Maggie Bicker to Offer Adult Drawing Class

Photo by Matt Berthot

Noted Winfield Muralist and Art Educator Maggie Bicker will offer a drawing class this fall designed especially for adults. The class is sponsored in a cooperative venture between Winfield Arts and Humanities Council and Gallery 1001 in downtown Winfield.

“It makes me sad to hear adults say, regretfully or a bit defensively, ‘Oh I can’t draw!’” Bicker said. Though most folks will never be DaVinci, she insists everyone with vision can learn to express a simple idea visually.  If you can write and print your name, you can learn to express ideas on paper and take pleasure from the skill. She explained that there are drawing opportunities in almost any profession, to share ideas, processes, or issues with others.

Bicker will provide instruction and coaching in the art of seeing—really seeing—the world around you. “People learn to write by seeing and recognizing the letters in the alphabet. If you can write, you can draw,” she said.

“Part of the problem is cultural,” Bicker continued. “We are taught to think in symbols. Hence, lollipop trees, and those little ‘tulip type’ flowers are taught to little kids and many never grow beyond. Learning to really see doesn’t typically happen. Culturally, we value that skill less than others. As a result, too many folks miss the wonder and the beauty in the world around us. So this class is about the skill of really SEEING that wonder, which allows learning to represent a bit of that wonder through drawing.”

The drawing classes will be held Tuesday evenings from 6:00 until 8:00 in the newly created adult classroom at WAHC in Baden Square. Classes start September 5 and run through October 24. Participants can sign up through the Winfield Arts and Humanities Office. The fee for eight classes is $50, plus a nominal fee for supplies which Bicker will select and provide at the first class. Supplies will be less than $10 and will include a sketch book, pencils, pens and appropriate erasers.

If you have an interest in polishing your skills in the art of drawing, or gleaning tips from a master instructor, this class is for you. Space is limited, so don’t wait too long. Call Winfield Arts and Humanities today 620-221-2161, or drop by their office in Baden Square to register.

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Featured Summer Artists

Gallery 1001 in Winfield is pleased to host two talented artists in the area for the months of July and August. Sandy Stucky and Rebecca Ward will be honored in a welcome reception during the July Art Walk, July 7 from 5 pm until 7 pm. A regular feature of the Winfield Arts and Humanities Council, this Art Walk is one you won’t want to miss.

Sandy Stucky of Belle Plaine will showcase her favorite photographs. An experienced photographer, she has had scenes selected and shown in a juried exhibit at the Derby Public Library.

Rebecca Ward of Udall will display her talent in drawing and painting. A self-taught artist, she has lived most of her life in Cowley County except for four years in New York where she worked with the US Coast Guard. During her years in New York, she discovered her passion for art and worked every spare minute on perfecting her style. “Art is my one true calling,” Ward says with no hesitation.

Though she has no official training, Ward credits her enthusiasm and her style to her admiration for artists Lena Danya, Tanya Shateva, Audra Aclair, Christing Ward, Wendy Ortiz, and Brandon Seafer. True to her youth, she displays her products and her process online with time-lapse entries of several works-in-progress. For a sample see: https://youtu.be/7FjtHhiLV6U

Rebecca Ward

Stop by Gallery 1001 July 7 from 5 pm to 7 pm to meet these talented artists. The Gallery at 10^th and Main will also celebrate the season with an ice cream social on the sidewalk outside the gallery. A selection of artistic dessert bowls handcrafted by Gallery 1001 member artists will be on display. For a supporting contribution, guests can select their favorite bowl and add a scoop of ice cream, complete with toppings. Chill with the artists as you enjoy the summer evening and welcome Stucky and Ward.

Chillin’ With Art

Gallery 1001, 10^th and Main in Winfield, invites you to drop by during the Art Walk, July 7. A selection of handcrafted, artistic dessert bowls will be displayed outside the gallery. For a supporting contribution, guests can select their favorite bowl and add a scoop of ice cream, complete with toppings. Chill with the artists as you enjoy the summer evening and take your bowl home when you’re ready.

While there, take a few moments to greet this summer’s guest artists. Featured through July and August will be paintings and drawings by Rebecca Ward of rural Cowley County, and photography by Sandy Stucky of Belle Plaine.

Kansas Sampler Festival Welcomed by Gallery 1001

The last ever state-wide Kansas Sampler Festival is fast approaching and Winfield is ready for the event at Island Park, Saturday and Sunday, May 6 and 7.

For those who get an early start, Winfield Main Street is again hosting a Friday evening Music Crawl. Gallery 1001 is pleased to welcome jazz artists Scott Williams and Lane Turgeon, piano and bass.

For more information about Williams and Turgeon see:

https://www.facebook.com/events/301831720256967/

Just in time for the crowds, the gallery’s latest installment of the rotating mural has been installed during a rare afternoon of sunshine. Doodle artist Della Becker’s creation will brighten any cloudy day and is a colorful invitation to the Music inside Friday evening.

