To order contact Shelly Bartek, BRUSH IMAGES INC. 402-399-5251.

Giclee

A giclee (zhee-clay) is an elegant, state-of-the-art reproduction that gives a vibrant color rendition of an original painting. Giclee, a French printmakers term for sprayed, was adopted to distinguish the technique from ordinary offset printing. It also signifies to the art buyer that the process and materials used to create the print were intended for the fine art market. A giclee is created by a digital printers tiny ink jets that spray millions of droplets of archival, water-based inks onto fine archival art paper or canvas known as the substrate. The combination of specific inks and substrate are carefully selected to assure maximum print longevity. Giclees are produced one at a time. Depending upon their size, this intricate printing process can take up to an hour or more for each print. Afterward, the giclees are coated with a protective finish. Whether printed on fine art paper or canvas, the end result is always the same: a beautifully reproduced work of art with the look and feel of the original painting.

By Ashley Hassebroek, World Herald Staff Writer

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Nebraska native Shelly Bartek loves the smell of paint. Is that weird to say? she said with a laugh, sitting at her dining-room table. I just love it. It’s a good thing she does, because Bartek’s successful home-based illustration business, Brush Images Inc. forces her to spend a lot of time around the substance.

Bartek depends on her representatives in Chicago, Denver, Phoenix and New York

to find companies that are interested in using her loose, painterly style of art in their promotions. Time Warner, United Airlines, Halcourt Publishers, Hewlett Packard, Camel cigarettes and Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver are among the companies that have used her work in magazine advertisements, posters or banners.

But this last year, the Omaha-based artist received what she considers to be her biggest and toughest assignment. She was asked to create a series of seven illustrations for the network prime-time television series That’s Life.

The producers of the show had seen her work in an advertisement in an illustration

publication called Workbook. Interested in the artist’s colorful style, they called one of her representatives, Mary Holland & Co. last February.

I first had to do a pilot, meaning a trial illustration, Bartek said.

Because of the nature and demands of the industry, it wasn’t until September 2000 that the producers called her back and asked her to do the job. The producer told her

they wanted a collection of seven illustrations to run during the opening credits of the of the show, which would animate the day in the life of the lead character, Lydia, a 30-year-old New Jersey woman who is going back to college to make something of herself.

The only stipulation was that Bartek had to complete the illustrations within seven days, in time for the show’s premiere.

I had to get seven illustrations done in seven days, working day and night, Bartek said.

Bartek was given photos of the actors and actresses to incorporate into the scenes, but when she got the assignment, the show’s creators sill hadn’t decided exactly what they wanted the characters to be doing in the illustrations.

The description was very vague at first, and I would get conference calls at 10 at night, with the (the producers) changing their ideas for the scenes.

When the details had been finalized, Bartek sent the finished images to the producers in Los Angeles via e-mail.

A week later the show aired on Saturday in prime time.

It was one of the toughest jobs I’ve ever had because of when I received the job, the time I had to do it and that some of the decisions weren’t made at the time I had the deadline, she said.

Bartek said she enjoys watching That’s Life when she can, because she likes the main character, Lydia.

It’s a great show, she said. I love Lydia. She’s a modern-day woman with modern-day problems, and she has a lot of ambition, which I like.

Though Bartek keeps busy with her illustration business, she said she has career goals to cross into the realm of fine art, so she can have more control over the subject matter and style of her pieces.

One of the reasons I want to go into fine art is because of the heavy deadlines and not being able to create the quality of art I can, given more time and thought.

In the paste she has exhibited her work at the Heller Art Gallery in Omaha and Scottsdale Art Gallery in Arizona. She currently sells prints of some of her works.

Until her dream of creating fine art full-time is realized, Bartek plans to stay busy with her illustration business, expressing herself through her favorite elements.

I’m always challenged by the next project, Bartek said. I’m always looking for another adventure.

On Thursday at 6:30 p.m. she will be at the Mediterranean Bistro, 1712 N. 120th St., to sign labels she recently illustrated for the French wine company Barton & Guestier.

Symbolism dominates Omaha artist Shelly Bartek’s new paintings.

But unlike the fame eggs, elephants and melting clocks in Salvador Dali’s work, the symbols in Bartek’s art are often more personal than universal.

