2025 Spring Showcase

AiPP - 2025 Annual Spring Showcase

The Starkville Area Arts Council is excited to announce our next AiPP Exhibit of 2025, our annual Spring Showcase.

This exhibit will be on display in-person and online on the SAAC website from March 4 - May 6, 2025, in the Starkville Area Arts Council's office in downtown Starkville (109 W Main St).

Join us for an opening reception on Saturday, March 8, from 5:30-7 pm at SAAC. (109 W Main St).

Works may be for sale. If you are interested in purchasing any of these works, please continue reading below.

About the Exhibit

Our annual Spring Showcase returns, featuring works from artists in the Golden Triangle and beyond. While the show is open-themed, many pieces reflect the spirit of spring—renewal, reinvigoration, and the beauty of nature.

Works on display in-person until May 6, 2025.

Hover or click on images below to view title, medium, and pricing. Click image to view fullscreen.
Please CALL OR EMAIL SAAC (info at bottom of this page) if interested in purchasing available works.

Tanner South

Tanner South is a painter from Eupora, MS. Tanner is a self taught artist who paints and experiments through texture and visual dreamy scenes. He experiments with textures and mediums to enhance layering in his work and to capture concepts and feelings through textures. It’s hard not to want to touch some of his work for yourself. Occasionally experimenting with black lights in his work, he uses vibrant fluorescent paints to work together with his textures to bring new dimensions to old or current piece. Tanner adds bits of odds and ends of interesting found pieces in a few mixed media paintings that you’d notice upon closer examination.

Botanical Relics
Mixed Media

16" x 20"
$440

"This mixed-media painting features a vibrant, trippy flower vase, blending surreal floral patterns with found objects that shape its unique composition. Textural layers, applied by my girlfriend, Sara Ford, add depth and tactile richness to the piece. The fusion of organic and abstract elements creates a dreamlike atmosphere, where everyday shapes transform into meaningful forms. The artwork reflects both personal connection and creative exploration, offering a dynamic, immersive visual experience."

Leslie Brown

Leslie Brown paints the natural world around her in an impressionistic style. With experience in photography, watercolor and mosaics, Brown began painting in acrylics during Covid lockdown. She found her passion

Take Me Away!
Acrylic
12" x 24"
$500

"The dreary days of winter leave me longing to sit on the pier on a warm evening and watch another magnificent sunset."

Simplicity
Acrylic
16" x 24"
$450 SOLD

"The simple vase of tulips means spring is finally here!"

Walter Diehl

Walter J. Diehl is an avid world traveler and amateur photographer. He hopes that his photographs both provide viewers a glimpse into those places that he has been privileged to visit and inspire them to travel and experience the cultures and beauty of new places. Diehl does not try to be the typical travel photographer, and he probably breaks most of the ‘rules’ of travel photography. Rather, he is a traveler first who tries to take the most inspiring photographs that he can under the conditions that exist at the time. His travel habits rarely allow him to sit in one place very long or take advantage of the best light for chosen scenes or subjects. Depending on the trip, he may focus on photographing nature, architecture, culture, and occasionally people. In his world, scenes and lighting are rarely perfect, and so he is constantly challenged to make the most of this reality. Diehl enjoys the reactions of people viewing his photographs. In an admittedly selfish sense, their reactions allow him to enjoy his travels all over again. But only for a while, because now he is already thinking about how to photograph his next trip(s).

Koi Through the Waterfall
Photography
25" x 19"
$125

"From the heights of Bora Bora in French Polynesia, I captured its stunning blue lagoon with the very distant island of Raiatea in the hazy background. (Canon EOS R5, 41mm, 1/4000 sec, f/22, ISO 8000)."

Taggert King

Mississippi-based artist Taggert King creates oil paintings that explore the experiences of a queer, Southern individual. Through familiar objects and sceneries, King invites viewers to find deeper meaning in the everyday, encouraging reflection on identity, place, and the beauty of the ordinary.

https://taggertking.com/

Full Sink
Oil
10" x 10"
$180 SOLD

"A full sink of dishes represents a depression or a darkness for me but the acknowledgment of a full sink means accepting that it is time to make a change."

