In New Orleans, Sarah House creates contemporary and abstract ceramic sculptures inspired by her fascination with fractals in nature. The artist: House grew up in Baltimore and earned a BFA in 2007 from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. After graduation, she started to work as a professional artist and became a resident artist at…
In North Carolina, self-taught wood artist George Peterson uses busted old skateboards to make striking textured art. The artist: Born in Long Beach, CA, Peterson grew up in Bishop, a small town in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. At age 6, he stepped on to his first skateboard and remained an active skater, often building…
Exploring the ever-shifting landscapes of the wild Southern wetlands, Memphis artist Maysey Craddock creates intricate gouache-on-paper paintings. The artist: Craddock grew up in Memphis and lived in New Orleans for many years, where she received a BA in sculpture and anthropology from Tulane University. She also earned an MFA from Maine College of Art in Portland.…
Inspired by some antique blown glass buttons, Melissa Schmidt designs stunning blown glass jewelry that is both durable yet lightweight. Elegant and unexpected. The artist: Born in St. Louis, Schmidt grew up in Honolulu and San Francisco, where she attended different colleges, first for metals, then for fashion. After a move to St. Louis, she earned…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…