Brad Kiefer

As long as I can remember I have enjoyed working with diverse and varied building materials.  In the summer of 1978, as I was beginning my senior year of high school, my parents decided to build a log home.  We spent the summer building the log shell of the cabin, at the end of this we concentrated on the interior.  My parents graciously gave me their trust and artistic license to build kitchen cabinets, doors, a kitchen light and stain glass window.  I believe this was the start of my interest with material use and design.

In early 2000 my wife and I started plans to build our own home in rural Boone County. The entire project from design to building the structure was a family project.

Again, I found myself enjoying artistic license.  One of the prime interests I developed during the building phase of our home was my fascination with material texture, and the use of natural and artificial light. I learned how I could use the two to create a mood and an aesthetically pleasing environment.  Extending this to the light designs, I use a mix of copper and wood.  For the light source I use a LED puck light that consumes 1.25 watts of power that gives a “Moonlight Glow” to the lamp.  I like to call them Moon Lights. I also use a 20 Watt puck light depending on the light effect I’m trying to achieve.

Jesse Balmer
www.facebook.com/jbpensusa

Jesse Balmer is a 15 year old from Johnston, Iowa.  Jesse has been creating pens for 3 years.  He takes acrylic, exotic woods, deer antlers and even corn cobs and turns them into beautiful pens.  When he isn't turning pens you may find Jesse playing the piano, or running track and cross country for Johnston High School.

Michael Lundberg
https://www.facebook.com/MeekaMouseArt

My name is Michael Lundberg and I have been living in Perry, IA., for the past two years.  I am a native Iowan and graduated from Iowa State University with my Masters in 2-D Mixed Media. After graduating, I moved to Salamanca, Spain, for six years to pursue my doctorate in Art History.  To help finance my study abroad, I sold the bulk of my artistic portfolio and having recently returned, I am still in the process of rebuilding it.  I currently do not have an artist's website, but have linked my facebook artist's page where you can see my older and more recent paintings.  Currently, I have been exploring two distinct artistic styles.  One is a highly realistic, figurative approach to painting inspired by love and the other celebrates my "childish twist" on traditional craft art. 

Dean and Deb Madsen

Dean & Deb started creating fine art mosaics in 2009. They have been mentored and educated at the Chicago School of Mosaic since 2010 and are currently working on certification. The range of work created by today's mosaic artists is vast, from soaring sculptural mosaics utilizing advanced architectural techniques to the intricate details in micro-mosaics that are assembled with the use of a magnifying lens and tweezers. What the mosaic works commonly possess is the interweaving of units or pieces of materials (tesserae) set in mortar, to produce a complete whole. The materials and how they are used by contemporary mosaic artists shows the diversity of this art form. A variety of materials are used including smalti (byzantine glass), ceramic, marble, stone and metal.

Jan Stephan

I have been sculpting in polymer clay for about 20 years. I create small elder women with character and spirit.

Jack Wilhoit
www.worldlyviews.com

Photos of bicycles, hanging lamps made from bike frames and wine bottles. Dioramas of bike scenes from photos. Possible table made from bikes and a door.

Ryk Weiss and Pam Dennis

Our career has been a balance of two paths- the making of individual artworks, and interaction with the public through teaching and collaborative works.

We are mixed media artists who began 30+ years ago making traditional willow furniture and baskets. This folk art quickly moved forward from functional to fine art wall pieces combining willow, pitfired or raku clay, and copper. We marketed these at high end art festivals across the country for 25 years, winning many awards. Pam has been on the Iowa Arts Council Artists in the Schools roster presenting residencies across the state for several decades, with Ryk currently joining her in conducting 6-8 school residencies per year which produce a permanent work for each community. We continue to teach workshops at museums, art centers and our Flock 9 Studios near Ogden, and Ryk is also a musician, playing original music with his band "World Citizen".  

The past decade we have evolved to focus on installations, sculpture and conducting collaborative workshops in many communities culminating in a permanent public work. Our willow, clay and metal murals and sculptures have been exhibited at public gardens, parks and museums. We are currently working on a mixed media mural to be placed outside La Poste in Perry. This will reflect the historical Craftsman Prairie Architecture of the town thru tiles created with the public during the Art OnThe Prairie Festival.