Artist Statement
"In my work, I attempt to portray the combined beauty of architecture and nature around Savannah."
Bill Rousseau retired early as Director of Technology for United Technologies to come to Savannah to study art as an MFA student at SCAD.
After SCAD, in addition to working as an artist, he was Director of the Telfair Museums of Art and is still active in museum affairs.
He recently had an art showing at Wheaton College with the theme of spirituality and science. He works in public at a City Market studio.
Artist Statement
"I find inspiration in natural forms, wildlife, living in the Bible-belt South, and the human condition,' says Brian, 'and I strive for excellent craftsmanship and originality in my work with a dash of humor thrown in."
Brian's ceramic work is strongly influenced by the long southern tradition of stoneware pottery in which the ware is fired to nearly 2400 degrees Fahrenheit. These high temperature firings create unique glaze effect and more durable ware. His glazes are blended from local clays and wood ashes. He designed his own oil firing kiln with a long flame pattern which produces 'flashing' effects on both clay and glazes.
"The artist in me exploded with a passion when I moved to the Lowcountry. Everywhere I looked I saw beauty and I was determined to capture that beauty with my art."
Laura was born in New York City and has lived in a number of cities throughout the United States before retiring to South Carolina. Laura has always had a love for art. She managed to squeeze in art classes and workshops while juggling a 25 year career in the medical field and raising three children.
Working primarily in oils and pastels, Laura uses vivid color in her portrayal of landscapes, seascapes and Lowcountry life. Laura also finds painting portraits very rewarding and does beautiful, realistic portraits of children, adults and pets.
A well known artist in the Low Country, Laura is achieving national recognition with her artwork now hanging in private collections throughout the United States.
The majority of Laura's work can be seen in her gallery at her web site: www.lauracodyart.com
"What inspires me most, is trying to capture the spirit and light of whatever I'm drawing or painting."
Richard Coyne is a New York born artist, who studied at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture. He now resides in Bluffton, South Carolina. He is a UNICEF published artist, an internationally published illustrator, a previous Vice President of the National Society of Mural Painters, and a member of the Salmagundi Club, working in pen and ink, watercolors, and oil.
Award winning artist Alaine Daniel loves art ' all kinds. She has painted all her life. Her work is influenced by people, places and things from the south. A love of color and design defines her work as representational with a whimsical touch. Virbrant colors fill her carefully devised compositions primarily in watercolor. She holds a BFA from the Savannah College of Art & Design and an MFG from Georgia State University.
Following a thirty-three year business career, Shirley Daniell chose to explore her long neglected artistic side. She enrolled in a water color class and soon discovered that her talents lay in another direction. Continuing to crave a creative outlet in her life led her to explore the three dimensional arts. She discovered a passion for designing and creating unique jewelry and accessories. Her designs are not for the timid. They are created for the wearer to make a clear statement to the world that he or she is as individual as the hand made, one of a kind piece being worn. Her original designs are available at Horizon Gallery on Bay Street, Gallery 209 on River Street, and the Jepson Center gift shop in Savannah, Georgia.
"I began my studies at Ohio University studying painting. After graduating, I took several art related jobs but always felt on the fringe of art, my personal quest for a creative outlet. It wasn't until I moved to South Carolina and apprenticed with a jewelry designer that I found my calling. Once I had learned the basics, I was free to experiment. I endeavor to create designs that push the limits of conventional jewelry design and possibly alter our view of what is beautiful."
With her knowledge in color theory and design, Angela utilizes her art background to develop a unique line of jewelry. Many of her designs are influenced by the jewelry designs from the past. Recently she has been working on a line of jewelry that combines melting and fusing precious metals as well as hammering to create texture. Each of her jewelry pieces is unique. Much of her work is a study in contrast. They are smooth and textured, and or geometric and organic. For Angela "the possibilities are limitless the only limits are the ones you put on yourself".
"Each piece of my jewelry is individually handcrafted and reflects the pleasure I derive from my work. It is my hope that the wearer finds equal pleasure."
