2023 Participating Artists

Ritamarie Balcerzak

My ink drawings are personal interpretations of negative space or geometric designs. I enjoy doodling with brush and pen. I’m sharing a pencil drawing from last year’s plein air event.
: titled “C.c-side”

Pete Border

I have been painting on and off for about 30 years. I am mostly self-taught with the occasional course. I work in acrylics and oils for the most part, though lately I have been getting into encaustics. this will be my third time at Port Wing, which is a great place to paint.

Gretchen Burke

I am a local pastel artist from Ashland.

Patricia Canelake

https://pcanelake.wixsite.com/patriciacanelake

PATRICIA CANELAKE (1951 – Present) lives and works in Knife River, Minnesota, near the North Shore of Lake Superior. For fifteen years she taught Media Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has worked as an adjunct instructor in Northern Minnesota. Her artist residencies included Yaddo Artist Colony, MacDowell Artist Colony, Headlands Center for the Arts, and I-Park Artist’s Sanctuary. Canelake has previously served as a panelist for the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and as a juror for The Minnesota Arts Board. 

Ann Christensen

Pastels are such a fun medium to create layers of surprising and unexpected color and texture. The Chequamegon Bay area offers endless inspiration with her blues, greens, and colorful reflected sunlight all around. I am lucky to paint in the studio and pleine aire with pastel artist friends who give support and camaraderie to the painting process.

Kathleen D’Angelo

http://kathleendangeloart.com

My relationship with the natural world has always been an integral part of my life. It entertains my senses daily and it has been a refuge for me during the most difficult of times. Nature provides an endless source of inspiration for my creative process. Light, the absence of light, and texture holds a fascination for me. Patterns are created, sometimes in poetic symmetry and other times in chaotic abandonment. I work with acrylic or watercolor, either painting in my studio or most preferably en plein air. I lean toward realism, but always ready to experiment beyond my comfort zone. Although I live in Southwestern Wisconsin in what is known as The Driftless area, I travel throughout the Great Lakes geographic region, with Lake Superior being my favorite destination. I am also drawn to the Mississippi River Valley and the numerous Northwoods lakes and ecosystems. My own floral and vegetable gardens and the agricultural scenes that surround my home are always present for inspiration when I’m not traveling.

Jean Derider

2023 Artist Bio coming soon

Chris Garrity

I’ve been a graphic designer and illustrator for over 25 years, but in the last couple, I’ve been trying to get back to my artistic roots by participating in various Plein Air “quickpaints” and art shows with some of my friends. It’s always rewarding to do what I love and meet people who are passionate about doing the same thing.

Kathy Gilmore

Kathy Gilmore has been an artist her entire life. She received a Fine Arts degree from Illinois State University. After a career in Social Service Evaluation and raising a family, she has returned to art making. Kathy has an intense interest in the natural world which informs her practice. She is currently pursuing this through the medium of watercolor. In 2016, Kathy received the People’s Choice Award at the Port Wing Plein Air Painting Festival.

Will Gilmore

I started painting as part of therapy for injuries I received while serving with the Marines in Vietnam. Years later, I took it up again after retiring as an adjunct professor of anthropology and consulting archaeologist for various government agencies and American Indian tribes. Being an avid Wisconsin outdoorsman it followed that plein air painting became my preferred venue and subject matter.

Dee Ginther

2023 Artist Bio soon

Sharon Graham

https://troutrunart.com/

Been hooked on painting and art going on 75 years! Used to paint with honeysuckle berries and mud! I use better (and more expensive) paint now.

Bob Haddow

Bob Haddow divides his time between homes in Port Wing and Minneapolis. My painting style is lively and intuitive–often using just pure color and a palette knife. After a long apprenticeship in classical methods and materials I no longer try to think too much about what I do. My “ten thousand hours” are long behind me.

Cherry Hanna

https://cherryhannafineart.com

Cherry lives near Lake Superior, where she married, raised two kids and delights in grandchildren. In Wisconsin, Arizona, western Michigan, and anywhere that beckons, she works on the impressionistic side of expressive realism, using oil, pastel and watercolor. While, particularly drawn to humans and animals, stunning landscapes beg interpretation. An appreciation for tradition, rustic antiquity and architectural detail influence her composition.

