Presented by Mena Art Gallery

Painting: Grazing on New Grass. Dave Ivey will be leading a two-day plein air workshop in October, 2016 as one of the events in the 2016 Art of the Heartland painting competition. Artist's statement: Painting to me has become a way of life. I can't imagine what I would do if I was not able to paint. Nothing has held my interest like art. I paint every day as a commitment to myself to perfect the God given abilities I have been blessed with. I am thankful that God loaned me this talent and I want to be a good steward of His gifts. I hope to instill into a simple subject that may be overlooked and inject beauty and character into it that captures the emotion and spirit of the viewer. This is what I love and long to be doing when I am not doing it. This is my passion that I don’t intend on neglecting, but nurturing for the rest of my life. Many of my paintings are plein air and most are birthed from the rural lifestyle that my wife and I enjoy close to our home in the country surrounded by horses, cows and the many elements of nature.