Hilarie Lambert

” I love the whole ‘process’ of painting – it’s the pieces, the color, finding those
abstract forms, then finally standing back and seeing it all work”

Joan Milligan

Joan Milligan confidently creates a world of light and space by painting  on location.  She captures the surprise of sensation and the magic of color of everyday life that surrounds her.  Art News says, “Joan Milligan has moved beyond conventionalities while retaining some of the fundamental virtues of the academic."  Milligan received her MA from Stanford University.  

Jo Ann Geisel

“With equal enthusiasm, I enjoy painting landscapes, still life, and the figure.  Painting landscapes en plein air is endlessly fascinating due to the discovery of beautiful locations, the careful, constant observation that is required and the challenge of adding one's unique perspective.  Drawing and painting from a live model, capturing his or her mood and energy through line, and color is a joyful, intriguing experience. Studio painting also has its special advantages and is where I compose and complete most of my work. Teaching provides another venue for personal learning, and sharing knowledge and appreciation. The combination of creating art, teaching and learning from other artists has provided impetus for artistic growth and development.”

Herman Leonhardt

"Blown glass is a hot and exciting medium in which to work. The challenge of infusing glass with color and shaping it
to match your imagination is invigorating. Glassblowing is a process of evolution the creating of each piece is as important as the finished piece. The end result of taking a cooled piece out of the annealer, seeing the true color, and feeling the glass in your hands for the first time is quite a rush!"

Wayne Trapp

For nationally celebrated sculptor and painter Wayne Trapp, beauty and rapture are inherent primal needs which he demonstrates in his art as well as his life as an artist in the mountains of North Carolina. Trapp's ink drawings illustrate his command of figurative art and his ability to distill the essence of the human form with a few well chosen lines that dance across the paper.

James Kerr

James Kerr has been exhibiting oils nationally for over 35 years.  He has developed a broad, colorist approach to painting, working in a direct manner, utilizing properties of light and pigment to establish form, along with space and color variation. North Carolina native, Kerr currently lives and works in Florida.

Margo Balcerek

Margo Balcerek, a native of Poland, is a painter passionately interested in garden, landscape, and plants.  Educated in landscape architecture, she finds a perfect outlet for her passions in painting.  Margo possesses an unmistakable style of her own.  Her works are a sublime mixture of reality and abstraction.  Captivating control of light, stunning color schemes and composition are constant elements of her canvases.  She mainly paints in oil on canvas, however sometimes explores different media. 

Cal Breed

After years of studying the beauty of the ocean and its life and almost finishing a degree in Marine Biology at Auburn University, Cal’s heart was burdened with the need to be expressive with his hands. Bowing to that burden, he began to study the arts. Having such a quiet demeanor, he sought for a material that inherently spoke boldly and clearly. In 1994 Cal found glass – first in assembling stained glass windows and finally to glassblowing.
After years of study, Cal opened a private studio and gallery, Orbix Hot Glass, atop Lookout Mountain in northeast Alabama. Today, Cal leads a team of glassblowers who hand-craft each piece with great attention to form, balance and color. The goal—to make honest, excellent work that someone would invite into their life.

Mike Rooney

Rooney recalls an early interest in art, remembering drawing and painting as a child. A native of Alexandria, Va., he studied art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., before joining the armed forces.

Alan Cayton

The artist states, "I am always searching, always trying to give through my work, wanting to share with others, and finding fascination in the work of other artists. I believe a work of art has beauty and value when the elements of the composition achieve a harmonic unity through the actions of the artist. The struggle of the artist to always go further in this pursuit enriches the work with a spiritual value."

Chris Groves

     After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a B.F.A. in Environmental Design, Groves spent the next ten years as an art director for two large companies, all the while continuing to study and hone his fine art skills.
     He has studied at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy, the Colorado Academy of Art, the Loveland Art Academy, the Cottonwood Art Academy and the Denver Arts Student League. He also enjoyed a private, two-year mentorship with artist Jay Moore, which he considers a turning point in his artistic career.
     Most recently, Groves was chosen to paint full, life-size portraits of the 10th and 11th circuit Bishops of Colorado.

