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…
In college, Atlanta fiber artist Leslie Wilson developed a unique process to create her silkscreened and embroidered designs. Artist: Born in Macon, Wilson graduated from Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) and later worked as a textile designer in the Georgia carpet Industry for Mohawk Industries and UK-based Ulster Carpets. A full-time artist, Wilson…
North Carolina sculptor Aaron Alderman uses a technique he developed of drawing in space with round-stock steel. Artist: Alderman grew up in Brevard, NC, and still calls it home. After graduating from Brevard College, he went to work with his college sculpture professor, Tim Murray, as a teaching assistant. He also helped Murray produce a monumental…
In Charlotte, Bailey Schmidt paints floral vases and tablescapes that are colorful, whimsical and graphic. The artist: Born in Michigan, Schmidt grew up in Charlotte, NC. Always artistic, she took classes over the years and started to pursue an art degree at college, but found it wasn’t the right fit. Schmidt moved around in her…
Richmond-based artist Kiara Pelissier has long been fascinated by the magical and transformative nature of glass. The artist: Born in Mexico, Pelissier grew up in Connecticut in a multi-generational family of artists. She later graduated with a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and earned an MFA in Craft and Material Studies at Virginia…
Jessica Singerman incorporates her love of nature and the outdoors in her abstract paintings The artist: Born in Maine, Singerman grew up in Davidson, NC, and in France, where she enrolled in her first figure drawing class at age 15. Her family moved back and forth between the United States and France for her dad’s…
A self-taught polymer clay artist, Baltimore’s Amy Blair designs playful, patterned jewelry inspired by her travels and a curiosity about different cultures. The artist: Born in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted when she was three months old, Blair grew up in Baltimore. She studied jewelry and metals for a few years at Towson University before…