Artists Bios

Gail H. Henderson

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"I find [the American Southwest and the high plains of Spain] to be stimulating as well as humbling with their heightened color and massive natural strength.

Gail Henderson's paintings focus on earth colors and natural shapes. Her work has been fostered by time spent in the American Southwest and Spain. In her abstracted works Gail uses layers of transparent color juxtaposed with opaque passages of acrylic paint to imply the light freshness and heavy strength of the mountains, the desert plains and the people living there. "I build texture by using thick paint, silica, resin, and metals to express the roughness of the terrain and natural attitude of the Southwest."

Gail Henderson is a relative newcomer to the world of the professional artist. She began her painting career in 2000. Previous to that she was a career educator whose professional education (B.A. and Ph.D., Ohio State University; M.A., Michigan State University) contained virtually no course work related to the art world. Gail describes her method, "My previous career as an educator has allowed me to gain insight into my own learning process. I work to balance experimentation and intuition with knowledge and skill. The evolving processes of learning and teaching are continually at play."

Henderson's work hangs in several private and corporate collections, including those of Duke Power, PPD Inc. and Randall Library at UNCW. Her art has been in numerous juried exhibitions and can be found in galleries on the east coast and in the southwest of the United States.

B. F. Reed

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"Very often, paintings take on lives of their own and find their own voices. I discover that I am happiest with the paintings to which I have listened."

For more than 20 years B.F. Reed's distinctive watercolors have been displayed in galleries in United States and abroad in Japan and South Korea. Her pieces can be found in the U.S. Presidential Art Collection, Foreign Diplomatic collections and numerous private art collections, such as that of NBA Hall of Famer, "Dr." Julius Erving.

B.F. Reed's art reflect her diverse cultural experiences and interests. Some of her pieces incorporate exotic Asian elements while others portray the landscape and features of coastal Carolina. Each piece has a life of its own that resonates in her painting. B.F. explains, "I am drawn by light, shadows and patterns in my art. The quest is always to depict one or more of these beguiling and sometimes illusive elements."

The power of her work reflects rigorous years of study at the prestigious Moore College of Art and Temple University's Tyler School of Art.

Speaking of her art, B.F. Reed remarks, "…Sometimes [the art] may take days or weeks or even months to complete. It is NOT a leisurely pursuit, this quest for the making of art. The images do not come along quietly. They resist. I insist."

Carol Aweeky

Carol Aweeky uses the characteristic bright Mediterranean colors in her Majolica pottery. Majolica was originally created in the Mediterranean region to duplicate porcelains from China. The potters in that region only had red clay to work with so they created a shiny white opaque glaze to work on. Majolica is a low fire technique in which the designs are painted on with a glaze that becomes shiny and bright after firing.

"I started my first venture into the potter's world in 1987 joining the Franklin Square Gallery in Southport and still later at the Orange Street Pottery in Wilmington. My goal has always been to craft functional pieces. The glazes I use, help me obtain my artistic vision. The flowers that I paint on majolica are purely products of my imagination."

Deborah Cavenaugh

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Deborah Cavenaugh is a self-taught artist. She began painting on Mother’s Day in 1992 after her children presented her with a box of watercolors they bought in a toy store.

In late 1993, Cavenaugh took a couple of her paintings to a local frame shop that had sent her a coupon. The frame shop happened to be owned by a gallery. The gallery owner happened to be in the frame shop that day, saw Cavenaugh’s work, and put her under contract right then. The next week, three paintings sold

Today, Cavenaugh has had over 50 shows. Galleries have represented her from Maine to Florida. Her original art hangs in private collections across the country and in at least 11 foreign countries. She has been featured in newspapers, magazines, NPR, and on television. An author and illustrator, Deborah is represented by Linda Konner Literary Agency in NYC.

Deborah Cavenaugh paints comfortable scenes and familiar images from life as we know it. She invites the viewer into her world—a world that they already recognize from their own. Cavenaugh’s watercolors are colorful and complicated. She is known for the sayings she writes on each and every piece—sayings, Cavenaugh says, are “all about making life a little easier, a little more joyful, and helping us all to recognize that on any day, while the list of all that is going wrong could be written down, the list of all that is going right could never be finished”.

