Artist, educator team up to teach about insects

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By David Burke | Saturday, May 31, 2008 12:16 PM CDT | () comments

Painter Jessa Huebing-Reitinger poses with a super-sized insect on display at the Muscatine Arts Center. (Photo by Jeff Cook/QUAD-CITY TIMES) Buy this Photo

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Jessa Huebing-Reitinger and husband James Huebing-Reitinger are in the midd…
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MUSCATINE, Iowa — Jessa Huebing-Reitinger’s eyes focus on a microscope, taking in detailed information.

With paintbrush in hand, she adds a speck of yellow to the green wings of a Luna moth that she has nicknamed Wilbur.

Back to the microscope.

Back to the canvas.

Microscope. Canvas. Microscope. Canvas.

She is in the middle of a 10-week session at the Muscatine Art Center that will be completed July 5 as the moth, with an actual wingspan of 4 1/2 to 5 inches, becomes the subject of a painting 108 inches wide and 72 inches tall.

It certainly isn’t the right kind of work for someone who’s not detail-oriented.

“Every single insect is new and I have to teach myself something new every time,” she said. “That’s what’s fascinating about detail.”

She is half of Project Insect, which is in Muscatine through July 5. She painstakingly brings insects to life with oil paintings on canvas while her husband, James Huebing-Reitinger, gives educational presentations about insects and the environment to groups of children and adults at both the art center and throughout the community.

Not only is Jessa painting as part of the project, but she’s also teaching and talking with children as well as visitors who come to watch her at the art center, where she’s painting in public 30-plus hours a week.

It took a trip back to her Tucson, Ariz., studio before Jessa realized she didn’t like the stereotypical solitary life of an artist.

“I was just dying for someone to come knocking on the door to come and visit,” she said. “Whenever I have people come, they are my instant fan club and I have cheerleaders. That energy goes right onto the canvas.”

Evolution of an idea

Jessa was already a financially successful painter with commissions from the likes of General Electric and Deere & Co. (Her work commissioned by Deere was an ethereal painting of tractor parts floating in air.)

“I didn’t want to paint large, corporate paintings anymore. I wanted to find a place for my paints and my ambitions and my desires,” she said.

Her husband had been, no pun intended, bugging her about the idea of painting large pictures of insects.

“He thinks they’re the biggest, greatest wildlife on the planet,” she recalled, rolling her eyes.

Six years ago, though, she had what she called a “lightning bolt vision.”

“I saw the paintings,” she said. “When I saw the vision, it changed everything. It was like winning the Powerball, literally.”

She would paint, he would educate. “It was kind of like an epiphany of sorts,” Jessa said. “The universe is lining up together to give us this grand idea.”

They would travel the country, painting for different audiences. (Only in the past two years have they been sustained by the “generosity of other people and miracles of the world,” James said.)

The two — he’s 38 and she turns 38 today — have been married for four years, having met in Kansas City, Mo., seven years ago. They were both born in Wisconsin, less than a half-hour’s drive from the other’s hometown.

“It takes a combination of both of us to do this,” he said, “and the most important part is that only one person can be crazy at a time.”

Popular in Muscatine

Each of the huge, completed paintings on the upper and lower levels of the Muscatine Art Center represents residencies in other cities: a butterfly, a praying mantis, a grasshopper and a menagerie of others.

Muscatine is by far the smallest community where they’ve worked. James said he enjoys getting back to life where just about everyplace in town is a short drive away. Jessa said she’s impressed with the numerous organizations in the community working together to make their stay possible.

While they live together in a recreational vehicle most of the rest of the time, they are staying in a Muscatine apartment during their residency.

The visit by the couple has sent attendance at the art center skyrocketing, said Pam Collins, director of the Musser Public Library, which is hosting Project Insect events throughout the summer.

“The response has been amazing, over and over,” she said. “Everywhere we go, people are talking about it.”

Spreading the word

A veteran of both the U.S. Army and Navy, James is a disciplinarian when it comes to educating children. Tired of his presentation being interrupted by a chatty student, he pulled the girl to his spot in front of a painting and instructed her to teach the class.

He later said his message about the environment is important, especially for the next generation.

“I’m just scared we’re destroying our earth so fast, and if we don’t have people like us just without a whole lot of skill in the area starting to share extraordinary things, then we’ll lose it,” he added.

The insects he instructs the children about may be gone someday, he said.

“If we don’t get some extraordinary leaders, we’re going to destroy this thing we call life. We are destroying the earth at a suicidal rate,” he said. “Everybody’s thinking we can continue at the same rate as we have and thinking things are just going to be fine. We need to wake up and start to realize that.”

The two are readying the first of several children’s books featuring their insects. The first, “How Mildred the Mantis Became Famous,” is supposed to be complete by the end of the year.

Painting as she does in front of the public benefits both her and the audience, Jessa said.

“This fit like a glove,” she added. “We need something substantial for the average Joe and the general public to grasp and learn and get excited about art again. This is the perfect solution.”

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com. C

IF YOU GO

What: “Project Insect”

When: Through July 5; Jessa Huebing-Reitinger is painting throughout the museum hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays and 1-5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Where: Muscatine Art Center, 1314 Mulberry Ave., Muscatine, Iowa

How much: Free

Information: (563) 263-8282 or MuscatineArtCenter.org on the Web

Also on the Web: ProjectInsect.com