C.F. Payne is an artist-illustrator whose artwork has graced the covers of Time Magazine, Readers Digest, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times Book Review and Sunday Magazine, MAD Magazine, der Spiegel, U.S. News and World Report, The Atlantic Monthly, Texas Monthly, Boys Life and more. He has been commissioned to paint countless politicians, authors and entertainers. He has illustrated ten children’s picture books, including The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Micawber, written by John Lithgow.
His artwork has been exhibited at The Cincinnati Art Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, The Norman Rockwell Museum, The Society of Illustrators Museum of American Illustration, The Selby Gallery at Ringling College of Art and Design and numerous college and university galleries.

The winners of the 1st Annual Harmon Student Art Exhibition have been announced! We'd like to thank all the talented young artists that submitted their work to make the show a success. They made it a very difficult decision. The artists of the winning pieces were awarded scholarship money as well as a ribbon.
Some of these, and many more fine works done by these talented artists, are up for auction here. The students keep 100% of the earnings so why not help a young artist and get something beautiful for your home?

​"Nick Reynolds is a Lebanon-born artist and certified Bob Ross instructor. He started oil-painting his senior year of high school and three years later, received his certification to teach in the Bob Ross method. Beyond simply teaching students to paint, he hopes to convince those around him to see talent as nothing more than a set of simple skills, attained through practice." - taken from Nick's website.
Nick will be teaching art classes on March 16th.
View more of Nick's work in his gallery.

  Almost 20 years ago, Peggy Hamlin took a pottery class with her 14 year old daughter at the local YMCA. "From the moment I put my fingers into the clay…" she said, an echo of nostalgia in her tone, "I knew I didn't ever want to stop." When asked why she favored sculpting and hand building, she explained, in true mom fashion, "the classroom only had three wheels and I wanted to make sure my daughter got one." As to why she favors animals as the subject of her work? "I enjoy the challenge but more, I just love animals. I love everything about them." If she wasn't creating pottery, Peggy says that you'd probably find her working as a veterinarian or Vet Tech. "Anywhere with animals really."  
   Come meet the animal-loving artist herself when Peggy joins seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)
Connect with Peggy on her Facebook page and check out what she has for sale on her Etsy shop.

   "As a potter and ceramics teacher, I love being able to spread my love of handmade pottery to others.   The act of a potter expressing themselves and creatively giving a part of their personality while bringing the depth of their experiences in clay to life within a beautiful pot is why I make pottery.    I like to make pottery because of the human connection which is formed, when one person appreciates the gifts, talents, and expressions of another and brings a handmade piece into their lives and homes.  In a world where we are constantly bombarded with technology and the newest manufactured things, the idea of slowing down to appreciate the handmade and keeping the traditions of handmade alive reminds us of our shared history and humanity."
Meet the artist herself when Karan joins seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)
Shop some of Karan's work on her Etsy store page or let her teach you some basics of throwing on her YouTube Channel.

​Mike and his wife Karen are a husband and wife team who have been creating pottery together for over 40 years. Working in the space between utilitarian and fine art, their pottery that is not only beautiful but functional. They mix their own glazes and fire the pots in a fiber gas kiln of their own design. "We believe that people who have beautiful artwork in their homes also like to use beautiful handmade pots at their table."
Learn more about this creative couple at their website and check out this interview the Arts Council of Lebanon did with Mike. Come talk functional art when Mike and Karen join the seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)

    "Greg Neal is a self-taught potter, born and raised in Lebanon, Ohio. His interest began with making pottery in high school, and he continued on as a hobby potter for several years. Greg became a full time artist over 25 years ago, marketing his work primarily at juried art shows in the Midwest and southern states. Greg's wife Amy joined Neal Pottery in 2006 and assists Greg both in the studio and at art shows.   The focus of Greg’s work has been on functional stoneware, with an additional line of unique high fire art pieces. The ability to create both styles of pottery fulfills his desire for exploring various techniques in throwing, glazing and firing. All pieces are wheel thrown or hand constructed, with custom glazes mixed in our studio. The designs of Neal Pottery are original and remain loyal to the idea that pottery should be purposeful as well as objects to be admired."
-taken from Greg's website.
Come meet the artist himself when Greg joins seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)
See what Greg has for sale in his Etsy shop.

