The Paradigm Gallery at FWMoA
Shop the Paradigm Gallery at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art for fine craft and original art from 60 of the area’s artists and artisans. In Paradigm, you’ll find jewelry, cards, wood objects, ceramics, prints, photography, children’s items, original apparel, stained glass, and countless other unique, handcrafted items at all price points.
FWMoA Members receive a discount on ALL purchases! Visit this page to become a member and see your benefits.
I have always been interested in art and woodworking. My great-great-great-grandfather was a cooper, making barrels for the whiskey he made in Western Pennsylvania. The succeeding generation migrated to Indiana and operated barrel-making factories. White oak trees were scouted and cut to produce barrel staves that were shipped to Cleveland where John Rockefeller shipped Kerosene in them.
My work honors the inherent value and dignity of the feminine, seeing it as a vital pathway to more sustainable living. The feminine tendency to nurture and cultivate is an antidote to the aggressive and ravenous forms of power that order contemporary human hierarchies.
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Creating rhythms, movements and most importantly vibrations of light and color, a painting is capable of evoking an emotional expression unlike the experience of simply looking at recognizable objects. A painting must stand alone, not merely as a representation of an object from the real world, independent of recognizable imagery. Read More
Derek, a resident of Huntertown, IN was born in Fort Wayne. For nearly two decades, he has worked in the medical device welding field.
Derek’s passion for welding extends to his art, where he focuses his attention to detail and cleanliness. He creates animal sculptures by upcycling used cutlery, giving new purpose to discarded objects through welding. You can frequently find him treasure hunting for silverware at thrift stores across Fort Wayne.
Website: Bastianmetalcreations.com
I have been a weaver for as long as I can remember. I am from a small town in Oaxaca, Mexico called Teotitlan del Valle, which was established by Zapotecs in 1465. In my hometown, weaving is our way of life, and our weavings are renowned and admired worldwide for their quality and beauty. My family and I incorporate both traditional motifs and modern designs into our weavings and produce a variety of finished products including rugs, runners, tapestries and handbags. The art of weaving has been passed down through the generations of my family for hundreds of years, and my parents began teaching me to prepare yarn and die fringes when I was 9 years old. I started weaving around age 10 and was able to enroll in a local University and complete my engineering degree by working as a weaver. Today, I am still learning new, more complicated techniques, as well as how to use other types of looms. I am very passionate about weaving and sharing my culture and heritage with others.
I started working in clay during my senior year at Defiance College. After a year of AmeriCorps service, I apprenticed under Steve Smith at 4 Corners Gallery in Angola, Indiana. Since then, I have worked to create and fine-tune my personal line of handcrafted ceramic products. Using an oxygen-saturated electric kiln atmosphere and contrasting glazes, I feel I have produced a line of products that is simultaneously functional and beautiful.
Emily Boller grew up just outside of Fort Wayne on the same farm that was homesteaded by her pioneering relatives in the mid-1800s. In her teens, she talked her dad into letting her paint a mural on one of the sheds, which launched a mural business for many years. While majoring in Fine Arts at Purdue University, under the instruction of the late Professor Emeritus of Painting, Al Pounders, she found her voice in expressive painting. Read More
Geometry is a universal language that I use along with the natural beauty of wood to see the wonders of creation. I am fascinated by geometry in nature such as crystalline structure, honeycombs, spiral growth of shells and especially the carbon-60 molecule aptly named Buckminsterfullerene.
I was fortunate to have a father who is a builder and had the patience to teach me. So I’ve had a passion for building things from a young age. From building forts and helping my dad as a kid to working as a carpenter and my main focus now of making geometric wooden lighting. Most of the pieces I make are based on the Platonic and Archimedean solids. They consist of anywhere between 12 and 180 pieces of wood all cut to precise angles and put together into these aesthetically pleasing geometric forms.
I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy making it!
The history of greeting cards is very interesting and dates to the early Chinese and Egyptians. I remember the joy of creating my own handmade cards as a child. My Grandchildren also love making cards.
