Martina Skobic, Artist Guest in February

"Painter Martina Skobic is Featured at VIVA Gallery

In February, VIVA Gallery in Viroqua welcomes Martina Skobic as guest artist.  Martina moved to LaCrosse from New York City in 2000.  She grew up in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, lived in Spain and studied in France and England.  Martina's love for cooking and travel is evident in her paintings, which often celebrate food.

"I come from a part of the world where food does not just satisfy survival needs.  It offers social connections, increases joy, facilitates business dealings and offers comfort and hope."  says Martina.  "Through my travels I learned a lot about different food customs.  What intrigued me the most were not differences but, how many same or very similar customs people actually share around the globe."  Such customs are depicted in her paintings which are colorful, bright and engaging.

Meet Marina and view her work at VIVA's 1st Thursday reception on February 2 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm.  The gallery is located at 217 South Main Street in Viroqua.

For more information about this and future 1st Thursday events contact the gallery at 608-637-6918 or email at info@vivagallery.net.  You can see Martina's paintings at the gallery through the month of February as well as the work of 17 member artists.

Our November Guest - Ray Bock

In  November,  VIVA  Gallery  in  Viroqua  welcomes  Ray  Bock  as  guest  artist.    Ray  is  a  talented   woodworker  whose  furniture  and  sculptural  wood  accessories  are  notable  for  their  fluid  lines  and  fine   craftsmanship.    His  work  will  be  featured  as  a  part  of  VIVA’s  “Perfect  Table”  theme,  which  will  highlight  pottery   and  handwovens  by  member  artists  as  well.  

Ray,  who  lives  and  works  in  Viroqua,  has  had  his  work  featured  at  some  of  the  nation’s  most  prominent  arts  and   crafts  events,  including  American  Craft  Council  shows,  Milwaukee’s  Lakefront  Festival  of  the  Arts,  the  Des  Moines   Arts  Festival,  and  the  Cherry  Creek  Arts  Festival  near  Denver.      Ray  studied  design  and  photography  at  the  Illinois  Institute  of  Technology  in  Chicago,  graduating  in  1981  with  a  BA   in  Design.    He  went  to  work  for  noted  architectural  photographer  Hedrich  Blessing,  and  went  on  to  manage  a   department  of  a  commercial  printing  lab.    All  during  this  time,  furniture  making  was  a  serious  hobby.    In  1991,   when  the  advance  of  digital  imaging  began  to  take  a  toll  on  the  printing  industry,  Ray  and  his  wife  left  their  jobs  in   Chicago,  bought  an  old  farm  outside  of  Viroqua,  and  Ray  began  making  furniture  as  his  primary  means  of  making  a   living.    Until  2008,  Ray  sold  his  work  through  prominent  shows  and  galleries  in  North  Carolina,  Maryland,  Illinois,   Pennsylvania  and  Wisconsin.    Since  that  time,  he  has  concentrated  on  commissioned  work  and  on  making   sculptural  vessels  and  beautifully-­‐designed  wooden  boxes.      

Meet  Ray  and  view  his  work  at  VIVA’s  First  Thursday  reception  on  November  3  from  5:00pm  to  7:00pm.    The   gallery  is  located  at  217  South  Main  Street  in  Viroqua.    For  more  information  about  this  and  future  First  Thursday   events,  contact  the  gallery  at  608-­‐637-­‐6918  or  info@vivagallery.net.    You  may  see  Ray’s  furniture  and  accessories   at  the  gallery  throughout  the  month  of  November,  as  well  as  the  work  of  16  member  artists.  

Sally Probasco our guest in October

detail of painting above

Sally Probasco

My interest in art dates back to childhood. I took oil painting lessons in middle school and as an undergraduate studied drawing and painting under Charles Peterson, a watercolorist who left academia to open a studio and gallery in Ephraim, Wisconsin. In graduate school I chose a more “practical” field—recreation therapy—using art, drama, and physical activities to work with emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. I spent the following 20 years as an adviser to graduate students at UW-Madison. Late in the game I went to law school and then practiced as an assistant city attorney in Madison from 1991 until my retirement in 2004.

Since that time I have been fortunate to devote more time to learning watercolor. I alternate painting strictly in watercolor with using a combination of watercolor, charcoal, ink, gouache and/or tissue collage. When I can I like to paint plein air. It increases my understanding of the true shapes and colors of things, the nature of aerial perspective, and the effect of light on objects. My favorite subject is animals, singly or more in groups. I find their unique shapes and personalities engrossing. I intersperse those paintings with traditional subjects—still lifes of flowers, vegetables or fruit; portraits; and landscapes.

