 Hello and welcome to Gallery Works. My name is Kitty Lynn Klisch and we're in the studio today with two of three sisters. Each one of them has chosen a different path in her art. We have two of the gals here and we'll be talking about the third one later in the show. It's my very most pleasure to introduce you to Therese Randall and Patty Strong. I'm so glad you could come today. Welcome to the show. Very glad to be here. Good, good. And tell me gals, how... Now you're all three artists and we're talking about your sister, like she's not with us and that's because she isn't anymore. Only in spirit. Only in spirit, right. Okay, so but how did the three of you gals get started in your particular forms of art? Now, Therese, you are a painter. You work in oil and acrylic. Yes. Patty, you work with fabric. And I also paint. And you... Oh, you also paint, too. Oh, okay. I didn't realize that. And your sister's name was Sue. Susan, okay. What medium did Susan work in? She worked in oils and acrylics and mostly in pencil. Mostly in pencil. Okay, all right. And now I want to know, as girls growing up, did you all, like while other kids were playing Go Fish and Old Maid, were the three of you creating? Well, we played Go Fish and Old Maid, too. Okay. But we had something and I think we all noticed that other children couldn't do what we did. I can remember being in kindergarten and we were all told to make an animal drawing. And I looked at all of them and thought, why don't the other children's animals look like what they're supposed to look like? Because I drew a zebra and my zebra actually looked like a zebra. So we knew from when we were really, really young that we had something. We had a gift that other people didn't have. Yeah, yeah. And I assumed, I thought, almost till I went to college, that I thought everybody could paint and draw. It's just that they chose not to do it. I didn't know that they couldn't. Yeah. Because it's like all of our family, my aunts, my mother and my father were both very talented and very artistic. My grandma did China painting and they had a ceramic shop and there was nothing they could not paint. I mean, it was just a man. It was amazing. But growing up around people like that, everybody in our family did that. Right. They were very artistic. So you're from this area, right? And you were born and raised in the St. Neeson's Manitowoc area. Okay. St. Neeson's Manitowoc area. Yeah. All right. That's so interesting because it's something that sounds like it's been passed down generational. Oh, it had been. With that type of being and that type of environment, that would be very inspiring to a young child. Oh, that's wonderful. Especially the really young child when you were really young. It was just wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Yeah. And we were like our aunts always encouraged us and it's like there's there's nothing you can't do. Mm hmm. You know, so when I was little and I would say I wanted to be an artist, you know, people. Well, actually, when I went to my guidance counselor in high school, I said I wanted to be a painter and she said, what are you going to paint houses? Yeah, a lot of encouragement there. So but it you know, it wasn't we didn't we didn't think that it wasn't possible that we could do what we wanted to do. Well, I I think your work, all of you, I mean, your work is spectacular. Thank you. And I'd like to I'd like to talk about your work. Right now, Therese, the the painting that we opened the show with. I believe those are Lily's tulips or tulips. Okay. Aren't they amazing? Yes, tulips like that are like a little past. They're just just about. That's exactly what was happening. Right. Yeah. And and that's gorgeous in your use of color. Now, are these tulips from your garden? I actually went to the meat market in in St. Cloud and the woman there knows I'm an artist and she said, you have to go over to my house and see my tulips. And it was right after a rainstorm. And it was still gray and and the wind was moving them around. And I thought, oh, they're so beautiful. And I took a bunch of photographs. And I went home and the photographs, I have to do a painting of this. Sure. So that's how that happened. Yeah, and you can add I see what you mean about, you know, a windstorm and rain and everything because that's the way they look, they look like they've been, you know, disturbed abused a little bit. Yeah, yeah. And and but there's but it creates a movement and an energy in the painting. You know, they don't it is just beautiful. And the other thing that strikes me is this gorgeous, complimentary color that you have put in that makes the the tulips pop. Very, very good. I did. You taught me that. Well, thank you. It's beautiful. That that is truly beautiful. Thank you. I love that painting. Thank you. And okay, and then we over here, we have an elk. Yes, yes. Okay. Tell me about that fellow. He's really beautiful. My husband, and brother, and a couple other guys went out to Montana hunting. And I just went along for the experience. I used to hunt, I can't hunt anymore. It's too difficult for me. Is it difficult? Why is it difficult? I'm not gonna give you the answer. It's hard for me to see something living. And then maybe the one that stops that. My dad used to take me hunting when I was little. I was very little and he would take me out. And he taught me what the different plants were and what the different birds were. And I was maybe in first grade. And I knew the difference between a white oak and a scarlet oak