2022 Painting
Deb Baughman | Pulaski
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Plein air, landscapes and Midwestern scenes in oil and watercolor. I look for the rhythm in lines in fields and industrial views. I like barns, elevator, bins, alleys.
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Nancy Carlson | Ankeny
Nancy Carlson Expressions
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I draw what I see. I see the shadows and create the colors and shapes in an object to reflect those.
I have discovered that by using a black paint pen and acrylic paint on glass, an impression of stained glass is created on the windows. I especially like to view the windows and other flat glass pieces against different colored backgrounds. The changes in the color on the glass is nothing short of amazing. I also paint on glass objects, such as wine/martini/margarita glasses, vases, candle holders and more. These are completed with a usable finish. Most of my work is done using upcycled pieces found at thrift shops, Craig's List and the ReStores. I have a BA in Graphic Design from Iowa State University and spent my professional career in advertising sales. |
Nash Cox | Chariton
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Nash Cox is a self taught Artist who works exclusively in watercolors to create highly detailed automotive paintings. Sourcing images from his own photographs, Nash's paintings present the viewer with a little bit of the soul and a little bit of the history of each vehicle he paints.
An internationally recognized Artist, Nash's paintings can be found in private collections as far as Puerto Rico and Australia. A signature member of the Iowa Watercolor Society, Nash works from his studio and gallery located in Chariton, Iowa where he lives with his wife, Terry, and their two dogs. When not in his studio, this Iowa native can be found at the occasional car show or more likely wandering obscure country roads in his seventy year old truck in search of his next automotive muse. |
Cheryl Gates | Perry
Shuffle Design Studio
FB: cygates18
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I am a Midwest girl who grew in Indiana and earned a Bachelor’s of Fine Art degree from Ball State University. My art is very much inspired by the flowers of the midwest, the lighting and landscape of the midwest and our travels to the south and west. I work with traditional art forms of watercolor, gouache and oil painting using the modern medium of an iPad and apple pencil to create digital works of art that I print on fine art papers, ranging from larger prints to greeting cards.
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Lacy Jennings | Van Meter
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Lacy Jennings is a 5th Generation resident of Van Meter Iowa who attended The University of Northern Iowa on a Department of Art Full Tuition Scholarship and received a B.A. in Art Education in 2004. Lacy taught high school visual art at Perry Community School and Adel Desoto Minburn Community school for 13 years before leaving teaching to pursue her interest in studio art. Her experience teaching art lead to a diversity of interest in media and concept.
I am curious about a great many things and find that all are connected rather then compartmentalized as current culture teaches us. Media is simply the vehicle through which concept is communicated. I choose the media that best suits the concept. Currently I am interested in and capturing and creating opportunities to experience real moments. The portraits I create emphasize the real candid moments captured by the always present camera. I am interested in elevating photographs that express a real emotional reaction to everyday events. Most of these photographs are dismissed due to poor photographic qualities. This leads to our favorite personal moments being left on digital cards or social media and replaced on our walls by moments curated by portrait photographers. I improve upon, composition, remove clutter, correct poor light and focus to create a display worthy artwork that shows the true nature of the subject. |
Katie Jensen | Des Moines
Nostalgic Creative
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Katie Jensen is an interdisciplinary studio artist working in Des Moines Iowa. She graduated from Drake University with a BFA in painting. Her paintings range from ethereal landscapes to vibrant abstracts which are heavily influenced by nature and music. In addition to painting Katie also has a passion for fiber art and creating unique pieces from found objects. You can find her at Studio 404 at The Fitch Building or on Instagram as @nostalgiccreative and “Nostalgic Creative†on Facebook.
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Leslie Leavenworth | West Des Moines
Leslie Leavenworth Art
FB: Leslie Leavenworth Art
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Leslie Leavenworth is a painter who is in pursuit of excellence of craftsmanship and in images that invite others into a place of peace. You will find her in her studio or on location in Iowa creating paintings of landscapes, people, still lifes and the occasional foray into abstracts. |
Jimmy Navarro
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James Navarro is a Northern Wisconsin native, now living and working in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended MCAD in Minneapolis, Minn. where he received his BFA in Design with a focus in painting, illustration and furniture design. James is best known for his modern impressionistic approach of the Midwestern landscape and his contemporary still-life compositions. He approaches his work in a traditional manner painting en plein air then in studio creating new art based off of those outdoor painting experiences. His work is representational observations that concentrates on light, shadows, and rich chromas. He is inspired not only by the beauty of the natural outdoors but also finds creativity in everyday objects. When James is not painting he spends his spare time working on the family farm or logging running miles on backroad trails.