I am a Stampin’ Up demonstrator and a recently retired nurse who loves to create cards from stamps, ink and paper. Stampin’ Up inspires my creations with their quality products, allowing my ideas for designs and techniques to shine. I hope to inspire others to bring back the art of stamping and sending homemade cards, by sharing my joy.
Carol graduated from the United States Navy basic training in 1968. After the Navy, she worked as an executive secretary for county government in Beaufort, South Carolina and for defense companies—ITT, Magnavox, and Raytheon here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She served as the Executive Secretary to the President and CEO of the Magnavox Company before transferring to a volunteer career of public service and community involvement.
All art shares the same unique ability to freely express and completely capture purpose. It is its own purpose, with little to no effort. This quality in art opens the artist’s possibilities to an infinite range.
When I was very young, I was given two gifts that have shaped me in ways that, I suppose, the givers would never have anticipated.
Abstract painting is an oddly reflective discipline and one which can have a slow rate of maturity. While style, composition, scale, surface quality, and mysterious content are all important components of my work, I find that color is the most intriguing element. At birth, we comprehend the world purely through our senses, for months or years before we understand language. The presence of color remains a very pure archetypal, abstract experience, one we are able to embrace at a uniquely personal level without a formal cognitive rationale. When we look at a sunset, or the turning of fall leaves, or a Rothko painting, the joy of abundant color connects us to our own personal freedom. Through painting, I attempt to communicate the experience of freedom.
My process involves making numerous watermedia paintings, paper drawings and encaustic monotypes. All are clipped or torn and assembled as collage creating layered abstractions with a hint of a landscape.
Based in Bloomington, Indiana, Enochs has spent his career developing unique sculptural techniques that incorporate both figurative and abstract forms in stone and metal. Numerous influences including the body, the natural world, and Eastern spirituality and culture emanate from his work. With his studio located in his backyard and his close proximity to Indiana’s rich limestone quarries, Enochs is never short of materials or inspiration. His limestone sculpture highlights the innate beauty and intricacy of a stone typically used for building. The myriad of delicate details enlivening their surface allows the natural hues of the stone to shine, from brilliant white to creamy yellow, drawing viewers in and instilling a sense of calm. Over the last 40 years, Enochs’ sculptures have found homes across the globe. His work is included in numerous private and public collections, including the FWMoA’s.
WORN is a jewelry line launched in 2014 by artist Braydee Euliss. Her sculpture background informs both the design and production processes.
I’ll never forget when my kindergarten teacher thumb-tacked my crayon drawing of a robin up on the classroom bulletin board. I’m sure I scuffed my penny loafers on the linoleum floor. I know that my cheeks burned with pride as she held my drawing in front of the class! No wonder that all these years later I am still drawing! Since first holding a crayon, my natural instinct has been to tell a story.
Helen Frost was born in Brookings, South Dakota, the fifth of ten children. She graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Elementary Education and a concentration in English, with Philip Booth and W. D. Snodgrass among her teachers. She received her Masters’ degree in English from Indiana University in 1994. She is the recipient of a 2009 National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship.
Tom has been doing assignment and advertising photography since 1979 as the owner of Galliher Studio in Fort Wayne. His lifestyle photography has been sought out by national advertising agencies and corporations capturing awards throughout his career.
While enjoying the challenges and problem-solving nature of commercial photography, Tom is often provoked to create images outside the regiment of commercial photography. Images that would allow his imagination to express itself through simplicity giving rise to the extraordinary.
Sayaka Ganz was born in Yokohama, Japan, and grew up living in Japan, Brazil, and Hong Kong. Currently, she teaches design and drawing courses at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW).
