Karen Marshall

Karen Marshall (aka Kate Verna)

Kate Verna Photography

Karen Marshall has been a resident of Columbia since 2003, graduating in 2007 from Mizzou with an interdisciplinary degree in Women’s Studies and Photography.

She has had a lifelong love of photography and began taking photos in grade school. Her work covers a wide range of subject matter, although she particularly enjoys taking pictures of animals, interesting textures, and places that are seemingly lost in time such as long forgotten ruins on Route 66.

Karen’s other passion is travel. She has been to every continent except Africa and Antarctica, and hopes to one day take an extended around the world trip and document it in photos. Karen always has her camera with her on trips and has an extensive body of work from her travels.

Black and white and sepia photography also interest Karen. She experiments with making some street photography and landscape photos black and white or sepia evoking a timelessness.

Why Kate Verna?

The name Kate Verna came from combining a nickname with her grandmother's maiden name as a tribute to her. Karen’s photos of Italy were taken during a trip to visit the Verna side of the family.

Awards

• 2012 - Honorable mention in the Columbia, Missouri, Visions Photography competition.

• 2013 - Photo selected to be in a juried show, the Visions Pho-Rest, at Art in the Park in Columbia.

• 2014 & 2015- Two cat photos selected to appear in the Baker Taylor Publishing cat calendar, one in 2014 and one in 2015.

• 2015 - Missouri State Fair honorable mention in the open photography competition for a photo of Westphalia, Missouri.

contact:
W: www.katevernaphotography.com

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Jennifer L. Market

Jennifer L. Market

As a photographer, I have found the natural beauty contained within Missouri and beyond to be my inspiration. I have been toting a camera along as part of my everyday life and my travels for over 20 years and strive to take that extra time to capture what others may miss in a hectic busy world. As one who was trained originally to shoot images onto film and has now transitioned to digital equipment, I still strive to perfect the image before pressing the shutter and not embellishing afterwards in the darkroom or via computer. I keep those methods in my photographic toolbox, but I try to frame and edit an image onsite naturally, using available light and shadow, and let the compositions speak for themselves.

In some ways photography has become an integral part of all of our lives, whether it is a way to remember a special moment like a child’s birthday or to capture a trip and keep the images in a scrapbook to share with others who weren’t there. Some also consider these moments to be art and frame the images to be mounted on walls to enhance their everyday life. I hope that what I showcase here now, and in the future, leaves you inspired to take the time to find and appreciate the hidden magic in your everyday life.

contact info:
T: 573-443-7710
W: jlmarketphotography.com

Parhelion

Alley Spring Sluice

Lost in The Garden

Sun Diamonds

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Bill Manion

Bill Manion

Returning to regular work with brush and pen has been an experience to which I have long looked forward. Now time and a fun place to work give me the opportunity to try styles and combinations.

I don’t have any rules going into a painting or a cartoon. Sometimes I have an idea of what I want but most of the time I just let the abstraction happen or the humor of the character build. I love the shape of bottles and vessels and work these into much of what I do. I am interested in cartoon outlines and the flows of abstract. All figure paintings start with a cartoon. Under all paintings somewhere there is an abstract. Some of my work blends the two. As an abstract grows with layer after layer of color I begin to see a form or a shape, or I will sketch out a form and begin, looking for the energy of color that makes a work pop.

Works of art should brighten and highlight every wall, so I like to play with color. I am not afraid of color, especially the deep hues and tones of red and its compliments. A blend of red and yellow, wet into wet, makes me smile. A black and white painting or drawing can gain dimension with that splash of color that gives it life or makes a mood. I love watching how light changes through a wine bottle. I love the colors of sunsets over the water. I will keep trying to capture those colors, tones, humor, moods, and the great feeling of forever sunsets that a work of art brings to me and to others.

Designs, cartoons, and the love of fine art has been a part of my life since high school. The dream of learning to draw and paint showed in air brushed T-shirts in college. Later, a cartoon, “Catch Pen,” laughing with the Cowboy life by “Billy Bob and friends,” was in rodeo news and horseman magazines for several years. A time to get serious with a business career delayed regular art work for several years. I continued to study with artist friends around the country while building a major art collection and working with art support groups in several cities. Moving back to Missouri with a fun studio overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks, I have returned to drawing, design, and movement of color. Paintings have placed in juried shows along with character development and design for commercial operations.

in studio with Mystique

Bill Manion

Summer Beach

Chateau Mouton Rothschild

Bacigalupi Vineyards

Shudda Hadda Chardonnay!

