Member Artists

Arpeggio. © Tom Brand. Oil on board. 24 X 22 inches. $400

Tom Brand

The method I have devised for painting in oil is an old one. It is an indirect method used first by the old masters. I start by thinly sketching in an extemporaneous way until I am satisfied with the overall statement. Then I add to and adjust the composition, color balance, interrelationship of form and all the other components that make up a satisfying work of art. I continue to build up from this point with heavier and more saturated paint, keeping in mind any necessary modifications along the way. As with the Renaissance artists, I work with glazes (they called them “tints”). Adding them to certain finished areas adds color depth and intensity. Website: www.artisttombrand.com

Fredrickson’s Minnow Shack – Star Lake Wisconsin. © Larry A. Brechner. Digital Photo on Canvas. 20 x 30 inches. $180.

Larry A. Brechner

Creative photography is more than making a simple visual recording, it involves the innovative artistry and vision of a photographer, who manipulates the given visual elements in order to both preserve and represent the subject while creating New Perspectives.  I view my artistic photography as more than merely making a visual recording of existing subjects, but to capture both obvious and subtle visions of the subject.  A photograph actually freezes a moment in time, forever preserving an image of people, places, things, or events, which then can be revisited again and again, thus creating an existence of its very own.  A creative image is both the products of the subject and the artist, whose discriminating perception seeks to evoke those more intangible and profound impressions of intimacy and mood. The viewer completes this triad (subject, artist, and viewer) by hopefully realizing a successful artistic communication. Website: brech.com/np

Wooly Mammoth Cocktail Hour. (c) Joel Brussell. Giclée Photographic print. 18 x 24 inches. $275.

Joel Brussell

As a photographer I’m on the visual prowl for evidence of other worlds here the somewhere else of being here. If you mistake an image for Mars or the Arctic or some timeless mojo, then maybe I’m doing something right. I’m searching for a sort of cosmic quaintness. Weird angles and accidents are as much part of my work as intentions. As a rule I see intentions as an accident at best. I consider myself a lazy artist and let the light of the sky and the craft of the horizon do much of the work. I always try and remember “Art” is as much the name of a guy who works at a hardware store as it is some pretentious form of expression. Website: Brussellphotography.com

Magical Thinking. © Stephanie Carnell. Digital Art/Fractal on Canvas. 33 x 23 inches. $350

Stephanie Carnell

I began printmaking in the 1970s. I purchased an etching press, and began experimenting with intaglio printmaking. Unfortunately, I was unable to balance my artwork and my career, and being a printmaker was put on hold. After retiring and moving to Northwest Indiana, I was able to revive my printmaking passion. I still have the same etching press and continue to experiment. I began incorporating photos in my prints, which nudged me into digitally manipulating images. Always looking for new ideas to play with, I began experimenting with fractal images. I have merged some of the fractal images along with photos in some of my prints. Digital/fractal art gives me more opportunity to play and experiment. As an intaglio printmaker working mostly in monochrome, I’m thrilled by the brilliance of colors that digital art can produce. For “Emergence” I have chosen a fractal image and an intaglio print in which I incorporated a fractal image. Website: www.beachprintmaker.com

Listen. © Laurie Schirmer Carpenter. Oil on canvas. 26 x 16 inches. $1350

Laurie Carpenter

Paintings are about seeing.  For the landscape painter they are about seeing a particular place at a certain moment in time and revealing the essence of what is seen on a two-dimensional surface in paint.  Capturing in color and form that which cannot be captured in language is demanding and soul searching (it is called a work of art, after all) but it is also a pathway to a heightened state of consciousness and understanding of the world around us. For the viewer it is also about seeing.  Looking at the finished work, the viewer enters a dialogue with the artist that is based upon each of their perceptions of what is seen.  While my oil paintings are a chronicle of the land as I see it they are also visual ideas of the land – the essence of its beauty, vastness, peace and strength.  I hope to convey these emotions to those who look at my paintings and trust that they will find their own quiet center in this dialogue. I received a BFA and BA in Art History from the University of Colorado, Denver, in 1988 and have been painting full-time since then. Website: www.laurieschirmercarpenter.com