Dumped
Oil
8" x 8"
$200 SOLD

Brad James

Brad O'Neil James Jr is a traditional mixed media artist who does graphic illustrations and non-representational paintings. Most of James' artwork starts with a layer of watercolor to establish a color palette and general composition, and from there he builds up the surface with several layers of other traditional materials such as acrylic ink, acrylic paint, charcoal, colored pencil, ink pen, gouache, and more watercolor. James' main form of inspiration for his illustration work comes from his love of animation, books, comics, graphic novels, and manga. With his recent exploration of abstract work, James tends to find inspiration for such pieces from day-to-day life instances.

https://www.instagram.com/bojj_art/

Impact
Mixed Media
10.75" x 10.5"
$350

"Impact is inspired by impact frame technique, a series of drawings which adds force and energy into an animation. The abstract strike captures the gravitational pull of a collision at its apex while colorful waves of energy rushes to escape the aftermath."

William Weathers

William Donovan Weathers II is a painter creating surreal landscapes. His artwork explores our various methods of archiving information to find vague memories, feelings, and sensations. The paintings exist as a window into the transient gap between any two ideas, an action and reaction, the time between the seen and the forgotten. Outward expressions that meditate on our subconscious "storing" information as we engage the outside world and how it changes over time. Through exploring human experiences we store externally and subconsciously, he hopes to evoke a wholly individual perception of his work to each viewer.

Silent Inundation
Oil
18" x 18" x 2"
$350 SOLD

"This artwork exists within a larger series of paintings I made last year exploring the surreal in-between space of our subconscious recalling of memory and images. The work in particular focuses on our daily life of constantly receiving information and how it rearranges our older memories and perceptions into something new or different entirely."

Paradigm Shift
Charcoal
12" x 48" x 2"
$550

Liza Ambriz

Liza Ambriz is a ceramic artist born in Mexico and raised in Madison, MS. She is a recent graduate of Mississippi State University where she received her BFA in Fine Arts. Her work is an exploration of compassion and awareness toward invasive and displaced groups through hand-built ceramic pieces.

Rhinella marina
Ceramic
11" x 12"
NFS

"This work is a part of a series of hand-built ceramic wall pieces where I focus on compassion and education of invasive species that are brought about by human error. I want to create a space to respect the memory of these animals even if they ultimately do need to be removed from their environments."

Sue Ousterhout

The artist, whose mother was from Kosciusko, MS has returned to her family’s home in Kosciusko after 30 years in Washington DC. She studied at the Art League in Alexandria, won several awards and had numerous group and private shows in and around DC. As a professional architect Ms. Ousterhout explores line, color, and shape to create an emotional and intellectual dialogue between the place/space of the painting subject and the viewer. Her focus in painting is often the American landscape. This painting is of a stand of wood along a creek in Huntsville Alabama, and represents the beginning of her life in the south - providing an opportunity for rebirth and a fresh start.

Spring Along Dry Creek
Oil
30" x 36"
$1,200

"After seeing the incredible paintings of Joan Michell in the show (Monet Michell) I tried to work with a new sense of artistic freedom with this painting. The feeling was also “in the air” with the season changing to spring; an opportunity to start anew."

Hannah Belle

Hannah Belle grew up running wild all over the fields and woods near her childhood home. Some of her favorite memories include riding her horse to and from the local stream. It was on these frequent adventures that she fell in love with nature. She spent endless hours observing the wildlife from her favorite rock outcropping that hung over the water of the creek. Animals have been the constant companion to Hannah ever since she was a little girl. She grew up in love with all types of creatures, from the tallest horse to the tinniest of toads. She is fond of incorporating the likeness of her faithful friends in her art. Hannah’s love of animals led her to move to Starkville where she attended Mississippi State University and earned a BS in both Poultry Science and Large Animal & Dairy Science, as well as a BA in History. She still currently resides in Starkville with her small farm and fiber sheep flock. Hannah enjoys the detail that the mediums of charcoal and pastel pencils allow for. Through her artwork, Hannah seeks to memorialize both her own animals and others’ beloved pets, as well as capture the beauty of wildlife.

https://bluebellesheep.com/pet-portrait-commissions

A Berry Buffet
Soft Pastel
9.5" x 12"
$275

"Robins are one of the quintessential birds of spring. I wanted to capture one enjoying bright red berries for its meal."

