The following artists listed were chosen as the "Artist of the Month" for their respective months by the Newnan-Coweta Art Association. Their works were presented in the lobby of City Hall.

Artist of the Month, December 2025

Susan Peryam

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected Susan Peryam as the featured "Artist of the Month” for December 2025. Susan's art will be featured in the entry way of Newnan City Hall until December 31st.

Born and raised in rural farmland outside of Buffalo, New York, Susan began her art studies during high school and supplemented school work with oil painting lessons on Saturday mornings. Some fifty years later after a corporate career, she is fulfilling a lifelong yearning to spend time drawing and painting. Inspired by her current instructor, Kay Stanley (Sharpsburg Rec Center) and other students in her class, Susan is evolving her drawing skills, watercolor techniques, and use of other mediums. Her creativity is reflected in drawings and paintings.

The exhibit at Newnan City Hall is a collection inspired by summers spent in southern Wyoming. It includes paintings of majestic mountains, fall aspen trees, and drawings of wild horses in the Red Desert.

Fox Squirrel Studio, Susan’s home studio is located south of Atlanta in rural Georgia. The studio was named for the magnificent fox squirrels that can be seen from the studio windows. One glimpse will give insight to a wonderfully creative maker. The natural surroundings around the studio give inspiration to all who visit.

Susan is a member of NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 6:30 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, November 2025

Ulla Strickland

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected Ulla Strickland as its featured "Artist of the Month" for November. Ms. Strickland's art will be featured in the entry way to Newnan City Hall (25 LaGrange Street) until November 28th.

Ulla Strickland was born in Germany and has lived in Coweta County for 27 years. Riding and painting from an early age, she has managed to combine her two greatest passions, horses and art. Ulla’s preferred medium has always been graphite, and she has won numerous prizes in various juried shows, but she also works with watercolors and mixed media, exhibiting the same almost three-dimensional quality as her pencil work. Besides painting and drawing commissioned work, Ulla organizes art shows at regional horse shows and Ulla Strickland Studios has become a household name among horse lovers – and art lovers – nationwide.

Ulla Strickland is a member of NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 6:30 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, October 2025

Sophie Holliday

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected Sophie Holliday as its featured "Artist of the Month" for October. Ms. Holliday’s art will be featured in the entry way to Newnan City Hall through the month.

Ms. Holliday is a self-taught artist with a passion for animal portraiture. Her work has been displayed in galleries in the United States and in England. A percentage of sales from her big cat paintings goes towards conservation charities. Her goal is to raise awareness of animal conservation and critically endangered species through her art.

Sophie Holliday is a member of NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held on the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 6:30 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, September 2025

Pat Heimes-Taylor

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected Pat Heimes-Taylor as its featured "Artist of the Month" for September. Ms. Heimes-Taylor's art will be featured in the entry way to Newnan City Hall until October 1st.

Ms. Heimes-Taylor has resided in the Peachtree City and Newnan area for three decades. While her primary art medium has traditionally been watercolor, she has recently expanded her repertoire to include epoxy resin.

Pat Heimes-Taylor is a member of NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held on the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 6:30 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, August 2025

Karen Stetson DeFelix

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) chose Karen Stetson DeFelix as the featured "Artist of the Month" for August. Ms. DeFelix’s art will be featured in the entryway to Newnan City Hall for the month of August. The theme of this display is “Fall- My Favorite Season.” She loves painting older barns because they have character. For this display, she has included one of her favorite local barns, in watercolor and in pen-and-ink.

Ms. DeFelix started out creating in stained glass over 30 years ago. After seeing a Tiffany exhibit in Florida she developed a longing to learn how to manipulate the glass so that she was not solely dependent on what she could purchase from manufactures. She took many fused glass classes and is still excited when she sees glass “melt”. It was in one of these classes that she asked the demonstrator how he came up with his creative ideas. He told her about Betty Edwards’ book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”. The book changed her life. She went from drawing “bad stick figures” to drawing her own self portrait. From there it was only a small leap to watercolor pencils and then watercolor painting. Although glass and watercolor are her favorite mediums she also works in acrylic, alcohol ink, soft pastel, and mixed mediums. One of her new joys is playing with acrylic pours and beyond the pours.

Karen moved from Florida to Georgia 14 years ago and enjoys Georgia’s 4 seasons. She especially appreciates the blooming trees in the spring and aptly named her painting of her cherry tree in bloom - “Spring: Why I Love Georgia.”

