Shelley and Ken are a spouses that share the love of creating art. Both have a fascination for experimentation and finding what truly inspires the in the creative process. Using a variety of materials, from paint to metals, their body of work is both eclectic and diverse.

Shelley DeBlase

I am primarily a self taught artist who is inspired by my love of travel. My work consists of abstract and surreal representations of sights and vistas that I have both captured in my mind and by camera. I love new experiences and challenging myself, both mentally and physically. I have the same mindset when it comes to my art. Using a variety of materials and techniques keeps my excitement fresh and allows me to go beyond my comfort zone.

My mixed media work consists oil paint, copper enamel, encaustic, metal and found objects. Inspiration for my recent body of work came from travels to locations such as Italy, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Norway, Iceland and Japan. My trips to the remote, surreal, “other worldly” parts of Arctic Norway and Iceland helped me see the beauty of starkness and desolation. I recently returned from a trip to Japan, where a successful summit of Mt. Fuji, gave me insight on how important goals are and the determination to achieve them. This experience gave me the inspiration to transfer that same mindset to my artwork and push myself beyond my limits.

This planet has so much diversity and beauty. I believe it’s our job to capture and share it with others.

Ken Allen

Glass and metal surround us, they are both hard and inflexible, but with the application of heat, flame or force can yield to the hand that guides tools. I enjoy the challenge and serendipitous results that arise as I make use of the resulting chaos and structure to create these works.
Most of my pieces begin with no specific plan in mind, but come from the visual queues I get as I survey the materials I’ve chosen to work with. Working with a given material lends direction as I consider what may happen to it with heat, raw flame, or application of glass and combining other materials and objects to add color and texture.

All things in life are measured, none more than time. Analog clocks represents stationary and movement standpoints in our lives. A Minute hands seem to stand frozen if glanced at, but do ever so perceptively moves forward if watched closely. By representing the clock-as-art, I present these works to capture the eye and encourage one to examine the moments by which we live.

JermainePowell.com Art History In The Making #loveyourwork   

Born in Tunisia (North Africa) in February 1967, Marwen’s earliest memories of the creative process are of himself sitting at a school desk at the age of six or seven, drawing on pieces of paper. Other members of his family are also artistically inclined.

He lived in Tunisia until the age of sixteen, then moved to Paris, France to finish high school and to attend the renown architecture school Beaux Arts.

Even though he has been influenced by many artists from several different movements, he feels that his cultural background has given him the greatest inspiration, being born and raised in Tunisia. This North African country is boarded by the Meditterranean sea, right in the middle of a melting pot of civilizations: Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, African, Arab, Muslim, Andalousian, and European, especially French.

Marwen taught himself painting in the same way someone teaches himself or herself a musical instrument. A mixture of influences taken from all his favorite artists and working from his own individual observations. By observing he has developed his own style, which progresses as logic dictates, fostering harmony between what’s been done and what’s to come.

When Marwen paints, his primary concern is color and content. He loves the conflict between rushes of vibrant color and bold, stark lines. Color gives roundness to a surface, depth in the feeling of a surface, color is the rhythm, from a mood of a picture.

When he paints he try to make the ordinary more extraordinary, each work being a feeling of his personal state of mind at that time. He has always been fascinated by humanity, the erotic and sensual nature of life, the religious and spiritual side of human beings, the tragedies of people, and the urge to carry on regardless. Spending so much time intellectualizing or planning a painting is his last concern. His work is spontaneous and symbolic, it gives the viewers a freedom of imagination and an open interpretation.

Marwen is very open to new techniques and new media. Lately, he has been experiencing with photography and digital art and will continue to do so.

Artist Statement
Roots in West Virginia, educated in North Carolina, Tony Waldron has developed his style in Durham, NC. His work is instantly recognizable due to the use of spray paint and paint markers using bright vivid colors interlaced with black outlines that highlight imperfections and color transitions. Recently Tony has started to us photography as an additional tool for making his art focusing on making large format wheat paste ups that have bursts of added color in his signature style. To see more visit ArtByTW.com

Series Statement
This series began with an idea I had for a few pictures I wanted to take around Durham, and grew from there. Each piece is inspired by the things that we consume and the things that consume us. Curtains for the photography pieces were designed to both obfuscate and draw the viewer in. As you look around, please be sure to pull back or step through the curtains so you can experience the entire piece. Interacting with the art, taking pictures, and posting on social media are all encouraged.

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My name is Terrelle Dominique Smith. Nov 17 1992 was the day I was born . I know today that art is what I was born to do. Everyday through life as the artist in me grew it made me more thoughtful of how some people can wear a smile but inside be so heart broken. Through art I can express many emotions that touches people to want to live and dream and love. Some people can live but be spiritual dead. All it takes is one smile one hug one beautiful thing to make that person to want to live again. That’s my goal as an artist is to touch the lives of people through my art.

Kathy Thompson was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pa. and has recently retired to Raleigh to be near family. Her medium of choice is oil, but her work in watercolor has achieved her Signature Status in the West Virginia Watercolor Society.  Her paintings are most often landscapes, figures and florals.
Kathy continues to study regularly with nationally and internationally known artists.  She has painted plein air and participated in many art shows in Europe.

Ophelia Staton is a mixed media artist who draws inspiration from the everyday ordinary. Creating intuitively without inhibition and the playfulness of a child with a new box of crayons is how she defines her art making style. Ophelia enjoys the act of creating, the playing and experimenting with new tools and materials. Colors find themselves mingling on her palette, with various mark making, collage and words that evolve into stories from her soul. Working quickly, letting go, and allowing spontaneous splashes of color and even mistakes to just happen has been her approach to facing the blank canvas. Being in the moment and enjoying the process of painting -with her fingers a rainbow of color -without a care in the world of the outcome continues to be the absolute joy of Ophelia’s creating.

Ophelia lives in Creedmoor, NC with her husband and two children. She is a full time middle school history teacher. She left the world of quilting and starting painting in art journals as a creative outlet in 2005. She is a regular demo artist for Jerrysartarama in Raleigh and offers workshops and retreats. Follow her art filled journey on her blog at www.opheliasart.blogspot.com. Contact Ophelia at sstaton3@nc.rr.com.

Tamera Hamilton was born into a family of artists.  Her primary influences are her parents. Her father has been a professional portrait photographer for over 50 years. Her mother is a practicing digital artist. Tamera was also influenced by her uncle who is a portrait photographer and her aunt who is a painter. It was a natural progression for her to develop an affinity towards rendering the human form.  Tamera is drawn to expressionism and conveys this in her portraits.

When Tamera was ten years old her parents purchased river front property along the Neuse River in eastern Wake County. This afforded her the opportunity to observe wildlife that is indigenous to Wake County. This environmental influence inspired in her a passion to portray wildlife in its natural habitat through multiple media and techniques that include photography, colored pencils, charcoal, acrylic, oil, pastels, and watercolors.

Tamera’s formal education includes a BS in Zoology from NCSU, and the study of portraiture under the guidance of master artists.

Her work is owned by private art collectors.

Recycle Art by Dot Washington.