Beginning, Middle and End. © Jane Cowley. Oil on canvas. 20 x 16 inches. $900

Jane Cowley

“The beauty of earth is inspiring to an artist. I am no exception. The need to capture the essence of what I see and experience is essential to my well-being as an artist,” according to award-winning artist Jane Cowley. Currently a resident of Michigan City, Indiana, she was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Drisi Academy of Fine Art located in Glenwood, Illinois. Jane works primarily in oils and pastels, mediums that enhance her love of portraits and land, water and cityscapes. She has exhibited in Illinois, New York, Michigan, and Indiana. Her work has been published in The Society of Illustrators, NY, Chicago Magazine, The French Reader, and The Stanford University Medical Journal. Jane also published a children’s book, “Jack” in 2010. From 2006 to 2014, Jane represented over 100 regional artists at Cowley Fine Art Gallery located in New Buffalo, St. Joseph and South Haven, Michigan. Jane teaches beginner and intermediate drawing and painting from her studio in Michigan City. Website: www.janecowleyfineart.weebly.com

Ghosts. ©Robert Daum. Black and white photograph. 24 x 16 inches. $375

Robert Daum 

My abstract photographs focus on color, pattern, form, or light. I use a camera to capture motion in waves, streams, waterfalls, and blowing leaves. Like picking up colorful stones or shells off the beach and putting them in our pocket, I capture beautiful pieces of nature in my camera. With an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and a master’s degree in Media Communications (photography major), I try to bring the beauty of nature to people in hopes they will be moved to help protect it. I did the photography for three small books, three posters, and four calendars on the Indiana Dunes, and a small book on National Park Service sites that honor Abraham Lincoln. Current projects include an artsy book on the Indiana Dunes. As part of my 36-year-career with the National Park Service, I spent 34 at the Indiana Dunes where I photographed park resources for local and national publications. Email: bobdaum@gmail.com

Poppy 1. © Anneke Dekker.  Acrylic on canvas. 18 x 24 inches $495

Anneke Dekker (ANKO)

I work mainly with acrylics and am intrigued by the special effects that can be created with this medium. I am fascinated with something beyond reality, with fantasy, fairytales, and dreams, with nature, with primitive civilizations, Africa, geology, outer space, inner space and mystery. I love the working process: the surprises and unexpected results that happen while I’m working. I have no formal art education and my artist’s journey has taken me from realistic drawing and painting to today’s mostly experimental work. I have always loved poppies and have painted them for as long as I can remember. This time I thought a bit more about them and what they meant. I realized that even though they are beautiful, there are some darker, sometimes sad connotations to them. Poppies are beautiful, I love their bright red color, but they can also mean sadness, sacrifice, remembrance, or eternal sleep. Or danger, opium, poison, addiction, or dependency. My work is in collections throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. I have had several solo-shows and regularly exhibit in group Shows in Indiana and in the past in Florida. Website: www.ankoarts.com

Lake Michigan Bluffs. ©Bunny Dimke. Oil on canvas. 18 x 14  inches. $300

Bunny Dimke

Born and educated on the East Coast, Bunny Dimke has resided in Indiana for most of her adult life. She began her art studies at an early age under the tutelage of Iroka Adachi, who taught classical oil painting. After moving from New York to Indiana, Bunny joined the Michigan City Art League where she learned watercolor technique from many well-known local artists. She has exhibited at the Art Barn in Valparaiso, the SFC Gallery, the Chesterton Art Center, and the Midwest Museum of American Art. Her work has been accepted into numerous regional juried shows, and won several awards. She is currently a member of the Duneland Plein Air Painters, the Area Artists Association, and the Michigan City Art League.

New Buffalo © 2023 Deb Dyer.  Mixed media on cradled board. 20x20x1.5 inches. $500.