An exerpt taken from the "about me" page of his website.
"...High school art class was my first formal introduction to clay work. We were handbuilding, pinchpots and slabs.  I was falling in love with it. In the industrial arts room next door there was a kickwheel underneath a sheet of plywood which was being used as a table.  I asked about it and the art teacher said he didn’t know anything about how to use it.  So he asked around.  He convinced the shop teacher to uncover it and he found (out) the spouse of (another) teacher had taken ceramics in college.  She agreed to meet with me on a Saturday morning and introduce me to the wheel.  It was an incredible moment.  There is much I do not remember from those days, but that morning, I remember every detail."
Learn more about Fred on his website and meet the artist when he joins seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)

​      "Continuing the traditions of American potters dating to 1630, Greg Shooner and Mary Spellmire-Shooner re-create authentic redware pottery at their Oregonia, Ohio studio.  Greg and Mary use their years of pottery experience to make a ware that is unrivaled in its interpretation of rare antiques.  They work alone, with a passionate commitment to quality and artistic control.  A lifelong interest in art led them separately to pottery , then together to the study of redware.
          Redware is an earthenware pottery utilizing a red to pinkish burning clay body and was among the very first commercial products to be manufactured and used by European settlers to North America.  Its fragile nature and its lead glaze rendered it obsolete as soon as an economically feasible alternative (salt-glazed stoneware, tin or glass) was available.
          There has been a resurgence of appreciation for the warmth and beauty of this forgotten folk art in the past forty years and the Shooners enjoy a unique space in this renaissance.  Sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm, they have lectured and demonstrated often, including the "American Ceramics Conference" at the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware, the “Dishcamp” conference at Eastfield Village in East Nassau, New York as well as William and Mary College and  New York University. The Shooners also share the unique beauty of their work, their pieces are represented in museum collections as far away as Stoke-on Trent in England to the permanent  collection of the White House in Washington D.C. and Camp David.
          This ware is truly a labor of love, and is recognized as the finest in its field,  coveted by period enthusiasts from coast to coast."
Come meet the artist himself when Greg joins seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)

Ohio is known around the world for its pottery made from the rich clay deposits found throughout the State.  More than 2000 years ago the prehistoric Hopewell peoples who lived in Ohio used the clay of Ohio’s earth and fashioned a variety of utilitarian vessels.  Fast forward into the late 19th and early 20thcentury and Ohio became nationally known for art potteries such as Rookwood Pottery, Roseville Pottery and Russel Wright.   
But the story doesn’t end there.  Unlike many early forms of art and handcraft that are today seen only in museum programs or historic re-enactments, the work of the potter continues to flourish in Ohio.  The potters represented in the gallery show use wood, electricity and/or gas to fire their kilns to as high as 2300 degrees Fahrenheit.  The effect that these fuels have, in this violent atmosphere of the kiln, can create on the surface of the ware, results that are often unpredictable, sometimes subtle, but always uniquely beautiful.
Be sure to catch the Earth & Fire Exebition running January 18th to Feburary 22nd!

Dr. Kelly Joslin is a tenured Professor and Chair of the Art Department at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. Kelly began teaching Art History and Art Appreciation courses at Sinclair in 1998. She became Chair of the Art Department in 2005.
Kelly holds an Associate of Arts degree (A.A.) in Liberal Arts with an Art History emphasis from Sinclair Community College; a Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) in Humanities - World Classics from Antioch University-McGregor, a Master of Humanities Degree (M.Hum.) in Art History & Philosophy from Wright State University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership - Higher Education Administration from the University of Dayton.

