Our Members
Cloudy - Fran Davies
Dr. Sahar Aghasafari is an Assistant Professor of Art and Graphic Design at the University of South Carolina Lancaster, specializing in fabric design, graphic design, and interdisciplinary visual/media arts. Her work integrates visual and media arts with STEM disciplines to enhance student learning, creativity, and success. With more than 20 years of experience, she combines traditional and contemporary approaches, emphasizing typography and interdisciplinary design in her teaching. Passionate about innovation and inclusion, she pioneers educational practices that empower students to excel in a rapidly evolving world.
Mary Archambault is a juried artist in painting and photography exhibiting art at the Charleston Artist Guild Gallery, where she currently serves as Gallery Co-Director. Originally from New York, she moved to Charleston since 1988. A lifelong creative and self-taught artist, Mary favors painting in watercolor and oil, using her photographs as references. Following a career as a clinical pharmacist, Mary devotes her time now to art and travel. Favorite subjects include flowers, landscapes and nature from the Low Country and Adirondack Mountains. Memberships include the Charleston Artist Guild, Mount Pleasant Artist Guild, North Country Arts, Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council, Women in Watercolor, American Watercolor Society, and is a Signature Member of National Association of Women Artists.
Patrice Boyes, who wields a palette knife to work acrylic paint in the abstract tradition, is a Pennsylvania native who moved to Tampa, Florida in the late 1970s, and then Gainesville, Florida in the late 1980s. She studied under numerous private teachers as a child, including her artist father, and later studied under Dennis Akin at Dickinson College in the mid-1970s. After a detour into two careers and family, she returned to the easel with a passion for abstract expressionism inspired by nature and the built environment. Her works have been displayed in solo exhibitions and group shows, and are in private collections in Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Jill Bright lives on a farm near her native town of Hahira, Georgia.
Her interest in art began with photography, which she still enjoys. Her first entry in Valdosta's “Spring into Art” exhibition earned an Award of Merit for her photograph of Nutt, her Brittany Spaniel.
Jill is a nature and animal lover and many of her works features pets, livestock and wildlife. All of her works feature brilliant colors. “Like most artist, I paint my surroundings. I do it in color.”
On the difference between painting wildlife and people, Jill says, “I found that I like painting expressions, whether an animal or a person; it begins with the eyes.”
Her other interests include cooking, skeet shooting, and social and duplicate bridge.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, Rose Cofield has studied sculpture at New York University, New York, NY and received a grant for Apprenticeship at the The Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture, Mercerville, NJ (USA). The Atelier Apprenticeship Program is designed to guide the student in the art of sculpture-casting through foundry work, class work and work on their own art. She also taught sculpture workshops through the South Carolina Arts Commission’s “Artist in Education” program.
Instagram @cofieldrose
Peggy Demarest
Peggy Demarest is a visual artist based in Conway, S.C. Her most recent work centers around the female form and experience, using recycled and found materials to create figurative abstract sculpture that tells a woman’s story. Her processes include layering, wrapping, and tying. Peggy earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts, with a focus in drawing, printmaking, painting, and sculpture, from SUNY-Potsdam and a Master’s of Fine Arts in sculpture from Mason Gross School of the Arts - Rutgers University. She has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in New York, New Jersey, and South Carolina, and her work is featured in several private collections.
A Carolina artist, author, and illustrator, Lisa’s style of “Connected Collage” artworks are categorized as hand-built assembled watercolor and mixed media. Her artistry merges time and nature in subjective spherical symmetry. She exploits the dynamism of universal connectedness using a splash-factor bath of randomized color. Each color-board is unique in its evolution, relying on interactive properties of water, paint, temperature, and moving air. Ultimately, each painting is pressed under heavy glass adhering all layers of cut-torn paper into its final artwork form.
She earned an MFA in writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA), intersecting her creative aspirations with exceptional organizations in FL and SC. All Carolina Folktales, her author-illustrated picture books deliver young and ambitious readers wild, exhilarating adventures: Little Orange Honey Hood and Three Wild Pigs (USC Press, SC) and Haskell & Greta (Quantum 8 Press, LLC).
Her artistry has been afforded platforms for teaching workshops and exhibition in galleries, fairs, festivals, literary & art events, shops, and shows. Countess Couture Art of the Carolinas of Quantum 8 Press, LLC, is her studio art and publishing company. She lives near the coastal Carolinas border with her fun-loving husband enjoying a sun-filled landscape threading yesterday, today, and tomorrow together.
