sally bowker exhibit Yesterday my friend Chris and I visited the current exhibit of Sally Bowker's paintings at the Baraboo campus of the University of Wisconsin (Broken Bars: Traditions and Improvisations.) Sally is a long time friend of mine who's always lived unusually close to the natural world that is the subject matter of her work. The house she and her husband Jerry live in now has a river flowing just outside the back door, and they will soon be retiring to a secluded piece of land in northern Wisconsin that is within walking distance of Lake Superior. For Sally, nature is part of the pulse of daily life, and she deals with its dark and brooding aspects as well as its lighter beauties and energies.

Like myself, Sally was inspired by seeing The Quilts Of Gees Bend exhibit a few years ago when it came to Milwaukee. The body of work she is showing at UW-Baraboo (through November 30)features an underlying grid structure in each work, sometimes clear and fairly precise, other times looser, sometimes weaving in and out of surface images in a subtle manner. This show is striking for the dark and light contrasts between panels--each has either a rich dark background or a light airy one, over which images of leaves and other natural and abstracted forms dance in rich, bright color.

Another exhibit by Sally Late Fall: Variations is hanging concurrently at the LE Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire WI. This one includes drawings in addtion to a number of acrylic paintings, and deals with themes of dormancy and death in seasonal cycles. It is on exhibit through November 29th.  ¶ 9:50 AM