MissouriLife Articles

On The Bench

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:33:17 GMT

By Stefani Kronk

WHEN A COMMITTEE was interviewing candidates
to design a sanctuary, Martin Ratermann
was asked where he received his formal education.
He paused and replied, “At the workbench.”
Martin is a highly skilled artisan, designing
and creating what he terms “bench-made
furniture”—handmade, heirloom pieces instilled
with artists’ ideals and old-world craftsmanship.

“I take the old skills and do something new
and creative,” Martin says. “You learn every day
standing at that workbench and doing it again
and again and again. It’s that repetition of doing it
over and over that makes you skilled.”

Martin is a fourth-generation woodworker. His
great-grandfather emigrated from Germany as a
cabinetmaker and settled in the St. Louis area. In
addition to the woodworking skills, Martin inherited
his work ethic.

“I grew up knowing what work was,” Martin
says. “Growing up on a farm, there was always
some type of woodworking to be done.” Martin’s
education continued at Columbia, where he made
replacement doors and windows for the older
buildings on the University of Missouri campus.

“I have done carpentry in a lot of different
ways,” Martin says. “My interest has
always been in woodworking. I’ve done bars,
churches, banks, kitchens, gun cabinets, and
entertainment centers. I’ve done the ‘works’ in
the woodworking business.”

In his shop just west of Rocheport, Martin
uses a variety of woods to create his one-of-a
kind furniture. He has worked with many exotic
varieties but has discovered that some of the finest
hardwood grows in Missouri. “Walnut is the
premium, premier wood for me,” Martin says. “It’s
beautiful, stable, and good to work with.”

For the past fifteen years, Martin has placed
special focus on designing pieces for churches and
places of worship throughout the United States. He
has made doors, altar pieces, music stands, lecterns,
tables, chairs, and candle stands. His reputation
traveled by word of mouth, and he received commissions
to create pieces for approximately twelve
churches. Although there were many rewarding
aspects of that work, he found collaborating
with committees challenging. For future projects,
Martin plans to work with individual clients.

Although he describes his work as “traditional,”
Martin’s pieces have movement and fluidity.
The environment influences his expression.
“Curves that you see in nature, you see in my
work,” he says. “Trees, limbs, flowers, they curve
and have some flow.”

Creativity is a hallmark of his art. He describes
the risk and reward with creating one-of-a-kind
pieces: “I have this vision of what I want. But you
are always asking yourself, ‘Am I going to fall
short?’ You say, ‘okay, here is what I envision,’ and
I tell people that if you take a risk, you might get
a masterpiece. If you don’t, you’re just going to get
the same old thing. So let’s try it.”

During the hours spent creating a piece,
Martin infuses the human factor into his work.
It becomes personalized and energized with the
artist’s spirit and creative signature imbued in the
wood. “I think there is a fundamental need for
people to touch something that is made by hand,”
Martin says. “And I think people on a day-to-day
basis don’t realize that we are missing that.” By
handcrafting everyday items, Martin ensures that
the timeless connection and unspoken communication
between maker and user continues.

Visit www.martinratermann.com or call 573-
698-2192 for more information.

December 2007

In Her Element

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:27:15 GMT

By Stefani Kronk

THE buIldIng blocks of st. louis artist
Ellen klamon’s art—pattern, shape, and color—
are simple but exciting. borrowing these
elements from nature, the artist creates jewelry
that is a symbolic interpretation of the natural
world. Her jewelry line, Ellements, is a play on
her name, but also signifies earth, air, fire, and
water, which are used in her creative process.

Ellen sees her art as a perfect synthesis of
color, nature, and the dynamic mediums of
drawing and metalworking. Trained as an illustrator,
she draws directly onto pieces of cut,
shaped, and soldered metal that is coated with
gesso, a paint-like substance used as a surface
primer. Her favorite step in the creative process
is coloring her pieces.

“Color comes first,” Ellen says. “It is what
soothes me and excites me.” she achieves
vibrant color and seasonal tones with
Prismacolor pencils, which add definition,
and dyed epoxy resin, which confers color
and a glass-like surface to bracelets, necklaces,
earrings, and pins. The epoxy resin is tinted
with various pigments and materials, even
herbs and spices, to achieve the rich hues and
textures that stimulate this artist and give her
jewelry an organic feel.

