You can find steam engines on display at Two Rivers Bank, too

By SALLY Y. HAYES

Mt. Pleasant News

A unique perspective of steam engines through the eyes of local digital artist Michael Foley is on display in the Two Rivers Bank and Trust lobbies, both in Mt. Pleasant and Burlington.

Foley was born and raised in Keokuk and currently resides in Montrose. He attended Northeast Missouri State University where he studied art. The artist then went on to teach art at Ft. Madison High School as well as schools in Hamilton, Ill. and Cardinal of Eldon. He is in his 13th year as a visual communications professor at Iowa Wesleyan College, teaching courses on photography, internet design, animation and interactive media.

Foley began working with the ?Early Power? theme five years ago as part of a class assignment.

He took one of his classes to the Mt. Pleasant Central Park to photograph the steam engine that resides there. They were only allowed one long distance photo, requiring the students to focus on certain aspects of the antique machine. The students were eventually asked to manipulate their photographs in such a manner that part of it looked to be moving.

Large prints on both canvass and paper from Foley?s collection titled ?Early Power? are found throughout the Mt. Pleasant lobby located south of the square on Washington. The lobby turned gallery is open to the public.

?I want my photos to look and feel like paintings,? said Foley when explaining his medium. He first takes photographs, many up-close, of various subjects with his Nikon D70 camera and then manipulates the pictures with computer programs.

To extend the painting look and feel the former commercial printer and graphic designer prints his photographs on canvass.

?I want the viewer to see our world in a new way through digital enhancement. Things are not always as we see them at first glance,? he said. The way in which he manipulates the photos gives an illusion of movement and often highlights a certain color.

?Manipulating photographs in the computer satisfies my engineering penchant while also cultivating my right-brain creativity,? continued Foley.

His ?Early Power? collection includes pieces featuring steam engines, trains, threshers and other machinery often witnessed at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion. ?Most artists at different times become obsessed with one subject,? explained the local artist.

Two Rivers Bank and Trust will be hosting Foley?s work through the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion and into the fall. Two Rivers Bank and Trust has put other local artists on display and hopes to feature more, explained Kathy Nellor, Chief Retail Banking Officer.

?We have so much talent in our community and we love being able to display it,? said Nellor of the current art installation.