Artists create designs seen from the air
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Four artists and a team of volunteers created masterpieces in a field northeast of Leaf River last week.
A petroglyph, loveseat, butterflies, and Icons of the Vanishing Prairies were the vision of artists Joseph Emmanuel Ingoldsby, Jeannine Harkleroad, Curt Buethe, and Tamar Assaf.
These artists marked and cut their designs into the field. The only way to view the art was from an airplane.
"The flying weather has been gorgeous," said pilot Harrold Jansen, Freeport, June 26. "The art is showing up real well.
Jansen, was flying his 1973 Piper Cherokee June 26 and 27 on round trip flights from the Ogle County Airport to view the art.
On June 26 the artists went up to view their creations.
"My design was the Monarch butterflies," said Assaf. "It was just hard work and a pleasure to create them."
During her flight, Assaf was anxious to see how her design would look from the air. As soon as the plane flew over the design, she was excited at the results.
"It was pure pleasure to see them from the air," Assaf said. "I really had fun creating the design."
Assaf said the design was inspired to reflect her feelings of creating art and of what butterflies stand for — beauty, freedom, hope, and transformation.
Assaf resides in the California Bay Area.
Next to the butterflies was a large Duck Man petroglyph created by Buethe.
"My design is actually 'Duck Man' from Cedar Mesa, Utah," said Buethe. "Petroglyphs and effigy mounds are symbolisms that were used years ago; before the white man was here. It is part of the heritage of anywhere you go."
Buethe lives in Quartz Site, Ariz. half the year, and in Meron, Ind. for the rest of the year.
"I see a lot of this wherever I go," said Buethe. "I thought it would be a bold representation of the past that links us with the future."
Creating the field art was a different experience for Buethe. The art he creates every day is pottery.
"I made pottery that is representative of this area (Ogle County) while I was here for the Fields Project," said Buethe. "I made a cooling tower nuclear mug. I was excited about working with the family that I was staying with."
Buethe operates a traveling pottery studio and enjoys demonstrating how he creates his art.
During the festival June 28 at Oregon's Mix Park, Buethe set up his potter's wheel and worked while talking with patrons.
Also in the field was a loveseat by Harkleroad.
"I created the loveseat with a lot of help," said Harkleroad. "I was interested in making something that was vast and kind of intimate."
From the air, the design was located to the right of the butterflies.
"This loveseat art will relate to another project that I am working on," said Harkleroad. "So really, it sort of has a dual action."
The final piece of field art was Icons of the Vanishing Prairies by Ingoldsby.
In this piece, a grey wolf, American bison, and bald eagle were incorporated into the design.
Ingoldsby's design was created to complement an exhibition at the University of Wisconsin Madison Arboretum gallery.
