Our Artisan Market is displayed on a rotating schedule of many talented artists. Stop by and support the arts with a purchase from a wide variety of Local artists and craftsmen of fine jewelry, photography, paintings, drawings, lotions, and much more. Here are some featured artists whose work is on display and for sale in our current rotation.
Artist Bio: Joe DiSabatino
Joe DiSabatino is a self-taught artist. He has exhibited his art work in the Washington, DC area; Lewes, Delaware; Chapel Hill, NC; Myrtle Beach; and India. His paintings are in private collections throughout the United States, England, and India.
His artistic strength is his use of color. He paints in an expressionist style in a variety of genres: realistic, semi-abstract and imagined landscapes, abstracts either with figures or non-representational patterns, and portraits.
Joe is a student of Western visual art and has visited many of the major art museums in the United States and Europe. He has taught Art Appreciation courses through the Adult Education Department at Coastal Carolina University and currently on a Zoom platform.
DONNA GAGNON
I have lived in Connecticut all my life until I retired and moved to Conway a year and a half ago. I started painting as a child with acrylics. I would paint on any surface, paper, canvas, wood, metal, glass and cloth. That all changed after I took a week long workshop in watercolors at the Lyme Art Association in Connecticut 20 years ago. I was completely enthralled in this new way of painting. After that I took many classes at Farmington Vally Arts, West Hartford Art League, Glastonbury Art Guild and the Wethersfield Academy of the Arts. Then I studied landscape painting open air with a talented artist Jacqueline Jones before I moved to South Carolina. I’m now a member of the Seacoast Artist Guild, the Waccamaw Arts & Crafts Guild and the Franklin G Burroughs Art Museum. I find great joy when painting. It’s meditation for me. I am truly blessed to have this in my life and to be able to share it with others.
Sharon raised two sons and pursued careers in the arts and education in Washington, DC. She earned a BFA in Design with minors in Art History and Education receiving instruction from renowned artists Lois Mailou Jones and David Driskell at Howard University leading to positions at the National Gallery of Art and the National Endowment for the Arts. Later, a Masters Degree in Library Science led to a rewarding career with the DC Public Schools.
Sharon and her husband, Anthony, recently moved to South Carolina, enjoying the beauty and cultural significance of the coastal area. Sharon is a board member of the Waccamaw Arts and Crafts Guild and the Seacoast Artists Guild, and vice president of the SC District Chapter of the Colored Pencil Society of America. She has participated in exhibitions and juried shows where she has been honored as featured artist and has received various awards, including Best In Show. Her oil, watercolor, and acrylic paintings can be viewed at the Mercy Care Art Gallery in Myrtle Beach, SC, Seacoast Artists Gallery (The Market Common), Myrtle Beach, SC, and the Georgetown Art Gallery in Georgetown, SC.
“I never tire of exploring and photographing the rural and low country landscape, people, towns, rivers, and beaches, and historical and cultural sites of this beautiful area. Most of the paintings I have completed recently illustrate these experiences.
I love to use color, light and expressive brush strokes in landscapes, figurative paintings, and portraits. Many of my landscapes feature pathways, roads, and meandering waterways intended to pull the viewer into the scene.
Needless to say, I love to paint! And lately I have been exploring other creative activities and media as well, including block printing, pastels, colored pencil, and jewelry.” …Sharon Sorrels
VICKIE WRIGHT
Like most artist I grew up with crayon in hand ... leading to pastels ... charcoal ... and paints.
But, putting my painting away after college to “ get a job “ and raise a family , in 2005 I began to pick it back up slightly after 27 yrs.
In 2006 feeling the need to do more regularly and with the boys grown, I put “ the job away “ and a plan was make.
With a phone call involving my childhood friend, a cross country road trip was in the works. Leaving the husband at home I flew to Montana, also my home away from home, and met up with my friend Ann.
Camera and map in my hand ....steering wheel in hers, we set out on a 14 day road trip. Collecting photos I came home with lots of inspiration.
These photos ..... growing up in Myrtle Beach .... moving to Aynor a few years ago .... gave me the inspiring coastal and rural landscapes which inspires the artistic side of me.
Formerly from New York State, I was a Certified Nurse-Midwife of 25 years, and a Registered Nurse of 50 years. In 2016 I decided to both retire, and move to Conway, South Carolina, where I live with my daughter and her family, and my sweet Yorkie – "Pippin." I have always been encouraged by my multi-artistic and talented family to create. Having much time on my hands has inspired me to express myself through the arts.
I have been crafting for over 60 years. It all started when my mother enrolled me into 4H at age 8. I learned how to sew, knit, crochet, and create small crafts. I have been “crafting” ever since. I loved to paint, especially in watercolor, but have found my niche now in later life to work with Precious Metals to express my other side.
