Over 250 artists have exhibited at The Log Cabin Gallery during the past 14 years. The Log Cabin Gallery features artists who have a passion for the arts, who challenge themselves to continually learn and experiment, and who enjoy sharing their talents with others.
The following artists are featured in the Winter White Out Exhibit 2014. Below their bios is the list of the dates and times that artists will be on hand at The Log Cabin Gallery.
PATRICIA BAKOS, Gemstone Trees, Fairview Park
Pat and her husband Al became interested in rocks, minerals and gems since finding a garnet imbedded in a rock while on vacation in Canada many years ago. As a result, they began collecting different minerals and stones, and Al acquired the lapidary equipment needed to cut, polish and tumble them. In addition to their unique “gemstone trees,” Pat offers crystals and other gemstone items.
STEPHEN & BARBARA BLOOM, Soap, Jewelry & Hand Dyed Silk, Parma
Steve and Barbara both grew up in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland, both graduated from Cleveland State University’s Levine College of Urban Affairs, and both have developed their business, Images in Bloom, a blending of art endeavors and handcrafted soap products. Steve discovered the art of soap making when visiting the Cleveland Botanical Garden. While reading the ingredients of a bar of handcrafted soap on the gift shop shelf, he realized he had almost all of the ingredients. He went home, and after some research, made his first batch of soap from vegetable oils and rich essential oils. Two years later, he is actively making nearly 40 flavors of soap, shaving soap, and crafting salt and sugar scrubs. Barbara’s passion for art has always been a driving force in her life, but it was only three years ago that she began to sell her hand dyed silk scarves. Barb practices Shibori, a Japanese technique of silk dying that involves binding the silk, then applying the dye. It is her goal to create floral forms in her silk through the dying process. Barb’s silk has been juried into several shows including the Cleveland Museum of Art Textile Art Alliance Show.
GABRIELE BRYANT, Glass Art, Wadsworth
Gabriele’s current medium is mainly flat window panels using the copper foil method. Since she loves the outdoors and all aspects of nature, she incorporates some of her favorite themes into her pieces including botanicals, water, wildlife, geodes & gems. Glass is a wonderful choice artistically because its colors can be found in a wide array of textures, hues, shades and depths that she describes as watercolor in a solid form. Her latest original designs include incorporating geodes, nature’s elements and wildlife into her work. Gabriele recently received a 1st place award for her large panel entry in Las Vegas at the Art Glass & Bead Expo. Gabriele formerly lived in Peninsula but currently resides in Wadsworth.
DEANNA R. CLUCAS, Painting, Richfield
Being able to put a thought, feeling or something she has seen into a two-dimensional visual form is intriguing for artist/teacher, Deanna Clucas. Having earned a degree in Business and Commercial Art through the University of Akron while working full time in the corporate world and raising her family, she has also been instructed in watercolor and acrylics by the area’s finest artists. She not only shows and sells her art but teaches watercolor classes for beginners at the Richfield Recreation Center and the Brecksville Center for the Arts. Her realistic style of work has been accepted into many exhibitions and her paintings are included in corporate and private collections throughout the country. She is a member of the Crooked River Gang at the MD Garage Gallery in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Women’s Art League of Akron, Medina County Art League and Hudson Society of Artists.
CATHIE GORDON, Primitive Rug Hooking, Chagrin Falls
Cathie began her career at the urging of her sister Pat. Together they studied under Beth Croup of Cross Creek Farm Rug Studio in Chardon. Cathie has also attended workshops in Ligonier PA with Barbara Carroll at the Woolley Fox Studio, and at the Black Sheep Wool Studio in Liberty MO with Emma Lou Lais. Her love of color, nature, and animals inspire her designs. Working with textured wool, she enjoys seeing her ideas come to life.
TAMARA GUNNELS, Mixed Media, Cuyahoga Falls
Tamara Gunnels (better known as Moonstruck in the art world) is a local glass artist with a background in the creation and installation of large leaded and stained glass windows. Tamara is a bona fide tree hugger. Working with mirrors, semi-precious stones, Swarovski crystal and mixed metals, Tamara creates one-of-a-kind pieces of art that she hopes will inspire others to preserve and decorate the earth.
BOB HANSEN, Wild Bird Carvings, Wadsworth
Bob Hansen brings the out of doors inside by hand carving shore birds, song birds and fish from local woods such as basswood, sugar pine, catalpa and butternut. Some are left “as is” to highlight the beautiful natural grain of the wood. Others are finished using endless combinations of paint, varnish and wood burning for a more life-like appeal.
