At August Haven, we appreciate the joy of creative expression in all its forms, especially the arts. Join us in celebrating our local fine arts community as we proudly cast the spotlight on talented artists who are showcasing their work in our showrooms.
Elyssa Pfluger
FOCUS | These abstract works focus on repetition, color, and light. Repetition occurs in both the process of creating, and in its presentation. Colors are created both through systematic layering as well as by chance and happenstance. In painting, the idea of colors occurring rather than being mixed themselves happens through layering, pointillism, and transparency. Changing light on a piece activates the layered colors and can change its entire dimension.
Color creates harmony that unifies. The shapes are generally simple—dots, circles, lines—or very natural and loose, such as blobs and masses. These shapes are meant to help communicate and allow the color to interfere in different ways while being unencumbered by representation or a focus on the shape itself. The strong focus on repetition allows for a meditative process of creating, with occasional bursts of chaos. The repetition of lines and dots and blobs is meant to allow the viewer to become lost in each piece. They provide an escape from a squared-off, linear world.
Elyssa Pfluger studied studio art at Lawrence University. She is an abstract painter and ceramicist. Her work focuses on repetition as well as interference and interaction of colors. She has a small business selling tiny ceramic bowls. Recently, her work has been displayed in the Wriston Galleries and the Mudd Gallery.
now on display in our Appleton showroom February 1 - March 31, 2023
Barbi Gossen
These pieces have been crafted in vitreous enamel: a glass powder that is sifted, ground fine and painted, or carefully placed with needle tools on copper or porcelain steel, and then fired in a 1450 degree Fahrenheit kiln. Each color is a separate layer, fired, and cooled before the next is applied. This process is repeated 10-20 times before the work is complete. Each layer adds depth, allowing light to reflect through the glass creating a glow that I have always been drawn to.
My work, traditionally, focuses on flowers, plants, and birds. Throughout my life, I have been drawn to the textures, colors, and patterns in organic objects, often using these to communicate ideas about beauty. The patterns of feathers, the textures of moss, the veining of leaves, the colors in flowers; I use these in combination with enamel to create interest and inspire beauty.
This work uses these patterns and colors layered to create images. Some start with textures hammered into the copper as a foundation. Others start with a layer of white enamel poured over a black base of porcelain steel, with images scratched out of the enamel before it is fried, in a technique called Sgraffito. I use this technique so I can start the image with a black and white line drawing. I cut stencils to sift opaque and transparent enamel through to build image. I use lace, leaf skeletons, metal mesh, and hand-cut pattern in card stock to add more texture. I finish with painted enamels to even out the texture of the enamel frit and add detail. Each layer is fired between 2-5 minutes to fuse the metal. Next, the tiles are pressed on a steel slab to flatten before it is left for 15 minutes to slowly cool.
This process can be long and is often hot as the kiln door opens often. However, the process can be completely joyful as I watch images start to take on form from powder; as each grain of glass fuses to those around them to create swatches of color. There is steadiness in the technique, mastery in the handwork. There is a glow as light pushes through transparent layers. Abstraction is a given as glass flows with each firing, making all planning, a bit auspicious. But this is where the beauty comes in and mimics the imperfections in nature.
Website: Barbigosssen.com
now on display in our Green Bay showroom February 1 - March 31, 2023
Linda Glass
ZEN COLLECTION | My Zen Collection was created during some challenging times socially, economically, and politically. This collection invites a calm, tranquil mood when viewing. The design, texture, and subtle color invite a Zen-like insight into the nature of the piece, while promoting a peaceful, relaxed feeling.
Rosa Jimenez
UNEXPECTED | Described by one local artist as “very Picasso-like,” Rosa Jimenez loves to paint canvases with acrylics in bright, swirling colors and geometric shapes. More recently, she’s begun using recycled magazines to create paper collage art that has been featured most recently at the Performing Arts Center of Appleton.
Jackie Sanders
GRAINS OF SAND | My art is deeply personal; a connection between life, nature, and sometimes social commentary. As a child I spent much of my time outside and continue to love time spent in nature. Being in nature helps to clear the mind and allows the heart to be more open to inspiration. Every image I create is hand burnished and like nature each piece is unique.
Trisha Spice
LOOK UP | My wish is to convey the emotion of what being drawn into the woods brings out in me. I breathe deeply to inhale the fragrant air. As I exhale I marvel at the many textures and layers in the foliage, the depth of which pulls me in even further. I look up to see the light shimmer off the leaves of the treetops swaying in the breeze. I am awestruck in the presence of God’s unique masterpieces. The work reflects the calm, peaceful feeling of deep woods solitude, and the ultimate comfort of being present with my Creator.
