christina boy

Influenced by the simple, clean lines of the Bauhaus movement, Virginia’s Christina Boy draws on a love of classic modern and rural environment in her furniture designs. The artist: Born in Gießen, Germany, Boy grew up in Bonn, where she combined a two-year-plus retail apprenticeship in an office and commercial design show with trade school…

carol prusa

Science and art come together in Carol Prusa’s large-scale silver point works. The artist: Growing up on Chicago’s south side, Prusa was drawn to the unknown. She studied chemistry at the University of Illinois and earned a B.S. in biocommunication arts and later received a MFA in painting and drawing from Drake University (1985). Prusa is…

mr. hooper

Nashville’s Tim Hooper (aka Mr. Hooper) uses animals and inanimate objects as characters to tell stories in his colorful, surreal paintings. The artist: Born in Nashville, Tim Hooper started drawing the Sunday comic strips at an early age and continued to teach himself to draw. In high school, he discovered underground comic books and thought being…

dayna thacker

In her collages and installations, Alabama’s Dayna Thacker uses paper, vintage photos and found materials to investigate how we make sense of the world and ourselves. The artist: Born in Germany, Thacker’s family moved around a lot while her father was in the military. The family eventually settled in Tennessee near extended family. She graduated…

hillary cumberworth

Texas artist Hillary Cumberworth hopes her modern ceramic vessels spark a conversation about how we are shaped by the people and moments in our lives. The artist: Born in Austin, Cumberworth grew up in the Texas capital “back when Austin was a sleepy town full of hippies, families, politics and music.” As a busy high…

ashley buchanan

Georgia’s Ashley Buchanan draws on historical images when designing her contemporary, powder-coated brass jewelry. The artist: An Atlanta native, Buchanan, graduated from the University of Georgia in 2009 with a BFA in jewelry and metalsmithing. For seven years she lived in Tennessee, where she started her business, before moving back to Georgia. The company: Ashley Buchanan…