Members’ Gallery

Providing members of Heartland Art Club the opportunity to participate in one of four annual, eight persons, three-month long shows

The Galleries at Heartland Art Club
MEMBERS’ GALLERY

Welcome to Heartland Art Club’s Members’ Gallery. The Members’ Gallery caters exclusively to members of Heartland Art Club with the specific purpose of providing them a chance to participate in one of four annual, eight persons, three-month long shows know as the GROUP of 8 Show. This unique opportunity, which few (if any) other Art Associations offer their membership is yet another reason for being or becoming part of the Heartland Art Club organization.

Introducing the April 10 - July 6, 2024 Members’ Gallery Group of 8 Show Artists

Opening Reception is Saturday, April 13 from 3-5

  • I’ve been in love with painting and drawing ever since I was a child. My favorite mediums are pen & ink and watercolor. My favorite subjects are animals, wildlife, and flowers. Capturing vibrant colors and, or movement in the subject matter really intrigued me. And I believe that challenging one’s self by trying new things is a great way for a Artist to grow.

    I am a part of Heartland Art Club in Kirkwood. Won awards at several Mid-Missouri Fine Art Societies shows of Washington, MO. I’ve also enjoyed being a participant of the Steelville, Mo Plein Air.

    Discover more of Faith’s art by visiting: dailypaintworks.com

  • Education: Civil Engineering education with a minor in Printmaking. Developed and marketed software for engineering applications. Company acquired – Resulting stock purchase enabled travel through Europe and some Asian museums.

    Art Education: Self-taught - except for Printmaking courses and a couple of workshops in bas-relief Sculpture and sculpture in the round.

    Awards: National Gold medal in High School Scholastic Watercolor Competition Was accepted to Juried Sculpture in the Park, Loveland Colorado

    Currently trying to improve painting skills using acrylics and oils.

    He hopes you enjoy his work as much as he enjoys creating it.

  • After retiring as a visual systems engineer Boeing, David Coblitz became owner/photographer at Coblitz Creative Concepts, LLC. He specializes in Commercial and Fine Art photography with a sub-specialty in healing art designed to reduce patient and staff stress in medical environments.

    His client list includes such companies as Bausch & Lomb, Laclede Gas, Missouri American Water, Mutual of Omaha, and Edward Jones as well as smaller firms.

    His work has been published in the New York Time online edition. Missouri Life Magazine and others. His healing artwork is also exhibited at a number of hospitals in the US and Australia.

    Discover more of David’s art by visiting: coblitzphotographicarts.com

  • Born and raised in central Illinois, Morris has been drawing and painting since elementary school, assisting his teachers as the "classroom artist". In high school he was interested in architectural drafting and drawing and spent every spare moment in the drafting room. After high school he worked as a drafter for a truck body company in Carlinville, Illinois before attending college.

    In college he majored in Architectural Technology  and Education. He earned an Associate in Technology degree specializing in Architecture and a Master of Science in Education from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. After earning his master’s degree, he accepted a position teaching Architectural Technology at Saint Louis Community College. While at SLCC he studied fine arts including drawing, photography, charcoal, and painting. He taught on the Meramec campus, full and part time, for more than 35 years and retired as Professor Emeritus.

    His paintings have been exhibited at major galleries in the St. Louis area and he has been teaching oil painting at the St. Louis Artists Guild since 2016 and practicing architecture since 1980. He also taught oil painting at Stone Soup Galleries from 2018 to 2023 where he acted as the Coordinator of Education and he is teaching Water Soluble Oil Painters Studio for Oasis on the Eden Seminary Campus this spring.

    Discover more of Morris’ art by visiting: morrisfletcherfineart.com

  • In her 31-year career in telecommunications and information technology, Trudy earned an MBA and PMP. She worked at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and subsequently managed over fifty computer system implementations. In retirement, she focuses on travel, outdoor activities, and art. Her mother documented ‘Trudy at age 10 likes art’. Her training has been provided by prominent local art instructors. In recent years, efforts have focused on graphite hand portraits. Trudy takes pleasure capturing memorable moments for clients. The stories behind the images are heart tugs. She invites you to uncover emotions portrayed in hand portraits – the tenderness, the strength.

