We found Denise’s illustrations on the Brooklyn Art Project website. Denise obtained her BFA from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. As a lover of illustration and design, she became a graphic designer upon graduation.
Denise continued creating illustrations but did not have a style she could call her own. About seven years ago, Denise realized that although she was enjoying a creative career as a graphic designer, she had stopped doing anything simply for the joy of creating. When Denise was a child, she drew constantly. In college, she was never without her sketchbook. But as an adult graphic designer, she got to a point where she couldn’t remember the last time she had drawn for fun.
This was when Denise decided to start drawing again. She gave herself an assignment and a deadline each week. She had no client to please and no creative director to impress. Denise described how she regained her joy of creating artwork: Read More
Martina Višnjić is a Croatian artist with a background in both textile and graphic design. She works as a graphic designer and illustrator, citing love, colors and fairy tales as her inspirations.
Martina had always used pencils for her drawings until she attempted the use of watercolor. Surprisingly, she fell in love with the quality of drawings and continued creating artwork with watercolors and ink on paper. To learn more about Martina, please click here.
“River Dream – Sold” acrylic and mixed media on canvas 32″ x 48″
Sara Roizen is an artist and licensed creative arts therapist. She received a BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Masters in Art Therapy from Pratt Institute. Read More
Erin is a self-taught fine art photographer. During a vacation to Northern California as a teenager, she found herself fascinated by her ability to capture her surroundings. She fell in love with photography as a medium and has since learned how to operate cameras and edit photos. She is gradually developing her specialty in nature, landscape, conceptual and self-portrait photos.
A number of Erin’s photographs feature her image or body parts. She says that she uses her own image to convey the conceptual and personal side of the story. According to Erin, including herself in the photo allows her to have better control of the output and seeing the photos come to life.
Nelleke Verhoeff is an artist based in Rotterdam, Holland, who creates quirky and playful illustrations for her and her partner’s multidisciplinary creative company, yepr. Coming from a circus-inspired theater background where she came up with performance productions using handmade masks, Nelleke’s passion for all things theater is clearly apparent in her artwork.
About eight years ago, Nelleke discovered and fostered a passion in painting. With her growing interest in painting, she realized that she would have to choose between theater and painting. She chose painting, but her love of theater plays a huge role in her work. Her subjects are believable in their expressions and actions, and they strike a chord because they remind me of a person, a place, or an emotion. Nelleke writes that the rosy cheeks donned by her characters are visual representations of the feelings of enthusiasm, shyness and excitement; emotions she is very familiar with.
Maja Wrońska is an Poland-based architect in her fifth year at Warsaw University of Technology. She has taken on her mother’s trade of architecture and has been drawing buildings and castles since she was a little girl. Poland’s skill requirements for architectural school prompted Maja to attend drawing classes, which changed her attitude towards drawing and gave her inspiration as a developing artist.
I discovered Maja’s work through her site on Deviant Art and was first drawn to her work Girl With A Red Umbrella, particularly because of the detail in the building and its reflection on the street, combined with the skillful use of watercolor, and the concept of combining a structural concept with imaginative undertones. I first mistook the scattered white and red circles as raindrops, but during our interview Maja corrected me and said they were lampions as inspired by the lantern scene in the movie Tangled. Girl With A Red Umbrella is actually a depiction of Kupala Night in Poznań, Poland, a solstice celebration where thousands of lanterns float all over the city.
For this week’s Featured Artist we are presenting the work of a talented photographer who has generously shared with us the photos she’s taken during her travels.
Sheri Heller is a psychotherapist by profession who began taking photos as a teenager wanting to capture the beauty of her surroundings when she travelled. She credits her father’s artistry as well as her own interest in the Great Masters for giving her an affinity for the visual. Sheri says that traveling to new lands and being exposed to new cultures was a refuge for her from difficult circumstances. Photographing her travels allowed her to memorialize her experiences that sustained her, much like an author would jot down the details of important events. For Sheri, this ritual of eternalizing moments through photography is an ongoing process in her life.
She kindly agreed to answer some questions for Creativation Space below:
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"Carried Away"
When I look at Melanee’s work, I am immediately drawn to the energy and the movement in it. The bold brushstrokes of the background elicit the feeling that there is a wind stirring the leaves. The trees themselves are more elegant, with their curvy branches and the thoughtful textures which represent leaves. The colors make me wonder if the trees are on fire. All of these things serve to create an interesting contrast that leaves me feeling an intense passion emanating from the artwork.
"Treegamism"
Thanks, Melanee, and keep up the good work!
To get in touch with Melanee: melanee.ohagan at gmail dot com
Megan Staley is an amateur filmmaker and the subject of WIP, one of the short films we previously featured. Megan submitted “The Pearly Gates” as her first class exercise at the New York Film Academy that used a digital camera and live sound.
More of Megan’s work may be found here. Don’t forget to watch a fellow filmmaker’s take on Megan’s inspiring artistic journey.