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Six Feet
72nd Annual Member Exhibition
South Haven Center for the Arts' members interpreted the theme “Six Feet.”
Each piece is accompanied by the artist’s personal statement describing the motivation behind their work and how it relates to the theme.
Images range from birds to shoes, some revealing the chaos felt during the past year—finding peace outdoors, isolation, and missing loved ones.
"Six Feet" runs through June 19, 2021. Click on the images to view the artist statement and more information about the artwork.
Check our website, email, or call for hours as we slowly reopen to make an appointment to view the exhibition in our gallery.
Nature's Embrace
Sherri Willett
Media: 3D mixed media, plaster, acrylic paint, paper, fabric
Size: 30 in x 30 in
Inspired by an amazing experience I had while sitting on a balcony overlooking a quiet tree filled courtyard with a soft summer breeze blowing through the leaves, creating an ethereal scene of dancing sunlight and the sounds of words only my soul could hear.
In this overwhelming season and “six feet apart” social distancing, this experience calls me back into nature where I am in awe and wonder at its forever consistent rhythm, and grateful for this gift from a Creator who gently holds me as I sit embraced by His love and peace fills my soul.
Media: 3D mixed media, plaster, acrylic paint, paper, fabric
Size: 30 in x 30 in
Inspired by an amazing experience I had while sitting on a balcony overlooking a quiet tree filled courtyard with a soft summer breeze blowing through the leaves, creating an ethereal scene of dancing sunlight and the sounds of words only my soul could hear.
In this overwhelming season and “six feet apart” social distancing, this experience calls me back into nature where I am in awe and wonder at its forever consistent rhythm, and grateful for this gift from a Creator who gently holds me as I sit embraced by His love and peace fills my soul.
Linda Paddleboarding The Lake
Zan Knecht
Media: Acrylic on archival paper
Size: 24 in x 48 in
There is plenty of room on the lake. Staring at the horizon releases endorphins, the brain's "feel good" chemicals. We are so lucky to live by Lake Michigan. People can be together in wide open spaces on and in the lake while still being 6 feet apart. The reassuring embrace and gentle rocking of the lake comforts us all.
Media: Acrylic on archival paper
Size: 24 in x 48 in
There is plenty of room on the lake. Staring at the horizon releases endorphins, the brain's "feel good" chemicals. We are so lucky to live by Lake Michigan. People can be together in wide open spaces on and in the lake while still being 6 feet apart. The reassuring embrace and gentle rocking of the lake comforts us all.
Free Flight
Julia Ryan
Media: Graphite
Size: 4 in x 19 in x 24 in
In the time of limitations on space, breath, and human touch, I gravitated to self-portraiture. Missing my daily swim, I found great freedom and uplift in drawing divers, who, for a moment, are in free flight, masks swept away.
Media: Graphite
Size: 4 in x 19 in x 24 in
In the time of limitations on space, breath, and human touch, I gravitated to self-portraiture. Missing my daily swim, I found great freedom and uplift in drawing divers, who, for a moment, are in free flight, masks swept away.
Patience
Kimberly Wood
Media: Pastel pencil
Size: 20 in x 30 in
In this piece, I really reflected on what adhering to six feet meant during the past year. Many things we placed such importance on no longer fit; instead, our relationships, our time, our words, and our future became much more center-focused. The flowers are purposefully left illustrated and less significant. Our words and memories with loved ones held more permanence than materialistic things. The figure looks out, longing for that sense of meaningful connection.
Media: Pastel pencil
Size: 20 in x 30 in
In this piece, I really reflected on what adhering to six feet meant during the past year. Many things we placed such importance on no longer fit; instead, our relationships, our time, our words, and our future became much more center-focused. The flowers are purposefully left illustrated and less significant. Our words and memories with loved ones held more permanence than materialistic things. The figure looks out, longing for that sense of meaningful connection.
The Typology of Six Shoes for Six Feet
Dorris Akers
Media: Framed photograph
Size: 20 in x 24 in
My current work involves using a camera to record similar objects for study of comparisons of likenesses and differences. In this case, six shoes that may be used to adorn 'six feet' are presented for study.
Can you name the ways the shoes are similar, identical, totally different?
