In his colorful tree-branch art, Georgia’s Tom Chambers brings the outdoors in. The artist: Chambers’ interest in art began in an Orlando high school, where his first art class was taught by his football and track team coach. At the University of Tampa, where he attended college on a football scholarship, Chambers studied sculpture, drawing…
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.…
Whether it is glass, bronze or printmaking, materials matter to interdisciplinary artist Amber Lelli of Nashville. The studio: Amber Lelli Art is based in Nashville. The artist has studio space in the basement of LeQuire Studio and Gallery, surrounded by remnants of many famous sculptures. The artist: Born in Queens, New York, Lelli spent her early years…
When Liv Antonecchia created her first ceramic donuts, the South Carolina artist didn’t think there would be an appetite for them. Though she makes other abstract and imaginative works, it’s her colorfully decorated donuts that are in demand. The artist: Grew up in Katonah, NY, just north of New York City, and graduated from Virginia…
For North Carolina’s Rachel David, the very physical and technically demanding process of forging and forming shapes in glowing steel is her passion. The artist: Born in New Jersey, David grew up in Maryland and graduated from Evergreen State College (WA). In 2005, she moved to New Orleans to build glass-blowing equipment. She lived and…
Florida-based artist Linda Hall makes fantastical, mixed-media sculptures and highly embellished masks that reflect the fragility and anxiety of our modern world. The artist: Born into a military family who moved frequently around Europe, Hall eventually landed in Fort Walton Beach, FL, where she went to high school. After some travel herself, Hall earned a…
New Orleans native Gogo Borgerding says her personal style is more vintage, but the colorful metal jewelry she makes is decidedly modern. The artist: After graduating in 2000 from Savannah College of Art and Design with a degree in metals and jewelry design, Borgerding returned to New Orleans and got to work. In 2006, she…
Through his camera sculpture, Virginia’s John Shuptrine blends his interest in photography with his love of wood. The company/studio: John Shuptrine Art, started about eight years ago. The doctor-turned-artist works in his home workshop in Lynchburg, where he has lived for 35 years. In the beginning: While Shuptrine was in the process of retiring from…
South Carolina’s Susan Lenz uses found and otherwise everyday objects — from buttons and bottle caps to clock parts and curtain rings — in her layered, hand-stitched mixed-media art. The company/studio: Mouse House Inc., a custom picture framing shop in Columbia that Lenz and her husband Steve Dingman started in 1987. The couple live above…
A lifelong athlete, Maryland artist Brandon Donahue collects and repurposes basketballs, footballs and other sports equipment into larger, flower-like assemblages. The artist: The Memphis native graduates with a BS from Tennessee State University (TSU) and earned an MFA from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Donahue now lives in Baltimore, where he works as an…