Meet: Shalene Valenzula

FACETIME Silent Auction Artist Shalene Valenzula 

Shalene Valenzuela was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California. She received a BA in Art Practice at the University of California at Berkeley and an MFA in Ceramics from California College of Arts and Crafts. In June 2007, she moved from her longtime home of Oakland, CA to begin a two year residency at The Clay Studio of Missoula. She currently teaches classes in the School of Art at the University of Montana, and maintains a studio in Missoula.
Additionally, Shalene has participated in summer artist residencies at the Archie Bray Foundation (2006) and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (2004, 2011). In addition to U of M, she has taught at Oregon College of Art and Craft, The Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula Art Museum, Richmond Art Center (CA), ASUC Studios at UC Berkeley, and CCA Extended Education. She was interim director at the Clay Studio of Missoula August 2010-March 2011, and now serves as a member of the studio’s board of directors. Shalene has been a guest artist and speaker at a number of art centers, colleges, and universities and her work has been featured in several group and solo exhibitions nationally.

 
My body of ceramic work consists of quirky pieces that reflect upon a variety of issues with a thoughtful, yet humorous and ironic tone. I am inspired by the potential of everyday common objects. I reproduce these objects primarily through slipcasting, and illustrate the surfaces with a variety of handpainted and screenprinted imagery. My narratives explore topics ranging from fairytales, urban mythologies, consumer culture, societal expectations, etiquette, and coming-of-age issues. Stylistically, much of my imagery is pulled from somewhat "dated" sources that I find represent an idealized time in society and advertising. Such gems include instructional guides, cookbooks, old advertisements, and old family photos. Beneath the shiny veneer of these relics hides a complex and sometimes contradicting truth of what things seem to 
appear as upon first glance.
So one may ask "Why clay? Why not just draw these images on paper, or on the actual objects?" One way of explaining my building aesthetic would be a form of trompe l’oeil with a twist. The preciousness of clay as a medium helps transform my depicted common household/consumer item into something magical. I care about the object being referenced and recognizable while maintaining my illustrative quality that completes the narrative.
Sometimes my inspirations are just pure whimsy, and I find nothing wrong with that. Rules are sometimes meant to be broken. How else are we supposed to learn?

Meet: Steve Muhs

FACETIME Silent Auction Artist Steve Muhs

Bio:

Lives in Darby, MT with two dogs.

MA in Art from Eastern Illinois University has worked in Illinois, Ohio, Wyoming, Texas, Montana favorite job - Kettle Man in Dallas, TX currently working as a temp. writing poetry and making art. no plans for the future

Meet: Karen McAlister Shimoda

FACETIME Silent Auction Artist Karen McAlister Shimoda 

Karen McAlister Shimoda is an artist and freelance editor who has been living in Missoula, Montana since September 2007. Prior to Missoula, she spent many years in various locations and occupations. She grew up in Southern California; raised her two children in Connecticut; worked in New Jersey and New York City; and has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and Central America. She has been a teacher, writer, editor, sign painter, and fine artist. In Missoula, she has been able to create a balance in her work life, between editing and producing art. In both, she pays attention to the details yet strives to present the essence of the subject.

Karen has a BA degree in Art History from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York, and MA degrees in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and in East Asian Studies from Columbia University in New York City. Over the years since childhood, she has also taken courses in oil painting, drawing, printmaking, book illustration, and photography.

Since moving to Montana, Karen has exhibited her artwork most notably in the Missoula Art Museum’s Annual Art Auction (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), and as one of 60 Montana artists chosen to exhibit in the inaugural Montana Triennial (2009). She has shown a series of her work, titled Specimens, in solo exhibitions at the University of Montana Center Art Gallery (December 2009) and The Frame Shop in Hamilton (September 2010). Karen’s work was included in the 11^th Anniversary Show at Turman Larison Contemporary in Helena (June 2011) and in a two-woman show, titled Mindscapes, with Pamela Caughey at the Brink Gallery in Missoula (September 2011).

Karen was awarded a one-month residency at the Jentel Artist Residency Program in Banner, Wyoming (April/May 2011). 

Yesterday

           

Yesterday. Of the past, but still in the present. Yes, the word, but more so the song.

McCartney’s voice awoke my passionate spirit, during my early teen years. And I played his melancholy song endlessly. I wasn’t so much focused on troubles as I was on the mood. And that mood told me the opposite – that yesterday was different from now, but that now could be better than then, not necessarily worse. McCartney actually gave me hope.

But I believe in yesterday. I have many yesterdays to remember, and my passionate spirit looks for their essence.

The appeal of creating art is to find and illustrate the essence of that which has great meaning for me. I don’t long for yesterday, but I carry that feeling of being a young dreamy adolescent girl with me. So I’ve delicately chipped away at the lyrics of McCartney’s song, creating a snippet of the past. The reminder isn’t transparent. It is an embodiment. Of this I strive as an artist.

Meet: Jack Metcalf

FACETIME Silent Auction Artist Jack Metcalf

A self-proclaimed honest portrait of an optimistic analogue
21st century gent looking right with only a promise of happiness, Ink on Paper

"Jack Metcalf spent his youth knee deep in the sweating swamps of the southeast smearing the line of where illusion ends and reality begins. His creations emulate a diary of sorts. The work balances draftsman precision with an  ambiguous blather of imagination, insight, and delight, presenting an internal conversation that is felt, but never fully comprehended. The work is playful, visually stimulating, and when tied to the stories behind each piece, also deeply personal. It may have humor, but it’s not to be taken lightly."

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Don't forget to pick-up your tickets for the auction. They are$10MAMbers// $15Non-MAMbers. You can purchase them over the phone 406.728.0447 or stop in at the MAM.

Under Construction

Welcome to our Artini Auction: FACETIME Blog page! We're currently under construction, but we'll soon have all the participating artists bio's & images up, as well as schedule of events and all the exciting updates leading-up to the auction on September 15th!

 Please check-back soon!

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