“Etta’s Portrait,” for instance, is chock-full of images that have deep meaning to Bartek. This oil-on-wood painting shows a long black evening dress hanging in front of yellow wallpaper. A mailbox
marked with the number “1926″ is found on one side of the dress, a cherry pie on the other. Some playing cards- with the four of diamonds turned face up are also in the painting.

The portrait, it turns out, is a tribute to Bartek’s mother. Etta Bartek was born in 1926 and was married to a mailman. She baked pies, loved yellow and had four daughters. Her favorite dress was made of black silk.

But what we don’t see in ” Etta’s Portrait” or in any of the other paintings s this exhibit- which opens Friday at the Cathedral Cultural Center’s Sunderland Gallery – are faces.

Figures in these paintings are all clothed in fine fashion and surrounded by symbols. But these figures are by and large headless and armless.

“Traditional portraits are usually focused on the face,” Bartek said. I’m trying to emphasize the details that often get overlooked.”

In “Melody,” the details include a grand piano, sheet music, white doves and the flowing white dress of a young – and mostly unseen- pianist. A ghostly invisible had has depressed several of the piano’s keys. The keys probably would go unnoticed in an ordinary portrait.

The details are subtler in “Hope.” At first blush, the painting seems to show just three images- flying cranes, a purple kimono and a background of Japanese cherry blossoms. On closer inspection, we see that the cranes are changing from origami cranes to real birds as they fly over the kimono. ” That image was inspired by Sadako Sasaki, the 12 year-old Hiroshima atomic bomb and leukemia victim,” Bartek said. Sadako created paper cranes as a symbol of hope, Bartek said.

Her exhibit runs through June 26. A panel discussion starts a 1 p.m. Sunday, followed by an artist’s reception.

The Spirit of Art by Sarah Wengert
The READER’S ENTERTAINMENT PICKS
MAY 7 – 13, 2009

While a person’s belongings alone can’t define them, the materials they choose to wear, listen to, play with and create with can be strong reminders of the people we love. These are the artifacts of a person, and what artist Shelly Bartek explores in this exhibit. In her artist’s statement she said, “In bringing forth ‘ a new reflection of the material world I’m drawn into how we see ourselves through the garments we wear. Inspired by history and the meaning of objects. I hope to capture the essence of stories and the spirit within us and promote the contemplation of our journeys.” The concept sounds slightly materialistic, but one look at Bartek’s portrait of her mother, Etta, with the caption detailing, “the sheen of her dancing dresses,” “flowers that always needed tender care” and a vegetable garden she made into “homemade Czech recipes” — and the sense of heart and the power of these artifacts is palpable.

— Sarah Wengert

More than 60 area artists arc part of an exhibition to benefit the Nebraska AIDS Project.
“An Evening on Jackson Street” will be Friday at Jackson Artworks, 1108 Jackson St.
A preview for patrons will be from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.mM and a public event will be from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Patron ticket* for the preview show are $50. and tickets for the public event are $25.
The exhibition will feature work by Shelly Bartek, Kent Bellows, Leslie Bruning, Rddith Buis, Jackie Eihausen, Mary Beth Fogarty, Diane Lounsberry-Williams. Jean Mason, Deborah McCollcy, Bonnie Mercer, Kat Moser, Bonnie O’Connell, David Roszelle, Anne Steinhoff and Tbm Swanson, among others. Works will be priced from $100 to $10,000.

Part of the proceeds will benefit the AIDS Project’s client lunch program. Last year the program served nearly 10,000 hot lunches. For more information, call Jean Imray at 552-9260, ext. 142.
SheHy Bartek’s “Celebration,” above, is among the works by 60 artist in “An Evening on Jackson Street.” a benefit exhibition for the Nebraska AIDS Project.

By Dane Stickney ~world-herald staff writer

The Omaha Summer Arts Festival draws artists from as far away as New Hampshire, Florida and Washington state.

But this year’s featured artist lives just seven miles from the festival site in downtown Omaha.

Festival organizers selected Omahan Shelly Bartek to be the face of this year’s event. Her work is featured on promotional materials, and she has a prime booth spot near 13th and Farnam Streets.

