Meet the artists

Nature inspires art, and these artists inspire me!

Jen Kehrer, one of the garden’s founders, now lives in North Carolina, but her art lives on in our garden! Jen created our hose holders and garden sign along route 60 from salvaged materials. She also held painting classes in the garden before she moved.

Linda Doyle of Mundelein creates nature-based mixed media art. I asked her for inspiration for the image inside the cob house and help in working an art form neither of us had experienced before using lime, plaster of Paris and a fresco painting technique. She dove in with a courageous heart and willing spirit, and I absolutely love what we created!

Lisa Nomikos of Crystal Lake created the chalk pastel illustrations on our biodiversity and rain garden signs. She calls her art Energy Art, which is what drew me to ask her to create illustrations for us. Her creations radiate with the energy you can’t necessarily see in a prairie, but if you quiet your mind, you’ll feel it. Studies have shown repeatedly that we humans benefit health-wise by being in nature, and I think that energy has something to do with it. Plants sharing their love, their oxygen and their beauty with us. Check out Lisa’s intuitive soul drawings–they are transformational!

Rick Miller of Mundelein is a nature and aviation photographer who has captured some beautiful pictures in the garden that I have used in the gallery and on our website. His love of bird photography has inspired him to create his own backyard bird paradise to use for a photo shoot.