Jesse Balmer

For the past 5 years or so, I have been creating handcrafted pens. Each pen I create is completely unique; there are none like it! Pens are made from everything from wood and acrylic and even the occasional corn cob! I have always enjoyed creating things and being artistic, and pen-making is the way I focus my creativeness. I'm 17, I'm from Johnston, Iowa, and I cant wait to see you at art on the prairie this year!

Brad Kiefer
http://www.bkieferart.com

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.

Pam Dennis / Ryk Weiss
https://www.facebook.com/ryk.weiss

We began decades ago building willow furniture and baskets. This folk art soon evolved from functional to fine art wall pieces combining willow, pit-fired or raku clay, and copper. We marketed at high end art festivals nationally for 25 years, as well as the teaching numerous workshops which continues to this day. 

The past decade we have focused on installations, sculpture and conducting collaborative workshops in many communities culminating in a permanent public work. Our murals and sculptures have been exhibited and installed at public gardens, parks, schools, and museums.

Our work explores the infinite variety of combinations possible in a few simple materials, bringing together our past experience with willow and weaving and the many textures possible with clay and copper.  We try to make our work feel familiar, yet achieve a combination of forms not experienced before. 

In 2016 we will be adding two more panels to a mixed media mural "Art On The Prairie" placed outside La Poste in Perry. These three panels were made to include tiles created with the public during the Art On The Prairie Festival in fall 2014.

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

I enjoy working with  2-D mixed media which combines acrylic paint and assortment of materials such as birch wood, oil pastels, gold leaf and paper. Whether I am painting figures, portrait, landscapes or whimsical doodles, I consider myself an eclectic artist always looking forward to the next challenge.  Currently, I am focusing on my passion for painting horses and have recently started a series featuring equine subject matter intertwined with a variety of mixed media techniques.

John Novotny
www.lighttheearth.com

Geologic artistry from semi-precious gemstone specimens cut & polished into functional works of art. It's said that "Art at it's highest and nature at it's truest are one". This, I've come to experience first hand while working with nature's oldest medium, "Stone". Each piece inspires me to expose it's inherent beauty while maintaining it's original pristine state. I'm regularly reminded of it's unforgiving quality and permanence while shaping what are destined to become heirlooms. The process is part of the art. My work begins with the adventure of personally collecting rough stone. I then cut and carve each piece into a truly one of a kind work. Many pieces are then honed to a six thousand grit finish with diamond and water. Each pieces beauty, ancientness and geological history result in the ultimate heirloom antique.

Betsy Peterson
https://www.facebook.com/BetsyPetersonDesigns

When I was young, I wanted to grow up to be an Artist.My Mother was an Artist. It was her creativity and divergent ways of solving  problems that, in part, trained me to to think and design in novel ways.

 Courage, Joy, Whimsey, Resilience,& Grace, are all woven into my 3-dimentional Sculptures and Wooden Paintings to inspire the same in others. Wire , Clay, Wood, and Acrylic Paint are the mediums I use to bring my Heart to each Piece

Stephen Steininger

Faces fascinate me.  So do different periods in history.  Most of my work uses faces from photos, daguerrotypes, and tintypes.  The expressions and poses are so different from what is captured in a random photograph today.  Oftentimes it's the recognizable historic figure that intrigues me; other times, just a very interesting image. 

My pieces are done on wood, so that I can layer paint and gesso and then carve through the thicknesses, creating new colors and adding depth and texture. 

I use a combination of acrylic paint, pastels, ink, colored pencil - whatever is at hand.  Sometimes a bit of lace finds its way into a piece, or a length of fretwork, or even some unknown brass thing.  These unknown brass things are leading me in a new direction with my work; some fantasy pieces that seem to be ever ongoing. 

Sometimes I sketch pieces out in advance.  I have a great collection of restaurant tablecloths, placemats, and napkins to refer to.  Other times the pieces just create themselves, changing shape and direction as the piece progresses.

Please feel free to ask questions about the work.  I may have an answer, I may not.  Sometimes there isn't one.

Jan Stephan

I have been making and refining this art for 20 years. These creations are all elder women made of polymer clay,air dry clay an mixed media. They are women with character..about 8-9 inches tall each signed and dated.