Mandy Lund
Watercolor / Acrylic / Photography
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
website

Mandey Lund is a student at Benton Community High School. From the colors, organic colors, textues, animals and creatures she draws much of her inspiration from nature. She enjoys working with watercolor because it allows her to be free and expressive. Acrylic is her favorite, allowing her to blend and repaint until she gets what she wants. "There are so many different techniques that go with painting... you can transform people's opinions on certain things with one swipe of color. It's magical."

Mandey is considering going to the University of Iowa as an art major after high school. She then wishes to travel the world to create art and design as well as write books. She likes the independent feel of art in creating what no one else has ever seen before. Many people have preconcieved ideas of what art is. "I want people to know that art does not have to be a certain way... everyone has a different take and no people always agree about art. Moods change. So does art."

Her number one goal is to help unleash the artist that is in people. Art is something she wishes to live with everyday. Without it, she feels empty. "Having my art hanging in peoples home someday wouldn't be bad either".

Bill Revoir
Oil on Canvas
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
website

Bill Revoir was Born in St. Paul MN and moved to the Cedar Rapids area in 2005. He is a story of how creativity flows through every area of life from his childhood, business, and eventually finding it's way onto canvas. When the alternative music scene started rising in the 80's and hit in the 90's inspiration came to Bill through bands like the Violent Femmes. From there on out he has been painting and hiding his works in a closet. UNTIL NOW. Bill also channels his creativity into Walleo, a business he owns with wife Ginger. There he designs, manufacturers, installs & services equipment/machinery for the car wash industry.

Early in his childhood his mother knew he was an artist as he "filled in the apples". In kindergarten, she explains, the kids were to draw an apple tree using crayons. Bill drew many apples and filled in the red, yellow & orange colors to make them just right. Many years later he is still creating art and making them just right.

Sarah Stambaugh
Oil / Acrilic / Wire Wrap / Jewelry
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
website

Julia Leonard
Acrylic / Oil / Photography
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Julia draws inspiration from anything out of the ordinary, vibrantly colored and contriversial. "I like to get reactions out of people so I tend to do big things that are either way out there or touch on heavy emotional themes. I love stirring people up and getting them loud, even though I am a generally quiet person. The beautiy of deformities has currently captured her attention and with only one eye herself she relates in fascination.

"I have a limited amount of physical talent, but I try and make up for that in creativity and working with materials and subjects that most people wouldn't touch."

Gail Wiese
Oil
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
website

Tracy Roy
Acrylic / Digital / Mixed
Keystone, Iowa
website

Recently Tracey has become facinated with the world of digital art and learning new programs such as Maya. Her inspiration is the line itself as it appears on the paper. "Honestly, I just like to watch the lines form on the paper. They really just choose what they want to become.

A graduate from Benton Coummunity School, she will be attending Kirwood for Computer Programming and Software Engineering. She has a strong interest in creating graphics for video games in the future and venturing back into the world of album art.

She creates art because her words often fail and finds that she can convey a meaning through images without difficulty. "The human mind is programmed to think too much. To understand my art you have to learn to turn that off. Just stop it. Each line tells it's own story, but you'll never hear that if your hed is filled to the brim with it over-zealous chattering."

Nicole Harding
Oil
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Joel Revoir
Oil
Cedar Rapids, Iowa