Felter’s Fake Animal Heads Look so Alive that Real Dogs Attack Them
Haley Nocik studied at Sante Fe University of Art and Design, concentrating on oil painting. But she dropped out to do animal-conservation work in…
Flights of Fancy are Rarely Ever So Direct
Cleaster Cotton explains that her first name rhymes with “fiesta,” and her Winged Narratives paintings have an animated folk-art quality about them that clinches…
He was Swept Away by Front Porch Epiphanies
Andrew Goodheart Brown says he was initially attracted to broom making when he realized he could create something beautiful and, at the same time,…
She Penciled in 30 Years of Drawing Time
Teresa Pennington is a colored-pencil artist who renders exquisitely detailed drawings of Western North Carolina vistas, flora, and fauna. For more than three decades,…
This Former Model Knows How to Dress Up a Painting
Asya Zahia Colie is a figurative, portrait, and abstract artist who divides her time between Asheville and her native home of Provence, in the…
Custom Millinery for Alpacas (and other tidings of comfort and joy)
Melissa Thomas, proprietor of the West Asheville botanical boutique Flora, designed this regal headpiece for alpaca Harriet, who made an appearance at a wedding…
How to Outfox the Pressures of Art Making
Some of Andy Farkas’ work is inspired by stories he’s written or told to his daughters. But despite their folkloric quality, his prints…
Interior Designer Discovered an Animal Attraction to Ceramics
Jean Greeson comprises half the team at Asheville firm Greeson & Fast Design. Her four-decade career as an interior designer has required loads of…
One-Man Factory is Continually Stoked for the Next Project
Josh Copus is a successful ceramic artist, and, with his wife Emily, a commercial flower grower (she’s their company’s head designer). But he refuses…
For a Healthy Relationship, Let the Kiln have the Last Word
Shawn Ireland’s exciting partnership with clay involves struggle and surrender. “It challenges me … but being open to where it will take me keeps…
A Realistic Impressionist Knows How to Color All the Bases
He was only nine when he saw the original Star Wars, back in 1977. But instead of being mesmerized by the aliens, creatures, and…
Making Mandalas Means Spiraling into Control
Wendy Barnes grew up in Montauk, a small fishing village at the tip of Long Island, where her father was a charter-boat captain and…
If You Cut Your Own Hair to Make Paintbrushes, Nothing will Get in Your Way
Olga Dorenko was born in Uzbekistan. “My father was in the military, so we moved around a lot, from one end of the country…
Conflict-Free Diamonds are a Jewelry Designer’s Best Friend
Lauren Moody wears a necklace made from a sliver of meteorite. It’s her everyday piece. When she smiles and stretches out her hand for…
When You Grow Up in Paris but Discover Art in the American South …
Frederic Payet is a self-taught painter whose palette-knife works are impressionistic with a signature, secret vibrancy. Born on the island of Madagascar, Payet was…