Brenda Gilliam
Today's Member Spotlight features Brenda Gilliam. Creator of some of my personal favorite artwork, Brenda recently had a solo show at the St. Louis Artists' Guild and never ceases to amaze with stories like solo flying single-engine planes or the colors she learned while living in South Carolina that now feature so elegantly in her artwork:
Life is nothing but a collection of moments and memories. My creative work is rooted in the observation, inspiration, interpretation, and experiences drawn from everyday life. It is an appealing visual language of simplicity and balance, in my way, which often speaks to a viewer’s sensibility and familiarity.
With an extensive career in traditional/digital illustration/graphic design, I now focus more energy toward my own creative pursuits. With the ingrained elements/principles of design... I explore composition, pattern, shape, rhythm, repetition, interplay with layers of color ... in different styles, materials, and techniques.
Without much formal training to be an “artist,” I just am. In forging my own path of discovery, the ongoing knowledge in this intuitive relationship brings such joy within... as does the support and encouragement from those who appreciate my work, when it is shared.
Amela Cikota
Amela Cikota is an abstract artist that works with collages and paintings. When painting, she uses vibrant colors, plays with textures, and experiments with depth. She is currently focusing more on her collages which incorporate a variety of materials. She enjoys the search for technology embedded paper such as player piano paper, computer punch tape, recording tape, etc. and combining them with more natural papers that have fibers and petals throughout. Creating the relationship between nature and technology on one surface.
Cikota, born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, moved to St. Louis in 1997. She has exhibited her artwork both locally and internationally. Cikota received her BFA in Art Education from the University of Missouri - St. Louis. She is currently a full time ceramics teacher at Oakville High School. She is also a resident artist at Soulard Art Gallery where she displays her work in her own little gallery.
About 7 years ago, Cikota bought a home and found the angles of the wall corners to be very interesting. She says, “It is a building made in 1915 and I can’t help but admire the detail in the simplest parts of the home like the ceiling in the stairwell, the beams in the bedroom, or the corners where one room meets another. I ended up photographing these spots in my house then painting them onto canvases where I included some of the actual paint that I used on the walls in the home.” Leftover blueprints from Amela’s time in architecture school have also ended up in her artwork. Cikota loves to garden and travel as well as going antiquing to find more materials. You can see these loves appear in her artwork.
Connie Schmidt
Connie grew up in Crystal City, Missouri with her parents and seven sisters. Her art endeavors began in childhood with drawing and painting, leading to a single art class in high school. During college years she switched from oil painting to acrylics as a creative outlet without any further art education. But a career in finance took precedence during her adult years.
During their 10 years in Crestwood and 25 years in Webster Groves, she and her husband vacationed almost exclusively in Colorado. They now spend five months of the year in Estes Park, Colorado.
After a 40-year hiatus, during retirement she returned to her love of art. Always fascinated by the beauty of watercolor paintings seen in galleries and art shows, she began her watercolor journey at workshops sponsored by Rocky Mountain Conservancy and the Art Center of Estes Park. The beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) became her inspiration. Watercolor as a new medium became her challenge and landscapes became her subject of choice.
Plein air painting, particularly in RMNP, is her favorite occupation during the summer and fall months. Along with a group of like-minded artists of all mediums, she enjoys weekly plein air sessions in and around Estes Park and RMNP. Her favorite location is Sprague Lake which provides endless compositions, changes in light and brilliant color. It has one of the most popular family trails in RMNP and as a result numerous park visitors stop to chat and watch while she paints.
She participated in plein air festivals in Boulder, CO and Steamboat Springs, CO and was juried into the Estes Valley Plein Air for three years. She continues to attend workshops throughout the year to improve her representational style.
