2023 Art is Ageless® Calendar

Art is Ageless® exposes hidden talent

Robert Ayer isn’t into art for the glory or the accolades. In fact, most people who know him aren’t even aware that he draws.

“I don’t display my art or sell it,” said Robert. “It’s always just been about relaxation for me. I just do it as recreation—it keeps me off the streets at night.”

That all changed when a woman at Robert’s senior community saw some of his artwork and told him about PMMA’s Art is Ageless® competition.

“She had me select a piece and then she entered it for me,” said Robert. “The rest is history I guess.”

History indeed.

When Robert’s drawing, “Geisha Girl,” was named overall Best of Show in the amateur division in the local competition at Manor of the Plains, Dodge City, Kansas, it beat out entries from 14 other PMMA® communities across Kansas and Missouri.

“Just to find out I won anything was amazing,” said Robert. “First, I was told that I won the drawing part of the competition and then when I heard about best of show … that was something special.”

What makes it even more special is the fact that Robert finished the piece just a week before he had a stroke—a stroke that left Robert unable to draw with his right hand.

But that hasn’t stopped Robert, he recently began drawing again—this time with his left hand.

“It’s gotten pretty good and will probably be the same quality as my other work,” said Robert. “It takes a lot longer, but I’m able to get some work done.”

Asked how he thought his success in the competition might affect him going forward, Robert didn’t hold back.

“I’ll probably start bragging that I’m an award-winning artist,” said Robert. “It’s the only thing I’ve won in my life except for a bird house I painted when I was eight years old as a Cub Scout—that was a long time ago.”

Best of Show PROFESSIONAL

Lindsborg artist brings a spooky ‘painted lady’ to life

Craig Boyers has long been fascinated with Victorian houses, also known as “painted ladies.”

The artist has pored over pictures of hundreds of homes built in the last four decades of the nineteenth century and admired some of them in person. But the Victorian house in his drawing “Last House on Spirit Lane” came from the artist’s imagination.

“I looked at a lot of (Victorians), so I knew what parts I wanted,” Craig said. “I moved some of them around, and when I had it fixed in my mind, I began drawing.”

Craig finds Victorian architecture inherently spooky, and he played up these elements in his masterpiece-winning drawing, which was also inspired by the classic television shows “The Addams Family,” “The Munsters” and “The Twilight Zone.”

“The first two each had Victorian houses in them,” Craig said. “’The Twilight Zone’ is kind of eerie, somewhat scary, but it usually ends with some kind of twist. And that’s something I like to incorporate into my artwork.”

In “Last House on Spirit Lane,” a pair of eyes gazes out from an upper window, and the front door features a skull motif. Mysterious figures appear in shadow in other rooms of the house.

Outside, a colony of bats circles the home, and an attenuated ghost beats a hasty retreat from the attic. The artist also used line variation, contrast and composition to communicate the message that in this house, things are not quite on the level. He drew the structure at an angle, so that no horizonal lines appear in the entire drawing.

Sharp viewers will also notice the letters and numbers Craig incorporated into the piece, a hallmark of his style.

Even the title is as eerie as possible: “Last” holds more than one meaning and “Spirit Lane” sounds as though it belongs in a ghostly neighborhood.

Craig entered the local Art is Ageless® competition at Salina Presbyterian Manor, in Salina, Kansas.

The longtime artist, who is 76, retired from his position as dean of the arts department for the Lindsborg public school system last year.

This is the second year Craig has placed in the systemwide Art is Ageless masterpiece competition, which he said both surprised and pleased him. “When I stopped teaching, I went back to my artwork, and I didn’t know that I could still do it on a high level,” he said. “I guess I can.”

Robert Ayer

Craig Boyers

Robert Ayer, 76 Dodge City, Kan. Geisha Girl Drawing

Craig Boyers, 76 Salina, Kan.

Last House on Spirit Lane Drawing

Juanita Rapp Wyman, 74 Farmington, Mo. Old German Barn Drawing

Joey Giblin, 68 Newton, Kan. Booker’s Oops Painting

Robert Ayer, 76 Dodge City, Kan. Geisha Girl Drawing

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Kansas Day (1861)

Juanita Rapp Wyman, 74 Farmington, Mo.

A retired high school art teacher, Juanita is especially interested in landscapes associated with places she has either lived or visited. “Old German Barn,” is a pastel drawing of a barn she saw while visiting her ancestral town of Ersingen, Germany.

Larry Gross, 75 Kirkwood, Mo.

Larry Gross, 75 Kirkwood, Mo. Broadway’s Back Drawing

Peggy Shrewsbury, 85 Topeka, Kan. Nick’s Music Journey Quilting

Ellen Reynolds, 72 Rolla, Mo. Homage to Hair, the Musical Drawing

Len Scotto, 71 Lawrence, Kan. Mandarin Duck Photography

Maria Engelhardt, 67 Wichita, Kan.

Maria’s father, who was a painter, instilled a love and

of art into each of his four children. Maria, however, didn’t begin painting herself until she retired as a nurse case manager four years ago.

