DC Land Trust Paintings A Hit At The Miller

The Miller Art Museum’s show of paintings from the Door County Land Trust, which is there until 22 December, is definitely worth at least an hour’s visit because it provides such a range of contrasts in how painters see and work.

Several painters were attracted to the red Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Pierhead Light at the end of the northern breakwater protecting the entrance of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. It’s a difficult scene to make interesting -- I get out to the south side of the canal once or twice a year  with my camera, then typically look around for something interesting in the foreground, shoot the red building, then the lighthouse, shrug it off and drive away. 

So I was impressed by Malin Ekman’s image which looks across the canal through a corridor of brightly painted trees and a pathway that carries on with just as much color as the tree trunks. Not for her some unreasonable adherence to representation by dulling down her image with a beige strip resembling sand. She has also divided the canvas into a large square painting of the pierhead light and foghorn and, separated by a strip of gold paint across the canvas, she has painted a slim three-inch high horizontal painting of the canal and breakwater as seen from perhaps half a mile inland. She took on a very familiar -- not to say grossly over-photographed and over-painted -- scene and made it work on her own terms.

All the paintings were supposed to be done at Land Trust’s many locations around the county, although one or two seem to have been “inspired by” rather than painted on location. It’s  fascinating to see how differently painters approach landscape, even the same landscape. 

Next to the canal property, the Three Springs Nature Preserve in Sister Bay may have been the most popular. Karen Cook painted it as a hot summer afternoon, the colors nearly bleached out by the sun with only a fringe of green surviving the heat -- a feel I have tried for in my photography with not even a hint of success. Pam Murphy, who usually does intriguing images loosely based on vintage photographs and then worked up in layers of paint and other materials including gold leaf, said she found her foray into landscape interesting and enjoyable.

She chose an eye-level view through tree trunks with a white center in the middle distance asking for attention, while the view upward through the leaves reveals a sky done in gold leaf. The result is stunning. 

David Kapszukiewicz painted Three Springs late in a July afternoon and came away with a wealth of color. Brigitte Kozma also found rich color in the grasses, autumn trees, the water and a dark blue sky with circling clouds. She worked on canvas wrapped around wide stretchers so the viewer sees two or three inches of the painting when approaching from either side, or presumably also from the bottom and the top of the painting.

Bonnie Paruch admits painting Three Springs partly from memory of a past summer with more water and richer colors that the relatively dry 2012 afforded her. Her rich pastels stand out in the main room of the museum. 

Donna Brown picked another popular location, Kangaroo Lake and worked in oil and cold wax on paper for an intriguing textured image.

Lori Beringer didn’t entirely throw representation to the wind in “Crowning Glory,” a mass of wildflowers in the wind against a distant background of field and trees. Like many of the successful paintings here, it is highly evocative rather than offering any detailed description.

Rick Risch concentrated in a section of a large birch trunk with its white bark and black markings in a winter sky when leaves were gone. The large tree, and smaller companions, become studies in texture and color. 

In another interesting approach to the landscape, Shan Bryan-Hanson divided her two canvases of Kangaroo Lake with a column of Door County rocks inserted between the stretchers.

Audrey Off was one of the few to include animal life in her painting of an osprey fixing a nest on a platform set on a tall pole near her home. She had watched the ospreys nest in an old electric transmission tower; when it was replaced with the tall steel towers that run from the canal and up Hwy. 42-57, The American Transmission Co., erected a platform for the birds and moved their existing nest. It took two years for the pair to return, and Off captured their next repair work with obvious delight.

Rob Williams, who paints in Gills Rock, has a magnificent large painting looking down to Ellison Bay -- all done in huge blocks of red and yellow foliage in the foreground.  The size of his painting and the boldness of his composition work superbly.

The catalog for the show is well designed but the reproductions are muddy -- ruinous for the the paintings whether they rely on bold or subtle colors, detail or commanding fields of color.

Finding Fresh Views in Door County

Moon over water imagery always makes me think of horrible paintings on black velvet at gas stations along the Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach. Not quite sure why. So if you had told me about Bonnie Paruch’s painting of “Moonlight on Rowley’s Bay” you would have aroused by skepticism. The work is stunning, as you can see from her Web site on P. 2. (Funny, if you click on the image it comes up with the caption "Rowley’s Bat Moon") 

It’s pretty easy to see why this is so good. She cheats. At least from a photographer’s viewpoint. She builds up the paint and turns the moon’s reflection into edgy pools of bright color on the canvas. It’s a very tough act for mere photography to follow.

It’s also not something that can be done in watercolor. The oil-paint-wielding landscape painters have dominated the Plein Air festival that the Peninsula School of Art has sponsored for 6 years; only two participants this year were doing watercolor. 

Painting has also become much looser, much bolder, around the county, I think. (See Nancy Keyser’s description of her work, in watercolor, below.)  Both Paruch, who has just opened her own gallery in Ellison Bay, and Tom Nachreiner, a Plein Art mainstay from Delafield, paint with power. Tom had a painting of a seagull on the beach at Edgewood Orchard over the summer.  As a cliche of Sunday painters, a seagull painting might fall just a notch or two below a sailboat passing a lighthouse in a ranking of Door County cliches, but Nachreiner’s is a strong painting that had me debating with someone in gallery over which one of us should be able to take it home. Unfortunately, neither of us had our checkbooks. 

