Vignette: Teresa McCarthy

“Loving Louisville” by Teresa McCarthy, Acrylic, 24x30in, 2018, $600

Teresa McCarthy won the 2017-2018 Louisville Bar Association Pictorial Roster cover with a painting representative of the Louisville Area. In striking contrast to McCarthy’s usual work, she has created montage of various iconic elements, some that have represented the city for generations (Churchill Downs) and some that have cropped up just in the last few years (the U of L Cardinal and UK Wildcat appear to be having a beer with Louisville City Football Club). The dense composition abandons any semblance of real space to achieve a blend of surrealist and non-objective sensibility.

In September, McCarthy participated in the LVA Paint-Out at the Waterfront Botanical Gardens ReGeneration Fair, where she painted “Stop and Pick the Roses” at a location near the Ohio River.

“I enjoy networking with Network of Entrepreneurial Women “NEW”.  I also enjoy painting with a local group of very talented portrait painters, playing volleyball and most of all spending time with husband Keith and my 5 Grandchildren - we were just blessed with twins.“

“Stop and Pick the Flowers” by Teresa McCarthy, Acrylic, 12x13in, 2018, SOLD

McCarthy is a Member of the Kentucky Artist Guild of Artists and Craftsmen, Louisville Artisans Guild and the Louisville Visual Arts. Participating often in the arts Louisville has to offer as a featured artist on Artebella and participating in the Junior League Tulips for Juleps, Highview Arts and Craft Fair, Regeneration Fair Plein Air Paint Out, Art [Squared], and Open Studio Weekends.

Her professional life has been in office management and real estate (she works as the Office Manager at Seiller Waterman, LLC.), but even with dual careers, McCarthy has always felt driven to make art and one of the ways she is able to share her passion is being the fine art instructor at Michael’s. She currently has an exhibit at the Artist Barrel in Bardstown

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: Attended St. Agnes and Durrett High School; obtained Broker’s License in 1986
Gallery Representation: Kore Gallery (Louisville)

“Reflections” by Teresa McCarthy, Acrylic, 20x30in, 2018, POR

“Our Journey” by Teresa McCarthy, Acrylic, 24x30in, 2018, Private collection.

“Waiting for Breeders” by Teresa McCarthy, Acrylic, 14x19in, 2018, $500

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville

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Vignette: Carrie Johns

“I trust my instinct and try not to let expectations distract me." - Carrie Johns

"Wave" by Carrie Johns, oil, 24x24in, 2017, POR

Probably most laypersons – people who never draw, paint, or sculpt, can at least imagine making art in traditional forms; perhaps many such people at least doodle absentmindedly. But to create complex linear drawings with a toy we can all remember from our childhood seems most amazing. The Etch A Sketch, with its two analog knobs, one to control vertical movement and one for horizontal, would appear to be extremely limiting, but Carrie Johns proves that only the limits of our own patience  hold us back from realizing the full potential of the instrument.

"Reflecting Sphere (Escher)" by Carrie Johns, Full size Etch-a-Sketch, 2016

Of course, Johns uses the more traditional tools: paint and a brush, as well as many others, in the making of her art. And she meaningfully explicates why she is an artist: “Art has always been a friend. It makes sense to me; it has helped me through hard times, and is there for me to escape into when I am feeling out of control.”

I create realistic art because I feel like I can take a take a subject and have control over it, bring out the beauty in it that no one else may be able to see. I want my art to elicit a feeling of wonder. Wonder is such a childlike emotion, one that can make us feel hope, cause us to dream, and to see the beauty in the mundane. I believe my duty as an artist is to create a spark in people who are feeling disillusioned or depressed. I want to give people that sense of wonder they had as a child.”

Carrie Johns with her 2015 Gallopalooza horse.

“So much beauty can be found all around us and I think an artist’s job is to bring that beauty to people who can no longer see it. One way I have been able to do that is through public art. Public art is a great way to reach people who may not have access to art or who may not actively be seeking it out. I try not to limit my art to a specific genre or medium. I enjoy making all types of art: painting, drawing, signage, calligraphy, or even drawing on an Etch-a-Sketch.”

“I trust my instinct and try not to let expectations distract me. Color, light, and detail, however, are essential in my artwork and always present. I draw influence from the simple things in life: my children, pets, a simple flower, a couple in love, or a great work of art. There is so much that is still beautiful and joyful in this world, and in my own humble way, I want to be able to share this beauty with those who can no longer see it.”

In 2015 Johns won Best in Show Award for Gallopalooza, and just this year she was awarded First Place in the LVA Plein Art Paint Out at Botanica’s ReGeneration Fair.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: BA, Art History, University of Louisville
Website: http://carriejohns.wixsite.com/painting
Instagram: @hotlines_art

Scroll down for more images

"Julie" by carrie Johns, acrylic, 12x12in, 2017

"Great Wave (Hokusai)" by Carrie Johns, Full Size Etch-a-Sketch, 2016

"Play Ball" by Carrie Johns, graphite, 16x20in, 2017, POR

"Frosty Mug" by Carrie Johns, acrylic, 5ftx3in, 2017

Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Feature: LVA Studios

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“It's an exciting time for Portland! It is where the artists are now.” – Lynn Dunbar

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Casey McKinney at work on his mural.

