Prairie Oak Artisans

Timeline of John Falls O'Neill

2011-10-05T18:19:00.005-05:00

1806 - John Falls O’Neill "born in Shanes Castle, Ulster, Ireland"
1812 - Mary Ann Sublette, born March 7, Woodford County, Kentucky
1822 - O’Neill arrives in Baltimore, MD and takes job as clerk
1827 - O’Neill accompanies British Army officers to Mexico, on return trip meets Mary Ann Sublette in St. Louis
1827 - O’Neill and Sublette married in Galena on September 18, 1827
1828 - O'Neill have first child, Sarah Ann, October 7, 1828
1829 - O’Neill builds 2 story frame house in Mineral Point. Lower level faces back garden, stream, alley, probably was living level for family. Street level was store, sawmill, lead furnace, etc. Upper level may have been income rental.
1832 - Friend of Sublette’s family killed at Blue Mounds by Winnebago so O’Neill rides in search of killer.
1834 - O'Neills have second child, Louise
1836 - O’Neill is captain at Ft. Richmond in Mineral Point during Black Hawk War
1836 - Mineral Point is surveyed and platted for first time
1836 - O'Neills have third child, Adeline
1837 - O’Neill running 'old stand' out of street level of stone house, probably residing in garden level
1837 - O’Neill applies for claim to ½ of lot 110, states there is a house built as ‘improvement’
1838 - O'Neills have fourth child, William
1840 - O’Neills mortgage lot 110 and house
1840 - O'Neills have fifth child, Thomas
1842 - O'Neills have sixth child, Richard
1844 - O'Neills have seventh child, Eliza
1845 - O’Neills sell lot 109 after a fire damages part of frame portion of buildings, cuts frame house at lot line and limestone building is built adjacent that serves a new wall.
1845 - John Falls O’Neill goes to California to supply merchandise to Gold Rush, apparently making a good deal of money supplying travelers, and at some point, purchases a small ranch in northern California. At some point, he move his family there.
1846 - Lot 110 is foreclosed on
1846 - O'Neills have eighth child, James
1849 - O'Neills have ninth child, Maria
1856 - O’Neill dies in California and is buried there.
1893 - Mary Ann Sublette O'Neill dies in Los Angeles, California

