Deb Baughman

Pulaski, Iowa painter using both oils and watercolors in an earthy palette.I work plein air and landscape work from the midwest, in impressionist style. I also do figurative work, sometimes using vintage portraits from old albums or from photos I have taken. I look for rhythms and subtlety in shape or color.

Savannah Belgarde

Savannah is a local artist. She grew up in Adel, Iowa where she developed her love for art. Savannah graduated from Grand View University with a degree in Art education. Although Savannah can create realistic paintings, she has developed an abstract style in which she enjoys creating her paintings in. Savannah first draws out her images and then splatter paints her canvas. She then uses the brake up from the splatter paint to create her paintings.

Sara Burrier
http://www.sarabillustration.com

Sara Burrier discovered early her love for fairies, mermaids, and the fairytale realm. It wasn’t until college that she learned how impactful and whimsical fairytale imagery could be. She received a BFA in Illustration and moved back to her home town where she began teaching art to children at the Des Moines Art Center. Over the next decade she built her own freelance studio, Sara B Illustration, and licensed her images out for puzzles, greeting cards, and other merchandise. Sara has been recognized as a leading mermaid and fairy watercolor and pencil artist throughout the world. Nature, floral, birds, and her faith inspire her beautiful paintings. The best parts of her job are selling her work in person, giving out smiles, helping others find their light, and writing art books. When Sara isn’t creating, she's either cooking, spending time with her friends, or taking walks with her family.

Lisa Cooper
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-Cooper-Artist/1647808868787818

Lisa Cooper is an Australian, who has been living in Johnston, Iowa since 2000. Drawing and painting as a child and teen, she had a hiatus for about 30 years, before resuming her passion with drawing and painting in particular. Her art hobby has become a full-time occupation and Lisa's pet portraits are shipped all over the USA and also overseas. 
 

Pam Douglas
www.pamelasdouglas.com

Art is a very important part of my life journey for many reasons.  After many years in the corporate world, I came to realize that many things about the corporate culture contradicted with my sense of existence.  Twenty three years ago, I left the financial security, great benefits, corporate wardrobe, pages of multi-tasking reminders, corporate politics, false sense of who I was and migraine headaches behind to pursue becoming an artist.  Many people can't seem to fathom why I made such an irrational decision, but make it I did.

My decision to make such a drastic change wasn't a total whim, I had been taking art lessons from Mary Muller for several years and found I loved the challenge of perfecting my skills and the constant learning of something new.  In my pursuit of becoming a professional artist, I have spent a great deal of time in self study but have also gleaned much from many accomplished artists willing to share their wisdom and knowledge about art and becoming an artist.

I currently specialize in painting and drawing.  Under the mentorship of Jack Wilkes, my work has evolved from a traditional approach to investigating dimensional use of color.  My landscapes have moved from being site specific to the relationship of land to atmosphere.  Both my drawings and paintings have evolved from a method of layering color to building variations of depth and patterning producing both tension and harmony.

Charlotte Hamity

Art instruction: Cranbrook Academy and Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts in Michigan. History of art at Duke University. Chicago Academy of Fine Art. Several workshops with outstanding watercolor artists. After many jobs in commercial art I promised my self that when I retired I would pursue watercolor painting. Retirement was in the old mining town, Leadville, Colorado. There were old mines , mountains, waterfalls, Victorian homes and the high country flowers in my garden to paint. When I moved to Iowa these were replaced by old barns, rivers, landscapes and of course my garden. On joining the Saturday Sketch Club in Des Moines I learned of the many places to plein air paint and the shows that I could enter. I do several booth shows a year ...Reiman gardens, Valley Junction and others. I also enter the competitions at the Heritage Gallery, Hoyt Sherman, state fair, and the Iowa Watercolor Society in which I am a signature member.

