Artist Statement

I have always been inspired by nature and the different seasons that bring the change of colors with them. Flowers are the primary influence for my artwork. My artwork is made from stoneware clay that has been thrown on the wheel, altered, and staked two or more forms. Carving petals, leaves, or other plant life to the surface adds visual movement and is enhanced using multiple glazes to create the array of colors. My pottery is functional, and decorative, but yet simple and elegant.

Artist Biography

Beatriz Quinonez-Czwakiel is a Mexican-born artist who is currently completing her B.F.A. concentrating in ceramics at Nicholls State University in Louisiana. Her influences for her work portray nature by using leaves or flowers to decoration functional pottery. Flowers in particular because they come in many shapes, sizes, and colors, so no two flowers are the same as no two pots are exactly the same. The forms are thrown on the wheel then altered or stacked, but they are simple and elegant.  Carving a specific type of petal on the form defines the type of flower the pot will become. Leaves or vines are added to the base to give it more texture.

Artist Statement:

My life revolves around birds. They are remarkable creatures, each possessing unique physical traits, behaviors, and personality quirks. I wander the world trying to meet as many different species of birds as I can so that I can paint them. My goal is to render both the story of my own experience meeting each bird as well as the spirit of the individual bird in the painting; to that end, I only paint a bird after I have encountered it in the wild. I hope that my paintings share the personal joy I derive from watching birds and invite the viewer to delve deeper into the fascinating lives of these winged creatures.

Biography

Christina is a wandering bird artist whose life dream is to meet and then paint 10,000 different species of birds. She has always loved animals and has been drawing them since she could hold a crayon. After discovering the world of birding as a student at Bard College, she decided to dedicate her artistic practice to painting birds as a way to fuse her love of both the arts and sciences and to help teach and inspire others to discover the world of birds. After graduating in 2014, she founded her own company, “Drawing 10,000 Birds” as both a platform to promote her own art as well as the bird art of others. Since then, she has traveled across the country and across the Equator looking for birds. While not birding or painting birds, Christina works as an environmental educator, helping teach people of all ages how to experience the natural world through both scientific observation and through art.

Her work has been exhibited in recent wildlife exhibitions, including “Drawn to Nature” at the Audubon Center at Mill Grove, Pennsylvania; “Birdland and the Anthropocene” at the Peale Museum, Baltimore; and at a solo show entitled “The Universal Language of Birds” at the Ucross Foundation Art Gallery, Wyoming. Her artwork has represented the New Jersey Audubon World Series of Birding and the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. She has been a featured artist at the American Birding Association, and will be the first guest artist at the New River Birding and Nature Festival this May.

Artist Statement

As a lifelong admirer of Georgia O’Keeffe’s work, I have utilized some of her approaches in my photography. I was not necessarily a floral photographer until I started photographing them with a macro lens. It was at this point that I fully understood Ms. O’Keeffe’s philosophy, “I have painted them big enough so others would see what I see.” Although all of my images are not shot with macro, I began to strive to make them large. Photography gives me the advantage of minute detail in their structure that I find fascinating. My goal is to couple the sensuality of this structure with an appealing, but bold aesthetic.

Artist’s Statement

Emily Weber’s conceptual focus has changed over the years.  Her past work focused on immigration and the idea of home.  Her current focus is on the human impact on our natural environment.  She questions mankind’s current path and seeks to show the destruction that is created by our choices.  She also believes her pieces will show the resourcefulness animals have in a human environment, and how our intrusiveness doesn’t stop natural instinct.

She also sees the natural beauty the world has to offer.  The world is not just chaos and devastation but peace and splendor.  She captures the small, unseen moments that deserve an audience.  Her media is in painting, photography, and sculpture, but her main focus is working with metal and barbed wire.  She is currently working on a new series called “Blooming Bondage.”

Biography

Emily Weber is a Chicago based artist with an interdisciplinary background in two dimensional and three dimensional media.  She is a graduate student of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a degree in Fine Arts.  She has worked as a studio assistant to prominent Chicago painter Margot Bergman.  Working with Mrs. Bergman gave Emily a strong studio foundation that she now uses in her own practice.  She is currently a full time conceptual artist.  She is working on expanding her diverse portfolio which includes drawings, paintings, ceramics, fibers, photography, sculpture, and metalwork.  Her work has been displayed in Chicago and the surrounding areas.  In 2018, she was accepted into two shows where she has won an honorable mention for her sculpture, “Home Sweet Home” and a finalist for a recent painting, “Untitled.”  She is currently working on a new sculpture series called “ Blooming Bondage.”  When she’s not working in her studio you can find her traveling with her long time boyfriend Brian or relaxing with their cat Bear.

Artist Statement

I have always liked how jewelry can be represented on the body, but I have always felt that I can influence the perception of how people look at jewelry on the human form. Recently, I have been influenced by the style of Baroque art. I use baroque styling to convey my feminine ideas and emotions throughout my art. Some of the design elements of the Baroque period had a delicacy and richness that allow me to present my strong feminine feelings. Yet, another aspect of my art can be personally drawn to the abstract representation of flora and fauna due to myself growing up in an environment near the mountains. These inspirations that I choose to show, allow me as an artist to represent my inner most thoughts. This personal insight continues to motivate me to keep pushing the idea of how jewelry can be represented on the body.

Biography

Hsuan Chang (Eva) is a professional metal arts jewelry designer who was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1993. In 2013, she decided to leave her country to expand her creativity by immersing herself in Western culture. She started by going to the New Westminster Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada. After that, she earned a Graduate Gemologist Certificate from Gemologist Institute of America, Carlsbad, CA. Finally she received her BFA from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA in 2018. While she was there, she was selected three times to participate in the annual juried spring show.