This artist will turn your homework into art
Name: Jody Ball Studio: Pansy House Studio, Blanchester, Ohio
Type of Art: “Our Town,” a 22-by-16-inch customized painting of your hometown. Limited-edition reproductions in square or oval styles on archival foam backing board. Medium: Glicee’ prints Inspiration: Her inspiration started back in the 1980s, when she painted on saws and Longaberger baskets. She was trying to come up with something unique, and created a whimsical, folk art style design to honor a certain place.
“I worked at a frame/art shop in downtown Lebanon, directly across from the Golden Lamb Inn. Knowing that Leb
anon and the Golden Lamb are very popular, I thought that the subject matter was so appropriate. (I knew) it would be fun to paint the scene that I saw every day.” Process: Paintings professionally reproduced with archival inks. “It begins with an idea from my own imagination of a peaceful place… or from a photograph supplied by a
friend or client. I do a few thumbnail drawings, and draw the final design on Masonite board or canvas, and use acrylics to paint the scene. Then I outline most of the images with a black Pigma Micron ink marker
for enhancement and detail. I coat it with artist-grade var- nish.”
Price: From $80 for a print to $600 for the original framed painting.
In her words: “I enjoy painting the hometown style in a whimsical folk art fashion. This allows me to work outside of my regular style, which can be very detailed. It’s so much fun to create something that will bring happiness to others.” Artist background: “As a child, my parents enrolled me in art lessons after my mother declared t hat all I did was draw and color.” Interesting Fact: Ball lives on a small farm with
her husband Ray, one dog, two cats, three goats, and 16 chickens. Artist education: Aside from those childhood lessons, she is mainly selftaught.
Customer quote: “Charm- ing print of an original painting, beautifully executed and appealingly framed. Love it! I’ve lived with this piece for a few days, and all I can say is that it still makes me happy when I look at it,” said Lucinda Morse of Mem-
phis, Tenn.
Where to find it: jodyballart.com, or etsy.com/listing/35381022; studio hours by appointment only.
Other works: “Things of Heaven” and “Stuff of Earth: — Ball also creates original paintings of landscapes and nature, animals, still lifes, and illustrations for greeting cards.