Flo Hayes
www.flohayes.com

Award winning Chicago born artist, Floriana Hayes has indulged her passion for capturing the beauty of wild life, landscapes, still life and nature scenes in pastels and pen and ink. Her attention to detail makes every piece pop with vitality. While attending classes at the Art Institute of Chicago and the American Academy of Art, she spent a number of years traveling the art circuit exhibiting in various juried art fairs throughout the mid-west. Giving up the art circuit, she married, raised a family and completed a successful corporate career. She is reentering the world of art with gusto and a drive for beauty and creativity. She currently resides in Urbandale, Iowa with her husband Richard.

Leslie Leavenworth
www.leslieleavenworth.com

Although a nurse by profession, Leslie has studied painting since age six. Now that her three children are raised, she has time to focus on developing her art. Since moving here 15 years ago, Leslie has fallen in love with the quiet beauty of the Iowa landscape. You will find her most weekends painting on location with the Saturday sketch group or studying portraits under Mary Muller. Leslie is experimental in her approach, trying a variety of mediums and subject ideas. Her artwork is an eclectic mix of landscapes, portraits, and abstracts reflecting this journey of exploration. Leslie has participated in juried shows in the metro area, and her awards include first place in oil painting at the Iowa State Fair, first place at the Hoyt Sherman Women’s Show and best in show at the Heritage Gallery Des Moines Exhibited Show. She is a signature member of the Iowa Watercolor Society. She believes she paints best out of her joy, and she finds great satisfaction in communicating that joy to others through her artwork.

Jennifer Mally
www.haveaheartcreations.com     www.etsy.com/shop/jennifermally   www.facebook.com/JenniferMallyArt

Every painting of mine is meant to express the simple joy that can be found in any moment. They aren’t moments of any earth-shaking proportions – sometimes there’s a story there, sometimes not. I take an idea and bring it down to its most basic form, and then I throw back in unexpected detail and quirky interpretation. Nature is my greatest inspiration, but symbols and pattern are also predominant in my work. I have a love of rhythm and repetition, depth of color, and creating works that make you smile. I use acrylic paints on watercolor paper, canvas and sometimes wood and other found stuff to bring my ideas to life. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Minneapolis, I made Des Moines my home after getting my BA from Iowa State University. I studied art (graphic design, fiber art & independent study), journalism (advertising) and English (poetry).

Pat Millin
pmillin.com

My art journey began late in life. I have always been a lover of art and my painting career began while I was still a fulltime staff psychologist at the Women's State Prison in Mitchellville, Iowa. I started painting as my own therapy and eventually 'painted myself out of prison'! I have recently completed my "Saturday Night" series of restaurant paintings. In my compositions people are unknowns, just players in the street theatre of the artist's imagination. The artist is the arranger, not only of the actors but of the details on the stage on which they perform. From the tables and chairs to the glasses, candles, the furniture and accoutrements of the scene become a separate still life embedded within the larger work. As an artist, I have always been drawn to emphasizing the compositional elements of light and shadow combined with a sense of activity and movement.

Jo Myers-Walker
http://theleftbankstudio.com/

I have been a painter for over 35 years doing flowing watercolor in landscapes and birds often teaching workshops and retreats 

Misty and Shawn Palek
www.palekstudio.com

Misty has been a self-taught watercolor artist for the past 4 years, and really enjoys creating one-of-a-kind vibrant paintings.

Misty discovered her love of watercolors by trying various mediums before settling on watercolors as her norm.  Her paintings are a breath of fresh air with a punch of vibrant color. She has succeeded at representing still life as well as having a hint of abstract to represent a fun integral background.

In recent works she has developed a series of new paintings that take little animals and place them in interesting landscapes, for example a wiener dog in a peach row house.  She also is currently writing a children's book based on the series she's currently working on, called The FrVeges series.
  
Shawn received an airbrush for a present at age 19 and was continually asking the manager of the Art Store, in Ames, how to use it and she recommended that he take the airbrush classes at the local community college (DMACC).  He enjoyed learning what you could do with the airbrush and at the end of the next semester, after completing the Airbrush II Class, he entered the Commercial Art program graduating in 1993 with an AA in Commercial Art. 

He Currently teaches at DMACC, belongs to the art group Art-A-Holics, puts on his own themed art shows in the Des Moines area and has a home based studio where he does freelance work.