Matt Duckett at VIVA Gallery

Matt Duckett has been drawing since he could drag a crayon across something flat. Since then, he has continued to create art celebrating the world around him. His work is enthusiastically representational. He unabashedly depicts, records, tells. Narrates. Recites. Recalls. He demands a curiosity for the world and revels in the deduction of it's varied and indifferent mechanisms. Much of Matt's work is figurative, using the innate vocabulary of anatomy and physiology and skilled, sensitive mastery of medium to tell the stories. His work provides an intimate glimpse into tiny unique worlds and we can never truly know but that we are charmingly, almost frustratingly, invited by both artist and subject to join.

Matt's young but accomplished career includes numerous awards and commissions, including being the only student to be commissioned to create a portrait of a University of Wisconsin—La Crosse Chancellor (Joe Gow), and the only student to be commissioned by the Library Acquisitions Committee, all while an undergrad. Since graduating, he as continued to distinguish himself as a gifted and ambitious artist. He has exhibited throughout the Midwest and beyond, most recently being excepted in the prestigious annual juried nonmembers exhibition at New York City's esteemed Salmagundi Club.

Matt is also the founder and director of Vitamin Studio which has proven itself to be a vital cornerstone of regional arts and just a few short years. Their classes, workshops and events are attended by artists and patrons from three states and over 100 miles away.


Be there September 1 for 1st Thursday - 217 So. Main St.;  Viroqua, Wi.,  5:00 to 7:00 pm.

Judy Martin - August Guest

Trudy Martin - Jewelry Artist

                                        

In August, VIVA Gallery in Viroqua welcomes Trudy Martin as guest artist. Trudy, who lives in Soldiers Grove, has been fascinated by beads for more than a decade. She designs and creates necklaces, bracelets and earrings with everything from Swarovski crystals to Kazuri beads from Kenya.

Trudy’s beads come from all over the world—Africa, India, Afghanistan, China, and Nepal, to name but a few places. She procures much of her stock at the acclaimed Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, which sets the standard for gem and mineral shows around the world. There, she says, she “feels like a kid in a candy store.” Beads in hand, she has many paths she can follow, including bead weaving, bead embroidering, Kumihomo weaving, crocheting with beads, and more. Trudy enjoys them all.

Meet Trudy at VIVA’s First Thursday reception on August 4 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. The gallery is located at 217 South Main Street in Viroqua. For more information about this and future First Thursday events, contact the gallery at 608-637-6918 or info@vivagallery.net. You may see Trudy’s jewelry at the gallery throughout the month of August, as well as the work of 16 member artists.

July Guest Artist - Tricia Schmidt

                                            

A delicate balance between control and chaos is how Tricia describes her work on the wheel.  She has come to appreciate that the end result is rarely perfect, a trait that makes every hand-worked piece of art distinctive.  Tricia’s work toes the line between functional and non-functional, she admits functional usually wins out.   Connecting with a piece and making it a part of daily ritual is inspiration enough to create art.

Tricia graduated from Westby High School in 1994 and now works as an Art Teacher in the St. Paul schools.  She still calls this area home, her parents still reside in the family home between Westby and Viroqua.

VIVA Gallery welcomes Tricia as our July guest artist and as a new member.  She brings a fresh energy and innovative quality to her work.  You have to come to the gallery to see it!

1^st Thursday   •   July 7   •   5 pm to 7 pm

Gene Summers our June Guest Artist

Artist’s Statement

Gene Summers is an Emeritus Professor of Rural Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he served from 1970 to 1998.  He has been interested in landscape and nature photography for more than 60 years. 

He has always felt a strong attachment to nature, probably from having grown up in a remote rural area of Southeast Missouri, and to the beauty that is to be found in the great outdoors, if one takes the time to look closely.  Professor Summers attempts to capture the artistry of Mother Nature with the camera. He sees photography as a means of bringing greater attention to natural beauty. It is his hope that a greater awareness of nature will encourage more people to practice conservation and to support environmental protection legislation. 

His work has appeared in several publications and has been on display in Wisconsin galleries and exhibitions. He is a member of the Wisconsin Alliance of Artists & Craftspeople, Wisconsin Regional Artists Association, Madison Art Guild,  Richland Area Art Council, and The Center for Photography at Madison.