The painting looks like late afternoon sun on Lake Michigan, with waves piling up in warm whites and yellows  as they prepare to assault the beach. The bright color in the foreground is backed by surly dark water stretching to the horizon. The gull, alone on the beach, struts in front of the wave as if he owns the place. Indeed, the water appears to parted just before him to make his stroll an easy one.

The handling of the paint makes it work. (Also see his ducks in images 13-18 on the Edgewood Orchard site which I think are far more interesting as paintings than the images of ducks he displays under Wildlife on his own site. 


Rolf Olson, whose Shades of Gray photographs have been appearing on Facebook, takes a  decidedly different approach -- he reduced his images, which are of simple and well defined subjects like a tree trunk, to just shades of gray. 

The idea doesn’t sound very interesting, but I like the images a lot. My thinking here  reminds me of the French saying, “Yes, I know it works in practice, but does it work in theory?”  You can see his images on Facebook and he hopes to find a wall somewhere in the county to hang some prints this winter. I look forward to seeing the prints.

Door County is a gorgeous place. For an artist, that can be a source of frustration -- where do you turn for a fresh picture? Cave Point is rarely the answer.

A Personal Guide to Door County Restaurants

This starts with Sturgeon Bay and covers restaurants north that we have been to.

Door County has some great attractions in food, fun and art. We have been surprised that even people who have been coming to Door County for years don’t know some of the great attractions. So we have put together a list of some of our favorites, just in case you every decided to get away from the cottage and do something.

The county abounds in places that do a wonderful and consistent job of serving the basics -- burgers, steaks, prime rib, fried fish and chicken. Portions are almost uniformly big to huge and if you have any interest in dessert, consider splitting an entree.

Many of these places look pretty unpromising from the outside, and several look much the same inside. Don’t be put off -- the food is great and if they haven’t wasted money on decor, perhaps that has helped hold down the menu prices. Casual to sloppy attire is acceptable everywhere in Door County, although at a few places up north like Mission Grille, the Waterfront, or the Inn at Kristophers, you might feel better in something like khakis rather than ripped painters’ jeans.

The Nightingale Supper Club

The bar opens at 4 and food starts at 5.

The big bar is probably out of the seventies and run by owner Dave and our favorite bartender, Julie, who has been helping to upgrade the wine list. If your idea of a proper drink is half a pint of ice cream and some liquor, this is the place. We don’t know what they are called and hesitate to guess the calories, but they are popular.

Specials each night -- the crowded parking lot on Thursday is because it is prime rib night, but that means just a dollar off, so don’t hesitate to order it other nights, because the place is known for it. Other great items are fish fry on Fridays (pan fried perch is excellent and available other nights as well) and tenderloin with asparagus. Entrees come with big salads and warm bread.

The wine list is good and getting better, and I will take some credit -- I helped connect the sales rep from Left Bank, out of Madison, with the supper club and they have picked up some great new wines at moderate prices -- ask Julie for more information.

Papa Murphy's

Up the hill a ways at the Mobil station is Papa Murphy's Pizza. What a great idea -- freshly prepared pizzas you take home and bake for 15 minutes or so. We like the everything from the veggie gourmet to the cowboy with lots of meat. You can call ahead, or just show up. Yeah, we do cook but we love this for busy nights when we need a great dinner without fuss. Diane’s vegetable and fruit stand in the parking lot is a great place to pick up fresh corn, strawberries and anything else in season -- no need to wait for a farmer’s market.  

Brick Lane

Nest door to the Third Avenue Playhouse, it is under new ownership. Stick to the basics and don't bother with a Bloody Mary --- theirs are awful. 

Crate

Formerly 136 on Third Avenue the interior has been redone and the food is superb, especially raw oysters and sushi. Good wine and beer list. Have been there only once, opening night, so the review is skimpy on detail, but we will be back. 

Del Santos

A lovely Italian place on Third. We enjoyed every time we ate there.  They have added a wine bar, so you can have a glass before dinner if you are waiting for friends to join you.

Corner Cafe has replaced Pudgy Seagull, and if the name is a little less enticing, the food is still good. Great for breakfast, quick service and reasonable prices.

Inn at Cedar Crossing

We used to love it for breakfast - great hash, eggs, and excellent baked goods along with home-made jam, but our latest visits were misses -- yes, you can screw up eggs and toast. They have a pretty varied menu with prices meant to keep the locals coming all year long with sandwiches and inexpensive pasta choices at dinner, along with more sophisticated offerings. it is also relatively quiet so anyone with hearing aids will enjoy being able to hear and converse.

Red Room

On Third, just down from the library. This is one of those places that hasn’t changed much since, well probably since it was built. But the burgers are great and under $5 with a beer. Attracts locals including retirees who sit around chatting at length and young women meeting up for a break from the working day. 

West Side

Greystone Inn

Another one of those places that looks a bit forbidding on the outside, has been around forever and features great burgers and steak sandwiches at lunch along with a good beer selection. Supposed to have a wonderful prime rib too, but we haven’t made it for dinner. 

Blue Front Cafe

The Blue Front Cafe, in a former shoe store, has an imaginative menu with some Asian-themed dishes and a great selection of moderately priced wines, courtesy of Left Bank. if you are tired of steaks and burgers, or have a vegan in the family, this is the place to go.

