Meet Our Artists
Ellen Stouffer
Ellen Stouffer has been creating art since graduating from college with a double major in Art Education and Fine Arts. Ellen taught art for 25 years and those experiences in the classroom were a wonderful lab in which to grow her ideas and gain inspiration for her art. Ellen's professional career began with Lang Graphics in 1984. Mr. Lang ask her to create a calendar with her very personal Sampler designs. Her art work is sometimes fun and whimsical, sometimes touching and heartfelt, sometimes historical and commemorative. Some of her art reflects her desire to express God’s words through her painted images. She is well known through-out the world for her Sampler paintings, her work being sold on every continent. Ellen lives with her husband Bill in an 1848 Gothic cottage called "Never Finished." They share their home with all kinds of assorted outdoor critters and their 3 household cats. Bill, who is also an artist, has planted hundreds of trees that form a backdrop for Ellen’s visual world and artistic stimulation.
Heide Presse
Combining her interest in art, history, and needlework, Heide’s paintings reveal many talents. Painting mid-19th century subjects allows her to indulge her fascination for period textiles and clothing, and to research the material culture of past eras. “Having chosen to depict the lives of the people who lived in the 19th century, I feel a strong responsibility to portray them as authentically as I can. Their voices fill my heart and imagination as I read their journals, and I strive to open a window into their lives, and enjoy depicting them in ordinary everyday moments. There is much beauty to be found in simplicity.”
Heide currently lives and maintains her studio in Tampa, Florida. She has always had artistic talent, winning a best artist award in kindergarten, and earning her BFA in graphic design in Texas. After graduation, Heide worked in commercial art in northeast Texas, and eventually transitioned into fine art and painting. Her art has been featured in Art of the West, Western Art Collector, American Artist, The Artists Magazine, and Tampa Bay Magazine. Her work has been shown in many exhibitions and shows including, Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana, Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, A Timeless Legacy: Women Artists of Glacier National Park at the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell, Montana, American Miniatures, Small Works, Great Wonders at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Western Visions at the National Wildlife Museum in Jackson, Wyoming, History Meets the Arts in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Arts for the Parks, in Jackson, Wyoming, American Women Artists, among many others. Her work was published by the Greenwich Workshop, and is part of many private and public collections. She is currently working on a large scale project of paintings interpreting a mid 1800s journal written by a woman.
Born in Germany and raised in Louisiana, Heide earned a degree in graphic design while living in Texas. After working as a commercial artist for several years, and moving across the country twice, she and her husband Jim have settled in central Florida where she has been painting for the last 25 years. Her first success as a painter was with Arts for the Parks, having 21 paintings juried into 14 years of the show, and earning 8 awards. She has since won major awards through the Oil Painters of America National Show, American Watercolor Society, The National Watercolor Society, The Desert Caballeros Museum, and the Hockaday Museum.
Born in Germany and raised in Louisiana, Heide earned a degree in graphic design while living in Texas. After working as a commercial artist for several years, and moving across the country twice, she and her husband Jim have settled in central Florida where she has been painting for the last 25 years.
Peggy Weed
My brush, canvas, and solitude are my constant companions. Learning to paint in oils gives me the satisfaction I am painting in the best media for fine art.
Growing up living on a farm influenced my love for animals. To this day I treasure painting from childhood memories. Equally so, I observe animals everywhere I can. I spend days on a journey to find just the right pastoral scene with sheep, cows, and horses grazing in their solitude. Together we bond... creating paintings to share with you.
Suzie Seerey-Lester
Suzie Seerey-Lester was a professional diver for over 30 years. As a Diving Instructor Trainer, Lester traveled around the world, as the first woman to teach diving, and license instructors. While working for the CIA, she taught CIA Agents, Secret Service Agents, US Marshals, FBI Agents and other law enforcement personnel how to dive, perform search and recovery as well as other “specialized” skills. Traveling gave Suzie the opportunity to see extraordinary underwater creatures up close, which she captured in her earlier paintings.
