Lester Bird Lee, full time artist and educator, has five children and now resides with his wife and youngest child in Clarkston, Utah. Lester graduated from high school in Mesquite, Nevada where he spent his boyhood. Later Lester received a BFA from Utah State University, and a MA from Brigham Young University. Lester is a full-time art educator at Sky View High School in Cache Valley.
In 2006, Lester received the Huntsman Award for Excellence in Education. Lester is a self-taught stage scenery artist and has painted over 50 sets for Centerpoint Legacy Theatre, and other local theaters and high schools. Lester also sells hundreds of pieces of fine art watercolors each year and several prints, including the distribution over one million copies of The Presidents of The Church lithograph.
Lester has illustrated several children’s books including P is for Pioneer through Buffalo Books, and book covers for Bookcraft Publishers (including The Work and the Glory by Gerald Lund), Granite Publishing, the University of Utah, and others. Lester has designed Hundreds other posters, logos, and CD covers for other local and national corporations. Lester shows his work in many galleries across Utah and surrounding states and has won numerous local and national awards for his paintings and sculptures.
Andi Dexter Jorgensen grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts. As a child she spent summers in Weld, Maine with her family. Besides her love for the beauty of the place, she enjoyed visiting with friends and family, especially her Aunt Janet, an artist. Andi loved to paint, earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in art from Smith College, then taught art briefly before marrying her Norwegian husband, Odd Jorgensen. They raised three children, Lisa, Nina, and James, in Norway until Odd’s job led them to Geneva, Switzerland.
For ten years she taught art at The International School of Geneva, where she and the children enjoyed the challenge of learning French to add to their English and Norwegian. Rubbing shoulders with students from over 100 countries added an international perspective to their understanding. Andi has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Israel, Turkey, China, Peru, Mexico, and most of these United States.
Because the three children earned their degrees at American east-coast colleges and chose to remain stateside, Andi and Odd moved to Florida, where she taught for several years in Florida’s IB program. It was in Florida that Andi finally found time to develop her own artistic skills. She studied with artists at Florida Atlantic University and entered shows in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Melbourne. She found other mentors along the way, including Dutch painter Fritz Van Eden.
A favorite story involves Andi’s slightly pop version of Mona Lisa. Divided into nine squares, it could be Velcroed into various positions to create Picassoesque images. A wealthy gentleman bought it and took it to a country home in Denmark where he used it for after-dinner amusement. His elite guests included Mister Romanov, a relative of the former rulers of Russia. Andi has a photo of Mr. Romanov with his version of the puzzle where he allowed four squares to reach out diagonally. Mona Lisa, you rock!
Andi now lives in Logan, Utah, where she has been active in the Utah Watercolor Society, The Local Colors Gallery in Salt Lake City, and The Artists Gallery in Logan. She enjoys painting in her home studio. Two mentors of note have been Bob Burridge and Carl Purcell. An ongoing study of the portrait drawings done by her Aunt Janet Dexter has led her to do her own portrait sketches and paintings.
A string of relatives has joined Andi for lodging as they have studied at nearby Utah State University. She counts choral singing, gospel study, swimming, and painting as her favorite hobbies. Her international family includes her dear children and their spouses, seven grandchildren with two of their spouses, one great-grandson, and one great-granddaughter on the way! Family is fabulous. But now they are not usually close by, so she often slips downstairs to her cave of creative chaos, and paints.
Doyle is an artist, educator and coach with four children and 14 grandchildren, and resides with his wife in North Logan, Utah. He graduated from Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, New Jersey where he developed a love for drawing/painting under the mentorship of Sheldon Strober.
Doyle received a BS in Psychology from Utah State University and presently teach Humanities, Psychology, English, Poetry, and Drawing at Green Canyon High School. He is comfortable working in many artistic mediums but considers watercolor to be his true love. In the past six years he has committed himself to elevating his status in the world of watercolor and is presently a Signature artist with the Utah Watercolor Society.
Joni has enjoyed drawing and painting from her first doodles and copies at a young age.
She is attracted to lots of styles and has not settled into just one theme or medium.
Art is like being a kid again and so she started teaching kids and new students along with taking classes and reading for steady improvement.
