Artists this week

I am back in Hotel Donaldson, this week staying at two different rooms with two different artists.

Yesterday's artist: Leo Kim

Leo Kim came to North Dakota in a round about sort of way. He was born in Shanghai, China, to Korean parents. His father died shortly before his birth. The Kim family, mother and four children, moved to the Portuguese colony of Macao and later Hong Kong. After the death of his mother, Leo Kim moved to Austria to live with a sister and study art history at the University of Vienna.

In 1969, Kim decided to study architecture in the United States. He chose the program at North Dakota State University, in no small part because of the lower cost.

Something special has happened between Leo Kim and North Dakota when he arrived in the state.

After attending the university, he worked as a photo journalist in the state until 1985, when he moved to Minneapolis, where he continues to live and work. He has received the Gold Award for excellence in corporate photography from Photo/Design Magazine. His work has been featured in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, International Photo Magazine, New York and Format.

Read more: http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/article_21dd14a6-a8c9-57c0-adbb-08df8b9bdf92.html#ixzz1TB3p2qWr


Today's room has another artist: Carl Oltvedt

" I am moved to begin drawing or painting by the power of form suggested through a subject in a particular light, and formatted to a shape specific to the needs of my expressive intent. This is an emotive state, where the subject carries meaning beyond what it is as a person, a dog, a bicycle, and so on. It is very similar to the experience of an individual being moved to a particular emotional state by the relationship of notes/sounds in a piece of music. Embracing this aesthetic feeling is imperative in creating a work of art, which transcends the material, and sincerely reflects my most intimate feelings about life.

I carry on from that initial impulse in starting a dialogue with the subject, as I work to place the shapes, values, textures (both imitation and the actual texture of the drawing/painting materials), and rhythms sensed in the relationships of the individual components experienced as a whole on the picture plane. Color as a consideration of hue and intensity, begins to play a role early in this process, as does opacity and transparency, following the layout of a basic skeletal structure on the surface."

Tonight I have been listening to Brooks West all evening, its really soothing and nice..

"Brooks West is a Fargo North Dakota native that has  written over one hundred songs, blending elements of contemporary folk, country, and pop. The son of a mortician and a school teacher, Brooks has a unique outlook on life that shapes his repertoire. His songs cover subjects ranging from death and destruction to love and hope and even the occasional ballad to office supplies."
It feels so nice supporting the arts!