Heather Haymart

"My creative life began generations before me and continues through my children today. I made this love affair with art official when I earned my BFA and BSEd from the University of Missouri - Columbia. Being a high school art teacher and mural painter were my school of life stepping stones toward being the artist I was always called to be. Spending my days creating paintings for private, public and corporate collections is my great privilege and joy.

Art is my voice when I can’t find the words. It is my mission to combine colors and texture onto a surface in a way that emits an emotion into the space it inhabits and to the person who views it. My paintings are inspired by music, nature, human interaction and all things that make the world an interesting place. Although my paintings are abstract, it is a thrill for me to give a hint of something recognizable that people can connect with. I like to imagine interacting with my paintings is like going on a treasure hunt."

You can see Heather's painting, Don't Give Up on Me, in our Member's Showcase. And be sure to stop by Webster Arts on November 25 for Small Business Saturday to purchase some of your own artwork from Heather and other Members!

Karen Atkins

Art has always been a part of my life and has taken on many forms along the way. I decided to go into graphic design as a “safe choice” rather than fine arts. I always had a dream of becoming a professional artist, but I kept putting my art career dreams on the back burner. Then, a few things happened that opened the door for me to be able to stay home to homeschool and take care of my parents in our home. This year, I decided it was time to make this dream come true. In January I started Katkins Studio and started selling custom pet portraits. Most recently, though, I have started working on an art series named REM Intrusion.

Our pets give us so much joy and happiness, but sometimes one stands out from the rest. For us, that pet was Nibbler. Sadly, she left us last year, but her memory lives on through the portrait I painted. Every time we look at it, we're reminded of her playful spirit and the joy she brought to our lives. Through my commissioned pet portraits, I want to help others celebrate their pet’s memory whether their furry companion is still by their side or has crossed the rainbow bridge.

The REM Intrusion series follows my personal journey with narcolepsy, a chronic and rare disease. Through this ongoing project, I use each painting as a means to share a chapter of my story, each intertwined with my innermost thoughts and emotions. As a fellow narcoleptic, I know the frustration that comes with feeling misunderstood and isolated in this experience. As a result, my artwork serves as a comfort to those who share this path, reminding them that they are not alone.

My hope is that by exploring my art, you find a sense of shared experiences, pride in your strength and perseverance despite the challenges posed by this chronic disease, and an outlet to process the full range of emotions that come with this disorder."

Karen was awarded Second Place in Webster Arts summer show, Unsung, for her piece 'A Familiar Place' The REM Intrusion series.

Jay and Sherry Phillips

Jay and Sherry Phillips grew up in the St. Louis County area, were childhood sweethearts that lived across the street from each other and now live in Chesterfield, MO.  Their medium is primarily wood but they also weld metal to create functional art and use their laser machine to enhance, and make unique, a lot of their wood art. Jay owns his own IT consulting firm and has been a woodworker for almost 40 years, building furniture, remodeling their home and turning wood on the lathe. Sherry is a retired hospital social worker who has been turning wood on the lathe and using the other power tools in their shop for over 15 years. They have taken workshops, private lessons and network with other wood workers in order to evolve their style and work by experimenting with different creative methods to make their pieces artistically unique. Jay grew up watching, then working with his father building and creating things out of wood as a hobby. Sherry began woodworking watching Jay and having him teach her the art of woodworking. They are motivated by their appreciation of and respect for nature. The beauty of wood and how each piece is unique provides their incentive to create pieces that enhance that unique beauty within their finished pieces. They particularly enjoy upcycling local Missouri wood and are proud to create with it rather than have it discarded as worthless. Jay and Sherry are juried Best of Missouri Hands Artisans, juried members of the Greater St. Louis Artists Association and members of Webster Arts . They have been juried into numerous art shows over the past 9 years, including the MO Botanical Gardens Best of Missouri Market (for 9 years), Webster Arts Fair, Kirkwood Artists Boutique, Richmond Heights Art Fest, Art in the Park at Francis Park in St. Louis Hills, Art in the Park in Columbia, MO, Schlafly Art Outside, Old Capitol Art Fair in Springfield, IL,  Wildwood Art Festival, Queeny Park Art Fair, and Midwest Salute to the Arts just to name a few. They have 4 adult children, 6 grandchildren, a sweet goldendoodle dog and enjoy camping, hiking, fishing, bike riding and traveling the country in their motorhome.