The Early History of 207 Commerce

2011-09-29T18:19:00.011-05:00

Prairie Oak Artisans gallery is housed in a part-frame and part-stone front building at 207 Commerce Street in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. This building is part of a body of historic buildings that survive in Mineral Point. Old buildings carry with them the story of an interesting past and connections to other stories in history. When and why they were built, by whom, how they have survived these many years is a story worthy of telling and retelling. These historical buildings promise a future of fascinating stories only if they are preserved and cared for so that others can experience their beauty and charm and learn about them.
Key to the preservation of old buildings is finding uses for them that make them valuable enough to justify the cost of preservation yet at the same time do not require so many changes as to erase the history. A nature themed art gallery is one possible use for such an historic treasure. Part of the responsibility of owning such an historical building is seeing to it that the history that remains, remains. Thus, sometimes, the gallery can be a little darker than optimal and the walls and floor can be less than ideal backdrops for art, but preserving them is worth the compromise.
When John Falls O'Neill, a real prince from Ireland, where ruins of the family castle remain, came to Mineral Point, it was not even a town. He went touring the area with the British Army as a clerk, and met a young woman in St. Louis that he asked to marry him. Mary Ann Sublette was from a large family of brothers and cousins, some of whom went on to achieve fame in exploration of the west. The O'Neill came to the area that is now Mineral Point to open a general store for the lead prospectors that were already in the area.
O'Neill and his wife built their frame store and home in 1829 so that it was between the road and the creek. There was no town yet and the area had not yet been surveyed. The survey in 1836 resulted in the O'Neil home and store building straddling the line between two lots, so O'Neill purchased them both. Shortly after, he had Cornish stonemasons build the stone portion to span between the original frame building and the lot line. An 1838 newspaper advertisement tells us that a general store was operating out of a stone storefront, so the 'addition' was complete by then.
The shop level faces Commerce Street, and is where O'Neill bought the lead mineral and sold assorted household staples and mining necessities. The "Old Stand", as a general merchant's store was called then, provided needed goods to both the miners and later to the soldier of the fort that was built across the street. They would have offered such goods as flour, sugar, corn and oat meal, spices, coffee, and beer, as well as tools, clothing, socks, cups, bowls, canvas fabric and other supplies and goods to the transient lead miners. As the settlement became a town and grew, offerings in the "Old Stand" would have been adjusted to accommodate the demand. Also offered at various times were various services. One such was sawmilling. O'Neill engaged in the purchase of the raw lead that was being found in the surrounding hills of the driftless region, which he melted down to purify it and formed into ingots for sale at a profit.
The shopkeepers and their families resided in the lower level that opens to the rear to gardens and the stream. This level was finished off in back just like a residential street front, with doors and windows of these and other shop owners facing the creek. The little strips of land between the buildings and the creek would have been considered the 'front yards' to the homes as well as serving as work courtyards. Spring through fall, the family members likely did a good deal of their work outdoors in the fenced yards, such as laundry and even cooking. In the early years, the town had no law and was probably a rather rowdy place, so the women and children probably did all their work in the downstairs level and never set foot in the shop level, and they probably did all their visiting on the rear 'residential street' that is the alley now.
The top level was rented out to others as short term living space and had a separate entrance in the wooden front. Because the lower level had a constant temperature of around 55 degrees with bedrock as walls and as parts of the floor, it would have been cool in summer and naturally warmer than the outdoors in winter, so would have been considered a much better place to live than the drafty top level upstairs.
The front of the building had one door to the store level and another to the upstairs until the 1980's renovation by Jennifer and John Sharp. Their renovation preserved the best of what remained of the history and made major structural restorations that stabilized the building to ensure its continue survival. They used the "Old Stand" level as studio and gallery for Jennifer's water colors and John's wood carving. Merriam Nessett finished the upper level as living space in the late 1990's, and ran an antique and decorating store in the street level gallery.
The oldest standing commercial building in Mineral Point, 207 Commerce is features hand hewn posts and beams in the timber section and limestone walls in the stone section, and mortise and tennon joints and pegged joints can be seen in the walls. The original floors show where the room partitions were, where the heating stoves were, and even show axe marks where firewood for the fires was split and burn marks where coals popped out of the stove and burned pits in the wood. The original oak ceiling joists are exposed in the gallery level showing saw kerfs that reveal that they were 'pit sawn', though such sawing in the area was usually done with above ground frameworks rather than below ground pits due to the proximity of bedrock to the surface. There are remnants of original plaster on the wall that show the first soft gritty thick yellowy layer that was reinforced with horse hair, and the thin hard white or grey surface layer. The attic retains much of the original wood, including a less-than-perfectly-straight ridge beam made of a minimally processed log. The basement has support posts that have also been minimally processed and retain some of their bark. A section of accordion lath that would have formed the structure for plaster on interior walls was rescued from the trash by a neighbor and is on display in the basement stairway.
The street level of the building now serves as gallery space to Prairie Oak Artisans and as my studio space. The upstairs is living space, and the basement is utility and storage. The front and rear gardens feature prairie plants that remind us of what was on the land when Native Americans were the only inhabitants and bison still roamed.
When you are in Mineral Point to shop, feel free to ask questions about the building and its history, and if you want more of a detailed tour before or after hours, call 630-728-9998 to arrange for an appointment. Living and working inside an antique has its challenges, but also its rewards, and I'd love to share them with you!

