Bethany Boyd- I am an artist who uses realism and surrealism together as I see fit in order to create pieces that I find stimulate my imagination. I am fan of fantasy and use my work to delve myself into a world that could change at any moment.
Often times I begin with a simple idea of an ordinary subject, such as a landscape or flower, and use color to twist it into something that goes beyond simplicity. Other times I attempt to use a realistic view of an object that is typically not actually real, such as dragons.
Kelley Broadaway- KjDesigns- She makes earrings and pendants of polymer clay,wire, or fused glass; wrap bracelets, hair accessories, sun catchers, and Christmas Ornaments
Denise Cooper- My work is Poetry on canvas. My written words spoke to me in color so I began to paint my poems on canvas November 2006. I was inspired by three volumes of poetry I self published and am currently sold out. The colors right outside my Florida window motivated me to create in bold color, my mothers paintings in the later part of her life encouraged me to speak a lesson she taught me so long ago. To read aloud, to project my voice clearly. I took that to mean creatively not mere enunciating. So I painted my poems, eager to see the faces, and emotions expressed through my literature. I began to submit for art shows. My first two art shows in Jacksonville, Florida. The Women’s Center, and The Lavilla Ritz Museum. I was accepted for both shows only months after my first paintings. Ridiculously ecstatic I began to exhibit by invitation and submission on a regular basis. I felt at home. I was also invited to join a group of local Lakeland artist that I dubbed the Local Famous. We met weekly and exhibited regularly.
I still consider myself a southern folk and urban Florida artist, self taught, hungry, motivated and inspired by beautiful black people, the sea breeze, palms, and flowers in every color imaginable. My art like my heart is open. Moving to Texas or like I usually say, Big Texas has given me a different delicious perspective. Unlike seeing green 365 days of the year, I have been moved by the browns, grays, and natural hues that provide foundation for the colorful spirit I own. I can’t wait to let Texas take over me on canvas. I’m ready.
Carolyn Ellis-14 years ago, after a lifetime of living in major urban areas, we moved onto 26 acres in rural Texas. With virtually nowhere to go in our area, aside from Walmart (20 miles away), I was essentially forced to become a homebody.
Since I had no interest at all in raising vegetables, canning, making cheese, baking bread, etc., what eventually happened is that isolation drove me to rediscovering creative energies I forgot I even had!
In 2011 I tried my hand at abstract painting, something I hadn’t done for over 30 years. To my surprise and delight, I right away discovered that I still love to paint. Art On!
carolyn ellisart on Etsy
Cindy Fuqua- Hand thrown pottery , the horsehair pots are individually fired the pot is pulling from the kiln at 1200 degrees horse hair and feathers are placed on the hot pot and it burns into the clay.
https://www.facebook.com/Cindy-The-Potter-244294829077591/
Cheryl Hicks- Cheryl Hicks is an artist and writer working in East Texas out of Gallery 211. Her art has been shown across Texas and in New York, and has appeared in Cella’s Round Trip, Anti-, Missive, Granny Smith, Blue Print Review, Down in the Dirt, Scissors and Spackle, Creative Soup, and many other publications. Her mixed media work was featured at the Fort Worth Contemporary in 2008.
Hicks is currently working on a series which combines her love of words and art. It is titled, “I Just Don’t Read Like I Used To,” and is created by cutting books into strips of text and collaging them to create an image. The series is a commentary on the impact pop culture and technology have had on our experiences with literature.
Hicks’ art is heavily influenced by pop culture and often involves elements of collage, plastic, text, and other found objects.
cherylhicks.weebly.com
Julie Howard-I find that my identity is literally submerged in the beauty and concept of water as it pertains to being a symbol of life. My artistic goal has always been for my art to be an expression that, hopefully, invokes emotion within the viewer. My inspiration comes from personal observations of water and how water can give life while being that which can also take life. It reflects beauty while sustaining vast amounts of beauty.
A great deal of my work involves women reflecting my grounded sense of strength in the fluidity of the liquid and how it can compare so eloquently to the female gender. Women are better in recognizing expression of emotions, the very thing I am hoping to invoke. The female advantage in emotional recognition becomes even more apparent under conditions of rapid stimulus presentation. Hence the water and it’s play.
Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge yourself into it, you must allow yourself to feel its caress. Such is life. Water is not solid, so it will not stop you nor will life itself. However, water goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Over time, water can wear away stone. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does. Any one individual has the power to persevere or stop living. Live your life and be who you are…like water.
