A reception for the March Parish Hall artists will be held on Friday, March 16, from 5:00-8:00 p.m. All are welcome!

Anne B. Parker
We live in a world intensely dominated by language. For me there is great power, relief, and delight in that which is ineffable or cannot be articulated in words.
My work is at the intersection of abstraction and representation. How I begin each piece is important. I begin with a quick gesture or action painting with gesso. The gesture is derived from, and in response to, an object or image to which I am drawn. I find in these images or objects a unique presence or power. In a sense they are epiphanies as described by James Joyce; “Its soul, its whatness, leaps to us from the vestment of its appearance. The soul of the commonest object… seems to us radiant.”
The painted gesture becomes the underlying structure of the work. I then develop and alter it by emphasizing line, value and texture through the addition of charcoal, graphite, and occasionally acrylic paint and through subtraction by wiping away and erasing. Through this process areas of concentrated energy, movement, shapes, and openings emerge. It is my hope that some of these pieces will be epiphanies to the viewer, as they are to me.

James Edward Scherbarth
www.jamesedwardscherbarth.com
James Edward Scherbarth (Jim) lives and creates in Minnesota. Largely self-taught, he works in photography, digital montage, painting and kumihimo art jewelry with themes about layers, patinas and the passage of time.
My art is about passion, process and patinas. Reclaiming my creativity after a corporate career, I am passionate about working with my hands, expressing my inner voice and creating artful objects and images. My process is an intuitive one of constructing and deconstructing, of collecting, blending, erasing, blurring, marking and clarifying. It is a kind of archeology, an excavation of the image from my creative subconscious and revealing the story within it; the emotion, the memory or history behind it. Finally my work is about patinas - acquired over time, the evidentiary marks of experience, the unspoken history of life and its accumulation of layers. Layers built over time and into timelessness: layers of color, the shadowy layers of memories, and reflections of nature. Each image – whether a painting, a digital montage or piece of art jewelry – is an emotional statement, a memory recalled, or a fleeting glimpse of nature’s diverse beauty. For me this process becomes a conversation, creating a new language of markings and gestures. Your contemplation of my work makes you witness to my journey and welcomes you into the conversation – let’s talk!

_Tom Blackstone, lifelong Unitarian and native of Omaha, Nebraska, began drawing as soon as he could pick up a pencil, and he has never stopped. He is self-taught. Acrylic, felt pen, and a unique style of wallpaper collage are his favorite media. When asked what inspires him or what his creative process is, he quickly responds, "It just comes out of my head." He has had several shows in Omaha. The pieces on display represent five decades of work. Tom would be delighted to be at Unity Church to meet everyone but Parkinsons keeps him from traveling. John F. Blackstone, his brother, and Linda Kjerland are excited to bring you these colorful and engaging works of art.

Jimmy Reagan: www.throughjimmyseyes.com                                                        
"Where there's a will thereis a way." Eliza Cook
Jimmy Reagan was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota on July 6th, 1993.  He is the middle of 5 children and has autism. He has been sick and isolated much of his life until the emergence of his love of art.  He currently lives and works in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.

Jimmy loves the Dutch Masters, Impressionism, Cubism and Pop Art. Renown artists, Rembrandt, van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso and Warhol inspire and fuel his imagination.  He works mainly in oil pastels, colored pencils, pen and paint to create single and multi-media pieces.

Jimmy's style is both distinct and uniquely his own. Bright electric color infuses his images as do short, lines he defined as 'tick marks". These "tick marks" permeate his art and characterize his style. Jimmy.  Jimmy uses strong elements of light and perspective reminiscent of Rembrandt.  His work, especially cityscapes, clearly illustrate this interest in light and perspective. He borrows van Gogh's characteristic thick paint and translates it into more dense color in his pieces.  Jimmy's perception of the world is extraordinary; he lives in a bold world full of color and beauty, his art offers a window into that world.

Jimmy's favorite subjects are portraits (people and animals) and cityscapes. He is particularly drawn to van Gogh.  Jimmy seems to share van Gogh's understanding of movement and nature's beauty reflected around him. When viewing Jimmy's portraits, notice that the subject is always looking the viewer straight in the eye. This is particularly interesting given that for those with autism, including Jimmy, making eye contact is mostly illusive. Jimmy makes eye contact with people when he is intent on communicating with them.

 He is deeply inspired by these noted artists as he infuses his own style, perspective and twists into iconic works.  The viewer is truly transported into Jimmy's world, genuinely experiencing the world as he understands it.  His world is one of bold color, imagination, and beauty which blend to express a sincere celebration of life and the world we live in.

_ Friday, January 20, 6:30-8:30 p.m.: You are invited to a reception for Pretend the World, an exhibit of artwork that responds to Unity member's Kathryn Kysar's book of poems. The show, which includes videos, installations, sculpture, paintings, and watercolors by artists Jan Elftmann, Jes Lee, Philip Noyed, and David Malcolm Scott, will be in the Parish Hall for the month of January.  There will be refreshments and viewing the art at 6:30, a musical reading/performance by Kysar and clarinetist Sean Egan at 7:00 p.m., followed by a panel discussion with the artists about this collaborative project. You can find out more about the artists and show at www.kathrynkysar.com. Kysar's book is available in the Unity Bookstall. 