Media: Framed photograph
Size: 20 in x 24 in
My current work involves using a camera to record similar objects for study of comparisons of likenesses and differences. In this case, six shoes that may be used to adorn 'six feet' are presented for study.
Can you name the ways the shoes are similar, identical, totally different?
Six Feet of Mask Scraps
Mary Jackson
Media: Fabric
Size: 6 ft x 8 in
2020 was a year of six feet of distance and a mask. I longed for a hug from a friend. After vaccinations, Mary Margaret Prescott Behrman (Maggie) planned and worked on this piece with me. I went through bags of scraps leftovers from making hundreds and hundreds of cloth masks. Maggie did the stitching. We made it. Real hugs to Maggie.
Media: Fabric
Size: 6 ft x 8 in
2020 was a year of six feet of distance and a mask. I longed for a hug from a friend. After vaccinations, Mary Margaret Prescott Behrman (Maggie) planned and worked on this piece with me. I went through bags of scraps leftovers from making hundreds and hundreds of cloth masks. Maggie did the stitching. We made it. Real hugs to Maggie.
6 Feet . . .
Kristin Ayers
Media: Photo tryptich
Size: 11 in x 14 in
6 Feet. UP part.DE part. Fall apart. Photos taken by artist at Bittersweet in Otsego, MI.
Media: Photo tryptich
Size: 11 in x 14 in
6 Feet. UP part.DE part. Fall apart. Photos taken by artist at Bittersweet in Otsego, MI.
6 Feet . . .
Kristin Ayers
Media: Photo tryptich
Size: 11 in x 14 in
6 Feet. UP part.DE part. Fall apart. Photos taken by artist at Bittersweet in Otsego, MI.
Media: Photo tryptich
Size: 11 in x 14 in
6 Feet. UP part.DE part. Fall apart. Photos taken by artist at Bittersweet in Otsego, MI.
6 Feet . . .
Kristin Ayers
Media: Photo tryptich
Size: 11 in x 14 in
6 Feet. UP part.DE part. Fall apart. Photos taken by artist at Bittersweet in Otsego, MI.
Media: Photo tryptich
Size: 11 in x 14 in
6 Feet. UP part.DE part. Fall apart. Photos taken by artist at Bittersweet in Otsego, MI.
Favorite Numbers
David Baker
Media: Old measuring tools (wood)
Size: 36 in x 12 in
Media: Old measuring tools (wood)
Size: 36 in x 12 in
Sending Wishes From Six Feet
Christine Banks
Media: Acrylic
Size: 10 in x 20 in triptych
End to end, these three paintings combine to be apart—six feet apart—as the figures distance each other. Optimism on the right blows dandelion seeds of hope sending wishes to pessimism on the left. Are we figures of definite emotion? Are we the hopeful seeds drifting along in the wind? Are we the hopeful seeds drifting along in the wind? Or, are we the dandelion torn apart to scatter? What has happened to you over there—six feet distanced and a million miles away...?
Media: Acrylic
Size: 10 in x 20 in triptych
End to end, these three paintings combine to be apart—six feet apart—as the figures distance each other. Optimism on the right blows dandelion seeds of hope sending wishes to pessimism on the left. Are we figures of definite emotion? Are we the hopeful seeds drifting along in the wind? Are we the hopeful seeds drifting along in the wind? Or, are we the dandelion torn apart to scatter? What has happened to you over there—six feet distanced and a million miles away...?
Untitled
Catherine Maize
Media: Oil
Size: 6 in x 6 in
Media: Oil
Size: 6 in x 6 in
Out of the Mist
Mary Guntzviller
Media: Mixed media
Size: 36 in x 48 in
As the vacant gray isolation of Corona enveloped us, the vaccines slowly began to infuse color back into our lives.
Media: Mixed media
Size: 36 in x 48 in
As the vacant gray isolation of Corona enveloped us, the vaccines slowly began to infuse color back into our lives.
Slow Stitched Meditations
Sheryl Drenth
Media: Cloth, vintage quilt squares, paper, thread, watercolor, natural objects
Size: 11 in x 6 ft
This year stitching and sewing became my salvation, my calm, my joy. I had time, I had quiet. I sewed/stitched small fabric fish and gave them away. I sewed objects to watercolor pieces. I connected my "meditations" into one piece.