Organicpastels.com
Jessica Lisby- Almost Classy- Almost Classy designs was established in 2011. I began by making custom aprons, journals and hair flowers. I then branched out to my current obsession of reimagining unwanted broken jewelry into a piece of art that lasts a lifetime when I ran across a box of vintage broken watches at auction and discovered my love for taking old, broken, and unwanted jewelry into one of a kind designs that last a lifetime. My first jewelry creation was a Blue Eyed Owl made from a broken vintage pocket watch and clip on earrings. I’ve made over 50 one of a kind owls to date, and they continue to be one of my most popular items. I do not limit myself to any type of style and NEVER recreate any of my pieces. I offer a lifetime warranty on all of my work. My work ranges from Steampunk, Bohemian, Western, Mid Century Modern, Geek Chic, Retro Inspired and beyond. Almost Classy has been featured in local papers, blogs, magazines, and now worn by celebrities. You can currently find Almost Classy online on my facebook, in local boutiques, and at various festivals around East Texas. Almost Classy designs are a one of a kind conversation piece and I can help you find the perfect piece for your collection and your personality!
Melissa Loyd- As a child, I started drawing my fantasy pony, and of course it had a horn and wings. By the time I was in high school, classmates were paying me to draw their teen crushes. My engineer Dad asked me what I would do for a living. I said “I’m and artist Dad”. He repeated that often. At 20, I was accepted into my 1st art Gallery. I had made it! Until I found out how much the framing cost on watercolors, thus starting my picture framing career.
In 1998, my life changed with an accident leaving my right hand temporarily paralyzed. I could have convinced myself the art dream was done. Instead, I picked up sidewalk chalk, teaching myself how to draw again, I continued in pastels for a decade.
All those years, I had never attempted oils until asked a defining question. “Are you a framer that does art or an artist that does framing?” Receiving an oil set by accident was all it took. With each piece gives me more confidence and love for this medium.
My years of framing have given me knowledge in stains and finishes. I heavily gesso a board, roll it and sand it to give it a smooth yet textured surface. I don’t cover my drawing but instead glaze over it using a combination of alkyd, oils and wood stain. It gives it a watercolor look with the depth of color that only oils can produce. Finally, I use a heavy paste wax to seal it. It gives it a luster and feel that catches the eye.
www.wildlillieart.com
Kerian Massey- When I paint, there’s a spark that glimmers in my thoughts. The idea ignites and then immediately needs to develop into something before it evaporates into thin air. When I have an idea, I go on a quest for references feeding the fire in my brain. From there I paint for days at a time with little stopping until it’s finished, because if I stop I risk losing it all to a half finished canvas. (An artist’s nightmare.) So I don’t stop (or I try not to, anyway.) As I move at a feverish pitch my artwork starts to embody the feeling I had at the moment of it’s conception. I used vivid colors but cannot confess to favoring a certain one, ok, maybe red, as I love and use them all. I veer far from black in shadows unless necessary. It dilutes the intensity of my vision. I’ll use my fingers to blend colors, tips of paintbrushes to pull color away, anything to get the desired effect. Not only do I want people to see what I felt, but feel it for themselves and find familiarity with it. I want them to laugh, snicker and yearn like I do. But I don’t want my art to define it’s self entirely to the viewer or for me to define it. It’s like telling someone how to feel when they hear a beautiful song. You just don’t. Sit back, take it in and be receptive, you’ll get it, if it’s your thing, if not that’s cool too.
Gale Mase- An art professor once said to me,”Ugly can be beautiful”. I have learned that everything that touches life becomes a part of the fabric of existence. Sometimes the images are ugly, sometimes beautiful. These multi-media works of art are metaphors of past experiences, people and myself. I accept my life each day, both ugly and beautiful, just as God accepts me, imperfect from the beginning. These images represent my ugly,my beautiful, and my truth with, “Disciplined Disillusionment.”
Sylvia Morse- Sylvia Morse local ceramic and small metals artist will be on site doing copper enameling demos all day. She will have an assortment of handmade wire wrapped jewelry for sale. Be sure to check her and her Facebook page, “Smooch-a-Licious Jewelry Designs” out. She’s awesome!!
SmoochALicious-Jewelry-Designs on Facebook
Joe Pirog- Joe Pirog loves dirt, not the gossipy kind, but the earth kind, more specifically the kind of rich clay soil found in the rolling hills surrounding Ben Wheeler, Texas. Joe is a ceramic artist, and his love for the medium from which he molds his one-of-a-kind pieces has taken him on a long journey before he finally arrived at the place he now calls home.
As a child growing up in his home state of Pennsylvania and, later, in New Jersey where Joe’s parents moved when he was fourteen, Joe recalls, ”I always played with mud as a kid”. He pauses to reflect and adds, “but it was my ceramics teacher in high school who really helped me become enthralled with the process of taking something shapeless and watching it become something intricate and beautiful. He had a kiln at his home, and he would let me come and work there”.