Kathryn Kysar is the author of two books of poetry, Dark Lake and Pretend the World, and editor of Riding Shotgun:  Women Write About Their Mothers, a collection of essays.  She has received fellowships and residencies from Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, the Minnesota State Arts Board, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies.  Her poetry has been heard on Garrison Keillor’s A Writer’s Almanac, and her poems have been published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies.  She recently served on the board of directors for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, teaches at Anoka-Ramsey Community College and the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, and lives with her family in St. Paul. 

Artists:
With a B.F.A. in sculpture from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Jan Elftmann has been a professional artist and educator since 1986 and an Arts Board roster artist since 1989. She has taught art classes at the Walker Art Center and at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Her work has been exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally. She is the curator of the annual ArtCar Parade in Minneapolis.

Jes Lee is a visual artist and has exhibited at many venues, including Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, Bloomington Art Center, and Minnesota Center for Book Arts, with an upcoming show at Anoka Ramsey Community College. She is smitten with old cameras, film, books, and handset type. When she is not creating, she is reading and daydreaming about her next travel destination.

Painter, photographer, and mixed media artist Philip Noyed creates original artwork marked by bold colors and high-voltage compositions. Presently, he has a one-man oil painting show at The Marsh called, “Pushing Limits and Liberation,” and is showing photographs at a “Surrealism and Fantasy” photography show in Salzburg, Austria.

David Malcolm Scott received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Minnesota, but eventually pushed one muse aside for another, went back to school, and got a Masters of Fine Arts at MCAD.  He has received many awards, including several residencies at the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Arts. His paintings have shown at a number of local galleries, including Rosalux and Nina Bliese Gallery.

Clarinetist Sean Egan was born in Hammond, Indiana, and studied composition at DePaul University.  He is currently a member of the directed improvisation collective Semiconductor and the free improvisation/spoken word ensemble Full Moon Rabbit.  He has collaborated with a variety of Twin Cities artists, including the James Sewell Ballet, the International Novelty Gamelan Orchestra, Jigsaw, singer-songwriter Rick Risch, choreographer Tamara Halbritter, and poets Cary Waterman and David Weiss. His compositions have  been performed on the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's CONNECT concerts, the Minnesota Dance Alliance's Choreographer/Composer Workshops, and the North Carolina Composers Alliance's Composerworks Concerts.

__ Ellen Thomson
Tiny Compositions
Many of my paintings have been influenced by trips to Iceland but also imagery from my surroundings and my childhood. Whether intentional or not I'm collecting a visual vocabulary that appeals to my sub-conscience and any narrative found is intentionally loose and open-ended.
Waterfall, ladders, clouds, volcanoes, and horses are a few of the images that show up repeatedly. More recently I've added tornadoes, apples, birds and swing sets. I let the painting guide me while adding/layering/subtracting these ideas and constantly fighting the urge to do the predictable. My favorite part of the process is the final addition of subtle lines layered over the sometimes abstract, uncontrolled backdrops. The tactile experience of drawing brings the control back to a simple lead pencil.

_November is the month when Unity’s New Orleans Pilgrims will go on their journey south. The art in the Parish Hall this month will reveal aspects of the unique city and culture of New Orleans, in various mediums, by eight Twin Cities artists.
Daniel Beer: photography
Matt Brown: painting
Martha Eaves: fiber art
Jenny Jenkins: photography
Stuart Klipper: photography
Zannah Martin: fiber art
Lia Rivamonte: painting
Shelley Rohlf: painting

Katherine Lamm
Katherine was born and raised in Little Falls, Minnesota, and currently lives and works in South Minneapolis. She studied at the University of Minnesota and received a BFA with high distinction from California College of the Arts in San Francisco.
Katherine’s work is inspired by nature’s palette and celebrates the beautiful details of our natural world. The subject for her imagery is often found in the woods or in her own backyard. To create these images she utilizes a large format scanner, composing her subjects directly on the surface of the scanner. These high-resolution scans reveal the amazing details found in nature that we don’t otherwise notice.
Lamm is also a graphic designer and her design work has been recognized by Graphis, Print and the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), among others.

Claire Anne Thoen
New Narratives from Nordic Folk Art
  My goal is to re-imagine early Nordic folk art forms into new narratives to carry forward and translate this tradition anew.  In researching images from the 1100’s to 1900, I have been continually delighted by work that seems to be, at once, both knowing and naïve.

Stories of love, victory and morality were told in images on cupboards, wall panels and bowls.  The aspirations - extravagant and modest - of “ordinary” folk are revealed in images framed by a cupboard door just as those of wealthy patrons are framed in gold.

The work of these folk artists who enhanced daily life by making the ordinary, extraordinary inspire my images.

Fascinating cross influences of the high rococo on the folk artist as well as the under-appreciated influence of the folk artist on “fine” artists such as Edvard Munch were revealed in my research.

The sweet Scandinavian accents of my elders along with the holiday traditions of fruit soup, lefse and - yes - lutefisk, topped off with my BA in Art from St. Olaf College may have made my interest in Norse folk inevitable.

Other fine art studies include:

• Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD)
• University of Minnesota Split Rock Arts Program

My work (drawing and photography) has been selected in the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Compeition, as the Women’s Art Festival image, and was awarded at Norsk HØstfest, North America’s largest Scandinavian festival.  Exhibits include one-woman shows at Thrivent’s Corporate Headquarters, the Jon Hassler Theater, St. Barnabas Center for the Arts in Plymouth, and group shows at Holzemer Gallery, Robin Gallery, Crossings in Zumbrota, the Duluth Art Institute, Studipolis in Minneapolis and St. Paul’s AZ Gallery.

My work is in private collections in Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, Norway, Phoenix, Portland, Saint Paul, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC.