“Don’t back away from the wall We together break the wall… Your legs hesitated but again Start, don’t stop Don’t be afraid Don’t lose your faith, run no more.” –Lyrics from the song “Break the Wall,” by Korean band Dreamcatcher Digital artist Chase Seyfer was inspired by this song to write a multilayered story that
“My passion for painting stems from the immense benefits it brings to my mental well-being,” says Wheat Ridge painter Liz Burns. “It lets me remain fully present in the moment and immerse myself in a state of pure joy.” A Wheat Ridge resident since 2011, Burns lives with her husband Nathan, son Miller, 11, and
“Painting from landscape is another way to express the experience of humanity the only way I can: as a six-foot male walking on land. That is my perspective,” says Wheat Ridge painter Jason McCullough. He captures the people and spaces that inhabit his experience. Working in oil paints and various drawing mediums, the self-represented fine
Jane Johnson, coordinator of the Career Explore program at Wheat Ridge High School, is particularly proud of her high school graduates who nearly dropped out before enrolling in Career Explore. “Many were not on track to graduate. We keep them in school by addressing their interests and helping them gain career readiness before they graduate.”
“I love teaching because every day there’s something new,” said Janelle Jerman, a music teacher at Prospect Valley Elementary in Wheat Ridge since 2002. “Teaching the younger kids is great because they love you no matter what,” she said. “And they’re not as self-conscious as older kids. So we can do things like dance and
“Making art is something intrinsic in human nature,” says pastelist Ken Lutes. “Cave drawings tell us that people have always made art. It’s essential to our spiritual makeup to have a way to express how we feel about life.” Lutes says his style is “Impressionistic, leaning toward realism. I look at concrete events affecting my
“What draws me is super bright colors – what the eye does not actually see,” says artist Mickey La Fave. “Color is my whole thing. I couldn’t use a brown to save my life.” La Fave’s paintings employ vivid colors to accentuate her subjects. She uses hydrus watercolors that come in a glass bottle because
The gnomes and creatures that inhabit Tim Tindle’s ceramic sculptures are sparked by his two young daughters’ imaginations. Tindle calls his style “narrative sculpture.” “The pieces are like found objects that make you wonder, ‘What’s behind that door?’ You look at it and your brain starts making up stories. “Like a knot at the bottom
“I’m flexible when I paint because I don’t know what will emerge,” says abstract painter Paula Weisz. “If you always plan, if you don’t go beyond the borders, how do you know what would come out?” Weisz says she’s drawn to the abstract, whether it be interpreted realism or full-blown non-representational. She says her paintings
“I go into my zone when I’m painting,” says artist Julie Midyett. “I call it my happy place.” Midyett has had a talent for art since she was a child, but she stopped painting seriously as a young adult when “life happened.” Marriage, children and a career in accounting and tax preparation kept her busy