After years of creating mobile sculptures in various media Jim turned his efforts to the creation of gold and silver jewelry at the same time that Gallery 209 was formed as a cooperative Gallery in Savannah, Georgia. He joined the Gallery in its first year of operation and has exhibited his work there for more than thirty years.
Jim finds special satisfaction in bringing together the inherent beauty of gold and silver and the unique qualities of semi precious stones, colored and "picture" stones, and fossils to create wearable art. Over the years he has exhibited his work in numerous shops and galleries throughout out the United States but has always maintained Gallery 209 as his 'home gallery' and now exhibits his work there exclusively.
About the Artist
What began as a part-time fancy has blossomed into a full-time passion for stained glass artist Mary Ingalls. Known for her technical expertise and creative renderings, Mary's pieces are recognized from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, where she grew up, to Tybee Island, Georgia where she now lives and works.
Drawn to the Southeast's changing sea and sky, Mary pushes her traditional craft to bold new expressions of the fun and fanciful. Mary says, "Most recently, I've created open works that reflect the energy and playful curiosity of one of our coast's natural treasures fish!" Mary not only creates from her lively imagination, she accepts work on commission for private and commercial customers, designing and installing pieces that enhance both home and office.
www.Mary-Ingalls.com
"My journey through various weave structures and my love of color and textures has led me to the creation of the unique and easy to wear garments I produce today. The cocoons, ponchos, capes, and v-shawls are flattering for all body shapes and sizes. I try to incorporate embellishments on most garments in the form of closures with beading, polymer clay and various fiber techniques."
An accomplished weaver and bead artist, Carrol Kay draws on a lifetime of fiber arts experience to create her Knot By Chance Wearable Art. She began learning the many facets of sewing as a young girl, and continued her study and growth through workshops and seminars throughout her early adult years. Carrol has been weaving for almost thirty years, and began interlacing Handweaving, Beading and Embellishment techniques in the early 1990s. Since retiring as a B&B Innkeeper in 2002, she has been able to devote herself fulltime to her passion for fibers and cloth in her lakeview home studio. Believing intrinsically in the purity of individually handcrafted items, Carrol creates almost everything in her Wearable Art, including the decorative pins and closures. www.knotbychance.com
A full-time landscape photographer, Savannah has been Carrie's home for the last 21 years. Savannah has definitely been a positive influence on Carrie's photography as evidenced by her stunning images of local scenes and architecture. Her work includes black and white and color prints all printed on archival paper, matted with acid free mat and foam board. Her work has won numerous awards and graced the covers of local publications. Her subjects include Bonaventure Cemetery, The Cotton Exchange Lion, the Mercer House and Forsyth Park. www.Carriekellogg.com
Emma Knight received a Bachelor's in Studio Art from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Not long after graduation, she moved to Savannah, "for just a year." Some time later she still calls Savannah home. Knight has worked for photographers, an ad agency, a stationery manufacturing company, as an art instructor, and more recently as a make-up artist for couture cosmetic companies. Her paintings have been shown in local galleries and salons. The 'painting faces' series is obviously influenced by Knight's experience as a make-up artist. In this series the titles are almost as important as the images. In Knight's landscapes, each object is stylized into its own field of color. Although abstracted the scenes are full of inferred space and very recognizable. Photos of memorable views can be sent to the artist for commission.
Batik Artist, Tibby Llewellyn has been working in batik since 1972. Self-taught in the batik process, she has studied art for many years. She has a degree in mathematics from Duke University and feels that the logic and precision of math play a very important part in creating batik. Her batiks are presented both as fine art in frames and as wearable art ' silk scarves and wraps ' each an original signed by the artist. Tibby has won a number of several awards during the years she has been showing professionally and has been honored in one-artist shows at the Abbas Gallery, south of Baltimore, Maryland, at the Towson West Gallery in Towson, Maryland and at Gallery 209 in Savannah. She was the featured artist in an invitational show at the Haiti, Etc. Gallery in Washington, D.C. Her work is represented in many private collections in the United States and Europe.
Potter, Betty Melaver, is one of the founding members of Gallery 209 and continues to be active in the organization today. Thirty-five years of her influence can be felt in the historic Cotton Exchange Building she championed as a Gallery in the 1970's.
