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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Cynthia Durost

Cynthia Durost

I paint because I am struck by the multitude of colors and sights of Nature. I paint as a form of meditation releasing my energy, joy, sadness, or love. I paint as an expression of my relation to the whole, to Nature. The browns, blues, ochres, reds, purples, blacks, and yellow are so vivid; even the snow presents color in reverse. I also have a longing for the space of Nature: the sky, the water, the trees, the rocks opening up. I see the relationship between forms and space - two trees stand juxtaposed leaning and finally encircling each other, two friends. I want only to keep recording my feeling in the natural space. The best of my painting experience exists in my being present spontaneously painting with the flow of water and color.

Sometimes, I paint a scene over and over, later to learn a message exists. In New Mexico, for instance, I paint a mountain scene again and again, later to learn Zuni women ascend the heights of this mountain to gather a ceremonial flower which grows only on this mountain. I am drawn to certain places, the fields and marshes and woods of New England, the canyonlands, rivers, and mountains of New Mexico and Arizona, the islands of Cape Verde, or the rainforests of Costa Rica. There is for me a connecting force between mind and Nature, a play of consciousness and spirit. I acknowledge land and wild animals, and especially the space without the importance of humans. The artist in me follows instinct and intuition, is connected to all peoples, crosses all boundaries, is open and searching.

I also believe firmly in sharing and passing on the tradition and experience of painting and being an artist. In this exchange with many others, I continue to learn and grow and play.

contact info:
T: 573-355-2294

durostMountainscape.jpg

durostVaseFlowers.jpg

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durostWaterscape.jpg

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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

I’ve loved to sketch and paint since I was a young girl on the farm, and I was fortunate to have a great art teacher (Mel Panter) in my small-town high school. But art was one of many interests, and not the one I pursued as a college major and career (ag journalism, in newspaper, magazine, PR/advertising agencies, and my own business for the past 26 years).  Still, the latent artist in me was always there: taking me into art museums on every business and vacation trip; collecting art supplies too rarely used; and, visiting galleries and meeting artists whose world my creative soul wanted to join. 

It wasn’t until I was in my late 40s and settled back in Columbia, that a magazine assignment to cover the local art community in word and photos led me to learn of the first painting workshop offered by an artist I greatly admired: Joel Sager. It was time to get serious about creating art, and with Joel’s encouragement, I followed up the 2007 summer workshops by studying with him nearly every week for close to five years, soaking up his expert guidance and being inspired by observing his process in the studio we shared for a time.

I began working in a favorite technique of Joel’s at the time: layering oils, acrylic, collage and tar washes in multimedia paintings, sometimes based on watercolor sketches inspired by my own photography of the land or of people. I needed to find my own voice, though, and in time, my rather minimalist landscape studies and other watercolor works began to stand on their own and became a trademark of mine. This still amazes me, after fearing and avoiding the medium for so many years.

As I continue to work and experiment with a variety of media – oil, watercolor, mixed-media in two and three dimensions, Chinese brush painting, photography – I strive to let go vs. trying to control the medium or create exact representations. 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.

For many years, I called Columbia’s Orr Street Studios home, but due to COVID-19 and other issues, I’ve moved back to my home studio with a peaceful view of my yard and woods. I encourage you to come visit Invincible Summer Studios virtually (for now), and also to pursue your own creative dreams, no matter your age or time in life. I believe there is an invincible summer in each of us.

Marilyn Cummins
Invincible Summer Studios

contact info:
Tel: 573-239-1229

www.invinciblesummerstudios.com

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Peg Crawford

Peg Crawford

It would seem artists have always played a tug-of-war between intent and medium: what they want to say and how they want to say it. Traditionally they have looked to their surrounding environment to satisfy this. Wood, stone, clay and reed were the materials they used to express their creativity. Their environment was reflected in, and utilized as, their art.

Today, we have the richness of the world available to us in the time it takes to drive to the art supply store. Overwhelmed by this choice, I wanted to return to these roots of expression. In my journey, no matter where I lived or traveled, I found one material in almost embarrassing abundance: Paper.

In exploring this material, I found incredible strength along with delicate flexibility. This lightweight, low-tech, and eco-friendly material offered artistic challenge along with unexpected durability. It’s the perfect medium in a modern, mobile society.

I blend my own paper clay using mostly recycled papers, producing a soft, fibrous clay. I then sculpt using some of the same methods of earthen clay sculpture, along with a few improvised ones to accommodate the texture and workability of the clay. My sculptures are made of solid paper, without the use of wood or metal armatures. This extra challenge forces me to slow down and immerse myself in the process, which I count as an added bonus in a busy world.

