Guest artists: Mary Carol Fitzgerald + Brad and Sundie Ruppert
We’re often asked how we find the artists that we represent at the gallery.
For the 23 artists included in the roster, it’s a variety—some of them we knew we wanted to include their work and reached out directly, like Hunt Slonem , Lino Lago and Kristi Kohut. Others, the artist first reached out to us, like Taelor Fisher , Marcy Cook and Elisa Sheehan. As a gallery, we’d love to say “yes” to every artist submission we receive, but our inbox sees 1-2 artist submissions every day. Because we’re committed to supporting and advocating our represented artists well, it's never been our goal to maintain a roster of 50+ artists.
But, we often include guest artists in our shows—not on contract, but just including artwork temporarily for the current show. We love the chance to support additional artists, both near and far! For the current show, Texture , our guest artists include Mary Carol Fitzgerald and Brad and Sundie Ruppert.
Mary Carol Fitzgerald
We’re so happy to include Mary Carol’s work in the show. We don’t often include photography, but we felt her up-close texture shots were too perfect to ignore.
She is a lifestyle and event photographer currently based out of San Diego, but she travels across the country for her work. Her photography depicts portraits and lifestyle design in settings cohesive to brands. She’s an avid seeker of beauty, wanderlust and mindfulness—aiming to inspire and motivate her audience. These three pieces included in our Texture show are great for a neutral space, with their brown and tan topics.
Brad and Sundie Ruppert
Brad and Sundie Ruppert have a fascination with texture and the need to innovate by creating unique mixed media sculptures. Their most recent body of work gives new life to perhaps the oldest textile used today, fur felt, specifically the remnants trimmed from the brims of felt hats. They have developed a process of cutting, bending and layering the intricate felt pieces over carved wood, creating incredible likenesses of their natural subject matter.
From here, in Des Moines, we're excited to showcase their work. They'e become well-known in central Iowa and beyond!
You can learn more about Liz Lidgett’s “why” behind the Texture show or browse our represented artists. Our last group show, Not Your Muse , also included guest artists including Whitney Warne and Martha Rich. We like to surprise our followers with unique guest artists!