Kathy Miller has been a professional artist for over 30 years exploring many different media. She paints realistic landscapes in oil, which are easily recognizable by their billowing, floating clouds that have a luminous quality. Painting with watercolor offers Kathy an entirely different approach to art. Her watercolors emphasize sunlight, color and design. Unlike her realistic oil paintings, her work in watercolor is often whimsical, moving easily between reality and fantasy. Kathy's first step in creating an etching is to etch the design into a zinc plate with nitric acid. There are many steps in the process, but it ends by inking the plate, printing it on her press on handmade paper and hand coloring each print. www.kmillerstudios.com
A native of Savannah, Debra studied ceramics with Helen Weisz at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, PA, and with John Jensen at Armstrong State College in Savannah. Her work includes functional, decorative and sculptural pottery using Stoneware and 'RAKU' clays. Her functional pottery is created from Stoneware clay, decorated with leadless, non-toxic, food safe commercial glazes and fired in an electric kiln. Unusual glaze effects are produced by layering glazes. In her RAKU work, she employs mixed media, incorporating weaving into her clay to create unusual results.
Sanford Murck retired to Savannah in 1991 after a career in sales and marketing. Although he had no experience in art and had never painted, he had inherited an easel, a box of oil paints and a few canvases. He decided to try his hand at painting before throwing out the lot. His first work was a painting of a bowl of tulips. He decided he liked to paint, and has been painting ever since. From the beginning of his art career, he enjoyed painting flowers of all kinds. They appeal to him in many ways. He says, 'even a white flower has so much color, and the simplest bud has so much detail.' He also paints shells, birds, landscapes, still lifes and even portraits, but returns to paint flowers whenever he wants to relax. His advice to new artists is 'if you are looking for something to paint, look in your own backyard garden.'
Marlene discovered working in gold and silver in California and has been a successful studio jeweler for over 20 years. Her jewelry is a mixture of sleek contemporary designs and organic pieces incorporating pearls and colorful gemstones. The designs are influenced by the shapes of the pearls and stones and are often of an organic nature. Other designs are devoid of gem enhancement and reflect the undulating motion of the ocean's waves. Her work includes all types of ladies and men's jewelry including wedding bands, sophisticated pendants, bracelets, earrings and rings. She is a member of the Florida Society of Goldsmiths and Society of North American Goldsmiths.
Oil Painter Sue Nichols creates highly textured and detailed images of flowers and landscapes found in the Lowcountry. Her color palette is vivid. Her pieces immediately attract attention and viewers have an overwhelming urge to touch, which, of course, they shouldn't. Many of her pieces include tiny insects or birds hidden among the wisteria and poppies. The size of her work ranges from tiny canvases to large gallery wraps with the flowers painted around the sides.
Macramé jewelry artist, Randee Powell, has shown her work in Gallery 209 since 1977. Her designs are best described as inspired by nature incorporating the bounty of the earth and sea. Semi-precious gemstones, seashells, crystals, and mother-of-pearl are artfully mingled with hand-woven Irish waxed linen. Her bracelets, earrings and necklaces are simple elegance complimented by the natural beauty of the materials. Randee has been an instructor at Armstrong State University in Savannah.
My inspiration comes from everyday life, as she seeks to transform the beauty I find into the permanence of metal and stone. My designs are often uplifting with positive messages in the hopes that they can make the world a little bit brighter.
Kathryn works predominantly in sterling silver using traditional metalsmithing tools and techniques in combination with occasional stones and pearls. Stones and pearls are simply colors to her. She selects them based on their natural attributes and often seeks out uncommon shapes and unusual patterns. Wire is something to be drawn with. The thin silver line becomes her pencil as she forms permanent drawings to be worn and enjoyed. www.kathrynriechert.com
'I am fascinated with the beauty, perfection and imperfections found in nature. My aim is to express my thoughts and impressions about people, places and everyday things. I love texture, mixing media and creating my own techniques because it allows me the freedom to express what I see'not as a photograph but rather as a personal interpretation of the subject.. '.
