kidding me? What weve got is gold, baby. Gold! He grabs my face. He kisses me hard on my cheek. Charlie is the showman. Hes got the wit and the delivery. He can play to a crowd without the props or the fancy sets. If we really did have an act, I mean, one that we actually made money off of, hed be the manager, the one calling the shots. And Id let him. He has a way of telling a story and running with it.
So, show us the scar you got from the surgery, man, someone from the audience will ask. Right now, the audience is usually our families and our friends. Sometimes strangers at parties.
Charlie lifts his shirt and says, Surgery? What are you talking about? I got this baby from a shark bite when we were swimming off the deep seas of Palau. See the teeth marks? He points to the little dots where the doctors had him in staples.
Nawww! the crowd calls. Some of them gasp in horror.
Come on, Charlie, tell em the truth, I interrupt. I furrow my brow, puff out my lips. Me? Im all facial expressions. Charlie says I can change the mood of a room with just the look on my face. That and I follow cues really well. We got shipwrecked on that island and we tried to kill each other for food. See, Ive got one, too. He tried to get me first, but I went straight for that white meat, if you know what I mean.
Then, I lift up my shirt to show the crowd my scar, also on my left side. And then, we demonstrate what that stabbing might have looked like had we really done it. We take turns pretending to jab a knife into each others stomach, over and over again.
Aaawww! one of us yells.
Aaawww! the other one yells.
It has our families and friends rolling on their sofa cushions for hours.
At first, we tried to tell everyone our story, all serious and sweet, how I have this disease, how he gave me his kidney, how I was in bad shape. The sacrifice, the pain, yadda, yadda, yadda. But even when we talk to our audience honestly about the transplant, we cant help but crack the jokes because, as Charlie says, How else are you supposed to look at life? Seriously?
2006-12-25 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=860 Dan Mcnamara Dan received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His work has been seen in exhibitions in Des Moines and Minneapolis and can be found in several private collections. New American Paintings featured his work in the 2000 Midwest Edition. Aerial View in Blue and Green oil, monotype 18" x 25" A Des Moines native, Dan creates lush monoprint landscapes. Using a subdued palette consisting mostly of various shades of green, he depicts river and pond banks lined with rocks, tranquil bodies of water, and towering trees. Each work radiates a certain sense of serenity and harmony within nature.
Dan says of his work, "I am a firm believer in the study and reflection on the work of the masters so as to build upon a firm foundation. In my own work I strive for balance and harmony coupled with past and present ideas regardless of the subject matter." artimages/12252006.jpg 400 283
2006-12-26 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=838 April Newman April Newman is a MFA Writing candidate at Columbia College and was the 2006-07 Graduate Opportunity Award recipient. She was a featured student reader at Creative Nonfiction Week 2006. A graduate of The University of Iowa, this Dubuque native now lives in Chicago with her puppy, Kona. The Bedroom Iowa Writes The bedroom had dark plank floors with one rug poking out in the center. The walls were yellow behind a painting of wild mustangs galloping through a mountain range, their muscles statuesque. Grandma kept quarters in turquoise beaded purses from South Dakota on her dresser, the brown-edged photos of her children jammed into the sides of her mirror. In the corner was a black rolltop writing desk. She placed a photo of her father, Donald, there.
Grandma died in that bed. The same one where her children were conceived. She died skeletal thin and skin faded the color of a sliced pear, almost translucent, her shoulder bones and clavicle pronounced; eyes pinched and sunken. A delta of wrinkles fanned softly toward her ears and her lips were flat and nearly purple. My Persian cat, Walter, folded himself into her side as she lay dying. In her morphine delirium, she called out names of school mates, strangers to us.
When I die you have to play Beulahs Boogie. And dance. And I mean it, she had told everyone on different occasions; she may have been dangling a cigarette. Of course I promised. But when it actually happened, I wasnt nearly ready to dance.
She waited until all of her children and grandchildren were in the house, blown in from the road or down the streetall tattered like wet newspapers. She passed exactly two hours after I stepped off the plane from Florida. I don't know how she realized I was finally home, her eyes like clamps in that yellow room, the light now custard around us.
When it happened, the cat jumped up and out of her arms, running with his body crouched close to floor, his hair raised high up like a ridge on his back. Half a dozen people crowded her bed, sitting on the edge or standing near the window sill. They checked her pulse; they felt her lips for signs of life with their trembling fingers. They murmured and cried out, but everyone was still touching her as she melted away.
