Less than a brushstroke

By Caitlin Bittner

On the top of the hill just past Effigy Mounds, there is a basement studio full of artwork that follows the life of its creator, Andrew Wroble.

Born in Casper, Wyo., Wroble had a long trek to becoming a resident of Harpers Ferry, Iowa. Yet, his love of art has made most of the journey with him. Wroble said his first real interest in art came out of being drafted into the United States Army and sent to Europe in the 1970s. “I love being an artist,” said Wroble. “Ever since then, I’ve always painted and I’ve always drawn.”

Wroble recalled his days spent at the Top Hand, Cate and O’mea Cattle Company, in Libby, Mont. “The environment controls art,” said Wroble.

And, in Montana, Wroble’s art was confined to what he described as “saddlebag drawing.” “It was on the back of those U.S. Forest Service posters,” laughed Wroble. “I’d take one down and then someone would put one back up. I had a lot of paper.”

But, after about two years at the cattle company, Wroble picked up and moved to Minnesota. “I just sold my horse and saddle and jumped on an Amtrak,” Wroble remarked.

“When I got there, that was the definition of starving artist, but there was a lot of camaraderie,” said Wroble, who was ready for anything life had in store.

An old studio was arranged for Wroble and he started getting into the art of street theatre. “I made things out of plastic because it was cheap and easy. I went to parks to collect tablecloths that people left. I’d clean the ketchup and stuff off of them, then make something new,” he explained.

Wroble recalled some of his best memories, which included once distributing every building costume in his collection for people to wear for Halloween. He placed thousands of miniature, plastic cows around the streets of Minneapolis, only to have to pick some of them up after a police officer stopped him. “I tried to pick up all of the cows, but many of them were gone already. Probably picked up by other people,” he said.

“I also set up a bull and a cow made out of sawhorses and tried to take Valentine’s Day pictures of couples out on dates. But, it was 14 below, so the pictures didn’t really turn out,” he said. “I did discover that you could scratch the black off of the Polaroids and I made each of the couples stick figures,” he chuckled.

There was also a New Year’s Eve performance that landed in the middle of the week. “Most often, you deal with an audience who isn’t prepared to be an audience. That night, a lot of businessmen were leaving work when we were performing. It was amazing. Some of them had their blinders on, and others were members of the audience,” said Wroble, who noted that this particular type of theatrical art was more in the face of the audience than other forms.

Through this type of artwork, Wroble was able to gain recognition in local schools, where students helped him collect plastic bags. And, eventually, Wroble’s work was noticed by the city of Minneapolis.
“I made some palm trees and the city got wind of it. Then they used my palm trees as an initiative to recycle,” he said.

Wroble also gained the attention of international designers, who offered him a new job in Singapore.

“People often think of it as being a third world country, but it’s extraordinary. It’s ultra-cosmopolitan,” stated Wroble, who lived in Singapore for a few years, working as a designer and production manager at Pegasus Stained Glass Studio.

In 1993, Wroble returned to the United States and decided that it was time to try something a little smaller. “I came to Harpers Ferry looking for my Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn adventure,” he said.
Now, 23 years later, Wroble still calls Harpers Ferry home. It’s where he met his wife, Dianne Whitney, and they melded their passions to create the Point of View Bed and Breakfast, which is chock-full of ink wash paintings.

Currently, Wroble is focused on intertwining trees both above ground and underwater. “When the Yellow River is clear and flat, you can look down and up and see the worlds of trees,” explained Wroble, adding that, with these subjects, long and narrow paintings are more comfortable for him.

Smaller paintings, he said, are more challenging to him. “I like to make odd-ball choices,” said Wroble.

While demonstrating some of his techniques, Wroble explained that he keeps two things in mind while painting: water seeks its own level and little lines build the narrative.

Wroble uses anything and everything to make his art. Mustard bottles, turkey basters and eyedroppers all have a part to play in his artwork. After allowing the ink to seep into the paper and dry a bit, Wroble washes it off in his studio sink. “Hot water has a different effect from cold,” said Wroble, while pointing out how the ink has changed.

“I don’t know the story when I start,” commented Wroble, “but as I work, I learn. I like to think of it as drawing shadows, something I learned from one of my instructors. He’d always say you weren’t drawing a face. You were drawing the shadows.”

He noted that painting is his biggest challenge. “I experiment all of the time. I think that’s part of my frustration.  It’s a rare day that I think I made something great,” Wroble said. “Sometimes you can look at [a piece] and see where I got angry. Then, sometimes you get something that functions—a happy accident or mistake.”

Although Wroble has expanded his repertoire to include colors, black is still his favorite, and not just because it’s cheaper. “Black is a color without meaning,” Wroble said, adding that blue, often thought to be a heavenly color, is also a melancholy color.

In discussing his large collection of finished works, Wroble said the first thing that was done on the painting usually looks like the last thing that was done, something all too frequent in painting his painting subjects. “Trees are interesting. People don’t move as much as trees do. That makes the drawing more dynamic,” he said.

To anyone else curious about the path of an artist, Wroble advised them to do it. “Persevere, persevere, persevere. That’s why I never say ‘no’ to my grandkids. Art’s pretty cool, and if you’re inspired, you can do anything,” he said.

Additionally, his grandchildren enjoy Wroble’s studio space for artistic endeavors of their own. “It’s fun having them work here, too,” Wroble said, smiling and pointing to a wall filled with drawings and paintings of his grandchildren.

In 2011, Wroble graduated from Upper Iowa University with a business degree because he wanted to go above and beyond to cultivate his passion for art. “The lack of business experience is something people often poopoo about artists,” he said, noting that self-promotion is the thing artists need to do.

Wroble has participated in numerous art festivals and gallery showings, displaying his artistic talent. His work is on display at the 45 Degree Gallery in Colorado Springs, Colo.; The Left Bank, in McGregor, Iowa; the Guttenberg Gallery and Creativity Center, in Guttenberg, Iowa; and on his website www.andrewjwroble.com.

If you would like to learn more about Wroble’s technique, he will be doing a demonstration at The Left Bank on July 16, from 1 to 3 p.m. Two of Wroble’s colored ink wash paintings, “Rejoin” and “Common Reach,” have been accepted into the 2016 Iowa State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition. Additionally, he will be exhibiting his work at Art in the Park, in Elkader, Iowa, Aug. 20-21, and at the Driftless Area Art Festival in Soldiers Grove, Sept. 17-18.

All in all, Wroble has one sentence to sum up his life so far. “It’s an interesting life being an artist.”