Art has been my best and most loyal friend since I was a child. It encourages me to explore and challenges me to learn and grow in skills, perseverance and patience. When I was a student in college the ability to draw realistically provided me with a sense of pride and accomplishment, but as I've grown and matured, I am developing an interest in moving past representational works to more impressionistic, personal approaches. I love experimenting with different mediums and I choose the media and process that best helps me express my feelings about a particular subject.
Marie is a contemporary, realistic watercolor artist, also working in collage. She has signature membership in NAWA and the Georgia Watercolor Society. She has won numerous awards in local, national, and international watercolor competitions. Her work has been published in Artist’s Magazine and in the 2023 Splash: Best of Watercolor magazine. She lives and works in rural Wilkes County, Georgia.
Joyce Erb is a lawyer turned oil painter who has made her home in Charleston since 2014. She grew up in Annapolis and graduated from the University of Maryland and law school in Boston. She lived and worked in the New York City area most of her life. She was “one of those people who couldn’t draw a stick figure” until a health scare prompted a pivot from the law, and learning about art became an important outlet. When she ultimately was able to develop her own skills. Joyce took advantage of the vibrant art scene in Charleston to study intensively with successful oil painters. She is endlessly inspired by the Lowcountry landscape and the historic downtown and has recently taken an interest in figurative painting.
Sheila Grabarsky recently had featured paintings in Willliams Sonoma catalog and had seven paintings selected for the Hollywood movie American Pastoral. She was recently interviewed for “A Night In The Art Gallery” on NJDiscover cable TV and wrote a published back cover testimonial for a book of art/poetry entitled Leaves of Absence by Sally Brown Deskins, published in February 2016. Sheila is a seasoned, classically trained, national award-winning artist who has worked and exhibited across the U.S. for over 35 years in corporate, educational, commercial, and healthcare venues as well as museums and online. Her work is in numerous private and public collections and is currently represented by Beauregard Fine Art, Rumson, NJ, Boxheart Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, Lori Austin Fine Art, Sebastopol, CA and ArtWorks Gallery, Cedar City, UT as well as online at UGallery.com, Zatista.com and CharlotteFineArt.com. She is also represented by Elizabeth Sadoff Art Agency, Integrated Art LLC, Artists Circle, MD.
Her extensive creative practice centers on use of detailed drawing combined with handmade and found objects fabricating evocative assemblages which recall her formative years in rural Tennessee interwoven with the fullness of contemporary life. The Intricate fusions of common items enhanced by aged surfacing and underlying message, for her, offer the most possibilities for cherished communication of the difficult expressions of the heart. McCune holds a BFA, MFA and has received numerous awards for her artwork and her teaching. Her exhibition record is substantial, featuring exhibitions in museums and galleries across the United States and overseas, and collections of the State of South Carolina; the Asheville Art Museum; the American University of Paris; and the Hunter Museum.
Leslie Hamrick is a figurative, mixed media artist who embraces exaggerated forms, strong lines, and texture. Her gestural line work belies her contemplative approach, guiding the viewer through her methodical process. Earning a BFA from the University of Kansas and an MA in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Leslie practiced as an art therapist for several years before raising her family. Coming back to her own art as an empty-nester, she uses pieces from her past to inform current work, incorporating old artwork and narratives into her collages. She embraces the physical act of making art as a therapeutic outlet, focusing on process as much as the end product.
After working in the corporate world of advertising for 15 years and licensing my illustrations to the surface design and stationary industry, I am focusing on fine art.
I have recently become mesmerised with the science of pouring acrylic paint. I may approach the canvas with an idea in mind but ultimately the chemical reaction is out of my control. Sometimes it matches what was in my head and sometimes it does its own thing. I then go back in with the water imagery leading the way. I like that the eye is drawn into the swirls and pearls in the water background making it the main subject.
Monica Iversen’s artistic journey began in her father’s studio, where she first learned the techniques of realism. Her painting blossomed under his guidance & continued as she honed her skills at the Shuler School of Fine Art, MD along with private instruction from international artist Lee Alban. Inspired by the the Dutch Masters, Monica’s oils are vibrant expressions of color with a sense of nostalgia & complex storytelling. Admirers see her work as reminiscent of Rockwell & Dali, where the familiar meets the surreal. Despite pursuing a career in graphic design & marketing, Monica felt the call of her artistic passion, spurred on by her partner, David. Five years ago, she made the decision to commit to her craft full time, a choice she describes as the best she’s ever made.
