Artists

Cheryl is known for her amazing handmade American Girl doll clothing. Now she has branched off and is creating delightful aprons in both adult and youth sizes. Cheryl is an excellent seamstress — each stitch is perfection. She has an artful eye for combining colors and patterns, resulting in fabulously fun garments. Each apron is made of cotton fabric which is prewashed and preshrunk. Stop by the Mantorville Art Guild and see these fun aprons in person.

Christiane works in a wide variety of mediums. Whether it’s creating these wonderful hand woven handbags and purses, or working in wood to create these charming coasters and key chains. Christiane uses a wood burner to draw fanciful creatures and write inspiring messages into her art pieces, sometimes adding a wash of color. The end result is bright and whimsical.

Mary attended the University of Minnesota in Studio Arts, then freelanced in the Twin Cities for several years with focus on commercial art and graphic design. After moving to Byron, MN, in the early 1980s, she began working at Saint Marys Hospital and Mayo Clinic as a graphic designer and later as art director, retiring several years ago after a career of 31 years. Today Mary has taken up painting again, coming full circle to those early days and nights of painting in the studio on campus and she finds it exhilarating!   

Mary says her work seems to take on a life of its own. Each painting takes her on a journey as if traveling down a river and not knowing what’s around the bend. She finds each piece challenging, exciting, and often frustrating, but every journey teaches her a lesson, providing a sense of discovery. She confesses that even if a painting isn’t as successful as she had hoped, there is opportunity for growth and incentive to try again. Mary has never considered painting a hobby, nor does she find painting relaxing — contrary to many. She feels that painting is hard work, but wonderful and well worth the challenge. 

Arlene started painting in oils in 2003 and continued for several years. She then started painting with a group of artists in Grand Meadow who worked in watercolor, so she switched from oils to watercolor as well. She painted once a week with the group until they disbanded in 2019.

Today Arlene paints primarily in watercolors and considers herself a self-taught artist. She has taken several workshops, but just enjoys painting when she feels like it. Arlene says she just simply loves to paint and finds making that first splash of color on a piece of plain, white paper inspiring! One of her favorite delights are her flowers and she enjoys painting them too. She says that they don’t have to look real because she just lets her imagination go and paints what she feels. At age 93, Arlene finds painting very relaxing and tries to paint every week, which is extremely inspiring to us all. She often takes photos of her favorite paintings and flowers in her gardens and creates greeting cards from them. You can see Arlene’s beautiful watercolor paintings and greeting cards at the Mantorville Art Guild, be sure to stop in.

When creating ceramics, Ginni uses a variety of clays, glazes, and construction methods. She has a passion for hand construction. Nearly every wheel-thrown piece may be altered or painted with underglazes to create texture, pattern, and images. Many of her pieces are functional art — a piece of pottery to use in your everyday life that also shows the story of its creation.

Themes running throughout her creations have a bit of whimsy that leans towards a touch of light fantasy. Often there is a Tree of Life motif, or a small medieval village perched along the rim of a pot, or floral images across serving pieces. Hand building, using coil and slab construction methods, allows Ginni to create wonderfully textured surfaces for glazes to flow and break over becoming beautifully colored surfaces.

Gayle has exhibited in several group shows and solo shows of her own. Her paintings hang in private homes throughout the United States which, as she says, makes her feel connected to the Great U.S.A. Originals hang in several foreign countries as well.

Her paintings are created primarily in acrylics and are strongly influenced by past folk artists. American Art History is of great interest to Gayle. She has her own adaptations of fireboards, silent companions, murals, and bride’s boxes.

Gayle says, “I paint to put a smile on your face and mine. Memories are important to all of us and I paint my memories a lot of the time.”

Stop in at the Mantorville Art Guild and see Gayle’s delightful paintings.

Raised in a little northern Minnesota community where he attended the same public school from kindergarten through high school, Terry was immersed in small-town values and small-town problems. Terry’s family owned a small business where he worked since the age of 10. By the time he was a teenager Terry was interacting with customers, solving problems, and learning how to deal with different types of people. This proved to be the perfect environment to prepare him for a career in human resources. Terry has spent 50 years as a career business manager with most of the years as a human resource professional. During that time, Terry had the opportunity to work for several different companies, ranging in size from 20-person privately owned businesses to Fortune 500 companies with thousands of employees. While the story is fictitious in his latest book, it is inspired from actual events that took place throughout Terry’s career.