Awards and Achievements:
Heartland Art Club Annual Members Exhibit 2023, “Cloudy Morning at Sprague” Honorable Mention
Saint Louis Watercolor Society Annual Juried Exhibition 2023. “Morning Light on the Crags” Renae Baker Memorial Award
Estes Valley Plein Air 2022, “Waiting for Moose” Mayor’s Award & Honorable Mention
Other Recent Juried Exhibits:
50th Western Federation of Watercolor Societies Exhibition, 2025
Missouri Watercolor Society International Juried & Judged Exhibition(s) 2025 & 2024
Webster Arts Art & Soul Exhibition 2025
Webster Arts Emerald Exhibition 2024
Boulder Plein Air Festival 2024 & 2022
Colorado Watercolor Society Annual State Watercolor Exhibition 2024
Estes Valley Plein Air 2024 & 2023
Saint Louis Watercolor Society Annual Juried Exhibition 2024
St. Louis Artists’ Guild Change of Scenery Exhibition 2024
Art Organization Memberships:
Art Center of Estes Park
Colorado Watercolor Society
Heartland Art Club, Signature Member
Missouri Watercolor Society
Plein Air Artists of Colorado
St. Louis Artists’ Guild
Saint Louis Watercolor Society, Signature Member, Board of Directors
Webster Arts
Jahna Kahrhoff
Dr. Jahna Kahrhoff (she/her) is a Webster Groves-based fiber artist. A self-taught sewer and quilter, Jahna works in her home studio to create unique bags, accessories, and quilts made from vintage, upcycled, and repurposed textiles. Each item grows organically from the textures, colors, and patterns of the repurposed textiles, conscientiously chosen to give new life to things that were once used to hold and cover something else.
In her professional life, Jahna has 30 years of experience as a distance learning administrator and instructor and is currently Assistant Dean of Curriculum at Purdue Global. Jahna has a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Art from Rutgers University, a Master’s degree in Information and Communication Sciences from Ball State University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Jahna's quilted art has been accepted in recent Webster Arts Fair and several Webster Arts shows, including the upcoming Small Works XXI. And her piece 'The Sea's Serenity' is featured in the recently released Volume 001 of The Journal of Monochrome Art: Monochromica.
Robert Bolla
Today’s Webster Arts’ Member Spotlight features Bob Bolla, biologist and photographer. Bob writes, “Since an early age I have used photography to record the ‘history’ of an event, tell a story and store a memory. My interest continued through my academic career as a biologist where I used photography in teaching and research; it has followed me into retirement where I now use photography to challenge the viewer to see the relationship between arts and science in the natural world….” An ethnographic and street photographer, Bob has traveled widely to capture images that define a culture, focusing on how people live in their particular world and culture. Using both candid and posed photographs, Bob tells the story of their everyday life. Additionally, Bob’s experience as a scientist draws him to natural landscapes that prompt the viewer to see how science and art interface.
Bob is a self-taught photographer, with some mentoring in film photography and darkroom manipulations. Today, Bob primarily works in digital photography, working in the digital darkroom to “develop” the image. Bob says, “Software lets me make post-processing manipulation with more ease than in the days of film and the darkroom. For cultural photographs, I frequently use gold tone or orotype prints, adapted from archival imaging of the early 1900’s. I also use digital painting to enhance images where it aids the story.”
Bob has shown his work in solo exhibits at St. Louis Artists’ Guild, Bradley University, EuroBiotech Conference (Poznan, Poland), Renaissance Hotel (St. Louis Lambert Airport), St. Charles Arts Council Lillian Yahn Gallery, and Peoria Artist Guild, and currently the LightSpaceTime online gallery. Curated exhibits include the International Photographic Hall of Fame and Museum, Commerce Bank and Des Peres Hospital. Bob is a featured artist at Camelback Gallery and Artist of the Month in Gallery Ring online galleries, where his work has been selected for Artist of the Month competitions.
Bob’s digital painting, A Hard Way to Make a Buck, is on display in Webster Arts’ current show, Art & Soul. You can see more of Bob’s work at https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-bolla.
Maya Graine
Today's Member Spotlight features Maya Graine:
"Maya Graine is a multi-media artist from Morrison, Colorado whose work focuses on disability and chronic illness. She uses performance, soft sculpture, and video to confront viewers with the uncanny "other," or the medicalized body. Her work often includes abject and grotesque imagery, which is inspired by the invasive surgeries and treatments she has undergone. Her goal is to grasp the attention of the able-bodied, and challenge their preconceptions about disability.
Graine is a first-year MFA-VA candidate at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Art from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Her work was recently on display at the European Culture Centre’s Palazzo Mora during the 2024 Venice Biennial. She always has her studio at Sam Fox open to the public, with a rotating display of in-progress and finished works. It is important to her to be open about her experiences with chronic pain in order to de-stigmatize the topic, so she invites questions about her artwork and its connection to disability."
Maya is often joined in the studio by her dogs, Doughboy and Pretzel Dog when she is working - but they are not able to join when Maya is doing a performance piece as they will want to join in with her! Maya has a desire to "start a collective of disabled creatives, run by members of the disability community, and inclusive of all types of disabilities" and would love to hear from anyone who would be interested in a similar venture! You can email Webster Arts to connect with Maya!
