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…
Georgia artist Paula Reynaldi turns a humble material into something extraordinary: masking tape sculptures. The artist: Reynaldi was born and grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she studied music and art. Then worked as a cellist and a music teacher. In 2021, she moved to the United States, first to Iowa City, where she…
Mark Leputa has been spellbound by glass since he discovered it on a post-college trip. The Alabama-based glass sculptor found the material seductive and inspiring. He still does. The artist: Leputa grew up in the Scranton, PA, area and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. After college, he took a backpacking trip to New Zealand…
East Texas native Jeffie Brewer likes to say he makes sunshine out of paint and steel. His big and bright sculptures prove it. The artist: Brewer grew up in Palestine, a small, rural town in East Texas, where his parents owned a junkyard, a dangerous and often magical place for an only child. Brewer earned an…
In a recent series of paintings, South Carolina’s Francis Sills was influenced by the landscape in and around his Low Country home. The artist: Sills grew up in central New Jersey where he was exposed to art and nature as a child, hiking and fishing in the woods, ponds and creeks near his home. He…
In his carved wood jewelry, Louisiana’s Daniel DiCaprio hopes to create biological forms, like orchids, that are weird yet beautiful. The artist: Born in Albany, DiCaprio grew up in the Hudson River Valley of upstate New York. He graduated with a degree in art education from Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, and later earned his…
In his visually complex sculptures, Atlanta ceramic artist David Robinson is inspired by the natural world and “the residue of the human experience.” The artist: Robinson grew up in Greenville, MS, and graduated from Delta State University in Cleveland, MS. He also earned a master’s degree in instructional design from Georgia State University (GSU). While working…
Using local woods, North Carolina’s Steve Miller carves, burns and carefully applies layers of nuanced colors to create his highly textured hollow vessels and sculptures. The artist: Born in Miami, Miller graduated from Florida International University and served 33 years with the Miami-Dade Police Department before retiring in 2007. In the beginning: Miller started woodturning…
In her bright, color-happy paintings, Tennessee’s Molly Wright depicts landscapes, people (sheep too) in an abstract style. The artist: Wright grew up in Virginia and Connecticut, taking drawing and painting lessons. She attended a public high school that had an excellent art department, and then earned a degree in fine art from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College…
Atlanta’s Jim Wise blurs the lines between fantasy and reality in his large, dreamlike paintings. The artist: Wise grew up in Raleigh, NC, and graduated with a BS degree in visual design from North Carolina State University. After graduation, Wise moved to Atlanta to pursue a design career. His first job was work at John H.…