Media: Cloth, vintage quilt squares, paper, thread, watercolor, natural objects
Size: 11 in x 6 ft
This year stitching and sewing became my salvation, my calm, my joy. I had time, I had quiet. I sewed/stitched small fabric fish and gave them away. I sewed objects to watercolor pieces. I connected my "meditations" into one piece.
Slow Stitched Meditations
Sheryl Drenth
Media: Cloth, vintage quilt squares, paper, thread, watercolor, natural objects
Size: 11 in x 6 ft
This year stitching and sewing became my salvation, my calm, my joy. I had time, I had quiet. I sewed/stitched small fabric fish and gave them away. I sewed objects to watercolor pieces. I connected my "meditations" into one piece.
Media: Cloth, vintage quilt squares, paper, thread, watercolor, natural objects
Size: 11 in x 6 ft
This year stitching and sewing became my salvation, my calm, my joy. I had time, I had quiet. I sewed/stitched small fabric fish and gave them away. I sewed objects to watercolor pieces. I connected my "meditations" into one piece.
Cicadidae
Kelly Vander Kley
Media: Drypoint print
Size: 19 in x 23 in
Insects are the unsung heros of our planet. They have survived longer than we can measure and have adapted to survive in any type of condition given by human or nature. They are fighters, survivors, and adaptors. When people struggle in times of hardship, insects continue on doing what they do. Insects are hexapods with six legs and, of course, six feet.
Media: Drypoint print
Size: 19 in x 23 in
Insects are the unsung heros of our planet. They have survived longer than we can measure and have adapted to survive in any type of condition given by human or nature. They are fighters, survivors, and adaptors. When people struggle in times of hardship, insects continue on doing what they do. Insects are hexapods with six legs and, of course, six feet.
Six Feet Twice
Joan Bonnette
Media: Colored pencil, paper
Size: 30 in x 20 in
6+6 foot-shaped drawings include health workers booties, foot bones, compression sock, and a sunburned foot.
Media: Colored pencil, paper
Size: 30 in x 20 in
6+6 foot-shaped drawings include health workers booties, foot bones, compression sock, and a sunburned foot.
Tribal Dance
Jeff and Theresa Heaton
Media: Fiber, mixed media
Size: 30 in x 30 in
We created Tribal Dance in the Spring of 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown. As artists, our thoughts turned inward in response to global events. Inspired by Aboriginal motifs, a surface design was incorporated that is reflected in this repeated simple line and dot imagery. Red twig dogwood sticks represent figures standing side by side as a social pod, while at the same time distancing themselves from the other two. Red and beige threads are the foundation and connectivity that unties the entire piece—red threads give the viewer a feeling of movement and dance, personifying the unity of people during the shutdown and the underlying celebration of culture and honoring of the earth. Gold vinyl tape forms a square in the center, providing a feeling of warmth and comfort, much like the hearth of a home.
Media: Fiber, mixed media
Size: 30 in x 30 in
We created Tribal Dance in the Spring of 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown. As artists, our thoughts turned inward in response to global events. Inspired by Aboriginal motifs, a surface design was incorporated that is reflected in this repeated simple line and dot imagery. Red twig dogwood sticks represent figures standing side by side as a social pod, while at the same time distancing themselves from the other two. Red and beige threads are the foundation and connectivity that unties the entire piece—red threads give the viewer a feeling of movement and dance, personifying the unity of people during the shutdown and the underlying celebration of culture and honoring of the earth. Gold vinyl tape forms a square in the center, providing a feeling of warmth and comfort, much like the hearth of a home.
People—I Told You Social Distancing
Drake Olmstead
Media: High-gloss photo on metal
Size: 12 in x 36 in
Humanizing our animal world . . . depicting the chaos we sometimes see today.
Media: High-gloss photo on metal
Size: 12 in x 36 in
Humanizing our animal world . . . depicting the chaos we sometimes see today.
2+4 Alone Together
Mary Lou Olds
Media: Acrylic monoprint
Size: 16.5 in x 13.5 in
Our four-legged pet companions have provided us two-legged humans with so much comfort, happiness, and support during this time of uncertainty and separation from loved ones.
Media: Acrylic monoprint
Size: 16.5 in x 13.5 in
Our four-legged pet companions have provided us two-legged humans with so much comfort, happiness, and support during this time of uncertainty and separation from loved ones.