You will be able to see more of Maya's work later this Spring with other first-year Sam Fox MFA students. A location is yet to be determined but more information will be available on the Sam Fox website.
Heather R. Sparkman
Heather R Sparkman is the Communications and Marketing Director at Webster Arts. Which means, she is writing in the third-person at this moment. She credits her parents for igniting the creative spark in her by always providing art supplies and only getting a little upset when she raided their supplies for a hair-brained idea. Growing up with a woodworker and artist for parents, Heather has a deep respect for all forms of artistic practice and has probably tried her hand and most mediums. But watercolor, acrylic, and linoleum cuts have captured her heart.
Heather came to Webster Arts after completing an MA at Lindenwood University in Digital and Web Design, and considers working at Webster Arts her dream job. Prior to working with Webster Arts, Heather showed some of her work with the organization and has participated in a few other shows around St. Louis, showcasing her work in watercolor, acrylic, and digital art. An avid reader and aspiring writer, Heather is currently working on transforming her masters thesis into a book-length manuscript and plans to begin shopping it in 2026. In the meantime, she is updating her home studio and looks forward to a productive and creative 2025! You can visit Heather at the Webster Arts gallery at 2 Summit Avenue in Webster Groves, Missouri and find her digital marketing work on the Webster Arts social media feeds. And she is always game to talk about Webster Arts, the membership program, and other ways you can get involved with the organization.
Heather has a goal to visit all 30 active MLB ballparks; she has visited 8 active parks and 3 retired parks (Arlington, Atlanta, and St. Louis). She’s hoping to visit Coors Field later this year and knock one more off the list and make an attempt at painting the Rockies.
Bud Hirsch
Our Member Spotlight features renaissance man Bud Hirsch! Bud has been a great friend of Webster Arts over the years and we are so happy to feature him as today!
Native of St. Louis, photographer for over 70 years going from Brownie Hawkeye to today’s mirrorless cameras. Bud’s work is a combination of left brain and right brain. He bred, trained, and showed Paso Fino horses for over 30 years, is a poet with five collections of his work, has a PhD in Accounting from Washington University with many academic articles in his discipline.
His first darkroom was in a converted half-bath in his parents’ basement. When his wife, Marian, and he came back to St. Louis after college, he built a full b&w darkroom where his children, especially Jeff, accompanied him as he processed and enlarged images. Bud moved from film cameras into digital in 2000. In 2011 began traveling on a series of photo workshops in Europe, Cuba, and New Zealand.
While his main interests have been street photography, details, hands/feet/heads, and food, he has taken over 70,000 shots at gymnastics meets following his granddaughter for the past 15 years. He is now experimenting with abstractions made with intentional camera movements and multiple exposures, saying “It’s time for old dog, new tricks.”
He says: “I am a story teller in my poetry and photography. I try to have each capture a window to the tales one can imagine that preceded it and that follow. Like poetry where what the listener hears/reads can be interpreted from each person’s frame of reference, so it is with my images as you view them. Each is meant to be a metaphor for you to construe.”
Bud and his wife of 62 years, Marian, live in Chesterfield. He is an arts advocate having been one of the founders of Chesterfield Arts/Arts Unleashed and was long-serving and founding member of The Repertory Theatre on St. Louis Board of Directors.
Janet Moore
Today’s Member Monday Spotlight features Webster Arts Member Janet Moore. Janet has recently moved to the St. Louis area in 2019, with her wife Sharon, two dogs, and cat. A graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute (BFA) and San Francisco State University (MFA), Janet has been weaving since 1972, “and I have greatly enjoyed, studied, created, shared and benefited from it since I began in Kansas City. Study opportunities included an apprenticeship in a professional studio, formal degrees… and most recently with a group of 14 other weavers from England, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada, California, New England, and Kansas in a design and weave collaboration called “Waterline.” I focus on handwoven tapestry technique. My subject matter explores the meaning in the natural world, and in events, people, and creatures in my life. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to strive to make the most beautiful weaving that I can. I am a member of the Weavers’ Guild of St.Louis, The American Tapestry Alliance, Tapestry Weavers West, and Missouri Fiber Artists.
