The Millcreek Arts Council and Salt Lake County Millcreek Library are excited to start the new year with a new exhibit at the Millcreek Library at 2266 Evergreen Ave. The artwork of Louise Earl will be displayed through the month of February. A reception will be held at the library from 6-6:45 PM on February 2nd. Please join us for light refreshments and musical accompaniment by The Millcreek Arts Councils own Eric McKenna-Spreng.
LOUISE EARL ARTIST
Although Louise was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, her early years were spent in Spokane Washington, where she recalls sketching trees while sitting on the curb near her home. The light and shade interested her even then.
Her family moved back to Salt Lake when she was going into her teens and she took all the art classes she could find through her high school years.
As a college student she started out in Fashion Design. Again sketching and learning new techniques.
She married early and spent two years in Ardmore, Oklahoma where the trees were of another variety and again her observations of trees and flowers were a part of these years.
In her early thirties she went to school at Brigham Young University studying Interior Design where she won awards for her interior renderings. Design became her means of support after a divorce. The ability to sketch and do renderings of interiors was a part of this work.
She and her daughter took oil painting classes at the University of Utah. She continues to study with many local painters and joined the Intermountain Society of Artists and The Midway Art Association. When she remarried her husband encouraged her art and she began to be a serious painter, painting most days. On a trip to Chicago with a group of women friends she did five small watercolors on the plane trip to and from their destination.
She and her husband traveled extensively and the inspirations came flowing in. After his death she was able to study in Giverny painting in Monet’s Garden and surrounding areas where the Impressionists had painted. Again this has inspired many more paintings. Her style remains realistic with an influence from many sources.
Today her studio is in her home and she spends a large amount of her time there working on her paintings and improving her techniques. Often doing three or four oil paintings a week. She has done many portraits of children and she also enjoys still life florals and landscapes. In warmer months she does plein-air painting with a group of friends in local spots of interest.
She has donated works to a number of charities and has received 1st and 2nd place awards in several of the Intermountain Society of Art Shows.
Her motivation comes from the places that Cassatt or Morisot might have found their inspiration, such as; home, family, gardens, mountains, and other landscapes.
People comment on her colors, perspective, the use of light and shadow.
Her paintings reveal a love of her environment both interior and exterior, as well as the joy of children and families.
Instrumental Guitarist Eric McKenna-Spreng has forged his own distinctive sound from some of the world’s great musical traditions. Weaving together threads of Spanish flamenco, traditional Celtic, Classical, and Americana, Eric’s original music is a contemporary tapestry of historic impressions. 
He performs fingerstyle and in altered tunings on both steel string and nylon string guitars and has recorded two albums of original music, titled Dry Spell and Seven Sails. Visit his website at www.ravensfellmusic.com