1. R.J. Barnett works primarily in linocut printmaking and watercolor. These two media may seem contradictory; printmaking can be quite rigid with somewhat absolute values, a little unforgiving, especially with reduction prints. The other is loose, flowing, and maybe “accidental”. Often, the water does what it wants, the colors blend and run. Maybe there is a philosophical purpose to be gleaned in finding the balance between these opposite media. Perhaps the dance between the two apexes of this pendulum is essential to ward off the insanity that comes from being solely focused on one aspect of life- I mean art. Or perhaps we are reading too much into all of this and these are simply the media that R.J. has enjoyed. Perhaps there is no deeper meaning than that both of these media can be incredibly fun, and reasonably accessible to anyone who desires to create art. 

R.J. lives in Abilene, TX, with his wife and four boys. He enjoys playing board games, camping, cycling, and other adventures, real or imagined, that come with four rambunctious boys.

2. Molly Gore Merck fell in love with art during high school when she joined her local Junior Art League in Coleman County. In 2007 she enrolled at HPU with art as a minor but It wasn’t long until she found that her art classes were where she most excelled and swiftly decided to switch her major. After school Molly moved to Abilene Texas where she tried her hand at a variety of art jobs including museum and gallery work before finding her niche in teaching.

Today Molly is the Education Coordinator at the Old Jail Art Center in Albany Texas. This is Molly’s fourth experience as a demonstrator at the Stars of Texas Juried Art Show. Some of her artistic fascinations include drip painting, watercolor and sketching, stained glass mosaics, collage, and paper sculpture. She began making paper flowers in 2016 when throwing a birthday party for her sister. When the party was over she realized how much she missed working with paper and decided to keep up the habit! Now Molly sells paper flowers for weddings, showers, birthday parties, and more under the company name Molly’s Paper Garden. You can follow her work on Facebook and Instagram.

3. Tony Brown is the youngest of six children, Anthony E. “Tony” Brown dreamed of becoming an artist from childhood and studied art at Syracuse University and Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. He describes his early years as “hard and turbulent,” but after becoming a Christian at age 21, he says he “found peace I hadn’t known before.”

After a few years in California, then back East, Brown moved to Texas in 1980 where he had family.

“Right away the vast spaces, the wonderful sky, the sunsets, the arid masculine land with its openness, made me happy,” he said. “Everywhere you look in the east you see too much manmade stuff and the canopy of trees blocks your view.”

Brown is inspired by the Southwestern landscapes and skies. “The wide-open spaces reveal the heavens, and I love the intense, dry sunlight and the contrast in the shadows it creates.”

Brown combines his fine art work with his business as a painting contractor in Abilene. He has exhibited in both solo and group exhibits and won several awards for his work. His paintings appear in many private and museum collections.