Offworld Graphics

Article about WARM Show

ShellyL — Wed, 23 May 2012 04:30:51 +0000

H2Oh No Detail

Several articles have recently appeared online and in local publications about my artwork. This is one of the best.

Environmental art has a story to tell

May 9, 2012

Shelly Leitheiser’s latest exhibit, “Kinetic Connections,” is currently showing at the WARM Gallery in the Minnesota Women’s Center. Aside from being powerful commentaries about the environment, Leitheiser’s paintings in this exhibit raise questions about art and politics.

For starters, Leitheiser’s paintings tell a story. That fact in itself draws the artist into a minefield. While narrative painting was once a popular and accepted style, 20th-century modernists refused to give it legitimacy and, despite the postmodern turn in the 1970s, the debate still rages.”

Art A Whirl

ShellyL — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:11:53 +0000

I’ll be at Art a Whirl this year! My location is Fitness Crossroad, which is located at 2912 Pentagon Drive, St. Anthony mall, NE Minneapolis. The painting above is a watercolor titled, “Little Mound Lake” and you can see it in person at Art A Whirl! Below are additional details about Art A Whirl:

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Art-A-Whirl is the largest open-studio tour in the country. It’s a great opportunity to tour private artist studios and galleries, connect with the artists, and purchase original artwork.

Art-A-Whirl takes place annually in Northeast Minneapolis, the third weekend of May. This event is free and open to the public.
DATES and HOURS:

Friday, May 18th - 5:00-10:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 19th - Noon-8:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 20th - Noon-5:00 p.m.

Tour more than 50 locations throughout Northeast Minneapolis, including studio buildings, art galleries, homes, storefronts, businesses, and restaurants.

Plan your visit with NEMAA’s Artist Directory and Guide, [there will be copies at Fitness Crossroad] which includes information about the NEMAA artists, a map of Northeast Minneapolis and the Art-A-Whirl locations, a dining guide, and more.

Discover

See the work of more than 400 artists in more than 20 mediums including clay, drawing, fiber, furniture, glass, metal, multimedia, photography, printmaking, sculpture and more.

The artists’ open-studio tours may include demonstrations, live performances, and large-scale exhibitions. Studio tours offer a great opportunity to ask questions, discuss techniques, experience art first-hand, and purchase unique artwork directly from the artists.

Connect

Art-A-Whirl gives you a unique opportunity to meet the artists who make our community so vibrant, and purchase artwork that you connect with. Art-A-Whirl also offers you several ways of becoming more involved in the local arts community.

Whitney Center Show

ShellyL — Sun, 06 May 2012 07:06:00 +0000

12 pieces of my new and recent art work are now on display in the Sexton Gallery at the Whitney Center, 1527 Northway Dr., St. Cloud, Minnesota. This show was installed on May 1st and is on exhibit through June 30th. This work consists of 12 new and recent paintings in watercolor and acrylic collage, with fantasy, futuristic, and illustrative themes. You can visit the Whitney Center from 8:00 am through 5:00 pm, M-F. If you go: The Sexton Gallery is past the reception area and to the left, around the corner by the piano. Here are some photos from the shows. (Photos taken by Shelly L.)

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My other current art show is currently at the Women’s Building in St. Paul, 550 Rice Street. It is a 2-person show featuring 18 of my paintings, sponsored by WARM. Find out more at Leitworks — Events

Upcoming show: May 18, 19 and 20: Art A Whirl sponsored by NEMAA.org. I’ll be at Fitness Crossroad in the St. Anthony mall, which is an official AAW location — new this year. Stop by and say hello! This is a 3-day only event.

Of Wolves and Women

ShellyL — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 07:11:54 +0000

This is a new painting that is in the upcoming St. Paul show sponsored by WARM. It’s taken me a week to get it here, but here it is. See the real thing in St. Paul next Saturday night at our opening reception. (See post below this one.)

