These are the works of art that caught my eye at the 67th annual Steele County Art Exhibition at the Owatonna Arts Center.

Bonnie Broitzman’s “Painting As Prayer” evokes Georgia O’Keefe’s beautiful flower paintings.

 

 

A couple of painted saw blades from Linda Christofferson; “Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal on the left and “Mail is Here” on the right.

 

Details from the saw blades.

 

Internationally known artist Jim Killen, who calls Owatonna home, contributed “Prairie Wings.”

 

Another internationally known artist, Dee Teller, contributed “Moon Spirit.”

 

Oh yeah, I’d like to listen to whatever this man has to say; Harvey Degen’s “Story to Tell.”

 

As one who goes to lots of church meetings, I enjoyed the irony of Daniel Fichten’s “Church Gathering.”

 

 

These two works by Dallas Ketchum show his ability to work in different media. On the left is a pen and ink piece called “The Face.” On the right is a work in ink and watercolor called “Blossom Time”.

 

This abstract work by Tony Haas became much less abstract for me when I saw the title “Son.” If you could track the movements of my young grandson on a painting I think this is about what it would look like.

 

 

One of the most important jobs that artists have is recording history. These two works show some historic sites in Owatonna. The one on the left is the “Summer Day: Morehouse Park Dam” by Daniel Fichten that shows the Morehouse Park Dam before it was rebuilt. The painting on the right is entitled “Owatonna Universalist Church” by Maybelle Leach. The mission-style building was constructed by the First Universalist Church of Owatonna in 1905 and then sold to a Lutheran congregation in 1919.

Other images from the show.