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Meet MOWA exhibitors Stephanie Trenchard & Jeremy Popelka By Melanie Boyung For the Daily News country, showing their art and becoming part of many artistic communities. Popelka has taught art in Washington, Wisconsin and California. After their travels, the pair have found a home as artists in Wisconsin since opening their studio in 1998. Trenchard was originally a painter, before Popelka Trenchard Glass began, and had worked in graphic and textile design. She began working in glass about a year after the couple's studio opened, when the costs of running the gallery and workspace required a second artist working in it to support the project. Once she began working in glass, she 231252001 Stephanie Trenchard and Jeremy Popelka have spent a long time in the world of art, as partners in marriage and their craft, and have found different, creative ways to apply their chosen medium. Trenchard and Popelka both work in glass, although in different ways. Trenchard molds and sculpts objects from heated glass, paints them to create familiar images, like fruit or people, and then casts them into clear glass blocks. "It's a challenge to make something new and personal in glass," said Trenchard. "The material itself is so magical and beautiful." Popelka has made a variety of glass art, including sandcast figures of cars and buildings, brightly patterned and colored glass vases, and more abstract sculpted pieces. "I create the spirit of what I see," said Popelka. The two artists own and run a studio in Sturgeon Bay, Popelka Trenchard Glass. They have been in Wisconsin for 15 years, operating a gallery and their workspace in the building. Trenchard and Popelka have both been artists most of their lives. They met while studying art at Illinois State University, and Popelka also earned an MFA in art with a concentration in glass. "I've always known I was going to be an artist," Trenchard said."I felt I couldn't do anything else, I had to do this." Popelka and Trenchard have traveled around the Congratulations on the New Art Museum! 2 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS: 935 Schoenhaar Dr., West Bend 7651 Otten Dr., Kewaskum (North West Bend) 262-334-9542 P Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm; Sat 7am-Noon Buying: Aluminum Cans & Scrap Copper • Brass • Iron • Steel • Cardboard Specializing In: Cardboard & Metal • Recycling Programs Free Coffee & Gift Wrapping Mon-Sat 9-3 Wed 9-7 Sun Closed © 2011 Country Inns & Suites By Carlson, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Submitted Above is an example of Stephanie Trenchard's work. At right is Jeremy Popelka's work "Mideast" and below right is his piece to be displayed at the Museum of Wisconsin Art. found the medium spoke to her. "It was a good energy," Trenchard said of that time. "It worked for everyone." Popelka entered the art world on a fairly direct route, as the son and grandson of artists. His grandfather was a metalsmith and jeweler, applying his artistic craft in metal. Popelka's father attended the Art Institute of Chicago and became a graphic designer. Popelka considers his work in glass just a different application of the same desire to create that runs in his family. "We all have the art gene, as I like to call it," said Popelka. The pair also uses their studio and resources to facilitate other artists. They bring other artists into the studio, giving them a space to work without needing to attempt building a facility, allowing other artists to continue working. "The hard thing for students is that once you're away from school, you need facilities, and a furnace," said Popelka. "It's hard to set up on your own." The couple also offers classes at Popelka Trenchard Glass. With instruction from a "basic training" class to let new learners become more familiar with the process, to a six-hour session, letting the students experience a day spent as an artist in glass, Popelka and Trenchard offer guidance and instruction. The art Trenchard and Popelka create in glass is their expression of the world around them.While some of their work includes easily identified objects and other pieces are vessels or sculptures that are more abstract, all of the pieces come from ideas and feelings of the art. "Images that have a lot of baggage, a lot of meaning, we can all bring to it our own stories," Popelka said. The pair intend to continue creating and enjoying, as well as learning and growing in their art. "You become a master of the material to a point," Popelka said, "but there are still things that happen you can't predict, that make every day unique." Welcome to Togetherness Country. Nothing brings a family together like free breakfast on the ultimate road trip. Visit countryinns.com to find a stay that satisfies the whole family, and we'll have you saying, "I love this Country." Congratulations to the Museum of Wisconsin Art! 1896 Hwy 33 East West Bend, WI 53095 262-335-1800 callalillygifts@gmail.com Thank you for shopping small businesses! 230949001 Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, West Bend, WI 2000 Gateway Court • West Bend, WI 53095 800-456-4000 • 262-334-9400 countryinns.com/westbendwi 230939002 March 2013 • News Graphic & Daily News • Museum of Wisconsin Art • 17

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