Stephanie Barenz is a painter, printmaker, and architecture lover from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her work is created with the hope that it would stimulate a conversation about the sanctity of knowing one's neighbor, the importance of locality and the elevation of the commonplace to the remarkable.
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Stephanie Barenz

Artist and Educator

My City, My Actual Home - Category: My City, My Home

It is Wednesday and that means I post under the category "My City, My Home." I thought today it would be fun to show you my actual home here in MKE. After the opening I went on a cleaning and reorganizing rampage. I still have to get to my studio, which I will post on Monday. 

I was a little paranoid to show you my place because I have mild OCD...ok...severe OCD when it come to my house. Ask my poor sister Jenni who had to live with me for a year. The poor thing couldn't even put a dirty spoon in the sink without me freaking out. 

Since I am on an artist's budget I get about five dollars a year to put towards my apartment. Ok, that is also an exaggeration but I really don't have a lot to work with. This is fine with me though because one of my favorite things to do is go thrifting and resurrect old junk. I added up what I have spent on furniture for my place in the last six years and it came to four hundred fifty dollars. That includes my mattress, couch, dining room set and everything. The majority of my furniture my Grandpa Barenz made in his off time and I inherited it after he passed away. My favorite piece of furniture is a dresser he made that I restained a mossy green. 

One perk of being an artist is that you can afford great art because all your artist friends will trade with you, I have examples of some of my favorite works below. I used to be a resident at the Chicago Printmaker's Collaborative and I always crash their Twenty Dollar poster sale in the spring. I have works by Amos Kennedy, Jay Ryan, and many more because of this awesome event. I will spend here and there on a good rug or something to bring the room together and I usually find it at Target of IKEA. Other than that, I just spend a lot of time painting old furniture and trying to bring odd lot pieces together with the help of a can of spray paint. 

The Milwaukee thrift stores are AMAZING. I have lived in a couple of places and I have never come across so many great finds. I usually find a lot of vintage suitcases, gold leafed glasses, funky knick-knacks, and modern looking furniture. I would tell you where the best thrift store is in town but if I did I would have to kill you. 

So without further ado here is La Casa de Estefania. 

 

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One of my favorite paintings by Stephen Hoskins

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Grandpa's dresser.

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Left: Print of Johnny that I got from Hatch Show Print in TN. Right: Dennis O'Malley, one of my favorite Chicago printmakers.

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Painting by Sara Mulloy

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