Leota Williams Loop (American, 1893-1961)
Leota Williams Loop was an Indiana artist who painted floral still life and landscapes. She was born in Fountain City, Indiana and spent her career as an active artist in Brown County, Indiana. She began studying art at age ten from Olive Rush at the Fairmont Academy. She also studied with William Forsyth, Theodore Steele, Will Vawter and Randolph Coates, all associated with the Brown County art colony, In 1937, Indiana governor Townsend purchased her still life painting, “Iris and Peonies,” for the Governor’s Mansion. Leota taught art classes in Nashville and was for many years the art chairman of Tri Kappa Sorority. She organized the Junior Art Clubs of the Indiana Federation of Art Clubs and exhibited state wide. Reportedly her first paint brushes were chicken feathers. She used ink for paint and grocer’s wrapping paper for ground.
Source: Paul Sternberg, “Art by American Women” and biography from the Archives of AskART.