An Artist's Perspective

“The Broken Winter” is the title of Wichita artist Emily Brookover’s 4th solo show. I have long been a fan of Ms. Brookover’s work. I have never seen any artist approach graphite on paper with such crisp precision.

I recently read an article by world renowned painter David Salle in which he explained one of the things that is most valuable to him. It is a painting by Wichitan William Dickerson. Salle grew up in Wichita and painters Bill Dickerson and his wife Betty were both Mr. Salle’s art teachers at the Wichita Art Association. Bill had turned down a chance to teach at the Art Institute of Chicago in orde...

Like everyone, I was caught off guard and stunned by the mass death and injury that occurred recently in Las Vegas. This shocking event, along with the perils our American brothers and sisters are facing in Puerto Rico made it seem that any commentary I might make about art feel forced and weak.

Last Saturday it was 90+ degrees. It was the day the 2nd round of murals to be painted in the Douglas Design District lifted off and began. My wife Taeko and I went out to explore the different sites.

I've always felt that a sculptor suffers most for his or her art. To coax emotion and greatness from stone, steel, bronze, or wood is torturous.

While the story of Lindsborg Artist Mike Hartung is a delicious one, it is also achingly sad.

My wife Taeko and I recently took our 2-year-old granddaughter, Hazel, to the Wichita Art Museum's outdoor sculpture garden. The late afternoon was gorgeous and Hazel was captivated by the great sculptural works and the beautiful plant life.

This week, consider packing yourself a sack lunch and heading down to City Arts. In the 2nd floor gallery you will find the new exhibition Bibs & Forks Food Invitational.

I'm getting older. I'm 58. I started seriously selling my art when I was 26. I get to see some of that 32-year-old work from time to time and am struck by the directions I took.

In 1975 I stepped in to my first art class at Wichita East High.

Jean-Michel Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at age 27 in 1988 after having been a professional artist for only 7 years.

I know this woman, artist Chiyoko Myose. And knowing her makes her current exhibition--Movements of Thread-- on view at City Arts confirm what I have always known: Her work is a real extension of her being--her actual soul.

"Pierced By Dogma" is the name of painter Patrick Duegaw's exhibition currently on view at the Ulrich. Upon entering the show of Duegaw self-portraits, I found what is, essentially, the artist stripped bare.

Kelsy Gossett is off like a Saturn Five rocket with her new exhibition called "For Your Viewing Pleasure" at The Diver on Commerce Street.

People sometimes ask me how I make some of my paintings.

Last Final Friday was colossal. There were wonderful events happening all over the city and artists and collectors were out in full force.

The late artist Robert Smithson said that "Cultural confinement takes place when a curator imposes his or her own limits on an art exhibition, rather than asking an artist to set his or her own limits."

"I want to collect art, but I can never afford it!"

Surely by now you have purchased and are flying your Wichita flag! You feel the current and see how we, the Wichita people, are on fire and looking out for our city's growth and welfare. I hope you share these facts with your out-of-town friends as well.

Author Sondra Langel wrote the recent book Wichita Artists In Their Studios. The book of colorful photos and crisp essays features 50 Wichita-based artists and the studios in which they each create. The popular book is a great tribute to just 50 of the many great, hard-working artists in Wichita.

A painter wishes to take a subject matter, render that image, and then capture the viewer. But when a painter can make the viewer truly pause and soak the image up while considering deeper meanings and feelings, the painter has become--or at least is on the road to becoming--a master. And this is a rare thing.

Jordan Kirtley has made me proud.

Wichita is our little city. We take ownership of it. We take our city to heart with immense pride. Art in our city is flourishing because we have made it so. The word is out that Wichita has an art scene because we made that happen.

On June 5, 2012, the Wichita community suffered a huge loss when one of our great local artists, Diane Thomas Lincoln passed away. The loss was sudden. This beautiful soul and talent, with a heart as big as the sun was here smiling one day and simply gone the next.

So much has been said about the return of the Joan Miro’s mural, "BIRD PEOPLE" at the Ulrich Museum, I feel that Miro is part of our community. We should know more about the man himself.