Best From The Press

Deborah Cavenaugh, seeking a fluid intensity, approaches the ecstatic clarity of Walter Anderson or Minnie Evans. [Her] nearly primitive directness resonate[s] with sincerity and honesty.
- John A. Hancock, Contemporary Watercolors, Annie Boykin Gallery

Cavenaugh... paints in colors that recall an Eastern European city or a Turkish Kilm or perhaps Matisse after a visit to a textile factory.
- Catherine Quillman, Philadelphia Inquirer

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M J Cunningham

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MJ approaches her canvas in the way a detective may look at an unsolved mystery; each piece has the kernel of what it will become inside of it. Through the creative process MJ coaxes images that whisper and evoke infinity to the surface of the canvas. In her words, "Diversification, revelation, and celebration best describe my work process. While I feel that each idea, each creation, requires and deserves its own medium, its own style of interpretation, my goal is to find and reveal a hidden meaning in the process and finished artistic creation. It is through exploration that I hope to convey to the viewer the excitement and passion inherent to my act of creativity. When I do this, I celebrate because I have taken another step forward in the artistic process."

MJ Cunningham began her college education in 1959 at Kent State University in Ohio and it culminated 38 years later with a Master of Arts degree from Hollins University in Virginia. Having traveled and lived around the world with her military husband and five children, her work is an embodiment of her strong family values and nomadic lifestyle.

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Susan Dade

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New York City in the 70’s was a perfect place for Fashion Illustrator Susan Dade.

While perfect for fashion, it lacked natural beauty… something that pulled Susan from the busy city to North Carolina a few years ago.

Now, instead of sketching models she paints landscapes, waterfronts and other natural beauties. Her paintings are free and colorful yet detailed.

Upon graduating from the prestigious Parsons School of Design, she was hired as a fashion illustrator for Women’s Wear Daily. Susan was on staff there for six years when she was hired by Glamour magazine to illustrate and design ads all connected with the major advertisers in Glamour. Her charcoal and pen and ink drawings were printed and seen nationally in The New Yorker magazine and The NY Times.

Her ready-to-wear lifestyle slowed down a bit when she left to raise a family and started teaching at a number of art schools including Fashion Institute of Technology. After 15 years of teaching, moving to a warmer climate was looking better and better. The family visited Caswell Beach on vacation and fell in love with the area. In 1994 they moved to St. James Plantation.

Susan’s work is shown at galleries up and down the coast. Susan has won numerous awards including “Best In Show” at the Wilmington Art Association Azalea Festival Show. Her work is in many private and corporate collections nationally and worldwide. Several originals have recently been acquired for the permanent collection at the Brunswick County Courthouse.

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Harry Davis

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"I paint because I have to; it's a part of me. Painting is like eating and sleeping to me. It's not a ritual; it's just something I have to do."

Harry Davis is widely recognized as one of the premier African American artists in the country. Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, Davis enjoyed sketching when he was a youngster, but did not pursue his art talent as a young man. While serving in the 82nd Airborne, his life was forever changed when a bullet struck his spine, confining him to life in a wheelchair. That was when Harry Davis began to seriously pursue his love of art.

"I don't try to make people feel comfortable when they look at my paintings… Right now, I'm driven to do faces and people of the Third World countries."

The Davis style is impressionistic realism, with bright, vivid colors. His portrayals of people are striking, and often disquieting. Faces are strong and determined, reflecting hardship, strife, and dignity. Largely self taught, Davis has perfected his work through practice, trial, and error. Although he doesn't intentionally try to say anything profound or philosophical in his work, his images have strength and power, and never fail to move the viewer.

Davis's enigmatic works of African life and the rural American South have become highly sought after, landing in private and public collections. Over the years, Davis has gained recognition and accolades from the art community as well as many celebrities, including Halle Berry, James Brown, Bill Cosby, Carl Lumbly, Gloria Naylor and Denzel Washington. His work has appeared in numerous group and solo exhibitions and has earned many awards and honors.

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Carla Edstrom

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Carla Edstrom is a potter living in Boiling Spring Lakes, NC with her husband Michael, their two dogs and three cats. She is the recipient of the Brunswick Arts Council Individual Art Grant, 2008 and an Exhibiting Member of the Associated Artists of Southport, NC. She has been a student of Kimberly Smittle-Caroon and is currently studying with Don Johns.

In her words:

"I worked as a paramedic on an ambulance service and in a trauma center for about 10 years. I found satisfaction in seeing the people [I helped] weeks after their wounds had time to heal and their scars were all that remained. It amazed me how a surgeon would take their battered or sick body and put it back together so it was whole again. Not without scars, but nonetheless their life saved. Scars and little imperfections are our trademarks from human survival and are what makes us who we are.

