OCP Studios

Think artfully, buy locally – many talented local artists have much to offer for the holidays, right in our neighborhoods. Follow the signs, read the café bulletin boards, and your holiday gifts will have a unique local focus.

Carleton Place Lofts, residence and studio to local artists, is one location for two holiday group shows. The shows feature art work by Thea Peltier (garden masterpieces), Angel Teske (jewelry), Pat Garrahy (ceramics), Eric Pearson (painting), Matt Wells (illustration), Natasha Poppe (ceramics), and Joshua W. Murray (phography)

Dates: Saturdays, Nov 21 and Dec 5: 12-10pm
Sundays, Nov 22 and Dec 6, 10am - 6 pm

The shows also feature Saturday Evening performances by the Jana Nyberg Group.

Carleton Place Lofts are located at 2285 University Ave, near Raymond, St. Paul. FFI see www.ocpstudios.com

Artist info:

While creating jewelry, Angela Teske reflects on the culture and origin of the materials and enjoys the interaction of beauty created. Teske’s work primarily uses gemstones, silver and African beads.

Painter Erik Pearson is known for his colorful and active imagery. During the summer of 2007, Erik completed a large outdoor mural at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. The mural is on two walls of the art center covering 2500 square feet.

After many years of painting as her major focus, Natasha Poppe returned to Ceramics in 2002. Although throwing was her only choice in her earlier years, she believes that teaching younger children made her a much better ceramist. She enjoys hand-building and throwing, low fire, high fire and experimental firing styles. “Clay is too much fun to keep making the same thing every time,” she says.

Jana Nyberg is quickly becoming recognized as a force in the jazz world. Her blend of sophistication and creativity make her a one of a kind jazz artist. Since the release of their album in March of 2008, the band has received critical acclaim, as well as radio play on important jazz stations around the mid-west. The Group is currently based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota.

Pat Garrahy is an illustrator, designer and ceramic artist currently in residence at Carleton Place Lofts in Saint Paul, MN. He has worked as a comic book editor for both Marvel and DC comics. His ceramics are known for their unusual glaze structures and colorful organic patterns. He specializes in natural glaze reactions and multiple applications of glaze often requiring his pieces to be glaze fired repeatedly.

Thea Peltier uses her expertise as an independent landscape designer to create unique, amazing miniature gardens. For these shows, she is creating “hanging gardens” and “gardens-in-a-bowl” collaborating with ceramists Pat Garrahy and Natasha Poppe.

Matt Wells is an illustrator and fine artist working in the Twin Cities. He creates unique, graphic work in traditional and digital media, and has worked with a diverse clientele in comic books, publishing, music, film, and children’s books.

Joshua W. Murray is a photographer, working with traditional, experimental, and digital imagery. He is also a musician and has performed, mixed, and designed graphics for the group “Two Eyes for the Dead.”