Andrea Naylor
FIGURE COLLECTION | “40 must be great because my grandmother said it was great.” -Andrea
Andrea’s Figure Series is inspired by her grandmother who always told her she felt the most beautiful when she turned 40. It is a deeply personal collection that celebrates womanhood and how her own intergenerational relationships play a grounding role in her work as a painter.
Linda Glass
NATURE’S BOUNTY | I love nature! Having lived and worked in a metropolitan area for much of my adult life, I have treasured the calming value nature brings to my life. For quite a few years, I had a cabin in Northeastern Wisconsin situated on five acres of wooded seclusion. I now live in Green Bay and am very fortunate to live amongst the trees and have daily visits from turkeys and deer. Sitting on my patio is very therapeutic and relaxing for me as I can enjoy the trees, flora, and wildlife of the area.
When I was mulling over what I would paint for the exhibit at August Haven, I happened to view an outstanding sunset on the bay. I captured it on my phone and decided that it would be the inspiration for my featured painting at the August Haven Appleton store. Hence, the “Nature’s Bounty” collection was created.
I have been fortunate to travel many places in the world, and consistently one the highlights of these travels are beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Whether it is a sunset in Santorini, Greece, Grand Bahamas, or wonderful Wisconsin, I always marvel at the beautiful and unique colors of each individual sunrise or sunset.
The accompanying birch tree pieces reflect some of the colors of a sunset in the background and reflect the uniqueness and elegance that birch trees have. The three pieces in my “Nature’s Bounty” collection complement the rustic feeling conveyed when one visits this August Haven store. They would work well with almost any décor scheme and bring a bit of nature to your home.
Brenda Burgett
HAVEN PLACE SERIES | When I painted this series I thought of my happy place, either at our cabin on the lake, or at the beach watching my children play, or vacations where I was blessed to go to many beautiful beaches. When my feet are in the sand and there is a smile on my face and all is well with my soul…this is my Haven. I hope my artwork will bring you the same joy.
a portion of every artwork that is sold will be donated by Brenda Burgett to the Alzheimer’s Association in memory of her mother.
https://www.brendaburgetthavenstudios.com
Nicole Fitzgerald
DAFFODIL BLISS (green bay) | These were all created using an array of art tools with acrylic paints, gouache, colored pencils, paint markers, permanent markers, and artist pens. If you enjoy this piece I encourage you to visit my website to learn more about me and my artwork.
MINERAL SPLASH (appleton) | This is the largest piece form this collection. If you enjoy this piece, I encourage you to visit my website to view more pieces in this collection in a variety of sizes. These were all created using an array of art tools with acrylic paints, gouache, colored pencils, paint markers, permanent markers, and artist pens.
Peter Koury
NEW WORKS FROM PETER KOURY | Peter Koury is an award-winning contemporary painter whose unique style is largely undefined. His work uses vivid colors and realism to attract the viewer, and he combines that realism with abstraction and symbolism to make social commentary through the human experience. He prefers to work in acrylic and upcycled materials, doing what he can to reduce his environmental footprint and pay homage to his love of nature; he’s woven environmental and conservation themes into his art throughout his 30-year career.
Peter grew up in Green Bay, WI and was influenced at an early age by his grandmother, who was also an artist. In 1992 he moved to Milwaukee to attend The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. There he studied under Michelle Grabner, learning the important balance of art history and the contemporary art scene. He also shared a live/work studio with Jason Rohlf, another huge influence on Peter’s work. He then moved to Los Angeles where he expanded his artistic skills, creating artwork for skateboards, murals, and shoes, while also being commissioned to paint in the homes of Hollywood’s famous, including those of Jay Leno, Faye Dunaway, William Shatner, and Tony Shaloub. His realistic painting of a thunderstorm on Rob Zombie’s ceiling was even featured on MTV Cribs. The experience he gained in California strongly influenced his unique artistic style.
Since returning to Green Bay to raise his family, Peter has continued to be a prolific artist. His extraordinary paintings have been included in many juried exhibits, including The Hardy Gallery, Peninsula School of Art, the Neville Public Museum, the Art Garage, and charitable events, as well as having graced public and private walls throughout the community. His most recent works are commissions the public can experience at the Neville’s Generations Gallery, the Green Bay Botanical Garden’s Hobbit House, the NEW Zoo & Adventure Park, Jenstar Movement Studio, Nakashima of Japan’s Green Bay location, and at the Green Bay Area Public Schools Welcome Center.
