Florida artist to exhibit in Mercer

MERCER, Wis. — Odonata Art Gallery is hosting guest artist Patrice Pfeiffer, of Riverview, Fla., during the annual Northwoods Art Tour running Friday through Sunday.

Pfeiffer has visited Wisconsin often and found Odonata Art Gallery by accident. However, because of this random visit, she and gallery owner Laurie Myers became friends.

“I stopped in randomly one day and loved it,” Pfeiffer said. “I have always been inspired by wildlife and art, and the gallery was a perfect place for that. It is such a fun place to go, and Laurie and her husband Mitch are just awesome people.”

Soon, the friendship blossomed, and Pfeiffer began showing her pieces to Myers.

“I do little sculptures out of polymer clay, and I showed them to Laurie and she fell in love with them,” Pfeiffer said. “And now I am going to be displaying my work during the tour.”

According to Pfeiffer, she began using polymer clay to help create beads that she had been missing, and soon, she began dabbling in other aspects.

“A lot of people use polymer clay to make jewelry and beads,” Pfeiffer said. “My mom was a beader, and when she passed away, I received all of her supplies. I gravitated towards doing sculptures after I started using the clay to make beads that I couldn’t find in the stores.”

With the clay, Pfeiffer began creating “whimsical” sculptures, and has since evolved into more than just a hobby.

“I am a hospice nurse, so I did the art as a recreational kind of thing,” Pfeiffer said. “Then my friends started seeing it and wanted some, and it evolved from there. I am not a trained artist by any means, but with art, you can find out later that you can do things you didn’t know were possible.”

The clay is very malleable and can “basically do anything you want it to do,” according to Pfeiffer. During the tour, Pfeiffer is going to host demonstrations Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“I am going to demonstrate some of the techniques that I used for some of the items being displayed,” Pfeiffer said. “I like to use a little different techniques to create fun, whimsical pieces. I think people would have fun coming to see something knew.”

As for Myers, Pfeiffer’s pieces are an “added plus” to more than 80 artists featured in the gallery.

“She does some very fun, different work from the gallery, and we can’t wait to have her here,” Myers said. “This is a very lovely thing for the gallery, and we’re excited.”

This is Pfeiffer’s first individual show, but she is excited to have her pieces on display at the gallery.

“I have done exhibitions before, but nothing like this,” Pfeiffer said. “I am really excited because I love coming to Wisconsin, and Laurie and Mitch are such awesome people. They always make you feel really welcome at the gallery, and it’s such a cool place to go. It’s packed every time I am there, and I hope that people will stop in while I’m there.”

Odonata will also host guest artist Wayne Houston Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Houston was the guest artist last year during the tour.

“This is such a popular event, and we always do exceptionally well,” Myers said. “We’re always crazy busy, and we found out that Wayne was free on Friday, so we asked him if he wanted to come back again. We’re very excited to have him back, and Mitch will have his photos on display, as well as my bright water color work in the gallery.

“We hope people will continue to visit the gallery and see the exceptional artists we have on display from across the area.”

To learn more about the tour, visit northwoodsarttour.com.