Gary Ervin

Gary Ervin is a wetland ecologist and professor at Mississippi State University. He has been studying ceramics since early 2023, often combining natural materials, shapes, and textures into his ceramic works. The synergy of clay and plant materials in his art mirrors his professional experience as a plant ecologist studying wetland ecosystems, where key ecological processes are driven by clay-dominated soils and the presence or absence of water. He recently wrote, illustrated, and published an upper-level university textbook on the biology of aquatic and wetland plants that has seen use throughout the Americas. In addition to ceramics, Gary and his wife, Lesia, enjoy hiking and traveling, having spent time in Mexico, multiple countries in Europe and South America.

http://garyervin.com

Wood-fired, Peruvian-inspired Teapot
Ceramic
11" x 13" x 15"
$425

"This large teapot was inspired by vessels produced in South America between 1200 to 3200 years ago. Those vessels were used to carry food and water and often were decorated to fit seasonal cycles and ceremonies. This wood-fired vessel is built to represent a seed from local wetland sedge species. Thus, it carries symbolism of the changing seasons through production of seeds that serve to renew the wetland with each coming year."

Britney McDonald

Britney McDonald is an artist from Mississippi with a passion for upcycling, ceramics, painting, and more. With over ten years of professional art training and three years of experience of art show vending, she continues to follow her passion while pushing the boundaries of traditional Mississippian arts. Her efforts within the local art community don't go unnoticed, providing vending advice to those with the ear to listen.

https://www.instagram.com/sixth__dimension/

Prancing Bells
Mixed Media
4.5" x 4.5"
$222

"The latest entry to a series of hand-sculpted, mythical creature paintings depicts an enchanted bellflower creature basking in the glow of a miniature bellflower held in its palm."

Libby Cagle

Libby Cagle began her career in teaching special needs children and later obtained certifications in teaching gifted/talented and teaching art K-12. She taught in the Oktibbeha County Schools and Starkville School District retiring in 2016. The majority of her thirty-six year teaching career was spent teaching 6th graders at Henderson in VIVA (Verbal innovations and Visual Arts). Since her retirement she has enjoyed creating her own style which usually is abstract in nature and uses acrylics and mixed media. She appreciates multiple genres of art and music and often listens to music as she paints. She is inspired by traveling, visiting art museums and galleries, live music concerts, and her photography of scenes she captures on her adventures. Whenever she visits a new city, she always looks for interesting art museums and galleries to visit. Libby’s initial interest in art was inspired by her 6th grade teacher, Frances Gregory Patterson, whose philosophy was, “One can learn the history of the world through art!” Since that time, Libby has been fascinated with the huge variety of styles and movements of art throughout the world and at different time periods. Libby states, “Art transcends universal cultural barriers that humans often create.”

Spring Fling
Acrylic
24" x 24"
$275

"Spring is my favorite season. Spring brings me joy!"

Brooke Petitt

Using vibrant colors, Brooke paints with acrylic paints and enjoys nature scenes and abstract landscape designs. She enjoys painting large scale paintings with big, thick brush strokes. Painting is a relaxing hobby for Brooke and she best enjoys paint in the sunshine outside on a warm summer day. She hopes her paintings will bring joy and peace to those that view them.

Crane
Acrylic
24" x 36"
$300

"Nature is everywhere, especially when spring flower bloom and warmer temperatures are present. This crane can be seen by my pond each spring morning when the frost of winter melts away."

