When Dougie Padilla stands in front of a canvas in his Pepin, Wisconsin studio, paintbrush in hand, he doesn’t necessarily know what will happen next. But there’s a good chance that letters, and then words, will materialize in his colorful, Mexican-inflected creations.
“I don’t set out to put words in my paintings -- or images, or color, or line,” says Padilla, whose work has shown in museums from the Minneapolis Institute of Art to the Museé Halle Saint Pierre in Paris. “When I create, I have no idea why what happens, happens.”
 
Padilla’s visionary word paintings will be a part of the upcoming “WORD” group art show at Abode Gallery in Stockholm, Wisconsin, with a free opening wine and cheese reception on Friday, August 19th from 4:30 to 6:30pm.
 
WORD is the fifth, and perhaps the most eclectic, exhibit in Abode's series of six themed art shows featuring the work of local and regional artists. In addition to Padilla, the WORD show includes interactive installation creator Kevin Dobbe (Rochester, MN), painter Dietrich Sieling (Minneapolis), writer and rug maker Mary Logue (Stockholm), and poet John L. Barbetta (Pepin).
 
“It’s hard to put into words, so to speak, the incredible variety of artistic expression in this show,” says Abode Gallery owner and exhibit curator Alan Nugent. “The theme of ‘words as art’ resonates through pieces as different as Mary Logue’s poetry on a hooked rug, Dietrich Sieling’s words woven like threads through his drawings, and Kevin Dobbe’s interactive poetry and music installation.”