Connie Roberts: Boss VooDoo Lady $850

Connie Roberts The Dish & the Spoon $325

Connie Roberts: Varietea Teapot with whistling teabags $450 SOLD but is commissionable

Connie Roberts: Poodle Vanity $500 SOLD

Connie Roberts: Working for Peanuts $350

Connie Roberts: Hasslefree Camera $200 (little whistling photographer goes inside the camera, which is a box)

Connie Roberts: Doggy Purse, $400 functional purse with selected doggy items (flea powder compact. etc)

March 1 - April 15, 2001

Connie and Michael Roberts: Wood Whistle Sculptures and Medieval-style Paintings is on view at Iowa Artisans Gallery in Iowa City, IA, March 1 - April 15. Residents of Iowa City, the Roberts are full-time artists whose innovative works have found acclaim both nationally and locally

Connie Roberts' first love is carving, although how she paints her work establishes the narrative essence of each piece. All arenas of life provide subject matter, usually with a witty or humorous twist. Each of her sculptures contains whistling components. Prolific in generating ideas, the themes for Connie's sculptures range from nursery rhymes and cartoonishly-dressed animals, to packaged foods with altered, humorous labeling, to watercolor sets containing tubes of paint in humorous colors such as Grant Wood's regionalist red, and more. Many of her larger sculptures have ironic political and cultural commentary, with a dose of humor to make it palatable. This show includes larger pieces such as the Boss Voo Doo Lady, the Devil Tree, a Poodle Vanity Table, and a Varietea Teapot. With her BA in art history and MA/MFA in painting, Connie remarks, "I am not qualified to be a 'folk artist' but my work is generally referred to as 'folk art.' I don't mind how people label my work. In fact, I'm quite happy with being known as the 'Whistle Lady.'" She has loved woodworking ever since she was a child "messing around" with her dad and older brother in the garage. "I have equally loved things that are humorous, from Mad Magazine to Monty Python to the evening news." Works by Connie Roberts appear in the collections of well-known entertainers such as Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams and Carol Burnett, as well as major political figures like Mayor Giuliani of New York.

Michael Roberts is a master portraitist, although his faithfully realistic portraits are unlike traditional portraits in many ways. With his interest in medieval art, Michael often paints his subjects with the stance, colors and background subject matter of pre-Renaissance times. Closer inspection reveals many contemporary twists, including small signs, words and direct scratching, or defacing, of the painting surface. As Michael explains, "defacing a painting is a deliberate act of artificially aging the painting. It is also a way for me, the artist, to see possibly what my paintings would look like, if they survived, in years way past my lifetime. I want my paintings to be able to do the speaking for me years from now." Michael's political portraiture is found throughout Washington, DC as well as elsewhere in the country.

Iowa Artisans Gallery is open daily: Monday 10-9, Tuesday-Friday 10-7, Saturday 10-5:30, and Sunday 12-4. For more information, call the Gallery at 319-351-8686.

Mike Roberts: Double Self-Portrait, $1200, defaced acrylic on board, 20x24"

Mike Roberts: Hide & Seek, defaced acrylic on board, 14 x14"

Mike Roberts: Left, $800, defaced acrylic on board, 19 x 22"

Mike Roberts: Vicki, $1200 defaced acrylic on board, 19 x 27"

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