Seerey-Lester now travels worldwide to paint, including the rainforest in Guatemala, Africa, England, Spain, Mexico, and Italy also nearer to home, Alaska, California, Florida, South and North Carolina, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Maine. Seerey-Lester has expanded her artwork to include plein air.
Seerey-Lester is licensed by the State of Florida as Marine Turtle Rescue Personnel. She walks the beach of Casey Key every morning from May until November, she verifies turtle nests, and helps rescue baby turtles when they hatch. Seerey-Lester received the President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2008. She has been working with the turtles since 2001.
Wayne Mondok
Wayne was born in Toronto and is a self-taught artist who began drawing at an early age. In 1983, he attended Humber College Graphic Design Program. After graduating in 1985, Wayne worked as a graphic artist for a few years. In 1988, he began painting full time, and has done various commercial work, including novel covers, book illustrations and other advertisements. Wayne published his first limited edition reproduction in 1988, entitled "Reflections of the Past". This painting portrays the historic steamship "R.M.S. Segwun". Reflected in the water of the painting, is an older image from the ship's past.
Most of Wayne's paintings are done with acrylics, although he sometimes uses oils, watercolours or gouache. Wayne paints various sized works mostly on canvas, masonite or illustration board. His subject matter covers a wide variety of areas, as seen in his painting "Toronto St.". This collage was done in acrylics on canvas and was published as a poster. It shows many different Toronto area scenes, including landscapes, cityscapes, wildlife, and various transportation vehicles.
As Wayne comments; "That painting took quite a while to finish. There was a lot of lettering involved, as well as the placement and design of the images. It's basically a group of small, detailed paintings incorporated onto one large canvas."
Wayne works from his studio just outside Toronto, and is currently represented at the Westmount Gallery in Toronto and Koyman Galleries in Ottawa.
Shirley Deaville
I was born in north Toronto into a loving family with devoted and encouraging parents; a start that unfortunately many to-day never know. In spite of the absence of great feats, I found a heritage unsurpassed for any kid who ever breathed, and upon reflecting once again over events in my life until now, my existence has been more exciting than most. For as long as I can remember I have followed the beat of a different Drummer and a song my peers did not seem to hear. This calling led me down different pathways than my counterparts, and for a while my life was rather a solitary one, until I met and married Dave in 1959. For me, to paint was merely and extension of the explosion with which I searched for the Drummer Who always seemed a step ahead of my own. The absolute surety of a Creator behind the wonders of sight and sound I beheld, was never doubted. The electricity of colours; the sound of a bird song that pierced the morning air; the myriads of different life in various forms – they only fanned the search for meaning to anything at all, and I began to paint with a little set of oils my dear Mother gave me for passing through grade eight with honours. This expression gave vent to at least some satisfaction of getting a little step closer to the Drummer, but I fell so far short of perfection. How can any artist, anywhere, duplicate the life beneath the fur, the sight behind the eyes, the motion within the members and the pounding heart-least of all, perhaps myself. For where is the paint that can imitate the shimmer of a spider web in the sun of noon day, the sparkle of a lake or the gurgle of a waterfall as it rushes head long over stones, as it has perhaps since time began? What brand of paint is there to cast forth the fragrance of a wet horse, or the breath of a frosty morn? None - anywhere. Only the Creator can do it and it is Him whom I searched for in my art. For us all then, we fall short of that perfection created in the beginning, and some, a little shorter than others.
There is, however, a satisfaction within, as the explosion comes as close as possible to the actual subject and we stand back relatively pleased, but destined to do better. So what accolades do I have in light of this? I think none. The success of our Studio, named Al Marah after my Arabian gelding, has at times invaded my world somewhat and my humanness and the desire for greater things has to be brought in check and I have to bring myself up short and get back on track. For me, the first priority is the Lord, the Drummer whom I met years ago now when I was born again, after many years of painting and searching. My profession has taken Dave, my British husband and manager and me to England for research as much of my work is of the British countryside. Although 100% Canadian by birth, my devotion is divided between the two countries. Who can resist the fragrant blue bell wood with robin and chaffinch chorus. Show me the man who could not feel at least a small tug on his emotions while standing on the misty Yorkshire or Devonshire Moors stretching as far as the eye can see with the wild ponies grazing there. The pathetic little bleat of newborn lambs coming from valleys below in the glory of an English spring takes my breath away, and the peace etches itself forever on my soul.