Because she was an architect in her career life, Carson's design process builds upon her knowledge of the history of art and architecture. In her studio, she awakens her heart, flourishes her creative spark and spontaneously plays with color. Every time she got laid off from her architecture jobs, she picked up her paintbrush and has painted seriously for years, winning awards in venues in the United States and internationally.
Francie is an Augusta, Georgia-based artist whose professional art career began in 2018 when she picked up her pencils after a long hiatus. She works in multiple mediums including acrylics, graphite, watercolors, colored pencils, oils, and oil pastels, creating brightly colored portraiture and abstract artworks. She creates art that is inspired by musicians and artists who have influenced her life since childhood. Favorite visual artists and influences include Peter Max, Andy Warhol, and Keith Haring.
Francie has recently been juried into multiple group exhibitions in the Atlanta area and is currently creating bodies of work for an upcoming solo show. Her work can be found at the Art on Broad retail gallery in downtown Augusta.
I was born in Lima, Perú and raised in Northern Italy. After graduating from high school, I moved to Los Angeles where I studied interior design at Skadron school of Business. My work has been seen in numerous exhibitions in South Carolina and beyond.
Selected exhibitions include
(2024) - Coming up a solo show at Circle Pack Gallery, Charleston; 135th Anniversary Year of NAWA, Hollis Taggart Gallery, New York;
(2023) - 701 CCA South Carolina Biennial, Columbia, SC; Shanghai International Paper Art Biennial, Guangzhou, China; Piccolo Spoleto Art Exhibition, Charleston, SC; 36th Annual McNeese National Works on Paper, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA;
(2022) - ArtFields2022 , Lake City, SC; Piccolo Spoleto, Charleston, SC
Ruth McCully
After a rewarding career in occupational health and safety, Ruth McCully found her passion in photography. She has been creating images for more than a decade. She focuses on botanical, landscape, and abstract photography. Her focus is on the interplay of light with the subject or landscape. Her images have been selected for exhibition at the SE Center for Photography, the PhotoPlace Gallery, the SouthxSoutheast Gallery, the Georgia Nature Photographers Association’s Stand in the Foot Steps of Ansel Adams exhibit, and Joseph A. Miller Abstract Photography Exhibit. She is a member of the Society of Bluffton Artists, Georgia Nature Photography Association and Carolina Nature Photographers Association.
Wife, mother, caregiver, and corporate business manager: all titles that have described me – up until now. Art was a therapeutic hobby squeezed into chance free moments here and there. For over 20 years, I taught myself through books, YouTube and by studying the works of “real” artists. In November 2021, I moved from Boston to Savannah, GA and, for the first time, began to describe myself as an artist – a “portrait sculptor”. This vibrant community is a wonderful, almost magical, place to be an artist. The Telfair Museums Friends of African American Arts invited me onto its Board of Trustees. Five of my sculptures earned my juried entry into the National Association of Women Artists in New York as a Signature Member. In February 2025, the City of Savannah selected me to create a bronze bas-relief portrait of its former mayor, Dr. Otis S. Johnson. It is an honor and quite heartwarming to have become so strongly welcomed and sought after in this great world of art.
My goal is to produce work that speaks, that inspires, and that powerfully moves the viewer.
Born in Augusta, GA in 1954, Lillie Morris began her formal her art training at Augusta College in the 1970’s her instructors included Freeman Schoolcraft, Nathan Bindler and Richard Frank. Other significant influences in her ongoing study have been Jim Lyle, Carrie Burns Brown and Bea Kuhlke. Lillie specializes in abstract art, mostly non-representational. Her paintings, whether collage, acrylic or a mixture of mediums reveal a love of texture, color and experimentation. Richly layered and with her own vocabulary of gestural marks and linear elements, Lillie strives to convey the emotional impact of her source of inspiration...be it the landscape, music, poetry or deep personal experiences.
My lifelong artistic goal and focus is endangered animals and to bring them to the attention of the public - how the environment affects not only the natural selection of a species, but also how the human use of their territory impacts their survival, because the two are part of the same circle. They have thrived or not thrived, depending on how people protected, abused, or even limited their habitat. I study wildlife in their natural habitats so I can get a feel for their personalities, not just their anatomy. Their personalities are extremely important for me to be able to give my sculpture a unique attitude.
“I hope that when you look at a piece of sculpture it would engage more than one of your senses. And personally, I hope it would bring a smile to your face.”