Kitty O’Reilly’s

Irish bar with an excellent Left Bank wine list, a big outdoor terrace where you can bring your dog, smoke, and enjoy music on summer nights. The food is excellent. Try the pulled pork if they have it on the menu; the chef is great and the specials are worth trying.  The fish and chips is done right there with a great home-made batter and is easily enough for two, and a cod wrap recently was great. They make a wicked Bloody Mary. It has become our favorite place.

heading up the hill and out of town

Scaturo's Baking and Cafe Company

Bakery and restaurant. They have a fine breakfast, excellent coffee cakes (the apple and cherry turnovers seem to have a lot of air) and daily specials. Wednesday is 2 for 1 bread day, but with loaves selling for $7 or so I am not convinced it is a great deal. Still, check it out -- neat combinations of ingredients in their breads. Two doors up is

Marchants

 A local version of the meat specialist/grocery store in Brussels, it has home-made brats,   steaks, and a few Belgian specialties along with a growing list of prepared items like potato salads and pizzas. Hard to walk out without at least a pound of brats and a steak or two. 

Woldt’s Corner

Across the street from Walgreens on the highway, it has excellent steaks, excellent pan-fried perch, and the best Bloody Marys ever, says my wife. Well, maybe matched by Kitty's.

Richard’s 

Maplewood on Rt 42 and H. This is a bit of a drive, but if you are hungry coming back from Green Bay, or the next time you drive up to Door County, consider stopping. The pizza is neck and neck with Neighborhood Pub and the old-fashioned bar is a treat. Wonderful specials, mediocre wine selection. When Keli lived in the neighborhood, we were regulars -- not so much now that it is 12 miles away.

North of Sturgeon Bay

The Mill

At the intersection of Highways 42 and 57. If the Nightingale is a throwback to the 70s, this goes back to the 50s. The bar is okay, the food is wonderful. The family style chicken -- all you can eat for two or more people -- is what your imaginary grandmother would have made for you if she really knew how to cook. Tender chicken, excellent gravy, mashed potatoes...Only trouble is, once or twice a week it competes with all you can eat prime rib. What? All you can eat prime rib?

Sounds like a sure money loser and we went to do our best. We didn’t get through one each. But, they said, one customer has eaten eight. Good thing for the Mill that almost no one else can get close to that record. The prime rib is as good as any we have eaten.

Glidden Lodge

Enjoy a view of Lake Michigan and to the north, the dunes of Whitefish Bay State Park are visible. The Lodge has a nice bar, excellent food salad bar and German specialties on Wednesday. It has an wonderful escargot dish. Excellent lobster tails, and lamb.

Fish Creek
 Bayside Tavern has great pizza among its entrees, comfy local pub place open year round.

The Cookery

Wine bar, restaurant, an outdoor balcony with a view of the main drag. Open for breakfast once again, I think. Emphasis on local food.

Coopers Corner

I don’t think we have eaten anything other than appetizers at the terrace bar which is a lot of fun.

Wild Tomato

Great pizzas and also salmon sandwiches. Dog friendly, outdoor seating, very popular so they opened a second facility in a building around back for takeout.

White Gull Inn

Voted best breakfast in the country for their stuffed cherry French toast on one of the morning news shows, a justified honor.  Also does fish boils. Expect a wait during the busy season for breakfast especially. 


Gibralter Grill

Deservedly popular with excellent sandwiches at lunch and an extensive list of beers and wines. Try the appetizer sampler -- almost enough for lunch with bruschetta, artichoke dip and spicy guacamole -- half price during Monday Happy Hour, we were told. Out door seating and a bar area that is under cover and open in good weather but with roll down clear plastic and space heaters. Also permits dogs in the outdoor area.

Heading north toward Ephraim.

English Inn

Good food, excellent service, pricey.

Alexander’s
One of the more imaginative menus in the county.


SIster Bay

Bier

From the Wild Tomato folks who plan to attach a second restaurant next year, this is a great addition -- a small place with a great list of Belgian and other beers in front, tacos in back. Try the mussels and fries -- moules frites -- which are excellent, and they have Orval and some Belgian monastary beers and a good wine list.
 

Baileys Harbor

Fish Market Grille

On the lake with outdoor dining. Step up from a fish boil to a lobster boil, but it will cost you at least $100 for two. My brother ate there this summer and said the bread rolls were stale and the wait staff a bit indifferent. We like lunch — great lobster roll sandwiches.

Chives

New to Door County in 2014, this is a branch of a well regarded restaurant located a few miles west of Green Bay. Best dinner she’s ever had in Door County, said Keli of her chick marsala. Steak Frites was a huge well-marbled steak with thin perfectly cooked frites the first time we went, second time not so great, perhaps it had been thawed in a microwave, Definitely disappointing. They are known for a great wine list, although the Door County has a ways to go in catching up to the mother ship. It’s in the heart of Baileys Harbor on the inland side of Hwy. 57

Pasta Vino

We are delighted that this has moved down from Ellison Bay to the Maxwelton Braes golf course and resort on Hwy. 57 south of Baileys Harbor. Excellent food including, to our surprise, perfectly done mussels.

Coyote Roadhouse

On Kangaroo Lake off Hwy. 57. Popular with locals and visitors, great prime rib, very casual, some outdoor tables.

