Two local artists will be spotlighted as Lakeland University opens its Bradley Gallery season shortly after Labor Day.
The work of photographer Kyane Howland and painter Kay Jelinek will be featured in an exhibit entitled “Mermaid Fascinations,” a show about fascination with nature, humans and the planet.
An opening reception will be held on Friday, Sept. 7, beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the Bradley Fine Arts Building on the Lakeland campus. The exhibit will run through Oct. 5. Attendance at the reception and admittance to the Bradley Gallery are both free and open to the public and refreshments will be served.
The Bradley Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, when Lakeland is in session.
Howland graduated from Marquette University with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Since then she has received a master’s in writing, and studied voice for seven years at a conservatory.
Howland uses photography, writing and sound to assist people and families with healing through the online community Mermaid Academy. She’s worked with suicidal teens and families dealing with dementia and cancer.
She also plays Mz Tree, the singing nurse, at BookWorm Gardens and abroad. She has written two children’s books, “Tick, Tock, Tuck” and “Arden in the Garden” which celebrate the seasons and teach children to care for their own heart, each other’s, and the Earth. Her two CDs “Blueberry Sky” and “Lullaby Sky” teach families to relax.
Howland is also the author of “The Little Book of Ok,” and is finishing an inspirational self-help book “SEAz Life, Find the Mermaid.”
“I’m fascinated with the edge connecting health with creativity, where the 'wake' is,” Howland said. “After living 15 years on the shore of a great lake, I feels I am a better human, embracing fluid perspective and expression. I sing, compose music, write copiously, and do ‘soul photography’ as a way to celebrate the sacred in the everyday.
“If you find your authentic voice, you’ll give a most unique thing back to the world - you.”
Jelinek graduated from Viterbo College in La Crosse, Wis., with a bachelor of art education degree BAE. She received her master of professional development from UW-Whitewater. She taught K-adults art for 30 years, many of them in Janesville. She is a member of (and former president of) the Sheboygan Visual Artists and a strong advocate for art and artists.
Her art has been and continues to be in many exhibits. Most recently her work has been at the Cedarburg Cultural Center, the Plymouth Art Center, UW-Sheboygan, Thelma Art Center in Fond du Lac, Art Mill in Grafton, Gallery 224 in Port Washington, many in the Sheboygan Visual Artists Final Fridays, as well as local venues including Harvest Cave, Z-Spot and Glas Coffee House.
“Even though I’m mostly an introvert, my art definitely shows the extrovert side of me,” Jelinek said. “It celebrates the wonders in the world around us. I love thinking and observing deeply and recombining everything into my spontaneous art.”
She usually works in the darkness of night in solitude with specifically selected music for five to six hours of uninterrupted time. Jelinek’s current colorful, abstract art is mixed media and includes acrylics, alcohol inks, gel pens and collage from everything she saves or artist friends give her.
“I respond with joy to many deeply imbedded images from close observation of nature, fractals, a love of music, poetry and philosophy, as well as the work of other artists who create surprising art reflecting their unique individuality,” she said. “I’m challenged by the ideas of using organized chaos in my paintings.
“My art in this exhibit shows a sequential overview of work done over many years, from the past to the present. It illustrates the continuous creative development that is an important part of art making.”
