| Gather 150 of the nation’s finest artists. Blend a variety of genres, from classic to contemporary, whimsical to elegant. Add a wide range of art on display to include paintings, sculpture, photography, jewelry, ceramics and fused glass. Put it all together on the colorful palate of Chicago and you have the 15th Annual Chicago Tribune Magnificent Mile Art Festival, set to take place from July 7th to 9th, 2006. |  |
Simply Magnificent – Hillary Reynolds
Gather 150 of the nation’s finest artists. Blend a variety of genres, from classic to contemporary, whimsical to elegant. Add a wide range of art on display to include paintings, sculpture, photography, jewelry, ceramics and fused glass. Put it all together on the colorful palate of Chicago and you have the 15th Annual Chicago Tribune Magnificent Mile Art Festival, set to take place from July 7th to 9th, 2006.
Festival goers will enjoy great art amongst some of the most incredible architecture in the United States with the show set up along Michigan Avenue along the Chicago River, opposite the Wrigley building and shadowed by the Chicago Tribune and NBC Towers.
The Chicago Tribune Magnificent Mile Art Festival is widely regarded as one of the nation’s premier outdoor events, attracting more than 150,000 spectators every year. It has also been ranked by industry leaders as among the top art festivals in the country. More than $15 million of art will be on display.
Unlike an art gallery or museum, a fine art festival such as this one offers art aficionados the unique opportunity to meet exhibiting artists in person, commission a specific piece of art, ask questions about technique, learn the sources of their inspirations and purchase fine works of art directly from the artists. All work on display will be available for purchase and prices will range from $25 to $25,000.
This show is quite competitive. More than a thousand artists vie for a coveted spot at this juried event from which 150 artists are hand-picked by an independent panel of judges. Artists from throughout the country, from Illinois to Florida, participate in this event, including Kristin DeSantis from Colorado, Michael Mitz from California and Cathee Clausen from Ilinois.
Kristin DeSantis is a contemporary metal and mixed media artist who shapes metal into the human form to evoke spirit and emotion. She created her own artistic process of transforming metal into her canvas by cutting areas of metal with a hand-held plasma torch, welding to build layers and carving metal to achieve a bas relief. Many hours go into shaping the metal before any color is applied.
Once the metal surface is prepared, DeSantis begins the painting process with multiple layers of transparent oil paints. Letting each layer dry, she often returns with a series of sanding, rubbing away and building more layers until she is satisfied. When finished, the piece is sealed with an epoxy clear-coat and assembled using hardware such as bolts, nuts and wires.
"The human form has always intrigued me, the musculature, the movement and the soul," said DeSantis. "The combination of metal, along with the images portrayed, reflects personal themes for me, strength, solitude and individuality. They are intuitive responses to the balance between masculine and feminine energies."
Michael Mitz, a professional actor-turned artist, has guest-starred in more than 50 television shows including Seinfeld, Frasier, Charmed, Dynasty, 30-Something and Melrose Place. His career led him from in front of the camera to behind it when he followed his passion for photography and art.
"My work is my journey reflecting both my personal and professional growth," said Mitz. "Through my photographs I capture the gifts of beauty and elegance in the simplicity of nature and colorful magic around all of us. I leave most of my photos untitled so each person can connect and experience each moment of vision for themselves."
Mitz’s photographs (www.michaelmitzphoto.com) capture the delicacy and vibrancy of flowers and nature. His Early Sun gives a unique perspective of pollen-in-waiting amidst sun drenched violet petals. Gillian’s Rose gets so up-close-and-personal to the red rose, you feel as if you are an intimate friend, sharing in the beauty of the color, the depth and the fresh drops of dew.
Cathee A. Clausen was born in a small southern California town. At an early age she moved to Arizona where her family settled. The artist’s mother believed that Cathee should recognize and bear her emotional pain and assume the responsibility of figuring out how to make her happy. The artist’s father, too gentle and meek to stand up to Cathee’s mother, unknowingly sacrificed Cathee by insisting she do exactly what her mother wanted. Clausen adopted this belief system and practiced it throughout her childhood and into her young adult years, attempting to make her parents and others happy by becoming an overachiever in art, academics and athletics.
In college, Clausen immersed herself in the study of figure drawing under the talented direction of renowned figure draftsman, Jim Garrison, who taught her to draw the human figure from the inside out, feeling the undulations of muscle structure and bone. She learned to give each figure life, power and soul. Cathee’s works of fine art in college depicted her struggle to follow her inner voice and remove her people pleasing belief system. The artist graduated with high honors earning a bachelor of fine arts degree from Northern Arizona University however, Clausen continued in her attempts to make others happy by succeeding consistently in a string of corporate art director positions across the country.
Cathee’s intense struggle to follow her heart’s deepest desire versus her people pleasing behaviors came to a head when she moved to Illinois and chose to quit art direction, follow her intuition and return to her first love, fine art. The artist’s father passed on in 1998; an introspective period followed for Clausen who chose to chronicle each step of her journey toward personal growth through the medium of oil painting. Her work titled Surrender: Resurrection is an example in which Cathee painted her life story showing the dynamics of forgiveness, surrendering blame and anger (dropping a leaf) and the idea of releasing the beliefs of others and recognizing she was responsible for her choices (the ascending bird.)
