Beyond ArtHive October 5, 2008

Beyond ArtHive brings together three members of Austin's old ArtHive Art Studio. The work of ArtHive founder Nathan Jensen, and Arthive artists Chris Chappell and Michael Schliefke will be on display on Sunday, October 5th, from noon to 6pm.

The old ArtHive was run from a spare space in the back of Nathan Jensen's rental house in north central Austin from 2001 – 2003. This ambitious studio housed a variety of artists working in a variety of mediums that built a tight knit community that worked side by side and frequently exhibited together.

Today, Nathan has a smaller space on Anderson Lane. It is a place for painting, a place for art classes and at times has served as office space for animation projects and artist meetings. Nathan has been working on his current children's book illustrations there. Michael has been teaching classes. Chris has been painting paintings of the street outside. One recent Saturday, Nathan, Chris and Michael were there all together and toyed with the idea of showing together again. A date was chosen, space was divided out, and now the small, fun reunion show is going to be a reality.

Nathan Jensen
Since the closing of the ArtHive, Nathan bought a house with his wife Cassandra where they are raising their two boys. Nathan has illustrated three children's books, and is currently working on his fourth. Over the past five years, he has been represented by the F8 Gallery and Wally Workman Gallery, and continues to work on new paintings. He also worked extensively on A Scanner Darkly and various other animation projects while painting the occasional mural.

Chris Chappell
Chris Chappell co-founded the Austin Figurative Gallery, which has taken the very lessons learned from the ArtHive and put into practice in a different vehicle, focusing on painting the human figure. In addition to continuously painting, Chris has worked on A Scanner Darkly, and continues to paint murals and work on design work for small Austin businesses. He continues to raise his three children with his wife in north central Austin.

Michael Schliefke
Over the past five years, Michael Schliefke has painted an extensive body of work from studios at Blue Genie Art and Bolm Studios, and began to run a series of group painting exhibitions. Paired with fellow painter Ian Shults, the two put together a string of award winning shows, from the Will There Ever Be a Rainbow to Radical Nautical. In addition to teaching painting and drawing classes from his studio, Michael also has written and drawn the first two 'Tales of the Really White Vigilante' comic books, dealing with the gentrification of East Austin.

Official Website: http://natespace.com/