VIVA Gallery

Martina Skobic, Artist Guest in February

2012-01-20T19:54:00.000-06:00

"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

2011-11-01T10:51:00.001-05:00

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

2011-10-02T13:25:00.005-05:00

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

2011-08-30T21:31:00.003-05:00

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

2011-07-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

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

2011-07-02T13:57:00.001-05:00

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

2011-05-29T19:51:00.001-05:00

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.

A Big Show in May - Viroqua Teens

2011-04-30T13:38:00.000-05:00

"Graceful Hesitation" by Julia Morgan, Laurel High School, WRAA State Award winner

Student Artists Featured at VIVA Gallery

For the month of May, VIVA Gallery will exhibit works by high school artists. The schools represented are Laurel High School, a charter school within the Viroqua Area School System, the Youth Initiative High School and artwork by students who have studied with Viroqua artist Kathie Wheeler.

Students will present work in several media, including painting, drawing, photography, clay and sculpture. Among the works will be pieces that won state awards at the recent Wisconsin Regional Arts Program’s high school show, held in Richland Center.

Anne Tedeschi, VIVA member, art instructor, and organizer of the exhibit, says “I find it very exciting to see the unusual level of talent among so many young artists, and I am looking forward to the opening of this very special show.”

Meet the student artists at VIVA’s First Thursday reception on May 5 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Treats will be served. The Girls’ Ukulele band (best known as Garlic Breath) will provide music.

You can see the student work at the gallery throughout the month of May, as well as work of 17 member artists.

Fresh and New April 1st Thursday

2011-04-05T14:56:00.000-05:00

This month we welcome Amy Arnold and her entourage of Peepwools. Characters with attitude, meet them and their creator on 1st Thursday, April 7 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.
You can catch up with what Maureen Karlstad is doing too -- she was a founding member of VIVA and this month we welcome her back! Come see her new work - it's gorgeous and ever so useful.
Thursday, April 7 -- support your local art scene!

Jamie Heiden - 2010 Driftless Art Festival People's Choice Winner

2011-02-28T09:15:00.000-06:00

About Jamie

In March, VIVA Gallery in Viroqua welcomes photographer Jamie Heiden as guest artist. Jamie describes her art as “finding a little fairytale every day,” and her photographs bear this out. She captures images that are familiar slices of time and then applies texture with watercolors or through digital manipulation. The results are images whose muted colors and soft lines are universally appealing. Jamie received the 2010 Best of Photography award from Madison’s Art Fair Off the Square, and won the 2010 People’s Choice Award at both the Art Fair on the Green in LaCrosse and the Driftless Area Art Festival in Soldiers Grove.

Meet Jamie at VIVA’s First Thursday reception on March 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 Jamie’s work at the gallery through the month of March, as well as work of 17 member artists.

Pottery, Sculpture and Music - February 1st Thursday

2011-01-30T08:56:00.016-06:00

In the month of February VIVA Gallery is hosting Ryan Meyers as our guest artist. Ryan works as an adjunct professor at Viterbo University, in his studio he works as a sculptor and potter. He describes his current work as sculpture that has implied function. His process involves using a combination of thrown and hand building. Many of the pieces are fired multiple times to achieve the desired effect. He is inspired and fascinated by the idea that his work might be used in daily rituals, such as morning coffee.

February 3 is 1st Thursday for the artist reception, hear the Girls Ukulele Band perform and enjoy appetizers, sweets and beverages from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

New Year, New Work • January, 2011

2010-12-31T08:24:00.011-06:00

"Small Works" show at VIVA Gallery in January. Guest Artist Sherry Knapp is featured along with members of the gallery. Sherry Knapp is best known for exquisite, finely detailed dolls, each taking on a life of their own as they are created. Her studio and shop called 'Otherwise' is located on Hwy. 14 between Viroqua and Westby.

Come see this whimsical small works show at the gallery in the month of January.

1st Thursday is January 6 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. As always refreshments are served.

in December at VIVA

2010-11-29T08:17:00.006-06:00

The members of VIVA gallery are the featured artists the month of December. Stop by and see beautiful art created by artist members of VIVA. 1st Thursday is December 2 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Come for holiday treats, mulled wine and cider, enjoy warm holiday spirit this evening and through out the month of December. Check out individual blogs of artist members located on the sidebar. See what's new in their studios and at the gallery. Happy Holidays!

November Guest Artist

2010-10-31T19:34:00.004-05:00

John Schneider is our November guest artist. John is a painter from Viroqua, Wisconsin. His most recognizable work is in a 'created color' form. He paints barns, landscapes and forest scenes with an eye for the soft blending of beautiful color. His work begins with studies then progresses to etchings, pastels, watercolors or oils. John has participated in many shows and art festivals through out Wisconsin and Minnesota. Visit his website www.johnschneider.wetpaint.com

Join us at the gallery for an artist reception on 1st Thursday, November 4, 5:00 - 7:00 pm.

Appetizers and beverages are served. Please call VIVA Gallery (608-637-6918) for more information.