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Ken Logsdon

Ken Logsdon

Around 1991, I met an artist in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, at an arts fair. Turned out this artist, Edie Dismuke, lived just a few blocks from me in northwest Denver. She made postage stamp jewelry and cards. One day when I was visiting her home studio, I suggested she add Churchill quotations (a passion of mine at the time) to her Churchill stamp cards. She declined but said something like "Be my guest." Thus Post-a-Quote was born. In two years time, I left a successful business partnership and moved with my wife Lynnette and two children to Columbia, Missouri, to pursue Post-a-Quote fulltime. I've been at it ever since.

Post-a-Quote was named before there was a worldwide web like today's. The name was a pun. On a blank greeting card I would handwrite a quotation to match an image on a postage stamp. The buyer of the card would then, in the British manner, “post” it to friends or family.

I have continued for the last 22 years to handwrite the quotations on each and every card. I'm often asked why, and I always say I do it because it further connects me to the words. I came to Post-a-Quote as a reader and collector of quotations, not as an artist. In that regard, I am self-taught. That's not to say that in addition to Ms. Dismuke there have not been people along the way who have helped me better myself as an artist.

Though I began with postage stamps as the anchor for the quote, over the years I began using vintage illustrations, artwork by noted Oklahoma artist D.J. Lafon and photographs by my sister, Claudia Hunter. Eventually my photo bug of earlier years was reignited. I discovered I could be my own illustrator for all those quotes I loved and for which I couldn't find a matching image. It is my own photos that I use now almost exclusively.

A couple of years ago I became involved with the Columbia Art League and have exhibited my photographs in several shows. The themed nature of the exhibits has challenged me and, I believe, made me a better artist. The Interpretations show of August 2013, dreamed up by Diana Moxon, the executive director of CAL, challenged me further artistically than anything so far. I look forward to more challenges in that venue.

In addition to quote cards I also do photo cards. Both are available in Columbia or can be purchased online. You may email me to see if I have a retailer in your area.

-Ken Logsdon
contact:
W:www.postaquote.com

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India Marie Knowles

India Marie Knowles

For as long as I can remember there has been an artist within eager to break free and express herself. Occasionally I have found an outlet for my high need to create, but jewelry making has captured my imagination as nothing I have tried before. Since retiring from my private practice as a licensed professional counselor in 2002, what I began as a hobby has evolved into an addiction and is now a small business. Most of my work incorporates semiprecious gemstones and sterling silver or 14K gold-filled wire and findings. I also enjoy using lampwork and other handcrafted beads.

Most recently, however, bead embroidery has become my obsession. Gemstones, small freshwater pearls, tiny seed beads and bugle beads lend themselves to unlimited designs and color. I love allowing the patterns to evolve as I work rather than utilizing a plan. Pieces that are asymmetrical in design almost always prove to be gratifying to me, as I like seeing the final coming together of seemingly disparate components.

It is always a joy to see people wearing and apparently enjoying pieces I have made, and I am especially pleased when items are purchased as gifts. A song by Harry Chapin entitled “Mr Tanner” comes to mind when I consider my work. Mr. Tanner, the owner of a dry cleaning shop, loved to sing but was panned by critics in his first New York concert. The line, “He did not know how well he sang; it just made him whole” is a poignant theme in the song. As I look at the works of other jewelry artists, I do not know how well I create; it just makes me whole.

Items are available for viewing and/or purchase at
Columbia Art League in Columbia and Missouri Hawthorn Galleries in Springfield, Missouri, or by appointment (contact info below).

contact info:
Tel: 573-449-7754

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Peggy King

Peggy King

Snow Flake Glass

An affirmed non-artist, I “found” glass at the age of 50. After working for decades as an office manager and then energy analyst, it was a complete surprise when the right side of my brain kicked in. I am unable to explain why, on a whim, I signed up for a lampworking class. Melting that glass over a torch to create a bead was pure magic. But I became frustrated when I didn’t seem to have the ability to make the bead look like I wanted. So I went back and took a class on fusing. Melting glass became an immediate passion and I bought my first kiln that very same day.