Karen is a former member of the Florida Watercolor Association and the Clayton County Art Association – Arts Clayton - and is a member of the Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA). Many of her paintings and four of her glass sculptures juried into the NCAA juried show at the Center for Performing and Visual Arts. One glass sculpture was in the “Top Ten”. Her paintings have also been in shows in Clearwater and Sarasota, Florida and are in private collections up and down the east coast. She gives group classes in multiple crafts and fine arts at the Gathering in Peachtree City and at an active retirement community.

Ms. DeFelix enjoys painting a wide variety of subjects. “I like to paint flowers because they bring joy. I had a gentleman once who bought my painting of a double Bird of Paradise (“Hawaiian Eye”) because it had been his mother’s favorite flower. I like to paint old buildings especially barns because they have a history and there is a beauty in them. I also like painting animals. And sometimes I just paint something that catches my eye - like a spider in a web or a beautiful bowl of vegetables.”

Ms. DeFelix is a member of NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 7 p.m. Along with the meeting there is an art demonstration. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, July 2025

Bill Albrecht

The Newnan-Coweta Art association (NCAA) has selected Bill Albrecht as its featured “Artist of the Month” for July. Mr. Albrecht’s art will be featured in the entryway to Newnan City Hall until July 31, 2025.

When Mr. Albrecht was in high school, he took art as a minor course. He attended the Ray Vogue Art School in downtown Chicago for figure studies. He authored and self-published five (5) Mini-Books including a “Very Beginners” computer booklet. These Mini-Books are accessible in Coweta County and Peachtree City Libraries. Currently Mr. Albrecht has had his love of art reborn. He has the pleasure of producing acrylic and watercolor art at Backstreet Art on 1st Avenue in Newnan.

Bill Albrecht is a member of NCAA. NCAA’s general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (From August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 6:30 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, June 2025

Wendy Applegate

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected Wendy Applegate as its featured Artist of the Month for June. Ms. Applegate’s art will be featured in the entryway to Newnan City Hall until June 30th.

Wendy is a local artist from Senoia GA. She creates beaded jewelry and oil paintings. Her inspiration dates back to Wendy's childhood in New York where she often attended Broadway shows, classical concerts and art museums. As an adult her travels took Wendy to magnificent works of art in Europe, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia and the Southwest US. She chose to become a teacher but always used art in her classroom to enhance learning. In the 1990's Wendy painted at the Art House in Newnan GA, under Tom Powers, of Powers Crossroads. She took a break until her retirement and now studies oil painting with Jenny Jones, owner of Corner Arts Gallery, in Newnan. 

About three years ago Wendy learned about Right Angle Beading from a librarian in Senoia, who taught the basics of this ancient craft. She fell in love with this art and has been creating beautiful jewelry since that time. Each piece can take up to four hours to make depending upon the complexity of the pattern. Her bracelets fit perfectly because they are measured to the size of the wrist. Men, women and children enjoy wearing these unique and beautiful works of art! Treat yourself to one of Wendy's awesome paintings/prints or a piece of her lovely jewelry today.

Ms. Applegate is a member of NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 6:30 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, May 2025

Suzanne Keleese-Stamps

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected Suzanne Keleese-Stamps as its featured" Artist of the Month for May. Ms. Kleese-Stamps' art will be featured in the entryway to Newnan City Hall until May 30th.

Ms. Kleese-Stamps is a studio potter and NCAA member. She studied Studio Art and Art History and received her BA in Fine Arts from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA. In 2016, she established her home studio to create functional production pottery and custom designs for local businesses. She opened her wholesale pottery production business, Indigo Pottery Studio, in 2021. Her work is currently represented in galleries and shops located in Georgia, New York, Alaska, North Carolina, Vermont, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Connecticut, California, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Her current endeavors include working on the board of the Carrollton Artist Guild towards organizing art events in the city, as well as being an active artist member of the Blue Door Gallery co-op in the city of Carrollton.

Her work has been shown in local and regional art shows. She has received awards in juried shows in Newnan, Blue Ridge, and Carrollton for her pottery and been in a group exhibit in Gadsden, AL and Greenville, GA. Most recently she was the featured artist at the Macon Art Alliance annual "Fired Works" pottery show. She continues improving her craft through courses and workshops at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta and the Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico. In 2024 she joined a group of potters in the John C. Campbell anagama wood firing in Brasstown, NC and subsequently joined the Roswell Clay Collective atmospheric firing class. Both were great experiences!

