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.