Art is Messy!

On a recent Tuesday, Karma Grotelueschen of Prairie Oak Artisans was sending woodchips flying to carve a woodcut of a canoe among spatterdock leaves and flowers.

 Just a couple doors down on Commerce Street, Bruce Howdle was working on a clay wall mural featuring a child on a tree swing with a rolling Wisconsin valley landscape beyond.  Out back of the Howdle studio, Howdle's student, Henry Graser, was splattering paint onto huge vases that he sculpted recently.  Henry was painting and glazing to finishing up the pots in order to fire them prior to his departure for education at the Art Institute in Chicago.

It was a busy, but typical, day in Mineral Point's art district that encompasses galleries and studios along High Street, Commerce Street, and Fountain Street, and others a little outside the downtown area such as Brewery Pottery on Shake Rag Street and some actually a little out of town, like Windy Ridge Pottery on Route 39.

How To Shop With Prairie Oak Artisans

Prairie Oak Artisans is located in beautiful Mineral Point, Wisconsin, a lovely historic town between Galena, IL and Madison, WI on Highway 151.  Mineral Point is home to a number or artists and artist galleries and artist studios, so you will find more like us up and down the streets and in interesting locations just our of town.
Prairie Oak Artisans is at 207 Commerce Street.  It is a small building with only 20 feet of storefront, so we can be easy to miss, but worth looking for.
In season, approximately May through October, we are open on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and also at other times when shop owner, Karma Grotelueschen, is there working on art.
There are friendly helpers in town willing to let you in to shop by appointment at other times, so just call Karma's cellphone at 630-728-9998 and she'll round someone up to help you out.
Or we can ship something to you. If you saw it while in the gallery last time you were in town, or you see it here, or you saw something a friend obtained from us, describe it and we can send it.  Email a description to plannedscapes @ aol.com (take out the spaces) and we'll try to  help.
Karma also has an Etsy shop at www.Etsy.com/shop/PrairieOakArt where many of her things are listed.
Or if you don't see them there, if you call or email, she can put them there in a listing for you so that you can use it to order.
Karma also has her sterling silver jewelry at www.Etsy.com/shop/PrairieOakSilver so you can shop for earrings, pendants, rings, cuff bracelets, and other lovelies year around.
Thanks for showing an interest in our artwork and do let us help you find the right lovely thing for your home or for you to wear or as a gift.

Woodcut of our Building

Owner Karma Grotelueschen has carved a woodcut of the building facade, which will be the 2014 postcard.

Newly Painted Sign

In between rain storms, the old sign got a new coat of paint on the letters and leaves.  When the sign was new and light colored wood, the dark green letters and brown leaves were just dandy.  But over the years  (and has it really been eight?), the sign wood has darkeened considerably, so making the letters light green and the leaves a nice rust makes the sign readable again!

Opening Day in May 2013

Opening Day on Friday, May 3, 2013 was an opportunity to put out for display some new jewelry.  Samantha Traylor makes earrings of found natural objects like sea glass and uses wire wrapping techniques to turn them into lovely earrings.  I just adore that she has the spunk to create deliberately asymmetrical earrings.

Also for the first time, my sterling silver jewelry is available.  After being inspired by Wolf Runner, I finally got up the nerve to order tools and supplies and make leaf-themed jewelry with semi-precious cabochons.  I must admit I destoyed some silver before I got it right, but it's been a blast.  I hope you like it.  You can see more on Etsy at my shop PrairieOakArt.

Seasonal

Mineral Point is one of those lovely towns that enjoys most of its business in the summer months, so some of the businesses are open limited hours or close down entirely to allow the traffic to be channeled to those that stay open all year. 
Prairie Oak Artisans is one of the seasonal galleries.  
We are open from about the first weekend in May to the last weekend in October, as well as the holiday Candlelight Shopping weekend in December.  The rest of the winter months, we are closed. 
However,  I have people willing to make selections and ship to you, if there is something you have seen in the store during a visit, or something you see here or on our facebook page in a photo. 
Just drop me a line via email at plannedscapes at aol.com (take out the spaces) and I will let you know if it is still available and what it would cost to ship.  Or if the art is my me, you can find it perhaps in my shop at etsy.com, under the shop name PrairieOakArt or by searching on my name, Karma Grotelueschen.
Or if you are in the area, you can make an appointment to have one of my helpers let you in to make your selections.  We are glad to do so to help you with your gift shopping or to get that special pair of earrings or home accessory!  Email me as above, or give me a call on my cell phone 630-728-9998.  I don't answer numbers I don't recognize, so leave a brief message and I will call you back as soon as I can.
And stop in to see us during our spring through autumn season so you can see what is new or pick up that particular lovely you have had your eye on!
Thanks for you patronage of Prairie Oak Artisans, past, present, and in future seasons!

Fall Art Tour 2010

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.

A Prairie Welcome

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

Welcome to Prairie Oak Artisans

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.