I use many of these same principles I learned as a paramedic in my artwork. Making pottery is a process of taking a mess and making something beautiful out of it. Creating a pot takes vision, patience and focus, but the clay has its own characteristics…I know I have found success and the piece is finished when it has its own personality with little bits of myself intertwined. No pot is perfect, but instead it has a character of its own with every crease and blemish left from my hands…When people buy a mug from me, every time they use that mug they will hold it in their hands…They see the impressions I made on the mug, and in these "scars" I leave a piece of me… for another person to be inspired by."

Carla

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Ivey Hayes

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Ivey was born and raised in Eastern North Carolina. Prolific as a painter, his love for painting began at an early age and spans a 30-year period.
Drawing from personal experiences, Ivey uses bold, vibrant colors to express feeling and emotions, making each of his pieces come to life with their own distinct personality. Music, dance, coastal imagery, local and pastoral scenes of his native North Carolina are just a few of the subjects he paints.
Mr. Hayes received a BA from North Carolina Central University. He performed graduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and then achieved a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1975 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Ivey has won numerous awards for his work. His artwork has been exhibited throughout his home state of North Carolina, Washington D.C., Boston, and New York as well as galleries and private collections in the United States.

“My paintings reflect life’s experiences. They show who I really am…my heart and soul”

Awards
2006 Received “The Order of the Long Leaf Pine” Award
2006 received the “Living Legend” Award
2006 Voted “Artist of the Year” by Encore Magazine
2006 Voted “Artist of the Year for Pender County”
2005 & 2006 NC Spot Festival, Featured Signature Artist
2005 & 2006 NC Oyster Festival, Featured Signature Artist
2005 NC Market Day Festival, Featured Signature Artist
2004, 2005, & 2006 NC Blueberry Festival, Featured Signature Artist
2004 NC Azalea Festival, Featured Signature Artist
2003 Airlie Arts Festival, Featured Signature Artist
2003 Airlie Arts Festival, Four Purchase Awards
1996 Presidential Award, NC Azalea Festival, Master Arts Exhibition
1996 Dennis Hopper Celebrity Award, NC Azalea festival, Master Arts Exhibition
1995 Fun 4th of July Festival, Award of Excellence, 2nd Place
1995 Onslow County Museum Arts Crafts Festival, 1st Place
1995 Azalea Queen’s Award, NC Azalea Festival, Master Arts Exhibition

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Carol Hovey

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Artist’s Statement
For me an important part of making art, and my greatest pleasure, is being absorbed in the process, whether it’s drawing with a pencil, pushing color around with a brush, or stroking with pieces of pastel. My references are catalogued in memories collected over time. What comes out on paper is the residue of those, sometimes in detail, sometimes as just a suggestion. Producing an image that gives pleasure or pause to the viewer, a place to rest and contemplate for a moment, is my goal. My work investigates a range of styles and subject matter. Using memory traces as references, I will often distill scenes from my travels into evocative visual reminders of place. I like to work large, often using flowers and complex still life compositions as subject matter.

Member
Wilmington Art Association North Carolina
Watercolor Society of North Carolina
Associated Artists of Southport North Carolina

Participation
27th National Exhibition Southport, 2007
Wilmington Art Association Spring Shows, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Creative Arts of Hampstead Annual Show 2006
Brunswick Arts Council Show, 2005, 2006
Southport Spring Show, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Watercolor Society of North Carolina Exhibit, New Bern, 2005
Artists of Southeast North Carolina, Cameron Museum, 2004
Juried and non-juried shows in CT and NY, 1996 – 2003
Corporate exhibit, Cendant Mobility, Danbury CT, 2003
The Kotinsky Gallery, Pompton Lakes NJ – Art of the Southwest, 2003

Galleries
Blue Heron Gallery, Sunset Beach NC
FastFrame, Wilmington NC
Franklin Gallery, Southport NC
Wilmington Gallery at New Castle, Wilmington NC

Awards
The Emily Hopson Award for Graphics - Kent Art Association CT 2002
Best in Show, Graphics - Fairfield CT Festival of the Arts, 1998
Merit Award, Graphics - Wilmington NC Art Association, Juried Spring Show 2005
Honorable Mention– Juried Spring Show, Southport NC, 2005
Merit Award, Watercolor – Brunswick Arts Council, 2005
Merit Award, Watercolor – Brunswick Arts Council, 2006
Honorable Mention – 27th National Exhibition, Southport NC