September Guest Artists at VIVA Gallery

2010-09-04T12:57:00.008-05:00

Joe and Christy Cole build beautiful, functional pieces in the studio of Windy Ridge Pottery. Their work is meant to insprie your every day life. They work with a wood-fired climbing kiln, local clay and glaze materials. To learn more about Windy Ridge Pottery check out their blog at colepottery.blogspot.com.

Marlene Meyer-August guest artist

2010-08-05T13:15:00.006-05:00

First Thursday

Join us on August 5th to welcome former VIVA member, Marlene Meyer back for a month guest artist spot,
with her landscapes and still lifes.
The public is welcome to sample our food and beverages, meet the guest artist and VIVA Gallery artists as well,

Thursday, Aug 5th , 5-7 pm, right on Main Street in Viroqua.

Artist’s Statement

My main passion is painting from life - either out of doors or from still life, trying to capture all that possible from the original scene,
with all the sights, sounds and atmosphere there at the time.

Painting is exhilarating, fun, daunting, and challenging work and it is always a thrill when my work makes a connection with the viewer.

Much inspiration comes from local artists – friends, instructors and mentors who have added so much to my knowledge of painting.

July Guest Artist - Jerry Quebe

2010-06-29T17:33:00.009-05:00

Photography by Jerry Quebe will be showing all month at VIVA Gallery. Photography has been a life time pursuit for Jerry, ever since he won a camera in school at age 8. Come, see this artist's evident keen eye in his work. All of his photos are framed by his own handmade frames.

2010-06-11T19:50:00.004-05:00

Larry Gehl is our guest for June. Feast your eyes on his beautiful, high quality wood work at VIVA Gallery. This artist spends much time on these inlayed pieces making his work very fine and prized.

Hans Gill - June Guest Artist

2010-05-14T07:55:00.011-05:00

Hans Gill began his art career in the early 1960's. He had his first show while in the U.S. Ar Force. He later received his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Fine Art from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. with a concentration in sculpture. After graduating he became a teacher in the art department at Eastern Kentucky University. He has also done work as a professional picture framer and potter. Hans retired from the museum field after working for 30 years as an exhibit designer and fabricator. He is the owner of Multi-Media Etc., which sells his art and offers consulting services. He lives in Seneca, Wisconsin.

About his work:

Imagery that reflects philosophy of life, shapes, textures and relationships form a dimensional blueprint reflecting how the universe moves and flows. His work expresses feelings and thoughts, and at times, challenges in which meaning is sought.

April Guest Artist - Chela

2010-04-01T14:56:00.005-05:00

Sarah Burnham Mertz, Chela, has been making art for the past 50 years. She invented the technique she uses to make her Botanical Prints. Plant forms embedded into the highest quality rag papers made to take the pressure of traveling through an etching press. The results are beautiful. Come to VIVA Gallery to see Chela's fine work the month of April.

Pat Dagnon • our March Guest

2010-03-02T10:16:00.006-06:00

A student of nature's poetry, Pat Dagnon's work offers stunning vistas in pastels and oil. She is also a photographer in which she delves into computerized creations that are truly beautiful.

In both media she is a recognized artist and her work has been exhibited widely. Join us for our March 1st Thursday, March 4.

Barbara Kettner

2010-01-03T15:39:00.005-06:00

Barbara Kettner is a Wisconsin native, she and her husband have settled in Viola. Art has always been a pursuit in her life. She taught for many years, the lucky kids that landed in her classroom were encouraged to pick up a pencil to draw while she taught. She has expertise in drawing, pastels and colored pencils, she has lately been working with oils and watercolor.

Come see her lovely work at VIVA this month. 1st Thursday is January 7, 5 - 7 pm. Come for art, to socialize and have a bit to eat and drink.

2009-12-01T20:29:00.004-06:00

1st Thursday • December 3 • 5 - 7 pm

Joyce Diveley is our guest artist for the month of December. She is the recipient of the People's Choice Award at the Driftless Art Fair, September 2009. Come, see her exquisite creations at VIVA. For a preview visit her website: joycediveleypottery.com

1st Thursday • November 5 • November Guest Artists

2009-11-05T07:32:00.004-06:00

Nick Smolen, Carole Austin and Angela Feltes at VIVA in November. Carole and Angela are makers of fine handwovens, Nick is a metal artist, specializing in Damascus steel. Fiber and Fire - soft, colorful fibers complement hard edged metal.

October Guest - Liz Quebe

2009-09-29T06:03:00.012-05:00

LIZ QUEBE our guest artist in October.

1st Thursday • October 1 • 5 - 7 pm

Liz is an oil painter. She paints with the Driftless area pleinair group in summer. She has reclaimed her painting passion after a long and demanding career in architecture and graphic design. She and her husband Jerry are the movers and shakers behind the Driftless Area Art Festival held in September in Soldiers Grove.

September 1st Thursday

2009-08-24T11:01:00.002-05:00

2009-08-11T14:42:00.000-05:00

Jerry Riness • August Guest Artist

2009-08-09T09:03:00.005-05:00

Jerry Riness defines himself as a brick layer.

He's an artist, a cowboy artist. He paints exquisite scenes that reflect the beauty of the West: its people, Native Americans, cowboys and their animals. His is not the romantic Wild West from the movies—his work depicts real life on the frontier.

First Thursday, June 2009

2009-07-10T12:04:00.001-05:00