Lake Street Studios Center Gallery hosts Walker, Sturges, Richmonds
From staff reports
“Bodies,” an exhibition oil paintings of water by Steven Walker, opens Aug. 9 at the Center Gallery at Lake Street Studios, 6023 S. Lake St. in Glen Arbor. There will be a reception for the artist at 6 p.m. Walker, a resident of Westerfield, Ohio, uses bodies of water to illustrate light and the ways in which it is conveyed in crashing waves, ponds, creeks and streams. In addition to his studio practice, Walker teaches oil painting at the McConnell Arts Center in Columbus, Ohio. “Bodies” continues through Aug. 15.
Next up, Grand Rapids painter Holly Sturges offers a peek into her “Market Basket,” an exhibition of still lifes inspired by the groceries she purchases for her dinners. Her exhibit opens Aug. 16 with a 6 p.m. reception at Center Gallery. In addition to oil paintings of the fresh fruits and vegetables stocking the artist’s pantry, Sturges will also exhibit plein air paintings inspired by the Sleeping Bear Dunes. The Dunes’ terrain and the beauty of its ecology have been the artist’s focus since her 2009 artist residency with the Glen Arbor Art Association. Sturges will conduct a painting demonstration, Aug. 18, 1 p.m. at Center Gallery. She’ll create a still life setting in the spirit of her “Market Basket” paintings, and talk about how she turns familiar foods into art. There is no charge. “Market Basket” continues through Aug. 22.
Finally, “Pastoral: Cluck, Cluck, Bah”, an exhibition of critters in the local landscape by painters Ken and Joan Richmond, opens Aug. 23, with a 6 p.m. reception at Center Gallery. The Richmonds’ own habitat is the urban Traverse City, where they tend to a flock of backyard chickens. This close relationship to farm animals helped inspire the new works created for the Center Gallery show. If there is a theme unifying the painters’ work, it is “animals — cows, goats, sheep, whatever is grazing in Leelanau County,” said Joan Richmond, who paints in gouache. She teaches painting and typography at Northwester Michigan College. Ken Richmond, a watercolorist, heads an architectural practice, also in Traverse City. “Pastoral” continues at Center Gallery through Aug. 29.
For more information about these openings, call Lake Street Studios at (231) 334-3179.