Deb Dyer

Deb Dyer lives in New Buffalo, MI. Dyer holds a BFA from the Ohio State University and a MA in Arts Administration from Goucher College. Recently retired from being Executive Director of NIAD Art Center in Richmond, CA, she is spending more time in the studio working on her own art. Juried into numerous national exhibitions such as Small Works in Tieton Washington and the Over 50 in Las Laguna Gallery.  She was also honored to be chosen in the de Young Museums, The de Young Open in the summer of 2020.  This prestigious exhibition featured 762 Bay Area artists culled from 11,514 individual submitted artworks  Deb Dyer works in mixed media utilizing maps, collage, stitching, stenciling and paint.  She is intrigued with layering, pattern and transparency in her work as well as the traditional feminine work of weaving, embroidery, quilting and appliqué. Website: https://www.debdyerart.com/

Pup Art. © Carol Estes. Mixed Media. 10 x 10 inches. $125.

Carol Estes

Carol is an award winning, self-taught Art Photographer. She entered the Art World late in life, grabbing a camera and a pen to fight through the grief of deep losses.  Along the way, Carol has been published in Birds and Bloom Magazine, multiple beauty magazines, and named a Hoosier Woman Artist in 2014 and 2019. She compiled her first book of prose and photography “Memories Evoked”, in 2016. She likes to find objects—from tree bark, broken glass, to snake sheds—and then create works of wearable art with them. In 2022, Carol became a Best of Missouri Hands Juried Artist in the Field of Photography, with the Missouri Artisans Association. She serves as the president of A3, the Area Artists Association. Website: www.welcometocarolworld.com

Yellow Caught. © Kevin Firme. Glass and steel. 14x16x18 inches. $900

Kevin Firme

Kevin Firme’s work is based on organic plant studies. The Peltandra Virginicus or Arrow Arum serves as a landscape microcosm. “I am interested in shape, gesture and pictorial space on a reflective surface,” he said. “I combine glass with steel for a contrasting effect of the delicate and the durable.  Through drawings I arrange space and color, then I search for shape and their relationships to use in the sculpture. I like metal to non-static. Sometimes I use metal that’s been twisted, or I forge my own bends and gestural shapes to try to achieve a form that activates the area around the sculpture.  I like steel, it fits into my life. I can forge it and work it with the tools I have.” Firme earned a BA in sculpture and painting at DePaul University, with graduate studies at Bard College and at Notre Dame University and a residency at the Karolyi Foundation in Vence, France. His large sculpture installations can be seen at the Whirlpool Corporate headquarters in Michigan and at the public library, Dr. Nasr’s office on Franklin Street, and Friendship House in Michigan City, IN. He has been a part-time faculty at Notre Dame and Valparaiso University

The Clearing. ©Amanda Freymann. Tissue paper with watercolor. 25 x 14 inches. $900

Amanda Freymann

I have been making art since I was a child but for many years my artwork came second to my career and then caretaking. Now that I am no longer working and widowed, I have returned my attention to my first love. I enjoy working in all sorts of media and am currently making dimensional flowers in clay. I am also “painting” with tissue paper which can be seen above in The Clearing. This has become a favorite medium, along with watercolor, and has allowed me more freedom of expression than painting in oil or gouache. My current work is both representational and abstract, informed by loss and heartbreak but also the joy of making art for art’s sake. I am originally from Boston then lived in New York and Chicago. I have a BFA from Elmira College and a Certificate of Drawing from the Art Institute of Chicago. Beverly Shores, IN has been my home for nearly 25 years. I live on a beautiful, wooded dune one block from Lake Michigan with a one-eyed orange cat.

