What’s going on! (sticky post)

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Jo Myers-Walker

(This post is “stickied” to remain at the top of the blog; newer blog posts may appear below.)

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Fall watercolor class

Posted on September 2, 2026 by Jo Myers-Walker
Graduation, watercolor painting in soft colors by artist Jo Myers-Walker of young women in graduation robes walking in a busy Iowa City street scene

“Graduation,” my painting of
an Iowa City street scene

Sept. 14 – Nov. 9, 2026
(except Oct. 12),
Mondays, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Watercolor Class: People in Landscapes at the Iowa City Senior Center. You can find details on page 10 of the September–October 2026 Program Guide at the Senior Center website, and on the class registration page. Senior Center membership and class fee are required.

Join me for a relaxed, creative class focused on developing your own creative style. Explore drawing, composition, light and dark, warm and cool color, perspective, value, and repeating lines and shapes, with special attention to drawing a figure walking into a landscape.

New and experienced watercolorists are welcome! I’ll provide Arches watercolor paper and a workbook, and a list of other supplies for you to purchase on your own.

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Sunny Saturday mornings

Posted on July 26, 2026 by Jo Myers-Walker
Artist Jo Myers-Walker in sunny downtown Iowa City holding a pink and white striped parasol and wearing patchwork sun hat and purse which she sewed

Equipped for the sun

Watercolor still life by artist Jo Myers-Walker of a tabletop featuring a small vase with red flowers and daisies and produce including onions, an apple, and greens next to a knife and empty jar. Buildings with archways are faintly visible in the background.

Fresh inspiration

Farmers markets are a great source of painting inspiration. My local market is in walking distance — hot this summer, but doable!

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Reiman reminder

Posted on July 10, 2026 by Jo Myers-Walker
Watercolor painting by artist Jo Myers-Walker of the front porch of a house with two rocking chairs. The US flag is flying from a flagpole attached to the house.

Summer porch with flag to honor the USA’s 250th

Update:  Thank you to everyone who stopped by the 2026 Garden Art Fair! You can see my artwork available as giclée prints on the Online Gallery page, and Reiman Gardens’ upcoming programs and events on their Events Page.

Earlier post:
See me on Sunday, July 12 at the 2026 Garden Art Fair (Reiman Gardens in Ames, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.)! I’ll be in the Speer Room, booth S2. Full details are at the Garden Art Fair website.

I’ll have watercolor paintings and giclée prints inspired by Iowa’s landscapes, communities, and themes of unity, remembrance, and social justice.

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Spring at the Senior Center

Posted on June 10, 2026 by Jo Myers-Walker
A class of artists seated at a long table all facing the camera. Bright sunlight is coming through the window behind them

   
This session’s artists

Watercolor painting by artist Jo Myers-Walker of the front porch of a house with two rocking chairs. The US flag is flying from a flagpole attached to the house.

Class on houses (with flag
to honor the USA’s 250th)

This spring I started a new class at the Senior Center and it filled right up! In “Watercolor Joyous and Free” we are focusing on spring flowers and the landscape. Our class finds painting relaxing in troubled times.

See the Iowa City Senior Center website for all of their programs!

Pages from a workbook by artist Jo Myers-Walker showing samples of watercolor techniques with floral and landscape subjects

   
Pages from a workbook I made for the class

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A wide assortment

Posted on February 13, 2026 by Jo Myers-Walker
Busy living room with wooden furniture against the wall at left, with many drawers for storage, some of which are open partway to show their contents

The scene of sorting! Card catalog
and drafting table at left

A variety of well-used ruber stamps with wooden handles

Rubber stamps for ice cream flavors,
milk, and general business purposes

An assortment of many different pairs of pliers, many with colorful handles, jumbled in a narrow wooden drawer from a card catalog

Many pairs of pliers! (Readers
of a certain age will recognize
the card catalog drawer)

One result of a life of artistic exploration:  my beautiful old card catalog and drafting table are full of different tools and materials from past projects. Like, I have 12 pliers, and 3,000 nuts and bolts for furniture making.

I am sorting through the many drawers to find which contents I can let go of. Anything I can’t do in my apartment is a candidate! Lots of memories in those drawers of past lives art making.