“My work has been featured in publications such as Southwest Art, SF Magazine, ArteFacto (a European publication), Contemporary Tapestry, The Art Is the Cloth, and Fiber Arts Design Books 4 and 5. In 2024 I received an award for “Best Craftsmanship” in the Missouri Fiber Artists exhibition at the Regional Scenic Gallery in Hermann MO. In 2023, I was awarded an Artist Support Grant by the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and their support helped me to advance my work by creating new, large format tapestries! I am so very grateful to them!” Janet’s work “The Green Man” was featured in Webster Arts' recent show, Word & Weft and her jewelry as a part of our recent collaboration with the Weavers’ Guild of St. Louis.
You can see Janet’s newest work in the Hearth Room Gallery at the Washington University Farrell Learning and Teaching Center, located at 520 S. Euclid Avenue, St. Louis. Showing now through March 7, 2025.
John Freise
John is a self-taught artist who has worked in a variety of mediums over the past twenty plus years. He has done a number of exhibits and art shows throughout the country. For nearly a decade, he has worked as a mixed media, assemblage artist who works primarily with repurposed and recycled materials. Webster Arts was thrilled to work with John this year as one of our jurors for the 20th Webster Arts Fair - and his work is always a patron-favorite in our gallery shows!
David Hasty
David Hasty is a self taught photographer. His introduction to photography began as a child with the family camera - at the time, a Brownie Hawkeye. Primitive by today's standards David found a fascination with it. In earlier years David would pick up a film camera off and on and as he began traveling through the National Parks - the camera a constant companion. Over decades David has continued to grow more and more passionate about his work, evolving from a snap-and-shoot photographer to a focused artist, capturing the artwork in his mind through the lens.
David says, "Photography - and art in general - is a great form of self-expression and it lends itself well to my sense of curiosity and adventure. Along the way it has brought me on a path of numerous opportunities and the vivid stories are priceless. I often refer to my shooting style as being eclectic. The bulk of my work is in landscapes and nature with a wide range of subject matter. It's said every picture tells a story. I share my work and stories with you, many and varied. I am a mere observer, a recorder of nature. Borrowing from a moment in our time that which is for all to see and experience. My legacy comes with many rewards and responsibilities. In a glimpse the moment is gone never being photographed in the same light. It's not the destination but the journeys along the way."
Kathy LaRue
Today's Webster Arts Monday Member Spotlight is Kathy LaRue.
Kathy LaRue is a native of St. Louis but has lived in several states her husband Jim before moving back to the area in 2012.
Kathy has always had an interest in art & design, operating a custom embroidery business for many years and designing Hypertufa (faux concrete) planters before discovering Acrylic Fluid Art during the Covid pandemic. Kathy has recently started working in resin art as well.
Kathy's art has been exhibited in several local art galleries including Webster Arts (Small Works, Member Showcase, and Small Business Saturday),Missouri Athletic Club, St. Louis Artist Guild , a solo show at Webster Groves library, Soulard, and Framations.
Kathy's work can be seen now at the Lillian Yahn gallery in St. Peters, MO and will soon be available in the Maker's Market in Webster Groves. View her work on social media media at @stl_fluid_art on both Facebook and Instagram.
Susan Wehrman
Susan Wehrman did not set out to become an artist, but her passion for art began early on: in elementary school tempera paints, construction paper and ordinary glue represented a vision to be fulfilled. While other children longed for toys, her greatest excitement came from visits to the local hobby shop for paint-by-number kits – she would spend many marathon weekends working on these cardboard canvases. This is what inspired her current love of colored pencils and the development and evolution of her unique design process.
Though not formally educated as an artist she has had the incredible fortune to connect with an established artist who has mentored her for the past ten years. Through memberships in various societies and other venues she has also been able to meet with and learn from peers and contemporaries. Additionally, COVID provided unique opportunities to study online with several established colored pencil artists around the globe. She has earned the CPSA title (signature status) granted by the Colored Pencil Society of America, the UKCPSO title from the United Kingdom Colour Pencil Society and is a Signature Member of the Heartland Art Club. Susan also donates artwork to the Golden Retriever Foundation to raise money to further their research in understanding diseases and genetic disorders that afflict all dogs and Golden Retrievers in particular.
Susan specializes in pet and nature portraits; her artwork represents the special bond we share with the animals that share our world and those that have etched special places in our hearts. However diverse we may be, this love of our animals is universal and transcends all languages and borders. She works very hard to ensure that she portrays the spirit and essence of her subjects. By the time a piece is
complete -- having sculpted every curve of their faces and every nuance of their expression – she has come to know them intimately; and loves them all.
Susan has been in many of Webster Arts juried shows and has won Best in Show in recent exhibits, including Open Theme 2023 and Opposites Attract.
