Author Archives: Stephanie Schlatter Art

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About Stephanie Schlatter Art

Stephanie Schlatter is an Artist who draws from the world for inspiration. While she calls Grand Rapids, Michigan, home she’s often off on new adventures. For more than a decade, her journeys have taken her across the globe. She has studied art both locally and abroad, including time in Mexico, where she decided to shift her focus from photography to painting. Stephanie's travels led her to found Absolutely Art: A Project for Change in 2006. Through this non-profit organization, she brings art instruction to the children of Ethiopia while supporting their education. Stephanie's work reflects an expression influenced by other cultures which resonates a variety of influences that have given her work direction.
Jul16

Inspiration from London’s ‘Megaton’ Art Collection

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Gazing upon a Turner

Don’t you want to be moved? Enchanted? Wowed? Let’s go make that happen!

London, simply put, has an enormous amount of mega art. By “mega art,” I mean hugely influential famous art from throughout history. One can stroll the museums there and take a walk through time in the medium of art. Badass art!

Moved to tears, feeling like a giant sap, I wept my way through the National Gallery and the Turner galleries at the Tate Britain. J.M.W. Turner is an artist whose work has to be viewed in real life. On paper, in books, you know it’s exceptional, but in person, you might just get swept away. He was a landscape painter. Better put, he set landscapes free. Free from the confines of the Royal Academy of Art and its stuffy rules. Free from expectation and free to be paint on canvas and nothing more or less.

Turner
Turner
Turner

He was a master who had so mastered his craft that he could set it free so to speak. In no way is his work all “loosey goosey”; it’s masterful, but free. Especially the work from the last 15 or so years of his life. This is true for many artists through history. In their latter years, I suspect — as in life itself — you feel more free to do as you please and care less what others think. Maybe we could all learn from that. What do you think?

Turner
Turner
Turner

There is a desire here to inspire you to go, gaze upon art and let yourself be moved. There are stories there in these paintings — uncover them with joy and wonder!

What are inspires you? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below or on my Facebook page!

Admiring a Renoir

Admiring a Renoir

Jun25

Project 24: Good Harbor Vineyards

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Eventually I tore myself away from Chateau de Leelanau to paint the next breathtaking view, heading off to Good Harbor Vineyards.

I met Debbie, Sam and Taylor Simpson several years ago. Debbie and her son, Sam — who is Good Harbor’s winemaker — brought me to one of their properties to talk about art and wine. The rolling vines seemed to go on forever, and the hills and even Lake Michigan peeks out on a clear day. I dreamed of this land, this exact spot, and I longed to paint it. On a warm sunny early summer evening, I did. It was all I hoped for and more. Utterly enchanting.

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Debbie and her late husband, Bruce, started this winery, one of the first four on the peninsula back in the 1970s. Bruce is a legend up here, having taken many young winemakers and owners under his wing. Along with Larry Mawby, many refer to these two as the “grandfathers” of the region, and all speak of the pair with affection and fondness.

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When Bruce passed away several years ago, Sam and his sister, Taylor, were faced with the choice to carry on the family business and tradition far sooner than they expected. Both have grown beautifully into the role as the heads of Good Harbor, and have even maintained the tradition of helping out their neighbors through their vineyard management company. They have even purchased a second winery of their own up the road at Aurora Vineyards. (This development is so recent that it’s the reason why I held off on this blog for a few days — they were still finalizing the deal!)

They are an impressive team, this brother and sister, and lucky for me, their vineyards are take-your-breath-away beautiful. Debbie is still active at Good Harbor, but looks very much to her talented children in terms of the future. I think I see Debbie on a beach somewhere with her feet up soon, a glass of Chardonnay in her hand, knowing all she and her husband built is in great hands.

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Life “On the Michigan Wine Trail” is sentimental, emotional, exciting and, of course, a visual feast. The people are good, hardworking stewards of this land. It’s a joy and a pleasure making my way around the wineries of the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association and hearing the stories behind this land I paint. It makes all the difference in connecting me to the landscapes as I translate them to canvas and paper. I hope to bring you all along with me and make you just a bit more connected to the land, too. Wine is, after all, a story of that land and these people in a bottle. Uncork it with me on Project 24!