I wonder what this painting is about, you are thinking. Well, I painted it literally the same week I heard that wolf hunting might be made legal again in Minnesota. I think this is a horrible idea. I’m not scared of wolves at all, and they deserve to be here in Minnesota. When are we going to stop destroying the habitats of wild animals, and the animals themselves? I worry about them, and all wild animals, for the future. Wolves were just brought back from the brink of endangered status in Minnesota; let’s not send them back there.

It’s a similar situation for other animals that humans find inconvenient. Every week we see a silly bear video of some poor bear caught wandering around someone’s back yard and then someone has to capture it. Believe me, that bear doesn’t want to be in that back yard. That bear is just wondering why that back yard isn’t his, because from his point of view, it should be. It’s on his turf, and in fact the whole state is his turf. We humans can’t take over every single inch of this planet, claiming it as our own, and the animals are trying to remind us of that when they show up in our backyards.

I don’t know for sure what these women are doing. That’s for the viewer to decide. I do think I know what they are thinking, and they are trying to warn the wolf. But I could be wrong. (Actually, it’s quite common for artists to paint things and not really know exactly why everything is the way it is in their own painting.)

It’s good for people to make up their own stories when they look at art. That is part of the fun of it. That’s why some art means something to you and some doesn’t. It’s not because the artist tells you what it means, it’s because you think it means something that it might not even be about — or, it might.

Anyway, this is a big watercolor, a full sheet, and it’s framed in one of my Golden Eye frames, which I am now using for other paintings, other than the ones they were intended for.

Kinetic Connections

ShellyL — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:46:14 +0000

This is the postcard for my two-person art show in St. Paul which is coming up very soon. The text below was written and sent out by WARM, the Women’s Art Resources of Minnesota. Reception is May 5th at the address below. It’s quite easy to find, and quite close to the Minnesota capital. Which is why I invited Governor Dayton and the Lt. Governor also. In fact, his whole office is invited. Actually, the entire state legislature is invited. YOU are invited.

Image: (upper left) Shelly Leitheiser, Anniversary, Acrylic on canvas & (lower left) Sunset Woman, Acrylic on canvas; and
(upper right) Deborah Vander Eyk, Bird on the River Band, Mixed media & (lower right) Fall Colors, Watercolor.

Kinetic Connections: Shelly Leitheiser and Deborah Vander Eyk
Presented by Women’s Art Resources of Minnesota
and the Minnesota Women’s Building
550 Rice Street, Saint Paul, MN (map)
April 30 – June 8
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 5, 6:00 – 9:00pm

The artwork of two WARM artists from Greater Minnesota will be featured in the upcoming WARM exhibition at the Minnesota Women’s Building in Saint Paul. From Shelly Leithesier, who lives in Saint Cloud: “For me, art is about ideas and expressing those ideas. The purpose of what I do is to express a philosophy, an idea, an emotional moment, or something else that isn’t easily captured with words. I like to create things that others can relate to on some level and make it all visually interesting enough so that people want to see more.” From Deborah Vander Eyk, who lives in Sauk Rapids: “I have a tendency to create art forms using color, different textures and soft lines to convey feelings and thoughts. These images seem to speak to an audience at an unconscious level inducing more of an individual reaction. As an artist I continue to develop within these styles.”

To see Shelly’s artwork, visit her website. To see Deborah’s artwork, visit her website. If you’d like to share the opening reception event with your Facebook friends, here’s the WARM Facebook event page. To make an appointment to view the show outside of the opening reception hours, call 612-567-9276 or email info@thewarm.org.

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Bits of One

ShellyL — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:57:03 +0000

Here are some fun shots of one unfinished painting that look pretty good in their individual smallness. They are part of a painting meant for an art fair this summer here in St. Cloud.

On an unrelated note, I need people to join my mailing list! I have a lot of art show postcards to send out, so please send me your mailing address. I know it’s old fashioned but some of us still send out real actual postcards to announce shows.

I like the parts better than the whole, but it’s not done yet so that might change. Oh yes, the WARM show — It’s called Kinetic Connections. I have one or two paintings left to finish by next Wednesday but it’s not a problem. I can paint fast under pressure if I need to. Wish me luck and come to the reception May 5th!

