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glencoeanchordaily.com life & arts
the glencoe anchor | October 17, 2019 | 23
Local artists exhibit creative work at Takiff Center show
1
Sam Rakestraw
Freelance Reporter
On Sept. 27, the Glencoe
Park District art programs
opened a seasonal gallery
of their own, showcasing
some of the pieces students
have been working on in
class.
The classes that instructor
Cheryl Steiger teaches
show that a person’s progress
and artistic style is
never truly the same as
someone else’s. Art mediums
included acrylic, watercolors,
charcoal and a
collection of ceramics.
During the multiple sessions
a day on Monday
through Wednesday, Steiger
teaches the district’s
drawing courses, tailoring
her attention toward each
of her students based on
their skill level, another aspect
that varies from person
to person.
“We work closely with
references and use existing
artists as influence,” she
said.
The hope is that through
references and channeling
an artist, any artist can create
one’s own artistic path.
For example, Fredi Sage
has been in Steiger’s classes
for two years.
Sage’s artistic medium
is painting and she’s been
interested in it since 2007.
Years ago, she had painted
a couple of her sister’s
guitars, giving them more
lively skins, such as Pink
Floyd’s “Dark Side of the
Moon.”
Her painting that hung
on the wall at the opening
showed her channeling
of French artist Henri
Matisse’s solid colors and
figures.
“I particularly like drawing
things that have reflections
in glass,” Sage said.
The ceramics and pottery
display at the art exhibit
at the Takiff Center. Sam
Rakestraw/22nd Century
Media
Sage’s untitled acrylic
painting has a Madelineesque
woman lounging in
a pretty blue dress. Bottles
are a motif here. Sage said
this painting is one in her
“drinking series” because
of all the bottles which she
references for shape and
size.
Another community artist
that emphasizes reference
is Eileen Issacs. In
fact, it was Steiger and the
class which had turned her
on to it. A portrait of a man,
one of her references, hung
at the opening.
“I see this as my breakthrough
painting,” Issacs
said. “There’s an artist
named Joshua Mill, known
for his big head and eyes.
By finding an artist to reference,
I’m able to become
disciplined.”
Another player with faces
is Diana Pasikov, though
the faces she draws have
already been seen by many.
Pasikov has her own
studio/business of creating
portraits of rock stars.
Present at the opening were
her portraits of Billy Idol
and Elton John. The Elton
picture specifically was
beautifully decorated with
3D shining beads, and had
attention to detail with the
Rocket Man’s shadow.
For Pasikov, she likes
drawing well-known characters
due to their likeness
being so iconic and unique.
“Faces are all shapes,”
Pasikov said on how she
draws such detailed renditions.
“It’s way easier to
look at art as a series of
shapes instead of complex
parts and appendages.”
Pasikov had started musician
portraits like this
when her son turned 13.
She painted his favorites
like Bruce Springsteen and
Steven Taylor.
Maddie Klein, meanwhile,
created a charcoal
face portrait that she never
thought she could do.
Klein is one of the
younger artists in the group.
She’d spent her time letting
her mind wander as she
sketches abstractly. It was
five weeks ago, when she
wanted to get into drawing
faces and Steiger was eager
to help.
“It was a lot like Michelangelo
and his sculptures.
You have to find the sculpture
(face) and bring it out
from the marble,” Klein
said.
Today, Klein still looks
at her charcoal portrait in
amazement.
One of the most precious
muses for art has been botanical
life. Steiger teaches
a class based around drawing
it, and student Susan
Moss had her first watercolor
painting of a branch
blooming with flowers of
seeds. Moss also nails the
little details, such as the
center of the flowers.
“In the future, I’d like to
move on to landscapes,”
Moss added.
Soon, maybe the flowers
themselves will become
just little details in the
grand scale of the landscape.
Moss often looks
to the Chicago Botanic
Garden in Glencoe, where
she had taken calligraphy
classes.
The ceramics on display
were practical, yet artistic,
with coffee cups, fruit
bowls, sugar bowls and in
some cases, little sculptures.
They were all made
by the ceramic and pottery
classes.
All of these pieces, plus
others, will be up through
mid-December at the Takiff
Center, 999 Green Bay
Road, Glencoe.
For more information on
classes, visit www.glencoeparkdistrict.com.
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