My collection of vessels and fabrics serve as my inspiration in creating still life compositions that are intensely dramatic. On occasion I borrow vases, bowls, plates from friends’ homes and purchase new pieces if they appeal to my sense of style. A vessel can be center stage in more than one canvas. This collection process begins the treasure hunt that sets the mood for my canvases. Pattern and rhythm, especially stripes and polka dots begin the tabletop dialogue. A walk around my property adds more props such as citrus, flowers, succulents, weeds or branches. Local color, the shape of the objects, and patterns are orchestrated to appeal to my compositional theory. Objects are arranged and rearranged, and then I study the shadows cast by the sun coming through my studio windows. Then a quick sketch and ready to begin the painting process. This lasts until organic objects die and then I just skip reality and paint from the heart. You have realism and abstraction.
I was born in Mankato, Minnesota and lived in many areas of the United States while growing up. As young adults my husband and I made Tulsa, Oklahoma our home where we raised our two daughters. In addition to painting I enjoy playing the piano, reading, walking, yoga, and traveling.
Born in Ilhéus, a coastal town in the Northeast of Brazil, Selene Paschoal spent most of her time enjoying the tropical outdoors. Today she is a textile artist who is inspired by the world around her, especially by nature. Her art creation journey started in 2018 when she was searching for a more creative outlet that would give her enjoyment and a sense of accomplishment. Fabric is something Selene has been working with for most of her life. Attending a fabric collage class was the turning point in her journey. She learned how to look at fabric as the medium to create art. Her artistic approach is mostly intuitive with a constant awareness of color combination and contrast. The use of strong colors is a direct influence of her Brazilian heritage.
Self-Taught Gullah Folk Artist
June 2007 - Present
Owner of Gullah Art By Renee, LLC.
Member of the National Association of Women Artist-2018
Listed in Guide to American Artist “Self-Taught, Outsider and Folk Art” by Betty-Carol Sellen
Art on permanent exhibit at Brook Green Gardens, “Gullah Geechee Garden” entrance at Myrtle Beach, SC
Much of my work exists where tradition meets personal. As I create, I’m reminded that there is a long familial tradition of women who came before me, stitching and creating. From their whispers, I find the very foundations of my art.
I began my career as a textile designer in the home furnishings industry and today my work "reinterprets the patterns and textures found in function-driven objects such as quilts and baskets as dreamscape imagery that straddles the line between figurative and abstract." My work is exhibited at many galleries across the Southeast.
I am a juried member of the NAWA and a Certified GOLDEN Artist Educator. My book, Acrylic Expressions, and 4 instructional painting videos published by Random House are available at major retailers and online at Amazon.
Brittany Taylor-Driggers
Brittany Taylor-Driggers received her BFA in Drawing with a minor in Art History from the University of South Carolina (2006) and her MFA in Visual Arts from Union Institute and University, Vermont College of Fine Arts (2009). A native of South Carolina, she lives and works in Lancaster, SC with her husband and three sons. She teaches art and art history as an Assistant professor, and Director of Campus Collections and Galleries at the University of South Carolina Lancaster.
Born and raised in New York City, Zalisko was encouraged by her parents to pursue a career and practiced law in the northeast after graduating from Fordham University School of Law until moving to Florida in 2004. Zalisko remained immersed in NYC’s rich visual and performing arts, studying art whenever possible at several NYC and Florida universities, and in private study or workshops. She continues to enrich her artistic practice in university classes, travel, residencies and fellowships.
Zalisko’s work is regularly included in exhibitions and private and public collections in the US and abroad, and numerous museum exhibitions.
Earline Allen
My preferred painting medium is acrylic which can mimic the thick, lushness of oil paint, as well as the fluid transparency of watercolor. Utilizing both characteristics is visible in my work. I don't feel constricted by any technique if it allows me to express the meaning that I wish to convey. My paintings speak of energy, the life force, and my search for understanding the ultimate mysteries of life and death. The spontaneously, painted marks eventually construct images that reflect significant personal meaning. This "meaning" is made tangible by utilizing abstract patterns suggested by the ritual of creation. The blank canvas becomes "life" by impulse and intuition. I allow these forces to guide me into a unity of mind, space, and time. I view my painting as songs without words. They can be understood by (listening) with the eye and heart.
Christine Blyth is a Charleston-based contemporary abstract painter working primarily in acrylic. Her intuitive, process-driven paintings explore the interplay of color, gesture, and light through layered surfaces and expressive mark-making. She is a member of the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) and a Signature Member of the Charleston Artist Guild. Blyth’s work has been exhibited in juried shows including the Piccolo Spoleto Festival at City Gallery in Charleston and featured in Charleston Style & Design. Her paintings are held in public and private collections.
