Today Austin heads the Fine Arts Department at John Wood Community College in
Quincy, Illinois, where he mentors the next generation of artists. In a world often defined by chaos, his current studio practice is an antidote to the noise. Turning his canvas upward, Austin’s recent work focuses on the sky, capturing the fleeting, peaceful beauty of clouds in all their shifting moods and conditions.
Gallery artist Pat Kerns will also be featured during July. This Hannibal artist is now a full-time artist after a long career of teaching art. When deciding on a theme for what she wanted to present,t she had a whole list of ideas. But then life changed that. Still grieving the death of her husband, she suffered a stroke. While recovering,g she again considered what she wanted her work to say. She has found that the energy of color is a real physical and mental uplift. “It would be so easy to wallow in negativity. I have chosen not to do that”. After waking from a very realistic dream about a new way of painting flowers, something she is known for already doing, she started painting in what was for her was this new way. “This has been extremely challenging and has led me to create in a new way where decisions must be made every step of the way. I would love for visitors to the gallery to just stand in front of my work and absorb the peaceful energy of flowers and color.”

Meet these two artists at the monthly Second Saturday Art Walk from 4:00 to 7:00 pm on July 11 with artists’ talks at 6:00. Come enjoy refreshments and conversations with artists and art lovers.