Priscilla Miller

Art Priscilla Miller Homeless artist creates an expression of his love
Priscilla Miller 2/2/09

How a collection of wooden panels created by a homeless man living in a windowless Kalkaska warehouse made it to a downtown Petoskey gallery could be contributed to just a string of coincidences. Others believe, it was nothing less than miraculous.
It began when a woman from Grand Rapids named Deb Swanson called Paul Hresko to inquire about renting one of his Elk Rapids vacation properties during the off-season several years ago. Once settled into the rental, she expressed an interest in doing some volunteer work.
Hresko was working in Kalkaska at the time, and introduced her to a nun there. The two women had lunch and afterwards, the nun said, “I think there’s something you should see.” She proceeded to drive Swanson to an old school house. The man who answered the knock at the schoolhouse door took one look at Swanson and said, “Oh, it’s you. The father said you were coming!” Then, as they were preparing to leave, he gave Deb the keys to the schoolhouse door, motioned toward a collection of panels inside, and said, “Here, you need to find a home for these.”
Swanson (who has since married and is now named Deb Heinzelman) told Hresko’s wife, Patti, about the moment she first saw Ed Lantzer standing in the doorway with his magnificent panels depicting the life of Christ in the background. “His words caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end,” she said.

Art Priscilla Miller Kathleen Glynn has always loved to sew. Both her mother and grandmother loved to sew, and Kathleen was no exception. By the time she was eight years old she was using a sewing machine to make her own clothes. As a young girl, she would go to the library and read “how to books” on knitting, crocheting and anything relating to fashion and design.
“Just touching my sewing machine has always had a calming effect on me,” says the talented film producer from Antrim County.
Knowing that Kathleen had a flair for wearing vintage clothing, Glynn’s grandma once gave her a mink collar from one of her coats. Glynn promised her that someday she would wear it down 5th Avenue in New York City. Years later, she kept that promise.
After the success of her husband Michael Moore’s film, “Roger and Me,” which she co-produced, he told her she “could have anything she wanted.” She told him she wanted “a new sewing machine!”

Art Priscilla Miller For as long as Al McShane can remember, he has had a fascination with totem poles.
Al retired as a plumbing inspector from the city of Detroit several years ago and moved to Rapid City. He then took a part-time job as a plumbing inspector for Antrim County. During the summer months he enjoyed working in his perennial gardens, but when winter arrived, he was left looking for something to do in his spare time.
Although he had never carved anything in his life, McShane thought that someday he would like to make a totem pole. He began to research the subject. He learned that since the Indians of the Pacific Northwest and lower Alaska had no written language, they carved their family history and tribal legends into tall poles made of native red cedar.

Art Priscilla Miller How does one choose a direction in art? For Alice Armstrong Landis, it came down to filling a need.
Alice was living in Biggerville, Pennsylvania, and had been teaching art for 10 years, when a friend invited her to “come along” to a meeting of artists in the area. During the meeting each person in attendance was asked to introduce themselves and tell what their media was. “When it was my turn I told them I wasn’t sure -- that it might be pottery, weaving, or jewelry,” Landis says. “When I learned there were 12 potters, 13 weavers and no jewelers in the group, the choice was easy.”

Art Priscilla Miller Chuck Forman’s interest in art was initially sparked by a seventh grade art teacher. She got him interested in oil painting, and after that, he was “hooked.” While attending Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan, he took courses in engineering and drafting, yet he also managed to get in three hours a day of art classes.
He began his career as an artist at the age of 17. When visiting his grandparents’ farm in the Traverse City area, he saw an ad in the local paper for an apprentice artist. He decided to answer the ad, and of the 72 applicants, Chuck was one of two selected for the job.

Art Priscilla Miller When Allen Brown of Rapid City laid down his dental drill ten years ago and retired from his downstate dental practice, he was looking for something to do that would give him a sense of fulfillment. He knew he possessed artistic abilities, because dentistry requires skill and precision. But what to do?