Wisconsin-born painter Bethann Moran-Handzlik creates expressive, lyrical paintings grounded in direct observation and memory. Working outdoors in every season and also in the studio, she captures fleeting, poetic moments with joyous brushwork and a deep sensitivity to light and form. As she describes it, “There are these phenomenally poetic surprises everywhere… I try to tune my antenna with nuance so I won’t lose the capacity to see them, even if briefly.”

Her subjects range from winter forests to sunlit gardens and intimate still lifes, reflecting both attentive observation and emotional resonance. Whether painting in the field or recalling a moment from memory, Moran-Handzlik’s work is an act of presence, honoring the vitality of life in all its beauty and impermanence.

BEFORE THE SNOW

Oil on Linen,

20 x 16” (Image)

26 x 22” (Framed)

“I’m striving to paint enduring images that are both personal and simultaneously tap into the universal visual, tactile language of paint.”

-Bethann Moran-Handzlik

ZINNIAS AND QUINCE

Oil on Linen Mounted on Panel,

12 x 12” (Image)

19 x 19” (Framed)

“The painting, the subject, and I are all conditioned to the same effects of cold, changing light, unexpected events…a gust of wind, a bird’s movement, animal sounds. This is why I paint from observation and memory, because I desire a relationship with the subject.”

-Bethann Moran-Handzlik

WENDELL BERRY TOLD ME TO GO TO THE GARDEN AND PAINT THE COSMOS

Acrylic on Paper,

60 x 40” (Image)

61 x 41” (Framed)

Jeffrey Ripple

Jeffrey Ripple is a highly accomplished painter of detailed still lifes and landscapes whose work explores the beauty and mystery of nature beyond simple observation. His remarkable attention to detail is expressed through a refined sense of color, texture, and light. Through confident and graceful brushstrokes, Ripple conveys a deeper understanding of nature’s structure and variety within his chosen subjects.

LIFE IN SEPTEMBER

Oil on Paper

19 x 16” (Image)

30 x 26 1/2” (Framed)

“Taking subjects primarily from my surroundings, I have been concerned with texture and color within compositions that I hope to achieve a strong sense of light and balance.”

-Jeffrey Ripple

FIRST STUDY FOR PLUMS AND GARDEN FLOWERS

Oil on Paper

12 x 12” (Image)

19 x 19” (Framed)

“My primary influences are in Spanish seventeenth-century painting, botanical art from all periods, and Asian painting.”

-Jeffrey Ripple

ONIONS AND PEPPERS

Oil on Panel

9 x 12” (Image)

10 1/8 x 13 1/4” (Framed)

Inspired by Victorian cabinets of curiosities, Mary Alice Wimmer’s recent watercolor paintings and silver point drawings display the artist’s personal intrigue into all things natural. Her current large-scale watercolor paintings continue to utilize dark backgrounds reminiscent of Dutch portraits. Paired with lush, vivid and colorful living creatures and remains of the living, the paintings shift into contemporary examples of Vanitas art, paying homage to the fragile nature of life.

A highly skilled silverpoint artist, Wimmer also shows her appreciation of natural history through the rare practice of this early Renaissance drawing technique. A recipient of numerous painting and teaching awards, the artist's works can be found in many private and public collections including the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, WI, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art .

BURL AND BRASS

Graphite on Bristol Board

21 1/2 x 27” (Image)

31 1/2 x 37” (Framed)

“I have always been intrigued by the strange beauty in nature - the tentacles of vines, sea creatures, nests, zoological creatures, whether living or the remains of the living.”

-Mary Alice Wimmer

EARTHLY DELIGHTS II

Watercolor on Paper

22 1/2 x 30” (Image)

33 x 40 3/4” (Framed)

“The Cabinets of Curiosity phenomenon is of great interest, and the collecting of
a myriad of specimens is something I have always been involved in. These include skeletons, bones, insects, lizards, turtles, shells, rocks, branches, vines, dried botanicals, and fruits and vegetables.”

-Mary Alice Wimmer

REMAIN EARTH REMAINS LAKE SUPERIOR

Graphite on Bristol Board,

13 1/2 x 10 1/2” (Image)

24 x 20 1/2” (Framed)