Jennifer Slouha

Jennifer Slouha

I am a self-taught artist and primarily work in graphite, colored pencil and acrylic. I was born in Solon, Iowa, and have lived in many different places since I was young. My aunt was a big influence early on to my creativity; so were several great art teachers in high school. After high school I went on to work and to raise a family. About ten years ago I realized there was a market for my work, and I began taking commissions that included pet portraits, vehicles and painting the image of a hospital directly onto the original cornerstone of the hospital. I also sold my art in galleries in Tucson, Arizona.

The majority of my work tends to focus on details, specifically my graphite drawings, which I enjoy the most. My acrylic paintings depict bright, cheerful colors and are usually based on inspiration from nature. I also love working in colored pencil because of the detail and beautiful colors that can be achieved. As for the source of my inspiration, I cannot say there is any specific thing that evokes my creativity. I am inspired by all of my surroundings, what I see and experience. I strive to show these experiences in the work I create.

contact:
T: 573-397-3573
W:www.jenniferslouha.com

Beach Bug

Majestic

1950 Buick Special

Tabby Cat

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Marcia Rackley

Marcia Rackley

Marcia Rackley earned a BFA degree in Illustration from the University of Missouri where she received the “Outstanding BFA Student Award” (Jerry Berneche Award) and won 2nd place in the MU Chancellor’s Art Competition. Marcia likes working in clay, pen and ink, watercolor, oil, acrylic, pastel, charcoal and photography.

She is a native Missourian and a registered Cherokee who has worked as a freelance artist for many years. Her commissions include: 12 illustrations for the University of Missouri Savitar (1987); paintings, photographs and two almanac covers for Shelter Insurance; private commissions; medical illustrations for liver research and patient education (University Hospital); and a mural (painted at the age of 16) featured in the Missourian. In 2001, Marcia exhibited her polymer hand-sculpted art dolls in the 2001 International Toy Fair in New York City as a member of a professional doll maker’s guild. In 2014, Marcia won 1st place ribbons at the Missouri State Fair for two of her pastel paintings and later won an award for her pastel painting Peppers and Goblets at the Boone County Art Show in Columbia.

Marcia also enjoys digital photography. She has been exhibiting her nature photographs for the last three years at Runge Nature Center (Jefferson City) and Powder Valley Nature Center (Kirkwood). She has also exhibited in the J. Lottes Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri Hospital. In 2014, her photograph of the American Painted butterfly was selected by the National Federation of Wildlife for inclusion in their 2015 card collection.

Marcia currently works at her alma mater, the MU Department of Art, where she is inspired and amazed every day by its art students and faculty. She is a member of the Columbia Art League and her most recent soft pastel paintings will be on display at the Central Bank of Boone County, 720 E. Broadway, Columbia, Missouri, beginning November 23, 2015 and continuing through the month of December 2015.

The Nature of Things

Juvenile Bald Eagle

American Painted Lady

Peppers and Wine Glasses

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Hannah Hollister Ingmire

Hannah Hollister Ingmire

A stroke of luck started my art career when a kindergarten painting I did of an exhausted train climbing up a mountain was accepted in a traveling exhibit of Pennsylvania children’s art and hung in a Philadelphia art museum. After that, it was all downhill! Still, I loved making pictures and continued with private lessons until college. I graduated from Grinnell College with a B.F.A. in painting and did postgraduate work at the University of Iowa where I studied with Mauricio Lasansky, the printmaker. I also attended Quincy University where I got a teacher's degree in art and taguth at Quincy High School for two years. I have continued to teach adults throughout my career.

Again, I had a stroke of luck when I was invited to have an exhibit at the Quincy, Illinois Public Library, who then commissioned me to do a 25-foot mural. At this time, I went into painting full time. I have had several one-woman shows and spent the next 30 years doing juried art festivals. Midwestern shows include: the Original Art Fair (Ann Arbor, MI), The Plaza Art Festival (Kansas City, MO), The Milwaukee Art Museum Lakefront Show, and several in St. Louis. Florida shows include: Los Olas Art Festival, Winter Park, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, the University of Miami Art Festival, and Mainsail (St. Petersburg). During this period, I also was asked by the Bradford Exchange, an international collector plate company, to design 2 series of plates.

For 40 years my medium was transparent watercolor, and my subject matter was traditional realism. My work can be found in businesses, hospitals, and banks, as well as private collections.

In 2009, I had another stroke of luck - but the kind that led to tremors which meant that I could no longer paint with my past precision. Since painting is literally as necessary to me as eating, I found another way to express myself. Having trained at Grinnell College in the sixties with a wonderful abstract expressionist, Richard Cervene, I turned to big canvases and big brushes. Now, instead of meticulously preplanning each work, I wade in with my instincts. The result has been very freeing for me. Although my tremors have subsided, I continue to paint in this manner because it makes me happy and, I hope, my viewers!

For a private viewing, please contact me below.

