Creative Power: VSA Wisconsin’s Traveling Exhibition

Artists

• Joe Arts

  Wisconsin Rapids
  Building Giving Birth to Another Building
  watercolor collage on paper
  2011 Adult Award

  "Art-making helps me to make sense of my past, present, and it encourages me to reach to the future with a solid grasp."

• Rossella Ballerini

  Whitewater
  The Secret Room
  pastel on paper
  2009 Adult Award

  "I go out on a limb every time I paint. Right and wrong don't exist. Taking the plunge in creating is like jumping off a cliff. It's exhilarating and terrifying all in one brush stroke."

• Lavontay Basley

  La Crosse
  Blue Flowers
  oil pastel on paper
  2011 Youth Award

  "I would be upset if I did not have art in my life. Art is important to me because it helps me to learn about drawing, painting, and it helps me to think about many things."

• Kristie Ann Bement

  Eau Claire
  Esmee with Squalor
  pencil on paper
  2010 Young Adult Award

  "I was inspired by distortion of myself and beauty. (This work)portrays icons for things that are dearest to me as well as icons of my ideas for solutions to the world's problems. It helped me to understand how I see myself."

• Andrew Brooks

  Hudson, age 8
  The City
  pen and marker on paper
  2009 Youth Award

  This piece is an example of Andrew's ability to draw buildings, roads, cityscapes, bridges, and vehicles from many different perspectives. Every day when he leaves school, his hands are full of color from all the drawing he has done!

• David Daly

  Fitchburg
  Christmas in the City
  oil pastel and marker on paper
  2011 Adult Award

  "Art can be beautiful, it can be wild, and sometimes it can be dark. It depends on what day of the week it is, what kind of mood you're in. Art takes you somewhere. You can see the whole world from your art."

• Emma Doty

  Berlin
  Northern Lights
  watercolor, tissue paper, sand
  2010 Young Adult Award

  "I enjoyed looking at pictures of fish that I was able to draw on a large piece of paper. I had fun using watercolors to paint my fish. I like my painting because it is cute and pretty."

• Cindy Glazman

  Superior
  For Cienna
  hand-sewn quilt
  2011 Adult Award

  "Art means everything to me. . . I discovered that creating hand stitched quilts with vibrant textiles fills my heart with hope. I am inspired by geometric shapes in nature as well as the childlike simplicity of Crayola crayons and Colorforms."

• Joyce J. Gust

  Winneconne
  Reflections of a Molecule Man
  monoprint, collage, drawing
  2010 Adult Award

  "...I wish to share my visions with the world to uplift the soul of the viewer! I keep writing new ideas, sketching, painting & experimenting with alternative mediums, colors & textures... this is my purpose, my happiness."

• Chris Herrling

  Mazomanie
  The Hulk
  dyed newspaper and soft pastel
  2009 Adult Award

  Chris created this piece in drawing class because he likes the Incredible Hulk. He said he used chalk to make himself green like the Hulk.

• Sam Huynh

  Madison
  The Tree House
  marker on paper
  2011 Young Adult Award

  In this whimsical tree house, windows adorn not only the house but also the branches themselves. Striped snakes slither over a railing and stick their tongues out at apples falling to the ground.

• Latika Jackson-Daniels

  Milwaukee
  Gracefully Majestic
  pastel on paper
  2011 Young Adult Award

  "(This piece)expresses my personality and who I am. I have chosen the horse because they specify me as a friendly person. I've also chosen the different colors because they all express me as a loving, kind, sweet, and also rude and mean person when I want to be, but often I am a friendly person."

• Isabel Kinerk

  Fontana
  My Family
  oil pastel on paper
  2011 Youth Award

  "I like art because you can draw whatever you want, and you don't even have to draw! You can paint, you can sculpt; there are so many kinds of art you can be good at!"

• Alexander Kristl

  Whitefish Bay, age 15
  Untitled Cubist Portrait
  paint and string on paper
  2009 Youth Award

  Alex says he likes this painting because it is a picture of him and art makes him feel happy.