      Things changed late in Terry’s career when he succumbed to temptation and had an inappropriate relationship with a woman that worked for him. He not only lost his job and his standing in the community, but the woman filed erroneous charges, resulting in Terry’s arrest, incarceration, and eventual trial.

      The whole experience left an indelible mark on Terry but propelled him into writing his newest novel, HR–Behind Closed Doors.

      Terry has published two previous books, Thomas: Gunshot in the Woods and Thomas: Life with Judah. Both tell the story of beloved family pets that will touch your heart. 

John started photography back in the early 80’s with a Nikon FG-20, and a few lenses — he still owns a FG-20 today. His passion continued over the years and gradually moved into the digital era with a Nikon D50. The name of John’s photography business “Sailing Airman Photography,” came from a military conference he had attended. It was because of his time serving in both the Navy and Air Force that the term Sailing Airman was introduced. It seemed like a great way to continue honoring his service in the military and have a unique name for his photography.

John continues to look for that perfect shot seen through the lens of his camera. He particularly enjoys capturing images of wildlife and flowers. There are some shots that you can actually see a face in the flower, you have to look closely, but it’s there. Be sure to stop in at the Mantorville Art Guild and view John’s beautiful photography.

Cheryl has always been driven to express herself visually. In her early years she painted, made posters for every church activity, sought out art classes throughout school, tried studio art in college, and spent some time trying to groove to commercial art. She finally realized that her art was and is, a very personal expression of her inner self. Cheryl says that her involvement with the Mantorville Art Guild has enabled and encouraged her to push herself in diverse exploration — to interpret seeing in new and creative ways. Her pen and ink work eventually expanded to pen and colored pencils. Most recently her medium of choice is watercolor with intricate ink details. Whether it’s painting, weaving a new design in place mats on her rigid heddle loom or creating unique knitted shawl designs (Cheryl loves shawls), her goal in each piece of art is to find that “happy place — the zone,” that comes from creating, and reaffirms that life is indeed wonderful, unexpected, diverse, exciting, and surprising.

Jean’s current joy is creating artwork through the acrylic poured painting technique. The unique effect is developed by combining acrylic paint or pigments with a liquid medium. Various paint colors are combined, the paint is then layered to create cells and natural flowing patterns. Finally, a resin topcoat is applied which seals the paint so that it’s heat resistant. The resin also adds stunning depth to the piece and enhances the vibrancy of the colors. See Jean’s work on display at the Mantorville Art Guild.

Lynnea is a high school student and an aspiring artist. She loves to draw and has been doing so as far back as she can recall. She enjoys sketching and painting, especially creating images of people. She has begun doing commissioned portraits as well. Lynnea works primarily with watercolor and pen and ink and for such a young artist, has already developed a very distinct style. There is a gritty, earthiness to her work which is unique. Seeing where she takes her art will be fascinating to watch. Come see Lynnnea’s artwork on display at the Art Guild.

Gretchen has had a strong love of dancing her whole life. So, in making her beautiful arm warmers, leg warmers, and sweaters, she’s discovered a fun way to share a little of that joy with others. Each item that Gretchen creates is impeccably made. She has a wonderful eye for selecting colors of yarn and pays great attention to details —incorporating vintage buttons, trim, ribbons, etc., that add just the right touch to her designs. What a lovely gift for someone special. Visit the Art Guild today!  

Layne is a visual artist who works in many mediums and styles. He is also a musician, fiction author and graphic designer. Layne says that he is in constant study of all his surroundings, because art and inspiration can come from anywhere.

Carrie Pompeii is a local visual artist who was born and raised in the countryside of Rosholt, Wisconsin. Carrie grew to appreciate the tiniest details of life on her small family farm, surrounded by the sights, smells and sounds of nature. Her earliest memory of drawing was when she was a little girl, grabbing notepads and pencils and finding spots to perch in fields as she tried to sketch nearby barns and sheds.

