Pat Hidson on "Nature is a Gift"

Pat Hidson, sketchbook page in preparation for Secret Garden series of paintings.

Pat Hidson, installation view, the Warehouse Art Museum. (Photo by Jim Brozek)

On display in The Secret Garden at the Warehouse Art Museum

A reverence to nature in nine new paintings
"It felt as though I was painting an altar piece."

Making art is my way of expressing my connections to the world. The atmosphere in the studio is grounded by spiritual studies. I also feel part of the art making community, both historic, and in the present. I would not presume to assume. however, that I will have a place in it in the future.

The garden work tied very much into my micro and macro perspective about our universe.

It felt as though I was painting an altarpiece. It shows my reverence for nature. The artist Mayumi Odi, whose work comprises multiple homages to Tara (a Buddhist goddess), is a mentor for me. Although I could have been frustrated because it is impossible to replicate the awe-inspiring beauty of nature, I had to content myself with using my gifts as best I could.

Each painting began with much thought and research. The themes were planned from the start. It was fun to “visit” the environment of the moors for example. The winter one is an homage to the beautiful winters of my Canadian childhood. I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta.

My husband, the photographer Jim Brozek, and I are both fed artistically by our property. We live on the Milwaukee river in a suburban environment; surrounded for the most part by the typical American yard, poisoned by lawn companies. However our yard is a nature sanctuary and it has taken many years to make it so. We were also lucky because the original owners had let one area be natural to start with. Also a few neighbors are also environmentally friendly and also have wild yards. So our gardens are full of great variety, seasonal changes and birds.

This body of work, because of how they are painted, required that I couldn't make a mistake or paint over anything to get it right. It was a challenge but the stakes were too high to mess up as the schedule was intense to get it done. I found my breath-work and mindfulness practice to be a huge help. Also the many preparatory drawings and studies were essential.

-Pat Hidson

Via Portrait Society Gallery

Kevin J. Miyazaki: Perimeter series

This week on Inside The Warehouse, Milwaukee based photographer, graphic designer, and educator Kevin J. Miyazaki discusses his series Perimeter. Three photographs from Perimeter were on display at the Warehouse Art Museum as a part of the On the Nature of Wisconsin exhibition. 

Kevin Miyazaki, "Milwaukee, Wisconsin" (2012) Archival pigment print

Kevin Miyazaki, "Namur, Wisconsin" (2012) Archival pigment print

Kevin Miyazaki, "Washington Island, Wisconsin" (2012) Archival pigment print

“These three photographs are from the series, Perimeter, which originated as a commission by the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University. For an exhibition at the museum (and a subsequent book published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press), I made a 13-day drive around the perimeter of Lake Michigan.The original approach was about portraiture, with the idea of capturing a contemporary view of Lake Michigan through the people who knew it best - those who lived, worked and played in
and along side it. And indeed, I photographed nearly 300 people I met during that drive, setting up with a portable photo booth on beaches, roads and parking lots adjacent to the Lake. I stayed off of all interstate highways during my trip, instead always trying to find the lake. I like to think of it as one giant left hand turn. There were parts of the lake that were open and scenic, but others that were far less accessible, usually by nature of wealthy land owners or industrial business. But each time I did find a view of the lake, I photographed it in a very straightforward manner, with the horizon at the center of the image. These pictures were really just meant to be a travelog of sorts, a record of where I had been. I knew the lake would present itself in wonderful new ways each time I shot it, but was ultimately still surprised at the diversity of color, the range of weather and the shifting beauty it revealed. When it came time to exhibit the photographs at the Haggerty, I ultimately installed a grouping of both the portraits and the water pictures. The portraits evoked notions of cultural history and tradition, but they also revealed changing demographics in the states that border the lake. So the diversity of my portrait subjects paired nicely with the many faces of Lake Michigan.”

