Portfolio of Works
Gloria Gaus, Artist
Gloria Gaus, central Missouri painter working from her river-view studio offers contemplative solitude with direct access to the Midwestern landscapes featured throughout her body of work. Painting both in the comfort of her studio and outdoors on location, Gloria says, “nothing compares to the freedom and intimacy of painting outdoors.” Allowing all distractions to fall away, the moment captures all of her attention and senses as she becomes enmeshed in the present moment with the subject before her. Gloria’s medium of choice is oil paint, but she also works with graphite and charcoal. Her work has been honored with numerous regional awards, including Les Bourgeois Vineyards’ Collector’s Series wine label awards on two occasions. Her paintings can be found internationally in both private and corporate collections.
Derek B. Fox
Derek B. Fox is a Columbia, Missouri based artist who focuses on representational fine art. He considers himself traditional in his techniques and approaches. Derek's particular interests include painting outdoor from life, also know as painting "en plein air", a long-standing tradition in landscape painting. He is also working in still life and portraiture, both human and animal.
Lorraine McFarland, Pastel Artist
The Journey
A Long and Winding Road
MY PERSONAL JOURNEY
When it comes to my art, I am a late bloomer. The path has been a long and crooked one. I was raised in St. Louis, where I took every art course offered by my high school. I went to the University of Missouri- Columbia with a declared major in art. However, when I saw what the other students could do I gave it up, thinking I was not artistically talented. I was 19 years old. I could not see it then, but now, I consider this one of the biggest mistakes of my life!
I took a long break from college and worked as an administrative assistant and bartender. I had a successful wallpapering business also. It was during this time that I learned photography, which would later contribute to my return to painting and drawing. My father, Jasper Forrest McFarland, who was a gifted artist, passed away in 1993 and I inherited all of his art supplies. Tucked away in storage in the years after his death, they were calling to me, but for various reasons, the time was just not right for me to nurture my artistic side until later in my life.
When I was in my thirties I followed my love of birds and wildlife and returned to school to earn a degree in Wildlife Management. I worked as a natural history biologist seasonally for 8 years. Because I was not able to find permanent employment as a biologist, I again returned to school to become a physical therapist assistant. I worked as a PTA until my mother-in-law, Bertha, who had Alzheimer's disease, became unable to live alone. Bertha came to live with me and my husband in 1998 and I quit my job to spend the next 8 years caring for her in our home. The decision to stop working and stay home with Bertha was a scary and agonizing one, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made because it was during the time I cared for her that I took up art again. I was 47 years old. It had been 28 years since I gave up. What now?
My father always told me I could learn everything I needed to know to be a good artist by reading and practice. Although our relationship was strained at best, I do remember feeling close to him when I sat by his side, watching him paint a mural on the wall of our living room, asking endless questions, and getting insightful answers that stuck in my mind. So, while I was home caring for Bertha, I took his advice to heart and started reading a lot about art history and technique. I pulled out the supplies he left me from their hiding place in the basement and began drawing and experimenting. By this time, the internet had emerged as a valuable resource and I started using it too. Slowly, steadily, and with increasing excitement, I applied what I learned. I took some drawing classes and a watercolor class, but it was when I took a pastel class at the local vo-tech that things really began to happen quickly.
To my surprise, I had brief "eureka" moments of seeing like an artist - moments that I thought were not in my ability 28 years before. I partially attribute this to my experience with photography over the years. Those moments came more and more often. Over the next few years, I began attending more in-depth workshops with pastel masters and entered pieces in the local juried shows and accumulated some honorable mention awards. In September of 2006, Bertha passed away and my dear husband, my biggest supporter, did not press me to get a job but encouraged me to work as an artist. I was off and running! Norm is a great husband!
Since 2004 I have enjoyed competing in plein air competitions and am proud to say I have taken home a respectable number of awards from them over the years. I also love painting portraits of people and pets and have won awards for my work in that genre also.
I give private lessons in my studio and teach workshops too.
Liz Schlup, Glass Artist
Midwestern Artist, Liz Schlup brings creativity, chemistry, courage, and diligence to every piece of glass art she creates. Dictated by the type, style and color of glass she chooses and the high temperatures of her kiln process, each piece emerges unique and distinctive. “Happy accidents'' that often take place in the manipulation of the glass during the kiln firing process is what makes each piece truly a one-of-a-kind creation. Each piece sparkles with the properties only glass can display. Liz is continuously creating wearable (jewelry) and decorative glass, which are for sale throughout the mid-Missouri area.
Dave Walker, Fiber Artist
Piecing quilt tops ignited my artistic journey with fabric. I create what I call Fabricscapes by cutting images from fabric and reassembling them into something new. My artistic process involves a “cut and glue" or "cut and bond" technique, combining raw-edge machine appliqué, textile painting, and intricate thread-work. Most works are completed with free-motion machine quilting, which adds depth, texture, shading, and a sense of movement to the design.
Immersed in the rustic landscapes of Missouri through the years, I cultivated a deep, lifelong love of nature that profoundly influences my creative journey with fiber. The endless colors, patterns, and creative possibilities of fabric free my imagination and provide endless opportunities for happy accidents and serendipitous inspiration.
While my fabric art may have been born by accident, my current work is grounded in a deep well of rural values and real-life experiences. Each piece I create is a visual narrative, a record of my travels, impressions, and connections with the natural world around me.
In a world that often moves at a breakneck pace, I offer viewers a chance to slow down and immerse themselves in the tactile beauty and captivating narratives of fabric art; inviting them to embark on a journey of their own, discovering the stories and emotions woven into every collage and realizing that the closer they get the more they’ll see. It is my hope that my work will inspire others to embrace the magic of fabric collage, to find their own creative paths, and to cherish the beauty and wonder that can be found in the world around us.
Carrie Yonley, Photographer
Carrie is a mid-Missouri photographer known for sharing her vision of nature’s beauty and man’s creations through her images. As an avid photographer and lover of the outdoors, she has recorded the natural world around her for many decades producing an extensive image library of scenes throughout Missouri, and across America on her life-long travels.
Carrie’s newest photography exhibit presents her images in a new and
exciting way. Her "Nature’s Designs Series" focuses on snipits of nature taken from her
image library. She focuses on images that dazzle us with
color, light, mood, lines and shapes – representing symbolic and mythological energies.
The first of the Nature's Design collection is titled “Reflections”. Reflections
move and shimmer and change by the moment. There are so many ways to depict
reflections in photographs, with the final image dependent on composition and camera
settings chosen to capture the tantalizing moment. Reflections inspire a deeper form of learning that allows us to look beyond the facts. A reflection can completely alter a scene from something fairly straightforward to something more artistic and abstract.
Carrie's Nature’s Designs images can be used individually, or grouped together with similar or
complimentary sizes adding interest and inspiration for our walls.
