I received my BFA from Carnegie-Mellon University in ceramics and painting in 1972, and my MFA in ceramics from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago in 1975. The 2001 Great Gulfcoast Art Festival was the first festival I attended, and the first time that I had shown work of any kind since the late 1970s. After graduation I had part-time jobs and maintained various studios working with mixed-media sculpture, wood, or clay. From 1983 to late 2000, I stopped working as an artist or craftsman and was entirely focused on a career in IT, holding jobs as varied as typewriter repairman, computer sales, manager, ComputerLand franchisee, network engineer, and IT executive. In October of 2000, I made the decision to return to clay, and pursue a full time career as a potter.

http://www.creeksidepottery.com

We create our porcelain pieces using an ancient technique known variously as millefiori, neriage, and nerikome. The extreme detail and intense color in our ceramic work results from the use of over 500 different colors of clay to create our carefully designed clay loaves. Next, cross-sections are sliced from the loaves, and these sections are shaped and finished into individual pieces, then glazed and fired-three times. Often, 23+ karat platinum edging is applied, and the piece receives its final fire.

http://www.bluebusstudio.com

Growing up on a small farm in rural Milan, Michigan, I have always been connected to nature and the beautiful creations that we harvest from the earth. When I was a child, there was only one neighbor on our little dirt road. Not having a neighborhood with a lot of kids taught me to entertain myself and one of my favorite past times was drawing and painting. My interest in art inspired a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Eastern Michigan University and travels to the museums of Greece, Italy, France and the United States.

Now a parent, I have since returned to country living in my own farmhouse on a parcel from my family’s original farm. Here, I live with my husband Rich and two beautiful daughters: Jillian 5 and Phoebe Louise 3. Now the gardening is more of a hobby than a chore, but nature continues to influence my life and art. Each year I plant dozens of sunflowers all around our home. They appear frequently in my work.

http://www.kimrhoney.com

To create a good working surface I apply gesso to my canvas , or paper. After developing the composition, the gesso is tinted with an ochre colored wash. The fun begins with thick layers of oil paint, glazes, scratching through and scraping off.  I continue adding and subtracting until I’m happy with the piece.

I was born 1963 on a Naval Base in Keflavik, Iceland. I lived in many places growing up from Alaska to South Carolina.

From an early age I enjoyed painting and drawing but received no formal training except a semester of high school art.

In 1985, I earned degrees in Management and Management Science at the University of South Carolina. After graduation, I was employed by Electronic Data Systems (EDS) to work for General Motors in Detroit, Michigan. I worked there five years as a Software Systems Engineer before returning south to become a Senior Consultant with Price Waterhouse in Charlotte, North Carolina.

On February 1, 1992 I quit my corporate career to fulfill my dream of becoming an Artist. Today I exhibit at juried art festivals throughout the United States.

My Original Acrylic Paintings, Linoleum Block Prints, and Watercolors are inspired by art styles and themes from the past. My artwork is influenced by vintage posters, antique advertising, art deco graphics, old wind-up tin toys, pinball machines, neon signs, juke boxes, game boards, and more.

My goal is to mix all of these styles, add my own artistic talent, and create truly unique artwork.

http://www.geoffreyaaronharris.com

Nichole Collins is a metalsmith and jewelry artist. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Metalsmithing and Jewelry Design from The University of Kansas.  She also has studied at the prestigious Lahti Polytechnic in Lahti, Finland, where she she did an intensive study of diamond setting and enameling.  Nichole has exhibited in national and and international exhibitions and has won various awards.

http://www.nicholecollinsjewelry.com

Between the 3 of ‘us’, Me, Myself, and I, all images are created by Me and Me alone. There is no full time staff, no assistants, no interns, no sending the work out for someone else to shoot, print or mat/frame. Myself takes care of the matting, framing and printing of images. I and only I attend the festivals to promote and sell my images. All work was created ‘Out There’ along or near the Eastern region of the United States, as well as Germany and now a bigger portion right in my studio. Images are created with the camera, they are not computer generated, some may look it but they are not. One example I will give is the Hot Peppers in the Grinder. It was created in my studio, on one piece of film. The grinder and hot peppers were photographed with strobe lighting, and then in darkness, while the shutter on the camera was open, I opened and ‘lit’ a propane hose that I had previously snaked inside the grinder to ignite the flame. Three rolls of film later, I knew I had something.

With changes in the field of photography, I have started to embrace the new digital era and will integrate that knowledge into my everyday photo sessions. Of course with it brings new problems, new skills and fresh ideas. That’s what I like about photography, there’s always something innovative and exciting to do with the medium! I can always create something unique with it and that’s what sets me apart from all the rest.  I dare to be imaginative , different, and at the same time have fun doing it.

http://jmanphoto.com

Self- taught glass artist Mark Lewanski of Portland, MI holds a materials engineering degree and worked two years in the Detroit auto industry before creative restlessness and disillusionment with the corporate world prompted him to leave to pursue a career in art. In 1999, he spent seven months in Italy studying art, language and history, and returned with an appreciation for the fine glasswork of Venice.  Listing artists such as Dale Chihuly and Lino Tagliapetra as inspirations, Lewanski set out to reinvent a whole artistic medium, stained glass, by approaching it in a way no one had before. He strived to  undo everything he knew about the art of stained glass, discarding the traditional soldered appearance of Tiffany styled lamps and windows and opting instead to use modern adhesives to give his work a clean, contemporary appearance. The result, his trademark stained glass boxes, were a huge success. His current functional and non-functional stained glass mosaic pieces are a step further in his goal of revitalizing a moribund art form.  He sells his work at top ranked art fairs in the Midwest and Florida, and at over 350 galleries nationwide. He has also had his work appear on the Oprah Winfrey show. He lives and works at his studio in a century old commercial building in Portland, Michigan.

http://www.glassboxguy.com

My rugs are hand woven using point twill weave structure, with color and weave applications. Color is the focus of my work. Weaving is the vehicle that provides for subtle nuances of color change and very interesting optical mixing through the interlacement of warp and weft. In order to create this palette of colors I hand dye the yarn using several methods: vat, space dye, discharge, over dye, and two self-developed processes, a weighted dye bath and a glazing technique.

Using these techniques, I transform industrial mop cotton into hand woven rugs. The hand dyed mop cotton brings forth the possibility of various and unique colors, as well as one of a kind color combinations. I am inspired by these colors. They create relationships that can be harmonious, melodic, and even sometimes dissonant.

I use countermarch looms that provide the greatest versatility in weave structure. The weave structure helps to mold the relationship between the various colors of yarn.

Relationship defines life to me. We are in relationships with ourselves, with others, with objects, and environments. This creates the pattern of our lives. The pattern of life is echoed by the weaving process in that it is an integral relationship between the artist, loom, and yarn which is vital to the creation of woven expression.

http://turtleislandfibers.com