Bios!





Robert Foote
“S1 Actions in Wood”

My first experiences at woodturning came in junior high school shop class and under the guidance of my grandfather, who was a finish carpenter and furniture maker. I have been turning seriously since 2002.  When I first set up my shop, I thought I would do general woodworking, but as soon as I started using my grandfather’s old lathe, I knew that was what I really wanted to do.
Most of my work consists of small to medium-sized bowls, vases, and platters, some functional, some purely decorative. I also make tree ornaments, earrings, and small containers. Most of the wood I use is domestic, but I use some exotic species. I sometimes incorporate holes, bark, and other irregularities of the wood into my work. Some of my work is inspired by Southwestern Native American pottery.
I have been a professor of mathematics and computer science at Wabash College since 1989.
S1 is the mathematical term for a circle.  An S1 action is when something is spun in a circle.

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Marianne Darling Ballenger
I'm happiest with the sun in my face and the wind in my hair.  Outside is where I like to be and my art reflects this passion.  The most common subject matter in my work is horses and wildlife, but other things creep in from time to time.  I enjoy all kinds of artistic pursuits, but bronze is my current favorite and I do drawings, paintings, and printmaking.
I currently have a studio at home and studio space at the gallery on the ground floor where I am starting to work on a bronze of a small child riding a pony. This will be the third in a series I am doing in bronze.
My current advice is to not wait for the Artistic Muse to "visit" you........she is a fickle old thing and usually likes to sneak up on you when you are already hard at work!

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 Mike Abney
And a light broke through…

Mike Abney was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana. As a boy, he played along the banks of Sugar Creek and spent many nights in the woods, hunting ‘coon. He knows "the hills-n- hollers" like the back of his hand and can share exciting stories as he walks through the countryside.
Because of Mike’s dyslexia, school was very difficult for him. He was unable to complete the 7th grade and to this day, he struggles in a world of signs, numbers and letters. Soon after Mike accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior, new opportunities began to develop. He met and was discipled by Pastor George Markey. Through the fellowship of the church he became friends with Rick Payne. It was Rick who taught him the basics of reading. Later, Mike worked with Bill Prescott of the CARA reading program.
He still rejoices as he remembers the first Bible verse he was able to read:
Preserve me, O God; for in you I put my trust. Psalm 16:1
The Abney’s home-gallery contains lovely pieces made from apricot, eucalyptus, oak, walnut, curly maple, cherry, sycamore, beech and other hard woods. As a amateur wood turner, Mike likes to season his own wood and makes many of his tools. He often uses knots, burls, spalted woods and crotch pieces to create unique forms of art.
Mike has displayed his wooden bowls, vases and art pieces during several of Indiana's festivals and art shows. His work is also available in the Susie Gibbs Art Gallery in Lafayette and at the Lew Wallace Study in Crawfordsville. He also has displayed his work at the public libraries in Crawfordsville and Frankfort. His "Termite Vase" was selected as part of the permanent art collection at Ivy Technical College in Lafayette. He is the 2004 Crawfordsville Art League, Downtown Art Fair, Merit Award Winner.
His lathe-turned pieces can be found in homes and businesses throughout the United States and in private collections in Tibet, England, Japan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. He has enjoyed the times when an interpreter has called requesting to bring a foreign visitor to his shop. He demonstrates for schools and is available for private tutoring. Upon request, Mike makes special personalized pieces such as trophies and gifts for weddings, births, retirements and other special occasions.
For these accomplishments and more, Mike gives all the glory to the Lord.



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Nina Cunningham
Nina was born in the rural of Rome, New York and moved to Indiana in 1997. She soon discovered when telling people she was from New York, they instantly thought of New York City. Believe it or not, she has never seen the Statue of Liberty! As quoted by Georgia O’Keeffe. “Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest”.


In her early years, she doodled in a notebook or on poster board with a ball point pen. Her maternal grandfather encouraged her to develop her talents and she began an education in advertising and design. She studied at Mohawk Valley Community College and then transferred to Buffalo University graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Design. She currently works for a local screen printing company as a graphic artist. 


Although her career was/is in the graphic arts field, Nina desired to express herself on a personal level. She soon discovered that creating art is a very emotional, therapeutic and worshipful process. She states, “If you look at a painting you will often see the life of the painter. Life encompasses emotions, feelings, faith, hope, love, wonder and mystery, as well as past accomplishments and failings. To find these meanings in a painting is the challenge to the viewer as well as the one creating the painting.”


In the realm of acrylics and the technical side of the fine arts, Nina is fairly self-taught. She is not limited to one type or style of creating but she gravatates toward mixed media and assemblage art, experimenting with texture, color and found objects to convey her personal story. 
She states: “There is a drive and over-ambition to achieve a sense of self-worth through art. This drive has often contributed to many artists’ demise. To avoid this pitfall, I began embracing the Giver of this gift (God) and now find that my art is inspired with honesty. Art and life are often distorted by logic. Faith and emotion are warped by over-analyzation using a human filter. We want to explain everything by science, politics, or law, instead of simply trusting in our own inherent beliefs. My paintings and mixed media pieces are a representation of the restoring of life - my life as well as others. The act of restoring as an action not yet completed. Some pieces show a past no longer dwelt upon, some a present with a will to change and to be changed and yet some as a future of hope! The process is continual and will always be changing. What I find myself creating are stories about my life, a testimony which in fact is also a creation - created by the ultimate artist, God.”