DON HERMAN, Copper Jewelry, Brecksville
Out of high school, Don designed and built custom furniture for 15 years. After that, Don became involved with metal and has been working with metal for the past 25 years. His jewelry has been exhibited in galleries across the country. In Northeastern Ohio, he has exhibited at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s May Show, Sylvia Ullman’s, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s gift shop, the Canton Museum of Art’s gift shop, and Don Drumm in Akron. In addition to his metal jewelry, Don’s is now using acrylics to create abstract paintings.
HEIDI HOLUB, Jewelry, Solon
Heidi is one of those treasurer hunter people—she’s always scouting for unusual and interesting things, both man made and from nature. And she loves putting all that found stuff together to see what she can create. Throughout the years Heidi has taken courses in art, design concepts and jewelry/metalwork. Along her journey, she had the opportunity to explore different media: glass, fiber, ceramics, polymer clay, handmade paper but her passion was making jewelry. In 2002 she discovered “PMC,” a silver metal clay, a material that allowed her to put her creative ideas and all those found elements into metal. In 2004 Heidi achieved Certification in PMC and in 2008 she started her business Silverscapes: A Fusion of Fine Silver and Other Cool Stuff. Each piece of Silverscapes jewelry is a unique piece of wearable art – a collage of richly textured metals: silver, copper, bronze united with mixed media material, found/recycled objects and naturally occurring elements to create a meaningful statement and impact.
LISA KANE, Glass, Akron
Lisa, a stained glass artist from Akron, hand cuts and hand constructs all of her work. She likes to attach twisted wire, beads, and crystals to add a personal touch to her art. Lisa’s work ranges from traditional panels and suncatchers to more modern designs including 3-dimensional and functional pieces such as boxes and candleholders.
TAMMY LANG, Jewelry, Richfield
Tammy and her husband, Jeff, live in Richfield with their son Michael. Tammy has always enjoyed being creative and working with a variety of mediums, her favorites being gourds, semiprecious stones, and precious metal clay (PMC). She is a Certified PMC Instructor and loves the endless
possibilities for designs using PMC.
ADRIAN (CHIP) & CHRISTINE LUCAS, Pottery, Sagamore Hills
Lucas Clay is a collaboration of two artists, Adrian (Chip) & Christine Lucas. According to Adrian (Chip) and Christine, “Our goal is to expose the enthusiast to the various worlds of ceramics. As part of our adventure we strive to achieve a physical and emotional connection through surface, form and color in every piece we create.”
RUSS O’BRIEN, Blown Art Glass, Stow
Transforming a molten, 2100 degree material into an art object is truly magical. Russ’s first experience with glass was over 30 years ago at Kent State University when he “accidently” took a glass blowing class. The first time he gathered glass onto a blow pipe, he knew this was what he was going to do with his life. After graduating from Kent State, Russ set up his own glass studio and participated in craft shows. When Steinert Glass School opened, he started working and teaching there. Currently, he is working at Akron Glass Works. The glass objects Russ is currently making are individually styled vases, bowls, goblets, paperweights, pumpkins, marbles, and an occasional sculpture. Russ tries to decorate each piece as if it were a painting. The background color is applied with frit and powder, middle ground with filigree, dichroic glass, millifiori, and hot embellishments for the foreground. All the vessels are finished with a hot lip wrap.
L. MICHAEL PETERSON, Architectural Clay, Wooster
Mike started his “art” career shortly after graduating from The College of Wooster in the 70’s with an art degree. He’s been participating in shows and selling his work for over 35 years. Originally a cloth doll artist, Mike switched his medium in the early 90’s to one of his passions, architecture. To be able to express himself through his clay structures is incredibly satisfying and the small whimsies that are his bread and butter are icing on the cake. When he is able to retire in a few years from his “real” job, an MRDD worker, Mike plans on traveling to do shows countrywide.
DAVE REPICKY, Ceramic Art, Richfield
Dave has always enjoyed art—collecting works, visiting museums and exhibits, and traveling to art events. Dave began creating his functional, organic forms in 1998 when he took lessons from Bob Yost of Yost Pottery. He kind of liked it, and the rest is history as they say. Dave has exhibited at The Log Cabin Gallery since 2002. His work is currently at The Richfield Art Studio and The Black Squirrel Gallery in Kent. Past hosts to Dave’s art include The Akron Art Museum, Eye Candy Gallery and Hudson Fine Art & Framing.
DIANE SESKES, Photography, Peninsula
Diane uses a Nikon F100, Velvia slide film, and available light to capture the beauty of nature on film as well as a Nikon D7100 to capture images digitally. Diane enjoys photographing in the Cuyahoga Valley and Midcoast Maine, both places she calls “home”. Diane’s images reflect the moods of the natural environment—the quiet, introspective fog enshrouded mornings; the renewing power of flowing water; the uplifting patterns of light and color. Several of her images are in the permanent collections at Wadsworth Rittman Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit, and at TriPoint Medical Center in Lake County, Ohio. Diane’s images have appeared in a variety of publications including Celebrating Cleveland: A Sentence-Combining Handbook, Complete Guide to National Park Lodges, Birds & Blooms, National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic’s Guide to National Parks, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Handbook, and the National Park Systems’ Passport to your Park stamp series.
