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Contact: jsmmetro@hbci.com

Jeff Morgan has been an artist-teacher for 35 years. He grew up in central Iowa and worked on farms, attended school, then college and graduate school- studying art and the humanities. The beauty of the Driftless was something introduced to Jeff at a young age while visiting his grandparents and uncle's farms in Tomah, Wisconsin. In his formative years, he was inspired by both high school art teacher (Maurice Gaulke), Luther College professors and University of Iowa graduate school faculty. He credits his many great teachers as having lit the fire that never goes out – a love of Art, learning, nature and a striving for that beyond.

Jeff works mainly in oil and watercolor / gouache paint on prepared paper, canvas and wood panels – or with repurposed wood. While in graduate school (U. of Iowa), he worked in video and performance art, made installations, ceramics and sculpture and gradually started making art objects and from found objects and wood. The natural wood grain, varied hardness and stubborn directness of the medium were all things that attracted and challenged him. In recent years, he has grown fond of and collected antique chip-carved “tramp art” frames and objects. These hearken back to the era of his great-grandparents and before, with their dark stains, markings of age and carving / manufacture like the heavy wooden furniture that has been passed down to him from his grandparents. These pieces of furniture were themselves early teachers in developing his aesthetic and love of the hand-made.

No matter the medium, Jeff continues to explore the tactile and directness of the handmade art object and it's connection to all of what makes us human and explorers of our unlimited potential. Jeff has tried to pass this love of making onto thousands of others through his teaching and sharing of that which is honestly and lovingly made.