Susan Hayden

http://www.susanhaydenfineart.com

Linda Hidebrant

Drawing and painting often seemed easier and more joyous and playful when I was very young and over time became less about fun and more about results. I grew up loving to draw, paint and read and like many others, started by drawing what I observed and what I liked. And I still draw and paint what I observe based on what I see around me, choosing subject matter from what instinctively resonates. However, I’ve learned to recognize that often the art is in the process as well as the final work. There is excitement, anxiety, fear, bravado and joy in making each decision, big and small, conscious and unconscious until a piece is complete.

Linus Honer

I am a rising ninth grader going to Washburn high school in minneapolis. My favorite art medium is acrylics, and I also like using watercolors and graphite. I like drawing things with complex lighting and vibrant colors. I am a programmer and I like programming shaders and rendering engines for video games. I am also into robotics and I am on the Washburn robotics team.

Sophia Honer

Sophia Honer is a rising 7th grader at Justice Page Middle school in Minneapolis MN. Sophia’s main medium is acrylic paint on canvas and enjoys the challenge of painting animals, both realistic and cartoon images. Sophia also sketches, sees, knits and beads.

Jon Hove

I reside in Port Wing, WI and occasionally paint, usually landscapes or capturing the mood of the Lake. Here’s a painting of Lake Superior.  As a youth I used to watch my mother paint landscapes in oils and submit them to the County Fair.  She was a perfectionist.  I am not.  Although I paint in oil and watercolor mostly, I also create pen and ink or pencil drawings.  On some of my work I include poetry that I have written.  I enjoy painting a wide array of subjects from water to architecture to trees, basically anything that catches my eye through color combinations, interesting shapes and shadow effects.

Julie Jao

https://jaoart.com/

Julie Jao lives in Minneapolis but travels the world. She recently returned from an artist residency in Colombia South America painting in the Andes. She has been making art all her life and started Au Plein Air just recently. Being outdoors, painting and meeting new people sounds like an excellent way to enjoy Port Wing in August!

Donna Lanni

lanniartist@gmail.com

My love of painting started when I was a child and I have been painting ever since. While an undergraduate and graduate student in college at Washington University in St Louis and Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, I took many painting, drawing and printmaking classes, although art wasn’t my major. Since that time I have taken plein air workshops from the late Charles Movalli of Rockport,MA, nationally knownTed Goerschner, as well as local artists France Austin Miller and the late Karlyn Holman for watercolor painting, I am a member of Chequamegon Bay Arts Council and regularly exhibit in their shows, and recently won the People’s Choice Award for an abstract painting.

Elizabeth Lexau

Elizabeth Lexau is a nature-inspired artist based in Washburn, Wisconsin. Working primarily in pastels, she is moved by the breathtaking beauty and changing moods of Lake Superior, the Apostle Islands and the surrounding Northwoods.

Caren Martin

I have been painting off and on (mostly off) since I was in elementary school. Oil paint is my medium of choice and. landscape my preferred subject. Seems like water, rocks, trees, sky, and the play of light draw me to their constant beauty and ever-changing characteristics. The oil painting process reveals both inspiring, pleasing surprises and disappointments alike—depending on the day! 

Susan McDonald

2023 Artist Bio coming soon

Clare McDonough

Clare has been painting since 2006. Now recently retired, she savors having more time to expand her capabilities and try new techniques. “Every painting teaches me something about my techniques and myself. It’s a wonderful journey.” Clare enjoys mixing nature with structure and elements that represent the places we long to be. Though acrylics are Clare’s primary medium, she also enjoys dabbling in watercolor, sketching, and painting rocks with her grandchildren! New to Plein Air painting, Clare says, “I find the therapeutic nature of painting in the outdoors to be so unique from the studio and incredibly challenging and satisfying for the mind and soul.”

Joanne Meierhof

I am a pastel painter and feel that it’s the perfect medium for plein air. A life long painter I took to pastels in 2001 and did some of my first plein air work around 2006. Since moving to Ashland in 2011 I’ve been very active, joining with other pastel painters and entering plein air festivals. I am so happy to live up here in this beautiful part of the world. Every season offers its own opportunity to capture color and light. I’ve even painted with some hardy souls in winter in Northern Minnesota.

Aram Melis

https://www.arammelis.com/

Aram Melis received his bachelor’s degree in art at Edgewood College. He is an active studio artist in Madison, WI, exploring ceramics, painting, and printmaking.

Rachel Melis

https://www.rachelmelis.com/about

Rachel Melis gives visual form to metaphors from literature, environmental movements, her family, and nature. She is an Associate Professor of Art at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Minnesota. She received her BA from Grinnell College, and her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her work has been chosen for numerous national and international exhibitions, collections, and publications

Kelsey Mianulli

I’m an artist who recently moved to the South Shore area of Wisconsin! I’m primarily a ceramic and jewelry artist but I have been painting my whole life and still love it.

