2021 Barrels
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Barrel #1 - Storm in the Garden
Artist: Chelsea Primason # of years participating in Rain on Main: 3 Artist Background: This is my third year painting for Rain on Main, placing 1st in 2019 and 3rd in 2020. I'm an amateur artist who loves doing arts & crafts with my children, creating school bulletin boards, and any excuse to draw. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? After such a rainy spring, it seemed fitting to incorporate a gloomy shade of blue/gray as the backdrop for a floral scene. This barrel represents the beauty & chaos of a summer storm tearing through a colorful Indiana garden. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? Painting a rain barrel continues to be such a fun and enriching experience. I enjoy getting lost in the painting and seeing it all come together in the end. I especially love how my family has been so supportive of my efforts to continue painting rain barrels each year. |
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Barrel #2 - The Rhythm and Flow
Artist: Aimee Bruno Aimee-Bruno.pixels.com # of years participating in Rain on Main: 5 Artist Background: I studied Fine Art at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN and since then I have participated in various art fairs and created many commissioned pieces. I have a studio downtown at the Circle City Industrial Complex as well. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? I am a mixed media artist who enjoys color and abstract designs. One of my favorite techniques is pouring. I love the way the paint glides together on the canvas creating beautiful rhythms and textures as if the colors were dancing. An actual pour would prove to be difficult because of how fluid the paint would need to be and because of all the curves of the barrel. I decided instead to mimic the dance and the rhythms of a pour by painting a fluid piece that highlighted the movement through an abstract design of colors. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? Coming up with the design was a lot of fun because I knew what I wanted it to look like but had to make it up as I went along. |
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Barrel #3 - Pond
Artist: Jennifer Blue Hands # of years participating in Rain on Main: 2 Artist Background: I'm a lifelong artist, getting my first commission at 13 for a young readers book illustration. My degree from IU Bloomington, 2002, is in Painting and Drawing with a minor in Art History. I've worked small scale but love working on a large scale. Murals are one of my favorites. My style is mixed, I'm still figuring it out. Some consider my work along the lines of a colorist and I have worked briefly with the Josef and Ani Albers foundation because of that. I have also taught in guided art classes and find Art Therapy to be a study that I am leaning into. My kids and I are all artists! Express yourselves! What was your inspiration for your barrel art? My inspiration comes from an old and dear friend, Cliff Bivins. He lived in Carmel and had a koi pond in his backyard. We worked together and we were friends. He died unexpectedly years ago and since then, whenever I see a koi pond, I'm reminded of him and his personality. He was super funny! The complimentary colors that naturally occur in nature always astound me as well. I love the calming nature that the color of water can have along with the grace of movement koi have. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? All of it. |
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Barrel #4 - Morning Glory
Artist: Krista Darrow Facebook: Krista's Studio, Instagram:@darrowkrista # of years participating in Rain on Main: 1 Artist Background: 2019 Nickel Plate Arts Emerging Artist Award artist Krista has been participating in art exhibits, events and art charities since 2016. Krista joined The Equine Arts Guild in 2017 and eventually expanded her interest into wide varieties of subjects such as birds, flowers, animals, and landscapes. Her pet portraits has been very popular, too. She paints passionately with bright colors, bold strokes and unique compositions. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? I love humming birds. Morning Glory blooms in our yard every summer. So naturally I combined these two subjects. Both looks so fragile but actually really strong. Simply beautiful and amazing! I paint whatever touches my heat and I hope my painting touches your heart, too. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? As I was painting it, I imagined about how my rain barrel looks in a garden. Are my hummingbirds flattering happily in the garden? |
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Barrel #5 - Peaceful Play
Artist: Dawn Richardson # of years participating in Rain on Main: 4 Artist Background: I've always had art supplies in my hands as far back as I can remember. Outsider Art has always Interesing to me, intuitive art .the process of playing . What was your inspiration for your barrel art? I enjoy painting water. Its easy to take this precious resources for granted. I love participating in this art project. I use my rain barrel at home for my butterfly gardens and potted plants. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? Mixing the color, setting a mood. |
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Barrel #6 - Reflection