We have stayed in farmhouses with shepherds and the origin and age of the place has been lost in the march of time, as the fog still rolls in from the sea to coat the bedroom windows with joy. This is why I paint… it is impossible to contain my wonderment of it all, and it must escape somewhere. The sweet singer of Israel, King David, sang it out in the Psalms centuries ago, and I … paint it out, a mere imitator of the glories of the natural world and the wonder of the Ancient of Days Who created it.
Shelly Reeves-Smith
Watercolorist Shelly Reeves Smith captures the joy of simple living in her graceful illustrations of home and garden. Shelly often includes an inspirational quote, a beloved passage from scripture, or a verse written by her friend and writer, Kerry Boone.
Growing up in Missouri, Shelly discovered a passion for nature and for painting in her early teens. Upon graduating from Drury University with a degree in art, she co-founded a greeting card company called Among Friends. Over the next decade, the business expanded to include stationery, gifts, calendars, and award-winning cookbooks.
Since the sale of Among Friends, Shelly has licensed her art to a number of companies. She has sold over 800,000 calendars and more than one million books. Goodness Gracious, her cookbook with author Roxie Kelley, received the Gourmand Cookbook Award for Best Designed Illustrated Cookbook in 2003.
After taking a few years to take care of her new baby and focus on her family, Shelly is licensing her work again. In addition to her calendars, her framed prints and original paintings are available at Lake Fine Art Academy and Galleria in Osage Beach, MO. Life’s Little Care Package, a line of specialized greeting cards she and Kerry helped to create, are available at Eastonpublishing.com.
Kerry Boone, raised in scenic Madison County, Arkansas where she was inspired by the beauty of God’s creation, has been writing prose and poetry from youth. For the last 10 years, her graceful and poignant verse has been published on calendars and greeting cards sold worldwide.
Shelly, husband Don and son Ison, live in and love their farmhouse, in the beautiful Ozark hills near Branson, Missouri. Kerry, husband Robby and family, reside in Springdale, Arkansas near the Boston Mountains, the War Eagle and White Rivers. They still inspire.
Richard Clifton
Richard Clifton was born in Delaware in 1961. He lives on a historic family farm adjoining the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, where he is surrounded by inspiration for his art. He is a self-taught wildlife artist who has chosen acrylics as his medium.
Waterfowl are one of his favorite subjects, leading him to paint 51 duck stamps from various states,including the 1996 Australian Duck Stamp, and the 2007-2008 Federal Duck Stamp. His latest wins are the 2017-18 Louisiana, Oregon, North Carolina and Nevada State duck stamps. Most recently the 2019 Delaware duck stamp.
Richard's work has been displayed in many of the top wildlife art shows throughout the country, including the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition and the Easton Waterfowl Festival.
His work has also appeared on magazine covers, T-shirts, a beer stein for Coors brewing company, and engraved on shotguns for Ducks Unlimited, and other related products. Richard's art has been chosen several times for the D.U. National Art Package. Also he has been named D.U. Artist of the Year 3 times and is the first artist to win in back to back years. He has appeared in the documentary the "Million Dollar Duck", and on "D.U. TV" in an episode about his wildlife art, conservation efforts, and waterfowl hunting on his farm.
A casual birder and an avid hunter of waterfowl, deer and upland game, Richard uses his experiences in the field as inspiration for his work.
Dave Barnhouse
Dave is an all-American boy, who's every bit as comfortable behind the wheel of his John Deere, as he is in front of the easel. He's a man of simple passions, who paints the things that he knows and loves.
Dave was raised in Richmond, Ohio, the little town that he still calls home. Dave's father made his living in the steel mill (the same work that Dave would eventually take to raise his own family).
School held little interest for Dave. In fact, Dave's mother famously said that the only reason he made it through at all was to stay on the football team. If she was exaggerating, it wasn't by much.
