December Issue 2001
Here's a Carolina Arts Update! 7/22/05
erl originals gallery in Winston-Salem, NC, is now closed. The following is no reflection on the artist(s) mentioned in this article. They still deserve the historical fact that this exhibition happened.
Here is an excerpt from an article in the Winston-Salem Journal's Dec. 10, 2004, edition: "In late September, (2004) erl's owners, Peter and Lee Swenson, and the company they operate, Bogart Management Group, were foreclosed on by their bank. They were barred from their gallery at 480 West End Blvd. for being months in arrears on rent and utilities. Peter Swenson is facing numerous tax-fraud charges, as well as a growing number of civil lawsuits filed by creditors seeking to collect payments they say are long overdue".
e.r.1. originals in Winston-Salem, NC, Features Works by Wayne Trapp and Robert Mickelsen
Two nationally recognized artists, Wayne Trapp, who works in richly colored abstract oils, and Robert Mickelsen, who specializes in flame-worked glass, will be featured in the main gallery of e.r.l. originals in Winston-Salem, NC, through Jan. 9, 2002. It will be the second featured show at e.r.l. for each artist. In addition, Toni Lindahl's floral and landscape pastel paintings will be featured in Gallery G.
Wayne Trapp
Trapp's paintings explore a private vision with mystical symbols and abstractions bathed in color on large canvasses and dancing figures drawn in sensual abandonment on handmade paper. His color-rich abstracts deliver a feast of color and stroke saturated with childlike curiosity and adult confidence. His nude sketches, using India ink and wash on handmade paper, are simple lines curving, dipping and soaring.
"For me, life is art and art is life," Trapp explains. "Images whisper to me late at night. The difference with my dreams is I try to make them reality. Part of what I do is making art; the other part that I enjoy is sharing the art with interested eyes. To me art and life is a journey to discover the wholeness of myself."
Trapp, who moved to the NC mountains from Pittsburgh 24 years ago, received an Associate in Design Degree in graphics from the Institute of Art in Pittsburgh, PA, and a Bachelor in Fine Arts Degree from Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. He has also studied at the Pratt Institute in New York. His most recent one-man shows have been held at galleries in Atlanta, GA, Louisville, KY, and Raleigh, NC.
Trapp's artwork can be found in numerous corporate collections, among them R.J. Reynolds International, Wachovia, Bank of America, the New York Times, Central Carolina Bank, American Schlafhorst Company, Amoco, Apple Computer Corporation, Armco Steel, AT&T, Georgia Pacific, and Ingersoll Rand Corporation.
Richard Mickelson
Mickelsen, whose work is characterized by meticulous attention to detail and extraordinary quality, is a master craftsman who uses the ancient art of lampworking to create contemporary images in glass. He is known for his highly developed technical skill, strong use of form and color, and great sense of humor. Mickelsen uses traditional Venetian sculptural forms such as the goblet or lidded urn as a basic format from which he develops his whimsical works. He uses these forms as a tablet on which to place unique and often funny images. Mickelsen calls these images "icons"- a telling description because they are often computer-generated. He also adds to the sculptural form with various appendages, ending up with a flunky, modern, and highly three-dimensional take on the traditional.
"I like to use icon-like imagery, either on the surface or arranged carefully on and around the piece in a manner that tends to mimic, or even mock the symmetry of the vessel form," Mickelsen explains. "The vessel actually provides a context for the forms and images I create, which I find to be liberating instead of confining."
Raised in Hawaii, Mickelsen apprenticed with a professional lampworker for two years then sold his own designs at street craft fairs. In 1987, he began marketing his work exclusively through galleries and now exhibits at the finest galleries in the country. He has taught at the prestigious Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Crafts, and The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass among others. In addition, he writes for two glass publications and maintains a web site devoted to lampworking.
Mickelsen recently completed work on the Portland Project, five major pieces built of multiple graal sections assembled on a lathe. The results were shown at the SOFA (Sculpture Objects and Functional Art) Chicago show in October. In addition, a piece entitled "Organism Series - Carnivore" was recently displayed by the Renwick Gallery of American Crafts at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. His works are in numerous collections, among them The Corning Museum of Glass and The Pilchuck Glass School.
Mickelsen is a member of the board of directors of the Glass Art Society, a professional organization whose purpose is to encourage excellence, to advance education, to promote the appreciation and development of the glass arts, and to support the worldwide community of artists who work with glass. He writes for two glass publications, and recently co-authored the first web-book devoted to flameworked glass, "Mondo Fiamma - A Global Overview of Flame-worked Glass Art," which features 35 of the best flameworkers from seven countries around the world.
Toni Lindahl's floral and landscape pastel paintings will be on display in e.r.l's Gallery G. A full member of the Pastel Society of America, Lindahl has exhibited across NC, including shows at e.r.l. in 1988 and 1989, and at the National Arts Club in New York. She also belongs to the Greenhill Center for North Carolina Art and the High Point Fine Art Guild, and is an Exhibiting Member of the Associated Artists of Winston-Salem.
Lindahl received her B.A. degree from William Paterson College in New Jersey. and her M.A. from New York University. She studied painting under Mary Lee Earles and attended the Graduate School of the Arts at UNC-Greensboro.
For more information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 336/760-4373, or on the web at (http:/www.erloriginals.com).
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