Visitors to Gallery Forty Two will be welcomed by art styles typically found in metropolitan galleries. You might call it "contemporary" or "modern" art, we prefer to call it "Fresh Art." And, there's something here for everyone. From landscapes to abstracts, from whimsical to thought-provoking. Art displayed at Gallery Forty Two will easily find a home in your business or residence.
"A must-see gallery. Right in the
heart of Door County."
Watch this site for hours, special events, openings, and artist listings.
contact:
gallery phone: 920-868-4567
appointment phone: 612-240-6679
We are happy to share 10% of revenue from the sale of original artwork at Gallery Forty Two with Door County Habitat for Humanity. Thank you for your purchases.
ink media attention
Peninsula Pulse 9/07
above: "Weather Ornette" - an acrylic painting created during Lawrence Conservatory of Music's jazz keyboard prof Lee Tomboulian's faculty recital.
above: "Mood Indigo" - an acrylic painting created during one of the Gallery Forty Two jazz improv sessions.
GUEST VISUAL ARTISTS who would like to participate in the art&music jams are invited to do so, but should please call ahead of time to make arrangements due to limited floor space in the studio area. 920-818-4567
MORE MUSIC TO CREATE BY
My favorite jazz vibraphonist is Joe Locke. His energy during performance is incredible - he's as much fun to watch as his music is to listen to. This is a painting of Joe that I did while listening to his music. It's now in his personal collection.
Watch Joe perform on his web site: JoeLocke.com
To make sure you are notified about upcoming events, and request to be on our Door County arts and entertainment email notification list.
Art and Music Jam Calendar information click here.
Gallery 42 calls the event "Art and Music Jam." It's the experiment that's held every Saturday between 1p and 4p at the Juddville gallery. You might also refer to the event as "Paint by Number" (musical number that is). As guest musicians (most of them accomplished jazz players) play their initial notes, Gallery 42 owner Tim Nyberg stands facing a large empty canvas - closes his eyes - listens to the music - and waits for an image to come to mind. He grabs ahold of the first inkling of an idea and starts flinging paint.
"Sometimes it's a shape, sometimes a color, a texture, a rhythm. Whatever the music gives me. The trick is to get it onto the canvas quickly - before it disappears."
H
e works fast, often in time with the music. The image appears quickly, then changes, and changes again. He turns his head, then the canvas, and keeps painting.
"During the process, the music often takes different turns sending my thoughts in new directions. Or what appears on the canvas - which is usually quite abstract - seems to work better sideways or upside down from the original orientation."
Working in acrylic, Tim works fast and doesn't seem to mind changing direction mid-course. Sometimes he'll spray a mist of window cleaner on the painting, let it sit for a second, then grab a rag and wipe. The smear becomes a rich base for new visual ideas. More paint is applied, then smeared with fingers, scrapped with small pieces of wood or scribed with the opposite end of the brush.
"The paintings seem to build themselves. Sometimes they're successful, sometimes it was just a fun few minutes of observing whatever happens. But it gets really cool when the musicians watch what's happening on the canvas and start to improvise to what they see. That's what really makes the process a dance of creativity between artist and musician - both of us taking turns leading."
When it all works just right, the painting process ends perfectly with the last note of the music. The dance ends, the partners look at each other and smile (or sometimes shrug their shoulders and laugh). The onlookers applaud.
The Art and Music Jam will continue each Saturday through August and on select fall Saturdays. Make sure you join our email list to be notified of these and other events.
I just started posting select art and photographs online at imagekind.com. This will allow for greeting cards, archival quality prints, canvas prints, framed prints, etc. to be purchased online, and fulfilled by imagekind. The items are made to order and shipped directly to you from imagekind. The selection will grow as time goes on - and if you would like for a specific piece that you find in the online gallery to be added to my imagekind gallery, let me know.
Of course, you can always purchase original art and giclée prints directly from me - especially if you would like them hand-signed - either at the gallery or via an email request.
"Whatever... happens" at Mr. Helsinki
Mr. Helsinki's Restaurant and Wine Bar will host a showing of Tim Nyberg's paintings August 7 through 31. The show promises to be an eclectic mix as it's comprised of works selected by Tim's Door County and Twin Cities artist friends.
The exhibit name, "Whatever... happens," is based on the spontaneous nature of Tim's art. "I start with either a blank canvas or paint over an old work - and let spontaneity (whatever) happen. I enjoy watching the piece evolve and love the pleasant visual surprises that appear."
Many of the pieces on display were created to live music during Gallery Forty Two's art and music jams (Saturdays from 1p to 4p). "I love creating to music and enjoy the challenge of translating to canvas the images the music evokes."
Music during the opening reception (Thursday the 7th from 9pm) will be provided by jazz guitarist Evan Montgomery. Mr. Helsinki's is located over the Fish Creek Market in Fish Creek, Door County, WI.