Capturing clean lines and continuous curves that produce striking silhouettes, strong negative spaces, and distinct profiles around architecture, primarily drives my creative decision making in the studio. Symbolic details used in the creation of religious and royal architecture also influence my wheel-thrown and assembled ceramic vessels. Specific forms of inspiration are Baroque and Romanesque cathedrals, palaces, and other architectural references of Czech Republic and Islamic mosques, that are topped with domes, spires and finials that pierce the sky and reach heavenward. Read More
Kay Gregg’s work depicts the cool, linear, engineered structure of obsolete machines with the chaos of random patter which emphasizes the physical nature of human-to-machine interactions. Gregg explores the haunting nature of physical and intellectual obsolescence as motifs in relation to the idea of hyper-real artifice. Using non-digital reproduction techniques with simultaneous non-linear narratives, Gregg creates meditative environments which suggest the expansion of digital culture during the contraction of the mechanical age.
I was born in San Diego in 1949 and traveled with my Navy family around the states and Japan until graduating from high school in Annandale, Va. I did three semesters at the University of New Hampshire in the Art Department, dropped out to hitch-hike the East Coast a bit, then came to Fort Wayne to go to the Division of General and Technical Studies at Indiana University, receiving an Associate Degree in Commercial Art in 1974.
I was born and raised in Sri Lanka, a little Island known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. Fort Wayne is now my home, where I have lived for the past 16 years.
I am a dreamer! My imagination is always colorful and creative. I have a personal connection with every photo I take. I name them the way I see it and I hope my viewer can make that connection. I enjoy exploring the wetlands before sunrise to photograph the beauty of nature. I also love to travel and indulge in Landscape & Street Photography. Read More
Nuno felting is a new spin on an ancient art. It is produced by applying wool or other natural fibers into fine woven cloth. The wool is then worked into the cloth by applying soap, water, and lots of elbow grease. As the wool shrinks, it works its way into the cloth and creates a lovely crinkled effect. The result is a fabric that is unique, durable, flexible, warm, and light as air.
My paintings are individual interpretations of what I see and feel presented in front of me. My goal is to meld the visual subject matter with the mood, character and beauty I feel. This may require a particular temperature or value in my hues. It may also require an adjustment in my approach to paint application. None of this is established ahead of time. Each scene or subject matter requires me to open myself to what is before me and make it part of me. Only after this is accomplished can the process flow through my experience, my heart and into my hands.
I have been an artist all of my life. While I know this sounds cliché, I think it is true. As far back as I can recall, I remember creatively organizing, transforming and redirecting.
Most of my career was spent working in 2D-graphic design and Realist paintings and drawings. I took an intro to glass workshop and was hooked. While it seems that there would be no connection to my previous work, glass has many similarities. Good design is good design-regardless of medium.
My glass studio-Shattered Dreamz Glass-utilizes traditional and contemporary techniques in fused and stained glass to create functional and non-functional fine art. I continue to learn and apply new techniques to create innovative work. I hope to draw a new audience to this centuries-old material.
I loved the teeter-totter at my grandmother’s in Whitley County. Perhaps that might have been a hint that my life and art might be about balance. I studied at I.U. in Bloomington, Philadelphia College of Art and Purdue at IPFW. My main artistic influences were Robert Godfrey and Walter Ehrlbacher and crafting with my mother and Girl Scouts.
Hook Pottery Paper is the studio and homestead of Jon Hook, clay artist, and Andrea Peterson, paper and print artist. Andrea and Jon have been living their dream in northwest Indiana since 1997. In both of their fields of work and study, they attempt to live in harmony with the surrounding environment. The studio and Turkeyfoot Farm (located on same property ) are completely solar powered. They apply regenerative and sustainable methods on their land that entwines their work and life. Hook Pottery Paper consists of a clay studio, a combined book, paper and print studio, and a gallery shop. Turkey Foot Farm is our son Ry’s adventure is located on the same homestead.
I currently reside in Fort Wayne, where I was born and raised. I studied at the Fort Wayne Art Institute and Columbia College in Chicago. Photography has been a source of fascination and personal expression for me since, my first tiny contact print, made when I was around 15.
Currently my photographic expressions, which I label: “Photo-Collage”. Are created by utilizing my extensive catalogue of images, collected over the years. Using digital tools, I choose from my collection to crop, cut and recombine images to form new ones. There is a fluidity of movement and rhythm to the process, that I have come think of as a kind of “visual jazz”. As the images are moved, combined and layered I look for the combination that strikes a chord within me and then freeze the image in time, much the same as when one makes a photograph.
