New artists join Tower Gallery
The Tower Gallery recently announced the addition of Anne Schroeder and Marti Koehler to the cooperative gallery of local artists, offering a new and unique medium and subject matter.
A Fort Myers resident since 2017, Schroeder paints fish, birds and mermaids on feathers in great detail within frames of weathered, wooden lobster traps. She called the Keys her home for most of her life.
Schroeder spent a great deal of time boating, snorkeling and reef diving. Exploring the Florida bay back country was another adventure, Shells, feathers and driftwood were her treasures. At a young age, she learned how to work with different media thanks to an art guild that awarded students supplies.
At 16, Schroeder received a scholarship to the Ringling School of Arts. At the age of 18, she won a scholarship through the Florida International University to study at the University of Bologna in Italy.
In 2004, feathers became a prominent fixture in Schroeder’s work. She loved how their patterns duplicated the patterns and colors of reefs and tropical fish. Schroeder created collages and jewelry, later starting to paint on them. She does not dye the feathers and rarely trims them. All are naturally shed and responsibly and legally sourced from parrot rescues, private owners and rare breeders.
Schroeder’s work has been featured on PBS’s “Art Loft” series. Her largest recent works are installed at the Christian Louboutin Miami in Miami — a triptych of feather collages with each being 8-by-4 feet.
Koehler’s art includes paintings in oils and acrylics and mixed media pieces. Colorful images of synchronized swimmers in pools, surfers at beaches, nostalgic moments, and coastal flora and fauna.
Growing up in Southwest Florida, she was always at the beach or YMCA pool as a child. Memories of aqua water, sunbaked days and balmy nights inspire Koehler’s collection. Each painting is approached with a mixed media exploration, and often continues past that to a more developed memory or thought.
Her Synchronized Swimmer series is inspired by her time in the pool as a girl. Joyful and paradoxical, the group of swimmers is in a pool, poised above the water with giddy charm while, in contrast, they are churning below to stay afloat. Synchronized swimmers are used by Koehler as a metaphor for the way people often present themselves on the outside — above the water — while sometimes hiding contradictory feelings of chaos as they churn internally — below the surface.
Koehler has a master’s degree in art education and art therapy.
For more information, call 239-472-4557 or visit www.towergallery.net.
The Tower Gallery is at 751 Tarpon Bay Road, Sanibel.