New retail store commission:
Small World Market in Sturgeon Bay commissioned Tim to do a large painting (48" x 72") for the wall of their Fair Trade shop. Tim describes the work:
"When Jeff and Sarah requested a painting for the wall of their Small World Market, all of the cliché Fair Trade images raced through my mind; coffee bean picking farmers, working mothers with babies strapped to them, basket weavers... But I didn't want to paint literal images - nor did I want to go abstract. I wanted to capture the spirit of Fair Trade - smiling, happy people - beneficiaries of fair prices for their goods and services. I also didn't want to paint literal people, so I chose abstracted/cartoony "ethnic beings" that resemble muppets in a way. The faces are basically bright eyes and big smiles. The color palette reflects the vivid color sensibilities of third world artisans. I think the piece works nicely in the space and successfully captures the spirit of the store."
Creating and naming the paintings.
When I paint, sometimes I have a subject matter in mind, sometimes they just appear as the painting materializes. In this case, the later was true. This was a paint over of another piece (see Extreme Makeover below) that turned into an image of a human head profile upon turning the canvas during the painting process. The profile reminded me of the 1952 Anacin commercial (no, I'm not that old, apparently they ran it for a while) with the banging hammers. I thought it was Bayer when I named the piece. Which actually had a deeper meaning for me. While on the train ride from Düsseldorf to Köln, Germany, we passed by the Bayer headquarters and our escort apologetically revealed that the nerve gas used in the concentration camps was manufactured by Bayer. The image reminded me of the Anacin commercial, but was dark enough to bring to mind the Bayer reference.
But, sometimes, the images are just simple and playful with no deep meaning. They don't necessarily bring to mind anything immediately, I have to stare at them for a while. This painting, "Smilin' Dave's Refrigerator" (left) was so named because it reminded me of the art of a college painting instructor, Dave Johnson, who was always smiling. During Dave's first show at my college, we were struck by the retro refrigerator shapes in all of his paintings and thought it would be a good idea to place a 1950's refrigerator into the show (complete with a "Refrigerator, mixed media, NFS" title next to it). The department chair didn't think much of our prank, but Dave kept smilin' just the same.
Some paintings are cathartic, working out the angst of everyday life. One such painting is "Bush and Cheney Arrive in Hell" (right). Not surprisingly, this is a title that gets a lot of comments from gallery visitors and usually primes the pump for conversation. While painting, I was filled with frustration about the direction our country has taken under the Bush administration - coupled the disturbing thought that our tax money has been used for complicity in killing of well over 100,000 of God's children - so, I named the piece appropriately. It helped a llittle bit.
I guess this reflects life. Sometimes things that plop in front of us are meaningful, deep and worthy of extra thought. And other times they're just a funny little blip that's meant to entertain us and not really meant for anything but pure enjoyment. You'll find both extremes in my art. - Tim
It's paint-over time.
The summer season is not in full swing yet in Door County - that means for slower (nearly customer-free days) at the Gallery. Which allows time for sorting through paintings, picking what hasn't sold for a while or what isn't "turning my crank" any longer and doing makeovers. I've posted a few of these painting transformations here if you are interested in seeing the results of the process. Hopefully, it wasn't a painting you were interested in purchasing that got the makeover. - Tim
this is cool...
When crusing around the internet (no, I haven't found the end yet(), I found a wonderful video by Philip Scott Johnson comprised of 500 years of female portraiture morphing into each other. Make sure you turn on your speakers to enjoy the cello music while you make his journey through art history. Philip also has other morphing art videos on his YouTube page that you may wish to watch. click here
the artists at gallery forty two
tim nyberg paintings/photography
The majority of the work at Gallery Forty Two is by gallery owner Tim Nyberg. For the past thirty years, Tim has been a graphic designer and illustrator for everyone from Fortune 500 companies to the corner retailer, from McDonald’s to restaurants right here in Door County, for national magazines, bookcovers, web sites, and his own humor books - most notibly the “Duct Tape Books” (available in the Juddville Junction General Store corner of Gallery 42).
Tim brings his commercial art sensibilities to his fine art and enjoys exploring and blurring the line between the two. If you walk through the gallery and smile or chuckle, it’s payment enough for Tim (although your purchases are certainly appreciated as well). You can see samples of Tim's work here.
About the diversity in Tim's painting styles:
I'm constantly exploring in my art. I'm not afraid to try new things, not afraid to fail. Really, what's the worst that can happen? I've wasted a little paint. I just paint over it and the underlying "failed experiment" just adds to the richness of the new image.
I can relate to this quote by Pablo Picasso: "God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying other things."
john turula ceramics/sculpture
John began his work in clay in the early 1970s on an Army base in Virginia. Following the acquisition of an art degree, he paid his dues by making production honey pots for a year. 
