HOME

GALLERY

ARTISTS

FRAMING

LINKS

Kae Barron   JP Bell Becca Bennett   Jerry Burrow Paul Caldwell Lange Cheek   Daniel Coston   Bob Crane   Warren Criswell

Nathaniel Dailey Spot Daniel   Cici Davidson   Debie Deaton   John Deering   Ovita Goolsby   Doug Gorrell Thom Hall

Kitty Harvill   Rhonda Hicks   Andrew Kilgore   Megan A. Lewis   Barry D. Lindley   Judd Mann   Betty Dortch McMath   Sarah Merkle

Artists

 Also, we try to keep
in stock the complete
line of 3-D sculpture
by Judie Bomberger.

Betty Dortch Russell McMath

Virginia Williamson
is an elementary school art teacher, and also teaches private art classes. 
Artist Statement:  The images that I create are representative of my life – they are a “sort of self-portrait".  They are an inward look at what I really am and an outward look at what I want to be… As I begin to paint these ‘visions’, I am not aware of their meaning.  I only know that I have an urgent need to paint these pieces.  Many times ideas come to me (all at once) and I am absorbed in painting them, and I begin to sort them out as they tell their story… time takes it’s toll, and things happen to each of us, no matter how invincible we think we are.  I feel that through my art I am able to depict my dreams, and the visions that come to me. 

 Spot Daniel

Ovita Goolsby holds a bachelor's degree from Henderson State University and a master's degree from the University of Arkansas.  A great deal of her portrait training was acquired in New York at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design, School of Fine Arts.   A summer of study in France, under scholarship, further enhanced her skill and knowledge of figure painting.
Her work experience includes teaching, commercial art and museum exhibit design, but the artist's talent and popularity as a portraitist have always brought her back to the easel.

Thom Hall's work is generally figurative - usually triggered by photographs and memories of his more dramatic alter-ego Sylvia Moskowitz. He uses the photos as a compositional aid then puts them aside and the drawing becomes more of an emotional journey with a specific interest in exploring vibrating line and energy.

Hall made small paintings with cloisonné enamel for about 20 years - similar images but certainly more colorful. He worked in very thin layers and often fired a work 40 to 50 times with lots of hand polishing and finishing. Each time the enamel went into the kiln everything was at risk and he learned to like that.  Thom switched to working on paper after having a hip replaced in about 1996 - thinking healthier materials might serve him better. He also felt the need to work on paper since his job at the Arkansas Arts Center is so involved with drawings. Hall works on paper in a risky way similar to the enamels - using water media and working in many layers - dry, then wet, back and forth - often using his hands - occasionally spraying water over the entire sheet to momentarily activate the dry media.

“Who I Really Am" by Lee Nora Parlor 

Artist Statement: 

I create paintings of my family (ancestors), other beings and abstracts that reflect ‘glimpses’ of life and depict ‘who I really am”.  The ‘Transforming Power’ of art, gifts each piece in my collection with a compelling record of individuality yet illustrates a oneness with all humanity.  My work is embedded with fragmented scenes of the distant and not so distant past, and gives expression to my inner vision of ‘who I really am’.  By portraying ‘different moments’ in life, I hope to show joy peace, and delicate sadness mixed with pure emotion; creating a truly spiritual sense to the art of ‘simple living’.  I believe that my art is a healing medium because it invokes nostalgia and inspires a feeling that ‘time is suspended’.  As a self-taught artist, I have discovered that the lessons taught to me by the Universe leave an indelible impression; enabling me to draw from that source at anytime, allowing for a freedom of expression that is completely pure

Sarah Merkle

Woodland paths, secret gardens and the open countryside all beckon
Megan Lewis' attention.  The fascinating beauty of God’s creation, as it merges with ordinary life, provides an infinite resource for Megan’s work.

“I was blessed with parents who wanted their children to see and experience all this great country has to offer.  Our hometown of Kansas City served as a wonderful jumping off point for our many adventures.  By the time I graduated from high school we had camped in every state except Alaska and Hawaii, backpacked over miles of mountain trails and sailed most of the lakes in the Midwest.  These experiences became a great source of inspiration for me.”

In 1982 Megan graduated from the University of Kansas with a BFA in painting.  She spent the next three months exploring Europe and it’s many art treasures before packing up and moving west to Colorado.  It was there that she began to pursue her love of painting full time.  Megan currently lives in central Arkansas with her husband and their son, where she has her studio.  When the weather allows, she enjoys painting the Arkansas countryside plein air.

I am driven by the beauty of nature and the place of humans within it.　 I have a predilection for those themes with which I am most familiar and which were meaningful to me in my childhood. Streams, rivers and bodies of water hold a particular fascination as do small towns and the fading remnants of our civilization, so quickly reclaimed by the land.

I prefer to work with limited palettes, seeking to establish a mood in the piece via the interactions of specific color combinations.　 My palette is constantly changing to suit the needs of each piece.　 I also like to use direction of brushwork to achieve a rhythmic　quality.
 
I have a wide array of influences. Among them are Jean Francois Millet, Frederic Remington, Edward Seago, Robert Henri, Winslow Homer and most especially the Russian Impressionist Isaac Levitan. Closer to home, I admire the work of fellow Arkansan Bill Garrison and the late Louis Freund.　 Primary contemporary influences include William Wray and Stapleton Kearns.　 Although almost entirely self-taught, my working techniques are firmly rooted in the traditions and knowledge that came before.　 I take what I need from these traditions and improvise from them as needed, hoping to craft something that is both recognizable in its roots but that is also an obvious outgrowth of my own instincts.
 
Bio

I am a native Arkansan with deep roots in the Ozark Mountains. I spent many hours of my formative years drawing and roaming on our 200 acre cattle farm.　 I indulged a love of art and a desire to learn to paint as a very young teen by taking my only lessons in a local atelier-like setting.　 Aside from these lessons and the odd workshop now and then, I am self taught.　 After receiving a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arkansas, I moved my young family to the suburbs of Washington D.C. to pursue a career with NASA.　 I have designed, built, and operated systems in orbit around Earth and currently en route to Mars.　　I currently reside in Maumelle, Arkansas.