Fall Art Tour 2010

2010-10-27T10:50:00.004-05:00

Fall Art Tour happens on the third weekend of October each year in the Mineral Point area. While not actually on the tour map, I am surrounded by those who are and so I demonstrate one of my media on that day. This year again, I was felting. Working with images from my nature photographs, I pre-make the wet-felted background mats during the week prior, and then during the event, add details and foreground images to the mats with needle felting. Felting needles have fine notches along their edges that grab the fibers of the yarns or wool fleece and push them into the felted mat to hold them onto it. This process builds up an artwork image much like layers of oil painting are built up. The finished images are about 9 inches by about 13 inches and are available as is for your own framing or in a shadowbox frame. Both works need some finishing touches such as squaring up the edges, but these are my results for FAT 2010.

During the event, I also made a felted vessel by wrapping roving around a children's play ball and wet felting it. This forms a hollow vessel of felted fiber. This yellow-orange and rust vessel is about 8 inches wide and about 7 inches tall.

The felted oak leaves will be $380 unframed or $420 framed plus $25 shipping. The trilliums will be $420 unframed or $460 framed, plus $25 shipping. The vessel is $85 plus $5 shipping. Call 630-728-9998 or email. Other vessels and felted pictures are available.

Septermber 25 and 26, 2010

2010-09-19T21:05:00.005-05:00

Next weekend, La Bella Vita yarn and fiber shop will be hosting a Fibre Arts Faire, and I will be there demonstrating felting. I will be demonstrating live at the show at 109 Commerce, which is block downhill from my gallery, while friendly helpers run the shop! These are examples of the felt scarves I will be making at the show.

Felted Vessels

2010-09-19T11:23:00.000-05:00

A pair of felted vases I made last summer.

Woodburned and Painted Boxes

2010-09-18T21:25:00.002-05:00

My friend Susie does amazing folk art painting and I hope to have her work at the gallery SOON. One of my favorite things that she does is these heart shapes that have bold geometric bands of black and white and assorted vines and berries. She woodburns the designs first, then paints them. I have had these wood boxes stashed for a while, and Susie's art inspired me to do some woodburning and painting of my own. Instead of opaque paints, I used calligraphy ink so that the wood grain shows through. They are lightly varnished to protect the artwork.

Cooler Weather Ahead

2010-09-17T22:53:00.000-05:00

The dropping temps remind me to tell you about these sweet fingerless mittens that Jenny Lund makes. They are great for dog walking and driving. You can curl your fingers up inside for more warmth or when you need, you can fold their ends up to have freer use of your fingers.

Fragrant Soap

2010-09-14T22:15:00.001-05:00

Prairie Oak Artisan first rented space from a dentist, where we carried fragrant soaps to hide the medicinal smells of our landlord. Now that we have our own lovely building, we would not need fragrance in the shop, but we have a few regular customers who ask for it. And it is nice to walk into a space that smells nice!

But I have not had the best of luck with soap vendors. One quit selling soap to specialize in soap making supplies and others have become too successful selling it themselves to deal with small orders from others. When our family was visiting our oldest son at college, we went to the Tucson Farmers' Market where we found this vendor, who agreed to ship to me. He even came up with a special wrapping for us! My favorite is Lemongrass, but now that it is fall, the Pumpkin Spice is appealing to me.

Wooden Postcards

2010-09-12T22:49:00.001-05:00

These wooden postcards are sized to mail and sturdy enough to make the trip. Computer printed and hand embellished, they are made of paper-backed wood veneer, and each is one of a kind.

Pewter

2010-09-01T22:06:00.000-05:00

Thomas and Patricia Hooper specialize in pewter for Revolutionary and Civil War re-enactors, and also tour at select art shows. I had purchased some of their beautiful candlesticks and a lovely vase, then asked them to make me a mug that would be appropriate for use at the pre-civil War 1840's farm where I give prairie tours. So when I opened the gallery in an 1820's/1830's building, it seemed a natural to carry some reproduction pewter by the Hoopers.