After graduating from high school, Joe completed a stint in the military in Panama before returning to the States to attend Rutgers University, where he continued to pursue his work with ceramics while receiving an undergraduate degree in English literature. Realizing that his true interest was in continuing his work in ceramics, Joe pursued his Masters of Fine Arts at Kent State, where he studied with internationally-renowned ceramic artist Kirk Mangus. It was during that time that he first became enthralled with the Japanese concept of ‘wabi – sabi’, which loosely translates as “the art of imperfection.” He was also highly influenced by the American Studio Craft Movement, which was embraced by notables such as American woodworker George Nakashima, and Artisans associated with the movement believed in utilizing hand production methods and rejected mass production. Later, as Joe continued to expand his artistic horizons, he also began to incorporate the techniques employed by ancient Greek and African cultures into his work. However, he continues to be heavily influenced by the works of Japanese artisans, especially those whose works are associated with the natural ash glazed kilns of Japan, where the wood fired process contributes to beautiful, natural coloring formed during the firing process .
However, when asked what his greatest influence is, Joe smiles and responds immediately, “Authenticity!” He explains, “I believe that an artist’s work should represent not only the pre-conceived notion of the artist, but should also reflect the natural materials where the work is produced.” That is how he made his way to rural Ben Wheeler, Texas. “ I went online and researched the different types of soil and clay in areas throughout the country, and discovered that the area surrounding Ben Wheeler has exactly the type of clay deposits that I’ve been searching for. The pieces that I produce here reflect not only my artistic view, but also are an integral part of this land, its people, and its history, and I’m pleased to be a part of it.”
Lisa Rush- When anyone asks weaver and leather artist Lisa Rush how she became interested in creating art with fabrics, she responds “I think I’ve always been a tactile person. I don’t like working with cold, lifeless items – – for example, metals. I like the textures of the different types of fabrics that I use. It feels as though I’m working with something alive, something that slowly unfolds and becomes a new representation of what it once was.” Smiling, she adds, “And I really love to see people wearing my art, not simply hanging it on a wall and looking at it.”
Lisa’s work has had many influences, beginning with that of her mother, who gave Lisa her first sewing machine at age eight. In addition to teaching her how to sew, Lisa’s mother also taught her the now vanishing arts of crochet and embroidery. As a teenager, Lisa recalls, she and her best friend began making their own halter tops and leather pants in high school – – “always as tight as possible”, Lisa laughs.
As an adult, Lisa realized that she was drawn to ancient arts, and spent time traveling throughout the United States and Mexico, first acquiring advanced leather-making skills from Navaho tribesmen. “I would go to Indian powwows and, as I was working on creating a leather handbag (one of Lisa’s trademark items), one of the older women would approach me and say “No, no, there’s a better way to do that!” With each powwow, Lisa recalls, “my skills with leather became more polished.”
As her interest in continuing to explore skills that have been passed from generation to generation increased, Lisa added weaving to her repertoire. “That all began when I found an old wooden loom in a Dallas market, and I was hooked”! After moving to Merida, Mexico, she traveled extensively throughout Mexico and Central America, seeking out those who could teach her the intricacies of taking the raw threads and weaving them into her own designs. At one point, Lisa actually owned four alpacas – – “the perfect source for raw materials”.
Today, although the alpacas are no longer in residence, Lisa has two looms set up in her Ben Wheeler studio, where she also continues to weave her artistic designs and create her leather wearable art.
When asked what is next in her exploration of the ancient arts, Lisa smiles as she considers the question. “I don’t know the answer right now, but I know that I want to be a part of preserving these incredible skills for the next generation of artists.”
Patrick Russell- Born and raised in Van, TX, I grew up in a pretty standard working class family, playing sports, building forts and riding my bike around town with my friends. My father worked in the oil field and my mother worked at the Baptist Church down the street. I first took to drawing when I was young, doodling on the offering envelopes and forcing my mother to draw horses for me during the Sunday morning sermon.
Blake Waymire- Blake Waymire or (B.J.) enjoys traditional artwork. He loves capturing the human face with realism. The mediums he uses is graphite, charcoal, and prismacolor colored pencils. His favorite being charcoal. Recently he has dove off into using acrylic paints. He is devoting his works to God through a ministry called “Revelation 3:20”, a Bible verse he heard the night of his salvation.
Jill & Ryan Willingham- Jill & Ryan Willingham have both been creating art since they were children. They have both turned this passion into their profession. Ryan is the founder of WillyArt.com and veteran High School Art Teacher, at Arlington HS. His photo-realistic style of drawing is amazing. He has been creating original commissioned pieces and selling prints, stickers and magnets for 15 years. Jill, a former Art Teacher, fell in love with Art in High School and has been sculpting, painting, photographing and drawing ever since. They live and create together in Arlington with their two beautiful daughters. This will be their first year at the Junebug Summer Fair.
Steve Willis-
Deb Wood– My current photographic work is determined by my vision of which I would describe as Contemporary Pictorialism. It may evoke feeling, mood or atmosphere. Through my use of a glass infrared filter in particular, I create stylized and idealized depictions of the physical world and aspects of nature.
Though my process in producing these images has moved from analog to digital, I use the same traditional photographic principals, lenses and glass filters to capture my images. I then process the negative digitally using photoshop and print them myself using archival pigmented inks on photographic papers and fine art media.
The Forge Bar and Grill, Ben Wheeler, TX 