I grew up in New Jersey. As a teen my parents took me to the studio of George Nakashima. I marveled at the slabs of wood and his furniture. We still have a Nakashima table in our family.
I began my art career as an illustrator in New York City after two years of study at the Art Center College of Design in California and 3 years of life drawing and painting at the Art Students League of New York. Read More
I was born in 1955 and grew up in Huntertown, IN. I went to Huntertown Elementary & Carroll High School. I helped farmers around the area of bale hay. I worked for Phelps Dodge for 37 years & am still working for Rae Magnet Wire.
I was born in 1961, grew up in Huntertown and went to Huntertown & Perry Elementary, then Carroll High School. I’ve worked for Fort Wayne Newspapers for 34 years (+).
One of our experiences when viewing a cityscape or landscape involves depth. In all of my work, I try to include a since of space by finding a leading line (a path or road) which moves the eye back into the distance.
Scale is also important to my paintings and drawing. Reducing my work to a small physical size, I try to remind the viewer how large a building is or how tall a tree appears.
Finally, I always abbreviate the details in my work. By using their memory or imagination, I want the viewer to complete the painting or drawing by filling in those features I leave out.
When I was five years old I started watching a show called McGee & Me. In the show, a boy draws a cartoon character named McGee which comes to life and teaches him valuable life lessons. I immediately started drawing in hopes that my drawings would come to life as well. Unfortunately, none of my work has ever come to life but I have never stopped pursuing art.
In 2015 I started Wandering Press as a means to provide people with an affordable way to acquire and enjoy handmade artwork and as a means to give back. I also knew I wanted to give back with my work which is why Wandering Press is committed to donating $1 from every item sold to providing clean drinking water for people in The Central African Republic through Water For Good.
My paintings border on the edge of abstraction and representation. It is a journey of visual discovery where color is the primary focus and soul of the painting. Read More
My interest in fiber arts really took off in late 2019 when I discovered the historical sewing community on YouTube, but my interest in various crafts like sewing, embroidery and crochet goes back well over fifteen years, when my Mom’s best friend taught me how to crochet at age 6. I’ve been hooked ever since! Read More
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t creating art. From my earliest memories of drawing childish images to every high school art class and eventually earning a BFA from Ball State University and 35 years of teaching art, my passion has never waned.
Ronia Marie loves art. She expresses her love of natural materials and color in practical ways. She makes wearable and usable art. She pours her soul into everything she creates. Her jewelry designs are fun and rich, while her Shibori-dyed scarves are intricate and intriguing. She works from her 100-year-old farmstead that she shares with her husband, seven sheep, one goat, two alpaca, a dozen chickens and one very lovable dog.
In pre-industrial traditional societies, everything was made by hand, by craftsmen and women. In those times art was the means by which the mind of man flowered into consciousness. It provided the symbols and rituals through which man and his community made contact with the infinite reality as it is witnessed existing behind the process of history and nature.
Painter and photographer Rick Lieder’s art has appeared on award-winning novels ranging from mysteries and science fiction to books based on the X-Files TV series and Newberry Award-winning books for children.
Glass is a magical substance that captivated me from a young age. From finding antique bottles in a creek to bending glass tubes over a flame in my chemistry sets as a young boy. The antique art glass that I saw in the 70’s when my parents owned an antique store got me into being the craftsman I am today. The joy of formulating my own colours & shapes in such a medium is challenging and fulfilling. I work in a studio I built myself including all of my equipment.
I grew up in Oberlin, Ohio, and pursued degrees in Business and in Black Studies/African Art Aesthetics at Amherst College, in New England. While my business pursuits took me to NASA to develop technology, I never stopped thinking about those African textiles. Although I trained as more of an art historian, a few years later I taught myself to paint on a computer. Digital, to me, was the future platform for art and I wanted to work with the newest art creating technology tools. And so, it began….
