Meet our Member Artists

All of our art has been created by the members of our cooperative or our guest artists, and all of our artists are local to Southwest Florida. You will find a real artist member as your sales consultant every time you visit our gallery. Better yet, attend our regular art receptions to meet us in person.

Suzanne Bennett photo

Suzanne Bennett

A native of Cleveland Ohio, Suzanne Bennett graduated from Rollins College and from Parsons School of Design in New York City. Suzanne’s medium is pastel, she competes in numerous national pastel exhibitions. Suzanne is a member of the Pastel Society of Southwest Florida and enjoys continuously studying pastel techniques.

Tropical Blooms. Colored Pencil Painting by Anne Tuttle

Anne Tuttle

In addition to working in colored pencil and graphite, Anne Tuttle creates delicate Silverpoint drawings. She also enjoys creating cloud paintings using alkyd oils, with beautiful Florida skies as inspiration. Anne is a member of the Colored Pencil Society of America, and The American Society of Marine Artists.

Nikki Taylor

Nikki Taylor

Born and raised in Florida, Nikki Taylor is a pen and ink artist. She draws her inspiration from living on various islands across the Caribbean. Nikki is also a divemaster and has logged over 600 dives around the world

Tania Begg

Tania Begg

Tania Begg works in pen & ink, painting, stone sculpture, and jewelry. Tania’s art may be viewed at the Hirdie Girdie Art Gallery and BIG Arts Gallery in Sanibel, Florida, Arts for ACT and the DAAS Gallery in Ft. Myers, Florida, and Harbour View Gallery in Cape Coral.

A photo of Keith painting on the beach

Keith Johnson

Keith has been a working artist most of his life.  Originally a professional photographer, he now focuses on watercolors. Keith is a member of the Florida Watercolor Society, the Florida Suncoast Watercolor Society and various local painting groups.

a night time lightning storm with the photographer, Quinn Sedam

Quinn Sedam

Quinn is a local photographer and storm chaser who specializes in capturing quality fine art images of tropical storms and lightning. Quinn uses his extensive knowledge of meteorology and a self-taught style of low light photography, to produce stunning images of electrifying tropical storms.


Julie Griffin standing in front of one of her masterpieces. Julie is wearing a red sweater and has dark brown hair. The painting behind her is a repruction of an original painting of a woman with a gold frame.

Julie Griffin

Julie Griffin is a native of Fort Myers, and a graduate of FSU in Fine Art and Minors in Art Education, Marketing, and Art History. Julie paints with oils and specializes in the academic painting technique in landscapes and portraiture.

Sue Housler standing in front of the Hirdie Girdie Gallery holding one of her works of art

Sue Housler

Sanibel Island resident, Sue Housler is an Art Tile artist. Sue has a BFA from the State University of New York at Buffalo and studied Jewelry Design at SUNY Buffalo State.

a digital photo of Martha J Dodd

Martha J Dodd

Martha Dodd’s diverse work encompasses murals, portraits, faux finishing and landscapes. Her work has been commissioned in some of the finest homes of South Florida and featured in publications including Florida Design, Naples Illustrated, Gulf Shore Magazine, and N Magazine.  

Penny Ripley

Penny Ripley

Penny has been shaping glass to create her unique art for over 10 years.  Her path began as an interest to learn stained glass techniques and evolved to include glass fusion.  Her unique eye for combining colors and shapes has resulted in many beautiful works displayed in her home and in galleries around the area.

C. P. Christian

C. P. Christian

Sanibel resident Chris Christian has had a 35+-year career as an architect handling multi-national projects. Now retired, he is able to spend more time pursuing his interests in pottery, cycling, boating, volunteering with SCCF, and enjoying Sanibel community events.

Oliver Martin

Oliver Martin

Oliver Martin, a wood crafting artist, is captivated by the hidden beauty that exists within the whorls and shading of wood! He has studied
woodturning at both the John Campbell, Arrowmont Craft Schools, the Woodturners of Southwest Florida, and the American Association of Woodturners.

Denny Souers

Denny Souers

Denny Souers has been a nature photographer for 50 years. He studied at Ohio University and did many special research photography projects. Denny has been a “Featured Photography for Island Scene” magazine. Denny’s images have been published in many calendars, websites and in Ding Darling Refuge publications.

John Beall working on a wood piece

John Beall

I have been a woodcarver for over twenty years. I always enjoyed working with my hands in many different mediums. Over the years I have made many pieces of furniture. I took drawing classes, and did graphite and colored pencils drawings. While in high school, I took a wood working class and learned how to wood turn. I really enjoyed wood turning, and after retiring in 2011, I decided to learn more about this technique.

Jo Ann LaPadula

JoAnn LaPadula

JoAnn LaPadula is an award-winning artist who resides in Fort Myers, Florida where she moved from the Finger Lake Region of New York State. She is a member of Alliance for the Arts, Fort Myers Beach Art Association, Hirdie Girdie Gallery and the SanCap Art League. Her work has been featured on the cover of the SpotLight Magazine (and interview), Sand Life Magazine, in Gulfshore Life and in the Florida Watercolor Society online exhibit. Some of her works reside in collections as far away as Guantanamo and California.