Kelly is an award-winning photographic artist who actively exhibits her artwork in regional, national, and international juried exhibitions. Her work focuses on experiments with Non-Silver/Alternative photographic processes - Cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown, Gum Print, and Palladium. These experiments have allowed her to create photographs that appear more expressive and painterly. In addition to traditional silver-based photography, she also works experimentally with digital photographic images.


Harmon Museum is proud to present Divine Introspection, the photography of Kelly Joslin.
Opening reception: Nov 2nd 6:30-8:30
Exibition Dates: Nov. 2nd - Dec. 15th


Artist’s StatementNature, and my relationship to it, has long served as a guiding force in my work. From tiny details to sweeping vistas, I continue to be enthralled by its mysteries and I seek to reveal its expressive qualities in my photographs. My photographic prints openly explore self-portraiture as a means of documenting the temporal aspects of physicality. This interest began after my rediscovery of 35mm negatives featuring self-portraits I created when I was 21 years old. As I examined the various images of my younger self, I became increasingly intrigued by the idea of juxtaposing those images with portraits of myself as I appeared 20 years later at age 41. Since that time, this exploration has continued to evolve. The resultant imagery serves as a seamless conduit between complex abstract compositions and straightforward images that provide an unaltered portrait at a given moment in time.

The Warren County Historical Society is delighted to open The Magical World of Charley Harper, an art exhibition held at Harmon Museum. A free opening reception will be held on September 7th from 6:30-8:30pm and the exhibition will remain up until the 20th of October, viewable during the museum's normal business hours.

Charles Burton Harper was born in 1922 on a farm in central West Virginia. From an early age, he preferred sketching nature to doing his chores. Seeking a broad art education, Charley came to the Art Academy of Cincinnati for the fall term of 1940. There, on the first day of class, he met Edie McKee, graduate of Cincinnati's Wyoming High School. But Charley was drafted in 1942 to fight in World War II against Germany. A recon scout for the Army, he illustrated what he saw. At the war's end, he returned to America and spent a year at the Art Students League in New York. He then finished his degree at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and married Edie. It was then that the newlyweds embarked on a six-month honeymoon, painting their way across the United States and back.
Although Charley debated whether to be a realist or an abstract artist, he wished to discover his own creative voice. That process was completed by 1955 when he printed a series of birds that had appeared in Ford Times magazine.
The evolution of Charley's style can be seen in his images of the Northern Cardinal selected for this exhibit. Charley returned to the Cardinal many times in his career because its body allowed him to demonstrate his self-dubbed "minimal realism." As Charley liked to say, he stripped away all extraneous details, and "counted the wings, not the feathers." In subsequent Cardinal images, Charley portrayed the popular backyard bird from different perspectives. In later years, he incorporated the Cardinal within entire ecosystems in his most complex designs.
After 50 years working in his studio in a forest in the Cincinnati suburb of Finneytown, Charley had produced thousands of images. He had also written and illustrated books, illustrated children's books for Golden Press, created public tile murals, seen his art adapted by world renowned designers for clothing, stationery and dishware, and enjoyed an international reputation for his unique approach to the world.  It was Charley Harper's magical world. Since his passing in 2007, that world has continued to bring smiles to ever more faces.