If color is her love, her inspiration is
nature. “Missouri has four seasons, rolling
hills, green fields, and rivers,” Ellen says. “I
love rivers.” colors and lines evoke Missouri
landscapes in her jewelry, creating energyinfused
artwork.

After receiving her undergraduate degree
from Maryville university at st. louis in
printmaking and drawing, Ellen apprenticed
for a decade with a professional jewelry maker
at clayton.

As someone who enjoys change, Ellen’s education
has never ended. she continues to take
classes in order to learn different techniques.

“I would get bored if I did the same
thing over and over,” she says. Recently, she
completed a weeklong intensive study course
where she mastered the art of cold connecting
metal, which is using alternative methods to
combine metals without the use of heat. she
intends to use this technique in the creation
of future pieces.

After thirty years of developing her style
and perfecting her craft, Ellen remains as
committed as ever. “I love what I do,” she
says. “As long as I stay in the art world, I
have a voice!”

Visit www.ellenklamon.com or call 314-
821-5060 for more information.

December 2007

No Chance to be Forgotten

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:19:04 GMT

By Nancy Dailey

“GET A BUILDING!” That’s the advice Jim
Veronee gives young people.

“You can talk about art; you can show a
portfolio, but until other people see you working
… find a building, even if you have to
paint it at your own expense. It will propagate
more work. Stop painting on canvas right now
and get a building.”

Jim got his start around age twenty at movie
studios in California where he watched people
paint houses and backgrounds for movie sets.

“I can do that,” he thought. He was already
doing the same thing on smaller canvases.

He joined the Painters Union and joined the
people working on canvases so huge that the
artists had to walk the length of the canvas to
paint it. Once, busy painting mountain scenery,
he asked what production it was for, and someone
answered, Gunsmoke. That was a television
show set in Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s.

Gunsmoke? Kansas? Mountains?

“You can’t see mountains from Dodge City,”
Jim says. “None of them had ever been there;
they didn’t know. But the storyboard called for
mountains so we painted mountains. That’s
show biz,” he says with a quick laugh.

Jim’s biggest challenge was a sign, high up
on the Landers Theater at Springfield.

“I thought in the beginning I could just use
a big boom truck,” he says. “Well, it wouldn’t
fit in that alley with all those high tension
wires located right next to the building just
below the work site.” He found a company
from Kansas City that would put up a cable
with a small cage that ran up and down the
cable. But it wouldn’t fit between the building
and the wires, so he couldn’t go from the
bottom up.

“Well, I’m not a young man,” says this
energetic senior who admits to being seventy.
“I had to go up inside the theater, up a ladder—
the fire escape was kind of loose—then
climb over a five-foot retaining wall on to the
backside of the theater. Then I had to get into
a harness, lie down on the roof, and swing
out over a twelve-inch gutter hoping my feet
would hit the railings of the cage; and then get
into a position to paint.”

Jim has painted murals, both inside and out,
from California to South Carolina. A perk for
him is people who stop to visit while he’s painting.
His eyes twinkle as he tells one of his many
stories, especially if it involves word play.

“Murals increase the value of a building,”
Jim says, “and they give you the opportunity
to leave something behind. Otherwise people
forget you. When you’re forgotten, you’re dead.
Being dead’s worse than unemployment, you
know. Longer hours and less pay.”

Laughing, he gets back to painting. He’s finishing
Traders Printing Company; next comes
more bicycles for Queen City Cycles.
For more information, call 417-890-5196.

October 2007

Pieces of Wood

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:15:30 GMT

By Laura L. Valenti

MANY A CURE has been recommended
for high blood pressure, but perhaps none
has produced more beautiful results than the
hobby Vic Eckmann took up at his doctor’s
behest, which was woodworking.

“The stress of farming had my blood
pressure up too high. My doctor told me I
should find a relaxing hobby, and that got me
started in woodworking about fifteen years
ago,” says Vic, standing in his workshop just
outside of Lebanon.

Now a retired farmer, Vic creates intricate
pictures in wood. He fits different types
of wood into sometimes simple, sometimes
truly exquisite pieces of art.

