August 28 - October 11, 2026

Opening Reception August 28, 5:30pm - 7:00pm

Artist Panel Discussion: September 9, 6:00-7:00pm

"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect." — Alice Walker

The Hardy Gallery is pleased to present the final exhibition of the 2026 season, Stories + Senses: Reflections in Nature, featuring the work of three artists whose practices are deeply rooted in the landscapes of northeastern Wisconsin: Mary Ellen Sisulak (Ellison Bay), Naomi Moes Jenkins (Egg Harbor/De Pere), and Marilyn Prescott (Appleton).

Though each artist works in a distinct visual language and medium, all begin with the same act, paying close attention. Long walks through the woods, quiet moments in the garden, bike rides along gravel roads, and time spent observing the changing rhythms of local flora and fauna become catalysts for making. Rather than simply depicting the natural world, these artists translate lived experiences into works that communicate memory, sensation, and wonder.

For Marilyn Prescott, inspiration begins on daily walks with her dogs along the Fox River shoreline just beyond her doorstep. Instead of relying on photographs, Prescott absorbs the landscape through direct experience, allowing its colors, textures, and rhythms to settle into memory before returning to the studio. Her richly layered abstract paintings evoke these walks through subtle references to animals, trees, ice formations, stones, and tangled branches. Incorporating sari silk thread, fabric, monotype collage, charcoal, and mulberry paper, Prescott constructs topographical surfaces that reveal themselves gradually and reward slow, attentive viewing.

The tactile quality of Naomi Moes Jenkins' sculptures feels as though it has emerged directly from Prescott's painted landscapes, extending the viewer's journey into a realm where ecology and mythology intersect. Primarily self-taught, Jenkins approaches sculpture through storytelling, experimentation, and an intuitive understanding of materials. Her connection to nature extends beyond subject matter into process itself, often incorporating pulped invasive plant species transformed into a paper-mâché-like material. The resulting sculptures blur the boundaries between natural forms and imagined beings, inviting viewers to reconsider their relationship with the environments they inhabit.

Mary Ellen Sisulak brings yet another perspective to this conversation. After beginning her artistic career creating handcrafted and hand-painted leather bags and accessories, she has developed an expansive practice encompassing water-soluble encaustic, etching, and mixed media. Her innovative paintings on carved and formed leather stretched over wood panels, often embedded with stones and other natural elements, demonstrate both extraordinary craftsmanship and a deep reverence for the tactile qualities of the natural world. Rich in texture and symbolism, Sisulak's work evokes the mystery, quiet, and transformative power found deep within the forest.

Together, these three artists offer complementary perspectives on the experience of being immersed in nature. Through diverse materials, processes, and visual languages, they invite viewers to slow down, look closely, and reconnect with the emotional, sensory, and imaginative possibilities that emerge when we give the natural world our full attention.

Adam Fulwiler
Executive Director

Exhibit

Opening Reception

Artist Panel Discussion

Naomi Moes-Jenkins

Artist Statement

When viewers engage with my artwork, I hope they connect to its emotional essence, whether it’s a figurative piece or a complex narrative. I aspire for the symbolism to resonate deeply within their hearts.

Artist Biography

Naomi is a self-taught sculptor who creates with instinct, intention, and emotional depth. Her work bridges ancient symbolism with modern storytelling—expressing internal transformation through powerful, tactile forms. She believes deeply in the connection between materials and message, choosing each medium to serve the heart of the concept.

Originally trained in drawing and painting, Naomi discovered her love for sculpture early in life. Over the years, that passion grew into a professional practice fueled by constant experimentation. She began with paper mâché, evolved into resin-based structures for greater strength, and now works extensively in bronze, ceramics, and mixed media—combining traditional methods with new discoveries.

Each piece reflects Naomi’s personal growth and a fascination with art history, mythology, and the shared stories of humankind. Her figures and creatures—especially horses and women—embody resilience, complexity, and transformation.

Naomi has studied under respected sculptors and instructors across the country, including Keith Carter, Kevin Chambers, Eric Thorsen and Susan Kraus amongst others. Her ongoing education has deepened her skill in anatomy, casting, and conceptual development—each step pushing her vision further.

Naomi’s work has earned multiple awards across juried exhibitions, including Best of Show at Wisconsin Women in the Arts in Kenosha, numerous honors from Arti Gras, Art Street, and the Neville Public Museum. She has been represented in galleries in North Carolina, California and Door County although not represented at this time. She has private studios in Sturgeon Bay and Egg Harbor in Door County Wisconsin.

Marilyn Prescott

Represented by Idea Gallery

Artist Statement

My explorations along the Fox River in NE Wisconsin provide the springboard for these most recent paintings. They are a sort of seasonal river diary—a lived-in record of a moment during a solitary walk which I aim to turn into a shared visceral history. I don’t show you the woods; I want you to feel lost in them.