All Wesleyan and Methodist Christians are connected to the lives and ministries of John Wesley (1703-1791) and his brother, Charles (1707-1788). Both John and Charles were Church of England priests who volunteered as missionaries to the colony of Georgia, arriving in March, 1736. Their mission was far from an unqualified success, and both returned to England disillusioned and discouraged, Charles in December, 1736, and John in February, 1738.
The Wesley brothers had transforming religious experiences in May, 1738, under the influence of Moravian missionaries. John’s experience on May 24 of that year at a Moravian meeting on Aldersgate Street, London, has a prominent place in the Church’s memory. Shortly thereafter, both brothers began preaching a message of new birth and sanctification in Anglican religious societies and outdoors to whomever would listen. They also established missional and philanthropic enterprises to promote social change.
The goal of this movement was to “reform the nation, particularly the church; and to spread scriptural holiness over the land.” Over time a pattern of organization and discipline emerged. It included a set of General Rules, societies made up of class meetings (small groups in which members of Methodist societies watched over one another), and band meetings (smaller confessional groups divided by gender), all connected by traveling lay preachers.
Beginnings in America, 1760-1816
Methodism in America began without authorization or support from England, as lay Methodists immigrated to America. Among its earliest leaders were Robert Strawbridge, an immigrant farmer who organized work in Maryland and Virginia around 1760; Philip Embury and his cousin Barbara Heck, who began work in New York in 1766; and Captain Thomas Webb, whose labors were instrumental in Methodist beginnings in Philadelphia in 1767. The first Methodist societies included active participation by people of European and African descent.
To strengthen the Methodist work in the colonies, John Wesley sent two lay preachers, Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmore, to America in 1769. Two years later, Richard Wright and Francis Asbury were dispatched to undergird the growing American Methodist societies. Asbury became the most important figure in early American Methodism. His energetic devotion to the principles of Wesleyan theology, ministry, and organization shaped Methodism in America in ways unmatched by any other individual.
The first conference of Methodist preachers in the colonies was held in Philadelphia in 1773. The ten who attended pledged allegiance to Wesley’s leadership and agreed that, as laypeople, they would not administer the sacraments. Methodists would receive the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper at a local Anglican parish church. They emphasized strong discipline among the societies and preachers. A system of regular conferences was inaugurated, similar to those Wesley had instituted in England to conduct the business of the Methodist movement.
The American Revolution profoundly impacted Methodism. John Wesley’s loyalty to the king and his writings against the revolutionary cause did not enhance the image of Methodism among many who supported independence. Furthermore, a number of Methodist preachers refused to bear arms to aid the patriots.
When independence from England was won, Wesley recognized that changes were necessary for American Methodism to thrive. He sent Thomas Coke to America to superintend the work with Asbury. Coke brought with him a prayer book entitled The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America, prepared by Wesley and incorporating his revision of the Church of England’s Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey, whom Wesley had ordained, accompanied Coke. Wesley’s ordinations set a precedent that ultimately permitted Methodists in America to become an independent church.
In December 1784, the famous Christmas Conference of preachers was held in Baltimore at Lovely Lane Chapel. Most of the American preachers attended, probably including African Americans, Harry Hosier and Richard Allen. At this gathering the movement became organized as The Methodist Episcopal Church in America. In the following years The Methodist Episcopal Church published its first Discipline (1785), adopted a quadrennial General Conference, the first of which was held in 1792, and drafted a Constitution (1808). It also established a publishing house and became a proponent of revivalism and the camp meeting.
Two other churches were forming in America, which, in their earliest years were composed almost entirely of German-speaking people. The first was founded by Philip William Otterbein (1726-1813) and Martin Boehm (1725-1812). Otterbein, a German Reformed pastor, and Boehm, a Mennonite, preached an evangelical message similar to the Methodists. In 1800, their followers formally organized the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, which included a similar organization of traveling preachers. Otterbein attended the Christmas Conference and participated in Asbury’s ordination.
A second church, The Evangelical Association, was begun by Jacob Albright (1759-1808). Albright, a Lutheran farmer and tile-maker in eastern Pennsylvania, was converted by the United Brethren and nurtured in a Methodist class meeting. He later established his own connection of preachers, better to reach fellow German-speakers. The Evangelical Association was officially organized in 1803.
Early attempts at merging these churches failed. By the time of Asbury’s death in March 1816, Otterbein, Boehm, and Albright had also died. The churches they nurtured had survived and were beginning to expand numerically and geographically. The German churches united in 1946 as The Evangelical United Brethren Church, which in turn joined with The Methodist Church in 1968 to form The United Methodist Church.