  • Vicki Hefty and her family moved to St. Louis in 1986. Her passion for painting was ignited in 2010 when she enrolled in St. Louis Community College-Wildwood (STLCC-Wildwood) to study art and oil painting while also participating in workshops throughout the U.S. and Canada. Using oil or mixed media on panels and canvas, she creates impressions of her garden. Her work has appeared in juried shows throughout the St. Louis area, corporate collections, and annually in local publications since 2012.

    Discover more of Vicki’s art by visiting: vickihefty.com

  • Belinda Lee is an artist living and working in St. Louis, Missouri. She received her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis and her MFA from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. Belinda has exhibited locally and throughout the United States. Her paintings are in the collections of the St. Louis Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art at St. Louis University and many private collections. She taught for 17 years in the College of Art at Washington University. She has participated in artist residencies at the Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughan, Ireland, Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, Colorado and Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. She has been featured twice in the Midwest Edition of New American Paintings.

    Discover more of Belinda’s art by visiting: newamericanpaintings.com

  • Late in 2019, following a 40-year hiatus, I started painting. The pandemic had hit a few months earlier and I spent a lot of time hiking in the woods. Observation of nature, discovery of landscape, and experimenting with technique began to inform my direction.

    Fascinated by what I see, I intend to continue experimenting, hoping to find unpredictable ways to represent the experience of being in nature. I’m not interested in realistic representation as much as finding a way to recreate the experience for the viewer.

    Discover more of Lisa’s art by visiting: lisa.perez.art

Introducing the January 10 - April 6, 2024 Members’ Gallery Group of 8 Show Artists

Opening Reception is Saturday, January 20 from 3-5

  • Tim Breaux is an artist, author and pharmacist. Inspired by works of The Hudson River School and the French Barbizon movement, his paintings are rooted in realism with an appreciation for those artists that have gone before us; their works, legacy, and message. He is dedicated to first hand observation of nature that can only be achieve by painting outdoors.

    His work has been featured in numerous magazine articles, one man shows and invitational events across the United States. He has received several honors including Best of Show at the 2018 National Oil and Acrylic Painter Society Best of America Exhibit.

    Discover more of Tim’s art by visiting: timbreaux.com

  • Jo Jasper Dean is an artist living and working in St Louis, Missouri. She studied art at Fontbonne University and St Louis Community College and earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Maryville University. Jo launched her lifelong dream of being a full-time painter after a successful creative career in the corporate arena. In a short period, she successfully developed a unique painting style which has won her numerous spots in local, national, and international group art shows, seven solo exhibitions, and received awards of excellence and best of show, recognizing her distinctive visual voice.

    Discover more of Jo’s art by visiting: jojasperdean.com

  • My interest in oil partners with my love of nature. Painting Plein air is a passion. The area where I live, St. Louis County, Missouri is full of splendid parks, botanical gardens, and nature reserves. There are endless state parks as well. I’ve made it my goal to paint as many as I can. Recording the subtle beauty of the Midwest while capturing the sense of light in a scene using oil paint is one of the most enjoyable aspects of my painting career. My interest in textures of natural items such as a bird’s feather or tree branches keeps me involved with the medium. Besides landscape painting, I also work in portraiture and still life. Working from a model is very similar to painting a landscape. Direct observation is very important. Oil is juicy, opaque and lends itself to Alla Prima. I try to work wet from start to finish on a painting in oil to achieve the most from the medium.

    Discover more of Mary’s art by visiting: marydrastalfineart.com

  • Kitty Harrison is a watercolor artist living in the St. Louis area. She enjoys painting still life, flowers, portraits, and landscapes. Kitty is drawn to watercolor painting for its unpredictable fluidity that results in intriguing texture, light, shadows, and colors. She has exhibited at several venues in the St. Louis area including multiple international exhibits for the Missouri Watercolor Society and Heartland Art Club as well as solo exhibits at the Rose Barrel Restaurant and SALONsalon. “My intention for the viewer is to engage in the painting and feed your soul!”