“Each color in the design is a separate piece
of wood. Finding the woods is the hard part,”
Vic says. “The walnut, maple, oak, and the
cedars are not so hard to come by, but the butternut,
aspen, and catalpa are often difficult
to find. Still, I prefer to use the natural woods
rather than do any staining of the wood.”

While his workshop has a wood stove, Vic
often works without the benefit of the heat.
“Heating up the stove changes the wood,” he
says. “It makes it expand, and when you’re
sawing something that fine, even a little bit
of a change means a lot.”

Vic’s works are traveling far from his home
in southwest Missouri, carrying his reputation
throughout the state and region. Wild
turkeys are one of Vic’s favorite subjects; he
is an active member of the National Wild
Turkey Federation. In 2006, he and his wife,
Sue, traveled to the organization’s national
convention in Nashville. They brought along
pieces depicting a jake, which is a young male
turkey, and the NWTF logo. Vic also makes
trophies for Bennett Spring’s local Hillbilly
Days competitions, held each year the third
weekend in June.

“I have a craft booth at Hillbilly Days,”
Vic says, “but with time constraints, I don’t
do other craft shows.”

Vic works part time at the nearby Bennett
Spring Trout Hatchery, where he spends most
weekends caring for and stocking hundreds
of trout in the park’s fishing stream. He may
not have the time to travel, but people are
literally beating a path to his door to commission
his works in advance or to buy something
he has already made. Currently, his
wooden pieces of art have found homes and
offices in Texas, Tennessee, South Dakota,
Virginia, and Illinois as well as Missouri.

Vic’s favorite piece, Hidden Forest, hangs
in his own living room. It is a forest portrait
that depicts tall trees and various forest animals,
including a raccoon, tree frog, lizard,
and deer. It is comprised of nine hundred
pieces of wood, and it took more than five
years to complete.

Whether it is the complicated pattern
found in Hidden Forest or the simple beauty
seen in one of his latest, such as Mother with
Child, Vic Eckmann’s art in wood leaves a
lasting impression with the viewer.

Just as importantly, Vic’s doctor was correct.
His blood pressure is back down to
where it should be.
Call 417-532-6418 for more information.

October 2007

Glass Bead-Making

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:12:39 GMT

By Glenna Parks

GAIL CROZIER SITS, striking glass in one
hand, a wire called a mandrel in the other.
The bright flame of a torch burns between
them. She brings the glass rod into the flame
to melt it and carefully winds the molten
glass onto the mandrel, shaping the glass.
One by one, she fashions elaborate beads,
which she then strings on twisted wire to
create intricate, handmade jewelry.

“I started by stringing beads as a hobby,”
Gail begins. But unable to find the specific
sizes, shapes, and colors of beads that she
wanted for her projects, she decided to make
her own. After searching for bead-making
classes in her area, she found one at the St.
Louis City Museum in 1998 and began her
whirlwind adventure of learning different
types of working glass, kiln temperatures,
and shaping techniques.

Inspired by her new talent, Gail set up a
studio in her home and practiced the art for
a year and a half. She then discovered Craft
Alliance, a non-profit art gallery in St. Louis
that teaches aspiring artists and provides
lessons in bead-making, metalsmithing, and
fiber arts.

“I thought I was doing well right off, but
as it turns out, I wasn’t!” Gail admits that
she’s still learning new techniques and perfecting
the craft.

“It’s not hard to learn,” she says. “It’s hard
to do well. It takes a lot of practice.”

A typical day in the life of this lampworker
(called such because glass rods are shaped into
beads using the heat of a torch or lamp) starts
at 9 AM. Normally, she averages three hours
creating beads, but if a show is approaching,
she’ll spend four or five hours working.

A look at her work reveals both talent and
technique variety.

“I like a lot of spirals and swirls, shell, sea
creatures, and fish,” Gail says. “These shapes
are made with different kinds of tools. Some
are like dentist tools, wax-carver tools, and I
mostly use tweezers to flatten round beads,
pointy-end tweezers to grab and twist, and
flat paddles to roll the beads to make cone
shapes.”

Gail is a juried a member of both The
Best of Missouri Hands and The Greater St.
Louis Art Association and a member of the
International Society of Glass Beadmakers.
She has won the Award of Excellence and First
Place in Jewelry at Columbia’s Art in the Park
and is the corresponding secretary and treasurer
of the St. Louis Lampworkers Society.
Call 636-978-1790 or visit www.strandedglass.
com for more information.