Art, for her now, is like those first moments when she was young. It is solitary, challenging, exhilarating, frustrating, gratifying and filled with a never-ending journey of learning along the way. Her art is usually inspired by the natural world as well as the people and places in life that she loves. Carrie enjoys working with acrylics, but would like to challenge herself and begin working with oils so she can find the vibrancy she’s looking for in her work.

Carrie says she’s grateful to be able to share her work in her community. She looks forward to meeting other painters and creators on this art journey!

I often find my inspiration in nature. Not the reality of it, but the feeling of it. Excitement for me is always in discovery. I do not usually start out with a definite image in mind, but a feeling; choosing colors accordingly. Often the painting leads me in an unexpected direction and opens a new possibility.

My favored approach is to paint many layers of color to capture the mood, then scrape or carve to reveal previous colors or torch for a more fluid effect. I then add to the design with more color and texture. Encaustic is a wonderful medium for collage, allowing for a glimpse into history or a comment on current events. The possibilities are endless and allow for many different kinds of expression. I am most successful when I do not try to totally manage the medium but allow it to have a voice in the process.

I find wax to be a very seductive medium with luminous color and a surface that invites you to touch and come under its spell.

After inheriting two family quilts, along with her love of sewing, Wanda says it was a natural progression to take up quilting. Wanda grew up in the country. Her love of nature, the outdoors and animals are frequent themes of her quilts. The Dodge County Fair Quilt Block Design Challenge sparked some creativity in Wanda and she began designing blocks, quilts and altering patterns to topics and colors of her choosing. Wanda says that quilting brings her great pleasure and when someone else enjoys them too it’s even more rewarding. See Wanda’s quilts now on display at the Mantorville Art Guild.

Candy is rather new at the art of stained glass. Her father started working with glass while he and Candy’s mother wintered in Arizona for 20-plus years. She could see how much he enjoyed it when she would visit them. Then in 2019, her father set up a glass shop in his hometown of Blooming Prairie. Candy was fortunate to spend time with him and work together. Candy notes that he was a very patient teacher and he loved sharing his knowledge of his craft. Sadly, their time together was cut short, but his love for stained glass inspired Candy and she now looks forward to sharing what she learned from him with others.

Candy’s stained glass pieces are varied, ranging from holiday themes, to flowers, suns, boats and intricate ornaments. All are fun and stunningly beautiful as they capture and reflect the sunlight. You can see Candy’s creations displayed in the windows of the Mantorville Art Guild. These lovely handmade pieces make excellent gifts!

Tammy creates her artwork using a variety of mediums— acrylics, graphite, watercolor and occasionally oils. While she is mostly self-taught, she attributes much of her artistic skill to her very talented mother’s guidance. She also took the home course through the Art Instruction School that taught many of the basics. Since then, her talent has grown by doing what she loves — painting. Tammy enjoys painting images of animals and farm scenery along with whatever moves her. She especially likes doing animal portraiture and paints commissions of any subject. 

You can view and purchase Tammy’s work at the Mantorville Art Guild. She is also represented in, the Albert Lea Art Center and the James Krom Natural Images Gallery in the Rochester Marriott.

Rylie has been drawing since she was in first grade. Now a senior in high school, not only has she grown — her talent as grown as well. Rylie loves drawing animals because she finds them easy to understand and extremely interesting to observe. She uses pencil, pen and ink, watercolor, and acrylic paints to produce her work. Rylie hopes to inspire people to draw, to encourage them to break out of their comfort zone and grow in ways they didn’t think possible. She hopes that people will look at her art and enjoy it as much as she did creating it. She inspires all her fellow Guild artists with her artistic passion.

Willow says she has been creating art all of her life. Then beginning in 2003, she took her art to the next level and started designing pieces to sell. She finds creating art to be therapeutic and incorporates her spiritual beliefs in the colors and materials that she uses. Willow loves learning new art forms and techniques. Recently, she has begun teaching a variety of art classes and mentioned how much she loves to share her techniques with her students of all ages. Be sure to visit the Mantorville Art Guild and see Willow’s beautiful creations.