As an artist, I am obsessed with confronting and interrogating humanity’s evolving relationship with computers. Each of my works stands as a proof that we, humans can extract art from a computer without ceding artistic control to one.
The themes I touch on are urban and technological. My cultural expressions pay homage to African aesthetics as well as to the modern city aesthetic, its energetic and geometric style that punctuates so many of our urban centers today. I was voted a best emerging artist award winner in 2008’s Chicago Art Open. In 2009, I won a First Prize in an international poster design contest organized by The Olympia F.U.N. Co-op. Today, my work is used in eLearning platforms and is widely viewed on social media.
Creating a pendant engages not only my hands but my mind as I problem-solve design and construction issues. I love everything about creating pendants: from the initial design work, through the multitude of production steps, to the final polishing of the metal.
While studying abroad in Yogyakarta, Indonesia I came to understand a different idea of space and identity. When I returned, I heard a ringing. My refrigerator sounded like a gamelan orchestra of subtle bells, drums and gongs filtering through my space. Sounds, smells, and sites affected me differently than before going to Indonesia. I felt the layers of experience and memory affecting my perception. I realized how layers of past experiences overlap the present, creating different masks of meaning and how one small smell, sound or color can transport one’s experience of being. Read More
Karen Moriarty’s award-winning paintings are represented in galleries, group and solo shows, residential, medical and corporate collections throughout the country. Her large oils have dominated her last few years of work and recently she began working on metals. She maintains a studio in downtown Fort Wayne.
Classically trained, Moriarty majoring in painting at the Fort Wayne Art Institute before living in San Francisco for several years. Returning to Indiana, she worked in contract interior design, illustration and graphic arts and later studied at Indiana University with esteemed painters Audrey Ushenko and John Hrehov, before starting her painting practice.
My background in architecture influences my exploration of form, volume, space and material.
Whether functional or non-functional, I attempt to display truthful representations of the unique characteristics of the incorporated materials.
When working with clay I appreciate its ability to become a static record of how it was manipulated in its fluid state.
I have enjoyed photography as a hobby on and off since the mid-70’s. I recently decided to come out of retirement and embrace the challenge of rekindling my creative activities. The Natural Abstractions book is the result of that effort. The process of creating the book taught me many new skills, one being how to restrict the view to make common items or scenes into fascinating abstractions.
My name is Gaby, and I am the proud owner of Momo Studio!
My background is in engineering, and I worked in this field for over 7 years. Engineering was (and will always be) a big part of me, but the fire that clay lit within me was undeniable. So, I now work for myself full time!
At Momo we say “Give a girl the right pair of earrings and watch her conquer the world” applying the famous Marilyn Monroe phrase about high heels to the earring world. We wholeheartedly believe this to be true.
Ales Pancner is a full-time artist living in Indiana. He was born in Europe and studied at LSU under professor Rudolf Kubicek, followed by additional private studies under Academy professor Pavel Vavrys. Ales received an art degree at Belohorska Art School in Prague. He was winner of the prestigious UNESCO art competition in Paris 1989 and the Pinacoteca De Estrado in San Pablo – Brazil.
Eran Park is the owner of the Glass Park in Fort Wayne, IN. He has been blowing glass since 1999. Eran has spent time learning and working with glass in Grants Pass, Oregon. With about 16 years of experience, Eran now owns his own studio where he creates ornamental glass and teaches others to do it, too.
I see the artist as a creator. We take raw material and transform it into objects that hold aesthetic significance, creating beauty from virtually nothing. Despite my critical eye, a sense of wonder emerges every time I cast my first gaze upon a finished piece. The object I hold in my hand today was nothing more than an idea and a pool of molten liquid yesterday.
Handmade Ceramic Art Handmade ceramic art with an emphasis on form, design and color can best describe Pelka Ceramics, a husband and wife team. I, Joseph, am the sole designer and creator of ceramic art while Kathleen manages the business.