A Private Class

2010-07-07T23:37:00.001-05:00

Over the holiday weekend, I taught a little private class. We made earrings that I call Tie One On. They are made by tying beads onto French ear wires with waxed linen or fine leather cord or hemp cord or embroidery floss. They are easier to make than beaded earrings with wires holding the parts together and they require no pricey tools. If you want me to do a class for you, just let me know. I prefer 6 students, but make exceptions. I will travel to meet you or we can hold the class at the gallery in Mineral Point. I can teach you how to do most anything that I make myself that I have posted here.

I have taught indoors and out, at art schools and festivals, at an historic farm museum, for park districts, for garden clubs, for one individual at a time and up to groups of 15. Let's talk about what I can teach to you or your group. Everyone always has a wonderful time!

2010-07-07T23:01:00.002-05:00

Glass artist Nate Gieseke brought a few new pieces in and they are lovely as usual! Nate's glass has swirls and free form shapes that give it motion and flow. Many have an interior color that is different from the exterior, while some are transparent. My favorite is the collaboration with Chris Hubbard, Prairie Oak Artisan's blacksmith.

Recycled Licence Plates

2010-07-06T21:58:00.004-05:00

New artists to the gallery: Cathy and Pete are making signs out of recycled licence plates. I will have a few in stock at the gallery soon, but for now, you can order any saying you want for $10 a letter, including 2 blank ends for finishing and the spaces. So Born 2 Garden would be $150. It takes about 2 weeks from when you let me know what you want to when the sign arrives at your door by UPS or USPS. You can order any short quote or saying or inspirational words or you can order your kids' names for their rooms or the name of your favorite sports team or band.

I got this one for myself. I am going to order "GOOD KARMA". It's a fun environmentally friendly way to express yourself!

New Felted Scarves

2010-07-01T22:30:00.001-05:00

Sometimes the drive to play with materials leads to a new product and this is one of them. I finally made it to Esther's Place, an amazing felt studio in Big Rock, Illinois, where Natasha Leherer teaches classes and workshops in a wide array of felting techniques and sells some amazing products. She has yarns for local producers, from bison to alpaca, and one of her most fabulous products is roving from her own sheep that she herself hand dyes. The colors are just beautiful. I purchased a palette of colors to use in my felted landscapes and florals, and then got the itch to make something right away. I had watched her teach a class on nuno felting where thin layers of fleece pulled from the roving are laid down onto silk chiffon scarves, but having no scarves at hand, I tried making a scarf from just the fleece, with my own floral designs. What you see here is from my first batch, made on the bathroom countertop at the lake house.

Paintings and Fiber Art by Sheri Lee Butler

2010-07-01T06:18:00.000-05:00

Sheri Lee Butler has new fun paintings in the gallery. Vibrant colors and textures that make you want to go up close for a better look make these pieces a delight. Her fiber art features female figures ornamented for a celebration of life. They are made of wool and other fibers felted and tied and sewn onto art canvases and ready to hang on your living room, family room, bedroom, or office wall.

Checkered Animals Paintings by Sheri Lee Butler

2010-07-01T02:13:00.000-05:00

Sheri Lee's whimsical series of animals in checkerboard patterns are delightful and fun. Choose one of these or ask her do the animal profile of your choice as a custom order. This is the fun side of Sheri's often serious work.

Slow Printing?

2010-03-03T11:28:00.005-06:00

I've been thinking about the rust stains on the window sill. The ones from where I stood the metal stand for the glass flower vases and later discovered the four little squarish rust stains from the stand's feet.

What if one made a 'printing block' of metal objects, prerusted to get the process going, and stood it on wet paper? How long would it take for enough rust to accumulate to make an image? Would a single wetting of the paper be enough or would the paper need to be redampened? How consistent would the image be from print to print?

Now, to find a source of small rusty metal object to make into an image, and then, to design a meaningful image from them . . .