Artist: Valerie Bielski Website: artatstudiob.com Studio affiliation: Studio B # of years participating in Rain on Main: 4 Artist Background: I have always loved painting but it wasn't until 2017 I had the courage to share my passion publicly. After stepping out of my comfort zone, I started selling my abstract paintings in art fairs and galleries around Indiana and have been recognized with several awards for my vibrant abstract pieces. This is my 4th year with Rain on Main. I painted the people's choice barrel in 2019 and runner up in 2020. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? This year my barrel is inspired by the fresh mountain water that flows to the earth below and reflects the beauty from the sky above. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? My favorite and (most challenging) part of painting the barrel is staying true to my abstract style of painting. Making an abstract painting wrap around a curved surface still telling the same story is a challenge and fun. |
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Barrel #7 - Horizon
Artist: Ashley Richardson Website/social media: www.instagram.com/ashkabibbel # of years participating in Rain on Main: 6 Artist Background: I've been practicing photography for many years and have really been back into Polaroid and 35mm film. Experimenting with those is always so fun. I try to dabble in drawing and painting when I can, and also enjoy creating linoprints and carving. I have been painting the barrels for the last several years with my mom, Dawn, who is also a painter! What was your inspiration for your barrel art? The inspiration for this barrel was simplicity and purity in nature. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? I really loved planning this piece. I've never done preliminary sketches or test color palettes before so doing those prior to painting really helped me feel confident in the direction of this piece. Come to find out, the simplicity in the tones and shapes actually made this one of the most difficult barrels I've done! Trying to get pure opacity on some of these colors was exhausting but so worth it in the end. |
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Barrel #8 - Ice Age Fantasy
Artist: Walter Thacker Website/social media: Walt Thacker Artwork (Facebook) Studio affiliation: Walt Thacker Artwork # of years participating in Rain on Main: 1 Artist Background: I've always have been a good artist but at 36 years of age, I got serious with my efforts and 30 years later, I'm at my beast. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? A fascination with the mega fauna. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? Creating a place on canvas or a rain barrel that the viewer can engage, stay, and wander through. |
People's Choice - First Place
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Barrel #9 - Golestan (The Garden)
Artist: Sepideh Motevasel Website/social media: www.SpidoArt.com # of years participating in Rain on Main: 2 Artist Background: I am a graphic designer and illustrator with a significant background in graphic design. I received my Master of Arts degree in Graphic Design from Tehran Art University and worked as a graphic design intern at Eli Lilly. These days I am working as a graphic designer at Gannett USA Today Network. In my free time, I paint custom pet portraits and design colorful illustrations on shoes, scarves, bags, etc. You can find some of my latest artworks at my Instagram: @SpidoArt What was your inspiration for your barrel art? In Persian language Golestan means: "the land of flowers". Our life is a collection of dreams, poems and stories and they will bloom just like a garden with its own unique colorful flowers. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? I loved the fact that working on this barrel was somehow both challenging and meditative. The most favorite part for me was listening to music and letting the patterns and colors flow in the heart of painting. |
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Barrel #10 - Summer Magic
Artist: Christina Wells Website/social media: www.christinaanneart.com Studio affiliation: Christina Anne Art LLC # of years participating in Rain on Main: 3 Artist Background: I am a local artist who works mostly in acrylic. I love creating pieces of art that tell a story and uniquely decorate someone's home. My artwork is usually inspired by our family's travels and the ever growing bucket list of places I want to visit. I love to explore landscape, floral, and animal paintings in a range of colorful hues. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? I've always loved seeing how excited my daughter is to catch fireflies in the middle of summer. It's one of those magical childhood experiences that I thought many could relate to. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? My favorite part of painting the rain barrel was finding a way to have the fireflies to glow in the dark! |
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Barrel #11 - Butterfly Garden
Artist: Lauren Wolfe (Representing Guerin High School) # of years participating in Rain on Main: 1 Artist Background: Although I did art projects in elementary school, I never really had the chance to tap into my artistic side until I reached high school. Now going into my junior year, I have accomplished many artistic projects, including multiple 2D projects with different mediums, a mural for my school, and now this barrel. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? I really enjoy painting ombre colors, and Monarch butterflies were the perfect opportunity for that expression. There is never a butterfly and flower combo in nature that doesn't display beauty, and I wanted to capture that as best as possible. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? I enjoyed blending the colors of the largest butterfly the most because it really put into perspective the piece as a whole. After it was complete and the smaller details were put on, it made envisioning the finished piece loads easier! |
