Numerous years ago I took some photographs of my friend, Laurie Bieze. Laurie was an artist, who worked in stained glass and had a studio in Banbury Place, Building 13. Her work can be seen in Eau Claire, in the window at the Unitarian Fellowship, the HERS Center, Mayo Clinic, and the doors of the Arc at Temple Shalom, as well as in many other venues. 

I held onto the photographs for a number of years after Laurie died, always planning to paint a portrait of her. As time passed I also photographed my friend and wood-worker, Carl Brown, who also has a studio in building 13. A plan was forming. 

I have historically painted from photographs of dancers; my students, friends, visiting troupes, etc. I was ready for a new project. When Rose Dolan-Neill offered my husband Andy and I an exhibit at Pablo Center, I decided it would be an interesting challenge to paint portraits of various people working in the building. Because of the studio space available to renters, one finds a variety of different art forms, business, and people. 

Most of the paintings that were born of this project include glimpses into the lives/work of each inhabitant. Because of this, it seemed redundant for me to write a description of each.

Andy and I have a studio (carefully divided by a wall with a door) in Building 13. Selections from my “dancer” series can be seen at the 200 Main Gallery in downtown Eau Claire and Mona Lisa’s Restaurant is exhibiting work from my “plant” series in the main dinning room.

Much of my work is “sequential” art; one of the most ancient forms of human communication. I became involved with this form while doing “story boards” (a map of a story) for childrens’ books. I thought one could tackle ideas about other artists, about history, do kinds of stories and poems, study nature, almost anything, using this visual format. To strengthen my skills, I work from the figure (over sixty years) and enjoy “plein-air” painting.