Artist Statement:

From an early age, Jenifer Thomas felt a need to express herself artistically. She is continuously exploring various forms of visual media. She considers herself a student of life, of the arts always captivated by new techniques and materials.

Expressionistic in nature she relies on feelings, impressions and life experiences as motivational themes for her work. A storyteller at heart, she incorporates calligraphy, images and symbols with a textural quality to impart visual information to the viewer.

Her mixed media artwork has been recognized internationally in Art Doll Quarterly magazine. She is available for workshops, private classes and commissioned work.

Artist Statement:

Hi! I am a Puerto Rican artist living in Atlanta, Georgia. Acrylic painting & mixed media are my passions. I love to capture the character and essence of my subjects by using decisive and bold brushstrokes.

I also enjoy making mixed media steampunk shadowboxes. These are made with found objects such as vintage watch movements, skeleton keys, and metal tidbits.

Artist Statement:

I have been working in clay for the last 20 years, beginning with the wheel but quickly moving to handbuilding. I love the freedom and unlimited possibilities of non-functional pieces and am drawn to forms which express something unexpected.

BIO

Judy Birnbrey Robkin is a native Atlantan whose work has been shown in galleries around the Southeast, including the RaifordGallery in Atlanta, Bellagio in Asheville, NC, and Off the Wall in Santa Fe, NM. She has worked with a variety of clay techniques throughout her career and is currently immersed in

a project entitled "Ladies (& gentlemen)," a series of intricately handcrafted ceramic women and a collection of whimsical men in bowls. Judy launched the arts program at the Weber School where she taught drawing, painting, sculpture and photography. As a ceramics instructor at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina, she taught hand building, Raku and other firing techniques.

Revealing the personality that is hidden under the headdress or behind the shawl, I attempt to unearth the simple yet elegant woman emerging from the clay. Just as our lives are textured by time and experience, layered through joy, love, loss, and surprise and colored by world events and personal experience, so too are my "Ladies" - textured, layered and colored.

I use a range of stains, glazes, underglazes, and oxides through multiple firings to build up the color and enhance the marks and textures embedded in the clay. I rarely start a piece with a specific face in mind. For me, the excitement begins as I see the personality emerge from the clay and culminates when the viewer identifies with an individual "lady."

Artist Statement:

Jennifer became interested in fused glass art when she wrote a feature news story on glass artist, Patti Quinn, owner of Aurora Radiant Glass Art. Patti invited Jennifer to create a fused glass plate with her… and later offered her a job. Jennifer worked with Patti in her studio for over a year before she moved full-time into education.

In 2011, owner and glass artist, John Phillips, reintroduced Jennifer to fused glass art at Fire and Light Glass Studio. In 2012, at the encouragement of friends and family, she applied to her first juried art show and was accepted.

“I love how the glass medium is such an excellent metaphor for the human condition. Just as we can only reach our potential when faced with the fire of life’s trials and tribulations, fused glass must be fired in the kiln to become what it never could be without it. The real beauty and potential of the glass is only revealed through the fire! Sometimes the glass doesn’t come out of the kiln the way we expect, but just as life does not always go the way we expect or end with our mistakes… glass can always be reworked… and sometimes those unexpected outcomes can turn into the impetus for inspiration and creation of artwork more beautiful than originally conceived!”

Today, Jennifer lives in Mt. Airy, Georgia where she is the owner of Jennifer Benson Glass Art. She continues to develop her glass skills, seek new challenges, and create glass art and artisan pieces for beauty and function.

Artist Statement:

As a sculptor, I began working in wood during my college days and found the texture, versatility, and auroma almost hypnotic. I loved working with wood but did not discover turning until a chance project for a charity propelled me into learning to create art from turned pieces of wood. My very first project was a chess set which sold at auction for $350.00. The second project, a table with four turned legs was the hook that grabbed me and I have been turning ever since. i might add that the table is still in use in my kitchen and is a constant reminder of my woodturning journey.

I love creating platters and bowls with an enhanced rim and texture design. In the past few years I have been working with faux metal paint techniques that enhance the terxtural elements in my pieces. It is often difficult for the untrained eye to detect the difference between the faux and a real metal surface.
Hollow forms are also a favorite subject in my work. I carve and texture these pieces and experiment with surface embellishments using a variety of texturing tools. I create many tools for texturing from broken or damaged tools in my shop.

As a wood artist I truely love making turned art. Unlike working in the typical office environment, I can look around at the end of the day and see that my time has been spent creating something satisfying and beautiful. This gives me great joy and I hope that I can share that with you.

Artist Statement:

Born to survivors of the Armenian Genocide, Adrina Richard is a first generation American whose upbringing was immersed in the rich combination of two cultures, the near east and the new world.

Growing up, Adrina was surrounded by artists, her father was a professional musician, her mother, and many female members of her family were experts in sewing, crocheting, and knitting — as well as culinary arts.

Both an avid and lifelong collector of ceramics, Adrina was enticed into the world of creating pottery by her best friend. In 2004, nearing the end of her 35-year career in higher education, Adrina made her first pot and she never looked back.

Clay has become Adrina’s passion. She has participated in numerous workshops, experimenting with techniques, forms and methods, developing a style of her own. Full of textures and impressions, Adrina’s work is evocative of her fascination and love of ancient arts, which have surrounded her throughout her life.

Adrina has worked as an artist-in-residence and studio assistant for many years at MudFire Clayworks & Gallery in Decatur, Georgia. She has also participated in numerous regional shows and exhibits work in several regional galleries.