By Jim McKnight
The 21st annual Hidden Studios Art Tour, October 4, 5, and 6, will once again allow Central Wisconsin residents an exciting opportunity to view exceptional art on a self-guided tour of working artist’s studios. This year’s tour, timed to coincide with peak fall colors, features eight studio locations and 15 additional guest artists exhibiting and discussing their work. Media featured will include sculpture, painting, ceramics, glass, metal working, jewelry, and printmaking, as well as surprising combinations of those singular elements. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
A full description of Tour details, including artist images and biographies, many in-studio demonstrations, and a map to studio locations is available at HiddenStudiosArtTour.com.
New Hope in Wood, the studio of sculptural lighting artist Paul Klein, is a perennial studio favorite for visitors. Klein combines wood, stone, and metal elements with handmade shades to create distinctive lighting that can be figurative as well as abstract. Ranging in size from floor to table lamps, the sculptures have a harmonious fluidity, echoing the rolling New Hope Township landscape where Klein’s converted barn is located.
Guest artists with Klein are Mary Jo Fox, Rebecca Hungerford, and Jennifer Pichler. Hungerford has worked in pewter for nearly 50 years, crafting contemporary and traditional objects in an unusual medium. Working from her Michigan studio, “The Pewter Shop,” she has recently released a book with the same title reflecting upon her experiences. Mary Jo Fox, an artist new to the Tour this year, works with a quill pen and India ink to create detailed images that are then enhanced with watercolor washes to portray elements in her natural surroundings. Jennifer Pichler, also new to the Tour, works in oils to create mandalas, abstract patterns meant to focus attention on color relationships and the minds’ emotive responses to those combinations.
The Brunett-Thielking Studio, also a converted barn, features the collaborative sculptural works of Keven and Kristin in a variety of materials including paper, glass, and iron. Their works have been exhibited widely and range in scope from large outside installations to smaller handheld pieces. Joining them will be Amy Hauber, a first-time Tour artist from Canton, New York, working in sculpture, ceramics, and digital media, synthesizing those elements to create striking pieces meant to elicit the aesthetic connection between material and function. Brenna Klassen-Glanzer, a second-generation silversmith from Minneapolis, is another guest artist, exhibiting contemporary jewelry crafted from silver and copper elements into pieces that combine untamed organic forms with elegant modernity.
Sharon Fujimoto Glass is the third studio located in northeast Portage County and features her one-of-a-kind blown glass pieces and working kiln. Using that fiery crucible and glass blowing tools, she transforms molten glass into artistic and functional pieces with exceptional depth and refined simplicity. Joining Fujimoto will be guest artists Chris and Sue Holmquist and Jef Raasch. The Holquists create functional and inventive ceramic pieces, combining whimsical animal scenes in bright colors that contrast with white porcelain backgrounds. Jef Raasch is a nationally known sculptor working in fired white clay that joins human, animal, and plant elements to create fantastical creatures and tableaus swathed in vivid acrylic hues.
Atelier Vermeil Studio II, the studio of Mark Brueggeman, is in a former bank in the Village of Nelsonville. Brueggeman works in a variety of mediums, including drawing, painting, printmaking, and paper making as well as book assemblages combining those elements with poetry. He is also a nationally known stained-glass artist. Woodworker Dick Bemis will be at the Nelsonville studio, too, exhibiting pieces turned on a lathe from a variety of wood species. His work strives to reveal the inner beauty of each individual wood blank, whether ultimately for functional or display use.
Buzz in Art Studio, located in Arnott, is the studio of Jessie Fritsch, who works in the ancient medium of encaustic, or molten, pigmented beeswax. Fritsch uses the spontaneity and vibrancy inherent in the difficult medium to fashion paintings of radiant color that often feature native pollinators. Her art and methodology have been featured on Wisconsin Public Television’s “Wisconsin Life.” Emily Graf, a longtime favorite guest artist from previous tours, will display her wet felt fiber work as well. Her pieces, using wool and silk to create vibrant wearable and display objects, are distinctive and always in high demand.
A Touch of Glass, studio of Tammy Rae Wolter, is in a former church built in 1888. With its original stained-glass windows intact, it is a perfect venue to appreciate her jewelry and art objects made from Borosilicate glass, a material known for spectacular colors and strength. She combines the glass with its great depth of color with sterling silver, copper, and other materials in stunning combinations. With her in the studio will be guest artists Randy and Lisa Lee and Teresa Lind. Husband and wife, Randy and Lisa combine encaustic photography images and custom frames made with found objects, metal, and reclaimed wood to form harmonious and striking display pieces. New to the Tour this year, Teresa Lind is a sculptor working in cast and forged metals. Her subject matter often involves women as role models and an appreciation of the Earth as another nurturing force.
Red Sky Studio, the studio of Mary Lee and Gene Reineking, highlights their individual work at the southern end of Portage County. Mary Lee works in many different media, including collage, watercolor, oil, cold wax, and acrylics using many different approaches and tools. Gene, previously a ceramicist and sculptor, will exhibit works in his new genre, landscape oil paintings created with a palette knife. Their guest artist, Elise Thornton, is a basket maker of extraordinary talent, utilizing materials she harvests and processes to create practical and beautiful vessels.
The Wood Plane, studio of woodworker Mike Jagielo, is the southernmost Tour stop. Jagielo combines many different species of wood to create fine contemporary cabinetry and furniture pieces as well as figurative and sculptural display objects. He is joined by guest artists Kate Bradley and Jennifer Nunnelee. Bradley is a stone sculptor, carving human and animal forms directly into alabaster, soapstone, or limestone material. Nunnelee is a metalsmith based in Minneapolis fusing sterling silver and natural rock elements in her jewelry.
Since its inception in 2003, the Hidden Studios Art Tour has benefitted from strong community support and the recognition of the positive cultural and financial impact to Central Wisconsin that it provides. In appreciation, Tour artists will again donate a percentage of sales back to a local, non-profit charity. This year’s recipient is Caregiver Support Services/Caregiver Support Groups of Portage County.
Gene Reineking’s oil paintings are produced on panels with a palette knife.
The encaustic photography of guest artists Randy and Lisa Lee (left) will be on display with the sculpture work of guest artist Teresa Lind (right) at Tammy Rae Wolter’s A Touch of Glass Studio.