Charlotte Art Collective

For much of her adult life, Patti Bryan earned her living as a writer and felt that this was where her creativity lay.  Then, at 40, she discovered painting and worked as a professional painter for years, selling her work in galleries and juried shows.  As time went on, Patti painted less and less and worried that her life as an artist might be over, a thought that saddened her terribly.  And then she discovered clay.   Her passion for her art is greater than ever, and after a few years of building her craft, she is once again a professional artist.

Building ceramic busts in Raku clay, Patti allows the personality of the character to reveal itself to her. She never knows who will appear as she works the clay, but is often amused and delighted. If the viewer is also amused and delighted, so much the better.
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Growing up in close proximity to the city of Charlotte, NC didn’t deter Patrick Robertson Crawford from discovering her love of nature. Tagged a tomboy in her youth, Patrick spent her childhood exploring the woods and streams that surrounded her family’s home. Before turning to a full-time career as a crafts artist, Patrick lived out her passion for the great outdoors in jobs that included sheep tending, carpentry, farming and archaeology.
Patrick began her crafts career as a ceramic artist. When several kiln mishaps destroyed numerous ceramic pieces, Patrick sought other materials and techniques not vulnerable to the fiery gods of a ceramic kiln. Today her works are comprised of wrapped paper strips and paper pulp/paper clay mixture over wire armatures. Smooth surfaces provide the perfect “canvas” for her highly detailed and patterned surfaces.
A student of nature, a “Jill” of many trades, Patrick has integrated the iconography of her other vocations into the work she makes now. Organic forms germinated from the time spent tending sheep. Building houses inspired a fondness for angles and planes. Farming inspired the merging of organic and angular shapes – much of which we see in her works. Currently, Patrick is working with a mosaic mural artist, Tom Thoune, and is incubating new influences for the next wave of her own work.   Patrick is an exhibiting member of the Piedmont Craftsmen.
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Working in a variety of water media as well as collage and cut paper, Laura’s work reflects a background in commercial design and illustration, a love of color and a desire to represent images of personal meaning to her - animals, nature, and the homes and neighborhoods we inhabit.  Her unique vision has received many honors including an Arts and Science Council grant, and awards from The Artist’s Magazine.  Laura works in her home studio under the supervision of two discriminating felines.
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Joal Fischer



Joal Fischer is the Grand Poobah of Barking Dog Chocolatiers, an artisanal chocolate company in Charlotte, NC.  In addition to serving as chocolatiers to Bonterra Dining & Wine Room, Joal and his wife Deborah Langsam work together to hand craft truffles, bark, miniature pastries, custom designed candies, and other delectable desserts.  The goal of the company is to make people smile by providing delicious and beautiful pastries and chocolates.

Joal (a retired pediatrician) & Debbie (a retired biology professor) have been making chocolates since 1996.  They have studied with leading chocolatiers in Paris, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Montreal. They have been featured on the Food Network as well as in Southern Living and U.S. News and World Report.  All the profits of candy sales (roughly 77% of the price of a box of candy) are donated to charity.
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Celia Flock 



Color is a huge part of Celia Flock’s life and fascinates her endlessly with its mysterious qualities and changing nature.  She didn't realize her passion for color until after graduation from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1977.  As a printmaking major, Celia soon discovered making art on her own would not involve a printing press.  She quickly discovered the joy and immediacy of drawing with colored pencils and soon was incorporating acrylic paint and gesso in her work.  Celia’s first show was at the Collectors Gallery (now defunct) at the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh where a faculty member from Davidson College saw her work and invited Celia to do her first one-man show at the College.  What followed were shows at Art Councils around the state, participation in group shows at Spirit Square in Charlotte, the Mint Museum of Art, the Waterworks Gallery in Salisbury, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem and Cameron Crafts Gallery in Chapel Hill.  Eventually Celia was asked to join Hodges -Taylor Gallery in 1984. This representation continued until 1995 when she joined the Jerald Melberg Gallery for several years.  Both are excellent galleries and were wonderful venues for her work.
Celia was fortunate to win several prizes and commissions over the years including a Public Art Work commission for the Hal Marshall Center in Charlotte, a Gallery Without Walls commission from Spirit Square and a Merit Award from Springs Mill Traveling show in Lancaster, S.C. Later she traveled to Florida where she won First Place in painting at the Coconut Grove Arts show and a Merit Award at the Festival of the Masters at Walt Disney World in Orlando.  In 1996 Celia was one of eight artists awarded the N.C. Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowship.
For the past ten years Celia has been involved in designing textiles for Springs Industries in Fort Mill, S.C.  Her own art has always been with her, but she is beginning to return to it in a fuller capacity, and has done so with the recent opening of her working studio and retail shop, Art & Chocolate.   Her latest works are paper collages full of color and patterns and of course paint with colored pencils … Celia feels blessed to be an artist and to taste lightly the joy of creation.
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Laurie Graybeal has worked in the art world in Charlotte for 30+ years, and that experience is now reflected in her striking beaded jewelry designs.   Laurie’s love of art was deepened by stints as gallery manager, calligrapher and watercolor painter. But it’s the design of beaded jewelry that she finds most exciting and rewarding.  Drawn to the beauty of crystals and stones, she calls on her understanding of pattern, contrast, texture, and color as she creates her complex pieces.  Pleased to see her work worn by women of all ages and styles, Laurie is proud to know that each of them wears a design that has no duplicate.
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Amy Hart

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Valeria Hawkins is a potter currently making primarily functional work.  She is interested in the interaction of opposites and this is reflected in her work through use of black and white, unglazed surfaces next to glazed surface areas, shiny surfaces next to matte surfaces, textured surfaces mingled with smooth surfaces, soft curves against flat planes. Valerie’s work has its roots in the American studio pottery tradition, but the finished look has a contemporary edge.  Her goal is to make pottery that is elegant enough for a formal setting, but is sturdy and durable enough for every day use.

