Lori Ann Ayers grew up in rural Indiana. Until age 9, her environment consisted of calm fields, foliage growing at its own whim and night skies perforated by thousands of twinkling stars.

Then she moved to the Chicago suburbs. The serenity of her childhood was replaced by the haphazard order of a bustling, dense population.

An impression was made, and she became a life-long artist, depicting images of the ordered chaos of society and its interaction with nature.

This week, Bad Dog Gallery, 808 E. Garden St., held Ayers’ first exhibition.

“Through the use of aerial views, my work takes the form of idealized environments,” Ayers said. “[The paintings] are intensely colorful and representative of a vastness of space.”

Roads are pink and sharp lines crisscross from edge to edge. Contoured lines are equally abrupt where blue meets green with no transition.

This was done for effect, Ayers said. It represents the slight separation between humanity and nature.

Three years ago, this mother of two resigned from the professional realm to pursue an education at NIU’s School of Arts.

She is just one of many artists hiding among the cornstalks in the county.

More than 80 artists, the majority being local and some from NIU, present their works at DeKalb Gallery, 161 E. Lincoln Highway.

Gallery owner Dan Gryth says he opened it out of frustration. There were no exhibition galleries in the area, so five years ago he opened his gallery to free artists from this trap of silence.

His walls are filled with nearly all mediums of art. Sculptures, ceramics, paintings and charcoal mediums, among others, present images representative of all genres.

He is willing to present all mediums but said they must first and foremost be of high-quality. Pastels and charcoal are difficult to work with, so it is more difficult to show this art. He does not display negative images such as demons.

“I have to be here most of the time, and I have to look at it, ” he said. He described his gallery as family-oriented.