Raven’s Wish Gallery is pleased to announce a solo art exhibition, If Wishes Were Horses, by Jessie Willyerd of Janesville. Jessie is best known for her colorful acrylic paintings and pastel drawings that merge together abstract elements and realistic equine forms. She believes that the horse is a powerful symbol representing the capacity we all hold for change and growth through the freedom to discover and be who we truly are.

In her exploration of color and form, Willyerd states, “I love to look into the shadows and find colors and value changes that are easily overlooked if one only focuses on the light. By bringing beauty to the shadows that describe the form I hope to bring awareness to the idea that both light and dark are equal components in creating the whole.”

An artist reception will be held from 6 pm to 8 pm on Friday, June 29th at Raven’s Wish Gallery, 101 W. Milwaukee Street in Janesville. The exhibition will hang through July 25th and the gallery is open from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday and 10 am to 3 pm on Saturday.

Raven’s Wish Gallery is pleased to announce a unique art exhibition by artist, equestrian, and full-time art educator Jessie Willyerd.

“What Horses Say” is a group of acrylic paintings and mixed media drawings with titles indicating a lesson learned from a horse somewhere along the way.  Willyerd believes “by learning to record my observations of horses, I developed an artist’s eye for observing the world around me.” 

Willyerd is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – River Falls and has teaching certification from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. She works most frequently in acrylic, but also creates with chalk pastels and watercolors.

"What Horses Say" opens on June 24th with an artist reception from 6 pm to 8 pm. The exhibition is free, the public is welcome, and the show will hang through July 27th

Richard is a self-taught blacksmith and sculptor. He uses primarily new material, first cutting petals and leaves from flat sheets of steel. Secondly, those are heated in a coal forge and hammered into the desired shape. Finally, all are welded together to create the unification of his vision. Most of Richard’s work has a floral design alluding to his love of nature and the outdoors. He enjoys the opportunity and challenge of working rigid metal to form soft, flowing botanical designs.

An Exhibition by Susan Wood & Ron Widenhoefer

Raven’s Wish Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition by clockmakers Susan Wood (formerly of Janesville) and Ron Widenhoefer. Susan and Ron are longtime friends through the Minnesota Clockmakers Guild. Their working styles and purpose for building clocks are different but the resulting clocks they each build are both a tribute to a very old craft (clocks have been made since the 1300’s), and a celebration of mechanical beauty.  All of the clocks in the exhibit are working time keepers and fascinating kinetic sculptures.

Susan Wood began learning about clocks in 1990 as part of her work handling art at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  Night classes at Saint Paul Technical institute (now Saint Paul College) introduced her to the repair of mechanical clocks.  For Susan mechanical clocks have become more than just keepers of time and regulators of the world.

Ron Widenhoefer is a retired mechanical engineer.  Nearing retirement he took clock repair classes at the St Paul Technical College in St. Paul, Minnesota. His interest in clocks began with inherited watch tools and lathe from his grandfather. It seemed logical for Ron to pick up on clock work as his working life had been spent designing products and production machines.

An artist reception for Wood and Widenhoefer will be held from 6 pm to 8 pm on Friday, October 2nd at Raven’s Wish Gallery, 101 W. Milwaukee Street in Janesville. The exhibition will hang through October 28th and the gallery is open from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday, 10 am to 3 pm on Saturday, and during the fall from 11 am to 3 pm on Sunday.

An Abstract Mind

Raven’s Wish Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of mixed media wall art by Janesville artist Lori Salamone-Limbachs. Her unorthodox techniques with glass and metal, along with limitless creativity, result in a non-traditional, diverse body of work.

With the exception of lessons in stained glass, Salamone-Limbachs is a self-taught artist. A Janesville native, she is inspired by nature, personal dreams, and her fellow artists. Her work has evolved through experimentation and discovery, developing an increasingly complex style.

An artist reception for Salamone-Limbachs will be held from 6 pm to 8 pm on Friday, August 7th at Raven’s Wish Gallery.  The exhibition will hang through August 27th.

Raven’s Wish Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of mixed media acrylic paintings by Matthew Ledger of Janesville. 

Ledger’s current works are abstracts which resemble “space-scapes,” nebulous clouds clinging together drawn in by dark matter. The pieces are not begun with this intention, only thought of as color, form, and emotion.

When he is painting, Ledger often slips into a state of “flow.” Similar to a runner’s endorphin high, Ledger finds this feeling beneficial for his mental health and for finding release from stress. Flow is described as completely focused motivation, a single-minded immersion in a task. For Matthew, the hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy that is infused into his paintings. 

Ledger was born into a family rich in artistic abilities. His mother Arlene Ledger, a well-known local painter, was the greatest influence on his work. Gerhard Richter, a New European Movement painter known for his exploration of the play between realism and abstraction is another strong influence on Ledger’s work.

An artist reception for Ledger will be held from 6 pm to 8 pm on Friday, June 26th.  The exhibition will hang through July 30th and the gallery is open from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday, 10 am to 3 pm on Saturday, and during the summer from 11 pm to 3 pm on Sunday.

From an informal poll of artists, art collectors and patrons, Raven’s Wish Gallery has identified the most widely-known and most well-respected artists in our area. The results are showcased in an upcoming art exhibition: 25 Local Artists You Should Know.

Our goal is to bring together “working” artists, with a regular studio practice, who carve out time from their busy days for a few hours of painting.  At various stages in their art careers, they range from recognized art professionals to younger artists launching their businesses, and they work in a variety of mediums including acrylic, oil, watercolor, mixed media, and etching.