Meet our October Artists
Seven artists will join us for the month of October at the Gallery sponsored by the Midway Art Association, in Midway, UT. The Gallery is in the Town Hall in space 120B. It is part of the Association’s mission to give our members an outlet to show their art to the public, whether they are established artists or just getting started in their practice.
The Gallery is open Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. It is also open by appointment. An open house will be held on Saturday, October 4, from 12 to 5 p.m. to view the art and meet some of the artists. Light refreshments will be served.
Here are some interesting facts about our seven new artists:
Meli Calkins
Born in Glendale, California, Meli Calkins has been painting for the past 55 plus years. Meli’s mother was a commercial artist and taught Meli how to observe what she saw in her world and would interpret it with drawings and paintings on paper and canvas. While pursuing a bachelor’s and master’s degree in environmental at California State University, Northridge, Meli was able to squeeze a few fine art classes in her busy schedule raising a family, working in the aerospace industry and participating in the local art scene in Southern California.
Meli loves to interpret the landscapes around her. While most of her paintings are of landscapes and seascapes, she also enjoys creating paintings with horses, koi fish, still-life, and abstracts.
After spending over 30 years in the aerospace industry Meli and her husband moved from Southern California to Pleasant Grove Utah in 2017. Meli is now pursuing new places in Utah and elsewhere to find and paint with soft pastel and oils. Website: https://www.melicalkins.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meli.calkins
Instagram: https://instagram.com/melicalkinsfineart
Pamela Flynn
Pamela was born in a small town in Pennsylvania. She started painting murals at the age of 10 when her mother consented to let her paint on the walls of her bedroom. Pamela has painted murals for the Heber City Police Department Justice Building, Midway City Town Hall, Rocky Mountain Middle School, Heber Valley Railroad, Wasatch High School, Soldier Hollow Charter School, along with many other businesses and private homes in Wasatch and Summit counties. Animals are her favorite subject, and she paints pet portraits regularly. She also loves portraiture and landscapes. Working with Linda Curley’s team on temple murals has been an incredible blessing. Pamela has 4 children and 7 grandchildren. She currently resides in the beautiful mountains above Midway, Utah with John, her eternal companion. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamelaflynnartwork Instagram: https://instagram.com/pamelaflynnartwork
Ruby Jensen
Painting mainly in oil, Ruby also enjoys watercolor and silk painting. Taking inspiration from the beauty around her, she creates works from nature. Ruby considers it a blessing to have the time and resources to pursue her joy of painting. Grateful to live in the Heber Valley, with its majestic mountains, barns, historic homes, and animals, she has much beauty to draw from. Painting the landscape of rural Utah is her passion, keeping the history of the area alive on canvas.
Linda O'Donnell
Linda grew up in the Hudson Valley in New York State where she was exposed to an art environment influenced by her parents. Her love of art and design grew, and she graduated from Cornell University’s School of Design and Environmental Analysis and had a full and exciting career for 35 years in both private and government industry designing commercial products, interiors, and human factors analysis.
Retiring in 2013, she and her husband moved to Utah and the beautiful
Wasatch Back Mountains where they enjoy skiing, hiking, fishing, camping,
traveling, and plein air.
She enjoys all art forms, painting in watercolor, acrylics, oils, and continuously seeks to both refine and explore new art expression. She is so grateful for everything in life and all the wonderful people, places, and adventures. She lives by some wonderful thoughts, “Take in everything around you, use all your senses and see the colors, smell, listen, and close your eyes and feel your world, never take anything for granted and always look forward to what is next, reach of the stars!”
Megan Rieker
Megan Rieker grew up in Maryland in a family of 8. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in general fine arts and a master’s degree in teaching art from Maryland Institute, College of Art. Through the military her family has been stationed in Upstate NY, Germany, Italy, Korea, Colorado Springs CO, Goodyear AZ, Washington DC and moved to Pleasant Grove Utah in 2022.
Megan enjoys painting landscapes as a release from the studio and portraiture. There is something about the beauty of nature that heals and calms the soul. Her paintings have been featured in museums across the country, magazines, videos and book covers. She is now working on paintings from her recent trip to Europe as well as mosaics of some of her recent works using Italian Smalti.
Noemi Robles
Noemi is a landscape painter, living in Roy, UT. She taught elementary school for over 15 years and is now blessed to be focusing on her family and art career. Most of her work depicts local Utah landscapes. Noemi was raised in Utah since she was 6 years old. As a young newlywed, she moved to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, where her husband was stationed. It was then that she took her first painting classes and fell in love with painting. It was also during this time that she really started to appreciate the beauty of nature and longed to see the beautiful Rockies again. Although she enjoys painting a variety of subjects, her favorite things to explore and paint are still mountains. She is also currently working on a series of nativity and Christmas pieces to display in the gallery. More about Noemi can be found at www.noemiroblesart.com
Kat Webster
Kat is a Utah native who loves art and interior design. All of Kat's pieces are painted with a desire to create a unique, meaningful, and artistic home or space. Kat received her bachelor’s in art from BYU-Hawaii where she studied for 5 years focusing on many art forms, but mainly sculpture, ceramics, and pottery. The last 5 years living in her cabin in Midway, Kat was inspired to paint more by all the beautiful wild animals, plants, and flowers she could see and experience right out her front door. Kat loves Christian art and has especially enjoyed painting locations from the life of Christ. Kat also loves to paint the mountains of the Wasatch and desert scenes of southern Utah inspired by her time spent skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and mountain biking.
