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Laurie Anderson Chamber mixer features local artists
The Dripping Springs Chamber of Commerce hosted an after hours business mixer and art reception on April 10, in conjunction with the Dripping Springs Art League (DSAL).
Attendees were treated to drinks and snacks, while getting an opportunity to mingle with other Chamber members and with the featured artists.
Artworks from seven different area artists are on display in the Chamber offices. One of those is Katherine K. Brupbacher, who has been painting for more than 20 years.
“All my paintings are inspired by nature,” Brupbacher said. “A lot of times I'll be remembering the experiences at a particular hike or a park that I visited.”
The two artworks that she has in the show are watercolor studies of butterflies.
“These particular butterfly pieces are showing both the dorsal and the ventral side of each butterfly,” Brupbacher said. “I like the idea of showing different sides of yourself, so that's kind of the theme with those.”
Kat Sherby is another featured artist in the show.
“In my career, I was a graphic designer, so I did art direction and illustration and all that stuff,” Sherby said. “When I retired, I got to go back to some of my roots drawing and painting.”
Kat primarily works with acrylics, and prefers to paint landscapes or animals. Through the Dripping Springs Art League, she’s been expanding her focus.
“This group is so fantastic,” Sherby said. “I have gotten into even doing some murals, because they've encouraged all of us to get out of our comfort zone and really take some chances.”
Melanie Smith also has an art piece hanging in the Chamber offices.
“It's actually some wool that I had that I dyed, and then I spun it into yarn,” Smith said. “Then I took the yarn and I needle felted it onto a base to make that design.”
Needle felting is not her usual form of art normally she does a lot of weaving on looms and favors abstract or geometric designs. She mostly makes usable goods. Dish towels are her top selling items.
“I make all different kinds of patterns,” Smith said. “Dish towels are great because they're small and I kind of use them as an opportunity to learn a new weaving technique.”
Another artist in the show is Erin Hounsel. Her piece is an abstract of Hamilton Pool.
“It's a place that my family and my kids love to hike at,” Hounsel said. “It looks almost like block print, but it's actually a method using a scraper, like a pallet knife, with acrylic paint to form the different shapes.”
Erin is also the artist for one of the stars on Mercer Street, which she is very proud of.
“I feel like if I never painted anything else in life, I would be satisfied, because that was such a fun project to do,” Hounsel said.
Her star design shows kids running along a trail, and as they're running, stars are floating up from their footsteps into the sky. It’s a nod to the city’s status as an International Dark Sky community, and also to the environmental steps that are leading to a smaller carbon footprint for future generations.
One of the largest pieces in the show is by Jennifer Friedman.
“My piece is called Community. It was presented when we had our first art show and ribbon heading here, last March,” Friedman said.
The Chamber ended up purchasing the artwork to put on permanent display.
“They just fell in love with the community aspect of it, with all the words and things,” Friedman said.
She created the artwork from a watercolor painting that she did, and then added line art elements to it using ProCreate.
“It was a very intuitive style,” Friedman said. “I saw a bunch of people in there, so I would just give form to the little blobs of paint that I had. I was just kind of in the flow and all these words were just coming to me.”
Friedman is one of the founders of DSAL, and emphasized that membership in the art league isn’t just for artists. It’s for anyone who appreciates art, or would like to try their hand at something creative. They have day trips every quarter to museums or other venues. They also have opportunities for members to try out different art mediums.
“Our clubs have supplies for people who just wanna show up and see what it's all about,” Friedman said. “You can try oil, you can try acrylic or ceramics or jewelry or sculpture, or anything. We have something for everybody at every level.”
For more information, visit www.artindripping. com.
