Art history has forgotten Ernest Lothar, whose contemporaries — artists like Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee — fled Nazi Europe for America, converging mostly upon New York City, and forming the canon of so-called exile artists whose works are now celebrated in the annals of art history. But Lothar's escape from Hitler's juggernaut was circuitous, bypassing metropolitan art centers for many years. Though he made a significant body of artwork, illness and other circumstances conspired to dim his rising star in the art world for more than 60 years.

An upcoming exhibition at the Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d'Alene reintroduces Lothar, sharing not only his artwork, but also his compelling story.

"The story excited us in equal amounts as the artwork," says gallery owner Blair Williams. "We get approached often by artists and families of artists and we consider ourselves fortunate that way." More often than not, though, the artwork people share with them is not a good fit for the gallery, she says.

Click HERE for the entire story as featured in the INlander.

Ever since meeting in the fiber arts department at the Kansas City Art Institute 44 years ago, Mary Dee and Allen Dodge have been joyful collaborators. Together, they’ve raised a family, run a business and developed complementary art careers.

Click HERE for a link to the full story.

Lately I’ve become obsessed with artist interviews! Long hours alone in the studio can be very isolating and lonely, and online artist interviews are a great way to connect with other artists from across the globe. I always gain some new insights and a deeper understanding of the creative process as I listen to someone else’s ideas, thoughts, and working process. I love hearing what other artists have discovered and experienced and how they deal with the challenges involved with finding clarity, a personal voice and vision, and balancing everyday life with a life in the arts. I often come away feeling refreshed and invigorated knowing that I’m not the only artist who struggles with those challenges. And I’m comforted because I find that I’m also not alone in feeling frustrated by the fact that the art journey I began so many years ago still hasn’t led to anywhere that I can really count on. The struggle remains. As artist Ken Kewley said, “The secret of painting needs to be discovered everyday. Secrets only work for a little while.” And most artists agree that those secrets are only found by working on our work.

Recently, I summoned up the courage to ask one of my friends and all-time favorite artists, Carla O’Connor, if she would be open to being interviewed for my blog. I’m extremely grateful to Carla for replying, “bring on the questions!” And I’m very excited to share her answers with all of you today.

Click HERE for a link to the interview.

Since the age of 15, Viky Garden has consistently depicted herself as the central subject of her work. This singular practice offers a framework to explore personal and universal aspects of the female experience.
www.vikygarden.com

To watch the video, click HERE.

Watch one of our favorite enamel artists create one of her bright and creative trays! You can watch HERE. 

Watch one of our favorite enamel artists create one of her bright and creative trays! Watch HERE.

Spokane artist Harold Balazs had a crazy idea.

While creating the steel sculpture Spokane Public Radio had commissioned for the Fire Station No. 3 Courtyard, he realized the different components would ring with different tones when gently struck. Why not get a few percussionists to “play” the artwork?

To watch the video, click HERE.

Check out this video of Michael Horswill's process of creating "Trilogy," a public art sculpture for the City of Coeur d'Alene.

To view it, click HERE.

KSPS PBS Northwest Profiles, "Drawn to Draw," a television documentary featuring Michael Horswill's "Evolution of Good Intentions," a monumental charcoal drawing, with four other regional artists shown drawing on twelve-foot walls at Gonzaga University's Jundt Art Museum.

To view, click HERE. 

Check out this Portrait of a Town interview of Michael Horswill with Barbara Mueller, one of the first one hundred people to tell their stories representing the "heart and soul" of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

To view, click HERE.

Steel sculptures depicting microbiologic processes at work in the state of the art waste water treatment plant in Coeur d'Alene Idaho. Artists Allen and Marydee Dodge's creations through the Coeur d'Alene Arts Commission.

Check out the entire video HERE.

Sculpture workshop at La Meridiana with Beth Cavener Stichter and Tip Toland. Check out the video of this workshop HERE

Check out this amazing video, showcasing the time and effort that went into the work 'The Mask' by artist Michael de Forest.

Click HERE to view the full video. 

Watch Lindsey Meyers Carroll create this beautiful piece of work - 'Someday'. This piece, along with other works by Lindsey, will be on display at our 'New Works by Eleven Artists' opening April 8, 2016 - and running through May 7, 2016.

Click HERE to view the entire video.

Inside a downtown gallery maybe two decades ago – that’s where I first got McCuddined.

I recall strolling through the vast array of art when one canvas stopped me cold. It contained the disturbing image of a semi-formed man on his back.

Oh, yeah. He had a fez on his head.

I stood transfixed, posing mental questions about what I was seeing, like …

Who pushed the Shriner onto the grass? How did his fez stay on?

Muted bruised colors added to the mental mystery, giving the subject a dreamy, back-lit look.

Great art is supposed to prod and provoke. Being thoroughly weirded-out is some powerful voodoo, too.

Admittedly I’m working from the haze of memory here, but I recall asking a gallery worker about who was behind this Twilight Zone-worthy scene called “Fallen Farsi.”

“That’s a Mel McCuddin,” I was told.

Link to the full story HERE

Ask to tour his studio and Harold Balazs just laughs. “A studio, in my book,” he says, “has to have a hole in the roof and a naked lady on a chair or something.” 

Balazs isn’t being fresh. At age 87, with 60-plus years, hundreds of artworks and a legacy of innovation to his credit, Balazs is, above all, a working artist.

“I’ve never had a ‘job,’ not in my whole life,” says Balazs, who has supported himself as an artist since his early 20s. Much of his work has been produced at the eastern Washington acreage he calls Mead Art Works.

Click here to view the full article

The World According to Mel McCuddin

Click here to view the video

PHOTO SPHERE OF THE GALLERY

Take a virtual tour through the gallery. Click on the link below and then navigate your way through the gallery with your mouse.  Once you master the navigation, you can go up the stairs and view the mezzanine, zoom in on artwork or go back out the front door for a street view.

We hired local photographer, Sean Young, to photograph our "Best of the Basement" show.  He sent the images in to Google, who "stitched" them together to form the photo sphere.

CLICK HERE FOR A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE GALLERY.