JA Lens

I was born to an artistic Massachusetts family. I started drawing and painting very early. My home was filled with beautiful paintings done by my great grandmother. She traveled to the White Mountains in New Hampshire in the 1890"s to paint"en plein air". I was inspired by these paintings and encouraged by my family. I always knew I wanted to be an artist.

"I love it when people look at my paintings and say, 'I know exactly where that is, I've been there!" says Dennis.  "The truth is that many times I paint places from memory and paint the ambience I remember rather than the actual physical details, so it's not usually a painting of an actual place.  When I hear a comment like that, it's great because I know I've really connected with the viewer."

Desmond O’Hagan was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, and was raised in the United States. He enjoys working in several mediums, but his primary focus is in oils and pastels. Although he appreciates many different forms of art, his main interests include the paintings of several late 19th century American, French, Spanish, and Russian painters. Continuous study of these painters has had a strong influence on O’Hagan’s own art. Constantly challenging himself has translated into a fulfilling career in fine art encompassing several one-­‐man shows and participation in group exhibitions in the United States, Japan, China and France. Memberships have included Oil Painters of America, Pastel Society of Colorado, and he is a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America. He is also listed in ,”Who’s Who in American Art”, and “Who’s Who in America”.

A Colorado native, Don's paintings evoke a strong emotion, the sense of "being there." Don has traveled extensively throughout Colorado and the west, painting and sharing his personal vision that draws people to his work. "If someone can view my work and sense the cold, smell the dampness or feel the sun beating down, then I have been successful." From as early age Don loved to draw. He would spend hours watching his grandfather, a master stone cutter, work at his craft. Later Don would bring his drawings to his grandfather to be critiqued. It was not until he was older that Don realized the lessons he was learning about design, layout and just plain hard work. As a young adult Don studied privately with Joe Brand, a respected wildlife artist and instructor at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. During this 4 year period Don focused exclusively on wildlife, learning structure, anatomy and strong fundamentals in working with oils. Don's desire to work from life and to vary his subject matter led him to branch out into other areas and, most importantly, to begin painting outside, "en plein air." The exhilaration of standing face to face with the subject, challenged by the changing light, unpredictable weather and the need to distill the scene down to its essence continue to be the motivation that drives him to venture out in all types of weather. Don continues to travel throughout Colorado and the west, painting and sharing his personal vision, and to “Capture the Moment.”

“Landscape painters have a special talent. They see, not only with their eyes but, with their hearts!” said Vicki Stavig, editor of monthly magazine, “Art in the West.” And, so it is with George Rentz, a 3rd generation Coloradan. His knowledge of the beauty of Colorado and the surrounding western states has become his most frequent subject for watercolor paintings and sketches.

Finger painting is now fine art at the hands of New York based artist Iris Scott. Using her fingertips to strike multiple colors at a time she is like a pianist that understands piano is not to be played one note at a time. Iris Scott was classically trained in Florence, Italy and earned her BFA from Washington State University in 2006. Iris began oil finger painting in 2009 when she left the States to live a year in Taiwan. By a stroke of lucky laziness one afternoon when it was too hot outside, Iris opted not to pause on her painting to go clean brushes. It was in this moment the technique was discovered. A few swipes of paint with her fingertips and Iris found a new impressionistic style. She has not used a brush since, and has enjoyed painting full time since 2010. Iris is represented by Cole Gallery in Seattle, Horizon Fine Art in Jackson Wyoming, EIG Gallery in Maui, as well as Adelman Fine Art in San Diego.

Jean started art classes at age five when her mother sent her to Saturday lessons at the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Mo. Summer classes continued until college where she majored in Fine arts at the University of Colorado. It was during this time that she began painting in an abstract, nonobjective style. Jean continued sporadic lessons through the early years of marriage and raising four children. In 1980 Jean and her husband, Gil moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado and she decided to make a full time commitment to her love of art. Signing up for a local plein air workshop taught by Mel Fillerup of Wyoming she discovered the joys of painting on location. "We painted every day even in a spring snow storm and I knew I had found my direction." Since that time Jean has continued her art education with classes at the Scottsdale Artists School, workshops with many instructors including private lessons with Mark Daily in Denver. Her style of painting has evolved from abstract to a more traditional form of impressionism working mainly in oil. Landscapes seem to dominate her work but she enjoys painting animals, still lifes and portraits. Jean has painted and traveled all over the world including Indonesia, Europe, Mexico and Canada. She teaches workshops every year with several different organizations.