Update: I found 16 guage steel wire and a 8" x 8" white scrubbing pad and finer wire to wire the thicker wire on. Now to design something . . . maybe a tree? . . . and wire it on and give this idea a go!

Three Trillium - Nine

2010-02-26T07:47:00.003-06:00

This print is the result of an argument with a customer. I had a felted trillium in the gallery for over a year, and a man came in and told me he had seen it last time he was in town and wanted to purchase the picture with the three trillium in it. I showed him the felted picture of the single trillium, the only felted trillium I had ever done, and he argued, saying it had three flowers in the picture. Well, how do you respond to something like that? I am sure he left thinking I had sold 'his' picture and was trying unload this one on him. Fortunately to my ego, another customer called a week later and had me mail it to him as a surprise for his wife's birthday. But that set me on a mission to find a nice composition of three trillium on my walks, and photograph the bejeebers out of it, so that I would have photos to work with so that I COULD felt a picture with three trillium. Okay, I never did get that felt done, but here is a linoleum block print of them. I call it Nine.

Oak Tree Block Print

2010-02-26T07:40:00.003-06:00

The branching pattern of the wide spreading burr oak is very different depending on where it grows. In a moist prairie, the tree grows taller and can be more open at the bottom, and in a drier prairie, the tree can be wider and shorter and have branches almost to the ground. The tree is often struck by lightening and then just keeps on growing, filling back in around the damage. The leaves can vary from tree to tree and the amount of 'burr' covering the acorn can vary as well. Here are the first few off the block hanging to dry.

Etsy shop

2010-02-25T23:03:00.002-06:00

You can email me to inquire about purchasing any art you see, mine or that by other artists. And I have a few specific items listed on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/prairieoak

Silk Chiffon Scarves

2009-12-05T13:37:00.003-06:00

My new scarves are sheer silk chiffon. Lighter and airier than the haboti silk I have used before. Sort of a retro look about some of them. Fun to be painting on silk again!

Some Fun Customers

2009-07-02T16:01:00.000-05:00

Reasons I liked them: When I opened my front door to put out my Open sign and my flags, they were waiting. Nothing like waiting customers to make the shopkeep feel valued! They drove a Jeep Wrangler, just like me, though mine is much older and red. Their license plate indicated they were fans of sunflowers and I have a series of sunflower photographs. They are landscapers and I am a landscape designer. They were power shopping for things for their own yard before they took off for the rest of Father's Day doing some relaxing sightseeing. And they bought a birdbath and two kinds of birdhouses and few other things. And they said nice things about many of my artists. And that, the last, may have been what endeared them to me the most, because the thing I love most about Prairie Oak Artisans is the group of talented artists that I get to know and with whose work I surround myself every day at the gallery.

Karma's Leather Flower Pins

2009-06-12T16:22:00.014-05:00

Karma's leather flower pins are hand made one at a time from real leather. Some of the leather is scraps from upholstery industry, some is leftover from Karma's bookbinding projects that require that rectangular pieces be cut out of irregularly shaped hides, and others is purchased specifically for the flowers to certain colors or textures. Wear these pins on a lapel of a coat or jacket, the collar of a blouse, on the strap or body of a purse, handbag, or briefcase, on a headband, or on an elastic band ponytail holder. Can you think of anywhere else to wear these beautiful leather flowers?

Wood Strip Canoes by Randy Pfeifer

2009-03-27T17:33:00.004-05:00

These canoes are custom made of cedar wood strips bent around a form. The artist glues each strip on individually, using no staples or ties, resulting in a perfect flawless exterior. The wood is covered inside and out with fiberglass and epoxy to render it water-tight and lake- and river-worthy. Gunwale design, seat design, deck design and other details can be individualized, and a number of shapes and sizes are available. Custom inlay work can decorate the sides of the boats, and dark and light strips allow design elements to grace the hull of the canoe. These boats will turn heads, whether on the car roof-top carrier, in the water, or hanging from the ceiling of your home. They are beautiful.