Jahna Kahrhoff
Dr. Jahna Kahrhoff (she/her) is a Webster Groves-based fiber artist. A self-taught sewer, Jahna works in her home studio to create unique bags, accessories, and quilts made from vintage, upcycled, and repurposed textiles. Each item grows organically from the textures, colors, and patterns of the repurposed textiles, conscientiously chosen to give new life to things that were once used to hold and cover something else.
In her professional life, Jahna has 30 years of experience as a distance learning administrator and instructor and is currently Assistant Dean of Curriculum at Purdue Global. Jahna has a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Art from Rutgers University, a Master’s degree in Information and Communication Sciences from Ball State University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Jahna also serves as a Board Member for Webster Arts, something for which we are greatly appreciative because of her insight and wisdom. You can see her piece Kissed by Sunshine in Webster Arts' Small Works XIX, showing now through March 29 at the Webster Groves Public Library.
Sarah Ball
Sarah began her art journey at a young age, encouraged by participating in her parent’s art endeavors in creative wood carving panels, sculptures, and metal sculptures. While her life took other directions in college, she studied most heavily in her small-town high school art classes, moving from pastels and acrylics to oil paints as she developed her skills. Along the way Sarah developed skillsets in clay sculpture, photography, weaving, and fiber arts, but on semi-retirement from her professional career more focus time has lent her skills to painting. While oils are in the forefront, multiple media of gauche, watercolor, and acrylics have entered the mix.
Sarah is focused on what it takes to create and to depict the process of making a painting ‘work’. Sarah states she enjoys using compositional frameworks of celebrated artists of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo eras to reflect contemporary subject matter taken from photographs and daily life, (but more to follow on that!).
Currently, Sarah has shown several paintings in Saint Louis based galleries with both regional and national juried shows over the past 3 years. She has displayed varied subject matter, evolving from Indigenous native American and world refugee topics to our natural environment. The goal of her work centers on creating an emotional connection with her audience through the two-dimensional canvas.
Sarah's piece, Oak Tree Wisdom, is currently showing in Webster Arts show Emerald and was awarded Best in Show. You can see this painting in the Webster Arts Gallery now through March 29.
Eve Bayer
"Eve Bayer is an artist living and creating in Ladue, Missouri. Having retired from a non-art professional career, she now devotes her time to both making art and actively supporting the visual arts in Saint Louis. Having formally studied visual art at Washington University in Saint Louis, and more recently at the School of Visual Arts in New York, her artwork practice has evolved from drawing and painting, to textured, expressionistic, layered compositions reflective of nature, myth, and human experience. Eve approaches her works purposefully, combining drawings and paintings, printmaking, encaustic and repurposed art materials, with organic
materials and fibers, which she then marks, layers, and adds to and subtracts from with studied intention. The resulting works, which are both highly expressionistic and deeply personal, serve as a visual diary of the artist’s consciousness and history; however, the artist prefers her works to be interpreted through viewers’ own experiences, histories and emotions. Bayer’s works have shown in galleries in New York, Detroit and her hometown of Saint Louis, and are currently held in private collections throughout the country.
Eve Bayer can be contacted at 4jedbayer@gmail.com and through her Instagram account: @eve_visualarts "
Bill Kambol
"Bill Kambol is an American artist residing in Saint Louis, Missouri. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts, concentrating in Industrial Design, from Purdue University. Away from his daytime role as a designer, Bill developed his artistic skills in several different mediums including oils, graphite and watercolor. Recently, Bill enjoyed a year-long sabbatical where he continued to hone his watercolor skills.
Bill’s art is influenced by the work of David Hockney and Wayne Theibaud and is currently mentoring with watercolorist Ali Cavanaugh. His subjects include, but not exclusive to, portraits, landscape and floral paintings.
Bill’s energetic portraits have the unique ability to use humor to embrace the human experience. “It’s those split second moments that I love to capture and make them last a lifetime. It is incredibly rewarding to see how happy my work makes my clients.”
Bill’s landscapes and florals are inspired from working at his family’s floral and garden shop as a teenager. Bill recently created a series of paintings from the photographs he took on one beautiful spring day at the Keukenhof Botanical Gardens in Lisse, Netherlands. These works convey the feeling of saturation and beauty of the meticulously tended flower beds. His paintings beautifully depict the many rivers of color flowing throughout the garden. Upon his return from his European trip, Bill discovered a wonderful surprise. Looking through some of the slides his father took when he was serving in the U.S. Army, Bill learned that he also visited the same town of Lisse.
