Big Sky Prairie: Featuring New Paintings by Judith Mackey and Deb Schroer Opens at SouthWind Gallery

SouthWind Gallery, 3074 SW 29th, Topeka, premiers Big Sky Prairie, a two-person exhibit featuring new works by renowned Flint Hills artist Judith Mackey and rising-star Kansas artist Deb Schroer, on Friday, October 1, 2010, in conjunction with Topeka’s First Friday Art Walk. An Artists’ Reception will take place in the evening at SouthWind Gallery from 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The Big Sky Prairie exhibit runs through November 15, 2010.

In her 40-year career as a professional artist, Judith Mackey has established herself as one of the leading plein air painters in the United States. She is best known for her impressionist oil paintings of the Flints Hills and has devoted much of her life to visually documenting the history and rare beauty of this landscape where she lives and works. Her efforts have culminated in an extraordinary body of work.

Artist Deb Schroer has spent most of her life in Strong City, Kansas--population 584, located in the heart of the Flint Hills. She has put down deep roots in this beautiful and unique land, but also is making a name for herself in the art world as a gifted plein air painter. Her work captures the natural beauty of the Flint Hills landscape, the excitement of the American rodeo, and poignant moments in the everyday lives of people and animals. With her broad understanding of color, she produces an incredibly rich pallet that gives her work immense depth and feeling.

Showing concurrently with the Big Sky Prairie exhibit are bronze works by award winning sculptor Catherine Hale Robins, of Lawrence, Kansas.

Also showing at SouthWind Gallery is an art display of unique floral arrangements by members of the Floral Art Club of Topeka. Seven original floral designs will be exhibited in conjunction with the Big Sky Prairie art exhibit opening. The Floral Art Club of Topeka is a non-professional group dedicated to the study of the art of floral design, and maintains membership in the Kansas Assoc. of Garden Clubs and the National Garden Club. The club’s floral artists have created designs to complement the Big Sky Prairie art exhibit and feature the natural beauty of the Kansas Flint Hills. Floral artists include Trella Anderson, Jayne Cafer, Anita Dreiling, Deesie Jackson, Carolyn Litwin, and Maggie Warren.

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See the show online: SouthWind Gallery

Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. SouthWindArtGallery.com

Framewoods of Topeka Gift Certificate Cards make the perfect gift for any occasion!  Gift certificates are good as cash for anything in the store — custom framing, gifts and even artwork at SouthWind Gallery Gift cards may be purchased online or at the store in denominations of $25, $50, $75, or $100.   

Members of the Floral Art Club of Topeka will exhibit unique designs

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Members of the Floral Art Club of Topeka will display seven original floral designs in conjunction with the Big Sky Prairie art exhibit opening on Friday, Oct. 1, 2010. The club is a non-professional group dedicated to the study of the art of floral design, and maintains membership in the Kansas Assoc. of Garden Clubs and the National Garden Club. Their floral designs for the Big Sky Prairie exhibit have been created to complement the art exhibit and feature the natural beauty of the Kansas Flint Hills. This beautiful floral art is truly unique—you’ll be intrigued by the individual creativity of each piece!

Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. SouthWindArtGallery.com

Framewoods of Topeka Gift Certificate Cards make the perfect gift for any occasion!  Gift certificates are good as cash for anything in the store — custom framing, gifts and even artwork at SouthWind Gallery Gift cards may be purchased online or at the store in denominations of $25, $50, $75, or $100.   

Ensley Gardens Plein Air Art Sale and Fundraiser

Ted Ensley Gardens
Art Competition and Sale
A fundraiser for the Friends of Ted Ensley Gardens

Sunday, September 19, 2010
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Garden House at Lake Shawnee, 37th & West Edge Rd.
(Refreshments served)

In June, SouthWind Gallery invited 35 artists to participate in a one-day plein air painting competition at the beautiful Ensley Gardens at Lake Shawnee. The paint-out was part of a fundraising event organized by the Friends of Ted Ensley Gardens. The public is invited to attend the juried art exhibit and sale on Sunday, September 19, 2010, from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., at the Garden House at Lake Shawnee, 37th & West Edge Road. Jurors for the art competition are Gary Blitsch and Sharon Hotchkiss of SouthWind Gallery.

The World Class Ensley Gardens would not be possible without the public and private partnership created between Friends of the Ted Ensley Gardens and Shawnee County Parks & Recreation. All proceeds from the art sale will be used to support local artists and to ensure that the Ted Ensley Gardens remain "World Class Gardens" for all to enjoy. *

View the artwork online at SouthWind Gallery:

You can also share favorite pieces from the show with our new Facebook Like buttons on the detail page of each piece.

To learn more about the Friends of Ensley Gardens or to volunteer, contact Shawnee County Parks and Recreation at 267-1156.

*Sales Proceeds: Participating Artists will receive 60 percent and Friends of Ensley Gardens will receive 40 percent. 

Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. SouthWindArtGallery.com
 

Framewoods of Topeka Gift Certificate Cards make the perfect gift for any occasion!  Gift certificates are good as cash for anything in the store — custom framing, gifts and even artwork at SouthWind Gallery Gift cards may be purchased online or at the store in denominations of $25, $50, $75, or $100.   

Book Signing with Cheryl Unruh Author of "Flyover People"

It's a Book Signing with Cheryl Unruh
Author of
Flyover People: Life on the Ground in a Rectangular State
with special guests, Artists Stan Herd and Louis Copt

Wednesday, September 15, 2010
3:00 p.m - 6:00 p.m.

Kansas author Cheryl Unruh, a writer for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Emporia Gazette, will be at SouthWind Gallery on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010 from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. to sign copies of her newly-published book, Flyover People: Life on the Ground in a Rectangular State.

Joining Cheryl for the book signing are Stan Herd and Louis Copt, well-known Kansas artists who are the subjects of one of her essays included in the book.

Excerpt from Flyover People: Life on the Ground in a Rectangular State (Hangin' with Louis and Stan, p. 35) "These are not just any two guys throwing paint on the building at Sixth and Merchant, but two of the finest artists Kansas has produced...They had been working on the mural off and on for several weeks when I met them. I spent an hour or so hanging out with these painters as they shaped and shaded the underbelly of storm clouds on their Flint Hills scene."

Cheryl began writing her weekly Flyover People column for the Emporia Gazette in 2003. Eighty of her Flyover People columns are included in the 197-page, softcover book. Cheryl's writing has received awards from the Kansas Press Association, the Kansas Association of Broadcasters and the Kansas Sampler Foundation. Her commentaries have aired on Kansas Public Radio in Lawrence and KTWU public television in Topeka.

If you are a Kansan, you will love this book, and if you have only flown over this state on your way to someplace else, you will love this book. Cheryl's writing style is lyrical, entertaining and true to the soul of Kansas and its people. You won't want to put the book down until you've read each and every beautifully written story!

Please us join at SouthWind Gallery to meet and greet Cheryl Unruh. Copies of her book will be available for purchase or you can buy them online on our website.

Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. SouthWindArtGallery.com

Framewoods of Topeka Gift Certificate Cards make the perfect gift for any occasion!  Gift certificates are good as cash for anything in the store — custom framing, gifts and even artwork at SouthWind Gallery Gift cards may be purchased online or at the store in denominations of $25, $50, $75, or $100.   

DeAnn Melton - Featured in "The New Impressionsts"

DeAnn Melton earned her M.F.A. from the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 1977. Her paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions from the East Coast to the West. Her work has been published in books, newspapers and magazines, and featured in several television productions in Arizona. Melton and her husband, artist James Pringle Cook, maintain homes and studios in Tucson, AZ and Eskridge, Kansas.

“The New Impressionists” a group show featuring works by an elite group of painters. The exhibit includes three artists new to SouthWind Gallery:  James Pringle Cook and DeAnn Melton, Tucson, AZ; and Neil Patterson, Bragg Creek, Alberta Canada; and three returning artists: renowned artist Stan Herd, and gifted fellow artists Debra Clemente, and Zak Barnes, all of Lawrence, Kansas.  The exhibit will be open until September 15, 2010.

Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. SouthWindArtGallery.com

Framewoods of Topeka Gift Certificate Cards make the perfect gift for any occasion!  Gift certificates are good as cash for anything in the store — custom framing, gifts and even artwork at SouthWind Gallery Gift cards may be purchased online or at the store in denominations of $25, $50, $75, or $100.   

Zak Barnes - Featured in "The New Impressionsts"

Born and raised in Kansas, Zak Barnes feels a deep connection to the prairie landscape and to the people of the land. This sentiment is the base and anchor of his work and sets the emotional tone for any narrative that plays itself out in his paintings. Influenced by his surroundings, life experience and self-interpretation whether working in the studio or en plein aire he finds the rhythm of life that is reflected in his work.

In the studio, Zak creates dreamlike narratives that are drawn from memory and the landscape becomes a backdrop for human interaction. Folk art, surrealism and contemporary composition create ambiguity in both period and environment. Natural and man made elements are placed in concert, creating the freedom of a magical story for the viewer to imagine. To Zak it is the movement and emotional space created that is important.


“The New Impressionists” a group show featuring works by an elite group of painters. The exhibit includes three artists new to SouthWind Gallery:  James Pringle Cook and DeAnn Melton, Tucson, AZ; and Neil Patterson, Bragg Creek, Alberta Canada; and three returning artists: renowned artist Stan Herd, and gifted fellow artists Debra Clemente, and Zak Barnes, all of Lawrence, Kansas.  The exhibit will be open until September 15, 2010.

Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. SouthWindArtGallery.com

Framewoods of Topeka Gift Certificate Cards make the perfect gift for any occasion!  Gift certificates are good as cash for anything in the store — custom framing, gifts and even artwork at SouthWind Gallery Gift cards may be purchased online or at the store in denominations of $25, $50, $75, or $100.