Dear Lisa,We have exciting news. After reviewing the work you submitted into the Art Takes Times Square competition, our Editorial Committee has chosen one of your pieces to be featured in our upcoming publication, Art Takes Times Square.Out of the tens of thousands of artists who entered the Art Takes Times Square contest, only a select few will appear in this publication. You can take pride in knowing that your work was among the best we saw, and we believe this special coffee-table book will be even better with your art included.Congratulations!

Jeffrey Aldrich

Managing Editor

Illinois State Museum Society Artist: Lisa Goesling

Just like each piece of artwork has a story to tell, so does each artist. This is the first of a series of interviews with just a few of the 1,800 artisans in the Illinois Artisans Program. Earlier this summer, I spoke with scratch board Artisans Lisa Goesling of Palatine, IL on her decision to pursue art, her battle with cancer, and her reflections on having a family.

Growing up Lisa Goesling was surrounded by art. Her parents were both creative and collected art. They would travel around Europe bringing back precious art, some so small that Goesling would examine them under a magnifying glass. Goesling’s mother was a fashion illustrator and her father was a trained baritone as well as an attorney. While Lisa wanted to choose a fine art career, her parents steered her towards a more secure major, graphic design.

For 30 years Goesling worked creating campaigns, designing brochures, and books, all the while painting and drawing. In 2006 a cancer diagnosis pushed her to focus just on her art practice: “There are no guarantees in the art world. I took a giant leap six years ago. This has been the most intense concentration on my art. And I love it. I wish my dad was around to see it.”

During her cancer treatment Goesling discovered scratchboards, appealing because it is non-toxic and transportable. Scratchboards are coated with a layer of porcelain and then covered in ink. A metal stylus is used to etch away the black layer with detailed lines to create depth. While Goesling was going through treatment people kept sending her flowers, and she began noticing their amazing beauty.

“I’m not a religious person, but looking at the flowers I knew there must be a God. The texture and forms in the flowers are truly breathtaking!”

Working with extreme precision and detail in a media where one can’t erase, Goesling breaks down form into the smallest lines, isolating features and textures.

“I am sitting here looking at a bunch of dandelions. Drawn, they are a bunch of stars floating off the page. In this medium, simple is just not that interesting to me. I like to concentrate on something that will challenge me with loads of details. I have too many ideas. Every day I think, OK, I am here. How can I be productive today? I am not obsessive about it, but I do embrace how precious life is.”

Often Goesling is working on up to 10 pieces at a time at different stages of completion, she diligently spends between 3 and 8 hours daily in the studio.

Preferring to work with the actual specimen, Goesling has plants at various stages of drying throughout her studio. She laughed as she described collecting milkweed and other botanics from the side of the road while her 89 year old Mother-In-Law sat watching her from the car, it happens fairly often. Before the object wilts Goesling will take several photos of it to work from. She is currently working on several large projects: a collaboration with a furniture artist as well as a grid of 12 pieces 8×8” in size.

In addition to a studio practice, Goesling frequently conducts workshops with cancer and pain management patients at Swedish Covenant. It is a powerful experience for Goesling as well as the participants in the workshops. “It is not something I can do all the time. The stories I hear…I am not a therapist…it is larger than the art. One of the cancer patients said to me: You do a whole lot more with your cancer than I do with mine!”

Lisa Goesling also added her advice to other artists: “I have so many different opinions. One of the issues I have is people thinking it is cool to be a starving artist. It doesn’t do any of us any favors. We need to take ourselves seriously, and everyone else will. What we do has value.”

After speaking with Goesling at length about her work, she sent me this insight:

I keep thinking about what else I would have added to my interview. I guess the one thing that came to mind is that while some artists only want to concentrate on their art and not lead a life that might get in the way of that. I found that for me, having a family along with so many life experiences, have enriched my art, not taken away from it. I don’t feel the angst that a lot of artists express through their art. And I don’t work hard at finding the meaning of life, I feel like I already found it.

Lisa Goesling’s work is featured at Illinois Artisans, Chicago & In “When Nature Talks” Members Gallery Exhibition at Southern Illinois Art & Artisans Center, Rend Lake. (Facebook Event)

The Heart of the Arts

by wynniekwok

Chicago is a city that celebrates the arts, filled with interesting architecture and lots of good food and friendly people. It is also where many of our students have gone, and will continue to go, through the Overseas Immersion Programme that SOTA has with the Chicago Arts School.

