Made in Door County
Rural environment inspires Craig Blietz's paintings

By Donna Marie Pocius

Take a look at Craig Blietz's paintings, and you may conclude that the artist really, really likes life in the country, as compared to the city, where he used to be.

Most, but certainly not all, of Blietz's striking oil paintings express his feelings about the rural environment. He paints nearly everyday in a studio, located on 20 acres in Sister Bay. The studio, resembling a rural outbuilding, was constructed in 2004 just 30 yards from the red barn-style home, where Blietz used to paint on the lower level.

Blietz discovered the Door Peninsula in the mid-nineties, when he was living in Evanston, Ill. and maintaining a studio in Chicago.

"Making the change, as far as my life is concerned, has been real enriching. It has opened me up to greater opportunity,"he said.

Now, he paints subject matter such as deer and hunter, a trapper and his own work gloves. He is represented by Edgewood Orchard Galleries, Fish Creek, and galleries in Michigan and Utah.

"I find that my paintings are about the balance of nature and human infiltration of nature,"Blietz said.

"I am not a hunter. It's not my thing, but I have come to know it far better than I have before. Would I have made paintings about it when l was living in Chicago? Absolutely not. This is such a big part of what goes on up here and is serious here,"he continued.

He talked about the time a real trapper came to the door, offering help in capturing raccoons and skunks. The sensitive Blietz was "horrified,"he said, when he got a sneak peek at the back of the trapper's truck. It was, shall we say, filled with some work.

"I can't even step on a bug. But the trapper went on to explain to me why his services are necessary,"Blietz recalled. "There's a balance here. That's what I've learned, and it has made its way into my paintings."

Paintings and sculpture are in various stages of completion in the studio. Some paintings hang on drywall, and Blietz works on them there, knowing he can always repaint splattered studio walls. Other paintings sit on easels, which are outfitted with wheels, making it possible for the artist to move things around as the art at hand suggests.

Models drop by the studio, as well. Some of them have familiar faces, as they are Peninsula locals, who have captivated Blietz in some way.

The artist also paints still life, nudes and portraits. He sculpts and teaches, too. Blietz is artistic director and teacher at the Kewaunee Academy of Fine Art. He attended the University of Denver and continued his education at The Harrington College of Design and School of Representational Art---both in Chicago.

He has been featured in a variety of publications including "American Artist"and is a member of the board of directors at the Peninsula Art School, Fish Creek.

Blietz will have a one-person show from Sept. 6 through Oct. 28 at the Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art, Sturgeon Bay, and his work will be included in Edgewood's "A Tribute to Door County"exhibition running from Sept. 29 through Oct. 28.

He talks more about his art, process and intentions.

Subject matter: I kind of like humble subject matter. While years ago, I would do paintings more ornate or elaborate as far as the object was concerned, I'm not drawn to that so much anymore. This is a cherry bucket, and I kind of like something about it.

The boots are a little bit of homage to van Gogh--he did wonderful paintings of old boots. My old work gloves.

My mom will come in and say, "No one is going to buy that." You just have to do things. Certain things resonate with some people and not others. Some things you end up with yourself.

Process: If I have an idea for something, I will do a little pencil sketch. After I do a pencil sketch, I do something like this (points to a small painting about 8 by 10). From this, I'll either go directly to painting, or I'll make a drawing or what is called a "cartoon,"which comes from a term of the old masters who were making big fresco paintings. They would do a drawing, which they would transfer onto the wall in the process of painting a fresco.

This is all a lot of work. But it goes more efficiently when you do all the preparatory work.

Quality: Look at the masters, going back in history of all different times. That is what you try to hold yourself up to. I always told my students, and was fortunate to learn when I was a student, to always put yourself in front of the very best examples of what you are trying to do.

Studio time: I get in here around 8:30 a.m. I take a dinner break and come back. I spend a lot of time in the studio, seven days a week. There are days when I have to go to Chicago or teach.

And it's not like Saturdays and Sundays I don't come in here. I find that, if I have a day off, this is what I rather do. That's a by-product of doing what you love for a living.

My hope for the world is that everyone could experience that and do what they truly love to do.