• Gary Lynch

  Madison
  State Capitol at Night
  acrylic on canvas
  2009 Adult Award

  "Art gives me more freedom to do what I want."

• Jacob Martin

  West Salem, age 7
  Person
  mixed media
  2009 Youth Award

  Jacob works in the art room quickly and very expressively. He works very hard to the best of his ability.

• Andrea L. Martinez

  Milwaukee
  Isla
  acrylic on canvas
  2010 Adult Award

  "My innate, natural ability for the use of color and vivid imagination has never left me without subject matter... My travels to Eastern Mexico and the Yucatan peninsula have been a major influence in my work..."

• Austin Olsen

  Sturgeon Bay
  Untitled
  crayon on paper
  2011 Youth Award

  "Austin spends his free time at school and at home coloring and using different mediums to express his artistic side . . . Through his art pieces, he is communicating with us, and the world."

• Jill Pedersen

  Cecil
  Glacial Pass
  watercolor on paper
  2010 Adult Award

  "My mood influences my use of color, composition, and subject matter. Therefore when depressed my direction tends toward monochromatic color schemes and desolation. When stable my paintings reflect an altered state that is without boundaries."

• Phil Porter

  Madison
  Balloons and Busses on State Street
  acrylic on canvas
  2010 Adult Award

  "I think I am art, not the artist... I work on thirteen paintings at once. When I paint, I stand in front of my custom easel my brother, Andy built, with one color on my paintbrush searching for just the right spots."

• Ryan Potter

  Verona
  Untitled
  digital print
  2010 Young Adult Award

  Josh says that art enhances his life because he likes to draw. In fact, he would be sad if he did not have art. "People need art because we need objects that work for us."

• Randy Sands

  Madison
  A Walk Through Nature
  acrylic & found objects on canvas
  2009 Adult Award
  

  This work of art shows a spaceship, people from Mars, Christmas, and sidewalks! Randy says that you can see nature, water and people.

• Josh Stankey

  LaCrosse, age 13
  Birch Trees
  tempera on paper
  2009 Youth Award

  Josh says that art enhances his life because he likes to draw. In fact, he would be sad if he did not have art. "People need art because we need objects that work for us."

• Darren Stewart

  Greendale, age 11
  Blue Goat
  glazed ceramic
  2010 Youth Award

  "Art is a way for me to express my feeling in a way words can't. Art is not just something fun for me to do, it's my passion... I mostly get my inspiration from the people around me and nature."

• Joe Wahlers

  Madison
  The Thing of Beauty
  acrylic on canvas
  2011 Adult Award

  "I want people to be inspired when they look at my art and have good feelings. . . My art has movement. Color represents me. Color and texture are very important to me . . ."

• Shelbi Watnem

  Fitchburg, age 15
  Garden Flowers
  pastel on paper
  2010 Youth Award

  Shelbi made this drawing during her art class at West High School in Madison.

• Nick Werling

  Fort Atkinson
  Nick's Glow-in-the-Dark Mediterranean Food Triangle
  mixed media
  2011 Youth Award

  Nick saw the Mediterranean Food Triangle in a magazine. He states that "art is fun."

• Demone White

  Milwaukee, age 10
  Red Eyes
  watercolor and glue on paper
  2009 Youth Award

  Demone believes that art makes his world more colorful and detailed.

• Torin Wilke

  Hortonville, age 14
  Sunflowers
  watercolor on paper
  2010 Youth Award

  "Art is fun. You can make flowers... I am good at art. I make lots of towns, lots of cities, and lots of parks. A big city looks like art. Art makes me happy."

• Tia Yang

  Sheboygan
  Tia's 3-D Drawing
  crayon on textured paper
  2009 Adult Award

  Many of Tia's art projects use her sense of touch, but when she draws she uses the circle and oval as her main drawing shapes. Tia circles the crayon or marker, creating what appears to be a never-ending pattern.