The following artists listed were chosen as the "Artist of the Month" for their respective months by the Newnan-Coweta Art Association. Their works were presented in the lobby of City Hall.

Artist of the Month, December 2022

Yvette Abrahamson

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected  Yvette Abrahamson as its featured "Artist of the Month" for the month of December. Ms. Abrahamson’s art will be featured in the entryway to Newnan City Hall (25 LaGrange Street) until the end of December.  The public is welcome to come by Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and enjoy the art.

Ms. Abrahamson is the artist of Yvie Art Rocks Studio. She has been on a journey since 2015 to learn and understand fine visual arts.   “I’ve spent most of my life doing photography, and digital graphic design for some 30 years.  But more recently my journey has led me to the study of fine art oil painting exclusively for the last 5 years.” She studies and grows as an artist by painting the human face, with all its intricacies, and beauty of lights, shadows,  and color.  

Ms. Abrahamson’s painting known as “Bright Eyes”  was voted as one of the top 10 Honorable Mentions in the recent 2022 NCAA Juried Art Show. This piece will be on display at City Hall, along with four other beautiful paintings. You may follow her at her website.

Ms. Abrahamson  is a member of NCAA.  NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 7:00 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, November 2022

Denise Marsh

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected Denise Marsh as its featured “Artist of the Month” for November 2022.  Mrs. Marsh’s art will be featured in the entry way to Newnan City Hall (25 LaGrange Street) until the end of November.

Mrs. Marsh grew up without art being in the public schools she attended and wasn’t exposed to art until she took a required art survey course at university.  “It rocked my world!” Mrs. Marsh explains. “I declared my major to art education and never looked back.  I loved talking about art and teaching my students the basics of art education.”

Before she retired from teaching, Mrs. Marsh began taking studio classes, to encourage herself to create rather than demo for her students.  “I love color; hence, I paint.  I began with pastel and moved into acrylics and have landed in oils.  I paint outside and I paint in the studio.  As I began to paint, I wondered what was I drawn to paint.  As I look over my body of work, the answer is simple…landscapes.  The play of light on even the simplest scene evokes such strong emotion; I want to capture it on my canvas. When I am at the end of painting, it isn’t complete unless the work draws me into it.  If it doesn’t, then I keep working. Inspiration comes from the world as God created it.”

Mrs. Marsh moved to Coweta County in 1981 with her husband Tom and children.  She returned to college in her late 30’s to complete a degree.

Artist of the Month, October 2022

Cornelia Craine

Ms. Craine gathers inspiration and subject matter from her local surroundings, as well as her extensive travels.  She has a great passion for the sea, the countryside and gardens.  Her paintings are created on a synthetic surface called YUPO.  This is a tree free paper originally used in the printing industry.

Ms. Craine attended art classes in high school,  but did not return to painting until she retired.  At the time she resided in Florida and she progressed through workshops, starting in oils with Gary Jenkins.  However, due to allergies, Cornelia switched to watercolor and began workshops with Nita Engle, Robbie Laird, Betty Carr and Richard Stephens.  She also completed a photo workshop with James Rogers.  Ms. Craine met and painted, for many years, with Taylor Ikin, the YUPO Queen.

She is a member of the Newnan Coweta Art Association (NCAA), The Fayette Society of Fine Arts (SOFA), Georgia Watercolor Society and was the Artist in Residence for three years at the Santee State Park in South Carolina.

Ms. Craine is a member of the Newnan Coweta Art Association. Their general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 7:00 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, September 2022

Margo Merrifield

About Margo

Creating art has always been a part of Margo's life, even more so since retiring from the (non-art) working world several years ago. 

Margo prefers to capture a person’s history, when creating a portrait. Her architectural portraits also try to capture the essence of the structure. 

Margo's style is sometimes very detailed but often leaning toward an impressionistic flair.  Her works include portraits of pets, people, buildings, landscapes, vinyl block prints, watercolor, pastels, acrylic and oils. She has been a key designer of murals for DFACS, Pathways and the city of Sharpsburg. She will often paint on location (plein aire), but often her iPhone serves as a great camera to capture interesting reference scenes. 

