Art Gallery Reception: Leeds Area Visual Artists

The Leeds Area Visual Artists will be featured at the Leeds Arts Center in September.  The Arts Council will honor the artists with an opening reception on Sunday, August 29, 2021, 1:30-3:30 pm.   You are cordially invited to meet our talented local artists and enjoy their beautiful and varied works.  Additional art work will be on display and available for purchase in the theater during the reception. Admission is free. Participating artists include Janice Cook, Maura Davies, Cheryl Hornbuckle, Gudrun Rominger, Tanna Rose, Cindy Schmidt, Kevin Wheeler, and Beverly Wilson.

MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Ramey Channell, a Leeds native, began her love of painting and drawing early in life, studied art in high school, majored in journalism at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Ky, and majored in art at UAB.  She is a member of the Portrait Society of America, and Leeds Area Visual Artists (LAVA).  Her artwork exhibit includes oil portraits, multi-media illustrations, still life acrylic paintings, Native American art, wildlife portraits, and whimsical drawings.

Janice Cook, an Alabama native, grew up in a home where drawing was a favorite family after-dinner event.  Her desire to teach led her to Troy University and later to art educators forums at Savannah College of Art & Design. A retired Jefferson County art teacher, she won the PTA Teacher of the year in 1994, Secondary Art Educator in 2000 AAEA, and Second Mile Teacher from Erwin HS in 2006.  She showed her artwork and won in many local art associations.  Recent exhibits include: selection for the Oneonta ArtWalk of Murals 2020, St. Vincent’s Art Gallery solo show, April-June 2021, and the Trussville Library Exhibit September 2020.
Maura Davies, a Leeds resident originally from Huntsville, has enjoyed photography as a hobby for many years, beginning as a teen and taking photography courses in college. Her photography often highlights her other interests, such as plants and gardening, nature, and history. Documenting her children’s activities has led to photographing the band programs at Leeds High School and Leeds Middle School, and Leeds High School Soccer.  She has exhibited at Leeds Arts Center, St. Vincent’s East, the Genesis Gallery of the Cahaba Springs Church, and the Trussville Public Library.

Cheryl Horncastle has been interested in all forms of art her entire life.  She took art classes in high school and college.  As a teacher of visually impaired children, she helped them with art projects and was pleased when they received awards for their work.  Since retirement she has worked in several mediums including pottery, watercolor, pastels, and mixed media.  She has exhibited at Leeds Arts Center and St. Vincents.  Her work is in private collections.
Gudrun Rominger is a native of Heidelberg, Germany.  She received her B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University, studied at the University of Louisville, Louisville School of Art, the Europaische Kurist Akademie, and completed a Masters at Georgia Southern.  Both artist and art educator, she has taught at colleges and high schools in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Brazil, and England.  Her work is in private collections throughout the southeast, west coast, Europe, South Africa, Brazil, and Japan.  She works in numerous media, with a focus on painting.

Tanna Rose has been drawing as long as she can remember.  She took art classes in high school, was in the art club, and won awards. She received her BFA from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. She has worked for Southern Living Magazine; Luckie & Company advertising agency; and WMU. She retired in 2020 and is currently teaching art classes at the Leeds Arts Center and is fulfilling her lifetime dream of painting and drawing full time. Her work has been exhibited at First Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Leeds Arts Center, St. Vincent’s East; and the juried art show at the Warrior Arts Center, where she was awarded honorable mention.

Cynthia Schmidt is a retired teacher from Leeds Elementary School and Banks Christian Academy. Her favorite art medium is watercolor. She has taken classes with Wayne Spradley. Cindy loves for her paintings to glow with color and have light from the creator of all. Her desire is to learn more about other forms of art. She lives in Moody and has three grandchildren.  

Kevin Wheeler, originally from Connecticut, is an amateur photographer living in Odenville.  He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1995 after serving over 21 years and from pastoral ministry in 2016, when he and his wife moved to Alabama.  In his youth, Kevin’s passion was drawing and oil painting, copying the masters and doing nature and landscape scenes.  In recent years, he’s taken up photography as an art form, still passionate about nature and landscapes.  His desire is to capture and share glimpses of God’s glory as revealed in nature.  He has photographed in various locations around the world, including England, Ireland, Guatemala, Tanzania, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Louisiana, New England, New York, Tennessee, the Smokies, and more. 

Beverly Wilson is a resident of Moody.  After retiring from UAB, she became interested in painting.  After all, if President George Bush could suddenly begin painting portraits, she thought she might try painting a landscape or a still life. Self-taught, she discovered several educational and fun tutorials on the internet. Each new painting is a learning experience for her, mostly in perseverance and patience, but the rewards are greater than the frustrations. Inspiration for her paintings comes from photos taken while traveling and suggestions from friends.   She finds painting to be an enjoyable pastime and looks forward to continuing.