Exploring the human condition, our stories, and how we treat each other is Judith Carlin’s continual theme. Carlin wants her art to have an impact on the world: to inform, reflect, and evoke strong emotions. She strongly believe in the power of art, that a work of art can make a positive change in the world. In Carlin’s own words, “We're living in strange times and as an artist I feel the need to address that. I'm trying to paint our world with a compassionate and empathetic eye. I have many things to say and I feel like I'm writing with paint.”
When Carlin paints, it's not a physical reality she’s after but an expressive and emotional one. The people in her paintings are depicted at a heightened moment in their lives. Carlin wants people to look at the men and women in her paintings and see and relate to their fellow human beings. The hope is that someone will look at this work and come to a greater understanding and appreciation of how wonderful and diverse we all are in our shared humanity.
June Compton
A native of South Carolina, June “Sam” Compton, now at 77, has always had a love of the outdoors and nature, with an insatiable appetite for collecting natural and found objects in the environment. Objects that eventually find their purpose and way into her dynamic compositions. She is a very diverse mixed media artist and a highly respected retired art educator. She pursued early studies with a degree in fiber arts that influenced the beginnings of her mixed media art.
She has exhibited her work in one person and group shows throughout South Carolina, and in Georgia, Tennessee and New York. Her practice spreads throughout the community participating in yearly events, and teaching workshops for adults.
For Annette Crosby, all roads lead to Valdosta, Georgia. Her enthusiasm for her life there is evident in her energetic personality, immersing herself fully in home, family, community, and art. She grew up in Valdosta, went through all levels of school there, including college at Valdosta State University, and lives there now in the same home where she and her husband raised their three children. From childhood to now, she has consistently been an artist, her forms and techniques shifting and maturing to shape the established artist she is today. She earned two degrees, a BFA in art education and a MEd in Elementary Education. She has garnered awards in regional and national juried competitions, exhibits in invitational solo and group shows.
Based on John’s Island, SC, Julie Byrd Diana is an award-winning painter and third-generation photographer known for her vibrant, high-texture style. Specializing in impasto impressionism, she builds thick, tactile layers of acrylic using palette knives and bold brushstrokes to bring coastal scenes to life. Her creative process bridges both mediums; the strong perspective lines and natural light captured through her lens serve as direct blueprints for her dimensional canvases. Deeply inspired by the history and culture of the Lowcountry, her work has been featured in regional media and public art installations, including "Art on the Half Shell." An active figure in the Southern art scene, Julie’s expressive paintings and evocative photography are collected by patrons nationwide
Rosemary Giusti Dillon is a Visual Artist currently living in Charleston, SC. She is originally from Massachusetts and has lived in Connecticut, Southern California, Kentucky and in the Philippines. Her travels have informed her Art. She studied at the Philadelphia College of Art, and later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Connecticut. As an artist, she is always excited to explore new mediums. She is a painter and sculptor. Her work is figurative, but can take a turn toward surrealism from time to time.
After spending 20 years in architectural photography in Connecticut, Sandy now concentrates on fine art photography. Sandy presently serves the Chairman of the Pictorial Print Division of the Photographic Society of America and was one of the founders of the Photography Club of Beaufort. She was juried into the National Association of Women Artists in 2019 and serves on their South Carolina Board of Directors. She has judged both art and photography competitions throughout the Tri-State area, as well as in New England.
Her books include Hands Across the Lowcountry and The Cats of Beaufort. Sandy’s images appear in numerous books and two of her photos have appeared covers of coffee table books.
Her work is exhibited at Beaufort Art Association.
1989 -2013 Ashley Hall, Charleston, Arts Chair, art teacher middle and high school, Studio Art AP
1988-1989 East Cooper School, middle and high school art teacher
1980 moved from UK to Crystal Lake, Illinois
1970-1980 High School art teacher at three schools in North Wales, exhibiting artist
The University of Chester B.Ed/Art
Flintshire College of Art Dip. AD
Sold work in UK and Europe
1983-88 Represented by Charleston galleries
2015-18 Represented by Fabulon Gallery, Charleston
A native South Carolinian, Fran Gardner lives in Heath Springs. She earned her BFA from Columbia College (1982) and later, her MFA from Vermont College of Norwich University (1993). She is professor emerita of art and art history at the University of South Carolina Lancaster where she taught studio courses and art history for 32 years. Gardner has gained attention in mixed media collage. She paints and draws with traditional materials, but also with the sewing machine, layering her work with rich texture, color and mark-making. In addition to creating and exhibiting her work, she writes critical essays about art, leads retreats, teaches workshops, and judges and curates exhibitions.
