Approximately 25 art enthusiasts attended an artist’s reception at the CREATORS:
NOC Faculty Art and Literature Biennial Exhibition, held in the Eleanor Hays Art Gallery on the Northern Oklahoma College Tonkawa campus this past spring.
The CREATORS’ exhibit featured over ninety works by poets Paul Bowers and Don
Stinson, and visual artists Ken
Crowder, Gene Dougherty,
Jena Kodesh, Ted Moore and
Audrey Schmitz.
Artist’s Jena Kodesh, Ted Moore, Audrey Schmitz, and Ken Crowder each spoke 10 minutes explaining the expression of their art while poet Don Stinson shared poems from an upcoming book.
Kodesh’s works include oil paintings and mixed media pieces of hand-painted silk and cotton, handmade banana pulp paper and watercolors. She says that the “concept of layering suggests a person can add or take away, which appeals to me. Many elements in nature are layered - the earth, trees, clouds, and the human personality. Interlacing reminds me of the healthy interactions in interpersonal relationships. This body of work reflects my life, both past and present, and many of the emotions felt in-between.”
Crowder describes photographing a recent image titled Days Gone By, “My immediate reactions to this view through a window were nostalgia, sadness and peace. I was briefly transported to my childhood and my recollection of life passing at a much slower pace. The drops of condensation seemed to form tears for the loss of days gone by in this atmospheric pastoral scene.”
Schmitz’s three-dimensional works include fused multi-layered glass objects, and a series of nest-inspired vessels made of stoneware clay. Made specifically for CREATORS, the “nests” are double-walled vessels thrown upside-down on the potter’s wheel, then carved or impressed with complex textures. After firing the works with select glazes and stains, Schmitz applies a thin layer of real gold or platinum to the interior of each vessel. She shares, “The nest symbolizes a safe place to rest or retreat, and the ‘double-walled’ structure implies fortification for coping with daily life and all that is not in our control.”
From Mongrel Empire Press, publisher of Don Stinson’s new book of poetry:
“In Flatline Horizon, Don Stinson collects poems written over several years and in various places and states of mind, but united in their focus on the horizon, that boundary line between yesterday and today, today and tomorrow, between where we are and the imaginary place we’d like to be. The poems reflect both personal moods and musings and the frightening yet fascinating changes in our nation and ...