You weren’t there. Acrylic on paper with embedded photo. 24 X 18 inches. $750

Arthur “Art” Garcia

Back in the day I took several mechanical drawing classes and my 43-year real-world job frequently put me in heavy industrial settings. Some say my paintings reflect that background. I am first a sculptor and a painter second. Lately I’ve been doing a lot more painting than sculpting. I believe that successful abstract art requires more work by the viewer than to digest images of say covered bridges. I don’t expect viewers to have a visceral reaction, but to simply make a decision; does the work seem visually rational (composition, color, balance) or is it visually useless? Is it something one has never seen before, something one has to process and was it worth their time? Born in Gary Indiana in 1952, I received a BFA in sculpture and painting from Indiana State University, 1975. There I learned to cast in bronze using lost wax process, and weld steel, as well as to survive an intense painting curriculum. One had to learn the basics before “earning the right to go abstract.” Email: orca3639@yahoo.com.

Fire Voices. © Dorothy Graden. Mixed Media on hand pulled/pigmented cotton rag. 33 x 42 inches. $1250

Dorothy Graden

Dorothy Graden, an award-winning artist, lives in Valparaiso, Indiana. A former educator of 25 years, she now works full time in her art studio. Inspired by her travels and a fascination with ancient cave drawings, Dorothy uses textural hand-pulled and dyed cotton rag as background for her whimsical interpretations of distant and forgotten cultures. As so often happens in the creative process, other life experiences have made their way into her work. As a certified SCUBA diver, she often uses sea elements in her paintings. After a recent safari in the Masai Mara in Kenya she was inspired to weave the colors, textures, and patterns of the savannah into new pieces. She loves to exhibit her work and encourages the viewer to experience a sense of wonder and exploration. Website: www.dorothygraden.com

Dancing on the Shoulders of Giants, Frankenstein version. ©Diane Grams. Fresco on panel.
24 x 24 inches. $2300

Diane Grams

Diane Grams is an award-winning artist and writer. Early in her career, she was recognized for her textured and text-based work exploring gender inequity with exhibitions at RH Love Contemporary, Hyde Park Art Center, & Lannon Gallery in Chicago, Painted Bride in Philadelphia and Visual Arts Center of Alaska, Anchorage. She is the recipient of an ArtMatters Individual Artist Grant (1993) for her feminist work “A Prayer in NoMans Land” exhibited at Artemisia Gallery, and a 2023-2024 Individual Artist Grans from Indiana Arts Commission to make and promote Fresco Painting In Indiana. The image of the girl in action first appeared in in this work and has become a symbol of her sense of play and freedom in art.  She was awarded a 2023-2024 individual artist grant from the Indiana Arts Commission to pursue a year of fresco painting. Among her residencies are Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Yale Center for Cultural Sociology, Ragdale Foundation and Oxbow School of Art. She exhibits in galleries in Northwest Indiana. She earned a BA in Fine Art at IU Bloomington studying under Chicago artist Robert Barnes, and a Master’s degree and PhD in cultural sociology at Loyola University Chicago. She is a published author. Website: dianegramsart.wordpress.com

Portal #1. ©Donna Hapac. Reclaimed pine. 20 x 20 x 8.5 inches. $950

Donna Hapac

My present content is focused on patterns and forms that I am intrigued by in the natural and manmade world, with ideas gathered while hiking and traveling.  My process involves building a sculptural form from multiple wooden elements carved on a band saw.  The results suggest my experiences.  I have evolved from a 2-dimensional artist (BFA in painting and MFA in drawing) into a builder of sculptures.  I have shown my art work through the Midwest, in other parts of the U.S. and in Poland. After about twenty years of making mostly two-dimensional art, I became inspired to make objects. After much experimentation, I began to make sculpture out of fiber materials and found objects, eventually settling on reed and waxed linen to build forms using a grid pattern.  In 2015, I took a woodworking class to expand my capabilities in my reed sculptures and fell in love with wood.  Wood is my primary medium at this time. I live and work in Chesterton, Indiana after living most of my life in Chicago.  Website: www.donnahapac.com

Painting Shade. ©Julia Holmaas. Watercolor on Paper. 16 x 20 inches. $300

Julia Holmaas

Over the years I’ve realized that the act of creating drawings and paintings allow me to see and more importantly feel and connect with my surroundings.  I have been keenly observing and learning about the natural world since childhood, photographing, drawing and painting landscapes, flowers, trees, animals, and people.