Hook Pottery Paper is the studio and homestead of Jon Hook, clay artist, and Andrea Peterson, paper and print artist. Andrea and Jon have been living their dream in northwest Indiana since 1997. In both of their fields of work and study, they attempt to live in harmony with the surrounding environment. The studio and Turkeyfoot Farm (located on same property ) are completely solar powered. They apply regenerative and sustainable methods on their land that entwines their work and life. Hook Pottery Paper consists of a clay studio, a combined book, paper and print studio, and a gallery shop. Turkey Foot Farm is our son Ry’s adventure is located on the same homestead.
Stephen Michael Perfect is a photographic educator and studio owner whose teaching, lecturing and workshop experiences are varied and extensive, spanning a period of four decades.
During his photographic career, Stephen’s work has been widely exhibited for many years throughout the United States and abroad. His images are as varied as the techniques available to him, ranging from carbros, photographic intaglio embossings and small intimate landscapes printed on hand-sensitized watercolor paper to bold non-objective color abstracts and digital.
I make functional pottery. While my approach to ceramics is naturally rooted in utility, some elements of my work do stray from the basic definition of utilitarian. The pots I make are typically meant for use on a regular basis and I strive for my work to have a healthy balance between aesthetic and utility.
At this point in life, I am not making any huge claims through my pottery. I am focused on producing well-made and informed pots. I intend my pottery to reach and be appreciated by a wide audience, while also appealing specifically to an informed audience.
My forms draw inspiration from objects, structures and pottery that I find interesting and exciting. Industrial forms, various types of architecture, hardware, contemporary ceramics and historical pottery inform my studio practice. My goal is not to let a single one of these influences dominate my aesthetic, but to have a blend of elements that communicates a familiar yet elusive feeling to the viewer.
The Hands Behind the Clay.
I began my artistic journey in 2009 by attending the Columbus College of Art & Design, where I earned my BFA in Fine Art focusing in ceramics and small scale metals. Following graduation it wasn’t financially feasible for me to continue creating jewelry, so I dove hands first into clay and have been playing with mud ever since. In the years following graduation I taught art, restored art, and served in the non-profit arts sector as a grant maker, but always had a desire to create full-time. In 2021 I decided to take a chance on myself, forming Glazed & Confused Creations pursue my craft as a full-time career.
Having been born and raised in Florida, my work is heavily influenced by the colors of the island and Caribbean, while my designs are inspired from both the Art Deco and Art Nouveau eras.
“I have done my best to leave beauty and the ugly behind and just make art. I have chosen abstraction because I have found it, I believe, to be a good path to the unexpected and ultimately just to the pleasure of seeing.”
Michael Poorman is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Fort Wayne. He began drawing around the age of four and has never stopped. High school brought him a Scholastic Higgins Ink Art Award in New York and, upon graduation, he was awarded scholarships to the Fort Wayne Art School and the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis. He later made his living making drawings for architects, engineers, contractors and developers. Over the years, Michael has honed his drawing and painting skills and pursued his love of art. He has exhibited in many venues locally and has work in several private collections nationally.
I am interested in the concepts of chaos and order. Therefore, I find myself intrigued by the ways in which we humans try to order the chaos of our world through the use of language or numerals. I believe our desire to name and number everything stems from the need to feel that we are in control of our world, albeit illusory.
I use an electric potter’s wheelset upon a stand so that I can throw each of my ceramic pieces from a standing position. The handles on my mugs and pitchers are pulled by hand. My plates and bowls are trimmed by hand.
As a mixed media and mosaic artist, I enjoy uncovering a masterpiece in the broken, discarded, or unused pieces of daily life. My artwork is inspired by the hidden or modest splendor of the earth around me. Using slate, marble, stone, stained glass, ceramic tile, smalti, and other repurposed and found objects, I focus on the beauty of the element itself. I then strive to highlight its color, design, or other understated detail with relevant pieces. In my realistic work, the same materials can be used to produce a convincing representational piece.
Currently, I am captivated by the natural and subtle allure of slate, stone, and marble. It is quite breathtaking to discover and build a relationship with a piece and call attention to the textures and movement that can be observed. Much of my art is created out of assorted sizes of slate and marble previously utilized as roofing or flooring.