A trip to the East African nation of Uganda in high school lead Muffy Clark Gill to an interest in the ancient art of wax and dye resist painting known as batik and later the Japanese wax process known as rozome. Her main source of inspiration is based on her memories of life and travel. Continuing education in mixed media processes along with extensive use of photography has been the backbone of her art making. Work has been on display in many public institutions around the state of Florida including the State Capitol 22nd Floor gallery and the Office of the Florida Secretary of State. Recently she was designated a Master Silk Painter by Silk Painters International where she also serves on their Board of Directors. Muffy is currently the Vice President of Exhibitions for NAWAFL.
Born in Woodside, Queens, New York, Susan’s youth was involved with school, art and family. In 1971, she married and moved to New Jersey.
Opening her own ceramic business in 1979 enabled Susan to work with ceramics, porcelain, stoneware and clay, for over 25 years. When she sold that business in 1984, she began working for the Department of Defense as a Technical Equipment Illustrator, working on intricate technical illustrations and digitals.
Susan earned her Associates Degree in Graphic Design in 1997, from Sussex County Community College, Newton, New Jersey. In 2000, she earned a BFA Degree from William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey, and in 2005, Susan achieved a MFA Degree from William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey.
Susan’s interest for photography began 30 years ago in 1990, and it has slowly grown to a passionate obsession. Susan studied with some of her favorite photographers: Robert Farber, Ralph Gibson, George Holz, David Horton, Douglas Kirkland, Mary Ellen Mark, Robert Maxwell, Elizabeth Opalenick, Phil Perkis, Platon, Ernestine Rubin, Robin Schwartz, Joyce Tenneyson, Jock Sturges and Michael Zweibel.
Her photography work involves metaphors and moods and emotions. However, her color photography depicts the delicate images of flora, cloud formations and landscapes.
Art has been a lifelong passion for me. I am fortunate to have always had wonderful art teachers throughout my childhood along with family and friends who always encouraged creative pursuits. I completed a degree in Political Science and ventured into an office job upon graduation. I have been fortunate to live in several states and cities and each location offers unique inspiration and experiences. I relocated to the Charleston area in 2013. In the last few years, I returned to painting as a creative outlet and it has become a huge part of my life as I engage with the local creative community. When I'm not working or painting, I help through volunteer work in a nature and/or animal-focused capacity.
Laura McRae Hitchcock
Laura McRae Hitchcock was born in Augusta, Georgia and graduated from Agnes Scott College with an art degree. While she has lived in many places in the US from the East coast to the West coast and back, her home is the South where she lives and works in her studio on a barrier island near Charleston, SC. Laura uses a variety of media including oils, acrylics, cold wax, gouache, charcoal, pencil, and pastel to make her marks and create color passages that build upon each other. Translucent and opaque layers dance and play on the canvas in much the way Nature and Spirit do the same in our lives.
Laura’s award winning paintings have been exhibited in national juried shows, as well as in group and solo exhibitions. Her work has received international recognition, winning the BoldBrush Competition for Abstract and The Camelback Gallery Award of Excellence, and the nationally recognized ArtPop Billboard Program. She has been the recipient of several grants, most recently the Individual Artist Career Opportunity Grant made possible through the South Arts Program. She has participated in public art projects, most notably a mural for the Charlotte Mecklenburg County Courthouse in North Carolina. Her art is featured in the book 100 Love Notes by Hyong Yi and she is currently working on a book of her own. She has enjoyed several artist residencies in Ireland.
Susan Irish is an American abstract painter and environmental advocate known for her bold and energetic scenes of nature. Each of her distinctively frenetic landscapes carry subtle signs of creeping industrial blight. To appreciate their beauty is to grapple with one’s own role in their decay. Susan works primarily in oil and cold wax. She believes art making is integral to the human spirit and should be fostered and celebrated. She is an internationally known and award-winning artist. Her work has been exhibited in Ireland, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, and California. Susan Irish has paintings in permanent collection with Pinnacle Financial Partners, SC.
Susan Irish
8391 Manse Rd Edisto Island, SC 29438
207-650-2433
@artbysusanirish on Instagram
Nancy Jacey is a native of Richmond, Virginia and had a love for drawing and illustration from a young age. She received a BFA in Studio Art from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2002, earned her MFA in Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2004 and also studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. She is a signature member of the Colored Pencil Society of America, the UK Coloured Pencil Society, the National Association of Women Artists, Inc., and a recognized member of the Allied Artists of America, the American Artists Professional League and the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club.
