FMAAA showcases Butler for August exhibit

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BY BRIAN RIGGS
Fort Madison Area Artists Association
FORT MADISON - Rebecca Butler of Quincy, Illinois, brings “Earth Encompasses Art” to FMAAA gallery for the August feature exhibition. A reception for her will be held Aug. 4th from 5-7pm. Bartlett Instruments is the sponsor for this month's feature. Rebecca will speak at Lunch-ala-Art on August 25th from noon to 2pm. Last year Rebecca opened “The Budding Artist” at 307 N 36th Suite 108 in Quincy. The space can fit up to 25 and specializes in ceramics glazing, raw clay building, and painting parties. In a way, the space found her. After eight years of corporate retail, Rebecca was ensnared in an annual inventory, in which regional managers from certain districts swoop in like monkey warriors from Wizard of Oz. The horde attacks and has no understanding of her issues in a smaller town with a high selling division. Not even reprieve for lunch, so Rebecca heads out of the store to her car and into a fast food lot. From there she ups the rpms to an empty lot across from the drive thru to eat in peace. When arising from the wrapper, she sees the empty store space for rent. The rest is history. She sums up her style the best. “My name is Rebecca Butler. I am the owner of The Budding Artist, a pottery and painting studio in Quincy, IL. I received my BFA in Studio Art from Quincy University, where I also, currently teach Ceramics. I grew up in an artistic family, learning at an early age, to appreciate the “art” that surrounds us, whether it was a beautiful sunset on the river, a flowering weed growing out of the sidewalk, or a homeless woman in New Orleans. There is beauty in almost everything. I don’t have a certain subject matter for my paintings, if it catches my eye, I try to capture it for a later painting. I break the cardinal sin in art with my paintings…I work from photographs! I am too slow of a painter to try to capture it from life. But that also allows me to work from multiple photos, which makes it easier for me to get a more dimensional and realistic painting. Every clay piece I make is unique and one of a kind. I love the lumps and bumps that other potters see as imperfections. I use them to my advantage and change the design to accommodate the natural lines of the clay. The process I use for creating my work, both clay and painted, is really quite simple: ClayPainting - Roll out wet clay with a rolling pin - Go thru all the pictures on your phone - Press in texture - Get distracted by your Disney vacation - Keep the cat from walking on - Choose an interesting image the clay slab - Find the gessoed panel you swore you saw - Form the shape leaning against the wall in the studio - Let the dog out, while the clay dries - Answer the telemarketer on the phone - Fire the clay - Let in the dog - Procrastinate glazing by streaming - Resist all temptations to draw the image the third season of Ancient Aliens - Just start painting - Glaze - Reason with the cat as to why she cannot - Fire it again drink the paint water And the most important step: - Get you to enjoy a piece of fabulous art that was made with my love (and maybe some pet hair)!” Viewing available all month at FMAAA 825 Avenue G in downtown Ft. Madison.
FMAAA, Fort Madison Area Artists Association, main street, Quincy, Rebecca Butler, sculptor

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