Art Competition - First Place
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Barrel #12 - Safari Splendor
Artist: Carmel High School Art Honor Society # of years participating in Rain on Main: 7 Artist Background: Carmel High School's National Art Honor Society is an extracurricular club that meets weekly to engage in community related art projects. Students have a wide variety of artistic backgrounds, such as photography, jewelry, painting, drawing, ceramics, fiber arts and mixed media. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? The Carmel High School National Art Honor Society members selected this year's theme for the rain barrel. They believed that a "safari "was an appropriate metaphor for the experiences we have collectively shared throughout the global pandemic. Students researched images of jungle animals and flora specimens that fit the safari theme, designed sketches for the composition, then executed the painting of the rain barrel. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? We enjoyed bringing the rain barrel to life with the beautiful creatures and flora components. We enjoyed working together as a team to complete this project. |
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Barrel #13 - After the Storm
Artist: Carolyn Martens Website/social media: Carolyn Martens Art on FB, CarolynMartens3 on Instagram # of years participating in Rain on Main: 5 Artist Background: I have a studio art degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I worked in graphic design, brand and advertising, and communications for many years. In Carmel I have been a member of several galleries in years past and have enjoyed doing large projects for Carmel Clay schools such as a mural for the CHS media center and being the artistic set lead for a few musicals at Carmel Middle School. Looking forward to more art shows in the future as we ease out of the pandemic. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? We used to live in a 1960s-era house on a hill built on stilts next to a creek. With the kids, we would build rock designs with the smooth creek stones and watch the turtles. But every time we would get a big rainstorm, the normally placid little creek would turn into a raging torrent of dirty brown water threatening the foundation of our house, sweeping away rocks, turtles, fish and scouring out the creek bed. Old timers told us that the raging storm water runoff had grown significantly worse with recent development and paving of natural areas further up the hill. Instead of being absorbed into the soft ground of the woods in a dispersed way, it ran off oily dirty pavement into the storm drains which fed into the creek. Rain barrels can hold some of the rain water back at its source to help the turtles and other wildlife down along the creeks and rivers. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? I love creating art with layers of meaning and symbols incorporated into it. In this barrel, I have us coming out of a pandemic “storm†as turtles emerging from their shells. Storm debris floats by but the water clears quickly and the creek bed remains intact. An arrowhead is also there as a reminder of others who have lived along the same river edges and faced pandemics of the past. |
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Barrel #14 - The Littles of Lauth
Artist: Tina Robinson # of years participating in Rain on Main: 1 Artist Background: I am an amatuer artist. I primarily do pieces for myself and family. I also previously painted furniture pieces with artistic design and sold them in a shop that I started a few years ago and later sold. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? I wanted my barrel to flow and create a cartoon style theme that adults and children alike would appreciate. A pond-like scene with fish, lilypads, frogs and plants in a cartoonish style swirls around the barrel. The back sides of the barrel include thumbprints of small children and big children and signify the "Littles of Lauth." The barrel was on display at Lauth for several days so associates could bring their littles in to put the thumb stamp on the barrel. Those thumb prints became butterflies, ladybugs, and caterpillars. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? The creativity that goes into designing a theme for the barrel. Thinking of options and ideas and a name for the barrel was my favorite part. Watching art come together in a visual is always the most gratifying. |
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Barrel #15 - Rabbits Oh My!
Artist: Linda Gilmore # of years participating in Rain on Main: 6 Artist Background: I use many different mediums of paint and materials including , glass and wood. I enjoying telling a story from nature. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? Annoyances of rabbits and dandelions in my yard-if only rabbits ate dandelions! What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? For this barrel: Using bright yellow! And trying to make the rabbit appear 3-D. |
Art Competition - Second Place
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Barrel #16 - Flowers, Blues and Trees, Oh My!