June Klement translates her emotional responses to urban and natural environments into oil paint. Her impressionistic style, known for its vibrant and bold brushstrokes, captures the fleeting nature of color and light. She enjoys both studio painting and en plein air, with the latter allowing her to convey the ever-changing nuances of outdoor light and feeling. After a career and raising a family, Klement returned to painting to express beauty and love. An award-winning artist, Klement has exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States, and her work is celebrated for its brilliant palette and depiction of light.
Nanette Langner
With roots in Chicago, Illinois, Nanette Langner earned her Associate's Degree of Fine Arts with a major in Illustration from the American Academy of Art. Proficient in a range of mediums, including watercolors, pastels, oils, acrylics, pen and ink, and alcohol inks, her art is showcased in Aiken, SC, through local galleries, private collections, and commercial applications. Having served as a past President and Show Coordinator of the Aiken Artist Guild, she enjoy sharing ideas and being around fellow artists. She has also been teaching art classes for 22 years at the Aiken Center for the Arts.
Thirty site-specific public, corporate and private commissions have been completed, my first for the Corporate Headquarters of Salomon, Inc., at the former 7 World Trade Center, NY, NY, in 1995; through the recent East Tower Lobby of the Park Towne Place Museum District Residences, Philadelphia, PA; and, the seven Sustainability Award Commissions for the Hotel Association of New York City. I have had ten solo exhibitions, and participated in over 85 group exhibitions in the US and abroad in Switzerland, Italy, France and Spain.
Mary has lived in NC, SC and GA all her life. The southern landscape has influenced her perspective in art making. For over twenty years Mary taught public school in GA, finally finishing her career teaching art in an elementary setting. She has created art and commission pieces, participated in numerous juried shows and published illustrations in books and magazines. Mary has memberships in regional and national arts organizations.
Mary’s art practice is a reflection of how she views the world, past and present. Working mainly in contemporary landscapes inspired by poems, prayers or memories; bright colors and textures convey an abstracted scene that could be anywhere. Mary loves collage combined with painting; using blocks and layers of colors to create interruptions and movement in a piece. Future goals are to incorporate the figure, explore different collage techniques and present art in new venues.
An accomplished printmaker and painter as well as sculptor, Maidy Morhous was born in New York and currently creates out of her studio thirty minutes north of San Diego. Morhous received her Master of Fine Arts degree while studying at Stanley Hayter’s Atelier 17 in Paris in the mid-1970s. Before returning to the States, she traveled to Italy to further her studies in casting techniques at the Fonderia Artistica–Marinelli Foundry in Florence.
Morhous expresses herself through the medium of bronze, which allows her to portray extremes, from the soft flow of water to the harsh asphalt pavement of our world. Her work encompasses the pop art concept of presenting commonplace objects as fine art in a very permanent medium.
A hapa who grew up in Philadelphia, I attended Syracuse University and received my MFA from Boston University. Art and being an artist are therapy for me physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Mine NOW reflects my dual Buddhist-Catholic heritage. My work frequently explores the relationship between humans, nature, and objects. I think of art as an objective homage to my Eastern and Western traditions and the raw architecture and sounds of the city—adding conflict, balance, and harmony to shape my work’s form and energy in my constant search for new noise and passion.
Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico is an internationally exhibited fine art photographer whose practice explores the space between painting and photography. A Pratt Institute graduate with a BA degree with honors in Photography and Fine Arts, she shaped her artistic foundation around an ideology rooted in curiosity, experimentation, and the fluid translation of visual experience into tangible forms. Her lifelong inquiry, Between Painting and Photography, evolving into The Archeology of Reflections, merges photographic precision with painterly abstraction. She is Co-Founder of the Pictorial Foundation, based in Newburgh, New York, and Editorial Director of The Pictorial List, an online international photography magazine connecting artists and audiences worldwide.
My Art life journey began in upstate NY where I began to show interest in creating. My major interest has been in painting and drawing . I have always been driven to create whether it is cooking, gardening or actual artwork. I am always looking for the next new idea. I seem to never tire of the challenge of creating something I haven't tried previously. After retiring from running a family business , my husband and I located to the Charleston SC area for the pleasant weather and vibrant art and cultural community. It has been a very rewarding decision in many ways especially with regard to enhancing my art career. I am very involved in various art organizations locally and nationally.
