Creatively Thinking

  Featured image: We Are What We Wonder  once again when the sun glistens thru the woods my heart is pierced once again a moment of golden light returns my sense of  wonder a line a simple  line a sphere simple golden sphere returns my sense of wonder

  Featured image: Why Do We Have Art? “The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” -Robert Henri

Featured image: Hawk III “I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness.”
— Thoreau For as long as I can remember, my work has circled around the importance of the real, the imagined, and freedom. These ideas have shaped my life, my art, and the way I move through the world. So I’m excited to share that on January 22nd, from 4–6 PM, we’ll be celebrating the opening reception of my new exhibition at the Campanile Center for the Arts, Campanile Gallery:
131 Milwaukee Street, Minocqua, WI 54548 And… it’s also a birthday party! 🎉
Both Steve Opfer (UP FUR) and I have birthdays right next to January 22nd, so we decided to make this opening a shared celebration. It’s going to be a fun, joyful evening, and we’d love for you to join us. The exhibition features my newest work, titled:
“The Real, the Imagined, and Freedom.” I’ll be showing brand-new 3D pieces—never seen before—created with repurposed found objects, along with a selection of my 2D work (some repurposed, som...

  Featured image: She Is A Creative “Let me help you,” he said. “How?” I should ask. How do we see? How do you see? Whose eyes do we see through? Do we see on our own? I would like to think so. Or do we see through another’s eyes? When I was teaching young adults, and they would do something outside of the classroom—something incredibly stupid (yes, stupid —sorry, I can’t think of a better name for driving on a slippery patch of ice on a curve, fast, as a challenge to see if you can defy all odds)—they also thought at the same time, “Oh, but it won’t happen to me.” Well, it happened to them—and it happens to them. Their “won’t happen to me’s” run out. All of my “won’t happen to me’s” have run out, too. I try not to do those things anymore, but, well, they still happen to me. For the most part, my magic wand still works for some reason—but the magic feels different now. I seem to be, I feel to be—at least lately—visualizing almost constantly the task that has been before me prett...

  Featured image: Earth's Energy Embracing Earth,  it's a perfect expression  of harmony and balance between chaos and quiet It's the life that embraces, teaches and inspires me guides my instinct ........it has.....  always been                    my story and my way and guide.

  I’m honored to share that my work Intersections has been accepted into the 36th Annual Midwest Seasons Exhibition at the Center for the Visual Arts. This show has long celebrated the artists and landscapes of the Midwest, capturing the rhythms, beauty, and character of our changing seasons. To have my work included alongside so many talented artists is truly meaningful to me. Center for the Visual Arts Caroline S. Mark Gallery January 7 – March 14, 2026 The Midwest Seasons Exhibit is the CVA’s premiere annual show, featuring artists whose pieces reflect the spirit of Midwestern life—its colors, traditions, stories, and sense of place. All selected artworks, including Intersections , will also appear in the Midwest Seasons 2026 Calendar , a beautiful keepsake publication celebrating the exhibition. I’m grateful to be part of this year’s lineup and deeply appreciative of the CVA for the opportunity. If you’re in the area during the exhibit run, I’d love for you to stop by an...

  Featured painting:  Kaleidoscope Of Raw Reality: We Are So Small – Northern Lights “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” -Leonardo da Vinci

  Featured image: November Chickadee Chickadees, bluejays,  doves, blackbirds,  nuthatches,  downy woodpeckers,  pileated  woodpeckers,  rose breasted  woodpeckers,  and flickers come to the feeders in the morning. The squirrels and foxes are there too -  Today,  Thanksgiving Day they all come home to for Thanksgiving. The table is filled with berries, fruits, nuts, seeds, and corn. All things natural.  all things beautiful all things yes. 

  Image: Celebrate Innovation Creativity has NEVER been sensible.