Always encouraged to be creative, I learned drawing and oil painting as a child in Saturday morning classes and elective art classes in college.  After graduating with a degree in Biology I went to work for the National Park Service until retirement as Chief of Interpretation at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 2004. There I initiated the Indiana Dunes Artist in Residence Program. Moving to the Dunes in 1994 I connected with the art community in NW Indiana and learned to paint in watercolor and oil paint in plein air by attending classes and workshops. A longtime member of the Area Artists Association, Chesterton Art Center and a past member of Southern Shore Art Association. I am a founding member of Duneland Plein Air Painters and am currently board president of The Art Barn School of Art where I teach classes in watercolor. Website: www.juliaholmaas.com

Be Dope. © Kuhn Hong. Oil on Canvas. 16 x 20 inches. $900

Kuhn Hong

South Korean-born Radiologist Dr. Kuhn Hong had hoped to pursue a career in art, but his parents talked him into attending medical school. Dr. Hong came to Chicago, completed residency training, and started his practice. His brushes lay aside while he was busy working at the hospital and raising his family with his wife. It wasn’t until he joined a short-term medical mission down the Amazon River in Peru, that he picked up his pen and reignited his creative fervor.  Later, while treating hundreds of patients in remote villages in Ethiopia, he drew the people he encountered. Copies of those ink drawings were shared with people who donated medicine, money, and prayed for his mission expeditions. His first solo exhibition was in Seoul, Korea. He was invited to showcase his artwork at Viviene Gallerie in Paris, France as well. A Chicago resident, Hong works from his studio in Michigan City, Indiana. “My primary interest is in oil painting although I do a little bit of watercolor and pastel, plus charcoal and pencil drawings,” Hong said.  He is an active member of Palette and Chisel, Plein Air Painters Chicago, Duneland Plein Air Painters and Area Artists Association. Website: kuhnhong.com

3rd Rate Marsh. ©Christine Hubbell. Mixed Media. 12 x 12 inches. $350

Christine Hubbell

An illustrator and artist trained in botanical and scientific illustration at the Denver Botanic Gardens, Christine Hubbell works primarily in colored pencil, creating realistic portraits of birds and botanicals, incorporating elements of storytelling and whimsy. She develops her paintings from sketches and research, working both in the field and in the studio from natural materials whenever possible. The finished pieces are built up from thin washes of color on translucent substrates, which allows her to play with hidden and revealed elements. The stories she tells shift over time, but often focus on the themes of homecoming, migration, movement, and personal geography. She was selected for the 2023 Hoosier Women Artists Exhibition and is a 2024 Artist-in-Residence at Indiana Dunes National Park. As an art teacher, Christine has led workshops on sketching birds from life and nature journaling and is currently teaching classes in nature journaling and colored pencil. Her work has traveled nationally as part of juried exhibitions. Website: chubbellart.com

Carrion Beetle. (c) Laurel Izard. Hand-stitched on vintage quilt fabric. 15×36. $700

Laurel Izard

Laurel Izard currently lives and works in Michigan City with her artist husband Edwin Shelton and two cats.  She has been and self-employed ceramist, art teacher and now images art full-time.  She is an award-winning artist who has exhibited paintings and textiles throughout the country.  Besides recreating the physical world Laurel’s work explores the playful territory of the imagination.  Influences on her work include alchemy, religious iconography, the tarot, medieval manuscripts, and wood cuts, mythology, pulp science fiction, and comic books. The works in this exhibition may differ in materials and ideas, but are united by her love of color, pattern, and rich surfaces. Website: https://laurel-izard.com

In My Nature Vases. ©Larry (Lars) Jensen. Epoxy and Pastel. 3 x 4 inches.  NFS

Larry “Lars” Jensen

Larry (AKA Lars) Jensen is a largely self-taught wood artist.  He deals primarily on the lathe, creating practical and sculptural artwork.  He was the 2009 Artist in Residence at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (now National Park).  This led to two books “Turning Timber” and “In My Nature.”