LUCILLE SESKES, Traditional Quilting & Piecing, Medina
Lucille loves the Amish and travels to Holmes County on a regular basis. She enjoys collecting feedsack fabric and redwork. She prefers applique and smaller, one-of-a-kind projects since large quilts never seem to get finished because of her busy life. Lucille is a founding member of Keep Us in Stitches, a member of the Western Reserve Quilters, Ladies of Baltimore, and NEORQC.
CLAUDIA TALLER, Books, North Olmsted
Claudia is a freelance writer who writes travel, history, and lifestyle articles for local and national publications. A lifelong writer, she is a graduate of Kent State University’s English department with a Bachelor’s degree in literature and Writing Certification. She interned with the Kent State University Press, has taught at Notre Dame College of Ohio, and is a certified Disciple Class leader. She owns Igniting Possibilities, a business that encourages people to become more creative and passionate about life through writing and creativity events. Her book Ohio’s Lake Erie Wineries profiles wineries against a historical background. She is working on Ohio’s Canal Country Wineries, to be published in 2015, and her non-fiction book 30 Perfect Days, Finding Abundance in Ordinary Life, was released in late 2014. Taller believes life should be lived to its fullest, whether through writing, travel, yoga, spiritual seeking, the arts, relationships, or creating exceptional food and wine. She is the daughter of a United Methodist minister and has spent many summer days and off-season weekends in Lakeside.
NANCY WEBB, Pottery, Wooster
Nancy has been making pottery for thirty-five plus years. Having a family of six kept her very busy along with her day job as a guidance secretary in the local school district, but she always allowed time for her pottery. Nancy loves to garden and does use leaves from flowers, plants and trees from her property in some of her pottery. Hand building has become more interesting to her lately since she can use the “leaves” she makes from clay to make bowls and plates and functional pieces which are dishwasher, microwave, and oven safe.. Nancy loves the color green but uses several different types of clay to get different results from the glazes. Raku is also a firing technique that she finds really fun to do, and she tries this firing several times a year with friends. To Nancy, there is nothing quite so relaxing and challenging as working with clay. It is timeless . . .
CHRISTINE WEIGAND, Hand Cut Paper, Peninsula
Christine has been developing her unique artistic technique for several years. Each handcrafted work of art is inspired by images captured by the artist and painstakingly translated into archival grade card stock. Christine lives in Peninsula, Ohio where she operates Little Grey Cat Studio with her husband and one very special grey cat.
JENNIFER WORDEN, Mixed Media, Akron
Jennifer is a self-taught artist who has been working with glass in various forms for more than 10 years. She has lived in several different areas of the country and settled in Akron in 1999. Her current work consists of sculpture and jewelry made from reclaimed glass. She has presented her work at numerous galleries, art fairs and venues throughout Northeast Ohio.
SCHEDULE OF ARTISTS AT THE CABIN
Week 1 Thursday, November 20, Chanah Spencer; Friday, November 21, Bob Hansen; Saturday, November 22, Barbara 7 Stephen Bloom; Sunday, November 23, Jennifer Worden, Tammy Lang 1-4 pm, Lucille Seskes 2-4 pm
Week 2 Thursday, November 27, Closed; Friday, November 28, Chanah Spencer; Saturday, November 29 Russ O’Brien, Mike Peterson 1-4 pm; Sunday, November 30 Pat Bakos; Lisa Kane 1-4 pm
Week 3 Thursday, December 4 Tamara Gunnels; Thursday December 4 Lisa Kane, Dave Repicky, Christine Wiegand 5-7 pm; Jennifer Worden, Gabriele Bryant, Tammy Lang 7–9 pm; Friday, December 5 Deanna Clucas 11 am-1 pm, Pat Bakos 1-4 pm; Saturday, December 6 Dave Repicky, Christine Wiegand; Sunday, December 7 Heidi Holub, Don Herman
Week 4 Thursday, December 11 Chanah Spencer; Friday, December 12, Nancy Webb; Saturday, December 13 Claudia Taller, Gabriele Bryant; Sunday, December 14 Cathie Gordon, Tamara Gunnels 1-4 pm
Week 5 Thursday, December 18 Chanah Spencer; Friday, December 19 Deanna Clucas; Saturday, December 20 Chip & Christine Lucas; Sunday, December 21 Mike Peterson, Jennifer Worden 2-5 pm
Diane Seskes, every day; Lucille Seskes as time and weather permit