    Discover more of Kitty’s art by visiting: kittyharrisonwatercolors.com

  • Growing up in the 50s in Southern Illinois, artist Carolyn Karasek frequently visited her parents art studio and was automatically enrolled in her father’s Saturday morning art classes. Karasek drew from plaster casts, models, and nature. She also drew comic book characters and fashion paper dolls. In high school she was challenged to write and illustrate a children’s book and in college she concerned herself with painting feelings and abstract ideas.

    She earned her BFA and this led to many projects using textiles, specifically silk and wool. Later she earned an MFA, honed her skills in illustration and designed greeting cards, wrote and illustrated children’s books.

    Illustration led her back to where it began: studying realism and painting in the classical tradition. Now as a realist painter, she has come full circle within her parents’ craft.

    Karasek feels her portraits best express her inner emotions through technique, light, shadow, texture and color. It is important for her to tell the story behind the face. Through faces and figures, Karasek hopes to create a lasting legacy of humanity in all its beauty and spirituality, both inward and outward. It is quite simply life represented on canvas.

    Discover more of Carolyn’s art by visiting: carolynkarasekart.com

  • Connie is a native of Missouri and now spends summer and fall in Estes Park. After a career in finance, she returned to her love of art through a self-directed program of watercolor workshops and study. “My paintings are an expression of my love of color and natural beauty. I have found the landscapes of Colorado to be inspirational. It is my hope that my representation of time and place in my plein air and studio work engages the emotions of the viewer.”

    Connie is a member of the Colorado Watercolor Society, Plein Air Artists of Colorado, and Saint Louis Watercolor Society.

    Discover more of Connie’s art by visiting: facebook.com/CJSchmidt.art

  • My love of color and design has been a part of me for as long as I can remember. After postgraduate work at Fontbonne University (St Louis MO) I continue to explore possibilities and push my artistic spirit through travels and studies with nationally recognized instructors. I have received numerous awards and have work included in many public and private collections.

    Landscapes, florals, architecture and animals have been frequent subject matter. Currently, I am using a treasure trove of vintage family photo albums and more recent personal photography of interesting faces and figures to spark my creativity. My goal is to establish my own unique artist’s voice by telling a new story about the people I discover in these photos.

    Discover more of Margaret’s art by visiting: facebook.com/MargaretSchneiderArtist

  • I was born in 1956 into a family of artists and musicians. We lived in the beautiful Missouri Rivers bottoms area of Chesterfield, surrounded by farm fields and historic cottonwood and oak trees, and a big open sky.

    Expressing myself through art, music, and dance came naturally to me at an early age and I gratefully continue on this journey. My subjects encompass the natural world, and a communion of my soul to my chosen subject is always my fondest wish.

    Visit my studio in rural Missouri to experience my expression of that communion.

    Discover more of Julie’s art by visiting: juliewiegand.com

Introducing the October 11 - January 6, 2023 Members’ Gallery Group of 8 Show Artists

Opening Reception is Saturday, October 14 from 3-5

  • Julie Barbeau is an American artist who focuses on oil painting and relief printmaking – especially linocut prints. She graduated with an MFA in Painting from the New York Academy of Art. She earned her undergraduate degrees from the University of Missouri in Journalism and German. A lifelong artist, Julie explores chaos and order and the human experience through implied narratives and symbolism. She has a deep interest in all eras of art history. In 2022 she moved back to the Saint Louis area to be closer to family and is enjoying exploring the local art and theatre scene.

    Discover more of Julie’s art by visiting: juliebarbeau.com

  • Since Veronica was a small kid, she was driven to create and like most creatives, she gets excited about light, color, and shape. It wasn’t until Veronica started taking oil painting classes that she found “her” creative avenue. She found that by painting, she was able to show others how beautiful the ordinary can be, that eyes of both man and critter can show their personality, and that there is a vast amount of beautiful, subtle color in nature. For example, a white horse is not just white nor is a black horse just black.