Laura Bontty

Laura Bontty, a St. Louis native and lifelong artist, received her BFA from Lindenwood University in 1991. Her talents are best highlighted in her paintings and drawings, and her mediums include acrylics, pastels, watercolors, pencil and ink.  Her portfolio encompasses portraits, landscapes, architecture and pets. 

Her passion shines through in her portraits, capturing a striking likeness while revealing each subject’s unique personality, whether it's a person, pet or cherished home.  While portraits are her most popular, she also enjoys painting colorful landscapes and murals, like her recent work in the children’s area at Laurie’s Shoes in Glendale, MO.  She also had a fun phase of painting hundreds of custom canvas Toms and Converse shoes between 2012 and 2020. 

Laura enjoys the challenge of always exploring and learning new techniques. When she’s not creating art in her home studio, she works for “House of Paint & Design Co.” a boutique paint company specializing in interior/exterior paint, refinishing, wallpaper & lime wash applications.  

Her art has been displayed in the Webster Arts small works show in recent years and you can explore her creative journey at www.artbylaurabontty.com or follow her on Facebook and Instagram at “artbylaurabontty”.

After many years of juggling the art of raising two boys and working, she looks forward to the days she will be able to spend more time dedicated to creating art.

Robert Bolla

As a photographer, Robert considers himself a storyteller. That is, he wants his photos to be a story for the viewer to read through their imagination, notice what see in the photo and what lies behind what they see.  

Although Robert has had some mentoring in specific areas, he is primarily self-taught. During his career as a biologist, he used photography, including electron microscopy and image analysis, in his teaching and research. 

 After retirement, Robert moved into the digital world to continue as a photographic storyteller. He has two main interests; teaching the relationship of the arts and sciences and showing how people and cultures are different yet the same. While he has traveled extensively as a street photographer, he also photographs wildlife, nature, and landscape. Sometimes, he uses the digital darkroom to create digital paintings from digital photos to better tell the story he wants the viewer to read.  

Most recently, one of his goals is to use photography to show that even though cultures may differ, they also are much the same and that we should see this sameness as we address worldly issues. He tries to show this through the photography of indigenous peoples in their native culture, involved in their daily tasks of living. Inspired by the photographic technique used by Edward Curtis and his contemporaries to capture the story and history of Native Americans, Robert now uses the orotype or gold type photograph to bring the viewer’s eye to the main element of the photograph. This opens the imagination to the viewer's reading of the story being told.  

Robert competes in local, national, and international multimedia art juried competitions for on-line and physical gallery exhibitions, including the 2022 exhibit at the International Photographic Hall of Fame and Museum. His work has been in solo and curated exhibits at the St. Louis Artist Guild, Buder Library and Maryland Heights, Bradley University, Renaissance Hotel, Soulard Coffee Garden and EuroBiotech in Poznan, Poland.  He is a featured artist in Camelback Galleries, a solo artist at Fusion Art Galleries, and Artist of the Month at Gallery Ring online galleries.  He has also served on the Board of Directors for Manchester Arts.

Corissa Mantooth

Corissa’s artwork is heavily influenced by her experiences as a field Biologist, environmental educator, and nature enthusiast. Spending time in upstate New York and the St. Louis Metro area during her childhood, her work focuses on native wildlife and landscapes that aim to capture the bright colors, textures, and movements found in nature. Corissa’s art education has been largely informal through the direction of classes, workshops, and experimentation. She uses many tools to create her heavily textured acrylic pieces including piping bags, palette knives, and brushes. In addition to sculptural acrylics, Corissa also enjoys creating hand-pressed prints for mixed-media pieces and limited edition prints that highlight local wildlife species. Corissa has participated in Webster Arts Gazebo Markets and you can find her sharing her work with collectors at various local markets in the St. Louis area year-round.

Rosemary Werkmeister

This week we are highlighting Webster Arts Member Rosemary Werkmeister, operating under the business name of Annie Dell Designs - the name is a tribute to her mother and aunt, honoring them and the memory of their love for wearing jewelry... and a little bit of bling.

