Artist Exhibits Inspiration At the State Fair

Brad Nuorala, 68, of Plymouth likes to hang out in back alleys and check out graffiti.

No, he's not looking for trouble, but inspiration for his art. A retired art teacher, Nuorala has been able to devote more time to his abstract oil paintings, which fill his home studio.

"It all derives from observation of the urban environment," Nuorala said. "I'm interested in seeing graffiti and the look of telephone polls where announcements or notices were once put and then ripped off and have left fragments."

Nuorala talking for 37 years at local schools including Golden Valley High School then Hopkins High School. When he retired in 2001, he started to do more with his artwork and has showed it at Flanders Art Gallery that now resides in the Lakes Bank in Minneapolis and at the Platform Gallery each winter in Tucson, Ariz.

He said he is expressive with paint and linear separations set against different textures and patterns. He takes photos of things that inspire him whether it’s a cactus or metal plate on the ground.

"The arrangement got me thinking," he said of a recent encounter with a prickly-pear cactus. "I get inspiration from shapes."

Nuorala has shown pieces at the Minnesota State Fair several times. This year he is exhibiting an acrylic on canvas piece. He's also been the superintendent in charge of the Fine Arts building at the Fair. This year he is a consultant for a former student, Jim Clark of Hopkins, who is the superintendent.

"It's a big plus to show your work at the fair," Nuorala said. "So many people see it."

His artwork was one of 413 selected from 2,330 submissions selected to be in 100^th Fine Arts Exhibition this year at the State Fair.