    Discover more of Veronica’s art by visiting: veronicabrownart.com

  • Plein Air painting is Daniel’s favorite way to paint. He loves being outdoors and seeing the beauty of nature firsthand. He likes the immediacy and the fresh quality of capturing a scene quickly, seeing the true colors of light and shadow, and giving his personal response. Daniel’s subject matter comes from things that inspire him such as color harmonies, strong light and shadow patterns, interesting shapes and much more.

    While primarily self-taught, in 2014 he began taking workshops from some nationally acclaimed artists like Camille Przewodek, Phil Starke, Roger Dale Brown, Scott Christenson, Shawn Cornell, John Lasater, and CW Mundy.

    Discover more of Daniel’s art by visiting: danielfishbackfineart.com

  • Sandy Haynes was surrounded by art growing up. Her mom was a shoe designer, and an illustrator for a local department store. Both she and her sister became art teachers and drew and painted as well as designed quilts in their spare time.

    She enjoyed teaching high school Art Foundations, as well as the Drawing l and Drawing ll classes, printmaking, and a class called Applied Design. After retiring she became an almost daily painter. Sandy started retirement painting portraits as well as still life, florals and plein aire landscape and studio work. She enjoys using acrylics for abstract work also. She loves the art-making process and enjoys attending plein aire events like Steelville each year. She has conducted workshops for painting and teaches private oil painting lessons in her studio. She also grows many of the flowers for her floral paintings.

    Discover more of Sandy’s art by visiting: sandyhaynesfineart.com

  • Anthony Leon has been a professional artist and designer since 1993. A musician himself, he uses his love of music, mystical nature, and singular atmosphere to shape his current art themes. He has a love for black and white and muted color that he believes comes from admiring old vintage art and photography. His current work uses graphite, pastel, oil, and color pencils. He welcomes you to connect with him on his website and social media to keep up to date with art and shows.

    Discover more of Anthony’s art by visiting: anthonyleonstudio.com

  • Saint Louis based artist, Gino Santa Maria, is a representational oil painter with a passion for exploring the transformative effects of light and color in the world around us.

    His work reflects the beauty found in the breathtaking views of nature as well as in the small, mundane things. His paintings consist primarily of landscapes, portraits, still lifes and urban depictions.

    He views nature as a reflection of God’s character, so he has a deep connection with the great outdoors. When Gino is not working in his studio, he can be found painting on location en plein air.

    Discover more of Anthony’s art by visiting: ginosantamaria.com

  • From crayons to ink to acrylics the pull of creating something beautiful throughout my life has been a major influence and guidepost. It led me to Maryville University and a degree in studio art, which facilitated two wonderful employments with the Saint Louis Art Museum and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. I am moved by nature, by beautiful vistas and how they uplift me, while being attracted to texture and what it can bring to interpretations of what I see, literally a different feel. Landscapes and texture - not so incompatible maybe? I invite you to consider.

    Discover more of Merritt’s art by visiting: artbymerritt.com

  • 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.

    Discover more of Judy’s art by visiting: jstroupart.blogspot.com

Introducing the July 12 - October 7, 2023 Members’ Gallery Group of 8 Show Artists

Opening Reception is Saturday, July 15 from 3-5

  • Sophia Bednarski was born in Poland and left her country with her husband and daughter in the turmoil of strikes for new political system. She a dentist by profession. Retired recently. Sophia painted sporadically when she was active in her professional career. She tried many forms of art and creativity including the stained glass windows, ceramics. Her main desire was to paint on canvas, and her medium to be oils and pastels. Sophia’s love is with realism and neorealism. This is mainly what she wants to project in her paintings. “I am a dreamer, love nature all that surrounds me in the glory of life. I hope that my paintings would be the expression of my personality that can speak to the person looking at them.”