Nancy Keyser Paints Rural Wisconsin -- No Lighthouses Please

Nancy Keyser was on a roll this summer, painting every day at her summer home on Green Bay in Southern Door County.

“When I get back to my home in Virginia, my other life often interferes with my painting, but here I am getting to work every morning and the work is flowing for me this summer.”

She describes her work as representational, but loose representation. She likes barns and shapes, architectural things, she explains, launching into descriptions of barns and outhouses on farms around the area, barns that have too often fallen apart, were torn down and replaced by charmless metal structures. 

Bales of hay are added to a foreground sketch of a barn where none appeared in the photograph -- that’s just a part of the advantage of painting over photography.

“My students often start with very tight images ob they think it has to be exactly like the photo, I try to get them to change the photo to get a better composition, why paint the photo? If you have a photo, use it as a reference but not something you want to copy. It’s the hardest thing to get them away from that.

“I tell them what someone told me, that Mother Nature didn’t go to art school, so you really have to make it a better composition even if it wasn’t like that in the field. Sometimes you exaggerate things in a painting, like the shadows, to get a better design. There comes a point in a painting where you do what is best for the painting and don’t worry about making it look like a photo.”

This summer she has found the more painting she does, the easier it gets.

She points to a painting of a farmer on a horse-drawn tiller with four-foot high steel-rimmed wheels, whose roundness is echoed in the round rumps of the horses and providing a bit of inspiration to Keyser, who is tempted to create an image of rumps on barstools at the Red Room in Sturgeon Bay, one of her family’s favorite lunch spots. 

Not to worry, patrons -- she takes sufficient liberty with her subjects that few behinds would be recognizable in a finished painting.

“I try to get looser and looser, in my painting,” she added. 

She points to a painting of a farmer on a horse-drawn tiller, the roundness of the wheels echoed in the round rumps of the horses and providing a bit of inspiration to Keyser, who is tempted to create a version, in photography or watercolor, of rumps on barstools at the Red Room in Sturgeon Bay, one of her family’s favorite haunts. 

Not to worry, patrons -- she takes sufficient liberty with her subjects that few behinds would be recognizable in a finished painting.

In 25 years of watercolor painting, she has continued to pursue learning, taking classes from painters she admires -- Gerhard Miller, Phil Austen, Jack Anderson, Nancy Crosby, Bridget Austin and Emmett Johns, among others, even while students in Virginia eagerly sign up to learn from her.

She showed her work this summer at the Martinez Studio, focused on rural Wisconsin, not necessarily Door County. And no lighthouses. 

“I used to paint lighthouses and landmarks, but I think that has been pretty well taken care of in the art world up here, and it doesn’t fascinate me any more.”

She points to a picture of a chicken with a spotted breast and sides against a fluid background of blue and rust. She used the method she learned from Sharon Crosbie, who starts with a light wash, then added the chicken, and then darkened the background to make the chicken pop out. Working with wet, or partly wet paint, some of the watercolors will blend into each other.

The painting took about two weeks, starting with the light and then adding dark areas as she went along..

“You look at it and see what it needs.”

Watercolor requires some careful planning, especially when it comes to choosing the areas that will be white -- you can’t go back and paint white over dark the way an oil painter can.

Keyser, however, said she doesn’t find it harder.

“Not for me because I don’t know how to do oil or acrylic. I am going to take some classes in oil, but your brain has to reverse itself. Emmett (Johns) does everything, but most people find a niche they are comfortable in.” She has taken several courses with him including figure drawing and pastel classes.

“Emmett is a fantastic teacher. He is is the most multi-talented artist up here, I think. Portraits, abstractions and landscapes -- he does them all well.

“Usually I study with is someone because I really like their work and want to see their process. By watching their process you can learn a lot. This spring I studied with Tom Francesconi in Ellison Bay. I t was wonderful just observing how he uses the brushes and learning what goes on in his mind before he starts to paint, which he is very good at explaining. I don't expect to come out with a painting from a class, I just come out with ideas.”

Time To Start Thinking - The Book

Edward Luce, the chief U.S. columnist at the Financial Times at the Financial Times, has distilled the major challenges facing the United States into a single readable, not-too-long (292 pages) book.

Anyone who follows politics will be familiar with some of the problems he cites, but seeing so many of them in one volume can be provocative, not to mention depressing.

Near the end of the book is a line that sums up his views: “America is losing its ability to tackle problems.”

Luce doesn’t offer a list of solutions at the end, but he really doesn’t need to. Many of the problems would be fairly simple to solve. He offers at least two key reasons that they aren’t.

One is the belief, American exceptionalism, that America is superior to everyone else. The NY Times’ Thomas Friedman expertly lampooned this in an imaginary cable from the Chinese embassy in Washington.

“...Americans...travel abroad so rarely that they don’t see how far they are falling behind. Which is why we at the embassy find it funny that Americans are now fighting over how “exceptional” they are. Once again, we are not making this up. On the front page of The Washington Post on Monday there was an article noting that Republicans Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee are denouncing Obama for denying ‘American exceptionalism.’ The Americans have replaced working to be exceptional with talking about how exceptional they still are.”

This leads to unwarranted complacency.

A second barrier to action is ideology. America used to pride itself on pragmatism. The question to ask of a policy or business practice or government action was simple -- does it work?