For years, I created hyperrealist portraits in traditional charcoal & graphite. But a craving for color & texture led me to mixed media portraiture. My faces are done in pastel & color pencil with a graphite underpainting, & usually include hair made from alpaca fiber or human hair, clothes from fabric & art papers, & ornament in beads & repurposed materials, concentrating on one brilliant color per piece. My work is based on historical characters & mythological motifs that transcend any one culture, expressing universal stories & emotions. My influences include Klimt, Hiroshige, Henri Rousseau, Erte, pre-Raphaelites, 19th century illustrators like Edmund Dulac, Elenore Abbott & John Bauer. I’m attracted to their use of brilliant color and mythic themes.
Emi Sisk, FRSA is a juried artist whose work embodies the beauty of the natural world and the complexities of the human mind. With a diverse background in mental health, neuroscience, and nutrition, Emi brings a unique perspective to her art. Her paintings showcase the vibrant colors while her digital art transforms nature photographs into captivating abstract compositions.
Emi is a member of National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW), the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital (a Harvard Medical School affiliate), DACOR (Education Committee), and a fellow of the Royal Society for Arts (FRSA).
Rhian Swain has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Atlanta College of Art. She is a painter, photographer, designer, illustrator, writer, and former talk show host.
In 2023 she exhibited her new traveling exhibition “Breaking the Barriers: Women Who Impacted the Arts” twice, once at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History and at the City of Augusta Gallery. The series of paintings and first exhibit was partially funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The exhibit has been met with critical acclaim and will continue to tour for the next several years. She was inducted in the National Association of Women Artists in September 2023, and currently serves on the Board of the South Carolina Chapter. Her solo and curated shows include exhibitions at Sacred Heart Cultural Center, the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History. She's curated several themed shows that featured the work of local and national artists. She recently had three paintings on exhibit in the Burroughs Chapin Museum in Myrtle Beach South, Carolina. Rhian has been exhibiting and selling artwork regularly for 40 years. Rhian is an artist who works in many mediums, including acrylic, watercolor, multi-media and digital (non-AI) painting. She loves to explore cultural and social issues and infuse symbolism into her pieces. Humor and bright colors are often found in her work.
Bernice Mitchell Tate
Bernice Mitchell Tate was born in Sheldon, South Carolina, March 27, 1943 - an authentic Gullah native daughter, where all of her early years were spent on an isolated self-contained family farm. She was raised along with eight siblings and attended local segregated schools in Beaufort, South Carolina. After High School graduation in 1960, she moved on to pursue a nursing education and career in New York. Bernice has been married for fifty years to Andy Tate, a retired global finance technology executive. They have one son, a private practicing psychiatrist in New York City. Upon retiring and relocating to Bluffton, SC in 2006, Bernice revisited her earlier autodidactic interests in the arts, displaying her amazing talent as an installation, mixed media collage, and assemblage sculptural artist. The art of Bernice Mitchell Tate is deep-rooted in personal spirituality, cultural relativism, and a sacred combination of many different connected parts where life, death, history, culture, spirituality, material culture, realia and veneration of the dead intersect. Her belief that ideas such as "ancestor worship," right or wrong, are not absolute but change from culture to culture and circumstances. Bernice’s art form is uniquely termed Ancestrialism, a sacred amalgam of connected parts. Ancestrialism is a curious blend of traditional beliefs and contemporary thought, ingrained and inspired by her Gullah-GeeChee heritage southern tradition where spiritual practices and relationships continue with those who are no longer living beings. The dead have a continued existence possessing the ability to influence the living.
Kathy Watson is a nature and lifestyle photographer based in the heart of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Her work is inspired by the quiet beauty, distinctive light, and ever-changing landscapes of the coastal South. Through photography, Kathy seeks to capture the character and emotion of the places and moments that surround her, from peaceful marshes and beaches to coastal wildlife, historic landscapes, and everyday life.
Drawn to the natural world, Kathy finds endless inspiration in the relationship between light, color, water, and landscape. Her photographs often explore the reflections of cypress trees in still waters, dramatic Lowcountry sunsets, the movement of waves beneath coastal piers, and the vibrant colors found in nature.
Melinda Welker is a wildlife and nature photographer with a passion for photographing the wonder of birds in their natural habitats, where she captures artistic images of bird personality, behavior and beauty. Welker studied photography at Savannah College of Art and Design. She is a founding member of the NAWA SC Chapter, a member of the the Aiken Artist Guild, the Aiken Center for the Arts, and the Midlands Chapter of the Carolinas' Nature Photography Association.
