Member Artists

Arpeggio. © Tom Brand. Oil on board. 24 X 22 inches. $400

Tom Brand

The method I have devised for painting in oil is an old one. It is an indirect method used first by the old masters. I start by thinly sketching in an extemporaneous way until I am satisfied with the overall statement. Then I add to and adjust the composition, color balance, interrelationship of form and all the other components that make up a satisfying work of art. I continue to build up from this point with heavier and more saturated paint, keeping in mind any necessary modifications along the way. As with the Renaissance artists, I work with glazes (they called them “tints”). Adding them to certain finished areas adds color depth and intensity. Website: www.artisttombrand.com

Fredrickson’s Minnow Shack – Star Lake Wisconsin. © Larry A. Brechner. Digital Photo on Canvas. 20 x 30 inches. $180.

Larry A. Brechner

Creative photography is more than making a simple visual recording, it involves the innovative artistry and vision of a photographer, who manipulates the given visual elements in order to both preserve and represent the subject while creating New Perspectives.  I view my artistic photography as more than merely making a visual recording of existing subjects, but to capture both obvious and subtle visions of the subject.  A photograph actually freezes a moment in time, forever preserving an image of people, places, things, or events, which then can be revisited again and again, thus creating an existence of its very own.  A creative image is both the products of the subject and the artist, whose discriminating perception seeks to evoke those more intangible and profound impressions of intimacy and mood. The viewer completes this triad (subject, artist, and viewer) by hopefully realizing a successful artistic communication. Website: brech.com/np

Wooly Mammoth Cocktail Hour. (c) Joel Brussell. Giclée Photographic print. 18 x 24 inches. $275.

Joel Brussell

As a photographer I’m on the visual prowl for evidence of other worlds here the somewhere else of being here. If you mistake an image for Mars or the Arctic or some timeless mojo, then maybe I’m doing something right. I’m searching for a sort of cosmic quaintness. Weird angles and accidents are as much part of my work as intentions. As a rule I see intentions as an accident at best. I consider myself a lazy artist and let the light of the sky and the craft of the horizon do much of the work. I always try and remember “Art” is as much the name of a guy who works at a hardware store as it is some pretentious form of expression. Website: Brussellphotography.com

Magical Thinking. © Stephanie Carnell. Digital Art/Fractal on Canvas. 33 x 23 inches. $350

Stephanie Carnell

I began printmaking in the 1970s. I purchased an etching press, and began experimenting with intaglio printmaking. Unfortunately, I was unable to balance my artwork and my career, and being a printmaker was put on hold. After retiring and moving to Northwest Indiana, I was able to revive my printmaking passion. I still have the same etching press and continue to experiment. I began incorporating photos in my prints, which nudged me into digitally manipulating images. Always looking for new ideas to play with, I began experimenting with fractal images. I have merged some of the fractal images along with photos in some of my prints. Digital/fractal art gives me more opportunity to play and experiment. As an intaglio printmaker working mostly in monochrome, I’m thrilled by the brilliance of colors that digital art can produce. For “Emergence” I have chosen a fractal image and an intaglio print in which I incorporated a fractal image. Website: www.beachprintmaker.com

Listen. © Laurie Schirmer Carpenter. Oil on canvas. 26 x 16 inches. $1350

Laurie Carpenter

Paintings are about seeing.  For the landscape painter they are about seeing a particular place at a certain moment in time and revealing the essence of what is seen on a two-dimensional surface in paint.  Capturing in color and form that which cannot be captured in language is demanding and soul searching (it is called a work of art, after all) but it is also a pathway to a heightened state of consciousness and understanding of the world around us. For the viewer it is also about seeing.  Looking at the finished work, the viewer enters a dialogue with the artist that is based upon each of their perceptions of what is seen.  While my oil paintings are a chronicle of the land as I see it they are also visual ideas of the land – the essence of its beauty, vastness, peace and strength.  I hope to convey these emotions to those who look at my paintings and trust that they will find their own quiet center in this dialogue. I received a BFA and BA in Art History from the University of Colorado, Denver, in 1988 and have been painting full-time since then. Website: www.laurieschirmercarpenter.com

