Chance meeting at Menards leads to side-by-side exhibit for two area artists

Susan Savastuk knows how to save your life. She also paints landscapes (and other subjects).

But sitting outdoors maneuvering brushes, papers and daddy-longlegs is not for her. A retired registered nurse and a military veteran, she met photographer Don Waters between stacks of lumber one day at Menards.

Now they're doing a two-monthlong exhibition, July and August, at Bloomington's Engraving and Stamp Center, 218 N. Madison St. From 5-8 p.m. July 7, the artists will host an opening reception, during the July Gallery Walk to stand side-by-side with their side-by-side artwork.

Waters takes picture of the outdoors and scoffs at insects buzzing him. This year he's found plenty of art-worthy dragonflies and bees. "An insect of any kind adds a lot to a flower image," he said. "Or is it a flower adds a lot to a bug image?"

More: Artists' divergent styles converge in fiber show at the Vault Gallery

You're an artist? Same here!

Savastuk and Waters met in 2017 in an aisle at the local Menards, where Waters worked. They did what creatives do: talked art.

They're combining talents as colleagues, in their exhibition “Juxtaposition: The Photographer and the Painter.”

"What I have learned from Don is that collaboration with another artist outside of your interest area can certainly provide a whole other layer of creativity to your art," Savastuk said.

Ever interested in photography, she had originally wanted to pursue it as a career in the Navy.

"Unfortunately, they didn’t have any openings and denied ship assignments to women, so I enlisted in the Air Force instead."

Composition and subject are seminal for both painters and photographers, and Savastuk discovered that she and Waters see those qualities similarly. Variance, which they also both use, matters, too.

"I like painting contrasts between light and shadow and find Don's photography often incorporates those same themes.

What's in the upcoming exhibit?

A photographer who takes pictures that look like paintings and a painter making pieces that look like photographs is what attendees will see, juxtaposed.

Waters culls ideas from members of the Bloomington Photography Club and tries new genres suggested by mentors there.

He uses Adobe products to edit and plays with combining images, adding textures and colors and sometimes inserting a different sky. Editing software such as Adobe's Lightroom and Photoshop lured him deeper into photography, as he acquired the ability to manipulate a photo and share it on social media.

How they met, amid lumber and wing nuts

"As a member of the building materials team at Menards I frequently walked the lumber and plywood aisles," Waters said. "When I spotted Susan she looked a little lost and maybe a little out of place."

Savastuk inquired which board would work well with paints — acrylic, pastel and oil. Waters asked about her plans. She has painted professionally since 2017, using oils in a photorealistic style.

"When she told me she was an artist," Waters said, "I told her that I had a photography hobby."

Savastuk went home, Waters' shift ended, and they became friends on Facebook.

Waters take pictures; Savastuk does her thing with them

Waters, who worked in sales and service at Fastenal (inventory management, machining, etc.) before Menards, posted a picture he had taken of a barn. To get a composite effect, he inserted fireworks over the structure. Savastuk wanted it as a reference for a painting. Flattered, Waters agreed, although he said her painting made more of a social statement than did his photograph.

"I told her that if she saw anything of mine on Facebook that she liked to go ahead and paint it, but please use my name as the reference."

Intrigued with Savastuk's style, Waters has learned to appreciate her approach — "in a different light" — on his photos.

"I've not worked with other painters, if you call this work, but would entertain doing so," Waters said.

If you go

WHAT: “Juxtaposition: The Photographer and the Painter,” art exhibition by photographer Don Waters and painter Susan Savastuk

WHEN: Gallery Walk reception is 5-8 p.m. July 7. Exhibition runs all of July and August.

WHERE: Engraving and Stamp Center, 218 N. Madison St.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Chance meeting leads to side-by-side show for two Bloomington artists