The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Painting the town
35th annual Chelsea Painters Art Fair June 7-8
By Sheila Pursglove, Special Writer†
PUBLISHED: May 29, 2008
The Chelsea Painters Art Fair has come a long way from its early days nearly four decades ago, when paintings were hung on clotheslines strung from trees.
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The free annual event, set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 7 and 8 on the grounds of Chelsea Community Hospital at 775 S. Main St. in Chelsea, is celebrating its 35th year.
"Chelsea has become known as a place of destination because of the growing art community. The Chelsea Painters Art Fair may have been a frontrunner in leading this inspiration," says Sandy Knapp, president of Chelsea Painters.
"The love of art thrives in Chelsea with its many venues."
The Chelsea Painters date back to the early 1970s, when a group calling itself the Chelsealand Painters met at the old Frisinger Real Estate building on S. Main Street in Chelsea - now the location of CVS Pharmacy - for weekly classes taught by Ann Arbor artist Betty Maxwell.
In 1991, the group incorporated as the Chelsea Painters; the artists, now numbering about two dozen, continue to meet weekly from mid-September to mid-May.
Nancy Feldkamp is one of the original Chelsea Painters and a familiar artist around Chelsea. She has exhibited at Art & Soule Gallery and the Chelsea Gallery, and contributes to the CCA Annual Autumn Jubilee.
She also participated in the "Opening Doors" project organized by the CCA and Chelsea District Library, where she contributed "Trees of Knowledge," an old farmhouse door featuring stylized trees with collage techniques and acrylics.
Raised on a farm in Tecumseh, Feldkamp has been passionate about art since childhood, when she took art classes in school.
"I can remember as a young child being interested in drawing," she says. "I still have a picture that I drew when I was about 9 years old."
Feldkamp and her husband Reno live on a 144-acre farm in Sharon Township, their home since 1950. The rural landscape has provided much of Feldkamp's inspiration.
"I've always been fond of the Michigan landscape, with its change of seasons," she says. "This was my original inspiration, and drew me to capture it on paper."
In 1963, she joined a senior citizen's art class at Manchester High School, and in the 1970s exhibited with the Manchester Art Guild.
In 1987, Feldkamp received a commission from a couple in Ann Arbor that had bought a painting from her at the Manchester Street Fair.
They commissioned a body of work called "Barns of Michigan," for a traveling show. It was exhibited in Ann Arbor, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and at Kellogg Biological Station near Battle Creek, where it still hangs.†
"This work made me feel like a seasoned artist, ready for an art career," Feldkamp says.
With newfound confidence in her artistic abilities, she began entering national art competitions, gaining awards and eventually a signature membership in the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society. Her work also has been accepted and displayed in several shows with The Michigan Watercolor Society.
She has exhibited her work in juried national shows and was included in Rockport Publishers Best of Watercolor Painting Color in 1999.
Moving on from painting barns and landscapes, Feldkamp, who also has studied art in Italy, turned her interest to abstracts, trying new approaches to style and subject matter.†
In recent years, she has chosen sheep as subject matter to create abstract designs in a variety of vivid colors and settings. Each painting gives her ideas for another one.
"I like the challenge and find it fascinating and fulfilling," she says.†
Earlier this year, Feldkamp and fellow Chelsea Painter Ilona Brustad exhibited "Shards and Sheep'" at Riverside Art Center Gallery in Ypsilanti.
Always looking for ways to grow beyond the status quo and ready for new challenges and styles, her artistic passion still has its roots on the farm and in rural landscapes.
Feldkamp is one of 25 award-winning artists who will display and sell their original fine art and cards at the Art Fair. The artworks are in a variety of media:† watercolor, acrylic, oil, pastel, gouache, encaustic, monotype, and mixed media
The Art Fair also will feature a children's tent with special art activities provided by the staff of the Chelsea Center for the Arts, entertainment by folk musician Sharon Dressen McKnight, and a display of art by Chelsea High School students.
A percentage of proceeds will be donated to the CCA and the Chelsea Community Hospital Auxiliary Scholarship Fund.
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