Jeanie Eddleman’s first drawing was created at age three.  It was inspired by her uncle, Tom Runnels, a renowned artist who had caught a catfish and was drawing it. Side by side they drew the catfish. Jeanie’s drawing is hanging in her studio in Marble Hill, MO. She has been drawing ever since. 
Eddleman taught art for 27 years before retiring from teaching in 2004 to start her career as a professional artist. Graphite pencil is her medium of choice because it is so natural to her. Her favorite drawings are of old or historical buildings. Once she discovered combining drawing with her love of architecture and nostalgia that she found her niche in these drawings. A drawing can take between two to five days using the grid method for accuracy. Once she gets a general idea of placement on the paper, everything else is drawn in free hand.  Jeanie finds photography an invaluable aid for recording details of buildings for reference. 
Jeanie has self-published two books, “Images of Bollinger County” and “Shadows of Cape Girardeau County Yesteryears,” both in the Library of Congress. These books are not only a collection of her drawings, but include a narrative history of each building. 
Her art business is called “Remembering When” because of the many times people would say, “Remember when we did (this or that) in that building??” Her inspiration and great pleasure come from bringing back special memories for people.
Today, 27 of her prints of Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area, along with prints of her drawings of the courthouses in the federal court district are displayed in the new Rush H. Limbaugh Sr. U.S. Courthouse in Cape Girardeau, MO. Her artwork has been featured in numerous publications and at the National Trust National Convention. Her art can be found in collections in 30 states and 13 foreign countries.
She is founder and president of the Cat Ranch Art Guild and Chairman of the Board of the Tom Runnels Memorial Scholarship Fund. She promotes the Cat Ranch Art Guild artists, as well as tourism at the Cat Ranch, which was her uncle’s home and studio in Marble Hill, MO. She is involved with creating the development of a networking system between artists and art groups in the southeast Missouri region. She manages WESTRAY Studio in the Bilderbach Art Plaza at 5 N. Main in Cape Girardeau, MO where she also sells her work.  Her art can be viewed on line at www.jeanieeddlemanart.com .  Contact her at jeddleman@sbcglobal.net