    Discover more of Sophia’s art by visiting: www.sophia-bednarski.pixels.com

  • Linda Briesacher grew up in St. Louis and started riding when she was 7. She did a lot of trail riding, and her love of horses became entwined with her love of nature and the outdoors. These are the primary inspiration for her paintings. Linda is a member of the American Academy of Equine Art and her work has been juried into several of their exhibitions; as well, her work has been juried into other prestigious shows such as the Bosque Art Classic. She and her husband live on 80 wooded acres, 50 miles southwest of Saint Louis.

    Discover more of Gary’s art by visiting: www.lindabriesacher.com

  • Dale Dicker discovered welding 50 years ago while a graduate student at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Living in the town’s rural outskirts, Dale was inspired by the metal discards he discovered along railroad tracks and edges of farms. When his neighbor offered him use of his Lincoln welder, Dale’s devotion to creating metal sculpture began. Dale is a self-taught artist whose five decades of work covers vast subject matter and is underscored by a psychological depth that he contributes to his years in private practice as a licensed clinical social worker. Today, Dale continues creating sculpture with a Lincoln welder inside his studio in Chesterfield, Mo.

    Discover more of Dale’s art by visiting: ironstudio83.com

  • Michael worked as an illustrator for over forty years, and now he is working as a fine artist. He does original art with pen and ink on scratchboard, and he works with a variety of printmaking techniques.

    Discover more of Michael’s art by visiting: www.inkart.com

  • Jane Reed creates works which span impressionism, expressionism, and abstraction. She is primarily concerned with COLOR, and its ability to reflect, and create, emotion.

    Her paintings have been shown in galleries, and museums, throughout the United States, including Virginia, California, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington,D.C., and Nebraska.

    In St. Louis, some of Jane’s exhibition highlights are the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis University Museum of Art, St. Louis Artists Guild - the Ann Metzger Biennial 2019, and two solo exhibits, at both Missouri Athletic Club locations.

    Discover more of Jane’ art by visiting: www.artspan.com

  • Jim would define his works as realism, because he is interested in depicting the subjects he chooses to paint, as he sees them in nature. He is fascinated by the way things look, painting is for him is about seeing. That is, translating three-dimensional form to a two-dimensional surface and creating the illusion of reality with space, depth and atmosphere from direct observation. “It forces me to deeply study and understand the subject before me, that is the art of seeing. The more I paint – the more I learn – the more I see as an artist.” These works are unique studies from a painter’s process, they are the continued, ongoing study and observation; of nature and of the visual world, as Jim interprets the living world through art.Discover more of Jim’s art by visiting: www.jimserrett.com

  • After college and farming for several years, Harry changed directions and became a web designer. Photography is a vital part of web design, so as digital photography began to grow, it enabled him to combine his web experience with a passion for photography and motorcycles. For years, he spent weekends photographing motocross until 2008, when the recession forced him to make a change. “I love the outdoors, so I began photographing a variety of landscapes, relative to my rural upbringing. My goal is to find overlooked subjects, connected to rural life and celebrate them in a unique, visual story.”

    Discover more of Harry’s art by visiting: www.pixstarr.com

  • 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.

    Discover more of Bob’s art by visiting: www.1-bob-thomas.pixels.com

Introducing the April 12 - July 8, 2023 Members’ Gallery Group of 8 Show Artists

Opening Reception is Saturday, April 15 from 3-5

  • After nearly seven decades as a pilot—an international airline captain, a test pilot at the edge of space, an air racer, airshow performer, and combat fighter pilot in the skies over Vietnam—George is finally fulfilling his lifelong dream of creating art. ​

    He works mostly on canvas and uses a mix of paint types, including oil, acrylic, enamel, and watercolor. George employs brushes, palette knives, and other tools to build layers until the elements coalesce into a stimulating image.

    “If my art has elicited for a viewer even the slightest emotion—positive or negative—then I have succeeded as an artist.”

    Discover more of George’s art by visiting: www.gandreart.com

  • Gary grew up in Virginia and went to VA Tech, majoring in art. He moved his family to Missouri in 1976, and worked in the printing industry for thirty years. He began painting watercolors in 2005, then en plein air in 2014. He enjoys the challenge and adventure of working outdoors, and paints en plein air exclusively. Gary and his wife of fifty years, Diane, have two grown children and two grandchildren.