After 30 years of living and traveling throughout the U.S. and overseas, my husband and I have quite happily settled in Columbia, where we plan to stay. 

Declining Nude Serenity

Declining Nude

Falling

Falling, detail

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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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Janet Bratcher

Janet Bratcher

I am a self-taught artist. I am motivated by self- teaching, and there is no better way to learn than to figure things out on your own. I am finally at a point in my life where I would like to turn my passion into more than just a hobby seen only by my family and friends. 

As long as I can remember I have been interested in the avenues of creativity. I have journeyed down many of these paths from painting, sculpture, quilting, beading and needlepoint. After years of picking up and losing interest in different mediums and craft projects, I finally feel I have found an art form that engages me. I found a style of my own. My style is inspired by the traditional impressionists. 

My medium of choice is oils pastels and India ink. I have a good eye for detail and love to show great textures and colors. I like to work in stages, starting by breaking up the surface into large general shapes and values keeping the painting abstract. This gives me a basic road map. I keep my attention on the entire surface and try not to get too picky on any single area.

contact:
Tel: 573-999-9811

Old Lock

Red Chair

The Chair

Angel

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Jamie Carey-Humphreys

Jamie Carey-Humphreys

I first discovered my God-given talent when my parents moved my two sisters and me from the big city to a horse ranch in Fulton, Missouri. I remember my parents giving me an oil painting set for Christmas when I was 8 years old. I clearly remember the excitement of opening my first tube of oil paints and squeezing it onto my pallet. I will never forget the feel of the rich, thick paints as I brushed it onto the canvas. The smell of the oil paints when I walk into my studio is as pleasing and comforting as the smell of fresh-baked oatmeal raisin cookies!

In school my favorite classes were art, home economics and drama. I think that they were the only classes in which I received As. I have furthered my art education by attending several drawing and painting classes at William Woods University in Fulton. I took what I had learned and produced workshops for the public on Intro to Oil Painting. I find I really enjoy teaching and helping others to learn how to paint. My future dream is starting a children's art camp.

I have received numerous awards in local, regional, and state competitions. My biggest honor was to be chosen one of Best of 50 for the Missouri State Fair Competition. I'm on the Board of Best of Missouri Hands, and a member of both the Columbia Art League and the Jefferson City Art Club. I do commissioned portraits in oil and graphite, murals, and logo designs. My style is realism. I tell my clients that I'm a photo realist. If they can get me a photo that is clear, and I can see the detail of the eyes, then I can produce a live spirit in the painting. I can create that image on my canvas. When I paint, I am passing on the spirit of that subject and recreating it on the canvas. When painting a portrait, I do the eyes first. If they don't sparkle back at me, there is no reason to continue.

My family is made up of four boys and five grandchildren. (It's great being a grandma!) The boys have their own lives now, and my husband, John, and I own and operate Kingdom of Callaway Vineyard and Studio from our family farm in Fulton.

contact info:
T: 573-220-3319

SEC-UM

Gathering of the Mornings Feast

Bill Moore's Dogs

Bill Moore in Africa

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Renate Brady

Renate Brady

Born and raised in Frankfurt, Germany, Renate now lives in Columbia, Missouri where she maintains her studio. "There has always been a desire within me to be creative, whether I was painting or designing a logo or corporate image."

Renate earned a Bachelor of Science degree in arts and graphic design from Columbia College, where she studied under Professors Sidney Larson and Ben Cameron. After a long career in commercial art, she decided to fulfill her dream and devote more time to her paintings, focusing on both regional and international subject matter, and allowing herself to appeal to a diverse audience.

" I always loved the feel of paper, and choosing to paint on paper rather than canvas was consequently an obvious decision."

Her mediums includes pastels, watercolor, mixed medium, acrylic, pen and ink. Color, whether brilliant or subtle, is the element that drives her to create paintings with feelings and sensations, with vibrant and bold colors. Her work reflects nature in natural and abstract forms where she experiments with surface quality in color relationships and simplifying reality to slight abstract forms. All works make an open statement to the viewer. She has received numerous awards in many juried and invitational exhibits, local and regional.

contact info:
W: www.renatebrady.com

Bed and Breakfast, Southern Italy

Lily Pond

Angels Wings, St. Albans, Missouri

Colorful Fields, Holland

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