During the March holiday I was there and in the few days that I had, I managed to walk about downtown to Millennium Park to see “The Cloud” - which I REALLY wanted to see, and the other artistic installations in the city.

It was a nice time to just enjoy the city for what it was and soak up the sun that I had brought with me from Singapore; the week before I arrived it had been snowing. The grid-like streets made for easy navigation and the generous dottings of Starbucks Coffee shops became my landmarks (and free Wi-Fi stops!).

The architecture evoked some sense of the past as well as movement to the future and made me wonder what it was like in the 1930s – because the Year 3s would be studying “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck in the coming term 2. (See, the curse of a teacher is that we always think about our students even when we are on a “break” … That’s how much we care!)

But one very memorable part of the trip was a moment where the Arts and Academia came together. I attended a “Healing Art Therapy” session at the hospital with my sister. I was in Chicago primarily for my nephew’s memorial service and this was a session my sister signed us both up for – and I am glad that she did. Not just from a personal aspect, but also from a professional aspect.

The artist running the session, Lisa Goesling, was introducing us to the “scratchboard” – a board of Kaolin clay covered with a layer of India ink. The artist uses a tool to scratch the ink away and this reveals the white clay underneath. Variation in pressure and stroke will produce different values (depths) of exposure and images can be created and colour can be added if desired.

She discovered it as a way to deal with the cancer she was diagnosed with 2006. On her website she says:

“Choosing something beautiful to become absorbed in and concentrating on the details, proved to be the perfect way to deal with my cancer diagnosis. The idea that adversity teaches us to turn the negative into a positive is a great analogy for transforming these black boards into thriving works of art.”

She let us jump straight in and try using the medium. I must admit I am not an artist in the most plain sense of the word, and while the experience was interesting, it frustrated me a little that I couldn’t really do anything close to the works she had there. And I stopped after a while because I felt it just wasn’t working.

One of the pieces she had done, that is featured on her name card, was of Queen Anne’s Lace – a weed. This was the same flower mentioned in the poem “Cut Grass” by Philip Larkin that the Year 3 students could choose to do for their Poem Book IDU this year. I readily piped in about what the students had researched into the weed; it’s short life, the Queen that it was named after who lost all but 1 of her 15 children and how people thought of it to have contraceptive properties. My sister had also been reading a book about Queen Anne from a historical point as well. Lisa had done such a delicate scratchboard of it and I was looking at it from a literary perspective.

It was a real “A-ha!” moment where study of a poem, students’ discussion of imagery, history and art all melted into one interesting point. And this point I made an effort to tell my classes once I returned – I told them about the experience, showed them the pictures and let them see that Art and their academics are very relevant together.

scratchboard by Lisa Goesling: Queen Anne’s Lace. See more of her work at:http://lisagoesling.com/

From my 7 days in Chicago what I would want to share with our SOTA students is that the experience of travelling is one that enriches the pool from which you can draw inspiration, express your ideas, meet new people, find exhilaration from learning new things and experience excitement when points of commonality are found.

I really encourage students to travel when you can, even locally, and to realize that much of what a writer does is to paint these experiences and sensory encounters in words. Use your art in ways that intersect with your studies and your life outside of SOTA. But most of all, use your art and talents to become better people and help those around you – to give back to the community and help other people. Perhaps this is what makes art valuable and what is truly the “heart of the arts”.

Mrs. Dorcas Tirhas

CROWD PLEASERS FOR MARCH 2, 2012

Here is a look at Union Street Gallery’s “botanic/organic” exhibit in Chicago Heights.

Union Street Gallery will host “botanic/organic,” its spring national juried exhibit through March 31.

Fifty-two artists from 21 states were chosen by juror Elizabeth Whiting to present their works inspired by or derived from natural processes, structures, forms and forces.

Through a wide spectrum of media, styles and techniques, artists use plant life in all its stages and variations; organic progressions, from growth to decay; and micro or macro views of nature’s inherent structures as the focus of their works.

References include botany, biology, molecular and cellular biology and other natural phenomena, filtered through extreme realism and abstraction, simplification and exaggeration, deconstruction and personification,

Whiting, well-known curator for the prestigious Union League Club of Chicago, selected art that often moves beyond literal landscape imagery, and offers fresh and innovative interpretations of the exhibit’s title.