Jolene Bird is an accomplished artist who learned her craft from her grandfather over 20 years ago. Jolene, a Native American, makes her jewelry in the tradition of the Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico. After studying at the prestigeous Poeh Institure in Santa Fe, Jolene has continued to refine her craft by selecting only the finest raw materials and then cutting, carving and shaping each separate element to create her highly refined jewelry.  Working with natural materials, Jolene makes her own beads from stone and shells, sizing each piece as she makes her jewelry. She is particularly accomplished in inlaid mosaic pieces. Finishing many of her works with hundreds of heishi beads, Jolene cuts every bead - each a different size and dimension, while at the same time relating to the adjacent beads -  resulting in some of the finest  traditionally designed necklaces and bracelets found in contemporary Native American jewelry.

Judy Brown has been making jewelry for eight years. She has learned most of her skills through instruction from Randy Burns, an accomplished goldsmith.  Stone setting was acquired through instruction from the expert stonesetter, Shep Walden, well known in Denver for his exquisite skills.  She has taken numerous workshops with world renowned artists Harold O'Connor.  Additional workshops include instiratin and instruction from David Huang, Marne Ryan, Carol Webb, Eric Burris and Colorado artist Travis Ogden.

Kate is a 6th generation Coloradan who has spent the past 15 years learning about and creating jewelry. Classes at the well known Arapahoe Community College jewelry school, as well as her peers in those classes, have pushed Kate to create new and unique rings, earrings, necklaces in silver and other metals. 

                      Education--

Kent was born in 1960 in Colorado Springs, CO where he grew up in a home full of paintings and a family immersed in the arts.  He was educated at Colorado University, Boulder, and Parsons School of Design, NYC.  After studying in New York, he returned to Colorado and apprenticed with Denver artists Mark Daily and Ned Jacob. With numerous trips around the country and abroad as a plein-air painter, he has gained wide acclaim for his use of color.

Lee Reedy opened the doors to his graphic design firm in 1968. Back then, there were no computers to lean on. Designers had to be artists and that’s what he was. For more than three decades, Lee incorporated his illustrations and art techniques into the marketing communications he created as principal and creative director for his own firm. For many years, he was recognized as one of the most influential creative minds in Colorado — winning hundreds of awards and constantly raising the bar for his industry.

Raised in the open ranch land of Northern New Mexico, Leon developed an affinity for the Southwestern landscape. He was greatly influenced by his grandmother's involvement in Northern New Mexico art circles. Later study at the Colorado Institute of Art along with private study reinforced his abilities. Stationed in Germany while in the army, he was able to travel extensively throughout Europe, visiting museums and maintaining sketching journals. In addition, he studied painting techniques of the old masters for two years, finishing by copying a Franz Hals at the Stuttgart Stattsgalerie Art Museum. Long having an interest in pen and ink, etching took on a special meaning from the museum's collection of etchings.

Throughout her life, award-winning artist Lora Witt has an intense respect for the natural world. An avid outdoors enthusiast, Wittʼs canvases reflect the harmony between humanity, the world and its hidden beauty. 

Lorenzo Chavez was born in New Mexico, where the striking landscapes, varied cultures and colorful history helped him develop an appreciation for art at an early age. He studied at the Colorado Institute of Art and the Art Students League of Denver. Intensive private study of the Impressionists and 19th century American and Russian painters have made him aware of the wonderful possibilities and importance of painting from life.

Dr. Martha Heppard grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and received her undergraduate education at Harvard University, from which she graduated magna cum laude. Her graduate studies were at the University of Southern California School of Medicine and the University of California, Irvine. In June 2004 She began painting with oils under Molly Davis, and a year later with watercolor, under Rick Brogan. She enjoys working with both media. Currently, her instructors include Rick Brogan, Boris Shoshensky, Kevin Weckbach, and Molly Davis. Over the past 8 years she has participated in several local, state and national shows. Martha enjoys hiking in the Colorado Rockies looking for landscapes and wild flowers for inspiration for paintings.