Oct 2007

Art for the Health of It

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 15:16:30 GMT

*By Diana Lambdin Meyer*     Why does a blue sky lift our spirits? Shifra Stein, a Kansas City artist, writer, and workshop instructor, thinks it’s the color.
    “It’s calming and promotes physical and mental relaxation, stimulates healing and creativity, relieves pain, and lowers blood pressure,” Stein says.
    After recovering from a debilitating depressive illness in 1996 that left her unable to write, read, or concentrate, Stein attended an art therapy class where she tentatively picked up a brush and found she could create art. In the process, she found her lifeline back into the world.
    Today, she teaches an art workshop at health centers around the country, reaching those struggling with the emotional aspects of major medical crises. One organization she teaches for is Eastern Jackson County Cancer Action, a nonprofit that provides support and services to people and their families facing cancer.
    “We’ve seen our clients leave Shifra’s workshops with such a sense of empowerment in facing their illness,” says Executive Director Karla Nichols.
    For more information visit www.artforhealth.us.

February 2006

All Fired Up

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 20:54:04 GMT

*Classes in Glass at St. Louis* *By Adrienne M. Muralidharan* Step inside the studio at Third Degree Glass Factory, and you’ll see colorful ornaments hanging in the windows that line the far end of the room. They glitter in the sunlight, glowing with vibrant blues, greens, tawny browns, and reds. On your left are shelves with bright bottles, bowls, goblets, and pitchers arranged on each one. To your right, you’ll see the area known as the Cathedral where the furnaces burn bright and hot at two thousand degrees Fahrenheit. Artists scurry around, some relaxed and chatting, others intense and silent, many twirling pipes in a glowing furnace. At the end of the pipes are globs of molten glass, red with heat and alive with color. Co-founders Jim McKelvey and Doug Auer opened Third Degree three years ago, after rehabilitating the building on Delmar Boulevard, east of the University City Loop. The Third Degree is now home to half a dozen artists and boasts the largest hot shop in the Midwest. Third Degree offers not just a place where artists can practice their art, but also a place for them to teach others. The organization provides classes ranging from beads and baubles to parent-and-child paperweight-making. Classes range from three hours to six weeks in furnace glass, flame-working, fusing, sand-casting, and other glassworking techniques for novices, professionals, and artists in between. Knowledgeable instructors provide demonstrations and safety information. Special introductory and intermediate classes this spring and summer begin in April and July. The studio serves as a unique venue for events, in either the Hot Shop or the Cool Room. Options include demonstrations and guests making their own artistic glass paperweight or ornament. The studio is also a place where artists can rent space and display their own work. The gallery, open Mondays through Fridays, hosts a changing selection of work from all levels of artists. Every month, Third Degree hosts a Third Friday event. Each event is free and includes glass blowing demonstrations, wine tasting, live music, a cash bar, and, of course, the display of many pieces of art, most of which are for sale. Most Third Fridays boast a feature artist. _Third Degree Glass Factory is at 5200 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis. Call 314-367-4527 or visit www.stlglass.com._ April 2006