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Barbara Bear Jamison

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Barbara has been painting since she was 10 years old. Her first experience was painting with Hester Donnely in Post Office Alley in Wilmington, NC. She spent many years taking old master technique lessons from Saant Celia who is an accomplished artist and teacher in Wilmington. Upon graduation in Art Education from UNC-Chapel Hill she taught in the public schools in Chapel Hill, NC and Iowa City, Iowa. She and her husband moved back to Wilmington when he finished his education in Orthodontics to raise their family. Barbara's artwork has been on the cover of the St. Mary's Alumni magazine in Raleigh, NC, she was the North Carolina Azalea Festival artist of 2002, an exhibiting artist at the St. Mary's School Alumni art show and sale from 1998-2000, and exhibited at the Junior League of Raleigh show and sale. Her works are in private collections in Wilmington, NC, Raleigh, Charlotte, and the greater New York area.

www.bbearjamison.com

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Judy Karpinski

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Judy is a fine arts photographer originally from the Washington DC area, where photography was an avocation while she pursued a successful career in fashion and merchandising. Ten years ago, she embarked upon the serious study of photography, opened her own studio, and became a much sought-after freelance photographer, also exhibiting and winning awards for her fine art photography. Judy's work reflects her love of nature, people, and special places; this is evident in her description of her latest work, "Wrightsville Winter".

"There is a different light at the beach in the winter -- a different mood, atmosphere, and rhythm prevails. It is slower, more serene, more contemplative, and the light is beautiful. For the last two winters I've been working on capturing this light in a series of images, "Wrightsville Winter." I usually shoot at the end of the day, when people come to the beach to walk their dogs, surfers come to catch the last waves of the day, and when the waters are calm, reflecting the last rays of the sun."

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Joanie Tiska Kennedy

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I love painting at the coast! I enjoy trying to capture the colors, that are special to Eastern North Carolina and our vanishing horizon. My coastal paintings contain more lines, bolder color, with an almost harsh contrast of bright sunlight and cool shadows. My subject matter is the disappearing scenes that make the coast unique, ... old wooden fishing piers, crab pots piled on a dock, wooden rocking chairs, sand fences, and the twist bridge that guards the entrance to Topsail Island where we live by the tides, the wind, the moon and the stars.

Kennedy attended East Carolina University, NC State School of Design, as well as classes at Lincoln Land College in Illinios, Bennington College in Vermont, as well as Meredith College. She is a founding member and studio artist of Artspace in Raleigh since 1964. She moved the studio home after 10 years. Most of her acrylic paintings have been of landscapes and abstracts. However, after 9/11, she began a new era concentrating on the coast. She shares time between her home in Raleigh, NC and Topsail Island. She is married and has three grown daughters and two grandchildren.

www.joaniekennedy.com

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Joan McLoughlin

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Joan McLoughlin is a multi-media artist who grew up on Long Island, New York. After moving to Baltimore, Maryland she began her formal art education in 1992 while working in a family business. She graduated from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland in 2000 with a double concentration, studio art and photography. Her instructors included many teachers from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

She had a one person show of black and white photographs in Hunt Valley, Maryland. She has shown her watercolors, oils, mixed media and photographs in various juried national and local exhibitions including Gormley Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, Touchstone Gallery and Women’s Caucus for Art in Washington, D.C., Carroll County Arts Council, Westminster, Maryland, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, Maryland, and ArtSpaces, California, Maryland.

Publications which included Joan’s artwork and writing include Damozel, CND Literary and Art Publication, Best of College Photography Annual and The International Library of Photography. Corporate collections include Maryland Lighting, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland and OneSource, Columbia, Maryland.

Now retired from business since 2004, she is a resident of Wilmington, North Carolina and also resides in Baltimore, Maryland. Exhibits in Wilmington include Artworks Fine Arts Gallery, WAA Azalea Festival, Wrightsville United Methodist Church, FastFrame, Franklin Square Gallery and various fundraising charitable events.

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Conrad Pope

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Photography, especially aerial photography, lightening photography, and astrophotography (photographs of stars and galaxies), has interested Conrad Pope since an early age. Today the unique and diverse landscapes of the local areas around Wilmington provide plenty of subject matter for his photography.

Conrad is inspired to share through photography images that most people never see. This could be the intenseness of a lightning storm at midnight, the colors of a winter’s dawn on the beach, the beauty of the ocean and inlets from 5,000 feet above or the vastness of the nebulae and galaxies in deep space. Since his ideas for photographs revolve around placing the moon or the sun in a particular landscape, sometime he has to wait years for a particular shot.

