Michigan Landscapes Illustrated through Photography, Watercolor & Ceramic with New Exhibit in Ludington
The Ludington Area Center for the Arts (LACA) will exhibit Karen Clark Antrim and Deborah Clark’s ‘Michigan Landscapes: Shutter, Brush and Mud’ during the month of March in the center’s main gallery.
‘Michigan Landscapes: Shutter, Brush and Mud’ is available for viewing Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 5-26 and features numerous pieces of landscape photography, scenic watercolor images and ceramic creations. LACA will host a special closing reception Friday, March 26 from 5-8 p.m. to allow the public one last chance to take in the exhibit as well as to meet the artists.
In an attempt to limit the number of people attending the reception at one time LACA is accepting reservations to attend the artist reception. Free tickets to the March 26 artist reception can be reserved online at https://ludingtonartscenter.square.site/product/march-2021-artist-receptions/657. Also taking place Friday, March 26 will be an artist reception for Eden Ünlüata-Foley’s ‘The Tapestry of Days Long Past’ in the art center’s performance hall lobby gallery. Only one reservation is needed to attend both receptions.
Karen Clark Antrim is best known for her imaginatively inspired Raku fired ceramic animal sculptures. More recently her garden art and Bas Relief tiles have been well received. And of late, she has returned to painting in Watercolor, where her artistic career began. She has been sculpting animals for 20 years, and in particular, horses of all shapes, sizes and personalities. Each horse enjoys an elevated status, reveals a multiplicity of traits, rooted in both historical and contemporary traditions. The natural landscape is a common theme which permeates her art and inspires her work in both clay and watercolor.
Her raku fired garden art fills her garden and dominates the landscape. Feeling very much a part of the natural environment, the creation of ceramic tiles and watercolor painting assumes a new look for the artist. Within the boundaries of Michigan’s state parks and national forests lie a wealth of subject matter readily available and yet to be claimed.
Karen holds an MA in Art Education and was devoted to a lengthy and fascinating teaching career in addition to becoming an artist in her own right. It was not until she fully retired and was able to move to Michigan, build a little log home and studio on Cattail Pond, which she had envisioned for many years, that she could finally focus solely on her art. She has been a member in many galleries and participated in many competitive art shows in Iowa, Missouri and Michigan. She assumed the role of Co-Director of the Art on the Town Gallery in Pentwater and is a member presently. She was awarded an honorable mention, 2019, at the Crooked Tree Art Gallery in Traverse City for her work entitled “Karen’s Ark.” A comprehensive look at her art can be viewed at online at www.karena.biz.
Deborah lives on the Bluff overlooking Lake Michigan in Manistee, Mich. It is there her photography blossomed. She earned her Technical Imaging Degree from Lansing Community College and a Bachelor of Applied Science from Siena Heights University. She and her husband, Larry, are members of the “North Country Trail” and take yearly vacations to state and national parks. Always in pursuit of waterfalls, backcountry trails and the night sky that will inspire her next favorite image. She is the newly appointed Co-Director of “Art on the Town Gallery” in Pentwater, Mich. where she has been a member for five years. She also belongs to the “Manistee Camera & Photo Art Club” and enjoys the group’s monthly challenges and nationally renowned guest speakers.
Her photography has won awards in West Michigan exhibits, including honorable mention at the Newaygo County Council for the Arts’ 2019 Statewide Photography Competition. You can also see her art at Blue Fish Kitchen in Manistee, summer art fairs and online at www.deborahclarkphotography.com.