Variety of New Paintings

ShellyL — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 05:55:47 +0000

I’m finishing up paintings for the next month, then I’ll need a break just to try to sell some things. My inventory is building up to ridiculous levels! This is in progress:

Yes he'll be nude, but not entirely.

See below for ones that are finished.

I have more I haven’t photographed yet that I’ll be posting next week.

Art Crawl March 16th

ShellyL — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:00:10 +0000

"Orange Resistance" Acrylic on Panel, 12" x 12"

Come to the Historic Downtown St. Cloud, Minnesota, Art Crawl on Friday, March 16th, 5-9 PM. Visit my studio from 5-9 at 701 West St. Germain, Suite 206, in the same building as StudioJeff. The weather will be fine and warm, so stop by. I have a lot of new abstract paintings in a smaller size than my usual more realistic acrylics and watercolors.

And while you are downtown don’t forget to buy something! Think of it as patriotically stimulating the local economy.

Flow Art Space — Our Earth

ShellyL — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:13:52 +0000

The Flow Art Space gallery in Minneapolis is having a juried show in April-May called Our Earth. One of my paintings was chosen to be in the show, and it’s called “Polar Struggle”. Come to the reception or show in April — all the information is on the postcard above.

Oil and Dolphins

ShellyL — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 02:46:42 +0000

This is called No Way Out… for Dolphins and other Living Things. (Sorry about the low image quality as I took this with my phone, despite the fact that I own some great cameras.). This painting is small, 10″ x 10″, and part of my Endangered series. Next up: Canadian Lynx, Orangutans, and Grey Wolves. This series does not limit itself to officially endangered animals either, as the dolphin is not currently endangered. I’m also working on endangered man and woman paintings because even though there are a lot of us (7 billion, in fact) we may be endangered at some not too distant future time, too.

2012 Exhibits

ShellyL — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:08:16 +0000

New exhibit information for 2012. There will be more! But for now:

(this one is over) Current group show until February 29, 2012: St. Cloud Hospital, “Rio On Pools”

This painting is a watercolor for the Central Minnesota Watercolor group and is titled “Rio On Pools”. It is a painting of a natural rock and pool area in Belize, where I was lucky enough to spend the day in 2007. The pools are called Rio On Pools and are part of a long river system. The day I was there they were also being used by the British Military for jungle training exercises! Note the top of many of the trees are bare sticks. The area was undergoing a beetle infestation when I photographed the area and it was killing many of the trees. I don’t know if the infestation has been stopped but it is one environmental effect of climate change.

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WARM Show: Kinetic Connections

This is part of the WARM exhibition series. Kinetic Connections is the title. I originally called my portion of the show reclamation. It’s a word used for what coal companies do to mountains after blowing them up for coal. Essentially, they destroy the mountains and the natural ecosystem and when they are done they plant some grass and trees, making it an elevated golf course, essentially. It’s a word I like for other reasons though. The word reclamation is an empowering word of renewal when faced with, in this case, a lot of environmental devastation. Most of my paintings have to do with the effects of global warming and industrial effects on the environment. I will be exhibiting with another artist, who does mainly abstract watercolor paintings. The WARM exhibition is scheduled for April 30 through June 8th, 2012, in St. Paul at the WARM building. The address is: Women’s Art Resources of Minnesota @ the Women’s Building, 550 Rice St., St. Paul, MN 55103

Heart of Gold

ShellyL — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:13:22 +0000

I just finished this painting last night, another one today, and am exhibiting Rio On Pools (in previous post) at the St. Cloud Hospital. This one is watercolor and Acrylic on painting board. It’s 16″ x 20″. I would not call these colors “accurate” exactly. (I took the photo with my Blackberry).

Pablo Picasso said, “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off of our souls.”

Did he really say that? That’s what I read tonight. I’d like more good art quotes, because they help me clarify my own goals.

Meanwhile, I just joined NEMAA but they do not have a place for me to exhibit anything during Art A Whirl. I spent good money applying to the Flow gallery AAW and was not accepted, which happens. Rejection is a part of being an artist. But now I don’t have an exhibit plan for AAW. [update on this coming as I do now have an exhibit space]