Fire and Metal

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 02:33:21 GMT

*By Meredith Ludwig* The amber waves stand taller than the other grasses nearby. They sway in the breeze and reflect motion in metal. These steel creations are Don Asbee’s work. From his studio near Hartsburg, he tackles a myriad of projects, from functional pieces such as gates to decorative sculptures of dogwood blossoms. At age twenty, Don attended horseshoeing school in Montana. When he returned to Missouri, he was the village blacksmith for seven years at Bland, where he repaired farm machinery. During the oil embargo of the 1970s, a renewed interest in wood-burning stoves fueled a venture for Don as he began to fabricate his own designs. In 1984, Don became involved with Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Inc. in St. Louis, a premier architectural firm. Through his persistence and skill, he landed a commission with the Kellogg Company headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, and impressed their designers with his work. This job propelled Don from village blacksmith to nationally known metalworker. Visiting Don’s studio reveals a man who has found his calling. Working comfortably with glowing metal nearing two thousand degrees, he bends a bar into a graceful hook. His present task is to rebuild and electrify an outdoor wall-mount lamp from the 1880s. Much of his work, however, begins as an idea or a thumbnail sketch, which he then interprets through fire, metal, and impact. “My sculptural pieces arise from a free flowing stream of consciousness while working in the forge,” Don says. “I’ll just start hammering and see where it’s taking me.” Other times he must be precise. “When it comes to doing a gate, drawings are crucial. You have to be very accurate.” Nature clearly influences Don’s work, such as his graceful calla lilies or cattails. He forged a bull for a private collection in Columbia and a gorilla for the St. Louis Zoo. One of his most unusual commissions was for a pterodactyl weather vane with a seven-foot wingspan, which looks as if it just landed on the cupola of a house in St. Louis County. He had fun with variations on a theme he calls Flying Pancakes, which ultimately inspired a centerpiece for a fountain named Crepe Volante at a private home near St. Louis. Sometimes ideas are born of necessity, such as a wineglass holder turned chandelier; the need for one inspired the other. Other times it’s simply life itself, such as a daughter’s dance across the floor, that inspired Gymnastique in another private collection. “One of the things I like to do is add a bit of mystery to make people wonder how a piece was produced,” Don says. “I want my work to look timeless.” _For more information, visit www.donasbee.com._ June 2006

Treenware

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 16:19:55 GMT

Roger Sandstrom gives a future to the past by carving wood in the same way Native Americans did long before this country had a name. He’s always been inspired by nature. As a boy growing up in Connecticut, he spent his days pretending he was Davy Crockett or a mountain man living off the land. Fascinated by American Indian history, he read everything he could about them. Then one day his father taught him to use the wood-working tools of his great-uncle, who had been a cabinetmaker. That marked the fusing of his passion for nature and history and the beginning of his career as a treenware artist. Now 71, Roger is a veteran treenware carver. Treen is an early English word for trees, but Roger defines the word simply as “made from trees.” He crafts functional utensils using a mix of native woods including apple, orange, pecan, peach, lilac, mulberry, and walnut. Roger fell in love with the Ozark Mountains after a visit in 1972. Inspired by the area’s beauty and the large variety of native trees, he moved his family to a farm near Seymour. Now he lives his mountain-man dream every day. Roger shares his simple wisdom from decades of trial and sometimes painful error, “Hit what you are looking at, and the more you practice, well, the luckier you get.” The process of making treenware has changed little since colonial times. Roger uses only four traditional tools to create replicas of both Native American and colonial cups, bowls, and utensils. Many of his pieces are distinctive because he uses the unusual patterns of burls, which are abnormal growths where an injury to a tree has healed. He says, “You’d be surprised how many people ask me, ‘Is that made out of real wood?’ ” Prices for utensils range from $10 to $45 and up for specialty items. For a catalog, please write: Early American Treenware, 305 Harmony Road, Seymour, MO 65746 or call (417) 935-4871.

Belsnickles

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 21:24:57 GMT

At a Big Smith concert, you see college girls wearing cowboy hats and dancing next to people clad in John Deere gear. You see nicely dressed middle-aged folks hootin' and hollerin' along with young neo-hippies. The music is eclectic too, despite the down-home attitude that holds it together. Big Smith, the self-proclaimed 'hillbilly band' from Springfield, moves easily from traditional bluegrass songs to acoustic blues and electric rockers. Sometimes band members sing in a spirit of conservationist protest; songs such as 'Barrel Springs' and 'Quarry Anthem' bemoan the loss of good land to development. Other times, as on '12 Inch 3 Speed Oscillating Fan,' they cut loose with comical, hoedown-style abandon. In between songs, band members banter back and forth, calling each other brother and cousin. They mean that literally. The band consists of five cousins: brothers Mark (acoustic and electric guitars, harmonica) and Jody Bilyeu (mandolin, keyboards, guitar), brothers Jay (drums, percussion) and Mike (electric and acoustic bass, sousaphone, mouth bow) Williamson, and cousin Rik Thomas (mandolin and guitar,). "We've been making music together at family get-togethers since we were little," Mark says. Big Smith officially came together in late 1996. Since then, the band has released two studio albums, one live gospel album, and, most recently, a double-disc album that captures its impressive live performance. Big Smith tours regionally, with regular gigs in Missouri and nearby states, and the band has opened for bluegrass heavy hitters such as Doc Watson and Emmylou Harris. Now, with their own record label, MayApple, based in Springfield, and with plans to tour Colorado and the West Coast, band members are primed to take their native Missouri sound to the rest of the country. "If we do our job," Mark says, "by the end of the night, we've got 'em." For information, visit www.bigsmithband.com. -Chris Blose

