ANITA BAEDKE-PLUCKER
Bridge Between East and West - Okoboji, plein aire watercolor, 2007

Anita Baedke-Plucker, nicknamed Katie, was born and raised in Terril, Iowa.  After graduating from Terril Community School, Katie attended Buena Vista College, Storm Lake, Iowa, receiving a BA in Art Education, then married and had two boys.  Katie put her artistic career on hold to stay at home, but as the boys grew older, Katie was able to create more artwork and began to enter area art shows.  Her career continued to grow as she went from art show to art show, to having limited-edition prints published, to displaying her work in juried national exhibitions and galleries.   

When she and her family moved back to the Terril area, Katie joined the Spencer Area Arts Council, and soon became Director of the Gallery Shop and later, worked full-time as the Director of Education and Outreach for Arts on Grand in Spencer.  Katie currently teaches Art at the Spencer Middle School, enabling her finally to put her degree in education and her love to teach into full practice while still allowing her fragments of free time to create.

Katie has been a popular art instructor for youth and adults for many art organizations, including Witter Gallery, the Lakes Art Center, Arts on Grand and others.  She is a member of several area arts councils, is a member of the Transparent Watercolor Society, a signature member of the Iowa Watercolor Society and a charter member of the Colored Pencil Society of America.

My watercolor paintings and colored pencil drawings  reflect my life in the upper Midwest - rural landscapes, waterscapes, architecture indicative to this area (simple porches and barns to ornate Victorian structures). Currently my inspiration and focus is of " the land" and " water", particularly, the design left as nature and man plays with and organizes the surface. My approach to my artwork is realistic and my style ranges from loose flowing brushstrokes to tightly controlled detail. I look for spatial relationships within my subject matter. I love surface texture, varied lines, negative spaces and the effects color can exude with a piece.

Anita Baedke-Plucker's website