October 8, 2014 at 3:49 p.m.
Artists to open their studios for Northwoods Fall Art Tour
Artists to open their studios for Northwoods Fall Art Tour
By Kayla Thomason-
Thirty-two artists will open their studios to visitors who will watch them work and ask questions.
Ann Waisbrot, landscape oil painter and public relations director for the Northwoods Art Tour, thinks it is fun to have people come in and ask how pieces were created.
During last year's three-day tour over 100 guests filed through her studio, she said. She loves the experience of meeting fellow art enthusiasts and discussing various aspects of her work.
"It's a very non-threatening, very open kind of thing for people so that they can take that opportunity to explore things they are curious about," she said.
Guests will view various paintings to photography, glass art, furniture, pottery and more. Not all the pieces on the art tour will be autumn-themed, many of the artists like to depict the four seasons.
"There's a huge variety of art to see and enjoy so you can kind of pick and choose those things that are of interest to you, which I think is nice," Waisbrot said.
Guests who have attended the tour in the past can feel free to visit the same artists again as they will have new creations.
"It's a great adventure really to spend the weekend traveling from here and there especially seeing how people accomplish what they do, their medium, how they use it," said Andrea Fenner, pastel painter of Swallow Haven Studio.
Fenner has been a part of the tour for 10 years, displaying images of landscapes and birds in pastel on suede mat boards.
She gets her inspiration from the landscape around her or the bluebirds, goldfinches and chickadees that make her backyard home for a season.
"I live in a beautiful spot with a river running through our land and we overlook a brook trout stream and I paint a lot of pictures from the area," Fenner said.
She will have 60 to 70 pieces on display, framed, for people to purchase.
"Just come and enjoy the scenery and enjoy the paintings and my demonstrations are a lot of fun too," she said.
Fenner likes that more people in the Tomahawk area have joined the tour.
She said 50 to 60 people visit her studio each year.
"[The Northwoods Fall Art Tour is] a great way to promote art in general and my art in particular," Fenner said. "The advertising has been wonderful and the whole atmosphere of viewing different galleries and appreciating art in the Northwoods has been very enjoyable."
There will also be a few artists who are new to the tour and they offer gorgeous artwork.
"We have a new weaver, Shuttle Works Studio in Conover, Janice Zindel, and she does beautiful hand-dyed thistle yarns, scarves and wearable things as well as she has a sock knitting machine which is kind of fascinating," Waisbrot said.
Also new to the tour is woodsman Wesley Bushor of Lost TreeHouse, located in Tomahawk.
"We have a new woodworker that does really fun things," Waisbrot said. "He makes really interesting lamps and fences and things out of the woods he finds and cures and finishes. He finds pieces that kind of have curve to them and speak to him and he makes interesting things out of them."
Bushor is a logger by trade and the wood he collects for his pieces are all taken from the forest floor.
He makes tables, chairs, lamps, candleholders and more.
"I try to use the natural form of the wood to dictate how the piece is going to flow," Bushor said.
The preferred wood of choice is oak because fallen wood isn't attacked by the Powder Post Beetle like other species.
Bushor uses wood that is starting to rot. He cleans it to give it an almost weathered look but doesn't use stain or other unnatural products. He likes to keep it as natural as possible.
"I make things from natural form wood so I leave it as natural as possible and some people would call it rustic furniture but it has a little bit more of an artistic feel than a lodge type furniture," he said.
Bushor doesn't like to call his work rustic because it has more of a flow to it and it can fit in a non-rustic home.
His pieces have knots and twists, and he prefers to make them by hand, not power tool.
Bushor will be selling 50 or so items ranging from $16 items to a $4,000 chaise lounge.
The Bushors let people tour their home to see their furniture and then go to the shop to see what is for sale.
"We want to show our stuff and sell it and have people enjoy it but the process of going to the shows and stuff became overwhelming," he said.
Approximately 125 people visited participating studios during the summer art tour held in July.
Bushor finds the tour pleasurable and having people come to the home is far less overwhelming than having to pack up all the furniture and haul it to various arts and crafts shows. He plans to participate in the Northwoods Fall Art Tour again next year.
The 32 studios participating in the tour are located throughout the scenic Oneida, Iron, Lincoln, Langlade and Vilas counties.
The Northwoods Fall Art Tour is free and people can find colored brochures at area businesses, art galleries, the chambers of commerce or www.northwoodsarttour.com.
"We would love to encourage everyone to take advantage of [The Northwoods Fall Art Tour] whether they have a half a day to spend or the whole weekend to come out and enjoy the drive and enjoy the studios and meeting the artists," Waisbrot said. "We're all anxious to meet new people and see friends that have come back year after year."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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