Maria Engelhardt, 67 Wichita, Kan. Maggie Painting

Barbara Hall, 86 Lawrence, Kan. Beth’s Tulips Painting

Wendy Rose, 73 Lawrence, Kan. Baby Giraffe Dreams Painting

David Milford, 67 Emporia, Kan.

“This piece depicts the ‘struggle’ when various cultures come together to join that American theme of life we enjoy here. The majority of this drawing was done with a crow quill pen and a mix of colored inks.”

Robert McMillen, 88 Olathe, Kan. Flint Hills Painting

Kay Ruen, 77 Olathe, Kan. Gathering Basket Mixed Media/Crafts

David Milford, 67 Emporia, Kan. The Making of America Drawing

Inspired by a photo taken by a friend, Sharon used this painting as an opportunity to challenge herself by using a limited color palette consisting of yellow, red, blue and just a touch of white.

Davis, 73 Olathe, Kan. Fuzzy Cape Needlework

Sophia deLaat, 73 Rolla, Mo.

Angel

Sharon Zimmerman, 65 Wichita, Kan. Llama “Bad Hair Day” Painting

Sharon Zimmerman, 65 Wichita, Kan.

“I have been a quilter since 1985. I learned embroidery when I was a small child and have always done handwork. The black cat is all machine appliquéd with a beaded necklace and machine quilted.”

Robert McMillen, 88 Olathe, Kan. Allison “Cliff House” Painting

Joan Butts, 87 Emporia, Kan. Princess Quilting

Craig Boyers, 76 Salina, Kan.

Last House on Spirit Lane Drawing

Jane Parish, 68 Parsons, Kan.

Cherokee Drawing

Eldon Eastman, 81 Arkansas City, Kan. Tom Painting on wood

Vada Galvan, 78 Farmington, Mo. “Bill” the Buffalo Painting

Robert Armstrong, 70 Arkansas City, Kan. Robert Armstrong is a self-taught pastel artist. He has enjoyed drawing and working with pastel portraits from a young age and will continue to

Carole Braig, 76 Kirkwood, Mo. Tea Party Sampler Quilting

Edward Duman, 90 Olathe, Kan. Self Portrait #2 Painting

Joan Butts, 87 Emporia, Kan. Summer Bouquet Quilting

Donna Thompson, 78 Arkansas City, Kan. Deck the Halls Christmas

Jimmie Nix, 79 Emporia, Kan. Indian Flute Mixed Media/Crafts

Lisa Morrison, 70 Emporia, Kan. Quinn Drawing

Herbert Morton, 85 Emporia, Kan. Brobdingnagian Arch Bridge Sculpture/3-D

Lorraine Morton, 81 Emporia, Kan. Anndy Fiber Arts

Jo Henderson, 80 Olathe, Kan. Impossible Dreamscape Needlework

Esther Minter, 89 Olathe, Kan. Inside Out Christmas

Diane Hootman, 86 Kirkwood, Mo. Kept Me In Stitches Fiber Arts

Martha Kaelble, 88 Kirkwood, Mo. Horrible Headlines/Beautiful City Mixed Media/Crafts

Alan Ritter, 71 Kirkwood, Mo. Red Sand Dunes, Namibia Photography

Violet Elliott Beyer, 80 Arkansas City, Kan. Ribbon of Peace Mixed Media/Crafts

Minnie Lou Allen, 79 Fort Scott, Kan. Candlelight Christmas

Ellie Unruh, 86 Lawrence, Kan. COVID Weaving Challenge Fiber Arts

Dorothy Gabel, 83 Dodge City, Kan. C2C Baby Afghan Fiber Arts

Betty Duffy Eller, 79 Newton, Kan. Full Moon Drawing

Margo Schrag, 73 Newton, Kan. COVID Consternation Quilting

Ruth Bahr, 94 Fort Scott, Kan. Of All the Mirrors on the Wall I’m the Fairest of them All Sculpture/3-D

Vicki Halls, 74 Fort Scott, Kan. Autumn Fire Mixed Media/Crafts

Jane Parish, 68 Parsons, Kan. Christmas Magic Christmas

Jaunita Shepard, 80 Parsons, Kan. Dresden Plate Quilt Quilting

Helen Hoertel, 90 Rolla, Mo.

Red Quilled Christmas Card Christmas Carolyn Jean Stahl, 81 Wichita, Kan. Waiting for Santa Christmas

Maxine Danieley, 88 Farmington, Mo. Wisteria Vase Painting

DeeAnne Hansen, 71 Farmington, Mo. Blowing Bubbles Painting

Minnie Lou Allen, 79 Fort Scott, Kan. The Piece de Résistance Photography

Providing quality senior services guided by Christian values

PresbyterianManors.org

About the artist:

Wendy Rose, 73 Lawrence, Kan.

Baby Giraffe Dreams Painting

For more information about Art is Ageless®, visit ArtIsAgeless.org.

A former Presidential Award-winning science teacher, Wendy cites animals and other elements of nature as her favorite subject matter.

“Baby Giraffe Dreams” was inspired by her years of living and working in Africa.