Kansas State University

search

Kansas Profile

Tag: Florence

Deb Hanes-Nelson, watercolorist

Posted on by Pat Melgares

Some people minister from the pulpit. Some can minister with a paintbrush. Deborah Hanes-Nelson is a person who can do both.

Mug shot, Deb Hanes-Nelson
Deb Hanes-Nelson

Today we’ll meet this talented woman who has been both a preacher and a painter in rural Kansas.

Deb Hanes-Nelson is a watercolorist. She was born in Florence but her family moved around Kansas because her father was a relief foreman for the Santa Fe Railroad. “When you’re out somewhere and you don’t know anybody, you can pick up a pad of paper and draw,” Hanes-Nelson said. “I’ve always enjoyed drawing and painting.”

Her high school didn’t offer art classes, but Hanes-Nelson took lessons from a local woman. After high school, she moved to Topeka, where she felt called to the ministry. She attended Washburn University and then St. Paul Theology School in Kansas City, launching a 35-year career serving as a pastor in the United Methodist Church.

She also met and married her husband, Doug, who is a finish carpenter and custom woodworker. They had one son.

Continue reading “Deb Hanes-Nelson, watercolorist” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Sara Dawson, Prairie Oaks Designs

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Okeechobee, Florida. A package is arriving. Inside is a beautiful metal nativity set, designed and cut by a craftsman at a business halfway across the continent in rural Kansas. It’s especially interesting to find that this craftsman is a woman. This is a special holiday edition of Kansas Profile.

Sara Dawson is the owner and founder of Prairie Oaks Designs in Florence, Kansas.  Sara grew up near Florence and went to K-State. After working in the animal health business for a time, she came back and joined the family ranch. She married Troy Dawson who is farming and ranching and is trained as a master welder. Sara was thinking about how to add value to the family business.

Sara and Troy Dawson

One day in 2014, Sara was flipping through a catalog and spotted a picture of a rusty old metal item nailed to a piece of wood. It caught her eye and she wondered if she could produce similar products.

“How do those people cut that metal?” she asked her husband. “And what would it take to get that equipment?” When he told her the price of a plasma metal cutter, she thought, “Oh, there’s no way we could get that.” But her husband encouraged her to get it and try it out.

Sara decided to try designing and marketing these metal designs as home décor. They ordered the plasma cutter and signed up to exhibit products at an upcoming craft show.

Unfortunately, the plasma cutter was late in coming. When it finally arrived, a major component was missing. Sara’s stress level went up as the date of the show got closer and closer. Once the plasma cutter was ready, she spent lots of late nights self-training on how to use it. She managed to make enough products to take to the show – and the response was excellent.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Sara Dawson, Prairie Oaks Designs” →