As a child, Grace's favorite toys were her paints and crayon basket. Her first 'official' art lesson was at the age of 10 and has been part of her life in one way or another ever since. Grace holds a BFA from the University of Utah and a Degree-Academia delle Belle Arti from the Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy. She has had the good fortune to live, travel, work and study in the USA, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and believes those experience have greatly enriched her life and influenced her art perspectives. www.gracerohland.com
'I am at my best when painting on location. The spirit or the essence of the subject matter speaks to me. For an instance I have captured the subject and the mood that is conveyed. Like the Romantic English poets, I am in communion with nature. My spirit is lifted and so hopefully is the viewers' of my work.'
Sharon's art educational and professional accomplishments are impressive. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Art Education degrees from the University of Georgia as well as a Master of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University. Her art is playing a major role in shaping the South's artistic heritage. Her works have been described as "delicate...whimsical...an enchanting mixture of color, warmth and imagination." Each one represents her own magical blend of creativity coupled with meticulous attention to accuracy and detail. www.saseen.com
The first time Linda Whitt Smith saw a picture of a vase covered with crystals, she knew that she had to embark on the uncertainty of the effects of those glazes. Experimentation continues to challenge her. She uses several types of crystalline glazes, experimenting with macro-crystalline glazes. Crystalline glazes are quite different from any other type of glaze. They are considered special-effect glazes. The sheet brilliance of their large, light-refractive crystal flowers normally vary between one eighth or an inch to four inches in diameter. She has experimented with many variations of colored crystals using oxides that have been harvested from the earth. Her pieces reflect flamboyance and magic and she loves the continued challenge as she strives to gain more knowledge.
Hugh Wayne creates function clay trays embellished with impressions of the creatures of the Lowcountry (plus some vegetables for balance). His shrimp, crab, turtle and sea horse images are a subtle embodiment of what lies beneath our coastal waters. His shore birds are delightful. His ceramic trays are produced in two sizes and finished off with a warm, earth tone glaze.
Richard Archer Woods is a travel and landscape photographer who lives on Wilmington Island near historic Savannah. Originally from England, he began photographing at the age of thirteen and subsequently attended Barnet College of Art and Design, and Paddington College in London where he completed his formal education in Art, Graphic Design and Photography.
Rick began his career as a location and stills photographer for Stanley Kubrick at M.G.M. Film Studios in Borehamwood, England. He later traveled internationally as a travel photographer and expanded his portfolio by photographing the natural landscapes of the world. After working in various regions of the United States, Rick was drawn to the Low Country and the Golden Isles of Georgia, to photograph its unique beauty. He is currently working on a book chronicling the ever changing landscape and fragility of this coastal region.
'The highest form of beauty is our own mother earth. I love being on the water and painting images from my surroundings. The light falls on the southern coast 'just so'at certain times of the day. It's calming, mystical even. I knew at an early age that my art was a gift and needed to be shared with those who love the outdoors as much as I do.'
Tal is a graduate from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD 1993) with a degree in Illustration. He worked for several design firms before striking out on his own in 2005, when he decided to pursue his passion for painting. Initially, his time was spent self-training for painting in the digital realm, a cutting edge approach that is just making its way into today's art world. He experimented with innovative methods while incorporating the traditional painting techniques he learned at SCAD. Once he mastered this new form, he began showing and selling his work, and the response has been overwhelming.
He is also an accomplished free lance designer and enjoys creating high-end logos, vehicle wraps and custom portraits for individuals and is an officially licensed collegiate artist for the University of Georgia. www.talwillis.com
Born in a rural town in the very heart of Georgia and moving through the eastern United States with her family, Anne was afforded the opportunity of meeting and appreciating what she calls 'a palette of the cultural elements of the people and the landscapes' of both the rural south and larger cities through the eastern states. The urbanism of Charlotte, North Carolina, is where Anne was first introduced to the arts: symphony, theater, and the fine art of painting, sculpture, and photography. She knew, at that point, that she wanted art to become an important part of her life and began painting at 13. Her primary mediums are acrylic, watercolor, gouache, and oil. Initially, her paintings were still lifes, landscapes, and pet portraits. Gradually, they became more abstract. Now her works are very much nonobjective as she is more involved in the act of making art.