Working with a variety of eccentric and unusual materials as well as acrylic media, I focus on fragments of botanical and geological texture, vascular or branch-like networks, water reflections and luminous backgrounds. I wrestle all these diverse textures into a painting which becomes an effort to collapse time—to invite my viewer to walk along with me in willful immersion into a natural world that may be time limited.

Recognizing the continuity between inner biological systems and outer natural forms provides a deep psychological foundation for these paintings. I am interested in how the same forces that shape rivers, weather, erosion, decay and biological growth also exist at microscopic, planetary and psychological scales. This conviction motivates my effort to convey moments where natural systems disclose an embedded spiritual presence, co-existent with human consciousness.

Artist Biography

Marilyn Prescott is new to Wisconsin, having moved from California in 2023. She is a mixed media painter with 13 solo shows and several curated group shows to her credit. Since settling beside the Fox River in Appleton, she has fallen in love with NE Wisconsin…”our cool, fragrant air, our abrupt, dramatic weather shifts, and our abundant deciduous trees.”

Her current series, Rivering, is directly inspired by her love for the Fox River environs, where she walks and hikes the woods and deer trails every day with her beloved dogs.

She describes herself as “the supervisor of accidents”- developing imagery intuitively, by responding to evolving colors, shapes, textures in acrylic paint, monotype collage, ink, silk stripping and other experimental media, then wrestling all of it into works that honor and celebrate the mystery and magic of our natural world.

Mary Ellen Sisulak

Represented by Turtle Ridge Gallery and Edgewood Orchard Gallery

Artist Statement

Door County has an often forgotten side that resides in the northern peninsula and the Mink River Estuary. My work is inspired by this lack of exposure and seeks to illustrate the beauty of the area. The subjects are personal to me but also universal: trees, rocks, water, plants and animals.

My rambles take me deep into the forest, along the quiet shores and bluffs. I am awed by the gift of nature and feel there are unseen forces under the surface. My paintings deepen my relationship to the magic that is inherent in nature.

I am primarily focused on two mediums, mixed media and encaustic, because they allow me to express my subjects in a more dimensional way. My mixed media pieces incorporate leather stretched over a wood panel as opposed to the traditional canvas. This allows me to manipulate the surface by forming, carving and embedding stones or other elements. The natural properties of leather give a unique appearance when painted. My encaustic pieces use hot wax or water-soluble encaustic paints to create a textured surface with fine details. Both mediums pay homage to the sensory experience of nature.

My compositions are more illusionistic than strictly realistic but they are filled with fine details. An example is “Artifact” a 30 x 40 inch mixed media piece which describes cedar trees contorted around rock formations and caves. Extreme natural forces formed this habitat. My painting seeks to connect the spirituality of past inhabitants with my own experience of mystery. It shows what is above ground and hints at what could still be underground.

Artist Biography

Mary Ellen Sisulak’s early education included encaustic, etching, life drawing and metalwork. She furthered her skills receiving a BFA in Painting from University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

She moved to rural Door County, WI in 1974 to be closer to nature and to carve out life as an artist. At the time, Door County had an established history of artists, writers, and performers. With a vanguard of like-minded artists, Jim and Phyllis Ingwersen, the Topelmanns and the Aurelius’, she found acceptance into a creative community and dug roots. She taught at The Peninsula School of Art and sought to establish herself near The Clearing in Ellison Bay.

She and her husband purchased land near the Mink River, a rather wild and undeveloped area. They built a home and gallery, raising two sons. The lifestyle they chose included learning new life skills. They raised food and learned the ways of the woods.

For 35 years Turtle Ridge handcrafted design studio and juried art shows became her source of income. She developed a line of handcrafted handbags, wearable art and pieced wall art. Turtle Island Gallery, a second location in Egg Harbor was added in 1993-1998. The second location showed her work and that of many other artists and craftspersons. Three shows were promoted each season.

In 2002 she received a grant to paint and journal about her neighbor, the Mink River Nature Preserve. This started the transition to full time painting. An addition to her studio gallery in 2018 provided the space for her to show her mixed media paintings, encaustics and etchings.

Active in the arts community, she developed Ellison Bay Arts to promote arts in Northern Door County. A collaboration led to transforming a neglected lot in her town into a park with murals and landscaping. Anxious to inspire others about creating, she started a series of “Art Camps” at Turtle Ridge. Recently, she collaborated with Write On of Door County, making over 20 etched bench plaques honoring donors.

Her new work focuses primarily on two mediums, mixed media and encaustic. Her mixed media pieces incorporate leather stretched over a wood panel as opposed to a traditional canvas. This allows for manipulation of the surface by forming, carving and embedding stones or other elements. The encaustic work uses hot wax and water-soluble encaustic paints to create a textured surface with fine details. Both mediums pay homage to the sensory experience of nature.