Margo is a member of the Newnan Coweta Art Association. NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 7:00 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome. 

Artist of the Month, August 2022

Barbara Kelly

Kelly is a native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, where her elementary school teachers recognized her budding artistic ability.This led to art lessons beginning in the fourth grade under the tutelage of Pennsylvania Impressionist Dr. Walter E. Baum.  "Back in those days" she says "lessons were held in an old schoolroom and cost 50 cents!"

After graduating from Cedar Crest College, Kelly and her then husband headed for Jacksonville, Florida, where  she began her 33  year teaching career.  She taught in elementary schools in Jacksonville and St. Petersburg, Florida, and Fayetteville, Georgia.  Earning a M.Ed in counseling led to seven years of school counseling in Peachtree City, Georgia.

Art took a back seat to all these activities, as Kelly raised her three sons as well.

Right before retiring in 1996, The Fayette Society of Fine Art was formed and renewed Kelly's interest in painting. She took an active interest in the organization and served as its

President, secretary and treasurer over the years.

Having traveled to Europe, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean, Kelly refers to her many photos for her paintings.

Her medium is mostly oils, but she loves water color and pastels equally as well.  Her favorite subjects are people and animals, but she tackles just about any subject that is appealing to her.

In 2010, Kelly won Best of Show in the Newnan-Coweta Art Association's Annual Juried Show .  That piece was done in pastel and inspired by a Spring trip to Provence.

Kelly has exhibited at the state capitol, GA State Fair, Clayton Arts Gallery, Fayette County Courthouse Show, and the Nixon Centre for Visual  and Performing Arts.

She has won a number of ribbons for her work.

The paintings at City Hall "depict a number of the places I have been, and I hope the viewer will experience  a little of the nuance of those places through my art".

Barbara Kelly is a member of NCAA . NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 7:00p.m.  An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, July 2022

Karen Stetson DeFelix

Ms. DeFelix started out creating in stain glass over 30 years ago.  After seeing a Tiffany exhibit in Florida she developed a longing to learn how to manipulate the glass so that she was not solely dependent on what she could purchase from manufactures.  She took many fused glass classes and is still excited when she sees glass “melt”.  It was during one of these classes that she asked the demonstrator how he came up with his creative ideas.  He told her about Betty Edwards’ book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”.  The book changed her life.  She went from drawing “bad stick figures” to drawing her own self portrait.  From there it was only a small leap to watercolor pencils and then watercolor painting.  Although glass and watercolor are her favorite mediums she also works in acrylic and mixed mediums.   One of her new joys is playing with acrylic pours and beyond the pours.

Karen moved from Florida to Georgia 11 years ago and is enjoying having 4 seasons again.  She especially loves the blooming trees in the spring and aptly named her painting of her cherry tree in bloom - “Spring: Why I Love Georgia”

Karen is former member of the Florida Watercolor Association and the Clayton County Art Association – Arts Clayton and is a member of the Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA). She has had many paintings and four of her glass sculptures juried into the NCAA juried show at the Center for Performing and Visual Arts.  One glass sculpture was in the “Top Ten”.  Her paintings have also been in shows in Clearwater and Sarasota Florida and are in private collections up and down the east coast.  She gives group classes in multiple crafts and fine arts at the Gathering in Peachtree City and at an active retirement community. 

Ms. DeFelix enjoys painting a wide variety of subjects.  She says “I like to paint flowers because they bring joy.  I had a gentleman once who bought my painting of a double Bird of Paradise (“Hawaiian Eye”) because it had been his mother’s favorite flower.  I like to paint old buildings especially barns because they have a history and there is a beauty in them. I also like painting animals, especially turtles because they are fun and cardinals because they are beautiful and have a lot of meanings like hope. And sometimes I just paint something that catches my eye like a spider in a web or a beautiful bowl of vegetables.”

