Steven Johnson of Hudson, WI, is a photographer. He received his BS in Studio Art, emphasis Painting, from UW-Stout, Menomonie. Currently, Johnson is a freelance photographer, digital illustrator, and graphic designer. A volunteer member of the Phipps Center for the Arts Visual Arts Council for nearly 20 years, he helps in the galleries by jurying artists, designing shows, installing group exhibitions, and photographically documenting the gallery receptions.

Ever since I was in grade school and won a camera in a drawing contest, I’ve been fascinated with photography. The integration of art and technology has inspired me to create. From the first time I saw an image magically emerge on a piece of paper in a darkroom, to the present when images are created by using digital technologies, I still find myself in a state of wonder, striving constantly to learn and explore the seemingly infinite possibilities of this medium.

This current group of prints is an exploration of digital imaging and drawing; it combines digital photography and software with traditional sketching techniques. The images started as digital documentation of the sculptures created by George Moore. The original files have been masked, manipulated and deconstructed using software on a computer but also contain marks created traditionally, with pen and ink, that have been scanned and turned into digital brushes. Also used is a tablet that allows me to use a pressure sensitive, digital stylus to create a line that is expressive and immediate, a line that mimics a pencil on paper or a brush on canvas. The resulting prints hopefully portray the whimsicality and playfulness I find in George’s artwork while retaining his underlying narratives.

Johnson has shown his work at the Phipps; Cream of the Crop Gallery at MN State Fair; Hudson (WI) Library; Westfields Hospital, New Richmond, WI; and Woodland Hill, Hudson, WI.

George GI Moore of Woodbury, MN, is a self-taught sculptor.

For over 65 years, I have sculpted figures for my own pleasure, primarily by direct carving of stone and wood and, to a lesser extent, by manipulating clay. In the course of my education as a chemist (BA with Honors, Cornell U. 1962; PhD, U. Colorado, 1965), I took no time for art instruction and during my 47-year career as an industrial chemist, learned primarily from art books and museum visits, with occasional workshops and short classes. My initial key influences were two wood sculptors – the American John Rood and the Canadian George Read, my maternal grandfather. I favor European sculptors and painters active in the first half of the 20th century. I enjoy the physical stimulation of using sharp tools on the material and the mental and physical challenges of fitting my interpretation of a figure into a given block.

Entry into juried shows in the last decade has necessitated high-quality photographs, and I have been fortunate that Steve Johnson has creatively recorded my sculptures from multiple angles and lighting conditions. Steve’s art centers on powerful transformations of photographs. I look forward to seeing his interpretations of my sculptures in this show.

Since 1974, Moore has been entering two regional juried shows: Minnesota State Fair Juried Fine Arts Competition (16 acceptances, 3rd place 1988, Honorable Mention 1991, 2021; 2nd place 2020) and Northern Lights, White Bear (MN) Center for the Arts (32 acceptances, 1st Place 1990, H.M. 1993; Merit Award 1998, 2000, 2011; Judge’s Award 2014, 2015, 2016; Excellence, 2017). He recently began entering the Members’ Show at Artistry, Bloomington, MN (5 acceptances, Excellence in 3-D 2016, H.M. 2020). Moore has volunteered with the Visual Arts Council at the Phipps Center for the Arts since 2007.

This special exhibition features work by 16 local and regional artists in a range of media inspired by jazz music, culture, and improvisation. It was organized by the Phipps Visual Arts Council to coincide with the Minnesota Jazz Chamber Orchestra concert, An Evening with Ella, being presented by the Phipps on Saturday, January 28.

http://thephipps.org/concert-s...

Exhibiting artists are Carol Adleman, Lisa Anderson, Ron Brown, Genie Castro, Susan Davies, Barbara Evan, Joseph Haid, Marty Harris, Steve Johnson, Barbara Landes and Paul Sullivan, David Markson, Barry McMahon, Andrew Nordin, Mark Ostapchuk, and Peter Zelle.

Timothy Schacker of St. Paul, MN, is a photographer with experience in entertainment and technical imaging.

A photograph is a frozen moment in time that will tell you a story if you engage with it. This story is not entirely shaped by the photographer who took the picture, but also by you, the viewer whose unique life experiences fill in the myriad of details and complexities that help to create an emotional connection to the image. I have always been interested in understanding what it is in a photograph that shapes that unique story for each of us.

In this sequence of photographs, I explore these themes using a single image duplicated with multiple different techniques that are combined to explore what different stories emerge. When looking at a flower you judge to be beautiful; what is it that forms your judgement? Is it the form, the light source, or the texture and color, or some combination of these things? What happens when one or more of these elements are changed? Each image in this series is created from a series of photographs of the same flower, each made under different lighting and camera conditions and the images are then layered into a sequence of photographs in Photoshop with selective filters applied to create a new story for that image that resonated with me. My discovery in completing this body of work was how manipulation of one or more of the basic elements of the flower (form, texture, color) can completely change the story that photograph is trying to tell you. Using these techniques each image has a unique rhythm that is almost musical in how it emerges from the photograph.

