Kathy Armstrong, Sails at Rest, watercolor, 15.5" x 17"

 

Bresler Eitel Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of Wisconsin Watercolorists, featuring artists Patrica Keller, Tom Nachreiner, Margaret Brewster, Nancy Lamers, Kathy Armstrong and Helen Klebesadel. The show will run from January 17th to February 7th with reception on Gallery Night, Friday January 21st. These accomplished Wisconsin watercolorists use a variety of techniques to explore the full potential of the medium. Patricia Keller uses heavily watered pigment, allowing the natural bleeding to convey the misty and atmospheric qualities of midwest landscapes. Tom Nachrenier, also paints landscapes, but unlike Keller, he uses quick, definite strokes to harness his immediate impression of and response to the natural environment. Margaret Brewsters’ renderings of nature are more intimate and smaller in scale. Kathy Armstrong will be exhibiting her award winning piece “Seat Yourself,” and others. Nancy Lamers draws her sources from art history, juxtaposing figurative groupings derived from renaissance paintings with images taken from old family photos. Lamers’ compositions are built up of layers of the thinly veiled medium to create a tension between the temporal gulf of history and the transcendence of vision, memory and art. Helen Klebesadel also honors art through her work, but her concern is to venerate the artistic practices that have historically been excluded from the canon of high art. Klebesadel uses the natural opacity of the medium to suggest the softness of fabric, while at the same time maintaining exacting control to present the viewer with exquisite details of quilts.