No matter the lesson, Dave's mind would wonder to the world outside the schoolhouse walls, to the fields and houses and barns. The town squares, cars, motorcycles and trucks. And the people, always the people.
You'll see these themes throughout Dave's paintings. Some would call it classic Americana, but for Dave Barnhouse, it's just the parts of a good life that drew him in.
Dave's artwork really took flight as a second career after decades of work in the steel mill. Fans might say that this wonderful run began with the print run of Dave's first commercially successful painting “Repairs”.
But family and friends know better. That's because drawing and painting have always been a part of life for Dave. Before he learned that he could make a living at it, creating art had been a consistent lifelong pleasure. The proof is in a thousand creations in garages, bedroom walls, scraps of paper and cardboard, even a giant mural outside the local high school.
When Dave finally decided to put his talent to the test, he discovered that he had something special. The images that he creates remind people of a treasured time. Sure, it's the carefully rendered automobiles, and landscapes. But it's also the men, women and children that live in these beautiful settings. Each one has a story to tell.
From that first painting until now, Dave has never looked back. He's been grateful for every moment that he gets to do the work he loves.
Jack Paluh
Artist Jack Paluh (pronounced pa-lew), resides in Northwestern Pennsylvania in the small borough of Waterford with his wife Marian and their three children living nearby. Jack was a “constant doodler” from the time he was old enough to hold a pencil. His teachers recognized Jack’s talents early and encouraged him to continue developing his art skills following high school. But being young, Paluh had other ideas and found work as a truck driver. His life changed drastically, however, in the autumn of 1982, when he was injured in a hunting accident. “While I was bow hunting, my tree stand collapsed beneath me and I fell 20 feet to the ground, cracking a vertebra in my back,” Jack remembers, “but God was faithful, and provided me with an opportunity to find the silver lining in a very dark cloud.” Paluh is referring to his recuperation period when he painted a white-tailed deer painting titled Monday Morning. “That was nearly 30 years ago,” says Paluh, “and so began my career as a full-time nature artist.” For more information about Jack Paluh, visit his website at www.jackpaluh.com, or visit Ansada Licensing at ansadagroup.com.
Bonnie Marris
Bonnie Marris has been studying and painting wolves, foxes, dogs and horses since childhood. She remembers her family home as a refuge for anyone in trouble, human or animal. “At one time we had two wolves and a three-month-old coyote living with us,” she recalls with a smile. Always, when Marris wasn’t around animals, she was painting them, and this love led her to pursue degrees in zoology and animal behavior. Animals are an integral part of both her life and her art.
She cites David Shephard, the great British painter and preservationist, as her hero and mentor. His mastery of color and pure magic on canvas, she says, motivate her every day to become more skillful, to make an animal seem to step off the linen canvas so that viewers hold their breath in preparation for the meeting. If anyone has never had the opportunity to see a fox running through a field and stopping suddenly to listen for a mouse, or to watch a pack of wild wolves at play, Marris wants to give that person some of the experience with a painting.
She also wants to let viewers see each animal she paints as an individual, to connect with its soul. “We all know that our dogs and cats have personalities and their own ways of being,” she says. “Well, this is also true of grizzlies, of horses, of wolves—all nature’s creatures. Once in Alaska, about thirty yards from my campsite, one wolf from a pack of twenty got down on her front elbows and wagged her tail at me in play mode. Another time a coyote spent a whole morning watching me watch a grizzly—and then hiked with me all afternoon and sat on a nearby hillside while I waited for more bears. A very grateful wild skunk once patiently let me clean caked mud off him after he had been stuck in a window well. Another skunk, very tame (or so I thought), attacked me while we were just walking in the woods.” Marris treasures her encounters with wildlife, and experiential uniqueness informs all of her paintings.
Studying color and light, Marris says, has become an obsession with her. “Color sets a mood, an atmosphere that can create feelings ranging from contentment to terror. There are colors within colors, too. The many colors in a shadow, for instance, convey cold or heat. The way light plays with the subject is also very important. Light may dance across snow or water, then lead the eye through the thick fur of a wolf’s neck or flash in the corner of a cougar’s eye. I’m fascinated by hue changes in light as it ages with the day.”
