NOW SHOWING IN ALL 3 GALLERIES

  'Three Friends' captures the whimsical, quirky, imaginative, and fantastical work of local artists Gae Sharp Richardson, Dori Patrick, and Melissa Marie Collins. 

Growing up on a farm with nine brothers and sisters, Gae was always: The Different One.

When her family was gathered around the television watching cartoons on Saturday morning, Gae would be in her room - making miniature outfits for her dolls and constructing shoe box dioramas out of toothpicks, buttons, beads, paper and string. In the 60’s, Gae participated in her local 4-H club and learned to knit and work with dress patterns - some of her creative efforts were worthy of Blue Ribbons at the Grundy County Fair.

She finished the required High School home economics classes and attended two years of college at the University of Northern Iowa - studying boys and playing Yahtzee. When all her siblings graduated with degrees and worked at their 9 - 5 jobs, Gae created The Original Bean

Bag Bear and started a successful teddy bear business called: Once Upon a Time… Sewing remains something Gae will always be interested in.

Gae is a self taught mixed media artist with an emphasis on found object assemblages. Eventually, those odd bits of metal and discarded hardware (and even cement) have made their way into her art garment designs.

Gae has been participating in the Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity Style show for the past ten years - designing one of a kind wearable art from second-hand home improvement materials found at the Cedar Rapids ReStore. Five of Gae’s TRASHION FASHION garments are on display at CSPS gallery including the Artist Category award winning 2023 Gala collaboration with sisters - Pam Hyberger and Alison Frerking - featuring Prince Charles and Gae’s Princess Diana: THE ROYAL WEDDING.

Currently Gae enjoys stitching visibly mended wearable art garments with a focus on heavily embellished denim jackets with colorful reverse appliqué hand-stitched and beaded designs and decorating her denim jeans (and her husbands) with colorful patches, tiny hand-stitched

inspirational quotes and wonky embroidery stitches

 Dori Patrick feels very fortunate to live a creative life in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where she resides with her husband and rescue Labradors. While raising two children, she owned a storefront for 12 years in uptown Marion called The Dreaming Bear. It was an art studio space where she hosted creative workshops and parties, as well as community outreach programs. She eventually closed the door on those special memories to venture out on her own artistic journey. Dori is currently a full-time mixed media artist who works in her home studio. She enjoys the freedom to explore many ideas in both abstract and figurative work using a large variety of materials. Coming from a long line of women who are makers, you might say it’s in her blood. With a passion for color and texture, her work is often described as exuberant, childlike and joyful. But those who look a little deeper will see an intuitive, unguarded approach, along with a desire to put some good back into this world.  

From a young age Melissa knew she wanted to be an artist. During an oil painting class at Luther College, the creative connections between her hand, heart, and artistic expression was established. From that point on, it was not enough for Melissa to just paint something, it became important to have a deeper experience felt within her art. As time went on, she

enjoyed exploring different artistic mediums, experimenting to see if her emotional language would come through and she delightfully discovered it could. Between the years of 2018-2021, Melissa experienced devastating tragedy, including the loss of both parents and grandparents. This experience impacted her artistic expression, leaving her changed within. As she sought healing of her inner world, she began to lean on sewing as a way of feeling stitched back together. This fiber art collection represents being reformed from within. She uses abstract landscapes as a parallel to her emotional journey of healing. The color palette is different than much of her earlier work. However, it contains the peace that she has found through the acceptance of her human experience.