Artists place a high value on space, particularly the space in which they work. It can define them and their work more than even they themselves sometimes realize. When Louisville Visual Art (LVA) moved into its new home in the Portland neighborhood, the 32,000 square foot warehouse was a raw shell except for a cozy 1000 sq. ft. office space. That office remains the only part of the building with heat and air conditioning, and the seasonal extremes in temperature make occupying the vast open space a challenge. A complete renovation of the building that will include studio space for artists is being planned, but for now, LVA staff didn’t anticipate very much use of the facility when they moved in at the beginning of September 2015.

But a tour of the building for a small group of local artists a month later demonstrated that some artists were ready to move in immediately, with or without amenities. The “rawer” the better seemed to be the attitude, “It doesn’t intrude,“ explains sculptor, curator, and LVA board member Andrew Cozzens, “and it provides the space needed to build and experiment without limitations.” With elbowroom to spare, the first three tenants, painters Joshua Jenkins and Clare Hirn, and ceramicist Amy Chase, moved in before the end of 2015.

An installation by Andrew Cozzens (2016)

This hardy trio worked through the cold winter months with space heaters. For Jenkins, who has previously worked in smaller spaces that offered isolation, the difference has impacted the work itself. “Raw space to me is like a blank canvas,” he says. “It has unlimited possibilities and room to breath. I have found that just from painting in a raw/large space such as LVA’s, that my work has naturally evolved and that my compositions have grown to have more white space in them.” Since the first humid, dog days of summer the number of tenants has more than doubled, with seven others moving into the 2nd floor space: besides Cozzens, they are painter Ashley Brossart, installation artist Vinhay Keo, muralist Alyx Mclain, painter Casey McKinney, sculptor and installation artist Kyle Sherrard, and painter Lynn Dunbar. Other artists that have used the building on a temporary basis for murals and other projects on a scale that their normal workspace could not contain have included Shohei Katayama, Carrie Neumayer, Annette Cable, Noah Church, McKenna Graham, Ewa Perz, and Mary Dennis Kannepell.

The increased number of working artists is welcomed by Clare Hirn, who was the first to move in: “After working in a fairly isolated situation this is a nice change to be in a space with other artists.  There are challenges of giving up the complete privacy of one's own space, but the potential for collaboration in spirit, if not in actual work, is a huge payoff. It is inspiring to be around other artists of such variety and as a slightly older artist (at 52!) it is a bonus to be around younger people as well.”

"Share the Summer" (Painted at the at the Botanica Paint Out) by Clare Hirn, mixed media, $350 | BUY NOW

Not surprisingly, some of the occupants have taken a hand in improving the space themselves, with Cozzens and Sherrard building and installing temporary partitions, and Dunbar replacing broken glass panes, building a shared space that is still open and accessible. Cozzens admits, “I always prefer to work communally- it brings good energy.”

Artist Joshua Jenkins working in studio. Photo by Sarah Katherine Davis For LVA (2016)

That the building is located in the Portland neighborhood also seems to hold an appeal, as Jenkins explains: “I have always been attracted to urban environments and inner cities. There's just inspiration to me in every direction that I look, along with the ghost of so much history. When I first heard of artists moving into the Portland area for studio spaces I was extremely excited and jumped on board as soon as I could.” The history of the area, which was once one of the most important freight stops on the Ohio River and the economic center of Louisville until the early 1800’s, is rich but largely ignored or taken for granted by the city as a whole, if not necessarily by the artists who are working there. “There is a fresh vibe in Portland,” observes Cozzens“…a lot of stored energy.”

Indeed, with a warren of more developed studio spaces in the connected building, Tim Faulkner Gallery across the street, and the forthcoming Hite Art Institute’s MFA studios scheduled to open 2 blocks away, things seem to be happening – positive and creative things that feed into the larger Portland revitalization plan spearheaded by Gill Holland. Part of the realization of such plans is certainly deep-pocket investors, but equally important are the series of choices made by individuals to live and work in such neighborhoods. These artists have made that choice.

"Untitled" by Ashley Brossart, 5x5ft, aerosal, acrylic, ink, paper photo (2016), NFS (commissioned)

"Withstanding Fiction" by Amy Chase, 5x9x5in, ceramic, flocking (2016), $410 | BUY NOW

"Boy Blue" by Joshua Jenkins, 40x30x1in, acrylic and mixed media on canvas (2016)

"Belle in the Lead" by Lynn Dunbar, 24x36in, oil on canvas

"Watchful Eye" by Casey McKinney, 45x56in, acrylic and mixed media (2016), $900 | BUY NOW

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This Feature article was written by Keith Waits.
In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, www.Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.

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Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more.

Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2016 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Please contact josh@louisvillevisualart.org for further information on advertising through Artebella.