Beginning, Middle and End. © Jane Cowley. Oil on canvas. 20 x 16 inches. $900

Jane Cowley

“The beauty of earth is inspiring to an artist. I am no exception. The need to capture the essence of what I see and experience is essential to my well-being as an artist,” according to award-winning artist Jane Cowley. Currently a resident of Michigan City, Indiana, she was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Drisi Academy of Fine Art located in Glenwood, Illinois. Jane works primarily in oils and pastels, mediums that enhance her love of portraits and land, water and cityscapes. She has exhibited in Illinois, New York, Michigan, and Indiana. Her work has been published in The Society of Illustrators, NY, Chicago Magazine, The French Reader, and The Stanford University Medical Journal. Jane also published a children’s book, “Jack” in 2010. From 2006 to 2014, Jane represented over 100 regional artists at Cowley Fine Art Gallery located in New Buffalo, St. Joseph and South Haven, Michigan. Jane teaches beginner and intermediate drawing and painting from her studio in Michigan City. Website: www.janecowleyfineart.weebly.com

Poppy 1. © Anneke Dekker.  Acrylic on canvas. 18 x 24 inches $495

Anneke Dekker (ANKO)

I work mainly with acrylics and am intrigued by the special effects that can be created with this medium. I am fascinated with something beyond reality, with fantasy, fairytales, and dreams, with nature, with primitive civilizations, Africa, geology, outer space, inner space and mystery. I love the working process: the surprises and unexpected results that happen while I’m working. I have no formal art education and my artist’s journey has taken me from realistic drawing and painting to today’s mostly experimental work. I have always loved poppies and have painted them for as long as I can remember. This time I thought a bit more about them and what they meant. I realized that even though they are beautiful, there are some darker, sometimes sad connotations to them. Poppies are beautiful, I love their bright red color, but they can also mean sadness, sacrifice, remembrance, or eternal sleep. Or danger, opium, poison, addiction, or dependency. My work is in collections throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. I have had several solo-shows and regularly exhibit in group Shows in Indiana and in the past in Florida. Website: www.ankoarts.com

New Buffalo © 2023 Deb Dyer.  Mixed media on cradled board. 20x20x1.5 inches. $500.

Deb Dyer

Deb Dyer lives in New Buffalo, MI. Dyer holds a BFA from the Ohio State University and a MA in Arts Administration from Goucher College. Recently retired from being Executive Director of NIAD Art Center in Richmond, CA, she is spending more time in the studio working on her own art. Juried into numerous national exhibitions such as Small Works in Tieton Washington and the Over 50 in Las Laguna Gallery.  She was also honored to be chosen in the de Young Museums, The de Young Open in the summer of 2020.  This prestigious exhibition featured 762 Bay Area artists culled from 11,514 individual submitted artworks  Deb Dyer works in mixed media utilizing maps, collage, stitching, stenciling and paint.  She is intrigued with layering, pattern and transparency in her work as well as the traditional feminine work of weaving, embroidery, quilting and appliqué. Website: https://www.debdyerart.com/

Pup Art. © Carol Estes. Mixed Media. 10 x 10 inches. $125.

Carol Estes

Carol is an award winning, self-taught Art Photographer. She entered the Art World late in life, grabbing a camera and a pen to fight through the grief of deep losses.  Along the way, Carol has been published in Birds and Bloom Magazine, multiple beauty magazines, and named a Hoosier Woman Artist in 2014 and 2019. She compiled her first book of prose and photography “Memories Evoked”, in 2016. She likes to find objects—from tree bark, broken glass, to snake sheds—and then create works of wearable art with them. In 2022, Carol became a Best of Missouri Hands Juried Artist in the Field of Photography, with the Missouri Artisans Association. She serves as the president of A3, the Area Artists Association. Website: www.welcometocarolworld.com