Kathy Adamson

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 21:22:38 GMT

Kathy Adamson's woodcarving career began fourteen years ago with a simple Christmas gift from her sister: two knives and a piece of wood. She had never carved or whittled before. "But I found I really enjoyed it," Kathy says, "and I never put it down." Seven years later a fun pastime had become a way of life. Kathy turned a farm shed into a studio at her Bois D'Arc home. An avid outdoorswoman, she used her woodcarving talents to spruce up the family canoe. She cut a slab of Ozark cherry into the triangular shape of the canoe prow and patiently carved flowers and the name Adamson into it. Next, she carved a river-spirit face into the butternut yoke, or stabilizing cross bar. Fellow canoeists admired her work, and personalizing canoes became a full-time job. "I never dreamed I could make a living at canoe carving," Kathy says as she carves a trout in relief on a tackle box. Not only could she make a living, she was commissioned by one of the largest canoe manufacturers in the country, Mad River Canoe in Waitsfield, Vermont, to design and carve the wooden details on the company's 1997 special edition canoe. Kathy has expanded her custom work to include a full line of furniture: beds, bookcases, cedar chests, and canoe-shaped coffee tables, all with river, Western, and wildlife motifs. "If a customer wants a fireplace mantel with pine trees, an elk, and a river, I do it," she says. When her business outgrew the shed, Kathy moved into a working retail shop. You won't find much inventory, though. Everything sells. Most items are special orders from summer craft shows at Branson and Durango, Colorado. Although most of her items are created for lake cabins and log homes, Kathy finds an increasing demand for her glass-covered coffee tables among collectors who want to display lodge nostalgia. Her canoe-shaped bookcases are popular as show cases for sporting goods collections and even books. Kathy's pieces, carved from basswood, oak, walnut, cherry, and mahogany, are priced from $495 to $895. In five years, the business has grown from a personalized canoe deck plate to The River of Time Collection, a full line of home furnishings. And why does she carve night and day in a workshop with no air conditioning? "I just love what I'm doing," she says. Kathy Adamson's shop, Woodland Carving, is on historic Main St. in Ash Grove. Phone: 417-672-2791

Endearing Dragons

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 21:21:04 GMT

Dragons The lump of gray clay on Melissa Hogenson’s pottery wheel begins to take shape with each little movement of her hands. To the soothing sound of the wheel’s whirring, she pulls the clay upward, using motions she’s repeated thousands of times. In 10 minutes, the lump has been transformed into the base of a lamp, but it won’t be just an ordinary lamp. After Melissa completes her finishing touches, dragons will be clinging to its side. Melissa, who has been making dragon figurines for 18 years, says she chose to focus on the fantasy creatures because they are unusual. “They are versatile,” she says. “They can breathe fire and smoke. There are a lot of potters out in the world, so I wanted to do something different.” Her dragons look like friendly, whimsical creatures, and she gives most of them names that reflect their distinct looks, such as Dribble, a dragon that has water coming out of its nose, or Moody, a dragon that serves as a candle holder. The dragons need unusual names, she says, because “you wouldn’t just name a dragon Bob or Fred.” Many of the dragons are incense holders, with smoke wafting out of their mouths. The prices range from $14 for a dragon mug to $495 for an ornate castle. As the owner of her own business, called Clay Images, Melissa designs and molds more than 4,000 pottery pieces each year. She doesn’t use a mold, so each piece is individually sculpted. Melissa works out of her basement in the tiny town of Ethel in northern Missouri. In a separate workshop behind the house, her husband, Jim, helps fire her work in a kiln. Melissa made the leap from creating art for fun to doing it for a living in 1980. She left a job as an art teacher to pursue her dream of working as a full-time artist. She says it was a risky move that baffled her parents. “I came from a farm family. They are practical people. They didn’t understand that I could support myself,” she says. “I got lucky and met Jim. He’s willing for me to drag him around the country selling this stuff.” Jim worked as a carpenter and helped his wife with the pottery in his free time. But three years ago, he decided he’d rather quit his job and do the pottery work full time. About 20 weekends each year, the couple pack their van with $10,000 worth of inventory and travel to art shows across the country from Florida to New York and South Dakota to Texas. They also sell mugs with a dragon crouched inside through a catalog called Dancing Dragon. “Now we have mugs that go out all over the United States,” Melissa says. “People will run into us at art shows and say, ‘We have your mug.’ ” Being an artist in such a small community can be difficult because others don’t understand what she does, Melissa says. However, she and Jim are close to their families, so they don’t want to move to a bigger town where she might attract more customers. Melissa says she’s never regretted starting her own business and that her success should encourage others to take a risk. “If you are committed to making some sort of arts and crafts, you can make a living out of it if you are willing to have patience.” For more information about Clay Images, call (660) 486-3471 or visit the web site at www.clayimages.com.

