http://www.northernexpress.com/michigan/articles.sec-148-1-art.html at the tip of the ring finger (think Michigan hand map), Emmet County is an outdoor enthusiast’s playground. The Headlands International Dark Sky Park--one of six in the world- -along with Petoskey’s scenic waterfront and the rolling hills of Boyne Highlands ski resort are just a handful of amenities enjoyed by both locals and visitors alike.]]> Remember this poem from your school days? “For the want of a nail, a shoe was lost/ For the want of a shoe, a horse was lost/ For the want of a horse, a rider was lost/ For the want of a rider, a message was lost/ For the want of a message, a battle was lost/ For the want of a battle, a country was lost/ For the want of a nail.]]> “I was always drawing stuff,” he says with a chuckle. “From the time I could pick up a pencil. My kindergarten teacher said ‘We need to foster this.’”
Decades later, Warner’s clay-and-wood works include life-size cowboys, Indians, butlers and fishermen. He has a special affinity for animals and crafts unique beasts from armadillos to zebras.
“I’ve always loved animals,” says Warner, who grew up in Farwell, near Clare. “And I really like the more interesting animals – wart hogs, rhinos – not the sleek one. I spent some time in Africa and really want to go back.”
Described as ‘sophisticated whimsy,’ his works can be found in lobbies, living rooms, zoos, museums, offices and airports across the nation. His creations are cornerstones of collections at the corporate headquarters of USA Today, McDonald’s, Gannett Publishing and Detroit Tigers and Little Caesar’s owner Mike Illitch.
Celebrities who own at least one of Warner’s works include Randy Travis, David Copperfield, Kelly McGillis, Charlie Gibson and Zsa Zsa Gabor. ]]> to the ancient practice of alchemy where the wizard attempted to turn base
metals into gold.
For decades, he’s been intrigued by how one’s perception is changed by the
processes that translate subject matter to the viewer.
]]> By Glen Young
Robert Cameron always took the bird’s eye view. Cameron, whose works are
currently on display at Petoskey’s Crooked Tree Arts Center gallery,
popularized the aerial vantage point in his many “Above” books. His
first, “Above San Francisco,” was published in 1969. He went on to
publish 16 more in the series. There are more than three million “Above”
books in print.
]]> ceramic guitars produced by Charlevoix artisans Anna Farrell and Tyler
Bier.
“I made one that was about two-feet high, a Fender, for a class project
years ago,” recalls the 24-year-old Bier, who has seven real guitars of
his own. “After that I just started making them, though smaller.”
For about two years, both Bier and Farrell constructed the guitars, but
now she specializes in the axes, while Bier has moved on to more
functional ceramics like dishes, mugs, piggy banks and serving bowls.
“Anna’s guitars are a lot neater (than mine),” says Bier with a smile.
“She’s incredibly talented and precise. I stick to the wheel now.”
]]> from a print company, Kuhlhaus Gallery owner Tim Coon remembers first
discovering the artwork of Paul VanHeest.
]]> along Lake Charlevoix, where my parents had a cottage on the south arm,”
says Rebecca Glotfelty, owner of the Cycling Salamander gallery in
Charlevoix. “The gallery’s name stems from my childhood love for
salamanders, and my love for mountain biking.”
]]> And Leelanau County artist Michelle Hart Jahraus is an outspoken advocate
of painting outdoors, or “plein air” – especially near water. Capturing
the elusive qualities of light and landscapes are fascinating to her. She
even teaches classes in the classic artistic practice.
“If I haven’t had a day near the water, I feel unfulfilled or
irresponsible,” she says with a smile. “I feel it’s sort of a
responsibility to art.”
]]> Michigan and far beyond, including the pages of many magazines, books and
newspapers such as the New York Times. Now, he’s making his mark on Harbor
Springs.
As of July 21, Wolff’s art has been on display at the Kuhlhaus Gallery in
Harbor Springs. Gallery owner Tim Coon, who co-owns Kuhlhaus with his
wife, Helen, was drawn to Wolff’s work for a wide variety of reasons.
