Emerging Artists Program Launches Local Artists into Spotlight

Nancy Nearing

By Amanda DePerro

For artist Nancy Nearing, the decision to use polymer clay for her work was a natural one.

Like many, she was a fan of crayons in her youth, and appreciated the diversity crayons had to offer. In 1992, she realized polymer clay offered much of the same, and she immediately fell in love with it.

“I’d never heard of it before, I had no idea what it was, and I was enchanted pretty much right away,” says Nearing. “It’s a really happy medium, you can do anything with it. … If you have polymer clay, you have an entire world at your fingertips.”

Nearing’s work seems to be pulled straight from a fantasy. Her portfolio is highlighted by lanterns patterned with swirls and twists, understated jewelry and colorful boxes. In fact, “box” seems far too ordinary a word to use for Nearing’s lidded, silk-screened containers adorned with flowering shapes, leaves and feet.

Nearing and her husband moved to Columbus from Washington, D.C. The couple made a list of all the things they wanted out of their new home, and Columbus checked off every item. Once she got to Columbus, Nearing was blown away by the arts scene it housed.

“We planned for a reasonable cost of living; what we didn’t plan for was how incredibly vibrant the arts are in Columbus,” says Nearing. “Columbus is an amazing place.”

A year ago, Nearing decided to quit her day job and made her art her full-time job. She had never heard of the Emerging Arts Program until someone suggested she join, and the rest is history.

“It’s terrifying, but it’s exhilarating and it is really kind of an honor to have people look at my things and like them,” Nearing says. “I don’t even know the word; it’s exhilarating, thrilling and joyful. It just makes me really happy.”

Rick Buchanan

By Hannah Bealer

Rick Buchanan managed to do what many have only dreamed of achieving: In 2004, he turned his passion for photography into a full-time career.

It didn’t happen overnight, though. The transition took about three years. He was originally in the advertising industry.

“I got more and more involved in photography, and enough people told me I should do it professionally,” Buchanan says. “That, coupled with the fact that I wasn’t entirely enamored with advertising, helped me make the switch.”

Over the years, Buchanan has fine-tuned this style and discovered his niche. Initially, he took on a variety of work. Now, he tends to focus on portrait, landscape and nature photography.

“I like my images to be very clean and very sharp,” he says. “I’m also very particular about my printing. Even in this digital age, I think print is the best way to experience a work. You have more control over how people are going to view it.”

Columbus and the state of Ohio have proven to be great muses for Buchanan. It doesn’t hurt that his wife, Janet Chen, is executive director of ProMusica Chamber Orchestra.

“Ohio gets a bad rap for not having a beautiful landscape, but I disagree with that,” he says. “There’s a lot of beauty in our state. I enjoy getting out there and seeking that beauty, and looking for it in places that are unexpected or that people have overlooked.”

Buchanan has some advice for other emerging photographers: Follow your dreams, but keep everything in perspective. The creative field, he says, has always been a difficult one to make a living in.

“You need to be able to find your own voice and style, and your own way of doing things,” he says. “You need to be unique and you need to have good business skills. Many people in the business don’t possess all of those things – just one or the other.”

Lucie Shearer

By Garth Bishop

Many of Lucie Shearer’s paintings are portraits but, in contrast to most portrait artists, she prefers those paintings not focus on people.

Instead, the Akron area native and Grandview Heights resident, who has studio space at 400 West Rich in Franklinton, likes to focus on statements.

Shearer’s artistic path has been a lengthy one. She has a degree in illustration from the Columbus College of Art and Design, and has done a great deal of digital art both in school and in her job with a fashion retailer. But when she got tired of doing digital artwork at home after staring at a screen all day, she went back to one of her earlier interests.

“I know this is cliché, but I’ve been drawing since I was a kid,” Shearer says, and it wasn’t much of a stretch from drawing to painting.

That arts-inclined kid always wanted to have a booth at an arts festival, but it wasn’t until this year that Shearer took a shot at it, realizing the Emerging Artist Program presented a golden opportunity.

“This will be the first time I’ve shown my body of work in one location,” she says.

Most of Shearer’s work is in oils and acrylics, though she always starts out by doodling to get warmed up. Music is good inspiration for her – the Black Keys, Father John Misty and Young the Giant are some of her favorites – and it helps shut out distractions.

She likes to play with the juxtaposition of images, and the alteration of figures to add meaning. For example, she’ll paint a portrait of a woman, but not draw eyes for her, forcing the viewer to focus on other elements of the painting.

“I can’t not make art,” Shearer says. “It’s a compulsion, if you want to put it that way.”

Bruce Brekke

By Amanda DePerro

Though the Emerging Artists Program is the first opportunity Bruce Brekke has taken to display his work publicly, he is no woodworking novice.

Brekke got into the craft at an early age, having grown up under both a woodworking father and grandfather, but up until this point, he has only distributed his work to family members as gifts for weddings, Christmas and the like.

Brekke, a sales representative originally from North Dakota, says woodworking was always something he wanted to do. He took photography classes throughout high school and college in order to better photograph his work, and attended the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana.

Among Brekke’s projects are small pieces, such as business card holders and wine racks, as well as quite large ones, such as garden chairs and side tables. What remains the same across Brekke’s work, however, is the shape. Brekke tends to incorporate curves and turns in his work, making the wood he works with look as though it was molded like clay.

“It’s more interesting to look at, I think; it draws your attention,” says Brekke. “I like building something that’s going to draw someone in. They’ll come over and look at the piece, touch it, feel it, and that’s the appeal that I get when I see something unique.”

Brekke decided to join the Emerging Artists Program after he and his wife, Brenda, went to the festival a few years back. He searched through the festival for woodworkers and was surprised to find very few of his kind.

“I thought maybe this would be a way to get some of my projects out in front of people,” says Brekke. “I think it’ll offer a good opportunity to be a minority participant, so hopefully it’s something that appeals to the people.”

Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenecolumbus.com.

Columbus Arts Festival

June 10-12

Downtown Columbus Riverfront

www.columbusartsfestival.org

The Rest of the Pack

  • Rebecca Allen: photography
  • Peter Brown: leather
  • Adrianne George: ceramics
  • Brittany Harris: painting
  • Kelli Hughes: painting
  • Megs LeVesseur: ceramics
  • Nicholas Schukay: drawing
  • Wil Wong Yee: painting

Other Highlights of the 2016 Columbus Arts Festival

  • Gallery of Echoes: The ColumbUS Public Art Project: Shadowbox Live’s initial Gallery of Echoes, done in conjunction with the Columbus Museum of Art, was a huge hit, and the performance troupe has put together a completely new version for the festival based on public art. See page XX for more.
  • Emerging Talent Stage: GROOVE U is hosting a performance area for musical artists ages 14-26. Not only will these artists perform, they’ll also have the chance to learn about aspects of the music industry.
  • COSI Partnership: COSI is right next to the festival grounds, so it’s only fitting that it welcome festival-goers. Its river doors will be open to public access and it will host evening programming in its IMAX theater and Planetarium, including a Saturday night dance party hosted by Nina West.
  • Film Festival of Columbus: The film festival begins June 2 with a screening of a movie shot right here in Columbus, but it continues into the festival, with a showing June 11 in COSI’s IMAX theater.
  • Secure Bike Parking: This option is available for the first time in three years, and all for just a suggested donation to the fundraising groups of Pelotonia-affiliated volunteers.

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