Facebook: @blacksitepainting | Instagram: _blacksitepainting_
Dana Enderby
Daniela Kouzov
Daniel Pagel
Allison Sanders
Ryan Tuck
Jenna Kast
Cristian Andersson
STATIC SOUNDSCAPES | Neenah, Wisconsin-based artist Cristian Andersson has been working since 2013 as both an abstract oil painter and an installation and performance artist. Cristian’s paintings are musically influenced works–translating contemporary classical music, and, more recently, the spatial qualities of dance into line, shape, and color. His installation and performance pieces dissect online communication and how it affects levels from the self to the national conversation.
Kathryn Dreifuerst
special Meet & Greet | closing reception
thursday, july 28th @ 4-7 PM
live music from the honeygoats + complimentary food truck fare & beverages
SKYSCAPES SERIES | Kathryn Dreifuerst is a Wisconsin painter, art museum employee, and arts advocate. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother. In a former life she has been a potter, gallerist, and high school art teacher. After having served on the board of directors, she happily began working at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass in Neenah as the development and engagement manager. Skyscapes was painted during a time when she sought to create a place of comfort and serenity with her paintings. She needed to invent dreamscapes to inhabit, free of this world’s suffering, chaos, and confusion.
Jane Constable-Hostetler
PRIMAL SERIES & RENEWAL SERIES | As a visual artist, a compelling visual experience is a key goal, though the thought it engages is equally valuable. The work I produce uses transparent layers of color, incised lines, and compelling textured to produce abstract works that have underlying influences from the world around us. Most recently, my work has been influenced by an intense observation of the environment, decomposition and renewal. While working in either oil/cold wax or acrylic/fresco as a medium, these influences are a continual thread in producing an ongoing collection of abstract works. Works that draws the viewer in and allows for personal interaction.
Andrea Naylor
WATERSCAPES | Growing up on the East Coast of Florida, Andrea Naylor was exposed to a strong coastal culture rich in art and surfing. Her passion for Public Health led her to join the Peace Corps in her early 20s and move to a remote fishing village in Ghana, West Africa. Post Peace Corps, Andrea returned to the U.S. and lived and worked at a Marine Science Education Center in the Florida Keys for a year. She went on to pursue a Masters in Global Public Health and to live and work abroad in Niger, The Dominican Republic, Australia, Malawi, and most recently Jamaica.
It was when she was living abroad in Australia that she started painting again full-time. Self-taught, she paints from her film photographs, prefers independent study, and painting with bright heavy-bodied acrylics. She draws inspiration from living along the coast of Lake Michigan and spending a great deal of time outside, which as allowed her to develop a unique style.
She has exhibited her work in Florida and here in Door County, Wisconsin, and she currently sells her work in her online shop, by appointment at her studio, and through annual exhibitions. To date Andrea has traveled to over 30 countries and participated in over twenty art exhibitions.
Rolf Olson
ELEMENTS | I was born in Denver, Colorado in 1950; I subsequently lived in San Francisco, California and Tacoma, Washington before moving to Appleton, Wisconsin in 1957. I grew up in Appleton and graduated from Appleton East High School in 1968 after living a year abroad in Holland as a freshman. I attended Colorado College and graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy in 1974. Those years included another year and a half working and traveling over much of Western Europe. After graduating I apprenticed to a classic wooden boat builder in Neshkoro, Wisconsin for 5 years. I have been a craftsman in wood and metal for 25 years, working as a boat builder and joiner, designing and building doors, cabinets, furniture and functional objects in wood and metal. I have always enjoyed clean, simple, and elegant design. My photographs reflect this aesthetic. I am currently trying out semi-retirement in Sturgeon Bay and blacksmithing as a volunteer at Heritage Village in Sturgeon Bay. I have been living in Door County, WI for the past 30 years.
Kendra Bilotto
THERE’S ALWAYS ROOM FOR CAKE | My work explores different ways to bring celebration & joy into everyday life. The use of bright colors draws upon my love for tropical cultures and places, while the use of simple and repetitive brushstrokes & splatters comes from my desire to evoke emotion and to create a visually inspiring experience for the viewer.
Acrylic paint is my main medium at the moment, but I look forward to continued experimentation with other mediums and methods. I am currently exploring fast and slow movements, with layers and celebratory colors being the concepts that tie together my different pieces and series. My biggest joy is to have fun while I’m painting, and I hope that the viewers are able to feel that!
Lydia Dildilian
AMERICAN HORROR | My work explores American identity as it skirts the history of manifest destiny and contemporary social issues like land use and classism. These present arresting images to haunt the viewer with depictions of eerie landscapes in rural America and build a narrative of disparate layers.
The current work on display is a series of digital collages printed on archival matte photo paper and small acrylic paintings. The work goes through a variety of analog and digital mediation before the end product is revealed.