The Great Marsh. © George Kassal. Photographic Digital Print. 11 x 14 inches. $125

George Kassal

George Kassal has been interested in photography ever since he received a Brownie camera as a gift when he was 8.  His earned a BS degree in Geology from the University of Wisconsin, and 26 years later, a MA degree in Photography from Governors State University in Illinois. He has spent over 20 years as a professional geologist, and a similar time as a computer systems manager.  He has been a part time, adjunct professor at Prairie State College, Purdue University, Indiana University, Westwood College, and Brown Mackie College since 1985. He has conducted numerous photography workshops in NW Indiana and SW Michigan. George is an award-winning photographer who has participated in numerous exhibits for over 30 years.  George refers to himself as a “walking around photographer”. He prefers simple, easy to carry gear: usually, only a rangefinder style camera with a single prime lens, as he makes most of his photos while exploring an area on foot. Living in Long Beach, Indiana, George often works on photographic projects based on the natural or man-altered landscape in the surrounding area. He has worked in color in the past, but currently prefers monochrome images. He also makes and collects photo zines. Website: www.Kassal-studio.com

Still Life Chatter. © Connie Kassal. Acrylic and carbon pencil on wood panel. 40 x 30 inches. $600

Connie Kassal

Connie holds a Master’s degree from Governor’s State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin. She taught Painting, Drawing, Life Drawing and Art Appreciation at Purdue University Northwest and Prairie State College for 20 years. Prior to that she taught in the Gifted and Talented program and Continuing Education at Purdue. She has won awards such as Best of Show in the Region Women’s Artifacts exhibit. That piece was created in collaboration with her photographer husband and is now in the collection of the Indiana History Museum. Connie managed four gallery spaces including the Mayor’s Gallery in City Hall of Michigan City in the past. Shortly after moving to Michigan City, she helped create the Art Center and is a founding member of the Area Artists Association. She organized and chaired the AAA’s first Juried Art Exhibit for northwest Indiana. Connie stresses the creative side of artwork using unusual design based on psychological responses while working in traditional oil, acrylic and charcoal. She works out of her studio in the family home in Long Beach, Indiana.  Website: www.Kassal-studio.com

Through the Trees.  ©Laura Kittle.  Acrylic on heavy cardstock. 18 x 24 inches. $300

Laura Kittle

I am inspired by the common everyday things we see and probably take for granted including architectural forms, plants, trees, items that take up space in our lives but often don’t take center stage.  I try to give these objects a spirit and bring them to the forefront.  Though most of my work is abstract, I explore representational expressionism as well. As a graduate of Indiana University Northwest, I majored in Fine Arts with an emphasis on painting and drawing and a minor in Art History.   I also studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago.  I grew up in Gary, Indiana (Miller section) and raised my family (daughter Hayley, son Dylan) in the Chesterton, Indiana area.  I moved to Michigan City, IN about 13 years ago and after retiring from Indiana University Foundation as a fundraiser/ event coordinator, I have been able to pursue my artistic passions. My works have been exhibited at the Marshall Gardner Center in Miller 2023. Email: Kittle.laura@gmail.com

Calcite Springs, Yellowstone River. © Timothy D. Lace. Gelatin Silver Print.   11×14 inches. $450

Timothy Lace

The Generative Systems Program at The School of the Art Institute showed me the creative possibilities of the relationship between art, science and technology. With my cameras, I’ve been on a voyage to discover the world we share, and all its environments. Among my portfolios: Silver Prints: A Portfolio of Landscapes; Life in Color; Mardi Gras Indians, and Portraits of Chicago’s Cultural Figures. Much of my work is produced through traditional photographic methods using a medium format camera and film and printed on gelatin silver paper. My work has appeared in exhibitions throughout the Chicago/Michiana Area including “Silver Prints,” a solo exhibition at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts and the 2019 Fernwood Landscape Exhibition. My photos have been published in Chicago Life Magazine, The Chicago Reader, New City, Art in America, The Progressive, Crafts Report, Screen Magazine, Illinois Arts Alliance Quarterly, Journal of Arts Management Law and Society and the Chicago Artists Coalition News. Website: tdlacephotography.wordpress.com

