DRIFTLESS - This year marks local artist pop-up Artisan Alley’s third run.

Artisan Alley is a holiday pop-up shop in Viroqua. It features artists from the Driftless region and runs from early November until Christmas.

This December, they will be open every Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

Artisan Alley is held at 114 on South Main Street in Viroqua, the ‘ENCORE’ building next to the Temple Theatre.

 The shop and artists are led by one of the artists, Harriet Behar. She recruits from local art events like the Driftless Area Art Festival, but some artists have also participated in the past. 

 Shopping locally can be a great way to get unique, high-quality gifts for loved ones this holiday season, and Artisan Alley is a great place to find something everyone will love from curated artists.

Meet the Artists:

Fashion

Ashley Neary

Through the use of traditional leather working methods, Ashley Neary handcrafts belts, her signature piece, as well as cuffs, earrings, guitar straps, and wall art.

Neary uses full cowhide and cuts, dyes, and bevels it by hand. She finishes her belts in front of her customers by sizing it for them and adding the customer’s chosen brass buckle.

Pat Balk

Pat Balk is a jewelry maker who loves to create one-of-a-kind pieces. He chooses to work with semi-precious stones, silver, brass, copper, and vintage materials.

While taking classes and creating more, Balk hones his skills. He hopes that his passion can continue to grow alongside his skill.

Elin Haessly

Hand weaving rugs, blankets, shawls, and scarves, Elin Haessly puts her small flock of sheep to good use.

Haessly was born and raised in Denmark and moved to the USA in 1983. She and her husband then retired to a farm outside of Soldiers Grove.

Since retiring, she has been able to fulfill her dream of raising sheep to use her own yarn for her weaving.

In the summer, Haessly spends her time spinning and dying her wool. She often uses dye made from materials on her property. Haessly also purchases from domestic wool mills in Connecticut, Maine, and Minnesota.

Haessly uses techniques learned in Denmark and Sweden, as well as what she has learned from her time in the U.S.

Of her rugs, Haessly can make a rug for any size, shape, or color to match the room the customer wants to place it in.

Harriet Behar

Using Central and South America and the landscape of her home of Southwestern Wisconsin as inspiration, Harriet Behar creates hats, sweaters, shirts, bags, and household items.

Behar uses natural fibers in her work, including wool, cotton, and a fiber made from pine trees.

“My garments are tailored to hang well on the body… while highlighting the unique nature of hand-woven fabric,” Behar said.

In her work, Behar often depicts birds, flowers, and other natural designs.

Joan Bailey

Self-taught jewelry maker Joan Bailey has been perfecting her craft for the last 24 years.

Bailey began her jewelry making with beads, but she has taken many metalsmithing classes to incorporate metals into her work. She mainly uses sterling silver and copper, brass, and gold-filled metals, but Bailey also repurposes old jewelry when she can.

Another medium Bailey has begun working in is eco-printing. Eco-printing is the process of using leaves or flowers, heat, and pressure to print the material on fabrics or paper.

Through eco-printing, Bailey creates one-of-a-kind silk scarves.

Aside from participating in Artisan Alley, Bailey is a member of the Red Door Gallery in Richland Center.

 Visual Arts

Jennifer Rehberg

Through the medium of watercolor, Soldiers Grove artist Jennifer Rehberg depicts the world around her.

Rehberg has always loved to paint, but has recently discovered her fondness for the effects that can be done with paint and water.

“Each time I pick up my brush, it is an opportunity to let the paint do something new,” Rehberg said.

Joni Welda

Born and raised in Winona, Joni Welda grew up loving everything about the Driftless Area. She particularly loved the wildlife, often coming home with various animals, and would take binoculars or a camera with her everywhere she went.

Now a self-proclaimed ‘Master Naturalist,’ as well as a wildlife photographer, Welda has deepened her relationship with nature through her photography.

Welda has come to understand the wonder, emotion, sounds, textures, and colors of the natural world around her.

“My goal is to bring to life these emotions to my viewers through my photography. I strive to bring what touches my heart, through my lens to my viewers,” Welda said.

Along with her husband Jon, a border collie, and two manx cats, Welda lives in the bluffs above the Mississippi River. There, she has created her business, ‘The Variegate Lens Fine Art Nature Photography.’

