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Home About Us B2B Club Breaking News Contact Donate Events / Programs Feedback Ideas Incubator Industry Clusters Links / Resources Progess Funds Progress Teams Public Art / Murals Publications		Breaking News April 7, 2008 - Experience artists' work during Festival By: Kathy Johnson, for the Daily Tribune Within the Cranberry Blossom Festival, June 19 to 22, there will be a "Blossoming Artists" juried art walk in downtown Wisconsin Rapids. All are invited to participate in this fun-filled weekend. From 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. June 19, some Wisconsin Rapids business owners will host our juried artists as well as provide cranberry-themed refreshments. Stop by and mingle with the business owners as well as the guest artists. Our town is home to many gifted and talented people, using all types of media to create art, and I personally would like to take the time now to thank the businesses that are supporting us in this endeavor, helping us to continue to do what we love. As owners of Katie-Did Handcrafted Giftware, my husband, Sam, and I are a part of this growing art community. We both have been featured artists at the Alexander House in Port Edwards as well as showing at the Central Wisconsin Cultural Center in Wisconsin Rapids. Recently, our work was displayed at the Charles and JoAnn Lester Library in Nekoosa. Sam also has had photos on display at the Riverfront Arts Center in Stevens Point. Sam has won awards around the state for his wildlife photography. In Necedah, Sam won first place for his whooping crane photo, and he placed at the Madison Deer Classics, as well as first place in the Warrens Cranberry Festival. Sam sells his floral and fauna at many galleries and gift shops around Wisconsin. A self-taught photographer, Sam recently has taken the step from 35 mm film to digital photography. His love of this subject comes through in the clean, clear pictures he captures. From experimenting with clay, to floral arrangements, to beading, writing as well as working in other materials, I love to do many forms of art. To see different colors and styles, to go another step beyond what I did yesterday. For both of us it is a continued learning experience in our chosen media. Would you agree that is what art is all about? Capturing an essence of ourselves as well as the world around us, the boundaries are limitless. Art is a way to move beyond one's self in our everyday life and reach deep within our very souls to tap a hidden, unseen world, and then in some form be able to share this with another. So come, see and enjoy the fruits of the many talented artists from around our area. Perhaps you will get a glimpse of something deep within your own soul, reflected in another's art. Check out events at www.blossomfest.com. Kathy Johnson is owner/artist, Katie-Did Handcrafted Giftware.
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