and a red oak. And, and I was surprised that other people didn't know those things. Because I had known it for so long. And I'd catch butterflies. And I mean, he took me pheasant hunting. He took me duck hunting. And, and so I was kind of raised with hunting. Mm hmm. But it was, it was just really hard for me to both. At that point that you realized how beautiful they are. Yes. Alive and emotion. Yes. I agree. I just, I couldn't, couldn't do it anymore. All right. Well, back to this fellow here. What's the story on him? So we, it was interesting. We're in Montana. There's a snowstorm. And we were driving into this place where we were supposed to be hunting. And it was just like the Hartford commercial. There was this big elk standing on top. That's like, I mean, because I'm visual and I'm sure you know, too, right, you picture things. I have all these photos and movies in my head. And it's like there was the Hartford commercial. And so some guys went this way and some guys went that way and, and he got to have a big elk. I wasn't, I know it's a real, it's a really difficult thing. Yeah, they're very excited about doing this. But yeah, now he's alive always. Yeah, exactly. And I, you know, don't misunderstand me. I'm not critiquing your paintings. But I just, you were my student once. And, and I just need to reinforce and point out to you the really strong composition here, trees, you really nailed that comp, that composition. I love it. I mean, it's so strong. You give us just enough information that we can feel the moment. And yet, you know, there's still things about it that we don't know. And I really like that. That's a very beautiful painting. I won the Robert Hoyle award with that painting. Oh, good for you, girl. I know I was like, I don't get it. Why did it was that so, I mean, for him to give, I mean, I was just, I was, I was just so surprised. I didn't understand what he said. You know why? No, I know. I want you to take your mic, honey, and, and make it come up a little bit. It's kind yeah, there we go. There we go. Yeah. Because I want to make sure you're heard. Okay. All right. And then we have this piece here with the cardinal, which I just finished. You just finished. Yes. Okay. Oh, I forgot to ask you the the tulips are they oil or acrylic? That's acrylic, acrylic and the moves that are the other that's oil, that's oil. Okay. And this one? This is acrylic, acrylic. Okay. Yes. That is just gorgeous. I was so inspired with there was so much milkweed this year. Although I didn't see as many monarchs as I usually do. No, I only found one monarch caterpillar this year. But the milkweed was so fantastic. And the purple asters were amazing. And that's beautiful. And I just I love this time of year. I just want to stay home and paint this time of year. Exactly. Well, you know, the colors are exactly and the way the light plays in the trees. And what's so beautiful about this is this this vignette feeling that we have, because we have the cardinal in beautiful, beautiful detail. And it's obvious that he's the focal area in the painting, you know, and the things around him are, you know, crisper looking, and they're coming forward. And then there's this great sense of distance. I mean, it just looks like you could just go all the way back. And yet you did that without giving us too much detail. And that is the secret to creating space. And you know, a painting should be like a window, you should be able to look at a painting and feel like you can go inside the painting. And that you you've captured that feeling there beautifully. Thank you. That's very nicely done. Thank you. I sometimes don't know. We never went to school. So you're self taught. I learned by just taking that one class from you. Some technical things that I had never been taught. Sure. And sometimes when I'm painting, I just have colors laying out. And I just, well, I don't even know sometimes how I know how to do it. You know, there's a certain point where it becomes intuitive. Yeah, with a painter. And I think that I think that's very important to know that to trust your first gut reaction to something, trust that because the more you model with it, you know, and work with it, most likely, you're not going to improve it, you're only going to wipe out that bit of genius that that first stroke put on the canvas, you know, so we've talked about that many times. I'm like, I just had to touch it one more time and I messed it up. Well, there you go. Right. You know, if you just know I went to back off is like with my classes, you know, I tell my students, okay, it's signed and you're going to take it home. If I ever stopped by your house and I find that that picture has been touched, you're in trouble, you know, because they have a tendency, oh, I can fix this up better. And then, you know, and then I then they come back to me, you know, like a month or two later and they say, Oh, kitty, I thought I could do it better. And I messed it up. And, and, you know, I mean, it's like, I know, anyway, no, leave it alone. You know, and the older I've gotten, the more I've learned to trust that. Yeah. Where it's like, Okay, this is good. Because I thought about doing more to it. And I'm like, No, this is good. Just let it alone. Right, right. It almost tells you when it's done. Yes, it does. It does. Susie used to say that. That picture will tell you when it's done. Exactly, Patty. A painting will talk to you. Absolutely. Tell you what you need if you're in tune to it. Absolutely. And it will tell you when you're finished. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, that's really, that's really gorgeous. Thank you very much. I like your work a lot. I love it when you when I see your working gallery 110 north. And aren't you excited? Yes, we're having the whole Plymouth Art Center remodeled and enlarged. And we're going to have this fabulous place, fabulous gallery, fabulous classrooms. And you could give a class there, Teresa. People have asked me to do that. I don't know on wildlife. Yeah, I don't know how much I could, since I don't know how I can do things. I don't know how much I could teach people, but I could try it. You want to maybe like a beginners class, because I'll tell you, you'll really learn a lot about yourself and your own art as a teacher. I know I have over the years. I've learned every bit as much from my students as they have learned from me. You know, and so that's, it would be a good thing for you, honey. It really would be a beginners class there. Beginners have no place to start, you know, and a good, good idea to think about. And Patty, we're not ignoring you. Tell us about this quilt, honey. This thing is gorgeous. It's called trees. And it's basically a root ball. And those are all strips, they're hand pieced and appliqued. Every little one of them are there. And then it's like my sister trees, this my trees, is my trees, is my trees. She said that. She's such a, she's such a grower of things. I mean, goodness and kindness and vibrant and vibrant and she's just the best. So I said, I made trees for trees. And it's basically the same thing I with painting is with the fabric. I never know. When I see a piece of fabric, I get inspired. And I can see it. I do custom garments and stuff too. And I, I see a piece of fabric and I see it in a finished product. And that's like I said, with the, just like with the painting, it tells you when it's done. I always tell, they go, well, what are you gonna do with that? And I go, I don't know, it's just gonna start and just starts to grow. And I start to get ideas and then as it gets, as I add on to it, and it gets bigger. I never know how big some, some of them are into being king size, some of them end up being small. Right. But it tells me what it's done. But they're all signed in number. I signed a name and number, each one of them. I have 137. Oh, my. Well, are they for sale? They're all there. I've got four left. They're all they've all been sold. Oh my gosh, honey. Yeah, that's fabulous. Yeah, they sell like, I don't get them done. I don't get them done fast enough. It's like, just word of mouth in there, a local little store that carries my stuff. What's the name of the store, honey? It's called As You Like It. And it's part of Kramer Pharmacy in downtown Fond du Lac. Okay. And my children's dresses, I make children's clothing. Peter Rabbit dresses and, and custom painting on little Easter dresses and specialty Christmas dressers with matching hats. Yeah, and stuff like that. Okay. And you custom children's furniture too. Sure. For like little children's bedrooms and stuff like that. Well, that's real. That is really nice. And then she also carries my quilts. So it's nice as I do. I'll do a set of children's furniture and then make the quilt to match the bed and matches the furniture. And then, and then I'll get called to go in and very custom design the room. I can go do that. I do the hand painted borders that match the match the quilt and stuff. So very, very special. I have so much fun. Oh, yes. Somebody asked me the other day. What do you do for a living? What do you do? Where do you work? And I went, I haven't worked a day in my life. Like, well, what do you mean? I said, honest to God, I have not worked a day in my life. And I swear, I was like, if I had to go tomorrow, I have had the best life and the most fun and I've been able to do my art my entire life and have been able to be content and happy with it. And I just, I just couldn't have a better gift than a sister like her and a sister like Sue and the kind of gifts that our parents gave us is just been wonderful and meeting people like you and getting to do things like this. I mean, art is such a gift to a community. Yes, yes, it is. And, you know, such a wonderful place that it takes you right about yourself teaches you about yourself and about, you know, giving to others and just the amount of joy that it brings. I years ago, I had a an art instructor who was very famous and I was just when I took one of her workshops and when she came to me, I couldn't breathe. That's how much I admired her. I couldn't I couldn't breathe. And and then she came out with a book. And I went to that lecture, that book signing and and she wrote in my book, Art is a beautiful place to live. Oh, it's nice. And I have never forgotten that. And what you've just said sums that up so beautifully. Really, it's like people come to my home because I'm like a little one bohemian. I've been called to town gypsy. But my house is just my it's just my it's like it's art. It's just like, I have it on the walls, I have it on the ceiling, I haven't. Well, that's, that's the way it should be. Wonderful. My house is just wonderful. I just, yeah, I and I just love it. I love it. Sure. Sure. Because you're in your environment. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. That's great. Suzy. Suzy is your dear sister. Your dear sister. Yes. And how long has Suzy been gone? Three years. About three years. It was the 4th of July. 4th of July. The 4th of July. Three years ago. Without getting too personal. May I ask what happened? She was four wheeling in the mountains in Colorado. And the brakes started going out on the four wheeler and they were headed for a deep ravine. And she got scared and she jumped off and she hit her head. And but the the guy who was driving the four wheeler, he tried to stop it and he couldn't. And so the four wheeler did go over the edge. And when he came back and found her, her two dogs were laying alongside of her. And she was gone. And there were three missionaries there praying with her. So just I know she's okay. She was a wonderful, generous, super, super funny person. And very challenging. Very extremely. She was she was a very, very well known artist in Colorado. That's where she was from? Yes. Yes. She had moved out there. Probably 25 years ago. Yeah. Had a lot of good friends out there. She's just so generous. So generous, but very, very talented. And what what type of of art? This was Susie decline to she loved horses. She always loved horses. Did she ride? She loved riding. In fact, when she was little, and people asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she wanted to be a horse or a dog. That's adorable. This is a portrait of the Budweiser Clydesdales. She, she actually the Budweiser plant is out near Fort Collins, Colorado. So she would go out there by the horses. And she cares some horses for anhyzer bush when they had horses that were down. She had to place that. Oh my, keep their Belgians in their Clydesdales form and take care of them. And then she paint the big red wagons. Yes, she also had anhyzer bush. You know, I would see those commercials on television. And I always wished that I could have access to that scene. Yes. And this is a this is a portrait of some Arabians that a friend of hers owned. But yeah, she would do decorative. Well, originally Susie and I did sign painting in this area. We did all the work for Road America. Really? We did Got Sucker Realty, one of the liquor stores in Chicago again. She painted AJ Ford's Amir and Dreadig's Race Cars. She used to do the race cars at Elkhart. Yeah. So we started out doing some sign painting just because it was a good way to make a living and truck lettering. And we used to do all that. And she still did a lot of it out in Colorado, too. Yeah. And then she got this idea about bunnies doing strange things. So and that was that was more aimed toward children just like your art is a lot of it is aimed toward children. But this one was called Angel Hair. It was called the hairline. All of the prints had hair in them. So there was rabbit hair dressing and hair. Oh, okay. And a receding hairline. With the bunnies back. So it was something. It was something. Okay. A little plan words. Yes. Yeah. Hair pulling. There was a grandma rabbit trying to pull her baby into the doctor's office. And what was interesting is she like the bed that's on that picture was a bed that we had when we were little. Oh, and she would put like one of the pictures has a table that our grandpa was a carpenter and he had made that table. And so that table was in her drawing. Some of the wallpapers that were in our houses. Wallpaper from our grandma Elsie's house when we were real little kids. And then she also did dogs. This is called librarian. Oh, that's adorable. It's made cute. So she's yeah, she had a shellty from a storm. It's a shellty with a rain umbrella. There was Betty Cocker, which was a Cocker spaniel mixing and cake. Yeah. Cookies. Yeah. This was retrieving a file. What an imagination. Oh, she was wild. She was. Oh, gosh. I think of all of us, she had the strangest imagination. Well, maybe maybe a more a little more to the comical. Oh, no, she was so funny. Yeah. There was no one funnier than Susie. So I'm sorry for your loss. And I'm in the art world. She's still here. She's still here. She's still here. She makes me laugh some days. Well, you know, I think that that the three of you and the and the two the two of you are just so fascinating because you're you're so close and the bond between the three of you was so great. Was there much of a difference in your age group? No, it was me and then her and then about 13 months apart. Yeah. And 13 months apart. Okay. So you were all really close together in age. And didn't always get along so good. Didn't always get along so good. Mostly because of boys. Mostly because of boys. Yeah. Oh, girls don't even go. Yeah, I know. Stick with the art. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And and do you have anything in, you know, in the future that you would like to embark on? Are you thinking anything of, I mean, any new paintings, anything that you I mean, we're almost out of time. But I guess what I want to know, Teresa, is there is there anything that you haven't painted yet that you long to paint? I just I see paintings all the time. So I don't think I have enough time to do all the paintings I want to do. I knew that answer was going to be that I knew it. Because that's the same way I am. You were just in Italy. You know, there's a whole new problem for you. How many paintings did you see there? Oh, I know. I'm just dying to go there. I can't believe we're out of time already. This has been such a wonderful, beautiful conversation with two very talented, beautiful women. And I appreciate you so much for being on the show today. Once again, Teresa Randall and Patty Strom. Thank you so much. Thank you. Once again, this is Kitty Lynn Klisch with Gallery Works. Don't miss the next show because it'll be another good one. Bye bye for now.