Former Atchison, Kan., resident Aleda Haug, 61, has an artistic career peppered with "a-ha" moments. The first was when she took an art class during her final semester in college - a little late since she spent all her previous semesters studying nursing. Her career and raising five kids kept her from creative pursuits until they got older, and she spent her time crafting Santa Claus dolls in her 40s, paying particular attention to sculpting the perfect face. "It was like, a-ha! There's life at the other end of children," Haug says. Her fascination with the face's emotional expressions became her focus for almost two decades and continues to drive her sculptures. Her busts may be characters straight out of her imagination, but there's something genuinely human she tries to capture. "Every piece of art for me, there's a moment when it's not longer clay. It's a real person that's looking back at me and it's real magical," she says. "Maybe this is blasphemy, but it's like holding hands with God." Aleda Haug is one of three artists whose work is on display in "Haug, Green and Grosso" running through Dec. 30 at the Gallery in Atchison.