While studying Graphic Design, Melissa took an introductory class in Drawing, where they often sketched using charcoal pencil. One of their
assignments was to find something unique to draw on that was not
currently in the classroom. This idea sparked inspiration for Melissa and she has continued to draw with charcoal on various found pieces of paper, such as maps, sheet music and book pages. Her subject matter is  a variety of ideas that she finds enjoyable to draw and that contain lots of contrast, suitable for the medium of charcoal.

Melissa enjoys getting her fingers dirty and is pleased with how the pieces turn out, so she has continued her art process. She was honored to be chosen as an Emerging Artist for the internationally known Des Moines Art Festival for two years and has received great feedback from that experience.

She creates art as much as she can while caring for her 'on-the-go' one year old son! :) We hope you enjoy seeing her work here in the Urbandale Art Gallery and visit her website to learn more, buy a piece or order custom artwork.

www.MelissaRenea.com

Husband and wife team artists and gallery owners, Shawn and Misty Palek, are sharing some of their vast library of artworks with us this summer! We hope you can stop by to see their work in our gallery, but if you miss it, you can always visit them in their gallery in the East Village: Palek Studio, 506 E. 6th St., Suite 200, DSM, IA 50309. And if they inspire you, Palek Studio is a great place to go make art yourself!

Judith Eastburn's exhibit is an exquisite collection of gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper. They are printed from negatives in the darkroom, not digitally. This means that the image is extremely permanent and 100 years from now it should look the same as it does today.
For questions or orders, contact JLEastburn@gmail.com

Artist's Statement:

"I believe we are profoundly affected by the landscape of our childhood. It establishes our sense of space and how we fit into it, and we recognize as familiar those places encountered later in life which resemble it. I was born in Iowa, and grew up in the southeast corner near the Mississippi River in an area of limestone bluffs and wooded ravines. Visits to my grandparents meant drives to central Iowa through gently rising and falling open fields. These are the landscapes which serve as my point of reference when I photograph in other parts of the world. I think Iowa and its openness made me aware of the horizon and sensitive to smaller variations in the land’s surface."

-Judith Eastburn

View her photography on her website here...or visit the gallery today!

18 Women and over 50 pieces of art grace our one small gallery this February! We hope you come take a look. Show will be displayed through the month of February, 2016.

Artist Statement
My work is representational with an emotional tint.  I paint out of the joy I feel about nature and people.  I connect with God and my best self when I pick up a brush.

- Leslie Leavenworth, 2015

In the Gallery July 1 – August 15, 2015

The Central Iowa Textile Artists (CITA) came into being in 2003 when six people with an interest in textile arts decided to meet on a monthly basis to encourage and challenge each other.

Today there are 13 members of this artist’s group. Of the 13, three are published authors, five have pattern companies, six teach classes in various techniques, and three have hand-dyed fabric and/or clothing companies. All are award-winning artists whose works have hung in galleries and/or shows and private collections all over the country.

Each artist uses her own mix of quilting and art techniques that can vary for every piece of art she produces. These techniques may include piecing, painting, dye painting, dyeing, collage, silk screen, and embellishing with hand and machine decorative stitching, couching and beading.

CITA members include:
Ilene Bartos - Urbandale
Janet Bergeron - Norwalk
Jan Hall - Des Moines
Hollie Hart - Des Moines
Barbara Jones - West Des Moines
Rebecca Kemble - West Des Moines
Linda Knierim - Grinnell
Angela Lawrence - Des Moines
Jean O’Donnell - Des Moines
Janet Pittman - West Des Moines
Wendy Read - Fairfield
Barb Stewart - Clive
Jeanne Stilley - Des Moines