Double the Imagination

Christmas Tree Collage

12"x12"

My Christmas Tree Collage is a painting I did for the show Janet Olney and I are in at the Marshall Area Fine Art Center, Marshall, Minnesota (MAFAC). Our show is called 'The Power of Two and it runs from December 3, 2011 to January 13, 2012. The following article was printed in the Marshall Independent on Dec. 3rd. You can find the article by clicking on this link: Marshall Independent.

 

Hand-woven baskets, collages and themed paintings

are part of MAFAC’s new exhibit

December 3, 2011

By Cindy Votruba , Marshall Independent

MARSHALL - They may work in different art mediums, but they're good friends and are now doing an exhibit together.

The exhibit "Power of Two," featuring baskets by Janet Olney of Willmar and paintings and collages by Violet Dauk of New London, will be on display from Tuesday through Jan. 13 at the Marshall Area Fine Arts Council's arts center.

Dauk attended the School of Associated Arts in St. Paul, which is now known as Visual College of Art and Design.

"I started out in oils," Dauk said. About 15 years ago, she switched to watercolors, she said, and just a little more than a year ago, she began to dabble in acrylic collages. "I love the color, the flow of it," Dauk said about watercolors.

Olney, who had graduated from Alma College in Michigan with a degree in philosophy and religion, started doing basket weaving back in 1984. At the time, her family was living in Nebraska and had adopted 11-year-old twins. She said her sister-in-law, who is also a basket weaver, said "I'll teach you how to do baskets."

"I immediately took to it, I just loved it," Olney said. She made her first basket on her youngest son's first birthday.

Olney teaches the art for guilds, at the Textile Center at the University of Minnesota and at art centers. She is also coordinator of the Willmar Area Arts Center. "I love the feel of the material as I shape it into something useful and beautiful," Olney said about basket weaving in her artist statement for MAFAC. "I love the sense of accomplishment I feel when I have created something wonderful out of a pile of reeds. The process is almost magical."

Except for a couple of summers with her sister-in-law, Olney said she is self-taught in basket weaving.

When she was a single mother, Olney said she supported her two youngest children working full time doing her basket weaving. "It was a challenge to do that full time," she said.
Olney used to do 20 to 24 art fairs a year from June to October. "I have cut way back," she said.

In her artist statement for MAFAC, Dauk said creating art has always been a healing experience for her. "I pour my heart, soul and dreams into every piece of artwork," Dauk wrote in her artist statement. "As a young artist, it was difficult for me to get beyond the feeling that people were reading my private story in the art I created. I've now grown to enjoy comments that my work is whimsical, unique, colorful and spiritual."

Typically, Dauk works around certain themes with her art - such as coffee, florals, her children or animals. The coffee series will be part of the MAFAC exhibit, she said.

Dauk is also having her Christmas collages in the exhibit. She uses mixed media, which includes found objects, such as beads, pages from a choral book, along with newspaper backgrounds and acrylic paint.

Dauk grew up on a dairy farm and said the drawings she does of animals are not "photo-reality. I draw them as I see their personalities," Dauk said.

Olney said she's experimenting different forms with her weaving. She usually uses reed cut from came palm or rattan. For the basic structure of the basket, Olney uses the reed, but then mixes in other fibers, such as yarn, wools, seagrass, pine needles, wood splints and other materials.

"I have developed a technique for making tapestry baskets which involves weaving a double walled basket with the inner basket becoming the mold for the outer, tapestry basket," Olney said in her artist statement.

Olney said her baskets are mainly "sculptural. I do some functional baskets, but most of them are sculptural tapestries," she said.

Winter Watercolor Paintings

Here are some of my winter paintings.
We're having very light snow today - I am ready for more!

Winter Barn - Watercolor - Sold

I took a photo of this barn during the summer, but painted it as a winter scene.

 

Sledding - Watercolor - 18x24

This is a painting of Anthony and Becca a few years ago returning from a day of sledding - I added the 'holding hands' for the effect, you can bet at that time of their lives the last thing they wanted to do is hold hands!!! Our dogs that are in the painting are Clara and Amy.

P.S. Now that Anthony has moved away to college they are treating each other nicer. Yea!!!

 

Winter Feast - Watercolor - 18x24

This is Anthony and Becca eating snow.

 

Winter Cabin - Watercolor - Sold

 

Heading Home - Watercolor - Not for Sale

This painting was chosen by The Emergency Foodshelf Network in New Hope, Minnesota as an 'Artwork for Tummies' Christmas Card. Purchases of any of their Christmas cards benefit Minnesota’s hungry children.

The Emergency Foodshelf Network uses 100% of the proceeds from Artwork For Tummies card sales to stock our foodshelves, on-site meal programs, and other hunger relief programs with nutritious children’s foods such as whole grain cereals, baby food, canned fruits and vegetables, peanut butter, fruit juices, pasta and much more. If you are interested in purchasing this card, or any of their Christmas cards, follow this link: Artwork for Tummies.  Cards are $2 each. Thanks for helping Minnesota's hungry children!!!

I Love Snow Pin - Handcrafted

Sure is a good thing I live in Minnesota cuz I love snow!!!

Handmade Holiday

We are having a mini-art crawl this weekend in New London. I am in with Glenn and Julie Joplin at the Pottery workshop. I have a number of winter paintings that will be for sale, along with prints, cards and jewelry. We are serving mulled wine and chocolate for our treats! Should be fun!