One of my aunts turned on Beulahs Boogie almost immediately. It sounded loud enough to fill a football stadium, the jazz horns blazing as they zipped her up in a black bag and rolled her out of the bedroom for the last timethis time on a gurney. Dance! But my legs were a zombies, arms made of rope, and the whole scene felt filtered through a lens smeared with butter. Dance! Time had turned on its ears. Dance! We have to dance! And even though my wrists weighed a thousand pounds, for her I raised my hands.
2006-12-27 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=839 Christine Buckton Christine Buckton Tillman grew up Chicago's Northern Suburbs. It was in this endless network of suburbs that she developed her sincere fascination with artifice. Christine went on to spend seven years in the great state of Iowa, earning her BA from Coe College and her MFA from the University of Iowa. She adopted two cats, fell in love with a nice boy, moved to Maryland, and got married.
Christine Buckton Tillman now lives in Baltimore. She exhibits her work frequently
in the Mid Atlantic and beyond. She is a member of the Upper School Faculty at the Park School of Baltimore, where she also serves as Exhibitions Educator. Christine Buckton's website www.christinebucktontillman.com Ever So Sweetly installation, 300 lbs. of cast sugar 2002 "The work I make draws from my collection of images and objects in which I see an inner dichotomy-objects that are at the same time happy and sad, full of joy, and utterly hollow. These objects lose something in translation, the phenomena of a rainbow becomes trite and clich on the cover of a notebook. I am particularly interested in objects who's meanings confuse their intended purpose, the bride and groom cake
topper who's lips are painted askew, the fake wood of wood grain contact paper."
"I want my work to transform my collection, making things transcend the world of leftovers and craft store while simultaneously embracing and questioning the ideas of cute, fun, festive, and romantic." artimages/12272006.jpg 410 305 The Graduate Archive
2006-12-28 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=840 Dick Stahl Dick Stahl, of Davenport, Iowa, enjoys writing about the lore of the Mississippi River. His three books of poetry are After the Milk Route (1988), Under the Green Tree Hotel (1996), and Mr. Farnam's Guests (2004). He served as Quad City Arts Poet Laureate from September 2001 to September 2003. Rhubarb Iowa Writes My wife's out there again, planting
another row closer
to my rhubarb, sprinkling
her radish seeds like ashes
into long, shallow graves. I don't want
the roots of my rhubarb
disturbed, the tender stalks
cracked, leaves
trampled. She knows my rhubarb wine's
the sweetest vintage
in Scott County. Now she's weeding around
my patch, her hoe raising plumes
of earth. I can't wait any longer!
Soon she'll be pulling up
her swollen red devils, exploding
grenades of dirt, stepping on
my leafstalks and smashing everything.
Suddenly, she hands me her bouquet
of underground hearts, ready
to wash and eat.
2006-12-29 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=861 Tarlochan Oberoi #519 dry pastel 18" x 13" Oberoi says this about his work: "My artwork introduces a new possibility of expression: one which arises from an inner soundless state, a state where everything is complementary. The soundless and formless nature of my work is not as important as the primary joy of the varied and vibrating life which my artwork reflects."
"My vision arises out of an initial state of chaos. I have no idea how the painting will turn out, and this lack of pre-conceptions helps to uncloud my eyes. Only when I see nature without judgement, do I become aware of how everything is powerfully and perfectly interconnected everything that exists." artimages/12292006.jpg 410 406
2006-12-30 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=841 Patrick Irelan Patrick Irelan's short stories and essays have been widely published in magazines, anthologies, and literary journals. His latest memoir, A Firefly in the Night: A Son of the Middle West, was published by Ice Cube Press in 2007. He lives in Iowa.
The Ice Cube Press, based in North Liberty, Iowa, began publishing in 1993 to focus on how to best live with the natural world. Since then it has published a number of well known authors, including Mary Swander, Jim Heynen, Stephanie Mills, Bill McKibben, and Paul Gruchow. from A Firefly in the Night Iowa Writes One day a few years after my father died, I was driving my mother a hundred miles back to her house and farm in Davis County. She had come to visit my family in Iowa City during a mild week early in June, but now insisted that she had many important tasks to perform at home.
After leaving town, we followed Highway 1 south through Washington, Brighton, and Fairfield. Nine miles south of Fairfield, as we approached the village of Birmingham, my mother casually said, "This is the town where you were conceived."
