Puppeteer Moves Audiences with Deep Craft from the Dark Side
byEdwin Salas’ beginnings as a puppet maker happened through need, not creative dabbling. “When I was an orphan child, I lived with my grandmother,…
DEPARTMENT
Graffiti-Loving Woodworker Would Never Make Anything Undercover
byNeil Carroll doesn’t see much artistic difference between painting and folding clothes. Or making furniture and baking cookies. “My approach is the same,” he…
It’s Not Hard to Spot the Beauty in Oil Painter’s Voluminously Layered Works
byOne of the enduring features of Highlights children’s magazine is “Hidden Pictures,” detailed drawings that invite young readers to look closely and find cleverly…
Maker in Every Medium Became Intoxicated with Alcohol Inks
by“You could say I’m well rounded,” says Nancy E. Richards. “Or you could say I’m a dabbler.” Since the ’70s, Richards has experimented with…
Main Street Proprietor Leaves the Light on for Dozens of Local Makers
by“Opening a gallery was not on my radar,” admits lamp designer Leah Baker, who founded Artisans on Main in January 2017. “In the end,…
Looks Mean Everything to this Late-Career Sculptor
byBack in 2001, during Bill Holmes’ first pottery class, every other student in the room was making bowls. Holmes, however, was more ambitious. He’d…
Instagram-Propelled Illustrator Sometimes Decelerates to Analog Collage
byIllustrator, collage artist, and graphic designer Holden Mesk landed his first big commercial contract in 2017, for Divvy Up! Socks, while completing his last…
Uncompromising Great-Grandmother is Still Raising the “Real”Art Scene
byIn 1991, artist Connie Bostic opened Zone one, downtown Asheville’s first contemporary art gallery. For about a decade, the space was a vital creative…
Chair Maker Doesn’t Take the “Life as Art” Idea Sitting Down
by“Art isn’t just the stuff we make,” declares Pedro Esqueda. “It’s our whole life.” He’s proof positive of that, as his work expands into…
The Characters She Creates are Literally Full of Themselves
byGrowing up in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Karen Hawkins often found herself exploring the depths of her creative imagination in the woods…