Free trade, open markets, tight visa and immigration controls and financial deregulation have taken on the role of ideology -- isn’t it time to ask how these policies are working, especially in the face of competition from countries with strong state governance of their economies? Shouldn’t the rise of China make Americans ask whether industrial policy always fails? Other countries are raising the question, especially after the financial crash led by deregulated banks sent America into a recession.

Over the last two decades, at least, the U.S. has seen a rise in economic insecurity for the American middle class, once the basis of American prosperity. Luce convincingly links this decline to the erosion of manufacturing jobs. GM workers in the 1960s earned the equivalent of $60,000 today plus health care and pension benefits. A Walmart employee earns about $17,500 with few, if any, benefits. Moving from manufacturing to service work usually leads to at least a 20 percent cut in pay. Meanwhile health insurance has become so expensive that people stay in jobs with health coverage rather than starting their own businesses because they can’t risk going without insurance and they can’t afford it at individual rates. 

Industrial policy is often opposed by economists, especially those in Washington who are well removed from the nation’s industrial heartland, because it interferes with the market. Let the grimy industrial jobs move overseas to be replaced by high-level service and intellectual work, they contend. (They might worry more now that off-shoring has moved up the skills chain. Investment reports are prepared by Indians who can read company reports as well as anyone on Wall Street, X-rays are examined by radiologists anywhere in the world after moving across fiber optic lines,  It’s probably just a matter of time before economists can be outsourced as well.)

Industrial leaders tend to be more practical and more activist than anyone in national politics. (Left and Right labels just don’t help much here.) 

Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, told Luce: “If you even whisper the phrase ‘industrial policy’ in Washington, D.C. today then, within twenty-four hours you will be stoned to death. I mean, China is out there eating our lunch every day but we still won’t challenge the orthodoxy.”

Of the world’s 10 largest airlines, all of whom are customers for GE engines, only Southwest is an American firm. Immelt said that unlike the decades after World War II when American executives rarely traveled outside the country and government officials were world travelers seeking to contain communism, these days Washington has a very parochial view and business executives live on planes as they travel the world to visit their plants and customers. 

“Do I think Washington gets how fast and far America’s role is shrinking in the world? Doesn’t seem like it to me,” said Immelt. Leaving industrial policy to chance while China, and others, have active industrial promotion, is just stupid, as Robert Reich has been saying and writing for years.  

Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, suggests taxing the off-shoring of jobs and getting over the idea that the free market is the best possible system. Luce notes that while China’s leadership is dominated by engineers, engineers are almost entirely lacking in Washington leadership which is run by lawyers and MBAs, not to mention marketing and public relations pros. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in a meeting with Silicon Valley firms, didn’t know what a semi-conductor was, and then kept referring to them as supercolliders.

An Oregon official recounted drinks with officials in Taiwan who, later in the evening, started laughing at America. 

“Please keep sending us jobs,” they said. “I realized when they let down their guard that they saw America as a joke. It was a real shock to me.”

Luce is devastating on Washington bureaucracy and its priorities. Germany spends $1 billion a year on trade shows; Washington spends $30 million. The Pentagon runs 23,000 IT systems, the federal government has 56 separate programs to improve financial literacy and still has the lowest rate of income mobility in the industrialized world.

U.S. spending on infrastructure, as percentage of GDP, is less than half Europe’s and under a third of China’s. DARPA, which created the Internet, was restricted to military research only in the 1980s and saw its budget cut.

He describes Washington’s political class as the frog in water as it heats to a boil -- they don’t realize what is happening until it is too late. But it works for them right now -- ten of the twenty richest counties in the country are in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

He said the U.S. needs relief from Sarbanes-Oxley especially for small companies and a permanent tax credit for research and development -- Congress insists on maintaining its power to renew the credit annually, making long-term business plans difficult.

Green policies are routinely defeated by oil and coal interests -- he says fossil fuels own Washington.  Or it might be defense contractors -- the five largest spend $100 million a year each on lobbying. 

Meanwhile, the President has 3,000 positions that require Congressional approval, the disclosure forms are ridiculously detailed and Congressional approval can take months, all of which discourages a lot of smart people from serving in government. Luce makes a comment I haven’t seen anywhere else -- a lot of Congressional committees are now run by chairs who are second-rate in every way except raising money. 

It’s later than Americans think, says Luce. The country desperately needs industrial strength innovation, not just social media, but it has fallen steeply in global rankings for innovation.

“To overcome a problem, you must first recognize that it exists,” an entrepreneur told him. 

Doerr And Martinez Show In New York City

Shortly after Michael Doerr, the fine furniture maker in Sturgeon Bay, had decided to show his work at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York, he was on the phone with Troy Hanson, the show’s director. They discussed finding someone to show their work on the walls behind his chairs and tables.  A short time later his wife, Bobbi, said Sandra Martinez had called and asked if she and Wence could show their rugs and wall-hangings with Doerr. Sandra Martinez said once she had sent images of Wence’s work to Hanson, he immediately accepted them into the show, described the rugs as “trophy work,” and said the MADE exhibition has nothing else like it.

On Saturday afternoon, three days into the four-day show, they were feeling a little tired but also exhilarated by all the positive attention from people who had paid $25 for the show ticket -- 40,000 were expected including hundreds of interior designers and architects who got in free.

