Blue Moon Gallery presents 2 new artists for fall

GRAYSLAKE – Blue Moon Gallery presents two guest artists for the fall who specialize in working with wood.

Beth McKenna is sharing a series of colorful woodblock prints focusing on landscapes and Dave Clausen is presenting a collection of bowls, platters and vases made in his woodturning workshop. Both artists live and work in Lake County.

The gallery is hosting an artist reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 28 for visitors to meet the artists and tour the gallery. The reception is free and open to the public. Wine will be served.

“Being outdoors and creating art are essential to me,” McKenna said in a news release. “Through my art, I try to honor the peace and beauty of the places I find most captivating: the rural Midwest, the mountains and the beach. Creating woodblock prints has enabled me to simplify my landscapes by focusing on masses of color and relationships of form. Each hand-pulled print is unique, with carved texture to express organic detail and varied color roll techniques.”

McKenna has a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Illinois. In addition to woodblock printing, McKenna works in a range of mediums including painting, collage and fiber. Her art has been exhibited regionally in solo and group shows and hangs in private collections nationwide.

“Beth is our first woodblock print artist and we are thrilled to have her at the gallery for our visitors and patrons to meet,” gallery director Kendra Kett said in the release. “She loves both the thought process and the physicality of making woodblock prints – which involves quite a bit of planning – such as how many blocks will be required, how to layer colors and shapes to achieve the desired composition, deciding how stylized the image should be, preparing and smoothing the wood and choosing the tools.”

Clausen is a member of the American Wood Turners Association and is a master woodworker with a passion for giving each of his pieces an artistic flair. A former electrician, Clausen pursues his love of working with all types of wood and projects, from rebuilding furniture and weaving looms to making boxes, cutting boards, bottle stoppers, pens, and even kayaks and expanding his creativity into one-of-a-kind ornaments, unique bowls and vases.

Clausen enjoys working primarily on the lathe. To help reduce waste, Clausen uses “segmenting” as part of his process. He designs each piece prior to turning, then cuts wedges of wood specific to each row, which allows him to get the most out of each piece of wood. Much of his focus is on design, but he also gives attention to the specific species of wood he uses, including its grain and other elements.

Clausen will be presenting a collection of elegant bowls and vases at the gallery featuring unique designs, colors, patterns and wood turning techniques from woods including ash, maple, birch and cherry.

Reception guests also can view “The Spirit of Nature,” an exhibition featuring artwork created by award-winning regional artists Kristin Ashley and Joan and Gary Bredendick, which continues through Oct. 20. This exhibition features oil paintings on found feathers, majestic landscapes in oil and watercolor and colored pencil works featuring women and animals in nature.

The gallery’s five collective artists – Juli Janovicz, John Kirkpatrick, Ginny Krueger, Kett and Matthew Padilla – will have many new art pieces on display, too, including acrylic, oil, watercolor, pastel and ink. Padilla will be hosting a figure drawing sale. Musical guest William Weidner will be out on the front patio on guitar sharing original songs and some of his acrylic paintings on canvas.

The gallery is located at 18620 Belvidere Road in Grayslake.

For more information, including gallery hours, contact Kett at 224-388-7948 or visit the gallery’s website at thebluemoongallery.com.