    Discover more of Gary’s art by visiting: www.beazleywatercolors.com

  • Rita grew up in Kansas City MO, and always had an avid thirst for capturing the beauty of people, animals and nature through drawing, painting in various mediums, and photography. Her love of vivid color drew her to oils, and she later also found great intrigue in the texture of Gouache Resist on paper.

    With a lifetime of artistic inclination, Rita later settled in the areas of Los Angeles and Ventura County where she studied at the California Art Institute, especially classes with Neil Boyle. Dominic Vignola was also instrumental in shaping her artistic vision. She also enjoyed sharing the Getty Art Program with her children’s class each month leading them through their perceptions and reactions to the shapes and colors in art. Rita loves capturing moments in time - whether for shape, texture, color or emotion. Now she is ready to continue discovering MO again.

    Discover more of Rita’s art by visiting: www.4theJoyofLiving.com

  • Kim is a mixed media artist. Her work is a mix of photography, collage, resin and painting, all so much fun! Learning how to not get stuck in her own resin was quite an accomplishment. She really is interested in so many mediums. Kim’s latest direction is bringing her own photography into her paintings. She has been very lucky because her work seems to be resonating (big shocker) with jurors since she has been in many art exhibits around the country. Most recently, Kim is in the Black Creativity Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

    Discover more of Kim’s art by visiting: www.hangingtime.org

  • Morris has been drawing and painting since elementary school, assisting his teachers as the “classroom artist”. In college he majored in Architectural Technology and Education. After earning his master’s degree he accepted a position teaching Architectural Technology at Saint Louis Community College. While at SLCC he studied fine arts including drawing, photography, charcoal, and painting. He taught on the Meramec campus, full and part time, for more than 35 years and retired as Professor Emeritus.

    His paintings have been exhibited at major galleries in the St. Louis area and he has been teaching oil painting at the St. Louis Artists’ Guild since 2016 and practicing architecture since 1980. He also taught oil painting at Stone Soup Galleries from 2018 to 2023 where he acted as the Coordinator of Education.

    Discover more of Morris’ art by visiting: www.morrisfletcherfineart.com

  • Susan is a professional artist who specializes in naturescapes. She is an exhibiting member of Heartland Art Club, Co-Founder of the Gateway Pastel Artists, a member of the Pastel Society of America and the Gateway East Artists Guild. Susan’s goal is to help preserve green spaces and water in its many forms. She does this by painting her interpretations and feelings en plein air or in her studio. She enjoys

    experimenting and layering different mediums. “Thank you for joining me on this journey of creativity!”

    Discover more of Susan’s art by visiting: www.SusanRogersArt.com

  • After a lifelong career as an architect, I discovered plein aire painting at the age of 75.

    I thought the transition to painting would be easy. It wasn’t. It took years to get over my T-square and triangle mentality. I was admonished that there are no straight lines in

    nature. Maybe. But somehow structures keep finding their way into my paintings. My love of nature inspires my subject matter. If an occasional structure finds its way into my paintings, that’s OK too. I’ve been painting now for 18 years. If I can keep it up for another 7, I can replace Grandma Moses as the oldest living plein aire painter on the planet.

    Discover more of Art’s art by visiting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6EyppP-iDQ

  • Michelle earned her BFA in Graphic Design from Missouri State University and continued her arts education in Fine Art Painting at STLCC Wildwood. She began her career working full time as a graphic artist in St. Louis Missouri, gaining experience in various areas including advertising, illustration and television. She is now in the studio painting full time, exhibiting frequently, accepting commission work and participating in Plein Air events and workshops. Michelle lives and works in Wildwood Missouri with her husband Bruce, two rescue dogs, Weeble + Lil’ Tot and volunteers at Stray Rescue of St. Louis.

    Discover more of Michelle’s art by visiting: www.michellejstreiffart.com