Meet our December/January Artists
Kristena Eden
Seven artists will join us for the months of December and January at the Gallery sponsored by the Midway Art Association, in Midway, UT. The Gallery is in the Town Hall in space 120B. It is part of the Association’s mission to give our members an outlet to show their art to the public, whether they are established artists or just getting started in their practice.
The Gallery is open Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., the second Friday of the month until 8 p.m., or by appointment.
An open house will be held on Saturday, December 6 th , from Noon to 5 p.m.
to view the art and meet some of the artists. Light refreshments will be served.
Here are some interesting facts about our seven new artists.
Kristena Eden
Kristena Eden
Kristena, a Bluffdale resident states, “My art is a revelation of cultures from past and present. These influences from around the world are
interwoven into my life and expressed through my art. The use of ancient
Raku technique of firing pieces adds to its natural form and expressing deep cultural bonds. I want to bring to the viewer a sense of connection: a connection to their past or to memories of a simpler life. I believe the things we see and the way we express them reflect who we are. I am a published artist from Utah. I was born in Oceanside, CA and studied at St. Charles College, MO, the University of Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley and Brigham Young Universities. I have traveled the world studying art of different cultures, finding the touch of the Master’s hand in the hearts of all people. I choose to paint, sculpt, and form pottery from the heart of life itself. Through my work I invite all to feel a part of the magical mystery found in the soul of mankind.”
Website: kristenasfineart.com
M. Kolsoum Ginney
A Heber resident, Kolsoum says of her art, “These works are drawn from experiences I have had in nature, in dreams, or are sometimes the reflection of meditations or visions. They are meant to be experiences of the splendor of light and color from the inner and outer worlds. They reflect the enthusiasm and joy I feel when I create, and my desire to share this with others.”
Painting all her life, with the last several years working in multimedia, she draws inspiration from nature and her garden. She says, “I have a particular interest in art as a means of healing and balance for our lives.” Shifting between painting and drawing she loves “the rich colors and textures of painting and the meditative quality of long hours spent in drawing. I often use shimmering iridescent and metallic color to express radiant light in my work.” She received a B.F.A. in painting from University of Michigan and a M.A. from CSU Sacramento.
Website: https://www.kolsoum.com/
Alison Jensen
Alison Jensen was born in Salt Lake City and has lived here all her life. Her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were all artists. Alison graduated in Fine Arts at the University of Utah and has studied informally
ever since. She has received awards for her work at Murray City and the Utah State Fair and has been a featured artist through Murray City twice. Much of her work depicts the areas around Kamas and Woodland, UT, where she owns a cabin, happily speaking of natures’ creations!
Website: https://www.a-jensen-art.com/
Shauna Powell
A resident of Saratoga Springs, Shauna says, “Anyone can learn [art] if you practice enough. I decided to give it a try and here we are... still
learning and still practicing. I think I will be for life. As with most subjects, the more I learn, the more I realize I have yet to learn.” She
has taken several online courses and in person classes with Jane Anne Woodhead, Dan Wilson, the Midway Art Association Plein Air
Retreat. She also has weekly paint nights with SWAG and artist mentor, Richard Horrocks. She says, “I've been lucky enough to be at home the past 25 years raising my 6 kids and recreating as a family in the beautiful state of Utah. We've loved hiking peaks, mountain biking, canyoneering, skiing, and rock climbing. My husband and I spent a lot
of years pushing kids up mountains, and now they must push me. Through it all, I’ve loved finding the connection to all things with the Creator of all things. So grateful for our Savior and this beautiful world that He created.”
Website: https://shaunapowellart.com/
Gael Reaves Shults
Gael Reaves Shults is a long-time artist and currently lives in American Fork, who is now reemerging after a child-raising sabbatical. She began as an art major at the University of Florida and after marriage took classes at
various universities in Utah and Idaho. In her past she showed her art multiple times at the Springville Art Museum, including the Spring Salon and the Spiritual and Religion shows. She also showed and sold her art at the Park City Arts Festival, Repartee/Frameworks, the Utah Women’s show (where she was an award winner), Kimball Art juried show, the State Black and White show, Celtic Music and Arts evening at the Springville Museum, (which she spearheaded), and more. She won a scholarship award for a photograph in a national magazine, two international illustration first place awards which led to multiple illustrations for an international hobby magazine. Prints of several illustrations were marketed by a company and distributed throughout the US, Canada and Japan.
Website: www.fineartichoke.com
Tiffiny Shults
Tiffiny is a Utah native, calling Alpine home. She has loved arts and crafts all her life, and her love only grew as she took classes at BYU. Her adult life has been focused on her four children, but with them all in school she has had more time to immerse herself in art, including private instruction from her artist mother-in-law Gael Shults. Tiffiny draws inspiration from her beautiful surroundings. She particularly enjoys painting scenery, animals, children, Christian art, and farm life, especially the Highland longhorns that
live close by. She enjoys hosting art shows in her home, collaborating with other artists, doing art nights with friends, and displaying art all over her home.
Website: www.fineartichoke.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiffinys_artt/
Brian Thayne
A Midway resident long known for his watercolors, Brian Thayne is now gaining quite a reputation for his bold and colorful oils as well. A graduate of BYU, Brian has traveled the world in search of meaningful subject matter. Chosen locales include parts of Europe, Mexico, Trinidad, as well as the mountains and deserts of the Great American West.
Website: https://www.bthayne.com/