Samantha Martell

The artist utilizes models, mannequins, and photographic references to explore the beauty and complexity of the human figure as their main subject, along with the various ways to depict it in their work. Their hands engage closely with their chosen mediums, primarily drawing and printmaking. They draw inspiration from classical movements in art history, such as Impressionism, which influences their mark-making techniques, as well as Hellenistic and Classical Greek marble and bronze sculptures, renowned for their dramatic poses and emotional expressions, and the occult. The artist also looks to realistic portraits from the Renaissance that capture the life-like essence of their subjects. In recent works, they emphasize dramatic lighting, with the human figure as the central focus.

https://www.instagram.com/sammziesm?igsh=OWt5Y3lwMHVsejdz&utm_source=qr

Mrs. Fortune Returns
Acrylic
15" x 11"
$200 SOLD

“Mrs. Fortune Returns” is an Aquatint etching that was printed then carefully hand painted with gold acrylic paint, depicting the figure of a divine like Priestess here to decipher your past, present, and future… What secrets will she unfold as you gaze into her crystal ball?"

Jamison Schaffer

Trent Schaffer is a Memphis based artist who primarily focuses on painting in impressionist and abstract styles.

Magnolia
Acrylic
16" x 20"
$350

"Blooming Magnolia Branches in Spring"

Andre Ray

I've always been fascinated with colors and light. My great aunt was a painter, and art had always played a big part in my life. I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a painter. I've always loved western art, and southern culture and I would try to use my artwork to try to share this love of art and culture with others. I try to use light and color to express my love for my subjects.

Springtime Storms
Oil
22" x 28"
$500

"Springtime Storms. This was inspired by my friend James Wagner. He paints brilliant clouds. This was a painting that a I painted dark and added the white on top. It worked well."

Pete Melby

Sisters in a Catboar
Watercolor
12" x 12"
$300 SOLD

"A catboat is a sailing vessel created in Biloxi, Mississippi. Being able to move swiftly through the water, it was used by fishermen to bring freshly caught seafood quickly to the marinas for in the late 1800’s for use in the Mississippi Gulf Coast ‘s growing tourism business. The catboat was also used to provide thrilling sailing adventures for tourists."

View through Longleaf Pines to Ocean Springs
Watercolor
16" x 22"
$700

"This watercolor painting focuses on a pine tree native to the coastal edge maritime forest and a view over Biloxi Bay to Ocean Springs, Mississippi."

Daphne Shannon

The art of Daphne Shannon is typically executed through the media of painting, collage/assemblage, or mixed media that combines both painting and collage/assemblage. Daphne works primarily in acrylic paint on canvas, while often adding acrylic ink, spray paint, oil pastels, collage paper, foil, imitation gold leaf, spackling, buttons, and other 3D assemblage objects. A secondary focus is full-on assemblage art, often with the aim of portraying a specific theme or feeling. Daphne’s work is often inspired by and/or named after music or song lyrics or is sometimes titled with a nod to other pop culture references.

https://www.facebook.com/ArtByDaphneShannon

I Can Stop You Fallin' Apart
Acrylic
24" x 30"
$340

"I Can Stop You Fallin' Apart" is a work of abstract expressionism featuring acrylic paint, acrylic ink, spray paint and matte finish on 24” x 30” wide-edge canvas. Several bright colors are prominent in the piece and evoke the colors of spring. The painting also highlights a feeling of "breaking through" that is often associated with spring. The title is inspired by lyrics from the song, “Let My Love Open the Door” by Pete Townsend."

Amuri Morris

Amuri Morris is an artist based in Richmond, Va. She recently graduated from painting and printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University. Throughout the years she has acquired several artistic accolades such as a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship. You can find more of her work at www.murisart.com.

Last Slice
Oil
8" x 10"
$150

"I wanted viewers to be captivated by the simplicity of the background with the pop of the brilliantly realistic slice of watermelon. I'm a sucker for all things fruit and its a slice of light in the darkness. Life is hard but moments like enjoying a slice of cold watermelon on a warm spring evening make it all seem okay."

About AiPP

As part of SAAC's AiPP series, works may be listed for sale, including framed and unframed pieces. SAAC collects and pays sales taxes on behalf of the artist for any work sold, and the artist keeps 80% of the proceeds.

Please CALL or EMAIL SAAC if you are interested in purchasing any of these works.