At a young age, Stephanie Firestone enjoyed flipping through her father’s college textbook on human anatomy. Today, the Virginia-based artist creates intriguing, semi-abstract sculptures of human figures. Artist: Born in Detroit, MI, Firestone grew up in Chevy Chase, MD, where her father worked in advertising in the DC metro area and had a small painting…
North Carolina’s Casey Engel works in ceramics, textiles and printmaking. She is proof an artist doesn’t have to choose on medium to express herself. Artist: Born and raised in Pensacola, FL, Engel earned a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015. After college, she worked in a commercial frame shop in…
Tennessee-based sculptor Kyle Cottier combines traditional textile and woodworking techniques in his mindful practice. Artist: Born and grew up in Louisville, KY. In a high school magnet program, Cottier began spending a lot of time in the art annex. Often, he was in in the darkroom developing film, or in the printmaking lab preparing silkscreens…
In North Carolina, Ben Strear sculpts and carves wood sculptures that feature detailed patterns inspired by ancient artifacts and structures. Artist: Colorado native who was born and grew up in Longmont. He graduated with a BFA in furniture design from the Rhode Island School of Design. “The furniture design program was great for me because…
To explore color and pattern, North Carolina’s Shane Fero takes a painterly approach to his sculptural glass birds and vessels. Artist: Born in Chicago, Fero’s family moved to Winter Haven, FL, in 1967. About a half-mile from his home, was the flameworking shop of Bob and Marie Howell, part of a well-known itinerant family of…
Atlanta’s Robert Chamberlin draws on cake-decorating techniques for his lavishly decorated porcelain work. With frosting-like piping, his campy art looks good enough to eat. Artist: Born in Landstuhl, Germany, where his dad was in the Air Force, Chamberlin grew up in various states, from California to Georgia, as his military family moved around. In 2010,…
In her abstract and representational encaustic paintings, Atlanta mixed-media artist Deborah Llewellyn draws on her 20-plus years as a professional photographer. Artist: Born in Montreal, raised in Connecticut, Llewellyn attended SUNY Purchase in New York as a dance major. After a semester at SUNY, she received a full scholarship to the Alvin Ailey School (Dance…
Tennessee sculptor Raymond Padron carves hyper-realistic wood wall reliefs of familiar and often meaningful items from your past. Artist: Born in Maryland, Padron grew up in the North Virginia suburbs of DC. He graduated with a BA in art from Messiah College in Grantham, PA, and moved to Chattanooga, TN. In 2011, Padron received his…
Kristy Bishop’s work has had many iterations over the years. But the South Carolina weaver says the connective threads of color relations, texture and pattern are always present. The artist: Born in 1986 in Alexandria, VA, Bishop grew up in Charleston, SC, with her sights set on being an artist. She graduated with a BA…
Georgia-based artist Courtney Khail produces abstract floral watercolor paintings and murals using pools of bold color and layers of gestural lines. Artist: Originally from Augusta, Khail studied visual arts at John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School for eight years in her hometown. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2007 with a BFA in…