Kathy Fairchild

Kathy Fairchild attended Ohio State University, graduating with a degree in Art Education in 1973.

Beginning her career as a photographer, Fairchild always enjoyed watercolor as an alternative medium.

Fairchild felt that she could best adapt her photographic vision into paintings through watercolor.

“I particularly enjoy images of nature, and for some reason I am also very drawn to forgotten buildings and their testimony of times gone by,” Fairchild said.

Melissa Luck

Since enrolling in her first class in 2006, Melissa Luck has been hooked on stained glass.

Luck began just making pieces for friends and family, but in 2015, she decided to quit her job and see where stained glass could take her making art full time.

The following year, Luck opened her Esty store and she has since begun showing at art fairs.

Much of Luck’s work is of things found in nature, such as animals and flowers. She also enjoys combining natural materials like stone, shells, and wood in her work.

Luck is also fond of doing custom pieces for customers. “I’m always happy to do custom work and love to design new pieces,” Luck said.

Sabina Myszka

Poland-born acrylic painter Sabina Myszka creates mystical works of art with many layers.

Myszka’s paintings are often inspired by what she calls, ‘beyond the veil,’ where she immerses herself into meditation and other guided healing practices.

The paintings depict images of nature, along with more mystical elements. “Nature is the source of human wellbeing, and in it we can find healing,” Myszka said.

Through these paintings, Myszka feels that her art provides medicine for the soul. She works to reintroduce elements of the human third eye through visual manifestations and to heal the human soul. She believes this to be her artistic purpose.

Ancestral themes also appear in her work often. These are often tied in with the third eye element. 

Pottery

Greg Cheesebro

Creating functional and useful pieces, Greg Cheesebro is a potter working and living in Viroqua. 

Cheesebro’s work is done entirely in his home studio, where he crafts and glazes mugs, kettles, pots, and various other products. 

In his home studio, Cheesebro also has an electric kiln to fire his works, along with a wood kiln in the fall.

Joan Meyers

Through innovative design, Joan Meyers creates useful and sleek pottery, combining beauty and function. 

Meyers works to make pieces without strict purposes. She aims to make her products versatile while maintaining their intended use.

“Thoughtful design allows pieces to be used in various ways - charcuterie boards become hanging wall art, add olive oil to freshly grated parmesan and turn a grater plate into a dipping plate, wine chillers become a vase or utensil holder and, soap or oil dispensers can become a bud vase,” Meyers said about her products.

With a generous heart, Meyers donates 5% of every sale to Children’s Miracle Network. She dedicates the donations to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. 

Paul Bick

Paul Bick is a potter who does his crafting in studios in Viroqua and Chicago. He creates wheel-thrown utilitarian pieces and explores simple forms and colors.

Bick was trained in anthropology and ethnographic photography. He worked in many places, including Haiti and Chicago’s community gardens. The places he has worked have clear influences on his work.

Along with his wife Molly Doane, who is also an anthropologist, his work has been exhibited in several locations. Most recently his work was featured at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

Through his work as a photographer and ceramist, Bick is able to see the importance and intentionality of simple objects and the space they fill. 

He has work on display at Jarvis Square Pottery in Chicago, where Bick and Doane regularly host community events. 

Wood Work

Bill Doolan

In his wood shop, Moon View Wood, Bill Doolan shows off his skills as a woodworker. He spent 32 years as the Kickapoo School District’s band director, but discovered his love for woodworking when he left the position.

Most of Doolan’s work is done using domestic woods. He often creates custom pieces, but he enjoys making tables, cutting boards, and other simplistic pieces that show off the natural appearance of the wood.

Doolan appears as a vendor at many events, including the Viroqua Farmers’ Market and the Driftless Area Art Festival.

He is a regular vendor at the Viroqua Farmers Market and at the Driftless Area Art Festival. For 32 years, he was the band director for the Kickapoo School District.

Ken Garden

Raised with a wood shop, Ken Garden has loved woodworking since he was a child. 

“From the time that I was 5 or 6 years old, I was in the basement most nights sawing wood and hammering nails,” Garden said.

Garden was always handy, but spent 35 years working in graphic arts. When he retired, he decided to set up his own woodworking shop.

Being able to turn scraps or firewood into something useful is what Garden most enjoys about woodworking. There are endless possibilities, and he often uses pieces of wood that give him inspiration to create something special.

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