Growing up in China.  ©Patty Mershon-Schaefer.  Watercolor & mixed media on paper. 16 x 20 inches. NFS

Pattry Mershon-Shaefer

Teaching art has provided me with experience working with many different media. I continue to try new material. My choice and work has been primarily in acrylic, paper sculpture and print making. I lean toward designed realism.  At age 98, I have slowed down, but I appreciate the enrichment and motivation that art continues to bring to my life and living. This mixed media piece, “Growing ip in China,” features images of my youngest daughter, her husband and four children who worked as missionaries for 20 years in China.

Patty Mershon-Schaefer taught art, from first grade through twelfth grade, for 32 years. Patty has a BA from Pennsylvania State University and Art Teacher Certification from the University of New Mexico, and a master’s degree from University of Notre Dame.

Infinite Blossom.  ©Teresina Pavel.  Mixed media on board.  18 x 18 inches.  $800

Teresina Pavel

Creating art takes me on an emotional journey. It starts with a feeling that is magnified by what I see, hear, and write. Shapes, lines, and colors mirror one another like visual echoes; shifting in intensity, tone, and direction. I find peace rendering them; introducing order to what could be chaos. I’m compelled to have a center point in my art. This point is often explicit; sometimes implied by what surrounds it.  For me, the center point serves as the core from which everything radiates…symbolizing faith in the infinite force of life. Teresina has an M.S. in Education, with an endorsement in art education. She has completed extensive graduate coursework in art therapy and studied independently with numerous artists. Her 40-year career included developing art programs for children and art therapy for children sheltered from domestic violence.  Upon retirement, Teresina has redefined herself from that of advocate to artist.  She continues to support the arts through A3 and the Gardner Center for the Arts, and is now also able to explore her own creativity more fully. Email: 2tpavel2@gmail.com

The Movie Watcher, left.  The Brother, right. ©John Ryszka II. Lampworked glass. 5 x 7 inches each unmounted. Each $350

John Ryszka II

With over two decades shaping light and color into form, John Ryszka II presents The Movie Watcher and The Brother, two captivating masks from his renowned glass series Visage of Glass. These pieces embody the depth and narrative of John’s craftsmanship; each curve and hue a testament to a storied career in glass artistry. A luminary at Indiana Beach Amusement Park and the mind behind the Rising Phoenix Gallery, John’s journey in glass began at Vincennes University and was honed through his studies at the National Neon Institute. His works, including these vibrant masks, reflect a dedication to the craft learned and refined in various prestigious schools of glass and through extensive professional experience. For more insight into John’s art and opportunities to engage with glass working visit www.glassphoenix.org.

Untitled 1. © Ginny Scott. Acrylic on Canvas. 20 x 20 inches. $450.

Ginny Scott

Ginny Scott is an abstract expressionist painter who has been exhibiting for over 35 years. She studied with internationally and nationally known artists Harriet Febland and Alton Tobey. While living in Westchester County, New York, she was an exhibiting artist of the Febland group and exhibited throughout the New York and Long Island areas. She was represented by Summerfield Gallery, Dobbs Ferry, New York and was a juried member of Artists’ Equity before relocating to the Midwest. Since moving from Chicago to Indiana, she has exhibited throughout the region and has won many honorable mentions and first prizes.  She is a juried member of the Area Artists Association, Michigan City, and of Northern Indiana Artists, South Bend, Indiana.  Ginny maintains her studio in LaPorte, Indiana. Website: www.ginnyscott.com

