The Atelier Studio Program of Fine Art

A Way of Living: The simple life and extraordinary craft of landscape painter Don Koestner

One of America’s foremost landscape painters, Don Koestner has inspired hundreds of painters over the past half century—as colleague, teacher and friend, and by his personal example. Bill Hakala will provide highlights of Don Koestner’s life growing up in the Twin Cities in the 1920s and 30s, his struggles to master his craft following World War II military service and art school, and his Thoreau-inspired dream to live “deliberately and simply” by building his own Walden on the Mississippi River. Don Koestner and Bill Hakala will be available to sign copies of the 240-page illustrated biography, to be published in September 2008. The price of A Way of Living is $32 for the hard-bound edition and $22 for the soft-cover edition (plus state sales tax). Copies of the earlier published Don Koestner: American Impressionist, signed by the artist, will also be available. Several Koestner paintings will be exhibited for sale.

Please call or email to reserve a spot as seating is limited.

Do you want to have a web site but don’t know where to start? Web Sites 101 is your starting point. This talk will cover the basics of setting up a web site. We’ll cover some jargon and basic guidelines of web site design. We’ll discuss the options of building a site yourself or hiring someone to create it for you. Some of the available tools and resources for both building and maintaining your site will be discussed. We will also briefly talk about what to do with it once your site is complete. We will not be building any sites.

Christine Thomas graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BS in Design Communications and a minor in Studio Arts. She worked for over six years for design and marketing groups doing web and print production and design. In 2006 Christine quit her job and enrolled as a full time student at The Atelier to pursue her goal of being a professional artist. She continues to do freelance design in order to achieve that goal.

Fine artist Michael Chelich will be offering a two-part composition lecture at the Atelier. Michael's training includes two years at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, four years at Atelier Lack in Minneapolis and extensive study of art in the great Western European Art museums. He has been featured in six nationally distributed publications including the American Artist Magazine, The Artist's Magazine, and American Arts Quarterly. His varied subject matter includes still life, portraiture, landscape, and narrative figure painting. The comprehensive knowledge and experience of this artist give these lectures a high level of artistic content and educational value.

Lecture #1: The Elements and Principals of Composition lecture will analyze the compositions of a great variety of past and present artists. The lecture will cover the principles of Balance, Proportion, Harmony and Contrast, Repetition, Integration, Movement, and Center of Interest. These principles will be revealed through their interrelationship with the elements of art. The accompanying slide show will host over 100 examples of artwork, both good and bad, from which art students of all levels can learn.

Lecture #2: The Procedure of Composition will reveal the compositional development of a painting from start to finish. By showing the preliminary thumbnail sketches, black and white studies and color sketches, students will learn how to organize their thoughts and feelings into the pictorial imagery that best suits their creative expression. The accompanying slide show will illustrate the application of the Elements of Art and Principles of Composition into the creative procedure.

$50 per lecture, $85 for two lectures.