These paintings can be viewed at Bill’s current solo show “The Colors of the Netherlands” at the Maryland Heights Community Center continuing until January 5th, 2024. All are welcome to the closing reception on that evening 5:30-7:30.
Bill has been a part three Webster Arts shows, most recently the 2023 Open Theme Annual. His work can be found on his website billkambol.com and on his Instagram page @wkambol ."
Amie Simmons
Amie Simmons, a painter, metalsmith, and animal lover creates pieces inspired by nature, humans, and found objects. She incorporates metals in her paintings and images in her metals. It is Amie’s hope that each piece of art inspires others to create, and brings a little joy to the world. Amie believes that more people creating, viewing, and enjoying art will make the world a better place.
Connie J. Schmidt
Connie grew up in Crystal City, Missouri with her parents and seven sisters. Her art endeavors began in childhood with drawing and painting, leading to art class in high school. During college years she switched from oil painting to acrylics as a creative outlet without any further art education. But a career in finance took precedence during her adult years.
During their 10 years in Crestwood and 25 years in Webster Groves, she and her husband vacationed almost exclusively in Colorado. They now spend five months of the year in Estes Park, Colorado. After retirement, she returned to her love of art by attending several watercolor workshops, a new medium for her. The beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) became her inspiration. Watercolor became her challenge and joy. Landscapes became her subject of choice. Plein air painting, particularly in RMNP, is her favorite occupation during the summer and fall months. Along with a group of like-minded artists of all mediums, she enjoys weekly plein air sessions in and around Estes Park and RMNP. Her favorite location is Sprague Lake which provides endless compositions, changes in light and color. She participated in plein air festivals in Boulder, CO and was juried into the Estes Valley Plein Air for two years. She continues to attend workshops throughout the year to improve her representational style.
She is a member of the Saint Louis Watercolor Society, the Colorado Watercolor Society, and the Plein Air Artists of Colorado and was juried into their annual exhibits in 2023. She is a member artist at two galleries in Estes Park. She has been juried into three “Small Works” exhibits and the 2022 “Seasonal Rhythms” exhibit of Webster Arts.
Gaye Gambell-Peterson
“Once upon a time a girl-child in western New York colored outside the lines and paid no attention to the numbers in her paint-by-numbers kits. She parlayed that proclivity into a degree in design (major: painting) from the University of Michigan. From there she wandered back and forth between the west coast and the Midwest, labeling herself every which way (wife, art teacher, mother, reporter, painter, sculptor, weaver, sales, special education assistant, divorcee, caregiver, grandmother, wife again, poet, retiree, artist/poet, great-grandmother).
In her ninth decade, gaye gambell-peterson has settled down to one artistic medium, that being collage—the layering of bits of paper and ephemera on canvas. In the 1970s, she was content to lug her art from outside fair to outside fair—now she's delighted to carry a piece or three to a juried exhibit right here in the St Louis area. 2023 was a banner year with her collages juried into 16 shows, and an Award of Excellence garnered.
Poetry is a passion also—the layering of words. She is published often enough to keep her writing. Her latest poetry award was in 2023. Her art and poetry are companioned in her two chapbooks, pale leaf floating (Cherry Pie Press: Midwest Womens Poet Series) and mYnd mAp (Agog Press).”
A poem (with art) by gaye gambell-peterson, published online: https://qarrtsiluni.com/2012/10/10/life-stuff/
Life Stuff
I gather dabs of life-stuff around me. They come in a drift,
or singly like snowflakes. Moments fall in my ears; their music, sometimes discordant,
although mostly remembered as harmony.
I trim each chance to one-inch squares, line them up on my canvas, seal them—
a portrait of self. My family admires my effort, or mocks it—
this impulse to control past and present. Yet, I persist. Translate half—
or twice as much—of every emotion into these small paper pieces.
Bright hues—purple, hot pink, mango, bitter green, azure—tangle in my hair,
in my art, blind my other eye. I edit images into these fragments,
rearrange, attempt to appreciate this life, this urge.
Ampersands, seashells, bird nest, rocking chair, moose,
spiral, moon. And words: The heart is the hub. Go there. Roam in it. I am.
So. Look at me now. A scrap-monger in a world of dots and words,
confetti of my life a swirl ’round my head, while the unremembered fall away—
fall upon my bare feet which tap and twirl without notice.