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New art from old

Posted on January 2, 2026 by Jo Myers-Walker
A black-and-white image of a child's drawings together wtih colorful mugs designed using the drawings

Devin’s childhood drawings, with mugs
recently decorated using those designs

Clocks made from clear plastic with colorful designs in the style of a child's drawings

   
Tick Tock Clocks

This past year I was going through boxes of my artwork to have it professionally photographed for a portfolio. I felt revitalized bringing out the old work and remembering the styles and mediums I’ve used through the years.

These photos show new works I made using old designs. The mugs use drawings from when I was in my studio with Devin when he was age 5. I would draw and he would draw. I saved his work and knew he was an artist because of the detail! The post A mugful of memories tells about decorating the mugs using his designs. I had never done this before so I did not know how the colors would turn out. That made it an adventure, a mystery like being a child.

The “tick tock clocks” are new creations using designs I did 40 years ago in making 30″ tall plastic sculptures for the schools. There again I found my inner child!

See also larger photos at Instagram:

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A mugful of memories

Posted on November 20, 2025 by Jo Myers-Walker
Colorful mugs decorated with a child's drawings

Some of the finished mugs

I found 20 white bisque mugs in my closet that I’d been saving for over 30 years. They were made around the time Devin drew designs on the floor of my studio. I saved them and knew I could use them one day, as I found them delightful.

Devin is 40 now and has a baby of his own. It brought back wonderful memories of the drawings and keeping him busy so that I could paint too.

I had never glazed pottery before, so I treated the glazes like when I paint with watercolor. First I poured a watered-down glaze and let streaming lines create texture. Then I got out my trusty brush to draw his designs in black. Nancy Westvig fired and clear-glazed 20 cups. I enjoyed collaborating with her! I’ll have the mugs at the Eastside Artists Show and Sale, along with paintings, cards, and the work of many other artists.

(Update:  The 2025 EA Show and Sale is now past. Thank you to everyone who stopped by!)

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Eastside Artists Show and Sale 2025

Posted on November 15, 2025 by Jo Myers-Walker
Whimsical watercolor painting by artist Jo Myers-Walker of a male northern cardinal bird wearing a red-and-gold checkered scarf while perched on a limb with multicolored foliage

Ready for December with his fashionable scarf

(Update:  The 2025 EA Show and Sale is now past. Thank you to everyone who stopped by!)

  • December 5, 6, & 7, 2025
    Masonic Building, 312 E. College St. in downtown Iowa City

Mark your calendar for this always-anticipated Iowa City tradition! I’ll join other members and guest artists of the Eastside Artists for this year’s show and sale. You can find details and photos at the Eastside Artists website and Facebook page.

I’m honored that my watercolor cardinal will decorate this year’s postcard!

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Material for mindfulness

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Jo Myers-Walker
An assortment of fabric repurposing projects by Jo Myers-Walker including a shoulder bag, tailored blouse, glasses pouch, and mended garment

Clockwise from top left:  patchwork handbag; shirt tailored to size; glasses pouch with strap; shorts with decorative mending

Sewing is relaxing for me in troubled times. It keeps me balanced and meditative so I can focus on the present.

I’ve been bringing old fabric back to life by repurposing, making purses and doing repairs and alterations, sewing lightly used cloth into new shirts so they will fit me. If you’ve been sewing for a while you probably have your own collection of different fabrics lying around!

Using what we’ve already got goes along with the idea of “car[ing] for our common home,” to use the words of the Laudato si’ (Pope Francis’s encyclical from 2015).

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How to be 80 (part 1)

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Jo Myers-Walker
Watercolor painting by artist Jo Myers-Walker; at left, a cascade of blooms; at right, portrait of a man sitting at a table gesturing in conversation with one hand while holding a cell phone in the other

Bob (at right), as he is remembered:
with a phone in one hand and
talking to you with the other
(Click image to view larger)

I keep learning how to “be” each age that I reach. For one thing, I’m working with a dietitian now; you eat half of what you thought you were going to, and keep a record of it. It helps to be accountable to someone!

Another adjustment comes with having friends and neighbors pass away. It kind of hits you, the loss of all the ones that are gone. The way I found to survive was to start painting the person in their environment, where I was with them and the things we did. This has been very healing for me, doing something to remember who they were and what they meant to me.

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