Veronica "Ronnie" Deevers

Veronica "Ronnie" Deevers was born in the Quad Cities but has traveled quite a bit while showing Chow Chows in the early 1980's. She moved to Charlotte, Iowa during her marriage and now resides in Camanche.

"Even after the divorce, I decided to stay in this area because I've met so many wonderful, down to earth people" say Ronnie, claiming they are the reason she was so motivated to pursue her art talents and try her hand at competing.

"My very first competition was with Pheasants Forever and I was thrilled to take fourth place. It was my first time out and I had no clue what to expect." Since then she has also taken the 2005 Artist of the Year for Ducks Unlimited.

"Competing is rough" states the artist. "There are a lot of fantastic artists out there. While I enjoy competition, I like commissions even more. It is wonderful to see the look on your customer's face when they pick up their painting and it's exactly what they hoped for."

Ronnie is also quite skilled at photography and was a semi-finalist in a photography contest and her photo "Gentle Reflections" is featured in the coffee table book Endless Journeys.

Ronnie has also done many murals for local businesses. "I never thought I'd get off into murals but actually that's where I got my start when the owners of BS General Store of Folletts, Ia. asked me to do some murals for them in their place of business." Since then she has done several for a local retail store, a local pre-school, several homes plus a large portable mural for Our Place Restaurant in McCausland, Iowa. "Portable murals are great" say Ronnie "especially if you might move or need to rearrange something at some point. I just do the painting on a 5'X7' sheet of masconite and it can easily be taken down and moved if necessary. But others like their paintings right on the wall. That's part of what's so much fun about artwork....you never know what someone will want you to paint or how they will want it depicted."

Ronnie has two daughters and three grandsons.