North Carolina native Tara Locklear designs geometric and playful jewelry using broken and discarded skateboards. Artist: A North Carolina native, Locklear was born and raised in Fayetteville. After high school, she headed to East Carolina University (ECU), but left to go to work. Locklear spent 11 years in the corporate world of event planning and…
In her multimedia sculptural work, Raleigh artist Kelly Sheppard Murray creates a wide range of polymorphic, multicolored structures that have their roots in natural forms. The artist: Born in Shelby, NC, Murray and her family moved to Raleigh when she was in elementary school. She graduated with a BFA at University of North Carolina at Greensboro.…
Laritza Garcia is mad about metal. And it shows in her colorful contemporary jewelry. The artist: Originally from the border area of Reynosa, Mexico and McAllen, TX, Garcia earned a BFA from Texas State University (TSU) in 2008. She is also a graduate of East Carolina University, where she received her MFA degree in 2012.…
Architecture and environment play a part in Kat Cole’s graphic, enamel-on-steel jewelry and sculpture. The artist: The Georgia native, who grew up in Lithia Springs, received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA from East Carolina University. Since then, she has worked as a visiting professor in metals/jewelry at Western Michigan University, taught workshops…
Raleigh’s Sarah Tector treats jewelry as small-scale sculpture. Her pieces catch the eye when on the body. Or not. The company/studio: S. Tector Metals is in Raleigh, where Tector works out of her home studio. A metalsmith for 28 years, she has focused solidly on her business for the last 11 years. The artist: Born in…
From the cockpit of her family’s vintage plane, Mary Edna Fraser was awed by aerial views of the Lowcountry waterways and landscapes she saw. The experience inspired the South Carolina artist to recreate the landscapes in batik art and paintings. The studio: Fraser works out of a backyard studio on James Island Creek, just south…