Ronald Graham

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 21:20:00 GMT

Ronald Graham The recent death of Robert MacDonald Graham Jr. was not only a major loss to family and friends of the artist but also to Missouri. Graham was a prolific painter of more than seven hundred works, many of which depicted the beauty of the Missouri landscape and its history. Graham’s contribution to the arts was felt beyond Missouri. He received the M.J. Kaplan Award from the National Society of Painters in casein and acrylics, and the John J. Newman Medal from the National Arts Club. When Graham died on February 11 at the age of eighty, he had his studio and home in Greenville, just east of Kansas City. He moved to the area from his native New York in 1937 to study at the Kansas City Art Institute under the famed Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton. As a student of Benton, Graham refined his natural talents without imitating his renowned teacher. Graham developed a style all his own. Lyrical and poetic, Graham’s paintings are strikingly luminous, a result of his magnificent use of color and light. After his studies with Benton, Graham joined the Air Corps as a combat artist in the last days of World War II. During that time, while a patient in an army hospital, he read Thomas Wolfe’s American classic, Look Homeward Angel, and discovered an emotional and cultural ideology that marked his artistic interpretations thereafter. Graham enjoyed painting in series. He produced individual works as parts of a whole and, in doing so, emphasized the relationship of all things to each other. Two superb examples of his work in series are his Missouri Historic Heritage Sites and Missouri Springs. Each comprises twelve paintings that stand alone as important works of art. Together, they are a visual symphony of time and place. Both of his Missouri series reflect Graham’s philosophy as a painter: “... to create things uplifting, in some way thought-provoking –– and always, a striving for the poetic. Beautiful surroundings make beautiful people. Couldn’t good works of art be thought of as a way of ‘recharging’ ourselves after the day’s battle: viewing a beautiful painting while relaxing and looking at the world anew?” See Graham’s work June 18 through August 18 at The Sikeston Depot Historical and Cultural Center, Malone and New Madras Streets in Sikeston. Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. Free admission. This Article originally appeared in the June-July 00 issue issue of Missouri Life Magazine

Gary Lucy Painting History

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 21:18:48 GMT

Artist Gary Lucy Gary Lucy paints history. Some say he has picked up the torch once carried by such renowned Missouri artists as Thomas Hart Benton and George Caleb Bingham. Twenty-seven years ago, when he began painting, Gary never dreamed his canvases would hang in the same gallery as those of Benton and Bingham, but they did last fall at the Missouri State Historical Society in Columbia. In fact, he says, “Becoming a painter never even crossed my mind.” In the expansive studio above his gallery in Washington, Missouri, just one block from the Missouri River, Gary remembers, “Art to me was a bunch of dead people in a book.” The Caruthersville native started to consider art as a desirable career option after taking a drawing course “for an easy A” and meeting an artist who could afford a nice studio, house, and a Corvette. In the early seventies, Gary taught art for a year to 630 students in five elementary schools in Washington but realized he really wanted to be a working artist. So he traded the chalkboard for the easel and became a successful wildlife artist. Twelve years ago Gary steered away from wildlife art at the suggestion of his mentor, Lyle Woodcock, who advised him to begin painting the human figure. A personal friend and advisor to Thomas Hart Benton, Woodcock’s advice was not to be ignored. Gary subsequently began painting historical interpretations in oil. Many of them depict life along the Missouri River before it was narrowed for safer navigation. “Taking events and making them happen on canvas is one of the most important things an artist can do,” Gary explains. The subjects of many of his paintings, such as Overnight at Hermann Landing, no longer exist except as Gary’s creation. Before starting a new painting, Gary conducts extensive research on his subject. In addition to studying books and historic documents, he often launches his adapted pontoon, the Custom Canvas Cruiser, and takes off down the river with his canine crew mate, Snookie. Gary’s paintings may be rooted in the past, but he’s definitely taking advantage of modern technology, especially the Internet. “The Internet will be an excellent thing for art,” he says. “Artists just need to learn how to use it.” Gary already uses it to market his limited edition prints and original paintings. The Gary R. Lucy Gallery is at Main and Elm streets in downtown Washington. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Originals have sold for $3,500 to $35,000, and prints range from $45 to $300. Website: www.garylucy.com