 Doerr and Martinez were exhibiting in a section called MADE where 160 artisans and artists were showing a juried selection of limited edition and one-of-a-kind fine art objects, furniture, and lighting. 

Most of the show floor was large commercial displays of high end products for the home including  home furnishings,  kitchen and bath products, flooring, fabric, lighting, and outdoor products. For the fourth year the show also included Dining By Design -- an areas devoted to incredibly elaborate table settings and lighting.

Home Design, located on an enclosed pier on the Hudson River, was a change from the low-key, low--stress world of Door County, but both teams were enjoying themselves and finding New Yorkers pleasant to talk with. Doerr does one one or two fine furniture shows a year, although this was his first time in the Home Design Show. Sandra said that in the 18 years of operating their gallery just south of Jacksonport on Hwy. 57, this is the first time they have done any show.

“We’ve had some people come by who really know weaving,” said Sandra. And they were very impressed by the intricate patterns which she designs and Wence executes. They also appreciated the range of hand-spun wool colors and the organic dyes Wence used in much of the work. 

“You are honoring your tradition but you are furthering it and keeping it alive,” one visitor told them.

Doerr, who works in northern hardwood such as oak, maple, cherry and Kentucky coffee nut, makes chairs with a flowing design and a solid feel he attributes in part to his use of the Sam Maloof joint. 

After working for several years building large wooden sailing boats for the Olympus Boat company in central Wisconsin, where he worked with Master shipwright Ferdinand Nimphius, he decided to apply his woodworking skills to furniture. His chairs sell for $2,300 while benches and tables vary in price by size and complexity. The wood is treated with a hand-rubbed oil finish.

He too was pleased to find people who understood the value of his work.

“I like it and I’m already thinking of next year,” he said. “I’ve talked to educated people who understand this is not your mother’s chair, but one with high end design and sculptural aspects.”

By Satuday afternoon the Door County artisans had heard many expressions of interest. Several interior decoratos asked for detailed information about their work, including how long it took to produce a piece and what sizes they could work in. 

Doerr said nothing is certain until a check arrives, but he recalled a show he did several years ago. A man showed interest in the work and then somewhat over a year ago ordered a table that occupied Doerr for nearly nine months. 

Plein Air Artists Brave Ephraim Ban

Doesn't look hostile -- not a submarine in sight

Despite warnings that Ephraim

 might be hostile territory and kick out artists painting on village property, a few Plein Air festival artists braved the place on Tuesday, 

Visitors who had been looking for the Plein Artists were relieved to finally find a couple

although most apparently chose to pitch their easels on private property where they had permission. 

Convoluted story about the convoluted controversy is below.

Ephraim Bans [Only Some] Outdoor Painting

        Plein Air Artists Leave Town 

Tuesday, which is traditionally the day Plein Air artists participating in the Peninsula School of Art’s week-long festival are working in the Ephraim, saw only a handful painting in the village. A village decision to limit the functions of a painting and sales program linked to the summer-long concert series had spawned a warning letter from the art school director to the Plein Air artists who stayed away from Ephraim.  

Kathy Hoke was protecting her artists and her events, based on Ephraim town board discussions and her understanding of board attitudes. 

She gave a letter to the Plein Air artists saying:


"Recently the Village of Ephraim Board has made some decisions, which appear to impact the Door County Plein Air Festival. There is some question whether painters are permitted to paint on public property (parks, beaches, Anderson Dock, etc.).  Ephraim officials, who have faced a number of calls complaining about the absence of painters in the village, said the controversy had been manufactured by people trying to stir up trouble. Others with close understanding of the local politics, said the village officials were backpedalling furiously after public outcry over the restrictions. 

Even in its most draconian interpretation, the ordinance didn't have any effect on the gallery grounds artists have set up their easels in past years, and they are always free to ask hotels, restaurants and churches to work on their property.

But for some artists, the idea that they might be asked to leave was enough for them to take Ephraim off their plans. One told me that when she is working on a painting, she wants to be completely focused on her work, without worrying that someone might tell her to leave or even to move partway through a scene. 

The school had cautioned artists that they may be in violation of a local ordinance if they painted on Village property and warned them that if they did paint on public property they shouldn’t wear their Plein Air t-shirts and badges. Judging from the few easels in sight throughout the village, most just stayed away and found other places to work. Fine Line Designs Gallery, on the north end of town, had an empty front yard -- except for its wonderful flowers and sculpture, where last year two dozen artists were working away. 

Shari Gransee, the gallery director, said about 300 people came to watch the artists last year, and while they didn’t buy large art (galleries across the county say most Plein Air spectators are waiting for the weekend auctions and significant sales almost dry up during the week) they did purchase some smaller items like jewelry. Today there were only occasional visitors asking if they had the right day, and where the artists were. The three major Door County galleries -- Edgewood Orchard, Fine LIne and Woodwalk -- all host painting days for the Plein Air festival, events that attract hundreds of people to watch the artists on the gallery grounds. Many smaller galleries also open their grounds to the Plein Air participants.

Cox, the village president, said the Ephraim Business Council, which has sponsored the Monday night concert series in Harborside Park from mid-June to mid -August,  this year added a painting event in collaboration with the Hardy Gallery. The EBC printed up the concert series, with the addition of painting for the entire concert season, in a calendar it released in March. It then went to the Village Planning Committee just before the filing deadline for the agenda to reauthorize the concerts.