Each of his areas of interest in photography, astrophotography, aerial photography and lightning, require specialized equipment, traveling to out-of-the way spots, expertise and lots of patience. Astrophotography involves traveling at night to get away from city lights, using a telescope mounted on a special drive and waiting through two hours or more of total exposure for each object being photographed. For his aerial photographs, Conrad hangs out of the window of a good friend’s small airplane at altitudes of 5000 feet. The results of his endeavors are spectacular shots of local areas. Lightening photos are very tricky, especially to get just the right shot at just the right time. Storm chasing can be risky business but you will have to agree it is worth the effort when you see Conrad’s magnificent lightening shots.

What’s New? Conrad made the conversion from film to digital over a year ago and never looked back. Digital images have allowed him to create large panoramas of skylines and landscapes. When these are printed 6 feet wide and larger the effect is dramatic.

Conrad’s photos have appeared in local newspapers, brochures, international astronomy magazines and are available in selected local galleries. Conrad Pope lives in Wilmington with his very supportive wife and their son.

www.conradpope.com

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Terry Rosenfelder

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After earning his BA in fine arts at NYU, Terry Rosenfelder taught school for 2 years with his wife Chris in the US Peace Corps in Debre Sina in the remote highlands of Ethiopia. It was a very positive experience, so they decided to continue teaching in the US. Terry headed the art department at a new high school in New Ipswich, NH, until moving with his family to Wilmington, NC, where he taught art and art history at North Brunswick H. S. for 25 years.

Terry now devotes himself full time to painting with oil on canvas. His favorite subjects include the marshes, boats and homes along the waterways of North Carolina, the towns and working waterfront of Maine, and other interesting scenes and people wherever he finds them. Influenced by such artists as Andrew Wyeth, van Gogh, and Vermeer, Terry portrays people and places from his personal experiences. He seeks original and challenging subjects, compositions, or color interpretations. As each painting evolves, colors and textures are modified; details are added and subtracted until the painting seems complete. Often his paintings tell a story. Terry admits he is a realist and a perfectionist; his paintings often take months to finish.

www.rosenfelderart.com

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Jinney Sceiford

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Jinney received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA and Interior Design Degree from Mercyhurst College in Eric, PA. She moved to Wilmington in 1990 and began taking classes at Orange Street Pottery. Jinney now has her own studio at home and hand building is her “thing.” She makes both decorative and functional pieces, and has been making clay jewelry for the past year.

She began painting at the age of 11 using oils and pastels. When all efforts as a musician failed, she was introduced into the art world by her mother who pointed her to art lessons which got her started. She has taken up painting again in the past few years, and loves it as well.

“Being creative is simply part of me. I can only be without being involved in creating for so long before I feel that something is missing. There is a feeling of unrest, impatience and anxiety which only leaves with my renewed involvement in some creative project. My reward is my feeling of fulfillment and the enjoyment of others in my work”

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M. Matteson Smith…

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- paints, cuts paper, and creates
- guides classes, workshops, and exihibits
- makes potato soup, paintings, and waves
- wears pearls, different hats and a widow’s ring
- enjoys reading, white wine, and music
- has children, grandchildren, and a kind heart
- respects education, good books, and trees
- detests small people, narrow minds, and bugs
- admires honesty, creativity, and humor
- likes gardening, hardware stores, and rain
- dislikes lost time, wasted energy, and litter
- teaches, curates, and designs
- is a writer, a Mensan, and seasoned
- values kindness, wisdom, and naps
- holds awards, almost a Master’s and optimism
- loves sparkley stuff, fairness, and cheese
- believes in sharing, spirituality, and fate
- needs the beach, the sea, and sunshine

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Sara Westermark

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Primarily a self-taught metalsmith, soprano Sara Westermark holds a master's degree in voice performance from the University of Missouri. Currently enjoying coastal living with her family, Sara is involved with Wilmington's DREAMS, an arts program for inner city kids. Recently invited to participate in "The Jewelry Box Project", the artist's work will appear in a book sponsored by Lark Books, to be published in Fall 2010. Experimenting with design, color, and texture in her hand-fabricated original creations, Sara Westermark draws inspiration from nature. Sara's work is truly unique and organic, involving sterling silver, copper, and gold, along with champagne diamonds, freshwater pearls, and gemstones. Sara says that designs sometime come to her in dreams, as if they have already been worked out for her.

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Ronald Williams

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Ronald, a native of historic Wilmington, North Carolina, studied fine arts at the Art Students League and received his degree in art from Parson’s School of Design, both in New York City. Ronald Williams is recognized as one of the south’s leading commission artist featuring techniques in pen and ink drawings and water color paintings.

Ronald’s love of the coast, history and the natural environment are captured in his art work; reflecting the beauty of the coast and the southern historical architecture.

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