“My favorites are paintings that have an emotional appeal like the five paintings for the City Hall exhibit -  Like the eyes of the protective dog watching over the peacefully sleeping small child in ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’, the smile on the young girl’s face who is showing off her Easter prize in ‘Treasure After the Hunt’, the mischievous joy in the sister’s with their braids tied together in ‘Twisted Sisters’, and in ‘Art of my Art’ the love of the little girl hugging the pig I painted for the display around Newnan Square.  And finally, on a more serious note, the woman with the determined and strong look in the Rosie the Riveter pose in ‘Woman,  Still Keeping America Strong’. “

Ms. DeFelix is a member of NCAA.  NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 7 p.m. Along with the meeting there is an art demonstration. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, June 2022

Teresa Foshee

Teresa has always been an artist at heart, but life took her in other directions for a long time. She's finally doing what she's always wanted to do: explore, create, and design! Teresa is a photographer, potter, and sculptor. She grew up in Illinois, near St. Louis, Missouri. Teresa always loved to draw; and, as a child, she remembers spending hours drawing animals from pictures in her parents' encyclopedias. She took some art classes in high school and then attended Harding University (Searcy, AR). Leaving her studies at the University behind, Teresa attended Sawyer Business College (St. Louis, MO) to become an Executive Secretary; upon graduation, she worked as an Administrative Assistant for many years. However, in 2013, Teresa went back to college to finish the art degree she started so long ago. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Art and Design from LaGrange College in May 2016 (Double Concentration: Photography and Ceramics and Sculpture). Teresa received The William and Elezida Hope Art History Award in 2015 and 2016 (Art Department, LaGrange College) and The Annie Moore Smith Award in 2016 (Art Department, LaGrange College).

As a photographer, Teresa is exploring possibilities that lie beyond traditional representational photographs by creating unique abstract designs with her images. She first became interested in the idea of working with multiple images, when she took some pictures of her grandson's snake and delved into the utilization of negative space. From those images, she created her first two photographic abstracts. That experience largely contributed to her pursuit of combining images using other subject matter such as architectural aspects, old vehicle parts, and even some elements of nature.

Teresa has had photographs and bas relief tiles juried into several Art and Photography exhibits in Georgia and Alabama and has won several "Best in Photography" awards and "Awards of Merit." Most recently, Teresa's work has been juried into the Newnan-Coweta Art Association's 15th Annual Juried Member Art Exhibit at The Donald W Nixon Centre for Performing and Visual Arts, which will be on display June 9 through 29. She has also had work juried into the "Simple Pleasures" exhibits at the McRitchie-Hollis Museum (Newnan), The Hathaway Contemporary Gallery (Atlanta), The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (Montgomery, AL), and the January Dempsey Community Arts Center (Auburn, AL). Teresa's work has been exhibited at the Lamar Dodd Art Center (LaGrange), Cochran Gallery (LaGrange), Auburn CityFest (Auburn, AL), the City Hall Gallery (Montgomery, AL), and in a solo show at West Georgia Technical College (Finding Art in Everything). Her photographs are included in the permanent collection at the Lamar Dodd Art Center (LaGrange College) and at the Ida Callaway Hudson Lab Sciences Building (LaGrange College). Teresa has also had work featured in the Newnan-Coweta Magazine (January / February issue, 2017); and, she was a Feature Artist for Dinett Hok Magazine, 1st Edition, 2019 to 2020.

Currently, Teresa has photography on display at Due South Seafood Kitchen - The Loft (Peachtree City). Her photographs and/or bas relief tiles/pottery have also been displayed at the Administration Building in Newnan (Art at the Admin), Newnan Theatre Company (Black Box Theatre), Newnan City Hall, Southern Arc Dance (Newnan), Burson ENT (Newnan), Newnan Plaza Pharmacy (Newnan Hospital Annex), Peachtree City Library, Ephesus Library, and West Georgia Technical College (Newnan Campus).

Ms. Foshee is a member of NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held on the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 7 pm. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.