The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Artists Linda Sikorski, Dave Gahimer and Kenny Vermillion are exhibiting at the Vigo County Library at Seventh and Poplar streets this month. Sikorski will display six paintings in the South Gallery. Gahimer will exhibit turned bowls that follow the designs of the Etruscans of ancient Italy. Etrusia, north of Rome, is present-day Tuscany. Vermillion will display his award-winning wood carvings.
Sikorski, born near Chicago, currently resides in southeast Illinois. She received a BFA at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (1975) in oils. After an eye-opening trip into the gallery circuit, Sikorski moved into drafting (architectural, civil and industrial, 1977-94) and continued with a variety of media only for the occasional gift. Returning to art in 2003, Sikorski chose watercolor as a major focus. She has taken workshops from nationally known artists such as Rotindra Das, Arleta Pech, Jody Henderer Burns and Cindy Akin, as well as accomplished local artists such as David Dooley, Larry Miller, Dixie Petticrew, Paul Spangler and Marilyn Kintner. Sikorski has won awards in local shows, and accomplished juried entry into regional shows in two states.
Gahimer has been involved in wood working since childhood. Raised in Indiana’s Shelby County, in the small community of Blue Ridge, Gahimer was beside his father, Virgil Gahimer, as he made furniture for their home. Gahyimer took Waldron High School shop class under Jessie Maurice Trotter and built one of Trotter’s famous grandfather clocks as his senior project. Trotter patterned his design after the grandfather clock on the stair landing at the Lenoir Mansion in Madison. Gahimer continued woodworking and furniture-making at the hobby shop on the submarine base in New London, Conn. His fellow woodworker there was also making furniture for his young family, a young lieutenant by the name of Jimmy Carter. After the naval submarine service, Gahimer had access to the wood carpenter shop at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, where he was on the staff of the electrical engineering department. He built many pieces that are on display across the RHIT campus. Gahimer has studied and admired the turning design of the Greeks and Romans. His pieces tend to show elements that they learned were pleasing to the eye thousands of years ago. “I believe that the beauty of a turned object starts with the form, and is drawn to the color and figure of the wood. Although I turn traditional objects, I like to include material other than wood, like brass, glass and acrylic, as it adds interest and eye appeal.
Vermillion began carving small wildlife subjects professionally in 1983. With skill and accuracy, his artistry evokes the essence of nature through the warmth of wood. His sculptures have won numerous awards and are in private collections throughout the United States and other countries. In 2009, Gov. Mitch Daniels presented Tochigi Gov. Tomikazu Fukuda of China with Vermillion’s carving of a cardinal, the Indiana state bird.
Vermillion’s sculptures are wood. Leaves are not cut out and bent, but rather each twist and curl is carved. Structural necessities such as vines are brass or copper. Songbird feet are made by sculpting epoxy over metal armatures. View some of Vermillion’s creations at www.kennyvermillion.com.
