Earl And Lou Stresing
Talented Couple Open Art Gallery In Greater Ivy
BY DEWEY MESSER
If art is the international language,
then a husband and wife team of ar
tiste in Madison County can speak
with just about everyone
Lou and Earl Stresing are
operating an art gallery in their
home, displaying their careers' work
in paintings, sculptures and collages.
The built their gallery onto their
home last December and moved into
their house four years ago.
"We chose the area for its peace, its
tranquility and its nice people," Lou
said.
Earl disagreed slightly. "We
wanted to live in the Sun Belt, we
wanted to still have four seasons but
with shorter winters. We wanted
lower taxes and heating bills."
The couple moved here from Long
Island, N.Y., where Earl taught art at
Sayville High School for 15 years. "I
was the department head and had a
high school, a junior high school and
five elementary schools under me,"
Earl said.
His art education includes training
at the Albright Art School in Buffalo,
State University of New York at Buf
falo, Columbia University T.C. in
New York, Hofstra University in
Hempstead, N Y. and at Lewis
University in Glen Ellen, 111.
Lou is originally from New Albany,
Ind. She also received art training at
Lewis University, as well as studying
at Indiana University Southeast.
Lou and Earl met while learning
from master sculptor Mustafa
Naguib, the older brother of the
Egyptian general, at Lewis Universi
ty. They have been married for over
six years.
Their gallery itself is a pleasure to
walk through, viewing their work. It
is well-lit by eight skylights, and the
air is usually filled with classical
music, which the couple say they like
for its lack of lyrics and its soothing
effect.
In talking with the Stresings, one
thing becorpes quickly apparent
they both are dedicated to cleaning
up the environment, peace and open
communications between people.
Many of their art works carry these
messages.
For example. Earl has done
seVeral paintings with an anti
littering theme The series of three
paintings, called "Keep America
Beautiful," depict the litter caused by
careless and callous beer drinkers.
Earl has another pro-environoent
work called "Toxic Waste", a collage
done at the time when the toxic
wastes first began to appear in
Cherokee When some talk started of
a plan to build a toxic waste dump
site here in Madison County, Lou
organized a petition campaign
against the plan. The petition drive
gathered more than 1,000 signatures.
Their work is, by necessity, a time
consuming labor of love. "We figured
out if we took into account all the
hours we put into our work," Lou
declared, "we would charge people
something like $20,000. As it is, we
figure we make about 25 cents an
hour You have to love the work, and
we do."
Speaking on the possibility of
changing some of the things she
doesn't like about the world. Lou said.
"You just have to plant the seeds in
peoples' heads. Not bad ones, just
good ones."
"You know, in the sixties, tney aw
change things, but it was.. .by riots
and things But these people, they try
to change things by changing
themselves, because that's all we
really can change.
"This piece over here , represents '
all kind. There's a man and a woman
and they're in separate worlds.
They're real close and they try to Join
worlds Every now and then we get
close and we can communicate.
"Isn't this beautiful?" she asks,
holding up a clipping of some snow
covered stones. "Mother Nature is so
much better at art than we are."
The Stresings, like all artists, have
several pieces in their private collec
tion. One of the most interesting is
Earl's self-portrait, which Ke made
before he left teaching.
"It has things that I would like to j I
see happen. Some of them have and
some of them haven't."
The work is a combination of col
lage and painting techniques. At the
top is an overlay of a brain-Earl's of
course. The likeness of Earl has his M
heart and lungs visible in the chest *
area. He says he painted it this way
LOU
as in
the |
Photos
because he is interested in
health. The Earl in the painty
painting the artist's signature i
middle right of the painting.
The work also has some
which Earl wanted in the
Some of them are a motorcyck
eating and living in either North
Carolina or Virginia, all of which he
has. He wanted a rural house, one
which is in the same style as the one
he has now. He wanted to lose weight,
as a drawing of a scale showing 146
pounds shows (he now weighs very
close to that goal).
He also wanted rural farmland
scenes, a lot like where he lives now.
He wanted an air compressor for his
sculpturing, which he has. He wanted
improved vision and hearing, which
he says has partly happened. He
wanted to have his works exhibited
publicly, which has come true.
In the right lower corner of the
work is a pile of coins. "That's
money, but that hasn't happened
yet," he laughs.
One interesting piece of Lou's is an
' untitled wood and metal-overlaid
piefce with wings and a snake. "The
snake is a symbol of wisdom. It's
really more of a symbolic creature. I
don't know what to call it."
A TRADITIONAL WORK OF SCULPTURE, left, seems to
consider the unorthodox alligator at right.
Lou said they often give each other
pieces they like. "If he does
something and I like it, he gives it to
me. If I do something and he likes it, I
give it to him. They're gifts," she
said.
Other memorable works in their
private collection are a wooden carv
ing by Earl of a little girl, called
"Curio6ity", a painting by Lou called
"Earth II" or "Mother Earth", some
of Lou's stained glass windows and
(Continued on Page 9)
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