The Artists of the Renaissance

The Renaissance Gallery draws its membership from the West Virginia, Southern Ohio and Eastern Kentucky tri-state area.

Active Members include:



Fern's Abstracted work.

Fern Christian, Our director and fearless leader. Teacher and artists Mentor.

Ron Haeberle, Our watercolorist. While my techniques and methods have changed over time and while my subject matter has varied widely, it has been clear from the beginning that a key driving force in my work has been to develop a sense of place, the feeling of being there

Linda Helgasson, Barely there!

I want to paint you—the face, yes, but don’t deny me your jugular notch. Twist your neck until cords stand out. Lift your shoulder almost to your chin. What if your robe slips away—we are all gods and goddesses here.

Gary Lapelle:  Our Cartoonist,

He is a graduate of Art Instructgion Schools in cartooning and attended art classes at Marshall University. Gary's Web presence is at: About Gary Gary also takes commissions on pet portraits

Janet Lester: About Janet

Laura Moul: Photographer


Laura Moul is a well known Landscape photographer. She has been a frequent participant in our annual shows and a long time friend of the Renaissance Art Gallery. She is in her own right a well known and award winning artist. She also will have a permanent presence in the Gallery and will be a valuable resource on fine art photography and all the changes technology has brought to the field.

Pati Payne: Painter


Artist Pati Payne enjoys life and this enjoyment is reflected in her work. The work submitted to the 4th Annual National Spring Fine Art Exhibition, “Parks & Recreation” is typical for her. Children playing in autumn leaves, flying kites and riding a seesaw in the park. These three works were perfect for this show, yes, but also perfect examples of well developed themes and composition. Each shows her high level of skill and development as an artist. The Renaissance Art Gallery is proud to welcome Pati to its membership and to award her space to permanently display her award winning art.

Susan Tschantz is a very active artist and teacher.

She is all over the web, Susan maintains a blog at Starrpoint: An artists life, She also is a contributing writer for the art sites, About.com/Painting and about.com/drawing&sketching and hosts the art forums about painting and about drawing & sketching where you can talk about art with other artist, get help with your work and just generally be amount art friends.