“From Raptors to Hummingbirds – and everything in-between”

About the photographer:  Butch Beedle

I am a retired J.C. McKenna Middle School educator. Having students learn about the natural world has been a passion. I am on the national board of directors for Save the Rainforest and have taken over 150 Evansville students and adults to the rainforests of Panama. I was also involved in the creation of the School Forest, Nature Center, Energy Fair, and Outdoor Days for our schools.

These photographs are from my recent travels across the country and to Latin American rainforests. There is a story behind each image.

 I am married to Cindy, a retired teacher, and have two grown children, Kim and Chris. We are proud grandparents of Maida and Everett.

Birds symbolize Peace, Rebirth, Strength, Grace, Love, Happiness, Freedom and Hope across many cultures. Hopefully, these photographs can stimulate a sense of wonder and curiosity.

 

Why Photograph Birds?

 1. They are abundant and come in unlimited variations of sizes, shapes and colors. There are 10,824 bird species worldwide.

 2.  It’s outdoors. The walks and connection to nature are healthy and soul gratifying. It gives me an excuse to explore areas I have never been.

 3.  It’s like a treasure hunt. Birds can be both numerous and rare. You never know what you may see. Even abundant birds have rare coloration on individuals. It’s exciting to see if I can find a bird that is known to exist only in a particular location.

 4.  It is a great way to practice photography and work on a hoby.

 5.  You meet interesting people. See photo below.*

 6.  Do you like making lists. I do. (You are reading one now.) Keeping a life list of birds and trying to add to it has become somewhat of an obsession. I have seen 625  different species of birds in recent years and have a photograph of 488 of them and counting. 

                                                                                                               *Thank you Deb Arnold for the photo of the “Bird Nerds” we encountered in Panama. 

                                                                                                                                 

Artist Reception

An Artist’s Reception January 26th from 5:00-6:30 p.m. at Creekside Place, 102 Maple Street, Evansville, WI. Butch will be telling the story behind his photographs at 6:30.

About the Andrew Family Art Gallery

Thanks to our dedicated Art Committee, the gallery regularly features the work of local and area artists. From professionals to hobbyists to elementary school children, we’re fortunate to enjoy these inspiring displays all year long. Stop in and browse at your convenience. We think you’ll be impressed!

It is the mission of the Creekside Place Art Committee to raise awareness of art and make art accessible to everyone in the community; to support art in the public schools and the community; to support area artists; and to add value to Creekside Place. To accomplish this, the Art Committee will:

  • Display a consistent showing of high-quality, professionally presented contemporary artwork for public viewing
  • Provide a venue for area artists to present and sell their work
  • Promote area artists and present a variety of media
  • Provide social and educational opportunities to meet and learn from artists
  • Support Creekside Place through commissions from artwork sold

Attention Artists

Interested in featuring your work in our gallery? ​Our Art Committee would love to meet with you. Contact us for more information.

Previously Featured Artists

Connie Glowacki

Connie says fascination with light and shadow as they define shape and textures has led her to an increasingly wider scope of subject matter. Her goal in painting is to show a time and place which enriches the viewer’s life, restores positive values, informs of something new and gives a feeling of awe and joy!

Karen Gilbank

Karen takes inspiration from the rural countryside of Wisconsin and its animal inhabitants and then depicts her observations through printmaking. This allows her to explore different techniques, including multiple drop monotypes, relief, intaglio, and solarplates.

Mike McKinnon

Barbara Mathews

​Barbara is an area artist and teacher who specializes in watercolor. “Composition, shape, values, color, design, and my own passion for a subject, leads me through my paintings. My passion has turned into an obsession…it’s my life!” Facebook: @LazyRiverStudio. Email: bmathews2@charter.net.

Lynn Barber

Watercolor batiks on rice paper. Batik is a technique of layering wax and watercolors to produce varying shades of color. Lynn uses Ginwashi rice paper, a semi-transparent paper with small fibers running through it. “This paper gives the batiks a wonderful texture and a unique natural look,” Lynn said. “The edges are deckled, which gives the batik a feathery finish.” Visit Lynn’s website: naturesartstudio.weebly.com/.

Diane Adams

Barbara Leonard

Trent Schmick

Trent painted five vibrant canvases for his exhibit in our gallery. His artwork focuses on painting, drawing and printmaking. Trent lives, teaches and creates in Evansville, WI. Visit his facebook page.

Jan Norsetter

Jan is an award-winning oil painter known for vibrant landscape paintings en plein air and evocatively detailed studies in still life. Learn more at www.norsetter.com.

Steve Wagner

Steve’s watercolors capture the fluidity and unpredictability of nature. His style invokes daydreams of horses galloping across the plains to birds massing in the sky.
More of Steve’s work can be seen at www.wagnercolor.com.

Kristine Moser

Moser has created tapestries for twenty years, and her work can be found throughout the United States and around the world.

Mary Koehl

A former Evansville teacher who works primarily as a metal smith and sculptor. She has shown her work regionally and nationally.

James Steeno

A Milwaukee-based artist whose mediums include oil painting, watercolor, sketches, paper collages & illustration.
www.jamessteeno.com
Like James on facebook.

Mary Mason Braunschweig

​A former middle school art teacher, Mary has spent most of her life drawing, doodling, coloring and scribbling. She says, “My current artwork is done just for fun…I finally found a way to turn my doodles ​into the type of work I’m happy to frame and give to my friends. I hope you like it.”

Butch Beedle & Steve Feeney

Butch Beedle has been to Panama eight times in the last fifteen years, leading more than 140 students and chaperones on trips of discovery. Steve Feeney has been on three of those trips, working with Butch on his photography skills. Fortunately for those of us back home, they’ve taken countless photos of these adventures.

Richard Krake

A Wisconsin native who discovered the joy of drawing as a child on his family farm.
Visit Richard’s blog at Cooksville Farmhouse Inn.

Andrew Family Art Gallery