“Glenn’s work is unique, for sure,” Coon says, “he uses a wide diversity
of fascinating materials and subjects, and many of his pieces are quite
ethereal.”
]]> By Al Parker
Artist Jesse Hickman has created well more than 1,000 witty, whimsical
fish over the years, but like a devoted catch-and-release angler, he
hasn’t kept any for himself.
“I have to work, it’s an obsession,” says Hickman. “But once it’s done,
it’s out of my life. I don’t own a fish of my own. For me, the art is not
the finished product, it’s the process. Once it’s completely finished,
it’s okay to let it go.”
]]> “There was a twist,” she recalls. “The quilts were hung from the ceiling rather than spread horizontally across a bed. It was explained to me these quilts were being exhibited for the strength of their design.”
Quilts as Art?
“The idea struck me as revolutionary and it germinated inside my brain for 20 years,” she says.
Art has been part of Bearup-Neal’s life since she was growing up in Grand Blanc, south of Flint. In 1978, she earned a BFA in studio art from Michigan State University. Despite this background, she didn’t pursue art professionally until the late 1990s when she displayed her fiber arts.
“I created women’s clothing using techniques from the quilting world,” she explains. “But then I decided my heart wasn’t really in that and I began really studying contemporary quilts. They’re different from traditional quilts. People believe they just belong in the bedroom. Quilting as an art medium is sometimes difficult for people to get their minds around.”
]]> explains festival co-coordinator Robin Lee Berry, “each of us have had big
and important jobs that are essential in making the festival happen.”
The idea for the Arts Fest began last year, when the community decided to
work together to “put a face,” as Berry puts it, on the collective pool of
local artist talent; Freshwater Studio’s Tony Williams and
Berry worked with Jerry Dennis, CindiFranco’s CoolStuff, and Lake Street
Market to create a committee that put together the first festival. ]]> “There was a twist,” she recalls. “The quilts were hung from the ceiling rather than spread horizontally across a bed. It was explained to me these quilts were being exhibited for the strength of their design.”
Quilts as Art?
“The idea struck me as revolutionary and it germinated inside my brain for 20 years,” she says.
Art has been part of Bearup-Neal’s life since she was growing up in Grand Blanc, south of Flint. In 1978, she earned a BFA in studio art from Michigan State University. Despite this background, she didn’t pursue art professionally until the late 1990s when she displayed her fiber arts.
“I created women’s clothing using techniques from the quilting world,” she explains. “But then I decided my heart wasn’t really in that and I began really studying contemporary quilts. They’re different from traditional quilts. People believe they just belong in the bedroom. Quilting as an art medium is sometimes difficult for people to get their minds around.”
]]> early artistic inspirations were.
The Old Masters? Perhaps the Impressionists?
“When I was about 9 years old, I got Mad Magazine,” he says with a wry
smile. “My heroes were those artists – Jack Davis, Wally Wood, Mort
Drucker. I loved those guys. By the time I was in high school, I wanted to
be an illustrator.”
After a year and a half as nt art major at Sacramento City College and a
tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force, Daigh found work at a number of print
shops and ad agencies in Southern California. He gradually got more
art-related jobs, working as a cartoonist at a greeting card company and
for several design studios where his detailed illustrations were featured
on brochures, print ads and publications.
]]> “Here’s my ‘very technical’ approach to painting,” she says with a laugh. “Get a clip board, gessoed paper, or piece of wood, grab whatever paints will fit into my Oryana cloth bag, roll brushes up in a dishtowel, grab a small china plate and water in a water bottle. Get on my bike or travel to a nice location and paint. I take a backpack, sit on a rock and do my little sketches.”
Then she returns to her in-home studio in Traverse City and turns those ‘little sketches’ into 24x36-inch or 38x38-inch things of beauty. Her favorite medium is oil on wood with very thin washes.