Joel Nimocks

What I enjoy about plein air painting (in my limited experience) is the spontaneity of the process-capturing the scene in front of you quickly, most times by trying to achieve that through an economy of mark making. This can be a challenge, since I rarely do anything quickly (insert sad trumpet sound).
I consider myself an abstract painter, so another challenge is to take that landscape/cityscape/etc. and try to present it a bit differently.
Getting outdoors to do something you truly enjoy and to do it along with other like-minded folks are two more positives to take away from events like these.

Priscilla Olson

https://artofpriscilla.com

I grew up in Midland, Michigan, and spent my professional life in the Chicago area as a commercial animator and plein air painter. Since
returning to Midland in 2011, I have been participating in painting events around the state. I continue to be an active plein air painter and enjoy sharing and promoting this activity throughout the Great Lakes Bay region.

Susan Pavlatos

Sue Pavlatos is an accomplished artist and teacher who teaches watercolors and acrylics along with oils and pastels. She ejnoys an impressionistic approach to subject matter. Her art work is included in many private and corporate collections. Having traveled extensively, Sue uses her experiences to create new works of art. New ideas are always on the horizon for Sue.

Mary Peterson

I have been painting for 30 years. Watercolor is my main medium along with pen and sometimes gouache.
I have filled many sketch books with images from backyards to what I see around the shores of Lake Superior.
This will be my second plein air event. My first in Port Wing.

Nina Preheim

As a landscape painter I’m always looking at the world through a lens to find beauty, color, spatial relationships, and a sense of place.. The places I have painted are connected to my space of time within my span of life, so repeating a painting at different periods and perspectives gives me a new appreciation for how I’ve changed or grown. I love color too, and painting plein air is one way to become more honest to the nature I know.
My painting practice started when I was 9 or 10 when my grandfather showed me how he used the oil from his painting tubes to create his primitive paintings. Since those early days, I have studied art at several regional schools. Most recently, I have had classes in oil with Sara Leadholm and Mary Pettis. I am also a clay artist.

Ryan Priebe

Hello, it is a pleasure to introduce myself to you. I am a virtual and middle school Art teacher for the past 23 years. Art is a part of my daily life. I really enjoy art galleries and submitting my own work to art shows. I am an active painter with a regional group of artists. We have done some online art shows and physical shows. I am married and have three daughters along with our dog Phoebe. One of my passions is being outdoors and birding. Yes birding, getting outside and identifying and watching all species of birds. I would also say I love a great joke and magic is super cool as well. I want you to know I will work hard to make your ART experience with me phenomenal. Art is truly about being creative and a problem solver. You grow so much from learning so many wonderful ways to express yourself in ART as well as appreciate what artists have created.

Thomas Pryor

tpryor.faso.com

My journey began in London at the Tate Britain when I happened upon the stunning oil and watercolor paintings of J.M.W. Turner. The ensuing decades have been punctuated by inspired efforts at “manipulating paint into ethereal approximations of nature.” I most enjoy the free expression of painting en plein air, in the elusive pursuit of capturing the “air between artist and subject.” The American West, Pacific coast and most recently Paris, have provided natural beauty and color palettes moving beyond recurring subjects, the inexhaustible splendor of coastal Maine and America’s oldest seaside report…Cape May.

I am grateful beyond measure to those who have inspired, encouraged, and brought focus to my meanderings. The journey continues.

2023 Artist Bio and image coming soon!

Mary Katherine Reynolds

I work mainly in oil but also work in acrylic paints. I have been taking classes with Dave Gilsvik. I enjoy placing an acrylic gesso of the contrast color before sketching the landscape on canvas. This will be my first Plein Air paint event.

Jessica Rush

This will be my first plein air event and I am excited! I have taken plein air workshops and participated in a few Outdoor Painters events here in the Twin Cities. Northern Wisconsin does not lack for beauty especially on the shores of Lake Superior so I don’t doubt that there will be plenty of sites to paint from. Looking forward to seeing other plein air painters and learning from them. Reading about landscape painting is helpful but seeing a plein air painter in action will be awesome. 

My submission is across a mill pond on Minnehaha Creek in Edina. At one time there were several flour mills on Minnehaha creek and some mill ponds remain tucked in private residential properties.

