Artist Profile: Lonny McLaughlin

At the Nokomis Gallery, we are so fortunate to have such an amazing group of local artists currently exhibiting their work. One of these artists is Lonny McLaughlin.

Lonny's career as an artist began in 1970. It was then, while still a student, Lonny began to exhibit his paintings; art fairs, local art centers, and the like. During the years that followed, Lonny’s development as an artist grew as a private, independent, studio-based, self-generated activity that from time to time showed up as an obsession and would take all the skills he could master to pull out what he imagined.

Currently Lonny is working on a fused series called “Woven Work”. This is an attempt to represent glass as textile. Each piece is as though a piece of fabric were torn from a much larger whole and magnified several times to capture the color detail of each “thread”. In the process of finding color combinations, textures, opacity, transparency, reflection and refraction, making tableware and jewelry have become a practical way as well as a fine benefactor for his larger experimental and studio pieces. Several of these woven pieces are currently being exhibited in the gallery.

In Lonny’s words, “In the process of discovery, I am imagining a time when I have satisfied my attempt to marry the joy of mixing paint with the magical transparency and sparkle of glass. The outcome of this journey will be something, I can’t see it yet, but it will be something. Each piece, both painting and glass brings me a bit closer.”

Lonny resides in the Central neighborhood in Minneapolis and has been a strong supporter of CAFAC since it was just an idea. He is currently exhibiting a wide variety of work at the gallery; from affordable jewelry on up to a fabulous stained glass screen.

To see Lonny's work in person, stop by the Nokomis Gallery, open Thursdays from 6 to 8pm, and on Saturdays from 10am to 5pm. We're also available by appointment by calling 612.294.0400.