WEST PLAINS, MO – Local artist Cindy Temple’s artwork will be featured on OzSBI’s first floor from the beginning of April through the end of June, 2025. The West Plains Council on the Arts (WPCA) and Ozarks Small Business Incubator (OzSBI) have partnered to bring quarterly art displays to the incubator. Visitors may view the display at the incubator during OzSBI’s business hours, anytime between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.
I have always felt the need to create. Throughout my life making time to create has come in waves of feast or famine, and I never made it a priority until this last season of my life. As a little girl, growing up in Kansas City, my favorite pastime was riding a city bus down to Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, where I would spend hours. I was intrigued by the beauty of the art and my imagination would run wild. I especially liked the portrait room. I would sit in the middle of the room and invent my own story about each face.
Like most artists, as a child my gifts of choice were crayons, pencils, paint, and paper. I would draw on anything and I enrolled in every art class offered in high school. I continued as a self-taught artist throughout periods of my adult life. I mostly learned from books. Eventually, I took drawing classes from Audrey Bottrell and painting classes from Regina Willard. As my passion and skill grew, I found artists I admired and through classes studied with professional artists Derek Penix, Michael McClure, Kevin Beilfus, Anne Blair Brown, Chantel Barber, Spencer Meagher, Farley Lewis, and Lee Copen.
Oil is my medium of choice and I’m inspired by things I love the most. My family, friends, people, and nature. I prefer to paint people or animals. Things with eyes or a mother, I like to say. In the last few years I’ve become more excited about collage and abstract art. I’ve also taken on painting large and small murals with my friend and artist Kathy Grigsby. You
can see our work at the West Plains Library, The Truck Patch, Missouri State Counseling Center, and in Jonesboro and Mtn Home Arkansas. My works have been exhibited in juried and non-juried shows in the area winning several awards. You can also find my paintings as book covers on a series of books written by Marsha Thauwald.
I’m actively seeking to do better and learn new skills. I enjoy painting, sharing ideas, and learning with other artists. Being a self-taught artist and learning as go, breaking rules didn’t seem to matter and has given me freedom to find my own style. Honestly, I believe all artists, educated or not, are all self-taught. We retain and choose what we want to learn.
Subsequently, we go with our gut and what moves and stirs our souls.
A Meet-the-Artist event will be held on Thursday, June 12, 2-4 p.m. in OzSBI’s lobby at 408 Washington Ave. in West Plains. The public is invited to attend to meet Cindy and view and discuss the pieces on display.
For more information about the exhibit, contact Madison Sutterfield madisonsutterfield@ozsbi.com
at OzSBI or WPCA Coordinator Audrey Scott audrey.scott@zizzers.org
