January 29th, 2024

The Sveum Gallery Presents Daniel Burks

In the Sveum Gallery, we welcome Daniel Burks a Rockford based artist born in 1961. Burks has been painting and creating art using many different mediums all his life. After his tour in the US Navy, Daniel became a career HVAC Mechanic.  Now retired, he is perfecting the art of ​Intarsia.

The Bell Gallery presents Cheria Gillespie

"​"My name is Cheria Gillespie, and I'm an artist based out of Beloit Wisconsin. I’ve always been drawn to the arts. Some of my earliest memories are of me drawing the cartoon characters from my favorite TV shows. I loved the Teen Tiitans and Courage The Cowardly Dog and I just remember sitting for hours trying to perfect their image in my notepad. During my school years, art class was always where I felt most at ease. I was able to create my own little world through the images that I’d come up with. As I grew, my focus on art diminished greatly. The realities of the real world began to occupy all of my free time and I completely forgot about my love for this talent I once had. But then the pandemic hit, and the world was changing around me, and suddenly I had nothing but time to think about life, about its meaning and what I wanted out of it. So I ordered a paint set online and decided to give art a try again. Soon I began filling all of my free time cultivating this skill that I forgot all about. And just like that, whenever I picked up a paintbrush, I was back in my own little world like when I was a kid.  A lot of my art has that fantastical element to it, reminiscent of how I saw the world when I was younger. Everything was colorful. Sometimes I didn't understand why or what I was seeing, but I was always curious, and I try to keep that curiosity alive in my paintings through my use of color. I don't believe in having only one art style. I think if we have this chance to explore all things, then why not?"

 "Last year I decided to start taking my art more seriously, taking on commissions and diving into the digital art world. Creating prints of my work and custom art tote bags. I was also given an opportunity at 5BAR here in Beloit as a live painter. Every Thursday I start with a blank canvas and complete a painting live for the bar patrons. I’ve also had some of my work displayed at 317 Art Collaborative in Rockford, and now the Beloit Art Center. I almost can't believe my love of art was something that I forgot about for so many years."