Superior Artists Gallery

Calendar of Events 2011, celebrating our 10th anniversary
Check back often for more details

November
Celebrating 10 years. Washburn Cultural Center. Washburn, Wi
Artists Reception: Thursday, November 3, from 5 - 7 PM

September
Celebrating 10 years. Black Cat Coffee House. Ashland, Wi
Artists Reception: Saturday, September 17, from 7 - 9 PM

August
Superior Watersheds. Firefly Gallery. Cable, Wi
Artists Reception: Thursday, August 11 from 4 - 6 PM

June - October 31
Superior Watersheds: Reflections of Artists, Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center
Artists Reception: Thursday, July 7 from 5-8 PM

Northern Great Lakes Visitors Center (NGLVC) and Firefly Trading Company are each hosting an exciting, ecological art exhibit by the Superior Artists’ Cooperative titled “Superior Watersheds”. The show at NGLVC runs from June through October 31, 2011. The exhibit at Firefly runs from August 1st – 31st. The Superior Artists’ cooperative; consists of area artists creating original works ranging from watercolor, acrylic, pastel, and oil paintings, stained glass, pottery, jewelry, metal sculpture and photography.

The public is invited to meet and celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Superior Artists’ Cooperative at two celebratory receptions: Thursday, July 7, 2011 from 5 – 8 PM at the Northern Great Lakes Visitors Center and Thursday, August 11 from 4 - 6 PM at Firefly Trading Company. Exhibiting members; Janice Benson, Sara Balbin, Royanne Goossen, Dora Kling, Jan MacFarlane, Mary McHugh, Mary Methven, Wendy Deerly Reese and Birgit Wolff.

The Firefly event is hosted by LJ Menzel of the Firefly Trading Company, located two miles south of Cable on Hwy 63. For further information contact LJ at Firefly 715-798-5001 or lj@fireflytradingcompany.com. Stay in touch with the event at www.flytradingcompany.com.

History of the Superior Artists Gallery

Every Thursday, eight women went to the Washburn Historical Museum and Cultural Arts Center, to paint pictures. We called ourselves the Brownstone School of Art. One of the group, Jan Benson, had been in a cooperative art gallery in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. The artists there bought shares of stock, filled out all the paperwork, and became a Cooperative. This meant that they would do all the work, and bring in all the merchandise. Together they rented the space and became an Art Gallery. We adopted this plan of action. Others artists joined in and we became the Superior Artists' Gallery as a Cooperative. Now after ten years, we are still together, not as a building in Washburn, Wisconsin, but we opened a new door to the World Wide Web. The name is still Superior, from Lake Superior where we live and work, Artist's Gallery. Find our always open door here on our web site.

Lake Superior Watersheds: Artists reflections
by Dora Kling

Water! Without it we couldn’t exist. To see a waterfall, lakes full of water-lilies, or a pond full of frogs, all present an artistic challenge. To capture the passing shapes, colors and textures of water is a task that has interested many thousands of artists. Water is not blue. This is no surprise to artists. On a clear day a lake looks blue, but it is reflecting the blue of the sky. Another lake in a dense Chequamegon Forest will look green. It gets this color from the surrounding trees reflected on its surface. Water itself has no color. The color of the water is the effect of what floats on it and in it and what stands beside it and above it. Water has no form, but can take on any form. Like its color, water gets form or structure from the objects it flows over, through and against. This form is then seen as a surface texture. The wind whips water of Lake Superior into sharp peaks that we call waves. These same waves crash against a rocky coast line, are broken into a million tiny droplets and we have a spray and foam. It moves, it reflects, it comes in great sheets and tiny drops. It has no color, yet it changes the color of objects it touches, such as the bark of a tree will be much darker after it is soaked in a rainstorm. Water can change from water to mist, to steam and even to snow. Not only is water the most important element necessary for every living plant and animal, it is one of the most elusive subjects an artist can draw or paint.

The artists in our Superior Artists’ Gallery are often asked “Where do you get your inspiration”? In any creative task; painting, photography, clay, steel or glass, we say it comes from within. Claude Monet said “The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration”. He is famous for his water-lilies. William Wordsworth said “Let nature be your teacher”, and some say “Nature is the art of God”. All of our Superior Artists’ Gallery members agree that we are inspired every day by nature. Painters go back again and again for the visual inspiration that only natural elements can give. Nature is in a constant change. Seasonal changes rearrange the landscape, the sun on snow or the bright colors of Fall reflecting in lakes. Artists explore many paths of nature in an inexhaustible spring of learning and inspiration. The universe abounds in shifting patterns of light and shade and subtle textures, all have captivated artists for many generations. Wisconsin’s rivers are aquatic ribbons of life with their streams meandering through the state’s incredible landscape. They comprise one of our most important natural resources, historically vital to the state’s tourism and the quality of life of Wisconsin artists.

Our gallery in Washburn, Wisconsin closed on August 30, 2009 after 8 years of operation. We hope you continue to visit us on the web. You can make purchases of the art you find on our web site by emailing us at info@superiorartists.com. Watch our web site for information about upcoming shows that the members of Superior Artists Gallery will be in, either individually or as a group.

Superior Artists Gallery Members, September, 2009

10/23/11