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CJ Charles









 In her early 50s, CJ reclaimed two dreams from her childhood – horses and art.  The horse dream bore its form in Gaitor, a Holstein horse, who is something of a pasture pet right now.  Always fascinated by watercolor and stained glass, CJ took a class in each of them and was hooked.  Presently, she is focusing on watercolor, trying to discover her own style while learning the behavior of watercolors in differing humidities, on different surfaces and in different moods (hers).  The stained glass creation is waiting on its own room, but that may happen soon.  Aside from a workshop here and there, CJ is self-taught – an old dog learning new tricks.



CJ sneaks in time to paint or draw (or groom a horse) instead of keeping house.  She enjoys the full and enthusiastic support of her husband and family and delights in her grandchildren.

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Karen Patton
Karen Patton is a retired public school teacher from Montgomery County. She has been working as a professional artist for about twelve years and has taken many studio classes from artists such as; Jeff Klinker, Rena Brouwer, James Werner and Lori Amick. Patton has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Lew Wallace Study and has been juried in many prestigious art shows around Indiana. Karen is a member of the Art League of Montgomery County where she served as President. She has had her work exhibited at many local area establishments which include the public libraries in Crawfordsville, Frankfort and West lafayette. 



Karen enjoys trying different techniques and has worked in pastels, encaustics, printing, oils and watercolor. She enjoys painting subject matter that gives her pleasure and is most pleased when people that purchase her work say it gives them a sense of peace when viewing the piece. She is married to her husband Mike and together they enjoy traveling and taking pictures of things that inspire her to paint. 

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John Zimmerman

I began collecting camera free images as an Iowa farm boy dealing with the endless repetition of guiding a John Deere model B  tractor through field tasks. As row upon row of field corn was plowed, as round upon row of hay and oats cut, I would often find myself mentally recording large and small natural patterns We had a camera, the classic Kodak box camera, but it was reserved for adults to  record family events.

My first camera, an Argus C3 slide camera (which I still have) was a 1959 present from my soon wife to be. The C3 recorded family camping trips, which have now covered every state in the union. The ensuing transition from slide to digital  format has taken me through six cameras. The fifty year increase in image gathering power and quality has shifted my eye a bit from classic documentation to capturing reality near and far. The far includes photographing in Australia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Greece, Russia, Wales, Austria and Belgium in addition to recording the beauty to be found in the Indiana parks and Wabash College.

The ability of a farm boy to seek beauty and order in the ordinary still drives my image taking. Most of my photography is taken in the context of documenting group events or a trip with others. My “in a crowd” context means my images have to be quickly gathered if I am to capture reality.  Hence, I tend to let my modern digital cameras take care of the detail as I quickly become “one with the scene”.


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 Alice Harpel

Educational Background

B.A. University of Dayton (Sociology)

M.A. Purdue University (Masters in Education)

Ed.D. Nova Southeastern University (Doctorate in Educational Administration)
Ever since I was a young child, I loved to draw. It was always a favorite pastime for me. When in junior high and high school, I would frequently spend my Sunday afternoons sketching and designing homes. I wanted to be an architect but when I was growing up, such careers were not encouraged for young women. I chose another career and for a brief time when my children were of preschool age, I was able to pursue my love of painting. Once they were in school, I returned to the field of education until I retired from Director of Title I for the Indiana Department of Education in 2004. However, I always knew that I would revisit my “passion.”
Upon returning to my art, I quickly found that I became emotionally connected to color. I knew that I wanted to create art that was different from what I experimented with years ago and I committed to using color as my avenue.  When viewers see my work, they can tell that I am in love with “color.” An artist once said that you can make color whisper or shout. And, I prefer that any color that I place on the canvas must shout back at me. When I look at a finished work, I step back to see if the color “speaks” to me. If not, I put the canvas aside and find that I usually return to it at a later date with modifications that result in adding splashes of red pigment to the canvas. It is my use of vibrant colors and not being afraid to try different color combinations that I believe sets me apart from other artists.
The two themes that I mainly enjoy creating are my still life/floral collections where I have fun playing with shapes and color. The other are my large landscapes with vibrant colors and texture.
When people view my work, they see vibrant colors used with traditional uncomplicated imagery. They often put a smile on their face and tell me that my work makes them feel happy. And that is what keeps me motivated to create.

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Kathryn J. Houghton

I was born in Madison Wisconsin, and moved to Carmel, Indiana as a child. I married my childhood sweetheart in 1975. We lived in Indianapolis, and Carmel for many years, until our children were grown. Then, after 6 years in Wisconsin, we moved back to Indiana settling in Crawfordsville.
I had the great fortune to begin my art training at Highland High School, in Highland, Indiana, which has always had an excellent art department. I owe a debt of gratitude to those instructors and mentors who were so instrumental in providing me with a solid foundation on which to develop my skills.
I am currently working in my studio full time, unless I am distracted by our four grandsons, or my gardens. My gardening passion provides me with unending subject matter and inspiration. The grandsons are mostly just joy and entertainment.
While traveling locally and across the country, I am always on the lookout for motivation. As each piece is finished, I hope that I have conveyed some of the love, appreciation, and respect that I have for nature.
Participation in juried shows includes:
Indiana State Fair, 1991, ‘92, ‘93, ‘94
Hoosier Salon, 1994, ‘95, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99, 2000, ‘02,
Hoosier Salon New Harmony, 2014
Prizes and awards include:
Indiana State Fair; 1992-2nd place
Hoosier Salon; 1994-Outstanding Floral Painting
1994-Popular Choice
1998- Outstanding Floral Painting
2002-Outstanding Acrylic Painting
Hoosier Salon New Harmony: 2014 Best of show