Marybeth Heikes

Paintings in Watercolor & Mixed Media

In The Distance

In The Distance

July 30, 2010

Continued inspiration of the urban landscapes. I used a photo take many years ago and loved the view from the parking ramp with all the intricacies of the city — the sky walk, rooftops, capitol dome — all the geometric shapes and shadows. more »

Rooftops, Des Moines

Rooftops, Des Moines

July 22, 2010

In this view, I used a photo taken of downtown Des Moines a few years ago from the top of a parking garage. The architecture and building forms interested me. The panoramic view from above was inspiring! Of course, I took artistic liberty with most of the building colors and used a strong value pattern […] more »

Tornado

Tornado

July 10, 2010

This design started horizontal, but I decided to change the format and the initial sketch. I thought it would be more dramatic as a vertical composition. I took the photo of this old dairy barn many years ago on a trip to the historic barn in Cantril, Iowa. On the way home, the sky turned […] more »

Biking

Biking

July 1, 2010

This piece was inspired by an old bicycle I saw at Bradley Hall. I took a variety of pictures, including the interesting shadow shapes, and then did a preliminary watercolor painting. After this, I did some loosely sketched contour drawings of this bike and didn’t plan a design to work with, as I usually do. […] more »

Watching an Artist at Work, part II

Watching an Artist at Work, part II

June 20, 2010

I began demonstration painting at Bradley Hall in early June. The area where I paint is next to my rented spot on the second floor. I decided to paint a recognizable local scene of the Centerville square — just a small section of it. After doing a fairly exact sketch, I have been working on […] more »

Split Strings

Split Strings

June 16, 2010

I was inspired by the shapes of the classical and electric guitar taken many years ago. I previously completed a realistic drawing of these and decided it would be fun to do one using abstract shapes. I began with a very loose contour drawing and no previous design — just arranged shapes and let things […] more »

Watching an Artist at Work

Watching an Artist at Work

June 12, 2010

Recently I participated in the Octagon Center for the Art’s monthly Art Walk in Ames. This is a great way to interact with customers, and people love watching an artist at work. I am also painting weekly at Bradley Hall in Centerville [...] more »

Sunlit Daffodils

Sunlit Daffodils

May 7, 2010

I can’t seem to get daffodils out of my mind — their subtle coloring and their ruffled petals draws my attention this year. This painting was done combining a couple of my photographs and is the fifth one in this series. more »

Japanese Iris

Japanese Iris

April 26, 2010

These irises are smaller than the bearded irises, and the blossoms don’t last very long. What attracts me to these flowers is the color — a very intense purple. They also are early spring flowers, and I take lots of photos of them outside and also as a cut flower in vases. I used dioxazine […] more »