“A painting exposes the limitation of words.” -- Scott Christensen

Born in Colorado, Paul grew up in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood. Trips and family picnics to Dedisse, Bergen, and Geneses Parks, Grand Lake, Esters Park, Trail Ridge Road, and, to the then small mountain hamlet of Evergreen, were frequent and memorable. Around age ten his family bought a small cabin on Upper Bear Creek and summers were now spent mostly in the mountains. Hiking through the woods, climbing nearby peaks and often just sitting and looking at Mount Evens and other members of the Colorado’s Back Range, left him in awe. These images and many others were beginning to sift ever deeper into his consciousness.

Paul Lockwood, a native of the Denver area, owns Piece Unique glass studio. During course work at Hastings College where Paul majored in physics, he took glassblowing in order to fulfill an art credit. Paul discovered the fascinating medium of glass where human breath, along with centripetal force and gravity, creates a masterpiece of color and shape.

Peggy Judy was born to be an artist. She reallized that even as a child. Her destiny was sealed by one important fact: she was smitten by the natural beauty of her native Colorado. So she painted and drew throughout her high school and college years.  Upon graduation from Colorado State University in 1982 with her Bachelor of Fine Arts and a concentration in illustration, she began her professional career as an illustrator, working for various corporations and the Dept. of Energy, all in the Denver area.  When she married an equine veterinarian in 1988, Peggy was able to meld her passion for all things "horse" with her art, although she spent much of her time breeding, raising, training and selling Warmblood  Sport horses.  Today, having raised her two children (both are accomplished horsemen!), she has more time for painting and a renewed vigor for it.

Coming from three generations of accomplished artists, Peggy McGivern considers her work second nature and ongoing. “I would hope that my work is constantly evolving,” she says of her ongoing series, one being strikingly different from another. When I’m working toward an upcoming show I try to relate each painting to the one before. If it’s a landscape show I will have a common thread such as barns close up, far away, falling down or under construction”. Her ‘Dreamscapes’ series consist of a theme that has been on Peggy’s mind almost from the time she started painting thirty five years ago. “These are the most personal pieces of everything I do. It may be horses flying in the sky representing a child’s imagination or flowerpots and furniture being thrown out of a twisted house”. In 1975 when she lost everything in a bitter divorce, she left her Colorado home with her two children and started an adventure of travel that would last till the early nineties. Among the places that they settled was Manchester, England, where Peggy worked in a pub and sold her painting from behind the bar.

That the deeply personal portraiture of Robert Clayton's Quiet Pride has received both national and international acclaim should come as no surprise.  With an award-winning career spanning more than two decades, his photography has grown as a natural extension of his desire, since childhood, to draw, to paint and to observe.  His early training in visual arts is strongly evident in the masterful design of his portraiture.  Reluctant to be pigeonholed as either a landscape or a portrait photographer, Robert is equally at home hanging out of a helicopter, hovering over a canyon rim or sitting attentively at the foot of a 115-year-old Athabaskan Indian Chief.

“One way or another, we all have to find what best fosters the flowering of our humanity in this contemporary life, and dedicate ourselves to that.”  -- Joseph Campbell

Susan McCullough is an oil painter, painting plein air landscapes as well as large studio paintings. Her plein air landscapes are representational while her studio landscapes are more contemporary, reflecting a heightened sense of color and focus on design. Susan has a passion for painting and solid technique to build an exemplary body of work.

Susan is a native of Colorado and currently resides in Denver, Colorado. She received her BFA at Colorado State University in 1981. After many years in the Interior Design Industry, she is now pursuing her love of watercolor painting and drawing. Since she started painting she has been in numerous juried exhibits and has received many awards. Susan is a Signature Me mber of the Amer ican Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies, the Colorado Watercolor Society and the Texas Wat ercolor Society. S he is a docent at the Denver Art Muse um and currently works in the Admission Department at Colorado Academy.

Since 1978 Tanis Bula has had a successful career as owner of an award-winning graphic design firm in Denver. The demand for her paintings escalated her career transition from graphic designer to watercolor artist. Tanis has enjoyed the privilege of painting in the Caribbean, Mexico, Japan and France.

Tony Hochstetler is a sculptor of animals, more particularly a sculptor of reptile, amphibians, insects, birds, and marine life. He is a member of, and has won various awards from, the Society of Animal Artists and the National Sculpture Society.