Untitled. © Edwin Shelton. Mixed Media. 8 x 4 x 15 feet. $9000

Edwin Shelton

Edwin Shelton is an artist whose spirituality and revelry is expressed through his tactile sculptures. Seemingly weightless, the deceivingly weighty works are made with largely found objects covered with fabric, thread and paint.  “My studio is my sanctuary. Through art, I express the joy and spirituality I feel being there,” said Shelton, who currently serves as the art teacher at Marquette Catholic High School in Michigan City, Indiana. His experience as an exchange teacher in Zibo, China, brought insights into Chinese cultural ideas that continue to influence his artwork today. Together with his wife, Laurel Izard, Shelton created Izwin, a business selling ceramic objects, jewelry, and ornaments to galleries throughout the US for almost twenty years. Edwin earned a BFA in sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA in sculpture at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He completed his final credits at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. Shelton maintains a studio in the St. Mary Studios in Michigan City, IN. Website: https://edwinpshelton.com

Standing Guard. © Joan Spohrer. Acrylic on canvas. 11×14 inches. $300

Joan Spohrer

Joan Spohrer began painting after a career as a magazine editor and freelance work that brought her into the worlds of photography and website design. Out of curiosity and a strong desire to paint, she enrolled in an artists’ workshop in 2002 with the Pinhook Painters, at Pinhook Park in South Bend. She began working in watercolors and still paints with that group every Wednesday. These mentors’ support and encouragement helped her develop as an artist, and through the years she has shown and won awards at many regional exhibits and art fairs. She works in watercolor and acrylic, painting landscape, figure and florals in an impressionistic style. She enjoys capturing images of street musicians, city scenes, and nature during her travels, then interpreting them on paper and canvas back in the studio. Recently she has delved into digital painting on an iPad. She continues working in web design, managing websites for area art organizations, and is an organizer of the annual Leeper Park Art Fair in South Bend. She is a member of Northern Indiana Artists, St. Joe Valley Watercolor Society and Area Artists Association. Website: http://joanspohrerwatercolors.com/

Wayside. © Carole Stodder. Acrylic on canvas. 20 x 24 Inches. $900

Carole Stodder

My current work utilizes aspects of the visual environment as my subject matter. This includes material found in advertising and graphics in everyday life but also what flashes at us on television and the web. You might call this “still life,” but it also permeates our landscape in our urban surroundings, on billboards and street signage. This is our milieu, man-made and more pervasive than nature, at times overly dominant and chaotic. I reproduce these elements on my canvases with paint, collage material and block prints. Through my compositions, I aim to create a new environment with an imposed balance and order. The guiding principle in my painting is a commitment to form and spatial structure. I discovered the strength of this approach through graduate studies with New York artist Will Barnet. This was a turning point in my career. I then went on to earn an MFA in studio art from the University of Chicago.  I was a practicing artist in Chicago for many years before moving to Indiana. I currently maintain a studio in the town of Pines and continue to exhibit and showcase my work. Website: carolestodder.com.

Surrender. © Suzy Vance. Fiber art.  21 x 17 inches. $350

Suzy Vance

Suzy Vance lives and creates in the heart of the Indiana Dunes National Park. As a lawyer she represented a client successfully before the United States Supreme Court. Today she is a life coach, fiber artist, photographer, video-podcaster, and self-described “word merchant” inspired by the people and world around her. Website: https://suzyvance.com

Vitameata- vegamin. ©Jamie Wallen. Textile appliqué. 35 x 48 inches. NFS

Jamie Wallen

Jamie Wallen currently uses Michigan City, Indiana as home base to do the many different forms of his art. Jamie specializes in textiles using a diverse range of techniques such as, appliqué, thread painting, inks and traditional dye medium applications. He also designs adult coloring books, patterns and specialty tools for artists. He produces an instructional channel, Quilters Apothecary, which is found on Patreon.com and YouTube. In addition, he travels throughout the world teaching his trademark designs and techniques.

As an award-winning international textile artist and teacher, he has developed his own techniques to complete his art quilts. Jamie has taught and exhibited work throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe. Not only has his art won awards but he has also received four consecutive Teacher of the Year awards within the textile art community as well as producing his original line of best-selling tools. Website: www.jamiewallen.com