Art House fall exhibit showcases local talent

Lorraine McFarland
Lorraine McFarland

The Art House's fall show unveiled Friday evening with an opening reception, part of Autumn on the Bricks.

Themed around "Pieces and Patterns," the exhibit displays many colorful works from area artists. Rebecca Douglas and Jean Howard's textural, bold modern quilts take center stage, while other artists' bring their own interpretations to the them. Pieces and Patterns will be on display at 531 Court St. until Oct. 28.

Below, meet a few of the show's artists and learn about the inspiration and techniques behind their works.

Ellen Heislen, Fulton

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Ellen Heislen's piece, Equines Uncovered, features slightly abstract horses plunging through satiny fabric.

"It reminds me of when I was a child in bed, playing with model horses," she said. "As a child you were unplugged. Your big blue comforter became an ocean."

Heislen said her piece was inspired by artist Franz Marc's blue, rounded horses.

"He used this bright, vivid blue," she said. "Like him, I left them kind of abstract."

Heislen's love of art stretches way back. She's dabbled previously and spent time on the board of Best of Missouri Hands, a group "dedicated to the development and recognition of Missouri's arts and artisans through education, interaction, and encouragement." However, her career in medicine prevented her from diving deep into art.

"There was continuing education and seeing patients and raising a family," she said.

After retiring to Fulton four years ago, Heislen began taking classes at William Woods.

"Oils are the very first thing I learned when I moved here," she said. "I chose art and I haven't looked back."

Recently, Heislen also took up sculpting. As someone who didn't take up art well into adulthood, she's encouraged by people like Lee Schaperkotter, an artist in Columbia who took up painting after retiring.

"He lived to be (98) and kept painting the whole time," she said. "He was chosen as the artist for the annual duck stamp, which is a big honor. (People like him) gave me permission to explore art myself."

Lorraine McFarland, Rolla

McFarland, a juried artist with Best of Missouri Hands, brought two of her richly colored pastel works. Pastels are her main medium, she said, and she does most of her art outdoors.

"I did 13 plein air events last year, and this year I'm up to 11 so far," she said.

One of the two pieces she brought was completed during the 2017 Callaway Plein Air event. Neither were created specifically for this show.

"I looked at what I had and realized there's patterns in the sky," McFarland said.

McFarland grew up around art.

"My dad was an oil painter in St. Louis," she said. "I moved to Columbia for college (at the University of Missouri) I went to college because I wanted to be a painter, but when I saw what the other students could do I got scared away."

She switched career paths, but continued to spend time soaking up other peoples' art at events like Art in the Park in Columbia.

When McFarland was 47, her mother-in-law began needing full-time care. To keep herself occupied while staying home with her, McFarland took up pastels.

"In that eight years, I started nurturing my artistic side," she said.

She began taking art classes and soon went to her first pastel workshop with acclaimed pastelist Maggie Price. Before long, McFarland found herself spending over a week in Scotland just to do plein air pastel art. It quickly became her passion

The pieces she brought to the Art House show her art's current direction.

"My work is evolving to a more textural look," she said.

McFarland uses "toothy," rough paper and tries to evoke painterly brushstrokes, as visible in her upper painting. She's also experimenting in doing under-painting in solid colors before applying pastels.

Lynn Garriott-Porter, Jefferson City

Lynn Garriott-Porter also brought two pieces to Pieces and Patterns. For one work, Garriott-Porter decided to think outside her usual watercolors and colored pencils.

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"What a Wonderful World," a mixed-media piece featuring song lyrics, three-dimensional leaves and bright bluebirds, was the result.

"I used watercolor medium, rice paper for the leaves and this 3-D sponge-like dimensional medium (for the clouds and grass)," she said. "I hand-printed the lyrics and music notes, then used embossing powder to raise the writing."

She used the same trick on the bluebirds' eyes, and added store-bought branches and flowers. In other words, she got even more creative than usual. Some of these tricks she picked up from fellow artists, and others she plans on passing along during the workshops she now teaches.

"The theme is pieces and patterns, and this is pieced together," Garriott-Porter said.

She started painting at age 16.

"I took a watercolor workshop and fell in love," she said.

Aside from a workshop here and there, though, Garriott-Porter's largely self-taught.

"I advanced in watercolors by just playing with it on my own," she said. "I learned colored pencils from books."