I turned and looked at her in disbelief, not that I doubted what she'd said, but disbelief that she'd said it at all. She continued to stare straight ahead. Her mouth had formed that slight smile it always did when she said something she knew would surprise somebody. Mother had learned a code of speech and behavior from Grandma Austa Fleming Hunter, and that code did not permit use of the word "conceived," except when spoken in a medical context. Grandma Austa had served as a midwife and didn't use words like conceived for humorous effect. That was the last word I expected to hear from my mother in the village of Birmingham on that lovely spring day. Mother knew how much she'd surprised me, and she enjoyed every symptom of it. "Better keep your eyes on the road, Patrick," she said.
2006-12-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=842 Olabayo Olaniyi Olabayo Olaniyi, from a royal family and a long line of artists and performers from Oshogbo, Nigeria, has been apprenticed since his youth as an artist, drummer, and dancer in Nigeria. He received his BFA from the College of Santa Fe and his MFA at the University of Iowa. He has written, directed, and produced his own Yoruba theatre, and has seen great success in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Nigeria. His resumé includes: 12 international solo and 20+ group exhibitions; hundreds of lectures and workshops ranging from Yoruba art and philosophy to story-telling, drumming, dance, and theatre, to batique, beadwork, etching and sculpture presented at grade schools, high schools, universities, museums, and art and culture fairs world-wide. He has been an artist-in-residence in Santa Fe, NM, St. Thomas, VI, and the National Black Theatre in Harlem. He has been featured in 50 press articles and is a recipient of numerous grants and fellowships Ashe mixed media 24" x 8" x 8" 1998 artimages/12312006.jpg 182 415 The Graduate Archive
1969-12-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=954 Violet Lucca
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Violet Lucca's website http://www.rstv.blogspot.com/ Victoria's Secret Of her work, Lucca says, "The work I've been most satisfied with is that which is ambiguous while pushing the boundaries of comfort. Inevitably, I return to tropes of low-grade recording, female bodies, and voyeurism that invert pre-existing styles and genres. This video comes from the same place that all inexplicable Internet fetishes and inorganic/marketed desire do." Iowa Vlogs
1969-12-31 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=974 Seth Diehl Seth Diehl is in his last semester as an undergrad at the University of Iowa and will be graduating with a major in Film and a minor in Theatre arts in May. As a result of his experience here, Diehl's interests have grown to include non-fiction and experimental film as well as in story telling. He plans to travel and make films, work for PBS or similar, or maybe be a river raft guide in the mountains. He currently calls Iowa City home. Seth Dieh's Vlog http://seth-diehl.blogspot.com/ ASIF Of his work, Diehl says, "My Videoblog page is currently going by the title String Swords. I created the blog for a class last semester with weekly posts and like many of my classmates I have continued posting on it, letting it exist as a creative outlet. There is something curious about putting together quick small videos of art or whatever and then making them available for anyone around the world who has an internet connection to watch them. I find it inviting." Iowa Vlogs
2007-01-01 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=843 Wilson Diehl Wilson Diehl is a writer, artist, and filmmaker living in an old elementary school in Seattle. She grew up in Iowa City and has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Iowa. Remembering Debi Thomas1 Iowa Writes As far as I know
there are no polar bears
in Iowa. But this does not
mean that I do not
understand
when you say ice or
seal or hibernation
or claw. This does not
mean that I cannot see
your dirty white coat
through the bars of your cage
at the San Diego Zoo
where you watch the
former Olympic bronze medalist
skate on a tiny melting rink
in the middle of August
for the entertainment of
Midwestern tourists.
This does not mean
I cannot see your grimace
as you watch her push and jump
and spin and spin and spin
and land ice-perfect smooth
to the sound of polite applause
as you sweat in your cage
and pace back and forth and
search for a mirror so that
you might ask yourself
what you are doing
in San Diego.
1 After Debi Thomas's third-place ice-skating finish, she went on to get an engineering degree from Stanford and an MD in orthopedic surgery from Northwestern.
2007-01-02 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=862 Josh Schwake Josh Schwake was born in 1982 in Elma, Iowa. He was raised in Northeast Iowa, where he has studied many mediums including ceramics, watercolor, airbrush and prinkmaking. He later moved to Eastern Iowa where he studied photography, glass, oil painting and advanced ceramics. Josh currently lives in Ankeny, Iowa where he enjoys working in mixed media because of the endless possibilities of incorporating various medium techniques into a single piece.
