LAURA LENGELING
In Like a Lion, pastel, 12" x 16", 2014

Laura Lengeling has worked as an art instructor and artist for over 25 years.  She earned a BFA in Art Education from Drake University in Des Moines and an MA from Iowa State University.  Laura is a Signature/Charter member of the Iowa Pastel Society and is currently a board member as well.  She is also a member of the MidAmerica Pastel Society.  Laura exhibits her work at venues throughout Iowa, such as the Corning Center for the Fine Arts, the Grinnell Community Art Gallery, and the Octagon Center for the Arts.  Her pastels are currently on view at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa, and they will be exhibited again next fall at the Warren Cultural Center in Greenfield, Iowa.  Laura lives on a family farm just outside of Collins, to the southeast of Ames.  Her studio is located at the Centre for Art and Artists in Newton.

Laura writes, "I've always been drawn to landscapes.  I want to show a real place and a real time, without it being overly descriptive.  I want the viewer to feel invited to come into this place and explore again and again.  If I say too much with a pastel stroke or brushstroke, the work becomes a problem solved and not the delight to the soul that brought me to it in the first place.

Working en plein air, or painting outside on location, has been an active part of my work.  I love the challenge of the changing light and all the concentration it takes to complete a work in a limited amount of time."

Laura Lengeling's website