The passion Bonnie Marris has for wilderness, for animals, and for light and color come together in her art, and she feels her work has accomplished its purpose when a viewer feels that same passion.
Greg Alexander
After 38 years as a full time artist, Greg Alexander is considered one of the finest painters of the natural world. His sensitive interpretation, his ability to create wild personalities, and his dramatic use of light makes his work sought after by collectors worldwide. Alexander comes to an understanding by being a quiet observer of the personalities he paints. He is emotionally impacted before he picks up the tools of his trade. It takes Greg four weeks to complete an oil painting, and a lifetime of understanding to create a piece. His gift has earned him ten state conservation stamps, 2003 Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Artist of the Year, and 2006 Wild Turkey Federation Artist of the Year. He has sold over 500,000 pieces of artwork produced by the Bradford Exchange.
Alexander deeply rooted passion started at the age of six when he watched his father take a plain white sheet of paper, and a pencil and created a beautiful pair of lions resting on a rock. After high school Greg enrolled in an art college, and instead of being impressed with the class technique, he felt as though it was pulling him away from his deep desire to paint the natural world. After one semester of floundering, Greg walked into the deans office and explained his feelings by showing his portfolio. The dean looked at his work, paused for a moment, and said “This school is not for you Greg. You need to keep going on your own, teach yourself as you have been with your reference photography and get out there and be close to the subjects you love to paint.” After being granted permission to pursue his talents on his own terms, it wasn’t long before Greg left St. Paul, Minnesota to head for the south shore of Lake Superior. There he rented a remote log cabin for four years. The $150 monthly rent proved to be a cheap tuition for his self-guided education. After four years in that cabin, Greg honed his skills to create artwork that inspires and captivates others. His dedication, his desire and a love for Gods creation, makes Greg’s one of the countries premier Wildlife Artists today.
Greg currently makes his home near Ashland, Wisconsin with his wife Gina, and two daughters, Leisha and Marilyn. In the north woods he has more beautiful scenes than one can paint in a lifetime. Greg also is a National Registered EMT and Firefighter. He feels truly blessed!
Shawn Gould
Art and nature have always been important parts of Shawn’s life. Growing up, he spent many days outdoors exploring the streams and woodlands near his home. These formative experiences first established his deep love of nature and his unending curiosity to see more. Along the way he learned to follow the path less traveled, a path that he continues to explore today.
Shawn began his art career as an illustrator, creating award winning science and natural history illustrations for clients like the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Institute, and National Audubon Society. This was an important time to hone his skills and learn to be professional in a creative environment. After working as an illustrator for a decade, he was able to turn his attention to creating his own paintings full time.
Shawn’s paintings are a blend of photorealism and tonalism with areas of precise detail giving way to softer edges and muted tones. The result is everyday nature seen through the eyes of the artist. Nature provides a constant stream of new inspiration with its ever changing conditions of seasons, weather, and light. Shawn’s goal is to capture the fleeting moments when all of these elements come together to change an ordinary scene into something special. Drawing inspiration from these personal experiences also brings an authentic realism to his work. This realism is balanced by passages where detail gives way to a looser, more suggestive representation making room for the viewer’s own imagination.
Shawn’s work has received national recognition in American Art Collector, Western Art Collector and American Artist Magazines. His paintings have been exhibited in the Buffalo Bill Art Show, Birds in Art, the Society of Animal Artists’ Art of the Animal, as well as galleries and museums across the nation. He has been awarded First Place in the Artists Magazine Annual Competition, First Place in the Richeson 75 Animals, Birds, and Wildlife Competition, and an Award of Excellence at the NatureWorks Art Show. Shawn is a Signature Member of the Society of Animal Artists.
John Stevens
John Stevens was born and raised in northern Maryland near the Mason Dixon line. An early interest in photography led John to spend much of his youth exploring and photographing the old barns, mills and farm houses that dotted the Maryland- Pennsylvania Mason Dixon region. Primarily self taught , John credits the time spent as a youth photographing and developing pictures in the dark room with helping him develop a strong sense of composition, and a good understanding of dark and light values that are so evident in the watercolors he paints today.