 

Past musicians at the gallery have included pianist Scott Williams several times, and some of his musician friends. This year’s jazz is sure to be lively and set the mood for a festive weekend. Stop by to say hi. Enjoy the new art by our member artists and guest artist, and groove to the music. Hope to see you there!

 

 

Joeni Rogers Art Featured at Gallery 1001

 

The art of Arkansas City artist Joeni Rogers will be featured in a special exhibit at Gallery 1001, 10^th and Main in Winfield, through April and May. Gallery members will host a reception for her Friday, April 14^th from 5 pm to 7 pm.

Born in Alberta, Canada, Rogers moved as an infant to Winfield where she spent her childhood. She recalls her first art project just before she turned three when she sketched a waterfall on a freshly painted wall in her house. “I was very fortunate to have a mother with such a gentle soul. She saw accomplishment where others might see inconvenience.”

Rogers recalls hours spent drawing in solitude during her school years. She started practicing by recreating the work of other artists, but eventually began to create her own images. She credits her studies at Cowley College, under the instruction of Mike Fell and Mark Flickinger, with opening her awareness of self-expression and helping her complete satisfying works of art. “To this day,” Rogers said, “everything they taught and helped me understand comes to mind as I sit down to create a piece.”

Rogers has always been fascinated with the human face and facial animation, “the life force of a person,” she explained. Finding the life force of a subject is how she puts soul into her work. She particularly recalls an assignment given by her instructor Fell. “He asked us to make an external or internal self-portrait. It was impossible for me to choose so I melded the two into one.” In this exercise, her artistic style took a leap forward. Her unique portraits are her portrayal of complex human emotions.

Rogers’ recent series of drawings and paintings featuring mechanical birds is included in her exhibit at Gallery 1001. She calls the series “Time Flies.” Her images are available in the original artwork, as well as prints and coloring books, giving art enthusiasts a full range of choice in her available “Enlightened Portraits.”

“The addition of bird features provide a sense of character and purpose to a face. Inspiration for these works emanates from the need to understand and empathize, to perceive people from the inside out.”

In addition to her creative set of Enlightened Portraits, Rogers accepts commissions to create portraits for clients.

Joeni Rogers lives in Arkansas City with her husband and two young children. Her work will be on display at Gallery 1001 through April and May. Stop by to meet this talented young artist April 14, enter the raffle to win a custom portrait by her and see what else she has to offer.

We can look forward to many more years of her unique portraits. “As long as people are beautifully different I will continue to be inspired,” she said.

 

Welcome to Photographer Michael Ciskowski!

Gallery 1001, 10^th and Main in Winfield, is pleased to welcome photographer Michael Ciskowski as a new member artist. His photographic visions will be featured in the spotlight at Gallery 1001 through March and April.

Michael Ciskowski with Gus

“My interest in photography began in 1969 while taking a photography course in college,” he said. “My instructor was an old-school master photographer who also had a studio in my hometown of Blackwell, Oklahoma. Upon his passing, I helped his widow with the business until she was ready to retire. She taught me how to retouch negatives, photograph weddings, hand-color portraits and many other skills that aren’t taught in college classes and photography schools.”

In his spare time over the next forty-five years, Ciskowski honed his detailing skills while working days with the U.S. Postal Service in various locations across Kansas and Oklahoma. Always available to local residents, he photographed weddings, anniversaries, reunions, portraits and all of the other events that a small-town photographer typically does.

With characteristic attention to fine detail, his skills in photography reflect each of his life pursuits. In addition to photography, he is a clock fancier, with fine mechanical clocks vying for show space among the photographs on his walls. He has also studied historical organs and keyboards and can tap out familiar melodies on his home organ and piano.

Ciskowski retired from the U.S. Postal Service in October of 2014, handing the reigns of postmaster in Udall to his successor. He still had the love of photography but decided to try something a little different. “I wanted to re-invent myself as a photographer but still benefit from the experience and knowledge that I had gained over the years.”

His photographic re-invention has revealed a remarkable talent for artistic photographs. Ciskowski enjoys the freedom of retirement to take every possible opportunity to travel with his wife Norma. The images he has captured and printed in his home studio have proven to be popular at various art shows in the area.  Ciskowski’s eye for unique perspective and his thirst for detail allow him to capture artistic views of places, scenes, wildlife, and buildings that reveal his inner artist.

Both Mike and Norma enjoy the road trips, especially those that send them toward their grandchildren in the Dallas area. When they are not traveling or showing photos at art shows, they make their home in Udall with a pet bunny named Gus.

Gallery 1001 welcomes Michael Ciskowski in a public reception Friday, March 31 from 5:00 until 7:00 pm. Stop by to visit with Mike and Norma, and see the beautiful scenes he has captured with his camera.

 

McFarlen Reception Friday

The reception to welcome decorative painter Jane McFarlen was postponed due to bad weather. It will be held this Friday, February 3, from 5 until 7 pm. Stop by to meet Jane and admire her awesome artwork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These paintings and many  more are on display at Gallery 1001 through February.