In 2004 I began creating beaded and silver jewelry. I started selling my jewelry at local craft fairs as well as in-home shows where I developed a successful following. In 2010 I branched out and began creating Fine Silver (99.9% pure) jewelry from Pure Silver or Pure Copper and Bronze “Clay.” This Precious Metal Clay** is unique in that it allows me the ability to imprint, texture, sculpt and mold it into any design I choose. Once Fired it becomes Pure Silver or copper. Living a few miles from the "art hub" of Woodstock, NY gave me the opportunity to meet several artisans and to take classes as well. At the Woodstock School of Art, I studied alongside Statts Fasholdt. I was also fortunate to take classes with local artisan from Kingston New York - Elke Hekler, and with Bianca Terranova (Bianca Nova Jewelry) in Rhinebeck, NY. Although I have created my own line called, “This Heart Matters," I am particularly partial to re-creating nature’s gifts."
I am inspired by nature’s infinite woodland beauty and seashore. Through the use of Precious Metal Clay, I create leaves for my collection called “Please Don’t Leave Me." My creations have a timeless appeal and are affordably priced with the buyer in mind. I also enjoy recreating Jewelry in the Art Deco style. While these are both my signature lines, I specialize in personal design items created especially for my clients such as fingerprint jewelry or incorporating their heirloom pieces into a new creation.
In 2019 I was judged by nationally renowned artisans and received the honor of Finalist/Honorable mention From the International 2019 Jewelry Making Contest of Fire Mountain Gems and Beads for my “Copper Serene Moonlight” Creation. This winning creation is featured in their 2020-2021 catalog.
**All metal clays are composed of micron-sized particles of pure silver, a cellulose-based binder and water. When the clay is dried and placed in kiln at 1600° for at least an hour the piece is .999% pure Silver.
E-Mail: Catcher713@gmail. FB: Avalon Arts: designs by Helen Crisman-Jassen,
Festivalnet.com/AvalonArts
My name is Brenda Long and my hobbies are as eclectic as my jewelry pieces. On any given day you might find me traipsing through an old cemetery documenting tombstones, vigorously researching genealogy in the library, working on my Poshmark store, or making jewelry in my office – AKA my comfy chair with a lap pad and a cluster of cats at my feet.
I was introduced to jewelry making about ten years ago. I had fun creating items and people said I had a knack for it. At first I made simple pieces to give to friends and family but within a year I had moved on to venues like Brookgreen Gardens’ Artists Under the Arcade. I began traveling to bead shows and bead stores looking for unusual pieces that called out for me to buy them (my husband said I didn’t have to listen to ALL of them).
When asked how I decide which pieces to use when making something I have to say I really don’t know, I just know what feels right. I’ve always been good with matching colors and my friends will tell you that if something stands still long enough I will try to decorate it. I am a perfectionist; I have been known to take a piece apart two or three times before I’m satisfied with its presentation. I always try to make time to wear my pieces tomake sure there are no unforeseen problems but sometimes that is a problem within itself because I fall in love and can’t stand to sell it!
I love working with gemstones and Hill Tribe Silver the most. Hill Tribe Silver is made by Karen tribes living in the hills of Thailand. In some instances this is the family’s only source of income and a “family business” that has gone on for generations. Whereas sterling silver is about 92.5% pure silver mixed with copper or other metals and formed by a machine, HT silver is 98 or 99% silver and formed by hand using crude tools. As for the gemstones, well I’m just a rock hound; I love them all.
I am originally from Conway; my family has deep roots here. We moved to Savannah when I was seven and I like to say I grew up in both places as we came home to Conway often. I received a BA and a MEd in History and School Counseling from Georgia Southern University and moved back to the area in 1998. Although I miss working with the little ones, retirement has given me the opportunity to do all the things I love! I have two children, twenty eight year old twins. Brian is a staff sergeant in the Air Force stationed in Nevada and Caileigh is a teacher and a stay at home mom to the most beautiful little girl in the world, my sixteen month old granddaughter Emma Claire. Caileigh and her husband Jay Dennis live in Alexandria, Virginia.
Hannah Millner - Sea to Seed
I’m Hannah, owner and designer behind Sea to Seed. I love making things with my hands, spending time in the ocean, growing food, and dancing my heart out to latin music.
After years of jewelry design as a hobby, Sea to Seed came to life in the summer of 2016.
Sea to Seed is inspired by my love for nature and the beauty of a simple life. The happiest years of my life have been spent covered in soil and rinsing off with sunset surf. My intention with each piece is to channel some of the joy and inspiration I've found while planting the tiniest of seeds or paddling into the foggy abyss in the chilly North Pacific. All of my jewelry is made by hand in my sunny studio in Blue Lake, California.
Caitey is a student and artist living in Charleston, SC. She studies studio art at the College of Charleston with a concentration in painting. Working primarily in oils, pastels, and acrylic, she aims to portray the things she loves through art. In this series, she combines a passion for both art making and florals.
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