-Kevin J. Miyazaki 

Kevin Miyazaki, “Naomi Sanders, Gulliver, Michigan” (2012)
“Davis Chang, Sheboygan, Wisconsin” (2012)

"Spirit Bird," by Pat Hidson

This week on Inside The Warehouse, artist Pat Hidson tells us about the inspiration behind “Spirit Bird”, a piece featured in the On the Nature of Wisconsin exhibition. 

Pat Hidson, "Spirit Bird" (2009) watercolor and graphite on paper

“My way of comprehending the world has always involved drawing it. During my challenging and turbulent childhood a piece of paper, a pencil and perhaps some watercolors gave me respite and a way to connect with a deeper and calmer self than the frightened child I really was. Inadvertently my habits of writing and making art have given me strength and uplifted me. This is what I believe my purpose is as an artist: to share the gift that art has given me.

The body of work represented by this painting/drawing was done over a period of several years. I developed this method of creating a work that could incorporate many elements at once by using my sketchbooks. They contain drawings and studies that are more like a bower bird’s nest than anything systematic. Often there is much more writing than drawing in the many books I have filled. This way I have a dialogue between me and my constant reading. This would include my daily excursions into studies that include history, metaphysics, philosophy, art history, and nature. As an avid bookworm all my life I found a way to use books as an indirect resource. As well, outings of any kind offer a bounty of things to see and collect through drawing.

This painting includes a chrysanthemum, which like most flowers has symbolic connotations and stories around it. One interesting one is its association with the Chinese poet Tao Yuanming, who lived about 365-427 and is considered a major poet who is the foremost representative of the school Fields and Gardens poetry. His approach to life, and the way he
found inspiration in his natural surroundings coheres with my own way of working. My gardening practice is grounded in reverence for the natural world and my garden on the river exemplifies a deep feeling of responsibility inherent in the privilege of land 'ownership'. There is an image from the Ahlambra in the painting. Since extensive travel has never been
possible for me I avail myself of my imagination to see in my mind’s eyes places that I dream of going to. Now that we all understand the carbon cost of travel, perhaps this approach is one that conforms with my ecological philosophy.

The spirit bird represents our connection with the divine. Over many eons humans have used the concept of creatures of indeterminate species to convey our connection with spiritual reality, wherein all is sacred.

I hope that this helps the viewer to understand my process and know the work on a deeper level.”

-Pat Hidson

"The Four Corners," by Rachel Durfee

With woodcuts, paper constructions, and colorful etchings all accompanied by poems, Rachel Durfee’s work blurs the line between the visual and literary arts. This week on Inside The Warehouse Rachel Durfee provides insight into her artistic practice, her connection to the natural world, and the inspiration behind her piece “The Four Corners” that was featured in the On the Nature of Wisconsin exhibition. 

Rachel Durfee, "The Four Corners" (2009) Woodcut with watercolor

“There is an otherworldliness to waking up in a tent to the sounds of wind, waves or rain and smelling the freshness of morning earth.  I have been camping since the tender age of five months.  My childhood is punctuated by memories of camping and time spent in the woods.  Through my work as an artist and poet, I explore our interdependent relationship with nature and call us to care for the earth that sustains us. 


A large part of our stewardship of the earth is linked to sustainable design and management of the built environment.  Before moving to Wisconsin, I worked for a landscape architecture and land planning firm in the Washington, DC area.  Armed with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Cornell University, I secured a job making presentation drawings and plans for new residential subdivisions, golf course resorts, commercial buildings and parking lots.  This time making presentation drawings influenced my thinking about the social and environmental implications of land use and has had an impact on my later works of art.


A clear example of how my land use design experience has influenced my artwork can be seen in my piece, The Four Corners, in the On the Nature of Wisconsin exhibit.  In my woodcut print, which is hand-colored with watercolors, the built environment is personalized – with a dash of wit.  The land takes on the form of a human body, while the arteries and veins serve as highways and roads stretching across the body.  There is an airport in the head, a golf course made of cells and a swamp in the armpit.  The heart is a map of Washington, DC, with the Potomac River, the National Mall and the Pentagon.  The heart not only represents my time living in the DC area, but also the heart of the land use policy-making mechanisms of this country.  In 1991, I moved to Madison, WI  to pursue my Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and have lived in Madison ever since.  Madison, with its beloved and vulnerable chain of lakes, is located in the bladder region of the map.
 
