Boulder artists open studio, gallery doors to public – Boulder Daily…

Art is about fine line work, walking the line of what is acceptable social commentary or just getting rid of the lines altogether.

The NoBo Arts District tours provides local artists the opportunity to welcome the public into their studios, showcase their art and demonstrate how they complete their work.

Julie Ireland, art and place curator and manager, said that the Bus Stop Gallery on Broadway showcased more than 70 NoBo member’s artwork. She said that the gallery is a collaboration, with many different art mediums and styles. Members of the public were invited to vote for a “People’s Choice” work and also had the opportunity to buy the artwork. NoBo members are supported by the organization, providing gallery spaces and promotion on their website.

“We want to invite people to come out and see what’s happening out here in north Boulder and see the incredible artists,” Ireland said.

Michael Kracauer had his art displayed at the Bus Stop Gallery. Before he was an artist, Kracauer said he was an architect. However, he approaches his art the same way he did his old job. He said that instead of sketching on a canvas, he designs his art digitally first similar to how he would buildings before creating them. He said that designing digitally first, he has the freedom to play and experiment with his art before committing to putting it on a canvas.

“I’m also happy to be free of clients,” Kracauer joked.

Kracauer said that he just wandered his way into the art world, describing his art as a combination on abstract and figurative art.

Raymond Miles, a metalsmith, was also at the Bus Stop Gallery demonstrating how to hand engrave into metal. Miles said that he focuses on jewelry, but he also engraves knives as well.

“The same way people like to paint or draw and use a tool to make marks on a page, I do the same thing in metal,” Miles said.

He said that he loves a natural, flowy foliage-inspired engravings. Miles said that he has been engraving for over 12 years, but when he first started he learned the “old school way” with a manual push engraver instead of the electrified rotary engraver pen he currently uses. He noted that while engraving is simple, the skills needed to get precise engravings is an acquired one.

Miles said that he loves more tactile art, and jewelry and engravings allow for him and others to touch and interact with his art. He added that a lot of his jewelry has intricate details that takes him hours that might be missed if people do not take a closer look.

Katrin Bell is located at the Happy Messes Art Gallery on Broadway. She explained that her primary focus on art is surrealism, but she also delves into other styles. She said that she likes to have both tedious and more relaxed art forms. Bell expresses her art on a canvas through painting or through textiles or lampshades.

Bell said that she started as a fine work artist before becoming a photographer for 15 years and then came back to fine art. She said that she thought coming back to painting after her long break would be easy, but, unfortunately, she had lost a lot of her skills. So, instead she picked up watercolors, which she had not worked with before, and just let the paint to the job.

“I started letting the color speak to me. I put the color on the paper and then do the design,” Bell said.

Instead of coloring within the lines, she decided to add the lines to the color. She enjoyed the intuitive aspect of the reversed process.

Bell said that NoBo makes it easy and affordable for artists to be able to showcase their art and have a better connection with the public. She said that NoBo promotes local art while still letting the artist “be who they are.”

More information about NoBo art district can be found on its website. NoBo also hosts First Friday events, where every first Friday of the month the public is invited to take self-guided tours of the art district.