A walk in the studio

On Saturday, guests of the Centre for Arts & Artists saw something most people don’t get to see very often: artists working in their own environment.

Local sculptors and painters were stationed in their work studios for the inaugural Art Walk, a community event showcasing the passion and creativity of both neighboring and visiting artists. Some worked on current pieces or sparked up a conversation about one displayed on the wall.

Herman Deaton forged the beginnings of an enlarged version of caribou sculpture he had finished before. Joanne Thomason demonstrated her rug hooking methods to the curious.

Meanwhile, Laura Lengeling could probably pinpoint the exact location of the many landscape pastel and oil paintings propped on the shelves of her studio.

“It’s like an open house,” Lengeling said. “It’s mainly to showcase the art work and the shop down stairs, which has artists from here and around the area and even around the world. This gives me a chance to share my passion for what I do. It gets people into my space so I can show them what I do.”

Like, for instance, her painting methods. When asked a question about a specific technique, Lengeling said she could show guests how to work with pastels and blend colors and the differences between that and oil paints.

Outdoor landscapes — or what she describes as “places and spaces” — are Lengeling’s specialty. Pointing to some of the framed art work on display in her studio, the retired Newton Community School District art teacher said some locations may look familiar to Iowans.

Having artists on-hand share those stories about their art work is exactly what Linda Klepinger wants from events like the Art Walk. The executive director of the Centre for Arts & Artists said the difference between this event and a regular open house is the inclusion of the artist gift shop, which she said is now in “full swing.”

“It’s inclusive of the whole building and our whole mission,” Klepinger said. “I think what is most significant about having the gift shop open at the same time is obviously the flow of traffic but, more important, to get the message across to people that any profits from the gift shop goes directly into creative based activity for Jasper County youth.”

And even with the Art Walk in effect, there were still families and guests dropping by the Centre for Arts & Artists for their art fix. Michelle Spohnheimer and her son Victor spent their morning applying coats of glaze to the pottery bowls they handmade on the wheel last week.

“That was our first time ever doing pottery like that!” Michelle Spohnheimer, of Melbourne, said. “We got to throw it on the wheel and did our glazes today. We did it as a class and got to come back. This was our first time (to the Centre for Arts & Artists). So we’re new to kind of coming out here. But we’ll definitely be back!”

Klepinger said having the Art Walk continues to spread both the “education and passion” of the arts.

“We have first-time artists that have been here today and we have artists that have been here for 14 years,” she said. “We all learn from each other. And when we can learn from each other and share with each other and stimulate each other to do more, maybe a first-timer will take that leap and give it a try.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com