Nature dominates Krapohl’s works, mostly landscapes of stunning appeal and accuracy. Her acrylics, oils and watercolors capture clouds, rivers, lakes, marshes, streams and sunsets from across northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. 
“I do landscapes because it’s there,” she explains. “You can always expect my work to give a sense of being there in the present. The greatest compliment anyone could give me is ‘I can hear the snow crunch’ or ‘I can smell the river.’”
]]> “Here’s my ‘very technical’ approach to painting,” she says with a laugh. “Get a clip board, gessoed paper, or piece of wood, grab whatever paints will fit into my Oryana cloth bag, roll brushes up in a dishtowel, grab a small china plate and water in a water bottle. Get on my bike or travel to a nice location and paint. I take a backpack, sit on a rock and do my little sketches.”
Then she returns to her in-home studio in Traverse City and turns those ‘little sketches’ into 24x36-inch or 38x38-inch things of beauty. Her favorite medium is oil on wood with very thin washes.
Nature dominates Krapohl’s works, mostly landscapes of stunning appeal and accuracy. Her acrylics, oils and watercolors capture clouds, rivers, lakes, marshes, streams and sunsets from across northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. 
“I do landscapes because it’s there,” she explains. “You can always expect my work to give a sense of being there in the present. The greatest compliment anyone could give me is ‘I can hear the snow crunch’ or ‘I can smell the river.’”
]]>
Northern Express:  Why are you in South Korea?
Gene Jenneman: I was invited to speak at the first Yeongwol Yonsei Forum: A World of Museums in Yeongwol, South Korea (near Seoul).
Yeongwol is a community seeking to revitalize its economy through the development of an extensive number of museums on various subjects, becoming Korea’s Museum City. This project was begun in 2005. The purpose of this forum is, in part, to assess the project to date. The focus in Yeongwol has been to develop museums with single collections. 
When the Dennos was created there was a need to address the integration of the college’s unique collection of Inuit art into the overall program of the museum. I have  been invited to speak on the development of the Dennos as a community museum that serves the purpose of being a specialized museum of Inuit art, while offering a much broader range of programming. This trip and my visit to China points to how the Dennos has become a global institution. 
]]> “It’s good to keep in touch with that childhood joy,” advises the smiling Northport resident who creates evocative, handsome shadow boxes of painted silk and cotton fabric that is painstakingly cut and glued. “I loved making art as a kid and I still do.”  
Paying homage to collage, Bickel’s works draw their inspiration from the nature that surrounds her in Leelanau County and most of her works include images of animals – rabbits, fish, birds, and most noticeably, bears. In fact, her haunting image of a Juggling Bear has become synonymous with her work, appearing in a variety of her shadow boxes.
“There’s something about the shape of bears,” she says. “I’ve been doing the Juggling Bear since 1992. It’s sort of a logo for me now. To me, it reflects that you should handle parts of life in balance and joyfully.” 
Bickel’s shadow boxes begin simply with white silk that is screen printed with splashes of color. Then she cuts and glues the silk into images as simple and subtle as bears flying kites or ponies romping on a beach. The scenes may seem other-worldly, yet are rooted in the familiar. Take a closer look and you’ll see sturdy stitching linking a stone to the beach or fixing the moon in the sky.
“I like adding detail,” she says. “I like to start with a strong image first, then see something else and something else, adding details.”
]]> By Rick Coates
Pammy Tinsley grew up a “muse” for the bullies at her school. After years of verbal torment that led to her dropping out of school, she was uncertain of her talents and purpose in life. Now at the age of 50, Tinsley has focused the creative flame within her by launching into a new career path that includes radio personality, graphic designer and artist.
An exhibition of her works will be on display during the month of May at the City Opera House in Traverse City. She will host and artist reception on Tuesday May 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. that will also feature the musical stylings of Jon and Johnny, along with DJ Nesta.
For Tinsley, her life has been about either being in the wrong place at the wrong time or the right place at the right time. One of those right places was three years ago at a bar when she met up with WKLT Morning Show personalities Omelette & Finster. ]]>