Felted Flower Pins - Karma Grotelueschen

2009-03-27T15:06:00.003-05:00

The parts of these pins are hand felted from wool fleede using traditional wet felting. Then the parts are assembled using contemporary needle felting. This is the process used by the artist to construct her felted landscape and floral paintings.

Tied In Knots Earring - Karma Grotelueschen

2009-03-27T14:17:00.005-05:00

Waxed linen cords ties these beads into swingy earrings.

Karma Grotelueschen's Yellow Flower Paintings

2009-03-27T14:13:00.002-05:00

Painted with water-soluable oils, these paintings are 12" square and designed to be hung vertically as a set.

Notecards from Carrie Auwerter Watercolors

2009-03-17T15:33:00.003-05:00

Carrie Auwerter's Watercolor Paintings

2009-03-17T15:27:00.003-05:00

Carrie paints nature scenes from her garden and beyond, with meticulous realistic detail in clear rich colors, and lets the white of the paper glow through for rich contrasts.

Colors of Scarves

2009-03-13T18:50:00.004-05:00

Scarves are available in Yellows and oranges, oranges and reds, pinks and purples, purples and blues, blues and greens, greens and yellows. Tones can be bright and vibrant or more muted and dusky.
Each scarf is painted with several tones in the range of colors and has a white resist line that features a leave or flower along it.

Karma Grotelueschen's Dance Veil Scarves

2009-03-13T18:43:00.003-05:00

These new larger scarves come in two lengths, 84" and 108", and can be worn wrapped around the neck, over the shoulders, or just loose in front, or they can be used in dance to float and flow with the music. 100% silk scarves are painted with a resist process that leaves a white line in a leaf or lily design to separate colors.

Karma Grotelueschen's Felt Calla Lily Pins

2009-01-31T23:21:00.005-06:00

Pins for lapel, hatband, handbag, shawl, or knit cap are made of wool felt and Eco-fi felt that is made of recycled beverage bottles.

Jane Brown's Flower Pins

2009-01-23T17:42:00.008-06:00

Jane Brown has 12 designs published in Crochet! magazine, over 6 different months. The designs are published 2 per month and titled "Flower Of The Month Pins". Jane runs her own yarn shop and teaches knitting and crochet and designs her own patterns for many other products including shawls, purses, and hats. Her shop is called Never Enough Knitting and is located in Wheaton, Illinois. Prairie Oak Artisans is delighted to be carrying her crocheted flower pins! They are lovely on a coat lapel, a hat, a purse, or a shawl.

Karma Grotelueschen's Grape Vine Baskets

2009-01-13T18:34:00.000-06:00

Artist Assistants

2009-01-13T16:43:00.002-06:00

Karma Grotelueschen's Garden Art

2009-01-13T16:38:00.002-06:00

Rich and Bridget Zemlo's Tops

2009-01-13T16:36:00.002-06:00

Jimi Lee Weber Baskets

2009-01-13T16:31:00.001-06:00

Cindy Wilkins

2009-01-13T16:26:00.004-06:00

Cindy Wilkins has designed a line of pottery specially for Prairie Oak Artisans that features pieces with edges molded from actual oak branches.

Karma Grotelueschen's Painted Silk Scarves

2009-01-13T14:39:00.006-06:00

Using a resist process, nature motifs are painted onto 100% silk scarves.

