The 2019-20 Bradley Gallery season will open at Lakeland University on Friday, Sept. 27, with an opening reception for an exhibition of artwork by Cedar Grove, Wis., artists Don and Eileen Urness.
The reception will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Bradley Fine Arts Building on the Lakeland campus. The show will run through Nov. 1. Attendance at the reception and admittance to the Bradley Gallery are both free and open to the public.
The Bradley Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, when Lakeland is in session.
Together, Eileen and Don Urness have been making and showing art for over 30 years.
Eileen has been making art her entire life. She has explored many areas of art including jewelry, ceramics and painting. In the past, Eileen experimented with epoxy paintings and she found a vehicle to represent the kind of depth, layering and color she was in search of. Her technique incorporates elements of collage, paint and raw pigment.
Most recently, Eileen has been experimenting with millifiori polymer clay environments. Her technique is largely experimental and self-developed incorporating elements of the millifiori glass technique with natural floral environments. These whimsical environments grew out her earlier polymer clay covered eggs with their combination fanciful design observation of nature.
She has received several awards for her innovative techniques and attention to detail.
Don is a papermaking artist who began making paper from trash in the 1980s because of his interest in the environment and recycling. He uses this recycled paper pulp as the foundation for his art pieces, which explore his fascination with light and the passage of time on nature.
Recently, he has been using time lapse photography to explore those changes and as a means of capturing images in which to base his art.
Don has been an art educator for the past 25 years and is currently instructing art students at Cedar Grove-Belgium High School. He has a bachelor's degree in art education from UW-Eau Claire and a master's degree in visual studies from Cardinal Stritch in Milwaukee.
Eileen, who also studied art at Cardinal Stritch, is co-owner and manager/curator for Old Town Hall Studio & Gallery in Belgium, Wis. She was an artist in residence at Sheboygan North High School in the spring of 2018.