Rita and Joe Orr

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 21:13:11 GMT

Rita and Joe Orr by Carol Moczygemba Visions of Land and Life Nourishing Souls Osage Beach artists Rita and Joe Orr Captions: Heat of the Day, an acrylic painting on canvas by Joe Orr, was sketched on location in Morgan County, Missouri. Muse by Night, a hand-pulled serigraph by Rita Orr, conjures images of the muse who visits in the night when moon and stars are out. Rita and Joe Orr work together and separately in their Osage Beach studio. Since the first human beings drew pictures on cave walls, art has been one of the most essential nourishments for the soul,” says artist Rita Orr. She not only believes that, she lives it. And so does her artist husband, Joseph. Working from their bright and airy studio at Osage Beach, Joseph and Rita Orr pursue their art as individuals with markedly different styles and interests. As a couple, they tend to the details of daily life and the business of making a living from their work. Joseph’s paintings, mainly in acrylic, are peaceful images of the Missouri landscape, both untouched wilderness and cultivated farmland in the Ozark region. “As an artist I’ve latched onto the land more than the sky,” he says. “This is what I try to put in my paintings –– the love of the land and the hard work that goes into farming it. There’s an honesty here. The pace of life is a little slower because people think more about what they’re doing.” Rita creates colorful, evocative serigraphs (silk screen prints) that she says suggest “that things in life are not orderly and are seldom what they seem.” In her Roof Top series the moon and stars are significant images –– “symbols of constancy that serve as a backdrop to the mercurial aspects of life.” Rita makes each print by hand in a labor-intensive process of pulling inks across a silk screen onto paper. The Orrs began their life together nearly twenty-six years ago, as they traveled across the country to exhibit their art. In 1978, they opened their own gallery in Osage Beach in a space upstairs from the Potted Steer restaurant. Then, in 1982, they began exhibiting their respective works together at outdoor venues, in museums and art centers in the midwest, and in the studio and gallery where they live. Joe’s work is regularly included in the prestigious annual Arts for the Parks Top 100 competition held in Jackson, Wyoming. The majority of his entries are paintings of parks in Missouri. In 1993 his painting of the Civil War Park at Vicksburg, Mississippi, won the Arts for the Parks Historical Award, an honor that won him invitations to exhibit in galleries from Carmel, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona, to Hilton Head, South Carolina. He is currently painting for a solo exhibit in September at Gallery Americana in Carmel, and will have a solo exhibit in February at Kodner’s Gallery of the Masters in St. Louis. Meanwhile, Rita has steadily gained recognition among Midwest printmakers by her inclusion in juried exhibits and competitions. Her print, Lights on Main Street, has been exhibited at the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg, Kansas, and the Quincy Art Center in Quincy, Illinois. Rita is currently working on a new series, Face the Music, depicting the female face, “goddess, deity or everyday heroine,” in celebration of what she describes as the “little moments, friendship, and the beauty of the female mystique.” In Missouri, you can see Rita’s work at Skilled Hands Gallery in Eldon. You can see Joe and Rita’s newest works-in-progress at their studio and gallery at 1405 County Road KK (Tan-Tar-A Road) in Osage Beach, which is open daily, year round, by chance or by appointment. To schedule an appointment, call 573-348-2232. This Article originally appeared in the Aug/Sept 00 issue issue of Missouri Life Magazine