Turula moved on to wheel thrown, burnished, salt fired “big round things,” a college and museum school teaching career. He then left the wheel for hand-built figures - ideas that started as doodles - “little trains of thought that I’d try to get to stand upright.” Now, John’s work is human scale sculpture - stacked hand-built components - “unplanned beyond a notion.”
John lives and creates in his Bay City, Wisconsin studio. More of his work may be viewed online at www.nopointink.com.
george ouimette ceramics/sculpture
Gallery Forty Two is delighted to add George Ouimette to its list of guest artists. George teaches art at Southern Door High School.
His art reflects his surroundings - usually combining found wood with clay to create one-of-a-kind vessel based pieces. You can see more of George's art online at OuimetteStudio.com
On many Saturday afternoons throughout the summer season Gallery Forty Two provides live music - jazz, classical, blues, folk, rock and new age - to which artists, musicians and writers are invited to participate. (Call 920-868-4567 if you would like to participate.)
"It becomes like a dance - the artist takes leads from the musican(s) and visa versa. Each playing into each others' sensativities and creativity. It's quite a challenging and rewarding experience. And, from comments made by onlookers, they seem to enjoy observing the creative process as much as the artists enjoy participating." - Gallery owner, Tim Nyberg
"Door County artist Tim Nyberg has been sponsoring a number of events in his gallery in which he paints improvisationally to live (improvised) jazz. He did the painting in the attached photo [left] at the recital of Lawrence jazz faculty pianist Lee Tomboulian last week, and the audience loved it. It brought the arts together and gave non-musicians a very unique visual way of comprehending the abstract notions of improvisation." - Fred Sturm, Director of Jazz and Improvisational Music at Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Appleton, WI
the 2008 saturday art & music jam calendar
july 5 - the jana nyberg group
july 12 - ross caterton
july 19 - greg pagel
july 26 - lee tomboulian
august 2 - woody mankowski
august 9 - lee tomboulian
august 16 - greg pagel
august 23 - evan montgomery
august 30 - the jana nyberg group
This season's musician participants in the Art Music Jams include:
Ross Catterton a reed player from Lawrence Music Conservatory in Appleton. His inventive sax compositions range from mellow/sad/pensive to joyful, happy and energetic. Ross is often joined by other jazz musician friends and experiments with digital audio looping to accompany himself.
Keyboard phenom Lee Tombulian. Lee is the jazz keyboard professor at Lawrence Music Conservatory in Appleton and has a list of "has played with" as long as the road from Appleton to Juddville. We were successful in getting Lee to bring his accordion along with him from time to time. If you haven't ever had the chance to enjoy Lee's virtuosity, his music can be heard online with his group CIRCO. You can hear some of Lee's music performed with his group "CIRCO" online at CDBaby.
The Jana Nyberg Group performing improvisations and original compositions. Adam Meckler (trumpet) is a recent graduate of Lawrence University's Music Conservatory and is an award-winning jazz composer. Adam featured some of his original compositions created by combining audio sampling with live trumpet. Jana Nyberg provided etherial vocals and Jake Nyberg performed on drum set and other percussion instruments. Hear samples of their music at JanaJazz.com and MecklerMusic.com.
Gallery Forty Two's favorite electronic NUT - Greg Pagel. Greg's inventiveness on the electronic keyboards tend toward the wacky, although, he's an equally accomplished classical piano player. "It's great fun painting to Greg's music - it's alive with ideas, colors, textures... and, he improvs off of what he sees me painting as well." Greg may bring his accordion as well. You can hear his music online.
This year we're pleased to welcome our talented friend Woody Mankowski to the Art and Music Jam. This guy is amazing! An in-demand reed player and vocal chameleon like you've never heard before. He might lay down some Ray Charles or Marvin Gay for the jam. Don't miss him! Woody's website has a sampling of what you will hear.
The "White Wes," Evan Montgomery is a kick-butt guitarist (classical, jazz, blues, funk - whatever genre you through at him) from New Jersey. Watch with amazement as his fingers dance around the frets and over the strings. Only in his early twenties, Evan's talent is truely amazing and a joy to listen (and paint) to.
above: Joseph Came a Courtin' 22x28" $780 also available as giclée print and greeting card at Gallery Forty Two.
below: Structures and Solitude (sold)
also available as a giclée print and greeting card at Gallery Forty Two
see more at the Online Gallery
The Price and Size List is located here.
or check out Tim's prints and photography at ImageKind:
or view/purchase Tim's photography:
Click here to see Tim's ever-expanding "Icon" series.
Click to our Gallery Forty Two Online Gallery is available now. If you are interested in purchasing anything that you see in the online gallery, please and email an inquiry with the painting name and your contact information. The Price and Size List is located here. Thanks! (map to gallery here)