Tiny Playdoh Food

2008-08-26T16:05:00.004-05:00

Nate Gieseke

2008-08-26T15:58:00.001-05:00

More from Alan Barbick

2008-08-26T15:46:00.002-05:00

Linda Spicer Folk Art

2008-08-26T09:37:00.002-05:00

Karma Grotelueschen's Postcard Set

2008-08-26T09:29:00.003-05:00

Cheryl Mahowald's Collage

2008-08-26T09:25:00.001-05:00

Karma Grotelueschen's Handbound Blank Journals

2008-08-25T16:10:00.001-05:00

Patrick Pfeifer's Block Prints

2008-08-25T16:06:00.003-05:00

Karma Grotelueschen's Ink & Brush Drawings

2008-08-25T15:54:00.002-05:00

Thomas Pfeifer

2008-08-25T15:15:00.000-05:00

Karma Grotelueschen's Beaded Semiprecious Stone Earrings

2008-08-25T15:13:00.000-05:00

Hap Daus' Wooden Boxes

2008-08-25T14:48:00.000-05:00

Karma Grotelueschen's Felt Flower Pins

2008-08-25T14:46:00.001-05:00

Ken Schmierer's Downtown Farm Town

2008-08-25T13:25:00.002-05:00

Jan Smith

2008-08-24T19:46:00.001-05:00

Thomas Pfeifer's Origami

2008-08-24T16:14:00.000-05:00

George Bruce

2008-08-23T20:16:00.000-05:00

Pam Skorupski

2008-08-20T20:12:00.000-05:00

Jenny Lund's Hat & Mitten Sets

2008-08-18T20:24:00.000-05:00

Jenny Lund's Shawls

2008-08-18T20:19:00.000-05:00

Susan Stillinger

2008-08-16T11:11:00.004-05:00

Susan Stillinger crochets purses, tote bags, market bags, and many other useful things of cotton yarns. At her farm in northern Illinois, she raises sheep for their fiber, beees for their honey, chickens for their eggs and volunteers at historic Garfield Farm Tavern and Farm Museum.

Sheri Butler's Fur Dog

2008-08-14T19:05:00.003-05:00

An ongoing project, FurDog is the studio mascot and guardian, and is NOT available for adoption or purchse. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Ken Schmierer's Depot Photos

2008-08-14T17:21:00.002-05:00

Sheri Lee Butler's Waterlily Paintings

2008-08-13T17:18:00.001-05:00

Ken Schmierer's Farm Photos

2008-08-12T16:33:00.003-05:00

Sheri Lee Butler's Cat Paintings

2008-08-11T18:35:00.000-05:00

Ken Schmierer's Winter Photos

2008-08-10T16:36:00.002-05:00

Sheri Lee Butler Figurative Sculpture

2008-07-30T18:37:00.000-05:00

Dave Masters

2008-07-16T00:33:00.000-05:00

Dave works in miniature on a turning lathe, creating these beautiful pens, mechanical pencils, and other desk accessories.

Chuck Armstrong

2008-07-15T23:38:00.000-05:00

Chuck Armstrong works with wood. In his younger days, he made finely carved wafer thin leaves for pins and other botanical forms for pins and earrings and pendants. His hands to not allow him to carve such detail any longer, so he used palm-held scrapers to craft freeform wooden bowls from large pieces of wood. The bowls are truly one-of-a-kind original art, and they are functional as well.

Pat Armstrong's Work

2008-07-15T22:57:00.000-05:00

Pat Armstrong

2008-07-15T22:52:00.000-05:00

Before it was trendy, Pat Armstrong recognized how important the prairie was and worked on several significant prairie restoration projects in public places, where they today are used to inspire and teach others about the prairie and where they serve as recreational trails where those who don't know about the beauty of the prairie can be introduced to the beautiful plants and insects and birds. Her own yard is filled entirely with native plants and no turf grass lawn. She had to fight the city weed ordinances to do that and pioneered the concept of native plant landscapes. Her yard today is often on garden tours and she allows other gardeners to participate in her prairie burns so that they can learn how it is done. Pat is a botanical illustrator, and the gallery carries her notecard sets, one of prairie grasses and another of prairie forbs, a term for the flowering plants of the prairie.

A Prairie Welcome

2008-06-30T16:04:00.000-05:00

The wooden trough in front of the gallery overflows with prairie plants. Nodding wild onion offers a cheery welcome.