  Featured image: Roller Coaster Ride “ Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty  and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up,  totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming — WOW — What a ride! ” – Hunter S. Thompson

  Featured image: Squirrel I watched a gray squirrel jump- frogging through the backyard trees, now barren of leaves, to the other side of my backyard . The sky is blue, blue. I am sure he had no plan other than just to get to the other side of the yard. I watched until I could see him no longer and my gaze drifted back to the feeders, and the blue jays were feeding at the ground feeders. A gray squirrel came scampering down the trunk of an oak tree and scurried the jays away. I wondered if it was the same gray squirrel. I took a deep breath. And I think to myself What a Wonderful World I see skies of blue And clouds of white The bright blessed day – time to start the day. Chilly this morning.

  Featured image: Imagination The world of reality has its limits. The world of imagination is boundless. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  Featured image: Going with the Flow II Creativity means we are focused on process and not product. Even though product is nice for process, process always—and I mean always—comes first. FIRST.

  Featured image: Playground Enthusiasm A Greek-filled word—filled with God—that is grounded in play and focused on the inner child in you. The word is pure joy. Creative work is play. It can be done in a huge sandbox with many players—and the sandbox can be anywhere. I mean anywhere. It can even be in your living room. The wonderful thing about this sandbox (yes, I have memories of one—not in the house, though) is that there was always mystery in the sandbox, and treasure, and wonder, and such joy. Enthusiasm. Creative work… it is so darn hard.

  Featured image: Hawk III As with most things, there are many ways to see and understand them; the hawk is no different. Hawks are beautiful birds—their plumage is always filled with a variety of feathers and colors: dots, stripes, reds, and browns. The hawk is known as a predatory bird because of the shape of its beak and talons, which is what I find fascinating about birds of prey. Those two features make the bird powerful, strong, and magnificent—something to contend with—which I emphasized in my work “Hawk.” The hawk has quite a history of symbolism across many cultures. Some common themes include courage, resilience, independence, and authority. They inspire humans to seize control of their destiny and rise above challenges. They are also seen as messengers from the spirit world. In some cultural stories, hawks serve as enforcers of the divine will.

  Featured image: Imagination “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” — Albert Einstein

  Featured image: Trusting Her Trust that still, small voice within you that says , “this might work,” and then try it. — Diane Mariechild

  Featured image: The Good Road “It is within my power either to serve God or not to serve Him. Serving Him, I add to my own good and the good of the whole world. Not serving Him, I forfeit my own good and deprive the world of that good which was in my power to create.” — Leo Tolstoy

Featured image:  Inukshuk - Kasba Lake God’s Spirit guides me. I asked myself, “Does God’s Spirit guide me?” In time, I found my answer. The best way I can describe it—and I am a visual speaker, so I’ll describe it with an image—is this: it’s like the light God gave to me on Goeth Island, when I was standing on what felt like the middle of nowhere on Kasba Lake. Facts about the rock on this island: Mineral-rich rock: Goeth Island is formed of granite shot through with seams of stark white quartz. This is the source of the island’s unique appearance. Glacial history: The landscape surrounding Kasba Lake, including the islands, was heavily shaped by glaciers during the last ice age, approximately 11,000 years ago. Glacial action scoured and exposed the underlying bedrock, leaving behind a dramatic and rugged landscape. Subarctic environment: Located just below the tree line in Canada’s subarctic, the northern end of Kasba Lake features barren islands and rock outcrops, con...

  Featured image: Red Flowers - Gifts From God If you have a God, what is your God like? Easy question? It wasn’t for me. God means so many different things to different folks—just ask them. Do you believe there is a “right” God and a “wrong” God? A “right” God or a “left” God? Do you believe God is subjective, as some people think art is—that God can be anything and everything you want Him to be? As most of you know, I believe art needs an objective foundation. So I believe God requires both an objective and a subjective foundation, much like art. I’ve written about this many times, exploring how God can exist yet cannot exist without abstraction. So, if you have a God—it’s certainly easier not to have one—what is your God like? Who do you believe He is? Is He a She? Is your God human? Is your God a spirit?