Sasha in Green Army Coat, Memory
Cary Okoro
Media: Acrylic on canvas
Size: 18 in x 24 in
We are social beings and not meant to “socially distance.” Having to stay six feet apart from loved ones felt as cruel as it was necessary to keep us safe. During this period, I found myself wanting to paint those who were far away in an attempt to collapse that distance. When you paint the details of someone’s face or clothing, you fall in love with them all over again. I often use family albums and “found” photographs as jumping off points for paintings and to explore themes of memory, trauma, and identity. I am interested in the personal and societal affects of this pandemic, such as how has the trauma of the past year changed us. Will we relate to one another differently than before COVID-19? Will we prefer to keep each other at a “safe” distance or rush to be close to one another again?
Media: Acrylic on canvas
Size: 18 in x 24 in
We are social beings and not meant to “socially distance.” Having to stay six feet apart from loved ones felt as cruel as it was necessary to keep us safe. During this period, I found myself wanting to paint those who were far away in an attempt to collapse that distance. When you paint the details of someone’s face or clothing, you fall in love with them all over again. I often use family albums and “found” photographs as jumping off points for paintings and to explore themes of memory, trauma, and identity. I am interested in the personal and societal affects of this pandemic, such as how has the trauma of the past year changed us. Will we relate to one another differently than before COVID-19? Will we prefer to keep each other at a “safe” distance or rush to be close to one another again?
Offshore Breeze
Carol Myers
Media: Digital painting printed on archival paper
Size: 18 in x 24 in
The anxieties of maintaining 6 feet between people when the natural impulse is to lean in and interact, or at least skirt around strangers, created exhaustion. Visiting the lakeshore and breathing in the lovely offshore breeze became my sanctuary and respite.
Media: Digital painting printed on archival paper
Size: 18 in x 24 in
The anxieties of maintaining 6 feet between people when the natural impulse is to lean in and interact, or at least skirt around strangers, created exhaustion. Visiting the lakeshore and breathing in the lovely offshore breeze became my sanctuary and respite.
Join the 2020 Queue
Ann Habicht
Media: Ink
Size: 7 in x 16 in
The pandemic kept me separated from my art friends, but gave me plenty of time with pens, dreaming about how happy we would be to reconnect, even six feet apart.
Media: Ink
Size: 7 in x 16 in
The pandemic kept me separated from my art friends, but gave me plenty of time with pens, dreaming about how happy we would be to reconnect, even six feet apart.
There's Still Beauty
Emily Kimball-Wells
Media: Oil
Size: 40 in x 30 in
Amid the chaos of 2020 and now 2021, there is still beauty everywhere. This is a scene from downtown Grand Haven. It had just rained and the sky cleared for the sunset. Showing off the beauty of pushing through the hard times. The outdoor seating adaptation shows we have the ability to persevere and not only make due, but grow.
Media: Oil
Size: 40 in x 30 in
Amid the chaos of 2020 and now 2021, there is still beauty everywhere. This is a scene from downtown Grand Haven. It had just rained and the sky cleared for the sunset. Showing off the beauty of pushing through the hard times. The outdoor seating adaptation shows we have the ability to persevere and not only make due, but grow.
Six Feet Apart
Teri Bult
Media: Mixed media
Size: 11 in x 14 in
“Six Feet”, 2 simple words of no great significance, 3 friends, six feet wading in the water, a carpenter measures out six feet on a board, mMy son is six feet tall. Until the year 2020, now “six feet” is a warning, a command, code words for a pandemic—a horrible worldwide killer pandemic. Your life could depend on six feet. We cocooned ourselves and always stayed 6 feet away from that person, or that person. Because of that maybe wonderful person, now might mean death.
Media: Mixed media
Size: 11 in x 14 in
“Six Feet”, 2 simple words of no great significance, 3 friends, six feet wading in the water, a carpenter measures out six feet on a board, mMy son is six feet tall. Until the year 2020, now “six feet” is a warning, a command, code words for a pandemic—a horrible worldwide killer pandemic. Your life could depend on six feet. We cocooned ourselves and always stayed 6 feet away from that person, or that person. Because of that maybe wonderful person, now might mean death.
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