koolbird

Influenced by his work at a contemporary furniture company, Charlotte’s Mark Ellis started his own design business: building modern houses. For birds. The artist: Born and raised in Marine City, MI, Ellis grew up in a log cabin on the St. Clair River. His family had sailboat and powerboat and enjoyed fishing from dock and…

adam whitney

Adam Whitney has experience in many metalsmithing techniques, but the North Carolina artist is partial to raising: the craft of making hollow, three-dimensional forms from hammered sheets of metal. The artist: Whitney was born and raised in Rutland, VT. He earned his BFA in crafts/materials studies, with a focus on metalsmithing, from Virginia Commonwealth University.…

jaime keiter

Atlanta’s Jaime Keiter collages individually handcrafted, painted and glazed tiles to create her ceramic sculptures. The artist: Born in Cleveland, OH, Keiter grew up in the Atlanta area and graduated from UGA with degree in art, focusing on photography. She moved to NYC for 15 years and worked as a magazine photo editor and art…

krista eubanks

In her life-size paintings of wildlife, Tennessee’s Krista Eubanks adds found organic objects, such as acorns and grasses. She also scatters meaningful writings throughout — sometimes in an animal’s fur or in the shadows. The artist: Eubanks was born and grew up in Rossville, GA.  She earned a degree in graphic arts from Chattanooga State…

rene culler

The Delta landscape often influences the blown, cast and fused sculptures of noted Alabama glass artist Rene Culler. The artist: Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Culler began to work in glass in high school, learning how to sandblast. At the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she earned a BFA in glass, Culler learned about color and form,…

flavia lovatelli

A sustainable artist, South Carolina’s Flavia Lovatelli creates contemporary paper sculptures from old books, recycled magazines — and more. The artist: Born in Lima, Peru, she moved back to northern Italy as a young child. In high school, she won numerous prizes and awards for her art. In 1979, Lovatelli moved to the United States…

jodi walsh

In Houston, self-taught ceramicist Jodi Walsh specializes in “oritatami nendo,” the art of folding clay. The artist: Born in Toronto, Ontario, Walsh left Canada in 1967. Since then, she has lived and traveled to more than 25 countries, including Bangladesh, Africa, Taiwan and England. In 1980, she moved to the United States and now lives…

charles clary

South Carolina’s Charles Clary often incorporates drywall, found frames and old VHS boxes in his intricate and layered, hand-cut paper sculptures. The artist: Born and raised in Morristown, TN, Clary received his BFA in painting from Middle Tennessee State University and an MFA in painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design. A professional…

audiowood

  Joel Scilley, founder of New Orleans-based Audiowood, artfully blends technology and organic forms in his novel audio designs. The artist: Scilley grew up in Florida and after high school, headed for New York, where he received his undergraduate degree from Hobart & William Smith College. He then earned an MA from Carnegie Mellon and a…

robert patterson

Georgia’s Robert Patterson makes elegantly austere wood objects with little concern for utility. The artist: Born in Baton Rouge, LA, Patterson grew up in North Carolina. Both his father and grandfather who were woodworkers. At college, he focused on drawing and painting. Patterson earned a BFA from the University of North Carolina and an MFA…