Karl Reeves

I met Karl Reeves by chance. The story involves a lost flash drive and some appreciated detective work. We eventually met in person at a basement show which ironically included Kyle Hoards work, an artist previously featured on this blog. Through a series of random events, I gained an occasional coffee companion to discuss and share creative ideas.

Karl opened Art Is For Lovers Gallery located at 2228 N. Martin Luther King Dr. in Milwaukee with local painter Gabby Tesfaye.

The following photographs were taken with a 35 mm.

Shannon Lee

FINALLY! Shannon's work. I think the jaw dropping likeness speaks for itself. Yes folks, these are indeed oil paintings and not photographs. Shannon paints up close and personal larger than life sized works of her loved ones. Chuck Close should be scared of this girl.

 It was a pleasure to watch Shannon's process in studio last semester at UWM. She is now a UWM graduate with a BFA. Good luck, Shannon!

Detail of Stan

Sean Bodley

Sean is an outstanding painter who practices illustration, surrealistic figure painting, and plein air landscapes. I chose a few of my favorite paintings from Sean's site to share. Since graduating with a BFA from UWM, he has moved to Pennsylvania.

Forrest Hutchens

Forrest surprised me with his amazing scenery photographs. He really has an eye for composition and catching the aesthetics of nature. The reason Forrest surprised me with his talent is because he actually went to school for computer programming at MATC! 

I snagged the Milwaukee photos from his FB album appropriately titled Who said Milwaukee wasn't beautiful?

Nancy McManus-Subel

Nancy was a TA for my Professional Practices class last semester. It wasn't until some swapping of business cards that I found out that she was a painter. Nancy is a graduate painting student at UW-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts. I literally know nothing about her concepts because I've only seen the pictures but I hope to visit her studio soon and learn more about them!

Check out it out! Seriously amazing stuff.

Kyle Hoard

I met Kyle while  taking a figure drawing class at UW-Milwaukee. He has a distinctive illustrative quality that I can't deny as anything less than amazing talent. He ended up transferring to MIAD, where he is finishing up his degree in Illustration.

I wish I had better photos of his completed works, but these sketchbook snap shots are just as entertaining. You can find Kyle's work hanging on the walls of Brewed Cafe on Brady Street on the east side of Milwaukee.

 

Jonathan Ellis

Jonathan Ellis is a painter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended Chicago Institute of Art from 97-99. The first series are enamel paintings on manipulated wood. The last two images are acrylic paintings.

Unlike other featured artists on this blog, I met Jonathan on the streets of Milwaukee and not in academic settings. He was displaying his work for Locust Street festival and caught my interest with his delightfully mesmerizing works! We've been in contact ever since.

Chip Humbertson

Series of oil paintings "The Power of Contortion" by Chicago artist Chip Humbertson. Truly beautiful works.

Alex Smith

The work of Milwaukee based photographer Alex Smith. Alex works in digital and manual.

Nikki Koslow

  Large scale oil paintings by Nikki Koslow. It's all about the vibe, baby.

 

Lauren Bell

Stunning oil and collage paintings by UWM graduate Lauren Bell.