Marybeth Heikes

Paintings in Watercolor & Mixed Media

Centerville Produce

Centerville Produce

December 27, 2011

This pencil drawing was a commission and is composed of four views of the Centerville Produce company over the years — particularly the different feed sale signs. It is located on Highway 5 South on the Levee in Centerville, Iowa, which used to be a bustling community in earlier years. Some of the other views include […] more »

Corydon, Iowa

Corydon, Iowa

December 22, 2011

I am enthralled with the old buildings found in rural Iowa. The photo I used as a reference was taken many years ago, so who knows if this view is changed! It was a beautiful, sunny day with the cerulean sky color I love.  I also like the water tower peeking from behind the red […] more »

Fifty-Seven Chevy

Fifty-Seven Chevy

December 14, 2011

You don’t see many of these classic cars anymore! It’s as big as a boat and probably twice as heavy. I’d hate to think of parallel parking this baby! This was done as a pencil commission years ago and I had taken many camera shots of this gentleman’s car. I like the lemonade color he painted […] more »

The Love Block

The Love Block

November 29, 2011

This is a partial view of the west side of the Albia square storefronts.  Having lived in Centerville for a number of years, I’ve been interested in small towns and their changing businesses and old buildings.  We drive through this quaint town numerous times and I snapped a few pictures for reference. What caught my eye […] more »

Old Coot

Old Coot

November 20, 2011

This is one of my many humorous birds in a series, along with the Love Birds, Cockatoo, Bad Hair Day, Flamingo and Ostrich. This old guy is sitting on an orange rock in the middle of a stream. For the accent color, I used a bright red in the feathers and the top of his […] more »

My Collage Inspirations

My Collage Inspirations

November 16, 2011

My work in collage has been inspired by many artists.  Some of these are Matisse,  Romare Bearden,  Joan Miró,  Edward Betts and Gerald Brommer. The definition of “collage” is a picture built up wholly or partly from pieces of paper, cloth or other materials stuck on canvas or other ground.  Collage as a medium emerged […] more »

Gooney Bird & Giraffe

Gooney Bird & Giraffe

November 10, 2011

This is the fifth wild animal design in my series of Christmas Critters.  This is a whimsical yellow giraffe with maroon spots, a blue eye, orange ears and mane wearing a hat.  Sitting on top of his head is a teal gooney bird with an orange beak and multi-colored feathers, and also wearing a hat.  […] more »

Let it Snow!

Let it Snow!

November 4, 2011

My goal this week was to create an artwork every day, in the tradition of the Daily Painters group. With collage, that’s more difficult. Today’s is a bit smaller than the first two. It features a blotchy ochre/sienna-colored cat watching fat snowflakes drift around him. He’s sitting against a royal blue background and he had […] more »

Sweets for the Baboon

Sweets for the Baboon

November 1, 2011

For this painting, I decided to do the background first instead of starting with the center of interest, as I usually do. In this case, the baboon. I liked his silly expression! And I decided that using complementary colors would make them pop better against the dark teal green. In collage, each color-value affects each […] more »

Kris Kringle Lemur

Kris Kringle Lemur

October 30, 2011

This is an addition to my new holiday designs highlighting wild animals. Animals are very entertaining and I thought a lemur would be kind of different for Christmas. The basic color is a reddish brown with the purple-ringed tail and mask on his face, with blue nostrils. I chose the lime green background to accent […] more »