Colleen Black-Semelka

Raku is a Japanese term which refers to a type of ceramics made by techniques characteristic of 17th century Japanese ware. The term Raku implies ease, pleasure and spontaneity. The Raku firing process is relatively quick by ceramic standards and results in rapid chemical changes. It is these rapid changes and implied definition of Raku that North Carolina ceramic artist, Colleen Black Semelka has focused on in her work..

Louis St. Lewis

North Carolina artist Louis St. Lewis recognizes that to understand the present, you must know the past.  His works are a pointed reminder that myths are the stories of our quest through the ages for meaning and truth; and that mythology can provide clues to the problems and issues we face as a society today.  For St. Lewis, mythology is the guidepost in his own search for answers; and while each work makes clear reference to the source from which they are drawn, the stories are rescripted  to satisfy his own fantasies and interests.

Stephen White

Stephen White, a North Carolina painter, was initially inspired to paint female figures by a favorite model, Marian.  She left such an impression on Stephen that he has created a career for himself by continuing to paint stylized figures based on Marian.  His work has a distinct quality, making it universally recognizable.  The work of Stephen White is instantly recognizable by a signature motif:  the pale face of a woman with large, dark eyes and lots of elaborately coiffed hair.

Greg Fidler

“The familiar essence of glass is derived from a manufactured utilitarian need. Processes in hand forming glass undermine these attributes and in effect give my work purpose. It is my desire to produce sculpture that communicates progression while paying respect to traditional processes and their survival in the present. My ideas owe more to natural forms and my deference for the material than to consciousness obscurity.”

David Harlan

David Harlan fulfilled a life long dream by moving to Santa Fe twenty years ago to become a full-time painter. He has now relocated to Arizona.  Harlan’s impressionistic landscapes, rich in color and texture, are reduced to certain simplicity. His compositions have emotional impact that cuts across many categories of definition.  As a landscape painter, he feels he has a lot of freedom to interpret, but he thinks his basic responsibility as a painter is to reflect not only what is there, but to go beyond.  The going beyond is the emotional impact - how light alters shape, casts shadow, brings up detail, and gives definition.

Jenny Lou Sherburne

            I believe that life is a gift.  Making pots is my way of celebrating and maintaining this belief.  The creative process forces me to listen to my intuition. This in turn provides me with clues about how to live my life.  The cross-fertilization between by life and work nourishes both as I strive to establish for myself and communicate to others a world view full of wonder, curiosity and joy.  My inspirations range from garlic cloves to onion domes, from the Isle of Crete to the Land of Oz, from Antonio Gaudi to Doctor Seuss.  Vigor, humor and beauty are everywhere and I try to put that into my pots.

Jaquelin Perry

Perry states, “Although I have had no formal art training, I was lucky to be raised in a large family with a mother who painted and also with great exposure to the arts and all kinds of creativity. I feel so blessed to live in beautiful eastern North Carolina, and hope that each painting is a new experiment with color and design, as well as a different interpretation of our wonderful landscape.  I absolutely love to paint, and hope that I convey that happiness with every painting I complete.”

Henry Link

Turning to the lands surrounding his North Carolina home for inspiration, Henry Link creates often large-scale oil on canvas paintings rich with the colors and subtleties of nature. From mountaintop vistas to the farmlands of eastern North Carolina, Link's works surpass illustrative realist depiction and convey to the viewer the lively exuberance of the North Carolina landscape.

Henry Link has a Bachelor of Arts and an MFA from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

Marilyn Stover

Marilyn's hand built clay forms now include coiled clay baskets. She incorporates natural accents such as cedar or grapevine handles with beads and feathers in her baskets. Combining "products of nature" with clay vessels provides interesting contrasts and satisfies Marilyn's desire to use more than one element in her work. Stover splits her time working in North Carolina and Michigan.

Beth Greene

2009 recipient of the Heritage Award of the NCSU Raulston Arboretum Birdhouse Competition.