Virginia’s Jomo Tariku designs modern African-inspired furniture that some have called Afrofuturist. The company: Jomo Furniture, based in Springfield, VA, started in 2017. The artist/maker: Born in Nairobi, Kenya, to Ethiopian parents, Tariku grew up in Ethiopia. As a young boy, he was drawn to art, souvenirs and furniture pieces his father collected while traveling. During…
Georgia’s Eileen Braun made a name for herself as an award-winning ceramic artist. Then four years ago, she abruptly turned her talents in a completely different direction. The artist: Born in Boston, Braun grew up in the nearby suburb of Newton Center. She earned a degree in sculpture and art education from Indiana University. After…
From her popular ceramic wall pods to her sculptural tree totems, Alice Ballard’s work is always about nature. The artist: Born in Florence, SC, Ballard grew up in an Air Force family and lived all over the world. She earned degrees in painting at the University of Michigan, working as a scientific illustrator to put…
Who would’ve thought you could make a stunning dress out of bottle caps, roof shingles and soda pop cans. Chattanooga’s John Petrey did. The result is a sought-after collection of dress sculptures, all made from the most unexpected materials. The artist & background: Born in Southern California, Petrey earned degrees in graphic design and advertising…
Self-taught artist Jennifer Zurick uses the flexible inner bark of black willow trees to create her elegant woven vessels. The artist: Zurick was born in Lexington and grew up in the rural Bluegrass area of Kentucky. Based in Berea, she has been professionally producing willow bark baskets since 1980. The goods: Finely woven, textile-like vessels…
Georgia’s Krista Grecco mixes the “sweet and sour” memories and moments of life in her ceramic art. Everything from expressive figures and animals to color-happy candy bugs. The artist: A fraternal twin, Grecco was born and raised in Massachusetts. But undergrad school in New York, graduate school at Ohio State, and artist residencies and teaching have…
Some might say Luis Gonzalez has a plum job. The contemporary Miami artist transforms salvaged hardwoods into oversized sculptures of colorful fruits and vegetables The artist: Gonzalez learned to turn wood when he was 14 years old in his native country, Bogota, Colombia. In 1992, he came to Miami to finish high school and later…
Atlanta-based Skylar Morgan Furniture blends natural and reclaimed materials to produce what it calls “American Made Modern” furniture. The founder: A Montana native, Skylar Morgan worked as an apprentice to master furniture maker Jeffrey Greene in Doylestown, Pa, for more than two years. In 2002, Morgan moved to Atlanta and opened his West Midtown design…
Florida’s Eric Shupe is happy to take your everyday flatware and turn it into a fantastic, one-of-a kind sculpture. The artist: Born in Baltimore, Shupe traveled across the country with his father living in unique environments, like a treehouse in redwood forests and a tiki hut in Hawaii, before they settled down near Gainesville, Fla.…
In his colorful, cubist-style work, Florida artist Andy Saczynski uses humble materials, such as house paint, found objects and reclaimed wood. The artist: Growing up near Destin, Saczynski knew in the third grade that he wanted to be an artist. He attended Northwest Florida State College on a fine arts scholarship and worked at a…