Frank Carter

2008-06-30T14:33:00.000-05:00

Cory McCrory

2008-06-29T15:43:00.000-05:00

Ken Schmierer's Barn Photos

2008-06-25T16:14:00.000-05:00

Sheri Lee Butler Oil Painting

2008-06-16T19:00:00.000-05:00

Sheri Lee Butler

2008-06-16T18:31:00.000-05:00

Figurative oil paintings on large canvases are currently the main body of work to be receiving the attention of Sheri Lee Butler. Also a mixed media and fiber artist, she paints and sculpts nature scenes, plants and flowers, and animals, in addition to the human figure.

Karma Grotelueschen's Nature Photography

2008-06-16T16:40:00.000-05:00

Karma Grotelueschen's Block Prints

2008-06-16T08:50:00.002-05:00

Linoleum block printing allows a series of prints to be produced for original art work that is relatively inexpensive. I do my own printing, often of multiple kinds of paper and usually using several colors of ink. This allows the prints to be used as series of 3 or 5 for long narrow walls for a graphic contemporary look.

Karma Grotelueschen's Felting

2008-06-16T00:17:00.006-05:00

These landscapes and botanicals combine the tradition of wet felting with contemporary needle felting. Prairie and woodland scenes are reinterpreted in fiber in these 3 dimensional artworks. Each takes about 3 days of hand work to produce, and each is a one-of-a-kind original.

Dale Barbick

2008-06-15T23:01:00.005-05:00

I make very simple beaded earrings so when I saw Dale Barbick's complex and intresting creations, I understood the quality of her materials and was in awe of her talent. She combines textures and colors in innovative and creative ways that bring out the best of the materials and result in peices that are richly layered in symbolism and meaning. Each one is a wearable individual one-of-a-kind work of art.

Alan Barbick's Work

2008-06-15T22:41:00.007-05:00

Alan Barbick

2008-06-15T21:11:00.006-05:00

Alan Barbick is one of the original co-op members and does what I can 'important work'. He travels around the country, visiting and documenting Native American rock art sites. He measures and photographs and uses the data to create scale reproductions of the images on slate and sandstone tablets. The documentation of rock art by people like Alan have lead to Native American groups being reunited with their ancestor's art. As groups of native people on the North American continent were pushed westward by 'settlement', they often lost track of their heritage of where their ancestral roots were specifically. Yet they continued to use the images of their ancestral culture in textiles, pottery, other art, silversmithing, in powwow regalia, and so on. So when those who have studied the rock art take the photos of the images to Native American people living today, they can see if the images match any from their current art. Matches might indicate that the rock art was done by their ancestors, and in this manner, Native American people have found their original homelands and oftentimes, gained access to the land where the rock art images are preserved. Alan's artwork truly makes a difference!

History

2008-06-15T20:33:00.003-05:00

First we were a co-op gallery in a tiny rented space in a dental building in Illinois. There were 5 of us who each worked one day a week in exchange for the right to display their art. We had about 2 dozen consignment artists. In 2005, I moved the gallery to an historic building in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. Sometimes, I run the gallery, and sometimes my artists staff it for me. Mineral Point is a special town with over two dozen artist-owned galleries, and many of them, like me, carry the work of many diverse artists.

Welcome to Prairie Oak Artisans

2008-06-15T19:36:00.003-05:00

I am honored to be friends with a number of talented artists who have work in my gallery in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. I want to share with you images of their art and information about them as artists and as people. Email me through my profile if you want to be contacted by the gallery about work that I might have in my inventory or if you want to be contacted by the artist for other work they might have available or for custom art. Hand made art is so much more wonderful to own, to look at in your home, to share with other people than mass produced things and I really believe that surrounding your self with art can enhance the quality of your life. Thanks for stopping by and taking some time to read about the amazing artists and wonderful art of Prairie Oak Artisans of Mineral Point, Wisconsin.