The concerts were permitted, but objections from two local village art galleries led the committee to deny permission for the sale of open air paintings made on public property during the series. Eventually they decided the artists could demonstrate their skills but not sell or even promote their sales. 

“We have had a village policy for decades that anybody using village property such as a public park for profit could be competing with village taxpayers, like galleries,” said Cox. “The planning committee and the village board are not in the business to say no to people. If we can find a way to work with groups, especially nonprofits, we endeavor to do that. The EBC, in collaboration with the Hardy Gallery, decided to do this way in advance of coming to the village.”

The decision would appear to cover any artist on public property who plans to sell the work, including selling through the Peninsula School of Art which essentially splits the sale price with the artists. 

Cox said the village board is examining the ordinance and plans a revision to give the village more latitude.

“Understand, we are not against this kind of stuff.” The ordinance was designed years ago to protect village businesses which pay taxes and have the overhead of buildings from competition with individuals who want to profit from the free use of village parks to conduct their business. 

“One application as denied; we never went up to artists and said you shouldn’t be here,” added Cox, who said the village is already looking how to revise the ordinance. 


A local arts insider said that one artist painting in the village on Monday was asked to leave. More on that if I can find the artist. 

“We rewrite ordinances all the time when we find problems. I think if there were clear collaboration and most people were on the same page the village would feel a lot better about it. The problem was with an EBC summer-long event that was declined.”


Artists have been painting in Ephraim as long as the village has been lovely. That two local gallery owners to block painting on village property, activity which probably brings a lot of free-spending art lovers to Ephraim, should prompt the boards to look at the overall village interests.

Cox was dismayed about how much bad publicity Ephraim has had over this.


But it's a little late now.

Tom Nachreiner on Painting Plein Air -- Why and How

Tom Nachreiner is consistently one of the most honored painters at the Door County Plein Air Festival. When I asked him to do a phone interiew, he suggested I send hm questions and he would respond on writing. As I mention below, this was originally for the Peninsula Pulse, and as often is the case, I was half-way into my interviewing before I reviewed the assignment and realized I was asking the wrong questions, at least from my editor’s point of view. 

Tom’s answered in great depth and combines autobiography with deep thought about art and some useful advice for anyone working in an artistic, relatively unstructured field.

Why do Plein Air?

I have so much to learn. For me, Plein Air is all about drawing, and getting back to basics, with out the aid of photography. It's being young again, back in school when I first learned how to draw from life, and had others around me learning the same thing. It's absolutely the best way to learn how to draw, and see things I have never been sensitive to before. It gets me out of the house and studio, away from my comfort zone which can inhibit me and keep me less outgoing socially too. Schools don't teach how to draw from photos for good reason. It's not the best way to learn how to draw or paint. It's not the best way to find my unique, individual expression within. When painting outdoors I have several important factors to deal with that helps me to see better and to grow as an artist.

1. Plein Air is more specifically about capturing the light and shadow on the subject that gives it dimension and volume. It's also about trying to capture the mood, personality, energy, and the abstract, dynamic composition that we can respond to emotionally. My most successful paintings show the light and form to be convincing, without looking photographic, by using lively, confident brushwork.

(2) Plein Air gives me a deadline of approximately 3 hours to capture the fleeting, moving light outdoors. This forces me to paint quickly and efficiently and therefore, naturally and honestly spontaneous. It forces me to draw all the way through my painting making continual adjustments along the way, as opposed to filling in carefully drawn lines from a traced photograph. I find my paintings done in this manner look much more lush, juicy, alive, harmonious, energetic and less predictable.

(3.) Nothing in nature is white or black. I can see into shadows and catch the subtleties of value and color temperature, unlike painting from photo reference that show shadows as black, and show skies as white or an extremely bright blue.I see the warm and cool colors more easily outdoors, and by squinting I can see the hard and soft edges more clearly, along with the lightest light and the darkest dark. There's so much more information than what a photo can bring, and by observing nature this way, I learn the science of how light and color works as it goes back in space and how light reflects back into the subject.

(4) Experiencing the sounds, smells, the wind, and most important, the people and their energy and the story they tell in the environment I am painting, adds another dimension of information to a painting. I also benefit from people's interest on the street in what I am doing and have a chance to meet, and learn from others

Finally, when I paint outdoors my wife comes with me and reads and does crafts, so I have companionship, and we can share in the daily adventures, 

and maybe on occasion share a beer or glass of wine with friends doing the same thing.

Compare it with studio work?

Studio work, mostly in the winter, affords me solitude and more focused time and maybe more comfort to paint, with the ability to set up a controlled atmosphere with everything I want around me. However, this comfort can be a double edged sword, and sometimes not as motivating as a more competitive, unpredictable atmosphere, with energy in the air all around. Too comfortable and too much time sometimes can lead to less spontaneity and energy, I find. So in the winter, I try to paint one day plein air, one day a still life or from a model and one day from photo reference. I also try each winter to spend some time painting indoors and out down south. My studio time is more successful when mixing it with painting loosely plein air.I work hard making up deadlines so I don't lose my energy and passion and spontaneity. I also set challenging goals for each painting I work on to try something different and new. 

The studio is a wonderful place to create a still life environment or pose a figure and control lighting, All that can add to the creativity of the painting. It's a good place to paint cool North light and warm shadows to switch it up from painting sunny days with warm light and cool shadows. Painting in this fashion,"from life", is the most similar to plein air because of all the information I have, without any use of photography. 