Cindy Schipper

2023 Artist Bio and image coming soon!

Joseph Smigiel

https://www.instagram.com/smieglitz/

I’m a recently retired teacher enjoying my introduction to plein air painting. I have been on a few excursions and painting retreats with the Plein Air Artists of West Michigan (PAAWM) and found them to be a welcomed activity during the pandemic months. Historically practicing antiquated photographic processes, I am now revisiting earlier artistic interests via both studio and plein air painting as well as digital photography. I’ve taken several in-person painting workshops this past year and am currently enrolled in 3 more as well as an online painting course, all of which have exposed me to new painting techniques and materials. I’m looking forward to participating in my inaugural plein air competition in Port Wing.

Todd Schabel

I have come to really love the intimate connection plein air painting offers. There is something extra special about setting up my easel outdoors and allowing nature’s energy to be part of my creative process. The subject matter of my paintings continues to evolve with the landscape being my primary focus, but an underlying theme remains constant – a sense of harmony. Where there is harmony, joy isn’t too far behind. My hope is to encourage others to pause and see the endless possibilities of joy around us; and even more importantly to nurture them to be cherished once again.

Jennifer Scott

A lifelong artist, Jennifer has studied watercolor painting under David R. Smith, Janet Rodgers, Dale Popovich and Bridget Austin, to name a few. Jennifer is the President of the Northeast Wisconsin Watercolor Society, currently serving in her fourth term, and has exhibited paintings at the Art Garage in Green Bay. Plein air painting is a new experience for Jennifer, who recently participated in plein air painting at the Green Bay Botanical Garden. A former guidance counselor, her hope in retirement is to continue to learn new skills, establish a unique style, and learn from others.

Sally Stimac

I was born to do art.  As soon as I could hold a crayon I have drawn. Cardboard boxes were my canvas.  I drew all the time then and still do.  Then my father gave me a refillable felt pen with different tips and colored inks.  I went from there creating art.  Then, when I was 16, our neighbor, Homer, who was a water color artist, got me and my brother George into his studio and introduced us to water color.  Now that opened a whole new world to express my art.  I have no real formal training, pretty much self taught.  I feel that have been given me freedom to explore it all. I draw and paint in assorted ways with different mediums all the time. It’s my joy in life, sharing creations and talents, such a joy.

Lydia Steiner

2023 Artist Bio and image coming soon!

Lynn Zsidov-Steiner

I would describe myself as an Artist who still has a corporate day-hustle. Relocating to this area from Marinette County, Wisconsin, I was drawn here by my love of wilderness and the outdoors. Since then, I never have to travel far to find the perfect inspiration. I paint primarily in oils and sometimes in watercolors. A few years ago I took up plein air painting; it combines my two passions, Art and the Outdoors. Most of my work reflects the trails I hike and all the things I love.

Lisa Stauffer

lisastauffer.com

Artist’s Statement
I am fascinated by the interplay of light and color that I see in the beauty surrounding
me and I work to capture the mood of those special moments in my paintings. I choose
to paint with soft pastel for the incredible richness and intensity of the color possibilities
and textures I can create with them. I am primarily an outdoor painter and pastel’s
direct application allows for the immediacy demanded in plein air work. I often use a
watercolor underpainting as a setup for the pastel layers in my work, which adds the
interplay of transparent and opaque mediums to the visual quality of the final piece. I
can be found painting all around town and far beyond.

Biography
Lisa Stauffer received her Master’s in Design (University Of Minnesota, Minneapolis)
and studied Illustration at Parson’s School of Design (NYC). She enhances her
education by taking workshops from nationally recognized painters whose work
inspires her. She has worked and taught in a wide variety of media, now primarily
painting in soft pastel with a special focus on painting en plein air to indulge her
fascination with light and color in Minnesota’s beautiful north shore landscape. Lisa
was awarded Eminent Pastelist status by the International Association Of Pastel
Societies in 2023 and achieved Master Circle status in 2009. She was awarded the
H.K. Holbein Award at the Pastel Society Of America Show at the National Arts Club in
New York City, September 2010 and the Pastel Painters Of Cape Cod Award in 2012.
Lisaʼs paintings were chosen each of these years by the Director of the Butler Institute
Of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, for inclusion in the annual exhibit, American
Pastels. Lisa was juried into the Pastel Society Of America and awarded Signature
status in 2012. Her work has been featured in articles in PleinAir Magazine, Pastel
Journal, Stephen Dohertyʼs book, The Art Of Plein Air Painting and in two PBS specials
on painting.