Galaxy

Feathery

Square

Birch Trees

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Diane Epstein

Diane Epstein

I have been a freelance graphic designer for more than thirty-six years throughout the Midwest. I have designed print materials for many fields including television, magazines, small business, educational programs, and the non-profit sector. I have been involved in all stages of the graphics process from design to final print.

Over the last few years I have been drawing/painting with pastels and watercolors, creating portraits of people and animals. My passion is drawing portraits for the parents of children who have either passed on or have a terminal illness. These are sent to the parents as a condolence gift.

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Marilyn Cummins

Marilyn Cummins

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there lay in me an invincible summer." – Albert Camus

As I work and experiment with a variety of media – oil, watercolor, mixed-media in two and three dimensions, photography – I strive more and more to let go vs. trying to control the medium or exact image. When I’m successful, the invincible summer in me is able to find its voice and reach out to others in ways that are sometimes peaceful and serene; other times edgy and ironic.

I’ve always been a person of many interests – one often leading to or overlapping another. It was an assignment to cover the Columbia art community in word and photos for a magazine that led me to the first painting workshop Joel Sager offered in 2007. I signed up, finally jumping headfirst into something I’d wanted to pursue more seriously since childhood. With Joel’s encouragement, I’ve continued to paint with him and on my own nearly every week since, growing with his expert guidance and inspiration coupled with a nurturing Columbia art community.

I often work by layering combinations of oils, acrylic, collage and tar washes in one piece, sometimes using watercolor sketches inspired by my own photography of the land or of people. The rather minimalist watercolor landscapes have begun to stand on their own, which amazes me after I feared the medium for so many years. I’m having fun with occasional 3-D adventures, usually repurposing old instruments (I’m also a musician) and other found items. I enjoy combining paint, collage and wash techniques while solving tricky structural challenges by dusting off my tool box and shop skills.

The relaxation, stimulation, lowered blood pressure, new life and new friendships my art brings me is extremely satisfying, spurring me on to push myself, to see what more I can learn and do and share. Having my work juried into shows and finding its way into so many peoples’ homes so soon is an amazing, surprising bonus for which I’m very grateful.

Marilyn Cummins
Invincible Summer Studios
At Orr Street Studios

contact info:
Tel: 573-239-1229

The Revery Alone Won’t Do triptych

When Cellos Dream

Attitude

Ghost House

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Joel Chrisman

Joel Chrisman

As an artist and musician, my interest is in the study of patterns in light and sound. 

Observing the separation of light and shadow in a landscape, a window-lit room or from the lights of my studio as they shower my tools and workspaces, compels me to record those fragments in mostly realistic impressions. 

Whether working from my photographs or from life, my subjects are almost always happened upon, never assembled or constructed, although I may make decisions of omission and inclusion. The elements of chance and discovery are the primary contributing factors in these compositions. 

The moment of creation for me is in the visualization of a possibility, discovering that viewpoint in space where the dance of shapes and shadows falls into a rhythmic balance of light and dark. Then, with my camera or a simple mat board viewer, the image is isolated and I enter the dance and become a participant as I record the moment.

contact info:
T: 573-657-2055

Pond Series/Twilight

First Cutting

In the Ferris Wheel

Over Campus

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Vicki Downey Cheek

Vicki Downey Cheek

Being raised in rural Missouri on a farm outside Rocheport, much of Vicki’s artwork includes animals or nature in some fashion. She also enjoys creating different pieces of art from a variety of subjects. “I have a passion for horses and am drawn to the western way of life, but I also love discovering something hidden and unusual, and then showing it to the world thorough my art.” 

She finds most of the world to be extremely intriguing often hiding fascinating and mysterious parts of itself in plain sight to be overlooked by the mere passerby. These things frequently catch her eye and beg to be recreated in a piece of art. 

Working in a variety of mediums, it is graphite that she has a true passion for. “I feel as though I can merge with the piece as I am working on it when I use pencil. To me it is a more intimate way to be involved in the creation process than when I use a brush to paint.” 

Vicki has gathered references and researched subjects not only here in Missouri, but all over the United States. From the drover working in the Fort Worth Stockyards, to the door hinge found hiding along a deserted wharf in Savannah, GA, she is constantly looking for what inspires her. Then back in her studio, she works to depict each story in accuracy and in great detail. 

Vicki lives in Columbia, Missouri with her husband, two horses and two cats. Her paintings and drawings hang in private collections across the United States, in Taiwan, Australia, and England. She regularly donates to various charity events that benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospital, the American Cancer Society, and animal rescue organizations. 

A member of the Missouri Watercolor Society, Vicki received a Merchant Award in 2012 and 2013 at the Missouri Watercolor Society National Members’ Invitational exhibit in Columbia.

Contact:
T: 573-814-3168
W:downeyart.com/
and
vickicheek.wix.com/petportraits

Double Time

Saddle

Cardine Della Porta

The Last Goodbye

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