With a still life or figure, I can find the same amount of vast information and achieve convincing light even though they are indoor subjects. Photos are also important and can be a very helpful and successful tool. I just prefer not copying photographs. When I do paint from a photo I will usually work upside down so I see only abstract big and little shapes. In that way I can maintain my energy and spontaneity and can work more quickly because I'm not getting bogged down from the fussy detail of the subject matter, and it's easier to see and improve the composition by simplifying. 

The computer can be a helpful tool to improve the photo's composition, color, or placement of objects. My years of being a digital illustrator come in handy here, and all my observation of nature helps me know how far to go with those changes.

What do you like to paint?

Mostly I like to just paint the light and shadow, and form, as I enjoy the experience of painting outdoors. I am drawn to water in many of my paintings. 

To me it's less about what I paint and more about how I paint it and the feeling I feel.InstinctivelyI look for a strong composition, and look for a strong sense of light with a noticeable center of interest, and let the rest fall where it may. I especially like painting ballet dancers when I can find ballet models. I also love to challenge myself to paint everything, everywhere that I find beauty.

Importance of nature?

Pure nature is harder for me to paint, because by instict, I usually like to break up all of the soft nature forms and all those greens that are so similar in the summers of Wisconsin, with water, clouds, architecture or people. So the last couple of years I have concentrated on painting just pure landscapes, to try to improve.

At one time I painted nothing but cityscapes. Nature gets me away from all the straight lines of the city and God's curved, graceful lines have opened up a new variety and discipline in my work. I find myself simplifying to make compositions work better for me. 

Painting the figure is also all about those curved lines and shapes.

How do you avoid sentimentality in your work? (I like the bright storefront with a stop light in the left foreground at Edgwood Orchard.)

The painting you refer to is a night scene in a small town, with people outside, and a good example of getting away from typical subjects by also painting some at night. I work with loose brushwork, and use big brushes, so I think that helps my work look less typical or cliche. I think what can make a subjest less typical is to find the abstract composition within. 

But I don't always feel successful in this effort. Some people dismiss plein air because it's based on traditional art and painting what you see, and some think art should be more revolutionary. I search during each painting to find that something that makes my work contemporary and have a strong composition, even though it is based on reality.

I work hard towards my goals, to paint each paintings from my heart, to try to create my best work to date, work that makes me happy, and shows my inner spirit, and ultimately becomes a painting that I would be proud to have on a prominent wall in my home. I've found when I accomplish this, others seem to want it in their home too.

Finances - how long did it take you to make a living at this?

My background is as follows: I studied fine art my first year in college at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I then switched to a private art school and studied illustration and design. In my first year at Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, I was hired part time by an advertising studio, after they saw my work in a student show. I have been a professional artist ever since. (Very Lucky) I was employed there through graduation and after for 10 years. Then I started Art Factory Ltd,, my own Illustration and design studio with 25 employees in all at its peak, I ran the studio but was a hands-on illustrator along with 11 other illustrators, all nationally known. Later as a personal creative outlet to paint just for myself instead of clients, I started to slowly get into fine art and plein air painting as more less just a hobby for the shear love of it. 

I had an opening show that made a big impact. (Very Lucky) I then became involved with galleries, and later switched over, full time in 2000, as I restructured the Art Factory. I've made my living as an artist all my life and have professionally done nothing else. For me it was all a natural transition and progression, and I've worked relentlessly toward my goals, although luck was a big contributor. 

Benefits from my business ventures were that it gave me the understanding of marketing, mass appeal, and understanding human nature. That all helps now, as I teach workshops, judge art competitions, am a frame distributor to other artists, and still do some digital illustration. I am represented in galleries and sell some of my work on my own. I paint almost every day. I spend a percentage of my time giving back in appreciation for what I feel I was given.

Any advice for beginning artists who want to stop waiting tables in Brooklyn and spend more time doing art?

This is a tough one. Today is so different. I was lucky, but through real hard work and a vision, I was able to get a job drawing everyday, when advertising was in its "hey-day".Most important is to define what your realistic attainable goal or vision is, that comes from inside your heart. To have vision this is areal gift in itself.

Find a knowledgeable mentor through school or someone you know and admire, to get good solid positive advice. In what I do, the most important thing for growth is drawing, and one can draw in pencil or charcoal anywhere. Carry a sketch book everywhere. Draw alone, but also find friends who share common interests and get together after work to draw together. On vacations or weekends take a workshop from an artist that you most admire. Get most of your inspiration by visiting the masters as often as you can in art museums. Don't try to skip the basics, there are no shortcuts to success. Use your time wisely and efficiently, set goals, create a vision board and don't give up. Stay away from negative people. and find a partner who reinforces your dreams and goals. Realize "if it's meant to happen, it will."

Stay open minded and keep adjusting your approach and your goals, and never stop working hard. if you can, follow your heart rather than the money. For example, take a job that won't take you in the wrong direction and won't cause you regrets later. (I know today that's real hard, with fewer jobs.) College teaches you how to learn, but during the rest of your life, your education is in your own hands. Finally,if there are delays in achieving some of your goals, it's still never "too late" to grow as an artist and to have fun painting, no matter what stage of learning you are at.