Bartek has been gearing up for the event, making prints of her colorful, impressionistic oil paintings. She plans to have 700 reproductions and more than 25 original works on sale.

“This is a great community art event, and I’m honored to be involved,” she said. “It’s a great chance to get some public exposure.”

The illustrator and painter has practiced art for more than 30 years. Companies including CBS, Coors and Paramount Pictures have used her illustrations. The United Nations selected her to create a set of six stamps to celebrate its International Day of Families.

She has developed promotional materials for the Omaha Summer Arts Festival in the past, but this is the first year she’ll have a tent and sell her creations.

Bartek isn’t the only rookie in the 135-artist field. A handful of regional artists will exhibit, partly because high gas prices are keeping them from attending far-flung art fairs.

Patrick Clark is a retired aeronautical engineer from Hutchinson, Kan., who has become a devoted painter. He renders playful objects from his childhood like antique toys and games.

He traditionally attends an art festival in Des Moines, which also will be held this weekend, but chose to come to Omaha because it’s closer and requires less gas. He’s also heard Omaha’s show is a good one.

“I’m sort of the new guy on the block,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll find some new customers who like what I do.”

Husband and wife Ben and Lori Mensch of Loveland, Colo., are making their first trip to Omaha’s festival as well. The glass blowers and sculptors are driving to seven shows this summer, mostly in the Midwest.

The professional artists have taken part in dozens of festivals throughout their career, and they appreciate Omaha’s putting artistsat the center of the event.

“We’ve been to some festivals that attract 500,000 people, and we don’t sell much because they’re all about the music and the beer,” Ben Mensch said. “But Omaha seems to focus on the art, and that’s what we like to see.”

See a list of the artists and a gallery of their work at www.summerarts.org.

Ginger Spice ” by Shelly Bartek, a poster from Image Conscious.

Shelly Bartek’s late father would be proud.

Last year Bartek, a 1977 graduate of Lincoln East High School, was commissioned to create six collective stamps for the United Nations to commemorate the annual International Day of Families.

The United Nations sent Bartek to Washington, D.C., over Memorial Day weekend to sign the first edition stamp sheets at this year’s World Philatelic Exhibition.

Rudy Bartek, who was a postal worker, encouraged his daughter to try to create U.S. postage stamps, Bartek said.

“And here I got the U.N., which is even better/ the Omaha artist said.

Bartek’s New York agent, Tim Mendola of Mendola Artists Representatives, submitted her portfolio to the U.N. Postal Administration about a year ago.

“I would gather it was one of many portfolios they received,” Menclolasaid.

Bartek’s work incorporates different ethnicities and nationalities, “and that was an important part of the theme for the series,” he said. “1 think the sort of colorful painterly feel of her work would lend itself to an international theme.”

Bartek said the U.N. Postal Administration told her to incorporate cultural aspects of families from six continents in the stamps.

“They’re to make global awareness of thediversity in families in all the different continents,” she said. “Our world is better with the good family unit.”

In 1993, the United Nations proclaimed that May 15 of each year shall be observed as the International Day of Families.

It’s a day to “increase awareness of family issues and improve the culpability of nations to tackle family-related problems with comprehensive policies,” said Edoardo Bellando, with the U.N. Department of Public Information.

The United Nations issues stamps to commemorate different events or celebrate different themes, said Pamela Gray, a copywriter and administrative assistant for the U.N. Postal Administration.

“This is the first time the U.N. has created a Day of the Family stamp,” Gray said.

United Nations commemorative stamps, which are sold for a period of one year, can be used as postage if mailed from U.N. headquarters in New York, Geneva or Vienna, Gray said.

Bartek said she was honored for the opportunity and experience.

“Signing so many stamps, it made me feel anxious to do more,” she said.

Bartek plans to create a UNICEF stamp, which would also be worldwide, in the future.

“It was just very heartwarming to feel what I accomplished,” Bartek said. “I feel like I’ve made it now.”

Reach Hilary Kindschuh at 473-7120 or hkindschuh@joumatstar.com.

Omaha artist Shelly Bartek (left) recently created six collective stamps for the United Nations. Her Families Foster Peace and Families Nurture Health are shown below. Bartek went to Washington, D.C., over Memorial Day weekend for a signing of the stamp sheets.