Family-Influenced Woodworker Thinks Outside the Keepsake Box
When Valerie Berlage was a child, the older generation strongly influenced her creativity, and in real time. That’s why she named her woodworking enterprise Lauraine…
Spring Forward by Learning Your Denim Terminology
T.S. Eliot said, “April is the cruelest month,” and we assume he was talking about tax deadlines or late snowstorms. But maybe the poet…
Painting from Life is Not the Life this Painter Wants
You won’t find Jane Schmidt’s car parked at a Blue Ridge Parkway overlook so she can perch behind an easel, painting a mountain sunrise….
Portrayals of Crowds Brought this Painter to the Foreground
Ursula Gullow is thinking big. One wall of the small studio in her home is covered with canvas; a step stool set nearby allows…
Controversial Classical Fresco Won’t Need Cherub Wings to Take Off
Haywood Street Congregation, founded in 2009 by Rev. Brian Combs, welcomes everyone, especially those living on the fringes of our society — the homeless…
This Studio is to Dye for
After running her business from a warehouse full of shared makers’ spaces, Jessica Kaufman, a woman with a knack for teaching crafts and a…
Practical Potter Would Fire any Pieces not Making Themselves Useful
“It’s very organic,” Julie Covington says of her business’ growth. Years spent at Phil Mechanic Studios in the busy River Arts District meant she…
Pastelist Knows the Road to Peace is Paved with Good Intentions
Elise Okrend’s canvases are far from private. They’re on daily display for thousands at a number of major hospitals, including locally at Mission in…
Metal isn’t Heavy Anymore Once the Wind Hits It
“I’m a self-taught artist who has felt my way through the process,” says Pam Holthouser. She also spends “way too much time” feeling her…
Archaeologist Turned Artist Listens to Chairs and Understands Kudzu
Studying anthropology at the University of Arizona, then working as an archaeologist for the forest service in California, Susan Alta Martin was intrigued by…