She chose photos that record intricate details people often overlook, large-scale paintings that surprise with spatial deception, and small and delicate mementos of grand events.

“Botanic/organic” as a whole transitions from lively and bold to serene and calming, with whimsical ceramics beside lyrical encaustics, primitive-looking paper constructs next to refined fiber art, and aggressive canvases towering over intimate reflections on nature’s power and beauty.

Intertwining themes and complex organic compositions create a natural movement and flow to this exhibit.

The opening reception for “botanic/organic” will be from 6-9 p.m. March 2. This exhibit and opening reception are free and open to the public.

Many of the exhibiting artists and Whiting will be present to meet the audience and discuss the exhibit.

Union Street Gallery is located at 1527 Otto Blvd., Chicago Heights. the gallery is housed in an ornate brick building in the historic heart of downtown Chicago Heights, near St. James Hospital.

Information: (708) 754-2601, unionstreetgallery.org.

Designers and artists mix at the Merchandise Mart

Jodie Jacobs 1-21-12 Chicago Art Exhibits Examiner

Art aficionados listen up. Sure, it’s fun to discover a gallery not on everyone’s radar. It’s also interesting to see artists at work. Up on the 15th floor at the Merchandise Mart you can do both.

In Studio 1562, six artists whose output has made it into galleries and shows around town are painting, etching, drawing and using multi-media to create works for their next exhibitions.

The space became available as a juried-in residency about two years ago thanks to a partnership of the Chicago Artists Coalition (think Hatch Projects’ and Bolt Residency’s West Loop galleries and Art Loop Open) and the Merchandise Mart.

The studio was originally called “Works on Paper,” according to CAC Executive Director Carolina Jayaram. She points out that the space dictated the size and materials used.

“We couldn’t allow toxic chemicals because of limitations of space and in respect for other tenants,” says Jayaram. She explains the space became available to CAC about two years ago as a six month renewable lease.

“It has far exceeded our expectations and time line. It’s been a great partnership all around,” says Jayaram.

What visitors will see near the entrance of Studio 1562 are works by the following artists: Lisa Goesling, Mark Moleski, Alexandra Lee, Jaime Lynn Henderson, Zach Mory and Barb Blacharczyk.

Lisa Goesling…

A Palatine artist who said goodbye to publishing and advertising to follow her passion, Lisa Goesling, likes working alongside artists.

“It’s a perfect fit,” she says. “I love the idea of sharing space with five other artists.”

She also likes having studio space in the Merchandise Mart.

“I love being in the Mart. It’s an iconic building,” Goesling says. “The other showrooms love having us there. They say that we bring great energy to the Mart. We’re amongst designers who really appreciate our art. People from all walks of life visit our space.” she says.

Visitors who stop by will see her black clay boards so finely etched in naturalistic patterns they resemble artistic photography negatives. Other boards have added touches of colored inks. Goesling is currently exploring photography, mixed media and turning a volcanic ash mix into such objects as pussy willows.

Her choice of materials resulted from needing something artistic to occupy her while undergoing cancer treatments.”I needed an outlet and I needed something portable,” she says.

A former art director and graphic designer who studied painting at the Art Institute of Chicago, illustration at the Chicago Academy of Fine arts and majored in Communication and Graphic Design at Northern Illinois University, Goesling wanted to do something different.

“I did not want to do advertising anymore. I wanted to create my own art,” she says.

Fear No Art – by Sawyer J Lahr - October 18, 2011

With one more week of Chicago Artists Month, there are so many gallery openings and ongoing exhibits to see including Ray Noland’s “Let Them Eat Cro” exhibition (through Oct 28, 2011), this week’s post focuses on the artists selected for the Merchandise Artists in Residence Program (through Oct 31 2011) sponsored by the Chicago Artists Coalition. This program is meant to “help create a new audience of supporters and collectors for the resident artists” through the CAC’s mission of making art viable i.e. a source of income.