Artist: Margo Koontz Website/social media: www.stumpedboot.com # of years participating in Rain on Main: 2 Artist Background: I started painting murals and teaching classes a few years ago, and now teach at the Indianapolis Art Center and create murals in the Indianapolis area. I graduated with a degree in Studio Arts Painting from the Herron School of Art + Design IUPUI. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? The rain barrel is inspired by getting caught off guard by a moment in nature and the way the memory stays vibrant. Bright blues, compelling yellows pop to the forefront and radiate a soft serene moment. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? My favorite part of painting the rain barrel is getting to work on a 3 dimensional surface, it's interesting to see how an image appears on a rounded object versus a flat surface, |
Art Competition - Third Place
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Barrel #17 - Wading Through
Artist: Deb Slack Additional artists: Sandy Burke, Lisa Macha, Jill Zaniker, Dixie Roe, Jenni Auble, Shari Demlow, Ruth Ann Herber Website/social media: www.debslackfineart.com, Instagram- debslack11 Studio affiliation: Art on Main and the Art Studios of 30 North # of years participating in Rain on Main: 1 Artist Background: I have been painting in oils for about 10 years now, although I did murals, painted furniture and more for many years prior to that. I am currently an artist at Art on Main Gallery and Gifts and I also have a working studio in the arts district where I teach classes. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? As a class, we were all inspired by the beauty, peacefulness and grace of the blue heron. We felt that the calm evoked by this beautiful bird was symbolic of what we have all been through in the past year and a half. In addition, we wanted to reflect on the natural beauty surrounding us as well as the hope and joy that is represented by the butterfly, and the dragonfly which is symbolic of change and transformation. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? Hands down, the best part of this project was the collaboration that took place amongst my art students. Everyone added something very important to the barrel and we all had a great time doing it!! |
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Barrel #18 - Lava
Artist: Doug Eisengrein Website/social media: Instagram: @skope2tni Studio affiliation: Indiana Pacers # of years participating in Rain on Main: 1 Artist Background: I have been fascinated by art/color, especially large scale art for as long as I can remember. I started getting serious as an artist as a young teen, painting intricate record album duplicates and drawing constantly. Growing up in NYC in the 1970's / 80's gave me a love for public art: essentially, graffiti murals. Although I have studied oil, acrylic, pencil, marker, charcoal, sculpture and much more, graffiti/street art remains a big influence. I have a BFA in graphic design from School of Visual Arts in NYC, and am a professional multimedia designer and painter. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? I have worked in a variety of styles over the years, from realism to pure abstraction. I hold a BFA in Graphic Design, but my love for many years has been graffiti-style mural art. Over the past 5 years or so, within my graffiti murals I have dabbled in 1950's / 1960's-era post-modernism, and this piece is my deepest foray into that style so far, with some personal graffiti flavor mixed in. I used vertical flowing shapes and "floating bubbles" (and the transparency effect) to bring to mind the movement of liquid. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? It's been quite a while since I painted something 3-dimensional; mural and canvas painting is more of a 2-D affair. So it was fun to wrap shapes around the shape, and while I did pencil it in, I allowed myself to choose colors as I went, with no real overall plan ahead of time. |
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Barrel #19 - Summer Friends
Artist: Jennifer Doyel # of years participating in Rain on Main: 1 Artist Background: I discovered I could draw in 4th grade. I had outstanding art teachers all through my school years who encouraged me to become an art instructor, which I did. I have taught all levels of art. I earned a BS and MS in Art Education and an MS in school counseling. Helping students realize their potential will always hold a special place in my heart. I continue to do commissions for friends and customers from pet portraits to pen and ink home renderings to rain barrels. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? I love all the colors in nature. I especially like to brighten up my paintings with fluorescent colors. Butterflies have a special meaning to me, but moths are beautiful as well...not to forget the firefly, who brings hope to us each night. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? I become really excited when a drawing comes to life. Painting is therapeutic for me as well. I love to be out in nature and witness her beauty. To be able to put natures beauty in a painting is always thrilling for me. |
People's Choice - Second Place
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Barrel #20 - Flow and Grow
Artist: Liz Hamstra # of years participating in Rain on Main: 1 Artist Background: I graduated with a Bachelor's in Fine Art from Herron School of Art and Design. I have taught multiple mediums and workshops. I love being a part of the art community where I worked at the Indianapolis Art Center. I love growing as an artist and experimenting with multiple mediums. What was your inspiration for your barrel art? I have always been drawn to the art of Mehndi. I love the way it flows and I can incorporate my abstract designs. What was your favorite part of painting your barrel? My favorite part along with any artwork is that first brush stroke. I never start with a design in mind. I just let it flow and grow. |