Yellow Caught. © Kevin Firme. Glass and steel. 14x16x18 inches. $900

Kevin Firme

Kevin Firme’s work is based on organic plant studies. The Peltandra Virginicus or Arrow Arum serves as a landscape microcosm. “I am interested in shape, gesture and pictorial space on a reflective surface,” he said. “I combine glass with steel for a contrasting effect of the delicate and the durable.  Through drawings I arrange space and color, then I search for shape and their relationships to use in the sculpture. I like metal to non-static. Sometimes I use metal that’s been twisted, or I forge my own bends and gestural shapes to try to achieve a form that activates the area around the sculpture.  I like steel, it fits into my life. I can forge it and work it with the tools I have.” Firme earned a BA in sculpture and painting at DePaul University, with graduate studies at Bard College and at Notre Dame University and a residency at the Karolyi Foundation in Vence, France. His large sculpture installations can be seen at the Whirlpool Corporate headquarters in Michigan and at the public library, Dr. Nasr’s office on Franklin Street, and Friendship House in Michigan City, IN. He has been a part-time faculty at Notre Dame and Valparaiso University

Fire Voices. © Dorothy Graden. Mixed Media on hand pulled/pigmented cotton rag. 33 x 42 inches. $1250

Dorothy Graden

Dorothy Graden, an award-winning artist, lives in Valparaiso, Indiana. A former educator of 25 years, she now works full time in her art studio. Inspired by her travels and a fascination with ancient cave drawings, Dorothy uses textural hand-pulled and dyed cotton rag as background for her whimsical interpretations of distant and forgotten cultures. As so often happens in the creative process, other life experiences have made their way into her work. As a certified SCUBA diver, she often uses sea elements in her paintings. After a recent safari in the Masai Mara in Kenya she was inspired to weave the colors, textures, and patterns of the savannah into new pieces. She loves to exhibit her work and encourages the viewer to experience a sense of wonder and exploration. Website: www.dorothygraden.com

A Poisoned Adventure.  Diane Grams. Oil on Canvas 30 x 40 inches. $4500

Diane Grams

Diane Grams is an award-winning artist and writer. Early in her career, she was recognized for her textured and text-based work exploring gender inequity with exhibitions at RH Love Contemporary, Hyde Park Art Center, & Lannon Gallery in Chicago, Painted Bride in Philadelphia and Visual Arts Center of Alaska, Anchorage. She is the recipient of an ArtMatters Individual Artist Grant (1993) for her feminist work “A Prayer in NoMans Land” exhibited at Artemisia Gallery. The image of the girl in action first appeared in in this work and has become a symbol of her sense of play and freedom in art.  Among her residencies are Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Yale Center for Cultural Sociology, Ragdale Foundation and Oxbow School of Art. She exhibits in galleries in Northwest Indiana. She earned a BA in Fine Art at IU Bloomington studying under Chicago artist Robert Barnes, and a Master’s degree and PhD in cultural sociology at Loyola University Chicago. She is a published author. Website: dianegramsart.wordpress.com

Be Dope. © Kuhn Hong. Oil on Canvas. 16 x 20 inches. $900

Kuhn Hong

South Korean-born Radiologist Dr. Kuhn Hong had hoped to pursue a career in art, but his parents talked him into attending medical school. Dr. Hong came to Chicago, completed residency training, and started his practice. His brushes lay aside while he was busy working at the hospital and raising his family with his wife. It wasn’t until he joined a short-term medical mission down the Amazon River in Peru, that he picked up his pen and reignited his creative fervor.  Later, while treating hundreds of patients in remote villages in Ethiopia, he drew the people he encountered. Copies of those ink drawings were shared with people who donated medicine, money, and prayed for his mission expeditions. His first solo exhibition was in Seoul, Korea. He was invited to showcase his artwork at Viviene Gallerie in Paris, France as well. A Chicago resident, Hong works from his studio in Michigan City, Indiana. “My primary interest is in oil painting although I do a little bit of watercolor and pastel, plus charcoal and pencil drawings,” Hong said.  He is an active member of Palette and Chisel, Plein Air Painters Chicago, Duneland Plein Air Painters and Area Artists Association. Email: kuhn_hong@yahoo.com

Carrion Beetle. (c) Laurel Izard. Hand-stitched on vintage quilt fabric. 15×36. $700