These artists share common threads by their use of etching and line (Lisa Goesling, andZachary Mory) to create movement, form, negative and positive space, and impressionistic color rather than literal transposition. One artists collage work (Mark Moleski) converts everyday inorganic objects into more familiar forms while photos from another artist’s native land refer to the politics of capitalism and western modernity on gender, justice, and tradition in Chinese culture (Alexandra Lee). See the art in action on vimeo.com/29099537

Life-long artist, Goesling’s experience in drawing, painting, sculpture, and graphic design all find their way into her sensual portraits of ornamental flowers. Where as the subject could feel shallow outside of a greenhouse, Goesling’s Composition of A Coleus (pictured right) is etched on Black Claybord, porcelain clay covered with India ink. Goesling says “I don’t use pencils, only the etching tool that etches out the layer of India Ink. The image appears in the bottom layer of porcelain clay on the black board. I can add colored inks at the very end.” The effect appears pencil drawn but has a living, breathing sculpturesque dimension emphasized by the black backgrounds, creating a positive and negative space rarely seen in life surrounding florals. Her art directing and public relations has helped make hers and her colleagues art marketable. Lisa has presented her work in galleries throughout the Chicago area, Los Angeles, Texas, Wisconsin, and the Merchandise Mart. A full portfolio of her work can be found at www.lisagoesling.com.

Sixty Inches From Center - Just Scratching the Surface: Lisa Goesling

Posted by Nicolette Caldwell on Oct 29, 2010

Lisa Goesling another artist in the Chicago Artist Coalition residency program has managed to literally create new meaning pertaining to how art fits into her life and career. Her seemingly microscopic scratchboards illustrate a variety of flowers and plant life that contrast equally the negative and positive black and white space. She illustrates such fragile and delicate images with such an abrasive technique.

We had a short conversation and Lisa mentioned to me how the residency opportunity has given her the opportunity to really explore her artistic talent in a new direction. After listening to what Lisa had to say I now realize that it truly is amazing how art affects individuals differently.

“I am an artist here and I am one of the lucky people to get to walk up to the Merchandise Mart every day and walk to the art space and be able to create. I feel unbelievably grateful to have this opportunity it came on the heals of my having cancer. That is how I started with the medium I use, which is scratchboard. They were portable and I could bring them to treatment. It would take my mind off of things and I fell in love with the way the light hits the line work I create and the way the composition is against black and white.

In addition to doing these, I also create design on fabric. I feel the more things I have my fingers in with my art the more fun it is for me. My artwork is in several galleries and design studios now. It has just been an unbelievable turn of events. I used to be an art director, graphic designer, public relations director but all I really ever wanted to do was my own art.”

We will see more from Lisa in the future. Keep posted as her work continues at the residency for another six months. I will be heading back to capture a full audio interview with Lisa in the next couple of weeks.

Works on Paper at the Chicago Artist Coalition Gallery

Jessica Kronika - Chicago Fine Arts Examiner October 21, 2010

The Chicago Artist Coalition and the Merchandise Mart have created a space for artists. The Works on Paper Artist Residency is a fifteenth floor space where works in progress and ongoing exhibits coexist. The ongoing exhibit at Suite 1562, at the Merchandise Mart, features the works of the six artists in residence. Each approaches the idea of working on paper with a different approach. Inara Cedrins documents signature architecture in linoleum block printing. Lisa Goesling works in Black Claybord inspired by the minute details of plant structures. Jamie Lynn Henderson explores commercial stereotypes and the fussy details of femininity with her mixed media works. Alexandra Lee works in handmade paper sculptures, exploring elements of cultural mysticism. Zach Morey works in graphite with intricate details and abstract patterns. Mark Moleski works in india ink and collage, exploring silhouettes and themes such as politics and perceptions of media. Through these varied points of view, the resident artists share their current work.

Lisa Goesling creates a realm of intimacy with the plants in Black Claybords. With a delicacy she handles the value of leaves and flowers through linear textures. The subtle hints of color and lines build luminous and lyrical compositions within the dark background of the scratchboard. She began her romance with flora years ago with paint.

Fear No Art – Art & Artists by John Coyle Steinbrunner

August 20th, 2010

The Work on Paper Residency is located in Mart space 1562. Hours are – well, I still don’t know those, but go during the work week and you should be fine. The residency is housed in a vacant showroom casually divided into a front gallery and six workstations in an open-plan space.

Lisa Goesling’s Black Claybords of floral compositions have a Dürer-esque level of detail and care. The residency is a good show and I’m glad it’s a little hidden; it’s worth the searching. For those interested in process, it’s there. If you have to know why, the artist is there to discuss it. If you just like poking around in someone else’s stuff (and who doesn’t?) you can do that too. And if you want to see a cross-section of how six Chicago artists take a common medium and run with it, you’ll most definitely get your fill.

- John Coyle Steinbrunner

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