The Four Corners features a grid of lines which represent latitude and longitude.  In a map, the latitudinal and longitudinal lines provide a reference system for the topography.  They represent our desire to impose structure and control over the landscape from which to pinpoint existence.  However, topography, like the entire natural world, is unrestrained and does not conform to our efforts of defined order.
 
Every square inch of land in this map is filled.  This is indicative of the greed and callousness we extend toward land use.  We use and abuse land until we reach the edges or limits of possible development.  In this case, the limiting factor is the water.  On the personal level, we also use up our resources, our time and our energy until we hit whatever limits are set in our paths.  The four cardinal directions on the compass rose are indicated with the letters P, A, I and X, which spell “Peace” in French.  Peace has been thrown to the four corners of existence, threatening our well-being and the well-being of the environment.  
 
The Four Corners ultimately begs the question, “What it would it look like to live in a sustainable and satisfying peace with the environment, with ourselves and with each other?”

-Rachel Durfee

"Anchor," by Jill Sebastian

Art at the nexus of war, the environment, and distress. This week on Inside The Warehouse, artist Jill Sebastian tells us about the inspiration behind “Anchor”, a piece featured in the On the Nature of Wisconsin exhibition. 

Jill Sebastian, "Anchor" (1990) lithograph on paper

“Simply put, Anchor is a valentine to the world. During the Gulf War, I anguished about the war's immediate, severe devastation of our global environment. The heart-shaped (Werner) map projection dates back to the renaissance age of exploration. Commonly used through the 18th century, this diagram promoted a belief that inner emotions can affect the physical world. As I listened daily to the morning news, my world felt abstract as though shifting, splitting apart, rejoining, cloning and disintegrating. Grasping my morning cup of coffee felt intimately more real, solid. Realizing the only way anyone can see the world as a whole is from space, I launched my cup as a satellite. From this vantage point I can ask, what can one person do?”

-Jill Sebastian

Xn-trix: Tree Goblet

Xn-trix, the husband and wife team of Tom Rauschke and Kaaren Wiken, are famous for their intricate wood and fiber sculptures inspired by the natural world.  This week on Inside The Warehouse, Tom Rauschke provides insight into his and Kaaren Wiken’s connection to Wisconsin and how the State’s natural environment inspired their Tree Goblet series. 

Xn-trix, “Oak Tree Goblet”

Xn-trix, “Butternut Tree Goblet”

“Both Kaaren and I are born and bred Wisconsinites. Kaaren grew up in Muskego, and I in Waukesha. We met at the Milwaukee Public Museum in 1972, where we both worked. We married in 1975. Kaaren has a BS from Stevens Point, and I have a BFA from UWM. We both attribute our love and fascination of the Natural World to being able, from an early age on, to go roaming freely in the wilds of Wisconsin. That sense of Awe and Adventure is what we attempt to convey in our artwork.

The very first Tree Goblet I made was for a "Goblet Show" at the Northwest Gallery of Fine Woodworking in Seattle WA in the 1980's. After that I continued to explore the Tree Goblet theme with different types of trees. Trees with multiple trunks, trees with birds, trees with leaves,...and then a tree with a nest, that has a bird sitting on an embroidery of baby birds hatched underneath it! Also at this time I became aware that every tree flowers in some way, so, tiny little flowers in the branches turned and carved from colorful exotic hardwoods. 

The Tree Goblet that is in the Shannon/ Serr Collection, and in the current Exhibit, On the Nature of Wisconsin, at the Warehouse was turned, cut, and carved from the trunk of an Ash tree. You can see the bark, and count the rings. There is some irony in making a tree back into a tree.” 

-Tom Rauschke 

Xn-trix, "Birds in Tree" (1997). Featured in the On the Nature of Wisconsin exhibition.