Entitled "from there ... to here," the watercolor retrospective features the work of Oklahoma artist and
author Monte Toon. A member of the Kansas Watercolor Society, Toon graduated from Kansas State
Teachers College. He is an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa society. He taught art in the public
schools before serving as an art director/graphic designer for a Tulsa television station.
Inspired by the work of Andrew Wyeth and Charles Sanderson, Toon does not believe in just rendering
a subject of making a visual representation. Instead, he injects himself into every painting. "My focus is
on subjects I know," he stated. "I have seen what I am painting ... been there ... talked to the person.
The subject matter has meaning to me. I feel something for the subjects I paint," he added.
His work has been highlighted in solo shows throughout the Midwest and his art is on display in many
civic locations, art galleries and private collections. In addition to painting, Toon is also well-regarded as
an author. He won the Tulsa County Regional Library Writing Contest and is a contributor to The Tulsa
Tribune and publisher of his Navy Squadron newsletter. His first novel Asylum's Bridge, was
published in 2003 and a sequel is now in the works.