Carnelian Art Gallery has taken on the enterprise of offering art workshops and classes for the first time.

When I was hired, part of my role as the marketing director was to see how the gallery could best utilize its back open studio space, which offers about 1,500 square feet when you don’t factor in its three private studios. The first thought that came to my mind was educational programming. It seemed like a no brainer: We are located in the heart of downtown Madison, and from what I have come to learn, there’s demand for more spaces in the city for people to get their art on.

Now, after months of meetings with prospective instructors and research, I am proud to introduce you to the three artists who will be teaching Carnelian Art Gallery’s first few workshops. They are all from south central Wisconsin, and each have distinct talents and character traits they bring to the table.

There’s Chele Ramos, of Sun Prairie, whose quiet charm, as well as patient and kind demeanor is sure to engage those who wish to learn about painting with coffee and watercolors. There’s Kim Strittmater, of Portage, whose warmth and compassion is likely to motivate her oil painting class participants to never give up. Last but not least, there’s Julie Raasch, of Madison, whose energy, sharpness, and passion for her craft will probably greatly help the artists who take her website course propel their respective careers.

I am so unbelievably excited to work with these instructors, and to see the participants they teach discover their artistic prowess.

Chele Ramos

Ramos is a self-taught portrait artist. She has been painting since 2016, and has taught art classes for a couple of years. Ramos works with a variety of mediums such as watercolor, oils, acrylics, graphite, charcoal, pastels, and coffee. She also loves experimenting and trying new ways of painting and making art.

Her work includes a lot of portraiture, and is focused primarily on the topic if mental health. Ramos said she would describe her work as expressive contemporary realism, and her objective is to enhance human understanding of the self and humankind as a whole.

She believes that the best way to learn something is to do it, and so encourages her students to play with the medium, try new things, and, ultimately, to do what feels right to them.

“I’m so excited to bring my passion for teaching art to the downtown Madison community through the Carnelian Gallery,” Ramos said. “I’ll be offering two unique and engaging workshops: one on coffee painting and another on watercolor techniques. Both classes provide a welcoming space for creativity and self-expression, whether you’re experimenting with the warm, earthy tones of coffee or exploring the vibrant possibilities of watercolor. Attendees can expect hands-on instruction, fun techniques, and the opportunity to create beautiful pieces of art to take home. I can’t wait to share these creative experiences with you and inspire a love for painting.”

Kim Strittmater

Stritmatter finds inspiration in the natural world around her. She said she is fortunate to be near ancient land that has been carved by glaciers and is surrounded by healing waters, which Strittmater often goes to for grounding and reflection. Her style of painting blends the fluidity and emotion of impressionism with the detail and accuracy of realism, creating artworks that capture the intricacies and elevate the essence of her chosen subjects. She said she is particularly drawn to painting humans, animals, and plants.

These subjects offer opportunities to explore connection with the viewer, while examining nature’s design: a constant puzzle of form, texture, color, and light. Strittmater is obsessed and appreciative, and continues to experiment, develop, and discover her voice.

Through her work, Strittmater said she defiantly pushes back against the loud, chaotic, aggressive reality of our world with paintings that represent the natural gifts, stories, and experiences available to us, to remember that peace and beauty persist.

“It’s always been my dream to be a professional artist and art educator,” Strittmater said. “I love the Madison art scene and am really looking forward to connecting with artists of all levels and interests. Artists really flourish when we support and inspire one another. I’ve self trained through books, workshops, and instructional videos from living masters out of the famous Paint and Chisel Chicago art school, and feel I have a unique technique that should be shared with my peers. I’m excited to see students try the information on and really flourish in their practice. Carnelian is a beautiful gallery that will be a lovely and much needed home for growing and established artists. Can’t wait to see you there.”

Julie Raasch

Raasch is a jewelry artist and photographer. She has always been a creative person, loving art and making since she was a child. Raasch said she studied anthropology and biology in college, but after graduation realized she enjoyed creating the covers and making the graphics and diagrams for the papers she turned in more than writing them.

With that in mind she returned to school to study graphic design. After graduation Julie worked for years as a graphic and web designer.She designed for real estate agents, Brava Magazine, several small businesses, and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Raasch said she has also designed and built websites for several arts organization and artists

Generally, Raasch has been a working artist since 2012 so she said she is well-versed in what makes a good artist’s website.

“I’m excited to be teaching Websites for Artists at Carnelian Art Gallery,” Raasch said. “I look forward to sharing my knowledge and years of experience with other artists. To help them determine what they want their website to do for them, to figure out which platforms would be best for their sites, and to guide them on what to include in their site. To share web best practice so they will be able to create a site that will work for them and be a good user experience for visitors. Artists will walk away with an idea of which platforms will work best for them and with a start on the content to plug in when they build their site.”