BEMIDJI -- Danielle Stone is a self-taught artist, often learning from experimentation, but her artwork has benefited from belonging to both the Leech Lake Art League and the Artists of Studio 10.
“You certainly get some feedback from the other artists, you get encouragement, you see that other people are also enjoying what you're doing, you get ideas of different techniques to use,” she said.
Her work will be on display at the Watermark Art Center in Bemidji from Friday through Sept. 26 as part of an Artists of Studio 10 exhibit titled “Transitions.” An opening reception for the exhibit is scheduled at 5 p.m. Friday at the Watermark Art Center.
Stone, originally from Hawaii, retired with her husband Chuck to Bemidji in 1994.
“We decided to come here to north central Minnesota. We settled here in Bemidji for about six years, and then moved up to Ely for 11 years, and then moved back to Bemidji because it’s a beautiful place,” she said.
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Stone began painting in high school and continued while her kids were growing up in Hawaii. Today, the majority of Stone’s artwork is inspired by the northern Minnesota landscapes.
“I really started painting seriously in 1995 or 1996, something like that, after we had moved (to Minnesota). Of course, by then I was retired and I could enjoy the painting,” she said.
While Stone says she finds painting to be most relaxing, it can also have its stressful aspects such as painting within a certain theme and deadlines.
“For the art show that's coming up at the Watermark, that was a stressful painting,” she said. “I had to produce something that fit into the theme ‘transitions.’”
She said her favorite part of the process is composing a new painting: seeing the idea in her head and getting it started.
Stone has received several awards for her work from the Artists of Minnesota organization.
“It's still a surprise whenever I am given an award. This year I didn’t expect any, but I received two awards for the two paintings I entered,” Stone said.
Stone doesn’t have any major goals for the future and her paintings other than to continue making art.
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“I still love to produce high quality art, I hope to do more abstract,” she said.