Our work is a representation of east meets west in concept. Coming from an Indian tradition of gemstone jewelry, we use architecture, art and cultures for inspiration. Our patron and the love we get are our driving force for our jewelry designs.
Sloane Jewelry Design is made in Indianapolis, Indiana by husband and wife team Sloane and Andres Hijar. Our jewelry begins with sterling silver and 14k gold filled wire that is cut, shaped, soldered and finished in our home studio. Each design is dainty and versatile, and we only utilize materials that withstand daily wear.
I think of myself, not as a poet or artist, but as one who responds to the beauty of color, and uses it to express feelings of love and loss.
Bill Steffen grew up in Indiana his entire life. His first experience with woodworking was in high school.
Ralph Stuckman was born on a farm near Bucyrus, Ohio. He has been highly influenced in the ceramic arts due to these early experiences with nature.
Born- Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
Early Education- in the Niagara-On-The Lake Region
High School (grammar school) in Sutherland UK
2 years at The New York School of Art in Toronto
3 years at York University Fine Arts Program
It’s pretty evident that I tend to live in an “improbable reality.” I do enjoy creating images, that while plausible, are unlikely. To evoke a reaction is the intent. Whimsical, unsettling, enigmatic, silly, melancholic, uplifting…and hopefully (a little bit) profound. As both a traditional painter and a digital artist, I endeavor to bring those disciplines into play when producing my images…whether my 40 plus years as an album cover artist or for my own personal/gallery artworks.
The Art Farm is the home and studio of the husband/wife creative team of Lisa Vetter & Paul Siefert. They are best known for their found object functional art and jewelry. Their philosophy that life is art translates in the mixed media assemblages and jewelry they create for both love and money. They have spent much of the last 9 years restoring their 1860 farmhouse and studio building.
Vivasmith stands for the last names of its founders Deborah Vivas and Melissa Smith. It means forgers of life – adequate for the couple, as one carves her way with metals, while the other facets her way with gemstones.
Deborah is a multi-disciplinary designer with a background in architecture. She approaches her designs through order, color and form. Her current work displays a combination of metals, which she fuses like a painter mixes colors on a palette. Mild steel is her canvas, which gives each piece structure and definition. Fine gold, fine silver with hints of copper are her color choices.
Melissa is passionate about gemstones and approaches her faceting by bringing out the natural beauty of each stone. In some cases, she showcases the gems inclusions, which she believes adds beauty and character to the design.
Both Deborah and Melissa are dedicated to sustainability in their studio and believe that playful and interesting jewelry does not need to sacrifice elegance or ethics. Each piece can reflect a commitment to finding balance with the environment that provides our resources.
I believe, within us all, there lies a strength that helps us to remain whole, intact and above all balanced. My wall pieces and sculptures are influenced by my own reflection of human struggles and the need to achieve balance. By stretching the legs and body, my figures depict the great lengths humans can be “stretched” yet still maintain the power to overcome the odds and achieve the near impossible.
The birds are present to sing a song of encouragement. Like the birds, we too can rise above our frail appearance, draw strengths from within and remain perfectly balanced in mid-air.
Jim Williams holds an MFA in Book Arts from University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and teaches in the Art and Design Department at Purdue University Fort Wayne.
I have been a professional artist for about 40 years, working almost exclusively in wood, creating fine art furniture, sculptures and mobiles. This stainless steel is new for me and gives me the opportunity to create objects that can be used inside as well as outdoors. Serendipity played a large role in this whole journey with stainless steel: I was browsing through a metal recycling center one day and found a roll of stainless steel ribbon. I instantly knew where I wanted to begin and had confidence I would end up someplace interesting. These mobiles and stabiles are where this journey has brought me so far.
As an artist and artisan dedicated to the alchemy of color and creativity, my work revolves around the meticulous craft of handmade watercolor paints. Each pigment I mix is a testament to both tradition and innovation, blending ancient techniques with contemporary artistry.