Recently, Schacker’s work was shown at Banfill-Locke Gallery (2019); Carlton College, Northfield, MN (2018); Creative Quarterly, Vol. 51, Spring 2018; and Minneapolis Photo Center (2017).

S. Catrin Magnusson of the Twin Cities is a multidisciplinary visual artist. She currently emphasizes ceramic sculptures and fiber. Born in Sweden, she received a Bachelor of Fine Art, Studio Art (emphases Photography and Sculpture) from the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, in 1997; an Associate Degree in Science (Film Production and Screenwriting) from Minneapolis Community and Technical College in 2007; and a Master of Fine Art Degree (emphases Photography, Sculpture, and Video Installation) from Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2009.

Most of my work is abstract and utilizes a minimal palette. While the work appears abstract, it has a specific reference to the physical world. I am drawn to the quiet remnants of violent movement and the creation of a landscape from what is left behind, connecting deep time and macro processes to a personal timeline.

Magnusson’s work has most recently been shown in Thought/Process, Artistry, Bloomington, MN (2022); Arrowhead Regional Biennial, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN (2021); and in the following juried shows Hard and Soft, Center for the Visual Arts, Wausau, WI (2021); Northern Lights Juried Art Exhibition, White Bear Center for the Arts, White Bear, MN (2021); and C4W, Gamut Gallery, Minneapolis, MN (2020).

Steve Miller of River Falls, WI, is a self-taught wood artist. He is a member of the Minnesota Woodturners Club and American Association of Woodturners. Miller attends national and regional symposia to keep updated with new wood art and techniques. He has taken classes from nationally respected woodturners and helps other members of his turning club.

Wood is natural organic material with many variations in color, grain and texture. In 2000, I took a woodturning class and made my first wooden bowl. I bought a small lathe and started turning small bowls, pens, bottle stoppers, vases and kaleidoscopes. I bought a larger lathe with variable speed control to create larger items. This was the start of my foraging for different varieties of wood logs (green wood) versus the typical wood from lumber mills. In the log form, you have a blank “canvas” to create many different pieces of art.

Most of my pieces are functional and each one unique. My work includes bowls, vases, vessels, plates, boxes, urns and some unique pepper mills with graceful curves. Showcasing the natural beauty of the different grains and tones is the beauty of working with each type of wood. I may start with a cherry log, leave some of the white sap wood on to contrast against the warm reddish brown color of the wood. Maybe I’ll leave some bark on and create a natural edge cherry bowl, it looks oblong, but it still is a perfect circle. I create my art from a variety of woods: apple, maple, cherry, elm, ash, white oak, walnut, different burls, exotics and more.

Miller’s recent awards include Honorable Mention, Art on the Kinni, River Falls, WI (2022) and “Green Award” at AAUW Art on the Green juried show, La Crosse, WI (2017). He has shown his work through the Phipps at Hudson Hospital in 2018 and Woodland Hill, Hudson 2019.

Wynn Davis is a mixed media artist. He received his BS in Art Education from University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2004 and his MSE in Fine Arts from UW-RF in 2006. He has taught art at Stillwater (MN) High School since 2004. After years of making realistic graphite drawings inspired by nature and phantasmagoric ideas, Davis challenged himself to combine his passions for art and long-distance running: on his daily runs, he would collect found materials from roadsides, Little Free Libraries, and odd collections from various cities and states and use these as fragments or as substrates in his drawing and painting.

My mixed media work is a direct extension of my participation in the outdoors. They are records of personal observations curbed by curiosity and imagination. Running over 5,400 miles a year by way of foot into some of the country’s most erogenous and wildest wooded and urban areas allows for a full examination of nature. It sharpens the mind, invigorates the body, and intensifies the emotions. Is there any better reason to do anything? My work is a personal narrative of these experiences and feelings. Some of the salvaged materials I find, paint, or draw along the way serve as homage of past personal memories.

Davis has shown his work most recently at Duluth (MN) Art Institute (2022); 62 Annual Arrowhead Biennial, Duluth Art Institute (2019); Minnesota State Fair Juried Fine Art Exhibition, St. Paul, MN (2022, 2019); AZ Art Gallery, St. Paul, MN (2019); Heart of the River Juried Exhibition, Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI (2018); Stillwater Art Gallery (2014); MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids, MN (2013); and UMN, Minneapolis, MN (2012). In addition to private collections, his work is held by University of Minnesota-Morris and UW-RF.