Monday, January 19, 2009

Cami Applequist















Cami's website


Cami's Artist Statement:

"You only see what you look at….to look is an act of choice."
John Berger

My work is about seeing. It is about choosing to look in order to see. It is about the potential to recognize the reality that surrounds us in its entirety rather than accepting the limited reality that others would like us to believe is the whole of what is. We are bombarded with images that we look at because others make that choice for us in their magazines and newspapers, on their billboards and websites, in their stores and even in schools. What we are looking at often doesn’t provide us with an opportunity to make or understand our own reality nor can it help us to know ourselves and the world. By deciding to travel this world choosing to look at what really is I have been able to notice realities beyond the limited reality we are conditioned to see. When I catch a glimpse of a tree through pink glass I see a new tree: one that resides in a pink sky. When I see a shadow of a toy dancing on the counter I see a reality where toys dance. The destruction and mess of a fallen tree give way to an image of the complex beauty that resides within. A flower becomes a home for light. A reflection off of a car tells the story of a flying cow. I work at capturing images of the new realities I find for myself and bringing them to the viewer without digital manipulation. The final image is just as I saw it. I enjoy sharing the images with others because the images themselves gain new meaning and new stories from each person who chooses to look. It is my hope that the lives of the images will continue to grow and that their own realities will expand. My goal is to capture and share images that will act as stepping stones for viewers to begin a new way of looking: a way of looking that will offer them the ability to see what their own true reality is.

Contact Cami at CamiApplequist@aol.com

Claudia Poser

















Oracle, terra cotta, 8.5' x 12', commission installed at the Westin Galleria, Edina, MN, 2008

Claudia's website


Claudia's Artist Statement:

I love to play with shape, color, and pattern, but most of all I love to play with clay. I’m motivated by those moments of fusion with the material when time and judgment drop away and there is only touch and the beguiling chocolate color of wet terra cotta. As an artist educated in science, the technical aspects of glazing and firing attract me as well – I enjoy working at the interface between art and technology.

The tension between order and emotion, the rational and the organic, intrigues me. My most recent body of work began as a series of wall pieces and has evolved into a growing progression of pods that relate to each other in groups or in larger installations. I use an abundance of repetitive, organic shapes to explore nature’s instinctive drive toward reproduction, adaptation and survival that thrives in spite of human efforts to impose order.

Contact Claudia at claudiaposer@mac.com









Jean Leuthner



Jean's website

Jean's Artist Statement:

I’m alone on a mountain top or on a lake. I cannot be reached by cell phone and nobody knows exactly where I am in this moment. I’m traveling, or I’ve broken away from the group. There is a connection to this place that I will always remember. I am alone and I can really take it in. It is a beautiful moment of discovery.

My oil paintings come out of this moment, because I am in a place that gets into my blood, my head, and my heart. My subject matter always comes back to nostalgia for a time or place, whether a landscape or a moment in history. It stems from a deep connection to my family history. I’m currently working on a series of paintings of the north shore. This is a place I have felt a connection to beginning with family trips as a child. My hope is that the viewer will recognize and resonate with this special place.

Contact Jean at jeanleuthner@yahoo.com

Savita Bettaglio













Savita's website

Savita's Artist Statement:

My current work is a visceral exploration of energy. I am intrigued by the possibilities of the human experience. I strive for literal and emotional depth through my technique of layered movement and use of bright colors. I am inspired by Latin art as well as the magic of tribal symbols

My paintings are born during meditation and when a particular shape or color appears I paint with those shapes and colors and soon the creative process forms my work.

Art making is an evolving practice of faith and staying present in the moment. I see painting as a journey in turning the eye inward. My paintings are abstract and yet very personal narrations that have grown out of my desire to discover, deepen, and enliven. My hope is that my work will welcome you into the elements of Self.

Contact Savita at savita@espiralart.com