Rosemary writes of her work: "My jewelry is created from the combination of my love of the natural energy that comes from rocks and the peaceful focus needed to manipulate & form metal. Inspiration is all around me coming from something in nature such as a flower, branch, bug, or rock. I strive to build an elegant showcase with metal to create pleasing pieces of wearable art. Settings are hand fabricated by cutting, piercing, texturing, folding, and soldering various components together.

My journey into metal smithing began later in my life after a lengthy career working with retirement plans & programs. In 2014 I started with just one class at Craft Alliance and have been drawn to metal smithing from the moment I experienced the thrill of soldering two pieces of metal together. Since then, I have studied with the fine instructors at Craft Alliance and participated in various workshops led by Paulette Meyers, Jayne Redman, and John Heusler. I am proud to be a juried artist in both The Greater St. Louis Artists and Best of Missouri Hands organizations."

Rosemary participated in the 2023 Webster Arts Fair, and has been a part of the Webster Arts Gazebo Markets. Her work is currently on exhibit at The Green Door Gallery in Webster Groves, MO through October 28.

Judy Stroup

Judy spent her early childhood years on a small Missouri family farm before moving to the St. Louis area. The impressions from those early years fostered an appreciation and love of nature which eventually let her to pursue landscape as her main genre. Judy’s art education has been primarily self-directed with college classes and private study. She continues to learn through workshops from prominent artists. She has worked in watercolor, graphite and oil. The process of drawing and painting from life is important to her. “Working from direct observation enables me to see and be engaged in the world in a more intimate way. I always come away from the experience with indelible memories of that time and place.” Capturing that ‘sense of place’ and sharing that essence is the goal she strives for in her work.

You can see Judy's work in Webster Arts current exhibit, Opposites Attract.

Bob Thomas

Today's Monday Members Feature is Bob Thomas.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Bob Thomas received his BFA from Washington University in 1981. He painted sporadically during his career as a graphic designer and art director and returned to the easel on a regular basis upon his retirement at the end of 2021. Throughout his 40+ years of painting he has been fascinated by the transient nature of life. His work attempts to capture the time, the place, and especially the changing light and atmosphere that will never be again. He currently works out of his home studio in Webster Groves, Missouri.

Bob has been in many Webster Arts shows and was awarded Best in Show for his piece American Falls (first slide).

Linda Elkin

For this week’s Members Monday, we are pleased to introduce Linda Elkin. Linda is a Certified Zentangle Instructor and has taught several Zentangle workshops for Webster Arts and is active in the ZT community. Her workshops are always full of laughter and fun as participants learn how to create their own beautiful tangles. Linda has worked in a variety of roles for the Mercy Healthcare system, where she met her husband, Mark. Along with her Zentangle work, Linda is an avid photographer of the natural world and several of her photographs have been featured in several Webster Arts shows. Be sure to keep an eye out for Linda’s Zentangle workshops and her fun patterns in our gallery shows!

Maurice “Bud” Hirsch

Webster Arts members are at the heart of what we do. For our first installment of a new series, Member Monday, we are thrilled to introduce you to Bud Hirsch.

Maurice “Bud” Hirsch, a St. Louis native, has been a photographer for over 70 years. His experience spans from a Brownie Hawkeye to modern mirrorless cameras. He has bred, trained, and shown Paso Fino horses for over 30 years, is a poet with five collections of his work, and has a PhD in Accounting from Washington University with many academic articles in his discipline. Bud is also a regular participant in Webster Arts shows, and recently juried our 2023 exhibit, Wanderlust.

Bud’s first darkroom was in a converted half-bath in his parents’ basement. When he and his wife, Marian, came back to St. Louis after college, he built a full black and white darkroom, where his children accompanied him in processing and enlarging images. Bud entered a new phase of his work in 2000 when he moved from film to digital. In 2011 he began traveling in Europe, Cuba, and New Zealand to work on a series of photo workshops.

While his main interests are street photography, 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 an old dog to learn new tricks.”

He says: “I am a storyteller in my poetry and photography. I want to capture a window to the tales one can imagine might have preceded and that follow. Like poetry, where what the listener hears can be interpreted from their 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 Marian have been married for 62 years and live in Chesterfield. He is an arts advocate, having been one of the founders of Chesterfield Arts/Arts Unleashed, and was a founding member of The Repertory Theatre of St Louis, serving on the Board of Directors for many years. You can see two of Bud’s photographs in the current Webster Arts show, Unsung, through September 1.