Early in my glass journey I learned that the skills I used in an earlier flirtation with patchwork quilting transferred directly to my glass work. I have become known for my ability to effectively combine color, texture and pattern in my artwork. My enamel pieces are a riot of color, demanding attention with their bright, saturated colors. My dichroic glass works make a distinct statement in their bold designs. I enjoy incorporating a variety of highly detailed decorative accents, including hand made lampworked elements and hand pulled murinni.

Following where my passion for glass took me, and with some gentle encouragement by a dear lady, I joined The Best of Missouri Hands (BOMH) and found a place for myself among the remarkable, accepting people there. Suddenly there were more doors open to me than I knew what to do with and opportunities to give something of myself back to the organization, including serving on the Board of Directors, and as President for two terms. Through my association with BOMH, I have been taken in, accepted and encouraged by all manner of artists, and been able to contribute to their journey even as they contribute to mine.

The practice of melting glass to create beautiful works of art is ancient. Today’s studio glass industry is ever changing with new technologies, products, and techniques. This gift was bestowed upon me as I began looking to retirement from my real world job. Now, as I look to the future, there are many ideas in my head and products or techniques on my list of things I want to work with, I know my glass art will continue to provide a rich and active retirement.

contact info:
W:www.snowflakeglass.com
Past President, Best of
Missouri Hands

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Sharyn Hyatt

Sharyn Hyatt

Sharyn received her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, her Masters of Fine Arts from Clemson University, and has studied and traveled in Europe. She has taught art at the secondary and college levels, has published in several journals, and has work on the cover of three books. Hyatt's work can be found in numerous public and private collections including the Asheville Art Museum, Southwestern Bell of St. Louis, Boone County National Bank, the University of Missouri Hospital and Clinics, the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, and the collection of August Busch Jr. In addition she has shown in numerous group shows as well as in 14 solo exhibitions.

For the past 25 years, Hyatt has considered her most creative endeavor to be teaching and she has had the privilege of working with more than 2,000 emerging young artists. Sharyn feels most comfortable with the titles "teacher" and "mom" but as of 2008 could be found edging back into the art scene.

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Kerry Mulvania Hirth

Kerry Mulvania Hirth

Kerry Hirth uses her synesthetic experience of musical harmony as color to create visual music in vibrant linear patterns. Her work captures the complexity and richness of musical patterns, and explores the ways they point to the source of music in life experiences. By engaging the colors of real and enchanted landscapes, her drawings of music gain a unique sense of time, place, and the extraordinary relationship between music and the natural world.

Kerry Hirth was born in the Midwest and currently lives and works near Columbia, Missouri. Kerry's work has been presented in gallery exhibitions nationally and internationally, as well as closer to home. She collaborates with musicians, with noteworthy local projects including a live demonstration with the Missouri Symphony Society orchestra, creating backgrounds for live performance at the MU School of Fine Arts, and the permanent installation of a large scale work in the atrium of the Bond Life Sciences Center. Kerry's approach to music and visual art has been shaped by her unique academic background, which includes studying music, philosophy, and computer networks. Kerry works full-time as an artist in her studio "Mount Erebus Workshop" adjacent to her home, where she lives with her husband Andy Hirth.

contact info:
W: www.kerryhirth.com

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Jan Hager-Klein

Jan Hager-Klein

I’m a listener and a watcher...have been all my life. My professional life took me to 11 countries in Europe, Asia, all over the USA as a Human Resources manager, a counselor, and college professor.

Now I’m in Missouri and have enjoyed painting for the last 14 years, alone or with friends on destination painting experiences. Italy has called us twice; Hopetown, Bahamas was a great alone get away; and Carmel, California calls again and again. I’ve taken classes at Webster University and private lessons with Dong Feng Li, Billyo O’Donnel, John Porter Lasater IV, Qiang Huang, and with Ruo Li.

I paint because I like the process. Each painting is like a puzzle that I slowly put together whether is it a landscape, city scape, interior, or abstract. I come from painters with a mother, brother, and a son who all make their living as painters. I grew up with my mother - Helen Hager - painting to classical music when I got home from school. The smell of turpentine and open windows back then was a peaceful happy time.

I hope you enjoy my work.

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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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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

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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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