Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Two young local artists are sharing exhibit space at the Lakeland Art Gallery.
Featured at the 116 S. Buffalo St. space are the paintings of Wendy Norton and the sculptures of Ryan Gruenewald.
Set amid nebulous backgrounds and draped fabric, Norton offers self-portraits in warm, monochromatic tones.
"I'm often the only model around," she said of several of the pieces.
When she has someone else to paint, though, the work is just as fine. A portrait of a woman holding up her long brunette hair is like coming upon someone unaware.
The watercolors have an exquisite density. Velvet and silk textures leap off the canvas. The look of metal or paper or string is tangible.
It's as if a breeze blows across Norton's images. Colors swirl and whirl giving volume and mass to what she has to say.
In "The Grandmothers", strings of pictures float showing past generations of women at various ages. In another piece, a picture quilt is stitched by machine.
Norton teaches advanced art classes and visual communications at Fairfield Jr.-Sr. High School near Goshen. She also teaches an eighth-grade exploratory class and a children's art camp in the summer.
She graduated from the University of Saint Francis in 2004 and from Tippecanoe Valley High School in 2000.
Sculptor Ryan Gruenewald also graduated from St. Francis in 2004 and from Warsaw Community High School in 2000.
Gruenewald's figures range in size from small to tall.
"The viewer is meant to have a sense of empathy with them," he said.
Male or female, the big-bellied figures sport expressions of yearning. Several reach out to fend off what might be coming.
Gruenewald uses a mixed media approach to his work. One large figure, "Bird," hurries along with a bird in a lantern-like cage. A laughing face peaks out of a fabric shroud supported by stout legs.
Painted to look like bronze or aged copper, the figures have a heavy feel to them.
The show opens today with a reception planned for Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