Untitled oil on canvas 37" x 27" 2006 His most recent works combine the use of line, color and shape to symbolize thoughts, feelings and mood; while also obtaining a sense of movement. artimages/01022007.jpg 333 415
2007-01-03 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=844 Carol Westberg Carol Westberg grew up on a farm near Essex, Iowa, and received a BA from Duke and an MFA in poetry from Vermont College. Her poems have appeared in journals such as Prairie Schooner, Hunger Mountain, Granite Review, and Tiferet. She now lives in Norwich, Vermont. At the Speed of Sight Iowa Writes Believe me, a line can take years to find
its place in the poem, to rise through the layers
of earnestness like a stone working its way
to the surface. What I wanted
blinded me to what washow the broken
cornstalks gleamed in our fields
after the harvest, after the ravages of ice.
I see how I walked like a stranger among them.
Today my child holds out a bouquet
of wet leaves for her friend, trophies salvaged
from our pondchestnut, bronze, near translucent.
She sees how they shine.
2007-01-04 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=845 Joan Mitchell Joan Mitchell was born in Iowa City in 1940 and graduated from Iowa City High School. She has lived in San Antonio, Texas, for twenty-seven years but travels back to Iowa every summer. Her work has appeared in Quirk, The Key, Palo Alto Review, and The San Antonio Express-News. "I enjoy raising the Iowa-consciousness of my Texas friends," she says. Iowa Woman Speaks as Goddess of Meteorology Iowa Writes Henceforth: Spring,
that sweet green reward,
will be available
only to those who know
the raw humble cold
of wet overshoes
and have shoveled
bottomless snow from
sloping driveways,
or glided a car sideways into
the middle of a large silver bus
while steering meaninglessly
in the opposite direction.
Individuals who know
the search, the urgency
of a lost mitten
at the last minute
will be first in line.
I hereby proclaim that
daffodils will no longer sprout
or sway yellowy
in the April gardens of
flabby southerners
who stroll strip malls
in mid-January,
straw-sucking fruit smoothies,
wearing what could be described as
shower clogs
on their soft, tan, sweaty feet.
2007-01-05 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=856 Eun-Young Lee Lee received a MA degree in Design in 1998. Repetition 1, detail color chips on hard board 20" x 16" 1996 artimages/01052007.jpg 400 274 The Graduate Archive
2007-01-06 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=863 Art Strong Art Strong is a graduate of The University of Northern Iowa. He has taught art in Waterloo, Estherville, and Charles City, Iowa. He has attended numerous workshops on the art and process of raku, including Raku in the Rockies in Gunnison, CO. He says this about his work: No More Pluto raku 30" x 41.5" "I have been a teacher and a working artist all my adult life. As a ceramic potter, I find the raku process of finishing the clay exciting, dramatic, and unique. Its metallic glazes and smoky black clay bodies lend themselves well to my unconventional, non-utilitarian forms. My vases, covered jars, and abstract pots are thrown on the wheel and then altered, often with the addition of vivid sculptural features." artimages/01062007.jpg 410 294
2007-01-07 http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/?artwork=846 Jay Johnson Jay Johnson publishes in literary reviews, anthologies, and magazines, including The North American Review, Tampa Review, and Voices on the Landscape. She has read for NPR and conducts workshops in the schools. She has been a board member of The Des Moines National Poetry Festival since its inception. The Lisbon Caf Iowa Writes At the Lisbon Caf I look God
in the eye of every farmer.
I praise them for my eggs over easy
and whole wheat toast.
They come from their wives, their beans
to do some honest swearing,
wearing baseball caps with PRIDE SEED.
More corn has been planted at the Lisbon Caf
than in all of Lisbon.
Weathermen, they are the last
of their kind, diagramming the grid
of their fields in air.
Knuckles scrubbed rough as potatoes
they plant hands around mugs,
chinked like faces the sun
stays on all seasons.
Interwoven, all elbows, hogs are steady
and someone wins in Vegas.
A large farmer nudges the thick
sprawled woman wearing triplets
of diamonds beneath the cuff
of her red windbreaker.
Dont tell me no gossip,
just tell me whos sick or died!
My ear falls into the deep meadow
of his voice. He digs his shirt,
plaid like his fields, faded with love
of sun and washing;
drags on a Chesterfield,
sounds like the uphill pull
of tractor.
I go to the Lisbon to see the honest
hand that turns the calf and reinvents the earth.
I praise these men who plant their wives
and raise their sons, while their tan
bright boys, ready, undone,
pull on Levis, shit-kickin Fryes,
and back out while sun
sours the feedlot and the dog
circles his shadow
until he lies do