Our Featured Artist!


Tom Reynen is an amateur digital photographer living in Shoreview, Minnesota after growing up in St Paul and attending St Agnes High School and the College of St Thomas. His work has been exhibited in a number of local shows and galleries including the Mill District Arts Gallery, Evoke Gallery, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Altered Esthetics, Very Barrie Gallery, Gallery 96 and the Hopkins Center for the Arts. His photographs have been published in the Minneapolis StarTribune newspaper and he has won several local and two national photography contests. He has also exhibited at the St Paul Art Crawl and at Art-A-Whirl in Northeast Minneapolis.

His specialties are nature photos, particularly close-ups of flowers, landscapes, architectural details and travel scenes. He love bright colors but also enjoys turning digital photos into black and white. He has thousands of photos in his portfolio and takes commissions. He is also available for hire to touch up personal or vacation photos. Recently he has begun using photo software to turn photos into prints which look like paintings.

Tom is on the board of a non-profits arts organization called Gallery 96 which highlights art in a variety of media by artists in the northern St Paul MN suburbs. He is also a member of the TC Photography Club.

To see examples of his work or to purchase prints or greeting cards with his images, please visit http://tom-reynen.artistwebsites.com/ and http://www.redbubble.com/people/tommyrey.



Recent Previous Artists

Kathleen Finken (Wilkens) was born and raised in Inver Grove Heights. Her interest in art started as a small child and continued at Simley High School. Kathleen received great encouragement from her art teacher, Virginia Brown. Interest in art history took Kathleen to Europe. Kathleen was fortunate to be able to travel with her art teacher and a few of her fellow classmates to study art abroad.

Kathleen Finken has been a resident of South Saint Paul since 1976 when she purchased her house on 1st Ave S. Through life's struggles as a single parent, she has continued here in South Saint Paul making a home for her family of five children. After many years of art being put on hold for family and career, she now feels that it's a dream come true.

A few years ago her family registered Kathleen for her first art show at the Weisman Museum in Minneapolis. They told her you have five months to create five paintings and you better get started. No time for excuses, it was time to paint. Kathleen thanks her family for the needed push. To look for inspiration she attended the Saint Paul Art Crawl and the Minneapolis Art-A-Whirl. These are now two venues she participates in every year.

Kathleen had the privilege of painting with Ken Green (Art Crawl President) for the last few years. Ken's passion for painting has been a true inspiration for Kathleen to learn, develop and find her own painting techniques. With her promise to Ken (before his passing last October) to keep painting it has been a determination that drives her to continue. Once you experience that long-awaited dream come true, you do not want to give it up. To start late in life with one's dream is better than to never start.

To repeat words told to Kathleen, she would tell you to just start, no excuses, just start living your dream. Kathleen finds great satisfaction in painting. Yes it's a way to express yourself, to share your impression of what you see and experience. It's also a great way to lose yourself into your painting and momentarily escape the crazy busy world around us. As a self-taught artist, Kathleen's advice is for you to find what makes you happy, what you enjoy most and share those hidden talents that are waiting to be used, live your dream.

To see a selection of Kathleen's work link on to her website: http://www.artcrawl.com/kathyfinken.html

Upcoming event: Minneapolis Art-A-Whirl (May 14th-16th)
California Building, STUDIO 110, 2205 California St NE, Mpls, MN 55418