A high school drafting class introduced the young student to two and three point perspective, thus forming the final leg in the stool that lead the artist to begin experimenting with drawing and painting. In a recent interview Stevens explained "it is essential for any artist to have a thorough understanding of the subject matter he /she is painting in order to capture the essence of the subject. That's what makes any artist excel, whether he is an actor, a song writer, a novelist or a painter. I enjoy painting, but it is really the subject matter that I am in love with."
Stevens work is noted for its uncommon attention to detail, and his ability to pull the viewer into the painting , often leaving the viewer with a sense of deeper understanding about the subject matter. John's work hangs in many corporate and private collections across the United States.
John & Sarah live in a restored 1870 miller's house and own historic Nolts Mill in Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania. The 1770 grist mill is a local landmark and has been renovated and now serves as a gallery of John's and Sarah's work. Located in the heart of the Amish tourism area of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a visit to the Nolts Mill gallery makes for a great day trip.
D. Masters Kreibel
D. Masters Kriebel (“Donna”) grew up in the western suburbs of Philadelphia where she first studied in the medium of watercolors. Her father’s interests in antiques, and her mother’s talent for restoring decorative antique furnishings were most influential in drawing Donna’s attention toward Early American folk art. By 1980, folk art had replaced watercolor as the primary focus of Donna’s paintings. Using an acrylic medium, Donna’s folk art paintings are original compositions done on gessoed masonite. Her works are consistent with American folk art paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries. Subjects include farms, country homes, animals pastoral scenes and still lifes of fruits, flowers and vegetables.
Donna’s artwork has been exhibited at many art festivals and traditional artisans’ shows on the East Coast and Midwest, and her distinctive style has been frequently photographed and used to promote these events. Her work has also been displayed in art galleries, folk art shows and designer showcases and can be found in private collections and national magazines. In 2001, First Lady Laura Bush chose Donna’s work for the 2001 Easter festivities at the White House, and one of her originals resides in the Library of Congress. She was also selected by Early American Life magazine for its Directory of Fine Craftsmen.
Donna’s interests include hand spinning of wool and other fibers, collecting antiques with a particular focus on textiles, and gardening outdoors. She lives with her husband in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Charlottesville, Virginia, surrounded by the pastoral settings which are so often the subject of her folk art paintings. The couple is fortunate to live close to three of their four children and five grandchildren.
‘Home is where one starts from,’ writes T.S. Elliot; we are all on a journey somewhere, literal or metaphorical. This idea lies at the heart of regional art, for it is only possible to know our place in the world – to appreciate all that it is and all that it can be – by traveling away from time to time. Travel with us and see our land through the eyes of our Regional Artists. See the world beyond our city centres; the rural heartland and small communities, the farms and fields, the far-flung regions and hinterlands – almost always home to someone. See things even the locals no longer notice, or take for granted; for the outsider brings a new perspective to bear. Then we may all look back and regard our home, as though from afar, and see it afresh, through new eyes. This is the goal of the Regional artist: to learn to see, and portray the world as it really is; home and away, good or bad. Realism is the expression of choice for these artists; ‘perspective’, ‘perception’ and an objective point of view. The central values of the ‘Romantic’ movement of the Nineteenth Century – beauty, nature and truth – are conveyed most effectively through the representational forms, and these timeless values inform regional painters of our day, as they did then.
Every few generations, regional art movements emerge in response to the time: Romanticism (England and the United States) was followed by American Regionalism in the 1920s and ‘30s; then, in Canada, London Regionalism, in the 1960s and ‘70s. Today, a couple of generations on (as regular as clockwork) a new Regionalism has emerged. This latest incarnation springs out of the nature and wildlife art movements of the ’80s and ’90s, and is deeply rooted in the Romantic tradition – preserving those essential and timeless values. Away from the glitter, glamour, and trends of the big city ‘art scene’, Regionalists have not been distracted. They have maintained their focus and still speak to issues of importance; for the society in which they work and the world in which we all live. Independent artists today are the eyes of society; theirs is an art for the people.