RIVER FALLS – Art’s House’s current show “Coming Into Being” features three mature artists: Megan Riley, Roy Annett and Leslie Batt- Lutz. Two words describe my overall impression: surreal and ethereal. The Meet the Artist opening last Thursday provided an opportunity to ask the artists questions regarding how their art came into being.

Ever the enigma, Annet told me everyone has their own story. Then he encouraged me to apply my own interpretation to his art. Part of Annett’s artist’s statement reads, “I just like to burn things and let the spirit lead me.” His drawings are exquisite, and his choice of melodramatic, Victorian framing reflects his depth of planning. Annett’s mixed-media art pieces are often untitled and filled with found objects. They may have the feel of everything from a cabaret to lost souls floating in the ether.

Riley calls her work playful and surreal. When looking at Riley’s self-portraits they all contain the same frontal view from the shoulders up. The art connoisseur will see the area above her mouth covered with a myriad of coordinated delectable foods in flashy well-painted oil colors.

“I like to eat,” Riley stated as a personal introduction. She says she uses the food both as a disguise and a declaration. The eyes (portals to the soul) are totally covered just like her frontal lobe. Her work is bright, enjoyable and insightful.

Batt-Lutz’s sage looking ceramic sculptured figures seem to stand at the edge of reality. They bring personification to ideas with names like Waves, Lake Superior, Seeker, Under the Sea, Holding the Ocean, Dig It and Folly. Batt-Lutz is fast to share all the techniques she has employed while calling her sculptured figures into being. Her use of stoneware-raku, stone ware-saggerfired, earthenware-under-glazed, as well as over-glazed, all give her sculptures wide range of rich surfaces and moods.

Batt-Lutz ceramic sculpted figures run from $125-$250. Riley’s self-portraits cost $450 per canvas while her prints are available at $35 each. Annett’s art comes with tags that say, if interested in a sale contact the artist.

The Artist’s Opening last Thursday was accompanied by amazing original guitarist Rudy Rudesill. The “Coming Into Being” show runs from Sept. 4 through Oct. 24 at Art’s House Gallery, 127 N. Main St., River Falls. Plan to attend the Haunted Halloween exhibit by the UWRF art students Oct. 29-Nov. 1.