November 7, 2013
11/08/13 Lisa Zeyen is a native of Rochester who now lives in Pulaski County and is the Artist of the Month. She has had a lifelong passion for the visual arts sparked by an artistic father and fueled by the encouragement of many teachers and family members.
In 2012, Lisa completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Education and now teaches Art at West Central Elementary School in Pulaski Co. She also instructs adult workshops in watercolor technique in the surrounding areas.
Although she works in a variety of mediums, Lisa is best known for her creations in watercolor. She enjoys the spontaneous qualities of this fluid and challenging media and keeps her interest going by continually trying new techniques.
Painting is something that she enjoys and finds nature is inspiring and is both relaxing and exciting. I love the calming quiet of the woods and seeing the variety of birds and plants. My garden is also a source of relaxation as well as an artistic outlet. Lisa loves to combine different colors of flowers and textures of foliage, it is as though she is able to capture a moment in time that nature wanted her to paint. It is not her livelihood, so she can selfishly paint what she likes and not have to worry too much about whether or not the paintings will sell. Although, it’s always rewarding and nice when they do!
Sherry Benedict was born in Marshall County and attended Art School at IPFW and now resides in Plymouth. She is the Member of the Month and has also taken Gourd Art lessons from Bonnie Gibson of Arizona and Martin of Texas. She has attended and won numerous awards at Gourd/Art Shows in Kentucky and Indiana.
Gourds have been her choice of medium for over 15 years with dimensional creations and her business is called Lady of the Forest Gourd Art. Previously Sherry worked with oils. Gourds are the main structure and she uses clay to scalp the embellishments. Decopodge paper and other items are sometimes used to complete the artistic creation. Her dimensional creations come to life at her kitchen island. She told us, she can look at a gourd and know what it wants to become, other times she has to look further to match her idea with the right gourd. She likes the whimsy and fun, and admits she can be very creative with them, sometimes they create themselves as she continues to work on them.
Some of Sherry’s achievements: 1st place Ventures in Creativity – Fort Wayne, IN, 1st place Ice House Art in Kentucky, Featured Artist at the State Farm Bureau Convention in Fort Wayne, IN
Sherry’s Gourd Art and Lisa’s Watercolors can be seen at the Heartland Artists Gallery from thru Nov 29th, located in downtown Plymouth, 103 West LaPorte Street. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday 10:00 to 4:00. For more information call 574.936.9515 or visit www.heartlandartists.com and Facebook.
Captions:Sunflowers with Chickadee, Watercolor by Lisa Zeyen
Rose of Sharon, Lisa Zeyen
Whoops, Lady of the Forest Gourd Art, Sherry Benedict
The Collector, Lady of the Forest Gourd Art, Sherry Benedict