Richmond-based textile designer Annabel Wrigley likes her color-happy, textured quilts to have a painterly quality. Artist: Born in Australia, Wrigley grew up in Sydney. In 2001, she moved to Virginia and earned a nursing degree. After her first child was born, Wrigley began sewing — initially just for fun, making children’s clothes and quilts. It…
Texas native Sarita Westurp is a contemporary basket weaver whose sculptural works are inspired by where she was born and grew up. Artist: Westrup grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas and earned an MFA in fibers at the University of North Texas. Over the years, she has taken classes and served as studio assistant at several…
In her portrait work, Georgia photographer Tokie Rome-Taylor focuses on African American children, staged in regal dress and refined settings, to explore layered themes of culture, identity and history. Artist: The Atlanta native received a BA in art education from Morris Brown College in Atlanta. She also earned EdS and MAEd degrees from Lesley University…
North Carolina jewelry artist Jason Janow describes his rustic yet refined designs as “precisely natural.” ™ Artist: Growing up in Amherst, VA, Janow loved the outdoors and took an early interest in jewelry. Later, at age 30, he made a career change and enrolled in Haywood Community College in Clyde, NC, where he earned a degree…
With organic shapes, surface decoration and adornments, such as fish hooks and hand-cut metal, North Carolina ceramic artist Isys Hennigar explores the relationship between humans and the natural world, particularly that of Appalachia. Artist: Grew up near Asheville and earned a BFA Studio Art from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2017. In…
Tennessee’s Daryl Thetford often uses more than 200 photographs to create one piece of his digital pop art. Artist: Thetford grew up on a farm in Bradford, a small town in the rural northwest corner of Tennessee. His father worked in a warehouse, and his mother was a beautician. While Thetford’s parents encouraged him to pursue…
In her folk-like paintings, Mississippi’s Ellen Langford captures playful yet tender moments between children and creatures in a rural landscape. Artist: Langford grew up in Jackson, the youngest of four children and the only girl, obsessed with drawing and painting. The Mississippi native headed to Colby College in Maine, but took time off to take…
In Virginia, engineer-turned-artist Wiwat Kamolpornwijit uses light-weight polymer clay in his contemporary jewelry designs. Artist: Kamolpornwijit grew up in Thailand, where he attended an engineering college. He moved to the United States to attend graduate school at New Jersey Institute of Technology and worked as a postgraduate research associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in…
Georgia native Kelly Breedlove is not a photographer, but he uses photo-based mixed media work to explore memories, emotions and relationships. The studio: Breedlove’s studio is in The Cotton Mill in Cabbagetown, an historic Atlanta neighborhood. The artist: Grew up in Covington, surrounded by a unique southern cowboy culture and inherited a love of snapshot…
Alabama sculptor Maralyn Wilson finds clay a medium full of magic, possibilities – and stories. Artist: Born in Birmingham, Wilson studied art at the University of Georgia with painter Lamar Dodd. She graduated with a BFA from Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans, where she studied with painter and sculptor Ida Kohlmeyer, the renowned Louisiana…