Laurel Izard

Laurel Izard currently lives and works in Michigan City with her artist husband Edwin Shelton and two cats.  She has been and self-employed ceramist, art teacher and now images art full-time.  She is an award-winning artist who has exhibited paintings and textiles throughout the country.  Besides recreating the physical world Laurel’s work explores the playful territory of the imagination.  Influences on her work include alchemy, religious iconography, the tarot, medieval manuscripts, and wood cuts, mythology, pulp science fiction, and comic books. The works in this exhibition may differ in materials and ideas, but are united by her love of color, pattern, and rich surfaces. Website: https://laurel-izard.com

The Great Marsh. © George Kassal. Photographic Digital Print. 11 x 14 inches. $125

George Kassal

George Kassal has been interested in photography ever since he received a Brownie camera as a gift when he was 8.  His earned a BS degree in Geology from the University of Wisconsin, and 26 years later, a MA degree in Photography from Governors State University in Illinois. He has spent over 20 years as a professional geologist, and a similar time as a computer systems manager.  He has been a part time, adjunct professor at Prairie State College, Purdue University, Indiana University, Westwood College, and Brown Mackie College since 1985. He has conducted numerous photography workshops in NW Indiana and SW Michigan. George is an award-winning photographer who has participated in numerous exhibits for over 30 years.  George refers to himself as a “walking around photographer”. He prefers simple, easy to carry gear: usually, only a rangefinder style camera with a single prime lens, as he makes most of his photos while exploring an area on foot. Living in Long Beach, Indiana, George often works on photographic projects based on the natural or man-altered landscape in the surrounding area. He has worked in color in the past, but currently prefers monochrome images. He also makes and collects photo zines. Website: www.Kassal-studio.com

Still Life Chatter. © Connie Kassal. Acrylic and carbon pencil on wood panel. 40 x 30 inches. $600

Connie Kassal

Connie holds a Master’s degree from Governor’s State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin. She taught Painting, Drawing, Life Drawing and Art Appreciation at Purdue University Northwest and Prairie State College for 20 years. Prior to that she taught in the Gifted and Talented program and Continuing Education at Purdue. She has won awards such as Best of Show in the Region Women’s Artifacts exhibit. That piece was created in collaboration with her photographer husband and is now in the collection of the Indiana History Museum. Connie managed four gallery spaces including the Mayor’s Gallery in City Hall of Michigan City in the past. Shortly after moving to Michigan City, she helped create the Art Center and is a founding member of the Area Artists Association. She organized and chaired the AAA’s first Juried Art Exhibit for northwest Indiana. Connie stresses the creative side of artwork using unusual design based on psychological responses while working in traditional oil, acrylic and charcoal. She works out of her studio in the family home in Long Beach, Indiana.  Website: www.Kassal-studio.com

Calcite Springs, Yellowstone River. © Timothy D. Lace. Gelatin Silver Print.   11×14 inches. $450

Timothy Lace

The Generative Systems Program at The School of the Art Institute showed me the creative possibilities of the relationship between art, science and technology. With my cameras, I’ve been on a voyage to discover the world we share, and all its environments. Among my portfolios: Silver Prints: A Portfolio of Landscapes; Life in Color; Mardi Gras Indians, and Portraits of Chicago’s Cultural Figures. Much of my work is produced through traditional photographic methods using a medium format camera and film and printed on gelatin silver paper. My work has appeared in exhibitions throughout the Chicago/Michiana Area including “Silver Prints,” a solo exhibition at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts and the 2019 Fernwood Landscape Exhibition. My photos have been published in Chicago Life Magazine, The Chicago Reader, New City, Art in America, The Progressive, Crafts Report, Screen Magazine, Illinois Arts Alliance Quarterly, Journal of Arts Management Law and Society and the Chicago Artists Coalition News. Website: tdlacephotography.wordpress.com

Untitled 1. © Ginny Scott. Acrylic on Canvas. 20 x 20 inches. $450.