Joni is a member of the UWS CVC and have served as the President and Show chairman.
Traveling, gallery sales in St George, and an art studio in Logan, Utah have been part of her adventure.
Gardening, farm animals, and sewing for the kids fill the days.
Many of her family members have been artists and she lives on the same property owned by her great grandparents with her husband Thomas of 46 years. They have raised 3 boys and love their wives and 6 grandchildren.
Kara Swensen is an artist who dabbles in a lot of mediums. She mostly works in watercolor, drawing and printmaking and whatever she needs to learn to teach her students. When she discovers something that's interesting or unique, she will often experiment to see what interesting art she can create. Currently she finds great satisfaction in drawing and printmaking.
In the seventh grade, Kara had a fabulous art teacher who took her under her wing, inspired and encouraged her. At that time, she found art brought her a lot of joy and satisfaction. As a result, she decided to obtain a degree in art education and become an art teacher herself. She currently teaches home school groups, private lessons, and community art center classes. Kara really enjoys doing artwork and finds that it brings her a lot of peace and joy.
Brad has had an impulse to express himself through art since early childhood. He first began painting with oils as a teenager but instantly developed a passion for watercolor after being introduced to it by his high school art teacher.
During his growing up years and through college, Brad could be found painting outdoors or at home as often as time allowed. He took a break from art during the years he was working in a busy career and raising a family. Since retirement, he has once again picked up his brushes and is happily back to painting.
Brad studied art informally using library books or by taking classes and workshops from other artists. He paints primarily with watercolor because of the unexpected and exciting ways that freshly applied watercolors move and blend on wet paper. His work is usually representational but it is often imaginary, created entirely or partially from memories. Most of the ideas for his paintings are gathered during hikes or outings in the countryside surrounding his home. The most important and challenging goal of his work is to convey feeling - a sense of the deep emotions that he experiences in nature.
Marsha Dennis was born and raised in Sandy, Utah. She has lived in Utah her entire life and loves the many different environments that Utah has to offer. Because she loves the outdoors and exploring new places, most of her works are landscape paintings.
Marsha attended Dixie State and then attended Utah State University to complete her Bachelor of Science with an emphasis in Art. She has worked in many different mediums including oils, charcoal, and printmaking, but she chose to work mostly in watercolors because of the way the medium moves.
After raising three children, she attended the University of Phoenix and completed a Master of Education. While painting professionally, she also teaches art in the public-school systems.
Many artists from the past have inspired her, but her favorite is Van Gogh. The vibrant colors that Van Gogh used are what draws her to his work. She also been influenced by current artists like Lester Lee, Thomas W Schaller, Tony Couch and Chesda Merntook. She appreciates many assorted styles and approaches to art, and feels that creating something, a work of art, takes true commitment, dedication of time, and study - but most of all, heart and soul.
Marsha has taught watercolors, oils, and drawing. She participates regularly in exhibits and shows in Utah and other places. She feels that talking, painting and collaborating with other artists helps build her own skills. She is working to continue to exhibit and enter shows with the goal of reaching audiences around the world.
Shirley Draski always wanted to paint. She was inspired by her second grade art teacher. After her kids had grown, Shirley started painting with acrylics because that was the only thing available to her at that time. She found acrylics to be non-forgiving and difficult to use. Then she found a really good art teacher who encouraged her to start painting in oils. They have become her true love.
With oil paints, she's found multiple ways to fix mistakes or make changes when she decides to paint something differently. She loves painting in oils because they are non-confining and pleasant to work with. Shirley enjoys painting people, especially her grandchildren, farm animals, birds, historical figures and just about anything else that she finds interesting to paint.
Bob has always loved drawing and painting from the time he was a youngster. At a young age his parent noticed his interest in art and enrolled him in Art instruction Schools.
Bob obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from Utah State University in Art Education and taught art at the High School level.
Bob also has a Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology from Utah State University which has allowed him to use his artistic skills in corporate training and education throughout his career.
Bob has enjoyed experimenting with different mediums and techniques over the years. Lately he has gravitated to doing most of his work in watercolor and oils. He loves using bright colors and sharing his work with others. He hopes his paintings evoke fond memories and feelings of joy and peace.
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