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Louise O'Donnell | Ames
FB: Louise O'Donnell
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I have enjoyed participating in the Art on the Prairie event for several years. I graduated from ISU in Graphic Design and worked throughout the US in the catalog industry. I retired to Iowa my home state and determined to paint, returning to my roots in more ways than one. I work in pastel, watercolor and oil. My work is representational and I try to evoke some emotion in what I portray. I love the big skies of Iowa and the people. Often I paint from old photos, trying to capture the feeling of growing up in this state.
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Shawn Palek | Slater
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Shawn Palek mainly uses the airbrush to paint things he enjoys, whether it be pop-culture to hyper-realism. By taking daily life as subject matter while commenting on the everyday aesthetic of middle class values, Palek touches various overlapping themes and strategies. Several reoccurring subject matters can be recognized, such as the relation with popular culture and media, working with repetition, provocation and the investigation of the process of expectations. His paintings often refer to pop and mass culture. Using written and drawn symbols, a world where light-heartedness rules and where rules are undermined is created. Play is a serious matter: during the game, different rules apply than in everyday life and even everyday objects undergo transubstantiation. His works are characterized by the use of everyday objects in an atmosphere of middleclass mentality in which recognition plays an important role. Shawn Palek currently lives and works in Des Moines, IA.
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Betsy Peterson
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Art has always been a part of Betsy, with early expression naturally spilling out as she experienced the world around her. Following a formal art education at University of Iowa, Betsy taught elementary art before home-schooling her two sons. Inspiration was everywhere and Betsy continued to express what she experienced in soft-sculpted figures with twig limbs, paintings and drawings.
With bright colors, whimsical figures, and meaningful words, Betsy’s art draws from her soul. Her love of words, color, and childlike spontaneity pour into each piece creating art that inspires generosity, gratitude and joy. Beyond the gallery, Betsy has created award-winning pieces, commissioned work, and public art with the talent and heart that are a part of each project she pursues. |
Autumn Rozario Hall | Des Moines
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Autumn Rozario Hall is a Latina painter, dreamer, mother, and sharer of stories. She lives and works in Des Moines, Iowa. She is a recipient of two Community Art Grants from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and is currently working within the rewilding movement, blending art with environmental outreach in the form of gallery shows, native plant workshops, and writing. Her paintings have been shown in art galleries throughout the U.S. including four solo shows. She is active in her local art community, participates in group shows, art fairs, and community art projects.
Through her work she seeks to share a sense of wonder and create art that inspires and uplifts. Her acrylic and mixed media paintings explore story and human connectivity to nature. In my paintings I use bits of nature like dried leaves, seedpods and prairie plants for reference. I often add book pages, insect wings, tissue paper, and found objects into the base of the piece, then paint into it to create a layered painting. |
Barb Thompson | Cedar Rapids
Barb Thompson Art & Design
FB: bthompson.artwork
IG: bthompson.artwork
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Barb Thompson is an artist who loves to study florals and vegetation. Her aim is to capture blooms and colors for year round enjoyment of botanicals. She paints from photographs of her own garden and plants, as well as bouquets she curates from local floral shops.
Barb works in the mediums of acrylic, oil and watercolor. Growing up in the midwest, she has learned to immerse herself in each season and enjoy the botanicals as they bloom and change with the weather. She resides in Cedar Rapids with her husband and two children. Barb also has a background in graphic design for print applications. |
Diane Tough
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Artist Diane Tough received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Art from Central College in Pella, Iowa. She taught art in the Des Moines School District for two years before a career in computers at the State of Iowa and then IBM. Upon retiring from IBM, Diane resumed her interest in art and has studied with various artists in pastel, oils and watercolors.
Pastels: I am drawn to the pure pigment aspect of pastels and it gives a richness and shimmer to mark-making that is unlike any other. It often entices me to pushing the mark making and the color in my representations. I start with with an underpainting or underdrawing to define the basic shapes and values. Then I work from large shapes to smaller details and refinements. Given the powdery nature I spray lightly with a fixative before framing. Watercolor: The fluidity and lightness of this medium draws me to want to find connected shapes and lost edges to let the pigments flow and intermix into combined shapes. Finding a connected mid-value opportunity lends itself to facilitating that fluidity and connectedness. In watercolors the process is light to dark. |
Kelsey Wilson
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Kelsey Wilson is an artist and illustrator from Nevada, Iowa. Her artwork is executed in a variety of traditional mediums including watercolor, acrylics, and pastel pencils. With an MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design and seven years of freelancing Kelsey pursues her studio mission to bring "Joy through Art" in whatever form that may be.
My motivation to paint stems from an intense appreciation of traditional artwork and techniques, coupled with a drive to explore the details, shifts of color and textures of plants, animals, and objects. I create highly detailed, naturalistic, and time-consuming artwork. Through my artwork I hope to bring beautiful details into focus because they promote a sense of wonder about the natural world. My process of slow creation supports my goal of breaking from a stressful, tech-infused reality and moving towards a more peaceful attentiveness to the beauty around us. |