Ginny Scott

Ginny Scott is an abstract expressionist painter who has been exhibiting for over 35 years. She studied with internationally and nationally known artists Harriet Febland and Alton Tobey. While living in Westchester County, New York, she was an exhibiting artist of the Febland group and exhibited throughout the New York and Long Island areas. She was represented by Summerfield Gallery, Dobbs Ferry, New York and was a juried member of Artists’ Equity before relocating to the Midwest. Since moving from Chicago to Indiana, she has exhibited throughout the region and has won many honorable mentions and first prizes.  She is a juried member of the Area Artists Association, Michigan City, and of Northern Indiana Artists, South Bend, Indiana.  Ginny maintains her studio in LaPorte, Indiana. Website: www.ginnyscott.com

Untitled. © Edwin Shelton. Mixed Media. 8 x 4 x 15 feet. $9000

Edwin Shelton

Edwin Shelton is an artist whose spirituality and revelry is expressed through his tactile sculptures. Seemingly weightless, the deceivingly weighty works are made with largely found objects covered with fabric, thread and paint.  “My studio is my sanctuary. Through art, I express the joy and spirituality I feel being there,” said Shelton, who currently serves as the art teacher at Marquette Catholic High School in Michigan City, Indiana. His experience as an exchange teacher in Zibo, China, brought insights into Chinese cultural ideas that continue to influence his artwork today. Together with his wife, Laurel Izard, Shelton created Izwin, a business selling ceramic objects, jewelry, and ornaments to galleries throughout the US for almost twenty years. Edwin earned a BFA in sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA in sculpture at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He completed his final credits at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. Shelton maintains a studio in the St. Mary Studios in Michigan City, IN. Website: https://edwinpshelton.com

Standing Guard. © Joan Spohrer. Acrylic on canvas. 11×14 inches. $300

Joan Spohrer

Joan Spohrer began painting after a career as a magazine editor and freelance work that brought her into the worlds of photography and website design. Out of curiosity and a strong desire to paint, she enrolled in an artists’ workshop in 2002 with the Pinhook Painters, at Pinhook Park in South Bend. She began working in watercolors and still paints with that group every Wednesday. These mentors’ support and encouragement helped her develop as an artist, and through the years she has shown and won awards at many regional exhibits and art fairs. She works in watercolor and acrylic, painting landscape, figure and florals in an impressionistic style. She enjoys capturing images of street musicians, city scenes, and nature during her travels, then interpreting them on paper and canvas back in the studio. Recently she has delved into digital painting on an iPad. She continues working in web design, managing websites for area art organizations, and is an organizer of the annual Leeper Park Art Fair in South Bend. She is a member of Northern Indiana Artists, St. Joe Valley Watercolor Society and Area Artists Association. Website: http://joanspohrerwatercolors.com/

Wayside. © Carole Stodder. Acrylic on canvas. 20 x 24 Inches. $900

Carole Stodder

My current work utilizes aspects of the visual environment as my subject matter. This includes material found in advertising and graphics in everyday life but also what flashes at us on television and the web. You might call this “still life,” but it also permeates our landscape in our urban surroundings, on billboards and street signage. This is our milieu, man-made and more pervasive than nature, at times overly dominant and chaotic. I reproduce these elements on my canvases with paint, collage material and block prints. Through my compositions, I aim to create a new environment with an imposed balance and order. The guiding principle in my painting is a commitment to form and spatial structure. I discovered the strength of this approach through graduate studies with New York artist Will Barnet. This was a turning point in my career. I then went on to earn an MFA in studio art from the University of Chicago.  I was a practicing artist in Chicago for many years before moving to Indiana. I currently maintain a studio in the town of Pines and continue to exhibit and showcase my work. Email: cstodder@comcast.net

Surrender. © Suzy Vance. Fiber art.  21 x 17 inches. $350

Suzy Vance

Suzy Vance lives and creates in the heart of the Indiana Dunes National Park. As a lawyer she represented a client successfully before the United States Supreme Court. Today she is a life coach, fiber artist, photographer, video-podcaster, and self-described “word merchant” inspired by the people and world around her. Website: https://suzyvance.com