MARQUETTE — Monica Zehnder is the Zero Degrees Guest Artist for the Month of July.

She has been working with colored pencils, acrylics and photos creating complex and beautiful pieces of art. Her pieces are characterized by very fine detail, complicated designs and vivid colors.

She uses nature for much of her subject matter and surrounds the central figure with complicated designs from her own imagination. Monica is a long time artist having a bachelors degree from Skidmore College and a Masters of Fine Art in Ceramics from Alfred University in New York.

It was in Alfred where she met her husband, the well-known ceramic artist and Northern Michigan University professor, Marvin Zehnder. After coming to Marquette in 1975, Monica worked as an art teacher in the Gwinn Community Schools until 1995.

For the last 39 years she has been breeding, showing and selling award winning Abyssinian cats.

Her artwork is very different and the exquisite detail is reflective of the many hours she puts in to each piece.