Curriculum Vitae:

• OCAF Perspectives Pottery Invitational in Watkinsville, GA
• Fired Works show in Macon, GA.
• Fire & Ice show in Macon, GA
• Artisans on the Square Celebrating Clay, Greensboro, GA
• SIP A Ceramic Cup Show in Savannah, GA
• 3D Off-The-Wall exhibit in Blue Ridge, GA
• Makers Collective Exhibit in Blue Ridge, GA
• Dirty South Cup Competition in River Oaks, LA

Learn more about Suzanne's work at www.indigopotterystudio.com or on Instagram @IndigoPotteryStudio.

Ms. Kleese-Stamps is a member of NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 6:30 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, March 2025

Pammy Vaughn

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected Pammy Vaughn as the featured "Artist of the Month" for March. Mrs. Vaughn's art will be featured in the entry way of Newnan’s City Hall (25 LaGrange Street) until the beginning of April. 

Mrs. Vaughn was born in Stuttgart, Germany to a military family and later moved to her hometown in Augusta, Georgia, where she attended high school and discovered her love of art. Fifteen years ago, she moved to Newnan, where she happily resides with her husband.

As a child, Mrs. Vaughn loved art in all forms and was President of the Art Club in her junior and senior years, and was voted most artistic-senior superlative. She was presented with several scholarships to highly accredited art institutes. Life, however, took a different turn, and she abandoned her dream.

Her artistic journey is finally coming full circle and she now proudly calls herself an artist.

In high school she had a love for drawing with colored pencils, but has discovered an affinity for abstract painting with acrylics. She loves bold colors, heavy bodied textures, and metallic foils. Mrs. Vaughn is on a never ending journey to find her niche and paint her world in living color.

Pammy Vaughn is a member of the NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held on the 3rd Monday of each month (August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center, on Hospital Road, at 6:30 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, February 2025

Eve Graybeal Olsen

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected Eve Graybeal Olsen as its featured "Artist of the Month" for February. Eve’s art will be featured in the entryway of Newnan City Hall until March.

Eve Graybeal Olsen is a Georgia native, growing up in Newnan, since the age of 5. As a young artist, Eve studied under Newnan’s very own Bette Hickman in the “Art House” where she gained a confidence for her talents and a relationship with tools and techniques that would continue to blossom throughout her art studies and career. She has a BFA in Art from the University of West Georgia, concentrating in ceramics and metalwork. Eve has had various professions in framing and printing fine art and is active in volunteering in the community, donating murals to several local public schools and businesses in the Coweta County area. Eve and her husband Adam have 5 children.

Eve Graybeal Olsen is a member of NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 6:30 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Artist of the Month, January 2025

Beth Ann St. George

The Newnan-Coweta Art Association (NCAA) has selected Beth Ann St George as its featured "Artist of the Month" for January. Ms. St George's art will be featured in the entry way to Newnan City Hall until January 31, 2025.

Ms. St George has always been interested in textiles as a creative medium. She completed her undergraduate degree in Home Economics at California State University and earned a Master of Science in Textile Sciences from UC Davis. While at Davis, she spent summers studying patternmaking with Helen Brockman in Manhattan, Kansas.

When life’s challenges began to overwhelm, she turned to quilting to center, calm, and process difficult circumstances and emotions. Because of this origin, her work has always been Art as Meditation, a free-flowing process without a pre-design. This is contrary to most forms of quilting and led her eventually to teach Art as Meditation to quilters.

Ms. St George has created and hand-quilted over 400 quilts, many of them sold or gifted. Her work has been in numerous juried and non-juried exhibits, including the International Quilt Festival, where she had the additional honor of lecturing.

Ms. St George has completed two other epic projects as an adjunct to her quilting. To showcase some of her more personally meaningful quilts, she created “Quilted Wisdom Meditation Cards,” a 52-card deck that features her quilts as points of reflective inspiration.

She has also amassed a rather large and comprehensive collection of African textiles called Korhogo. Korhogo are mud-painted textiles created by artists in the Ivory Coast of Africa. She was moved and inspired by the indigenous motifs and began collecting as many as she could find. Her collection of Korhogo includes over 35 unique textiles that she backs with muslin, borders, and quilts to enhance and conserve the textiles.

The Southeast Quilt and Textile Museum in Carrollton will be sponsoring a large exhibition of these Korhogo from April 15 to July 10, 2025.

All of Ms. St George's work may be viewed and purchased from her website: http://www.dancingspiritquilts.com/.

Ms. St George is a member of NCAA. NCAA's general meetings are held the third Monday of each month (from August through May) at the Harriet Alexander Art Center on Hospital Road at 6:30 p.m. An art demonstration is presented each month. Visitors and new members are always welcome."