Richard Stryker

I studied painting at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Then I studied art history at Colorado College and the University of Minnesota. I have enjoyed the inspiration and challenge of painting along the South Shore of Lake Superior. It’s very fun to meet and paint with the other participating artists. The event organizers and volunteers do a great job. All of the recently created artwork makes for an exciting exhibit.

Kathleen Swanson

I’ve been painting about 20 years and enjoy using both watercolor and acrylics. I am self taught and continue to grow my skills through practice, workshops, and experimentation. I paint for the love of painting!
This is my first time entering the Port Wing Plein Air event, and very much look forward to painting in this beautiful setting.

Troy Tatlock

https://Troytatlock.com

Drew in the crib, drew on my desk, drew on the basement walls…on church bulletins…in study-hall.

In fourth grade, to get me to stop drawing on my desk, Mrs. Wilson kept me after school and taught me how to paint…..

So I painted on my desk, in study-hall, painted on the basement walls….to get me out of the basement somebody gave me a french field easel…. painted on the porch…in alleys…in bars…next to dams… on dams…in dams…on the big giant slides at State Fair…. 

I never forgot Mrs. Wilson….

The world needs more Mrs. Wilsons..

Laurice Wade

http://wishesforearth.com

Laurice Wade’s early abstract artwork pursued inner expressions remembering experiences in the wilds. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in textiles and drawing. Laurice hand-wove richly colored textiles in the form of scarves. She sold in over 30 galleries nationwide under the name “The Sumptuous Scarf.”
Currently, Laurice enjoys creating drawings inspired by wilderness moments and creative words.
Artist Statement
The focus of my art is to reveal the reflections of worlds hidden by our everyday lives. What if, one could bring the unseen into existence? I am often surprised when I stumble across a profound essence. For, there really is an infinite ocean of perceptions and inner connections beyond what we can normally sense. They can be a truer world than what our eyes see.
It is exciting to bring an unseen essence into existence for others to experience. Catching reflections and observing the transitions from outer to inner worlds, gives me the opportunity to share a truth or beauty with others. The world has so much beauty we need to look after and nurture.

Amy C. Wilson

Knowing Nature
Through Art
“What I enjoy about art is its way of showing one a deeper way of looking, seeing and thinking. To concentrate on a form of nature is a meditation that brings us closer to a contentment and appreciation of our wonderful world.” Amy Wilson.
Amy Wilson has studied art since her youth at the progressive Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts. Amy studied next at the Boston Museum of fine arts school following up with an Associate of Arts degree from Bemidji State University. She continued formal studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and, after a brief sabbatical of homesteading in the western corner of Virginia, finished her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree with honors at the University of Wisconsin in Superior.
Amy has worked in the contracting field and as a Solar Electric Technician most recently wrangling vegetables and seed saving as chief homesteader at SunFarm south of Port Wing Wisconsin. Amidst homestead duties she has found time to pursue painting with oils as well as watercolors and occasional wood block printing. She continues to draw in her proverbial sketchbooks and chronicle travels in illustrated travel journals as well as participating in a new collaboration of watercolorists in her region.

Stephen Wysocki

https://stephen-wysocki.pixels.com/

I love to paint and am always painting, even when I don’t have a brush in my hand, I can’t get away from it, it’s that simple. When I’m in my studio and run out of ideas I know it’s time to get out and do some Plein Air painting; then the subjects just appear. My mission is to show beauty in the ordinary, to allow the viewer to experience an image they see every day in a new way. I gravitate to ordinary scenes and structures. I see the hard edge contrasts these everyday objects convey, and try to portray that in the hues and shadows of my paintings. I am always looking to create an atmosphere in my work. I believe color can stand alone to convey a mood in a piece of work. I like to explore an image by playing with the many warm and cool tones. This is what drives me to paint. I like to let the paint tell the story that I am trying to convey. I don’t like to dwell on every detail for someone to see my intent, but I also don’t like my paintings to be muddy. I like them to be loose, wet on wet, what ever you call it, my painting style is not controlled—it’s more of a discovery. In the spring of 1990, I studied at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design for one semester. However influential, city life was not for me. I longed to be back in the Northwoods, and decided to continue my schooling at Nicolet College in Rhinelander, WI, where I spent five semesters. I finished my Bachelor of Arts degree in 1996 at the University of Wisconsin of Green Bay. During this time, I studied art abroad in England. I have the honor of having works in the permanent collection of University of Wisconsin Green Bay, and in Bay College, Iron Mountain, MI. I currently work at our family business, operating the Armstrong Creek Bison Ranch along with my father and brother.