Doloris Pederson in her studio. Photo by Pam Soetaert, Russell County News

Artist: Doloris Pederson

The paintings in this exhibit, Bountiful Journey, reflect her environments and travels. Her still-life and landscape paintings echo the influence of her early artistic mentors John Thorns, Joyce Pike, Ted Goerschner, and Marilyn Simandle, with lineage from such well-known Russians artists as Nicolai Fechin and Sergei Bongart.

Pederson is an award winning artist and invited member of the California Art Club and Oil Painters of America. Her paintings have been selected for inclusion in many prestigious national and international art shows. Her work has been published as cover art on magazines and two watercolors were published as prints by Gallery 121, Soho, New York.

Pederson paintings can be found in private collections nationally and internationally, including the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, Peregrine Galleries in Montecito, California, Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard, California, Joan Irvine Smith in Irvine, California, Robi in La Quinta, California, Sunkist Growers, Inc. in Sherman Oaks, California, the Hadley Foundation Collection in Hays, Kansas, the Eagle Group in Columbus, Indiana and the Colgate Art Collection. Her paintings can be seen currently in her solo shows at the Deines Cultural Center in Russell and the Phoenix Gallery in Topeka and on display at the Madd Matter in Hays.

Curator: Ann Horton

In existance since 1924, the Artists Guild of Wichita has began with a small group of artists who sketched in a studio three nights a week. Within a year of its founding, the Guild was asked to exhibit their work and has continued to exhibit annually since this date.

Many founders of the Artists Guild of Wichita came to Wichita, Kansas to work in advertising and/or the printing industries. Some of the original members of the Guild helped found the Prairie Print Makers in 1930 (of which E. Hubert Deines was a member). With the completion of the Wichita Art Museum, the Guild was invited to be the first to exhibit at its opening ceremonies in 1935. A list of past members of the Guild reads like a "Who's Who" in Kansas’ art history and includes Birger Sandzen.

The history of this organization is intertwined with many major arts organizations, institutions and groups in Kansas. Today, new artists are invited to become members, and the Guild's membership includes highly respected professional artists living in Wichita and the surrounding area. These include painters, sculptors, silversmiths, printmakers, ceramists, and weavers. Their work reflects a variety of styles, techniques and subject matter from traditional realism to modernism to abstract expressionism.

"The Artists Build of Wichita" Artists and Media
Rita Beutell		wood carving, watercolor/wax painting
Doug Billings		printmaking
Bob Cain		clay sculpture
Sharon Conaway		water media and oil
Judy Dove		acrylic collage and pastel
Rosemary Dugan		lithographs
Vesta Ewing		oil painting and pastel
Marty Fergerson		oil paintings
Maleta Forsberg		watercolor
Hermine Greywall		acrylics
Dena Griswold		pastel
Matthew Hilyard		mixed media
Christie Hiser		pastel and ink
Sherry Hoffman		bronze sculpture
Ann Horton		watercolor and pastel
Judy Hull		oil and pastel
Linda Metsker		batik
Jacquie Nethercot		oil paintings
Curtis Newby		pastel and oil
Lynn Nolte		watercolor
Judith Pearson		bronze sculpture
Becky Price		oil
Carole Ranney		watercolor and acrylic
Betty Sieler		watercolor
Helen Veatch		watercolor
Maureen Walter		watercolor
Mary Ellen Williford		pastel
Harry Williford		oil

	Anthony Benton-Gude
	"In Shallow Water"

Artist: Anthony Benton Gude

	Painting on exhibit at "Imagonatura"

Artist: Kevin Lundy

In August 2005, The Deines Cultural Center featured Imagonatura, an exhibit of reptilian oil paintings and digital images by Kevin Lundy, Kanopolis. Imagonatura is a created word made by combining two Latin words to mean "represent nature."  The show opened with a reception on Sunday, August 7 and remained at the Center through August 28, 2005.

Lundy was born and raised in Wichita with strong ties to rural Ellsworth County. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1982 from Bethany College concentrating on drawing, painting, and serigraphy. Lundy lived in Kansas City before returning to settle on the family farm.

Involvement with a capture/release program led Lundy to recognize the extraordinary beauty of the under-appreciated creatures in the reptile and amphibian world, and to realize that they would provide exceptional subject matter for a series of paintings. He says, "Most of these creatures are decorated with colors and patterns that rival any in the Animal Kingdom and there are few forms in Nature that rival the degree of perfection of the snake."

Lundy works from photographs because it imposes the least possible amount of stress on his subjects. His paintings maintain a photographic appearance because he appreciates the matter-of-fact way that a camera records reality. His brush work often elicits a tactile response from viewers that brings an admiration and respect for life forms that would not usually be considered cute and cuddly.

	"Jessie" M. Montes

Artist: "Jessie" M. Montes

Montes' pieces are made totally of corrugated cardboard. He cuts quarter inch strips on a right angle, at 45 degrees or parallel to the corrugations.  This gives him three interesting textures with which to work as he creates each piece of art. The strips are then glued edgewise onto the surface of the base which is also made of cardboard. His works vary from small plaques of unusual designs to free standing pieces of various dimensions up to six feet tall. His first pieces were picture frames which he then filled with landscapes, designs and portraits.

Jessie Montes is a self-taught artist originally from rural Mexico, who currently lives in Canon City, Colorado. He is one of twenty-five children and the sole survivor of five sets of twins. His interest in re-purposing cardboard into art came during his work as a custodian at Dodge City High School. His background in the construction trades is also evident in his work.

The inspiration for Montes' artwork comes from different sources, including his ethnic background, family and real life experiences, photographs and his imagination. The landscape pieces reflect his love of nature and the land, stemming from the topography of his childhood.

	"Jessie" M. Montes

Artist: "Jessie" M. Montes

Jessie Montes' work was featured in Art and Antiques magazine. He is a self-taught artist originally from rural Mexico, who lived in Garden City, Kansas at that time. Montes' three-dimensional pieces are made totally of corrugated cardboard but sometimes have the appearance of wood. They vary from small plaques of unusual designs to free standing pieces of various dimensions up to six feet tall. He began his work making picture frames which he filled with landscapes, designs and portraits. Many of his pieces feature buildings or areas with doors or windows in the surface of the work. With the background painted, these often appear to be lit from within, adding to the mystique of the art.

Montes' art is being sold in New York by long-time gallery owner, Phyllis Kind, who says: "Every work of his most assuredly bears his signature. In fact, I would suggest that Montes has invented his own vocabulary of visual form. The most impelling, single aspect of his work is that his brilliant and unmistakable work is significant, inventive and wholly his own. The work is totally consistent but also has incredible range. His is my definition of what great art is and I believe that Jesus (Jessie) Montes is a great artist!"

The inspiration for Montes' artwork comes from different sources, including his ethnic background, family and real life experiences, photographs and his imagination. He categorizes his artistic technique as "developing his own picture puzzles" and is pleased that the public likes his work.
The inspiration for Montes' artwork comes from different sources, including his ethnic background, family and real life experiences, photographs and his imagination. The landscape pieces reflect his love of nature and the land, stemming from the topography of his childhood. He categorizes his artistic technique as "developing his own picture puzzles" and is pleased that the public likes his work.