I strolled into counselor Doug Klemm’s office and a beautiful landscape catches my eye. The clouds pop, as if they are moving. The brushstrokes in the intricate grass make it sway. Bright baby blue gives me a feeling of warmth.

Klemm sits across from me with a heartfelt grin, ready to hear anything I have to say.

I ask about the landscape and his eyes begin to sparkle. He pours out his soul to me, going more in detail about his favorite landscape. Talking about art excites him and the next thing I know, I have been in his office for an hour.

Klemm started taking classes at the Holland Area Arts council. He began in photography, then in ceramics making bowls. He enjoyed it, but quickly realized that bowls were not for him.

“I used to teach art at the high school level, but that was a really long time ago,” Klemm said. “I quit when I was 25. I got interested in psychology and got into the counseling program at Western.”

In ‘97, Klemm arrived at Grand Haven High School as a counselor. But his love for art lingered.

“My interests are divided between counseling students and art,” Klemm said. “Art seems to be the thing I keep coming back to. I have a passion for counseling, but art will always be there.”

Klemm rented studio space in the Holland Area Arts Council and began painting again. He was asked by the Executive Director to start leaving his canvas up in the Armstrong studio, no matter what exhibit was going on.

“When Doug finished his first painting in our Artist Studio Space, I was absolutely astounded by the light and the vibrancy of the colors,” Executive Director of the Holland Area Arts Council Lorma Freestone said.  “The subject of his paintings – clouds, incredibly blue sky and rolling pastures- transport the viewer into the landscape.”

Freestone began talking to Klemm about his art.

“She told me that she enjoyed my art, which was a pretty big honor,” Klemm said. “The art that I left on the canvas was looked at quite a lot.”

He entered many exhibits. Sometimes his art was accepted, sometimes it wasn’t. But because of his love for the art, he never stopped.

“Art is a major passion of mine, and I refused to let a simple rejection stop me,” Klemm said.

After only 18 months of being back into art, Klemm had an exhibit called Illuminations, featuring landscapes and sculptures. The name Illuminations was inspired by a friend of Klemm’s.

“When one of my paintings was on exhibit, someone came up to me and said ‘Doug, your painting looks like it’s illuminated from within!’” Klemm said. “And I said, ‘Wow, I think you just named my exhibit.’”

Klemm will always be an artist and a counselor.

“I am rather taken with skies,” Klemm said. “I find that making art is very interesting to me. With each one, it’s a challenge.”