Work by Valeria is carried at Blue Moon Gallery, Seagrove, NC; Olga’s Living with Art, Coudersport, Pa; and Wilkes Gallery, Wilkesboro, NC.  Valerie has shown in multiple CPCC Annual Juried Student Art Exhibitions, where she received numerous awards and recognitions.  Valerie is completing her Associate of Fine Arts degree at Central Piedmont Community College.  She has attended workshops at Tennessee Technological University Craft Center, the North Carolina Potters Conference, and Carolina Claymatters Pottery Guild. 
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Catherine Hawley



Cathe Hawley designer of Things SHE carried, is a fulltime artist in Charlotte, NC creating functional carryalls, accessories and art.   She combines materials in new and unexpected ways to create a relevant and highly usable canvas and shape, blending traditional & recycled materials to create a 21st century tapestry.   Following the impulse to shake things up & make stuffy, traditional fabrics witty; innovate finely crafted recycled materials and reclaim old treasured textiles to a personal scale is her design direction of the moment.

With a playful approach and serious interest in vintage, recycled and commercial materials, she composes surfaces using collage and quilting techniques to meld a combo of highly colored mixed media onto one visual plane.  Creating with recycled vinyl, tyvek, industrial wool and recycled felt to explore new fiber combinations that go to the edge of is it wearable or is it art?  There’s always a strong move to making functional accessories out of seemingly alien materials.  Articles created from original patterns make striking use of the contrast between materials while maintaining general usefulness.

She has studied at both Penland and Arrowmont Schools of Craft. Things SHE carried exhibits with the Charlotte ART collective, Waxhaw Art and Chocolate and art shows in the southeast.

Cathe began ARCHANGEL Design, a home and garden design shop with several locations in the Charlotte area,  and has a corporate background in marketing. Married with two daughters, Cathe is an avid gardener and demonstrates a love of color and recycling that applies to both gardening and art.

thingsshecarried.etsy.com   WaxhawArtandChocolate.com   CharlotteARTcollective.com 

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Celena’s work is thrown on a Leach-style treadle wheel, which replaces the regular movement of the electric wheel with the rhythm of the body.  Once thrown on the wheel, many of the forms are altered and manipulated.  Self-designed, hand-carved stamps may be applied to add distinctive texture and enhance the pot’s appearance.  The pots are glazed by a combination of dunking and spraying.  Celena fires her work in an oxidation atmosphere of an electric kiln.  The result is unique, functional pottery that brings beauty into our kitchens and living spaces.

Celena’s love for clay started at Winthrop University where she earned her BFA in the Ceramic Arts in 1992. In 1994 she moved to Cincinnati Ohio where she became involved with the Cincinnati Clay Alliance and was also active in the Art Guild.  Celena taught Throwing and Handbuilding classes there and worked in a local gallery. In 1999 she  moved to South Carolina and set up a home studio and taught classes at the Clayground in Charlotte.  In 2005 Celina took over the Clayground and started her own business that is now The Whirling Wheel. In addition to teaching Celena displays in galleries and sells at art fairs. She participates in the Carolina Claymatters Guild and goes to many pottery workshops, including a course in Italy in 2005.
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Mary has been painting, designing and drawing for 25 years.  Her work includes illustration for periodicals, murals, greeting cards, landscape, animal and still life painting.  She favors acrylics as a medium, but experiments regularly with ink and paper collage as well.  Current work is focused on a new genre of representational, abstract paintings to convey life truths.  She shares a home studio with her cat, Bandit.

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Debbie Langsam



Award-winning fabric artist, Deborah Michael Langsam, took a circuitous route to her art.  The colors, shapes, and textures of fungal spores led her to a Doctorate degree in botany and a career as a Biologist at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  After twenty two years, however, her attraction to the visual and tactile took a different turn … this time in the direction of textiles.  

Today, Deborah uses fabric, thread, and yarn to create contemporary quilted wall-hangings and unique scarves.  The precision of fabric piecing, the problem-solving aspects of design, and the sheer joy of combining fibers to create distinctive pieces appeal to the scientist and artist within her.

Deborah’s creative interests continue to develop and now expand beyond the world of textiles; she and husband Joel Fischer are owners of Barking Dog Chocolatiers, a venture which allows them to craft and sell artisan chocolates.   
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Janet Lasher




Janet Lasher currently works as a mixed media artist with a focus on pieces that combine printmaking and fiber techniques.  She works to develop abstract, narrative, and emotional art on textiles and paper. Each piece of Janet’s hand-dyed cloth, wall and wearable art is unique.  Each are created using many different surface design techniques including immersion dyeing, dye painting, discharge, resists, stenciling, screen printing and stamping. All pieces are priced by to the number and complexity of processes used to complete each piece.

Janet is a member of the Art Cloth Network. Her work has been exhibited throughout the world and has won numerous awards. It can be found in private and corporate collections
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Wan Marsh



Wan Marsh picks up “stuff”.  She is a collector and has always been a collector.  After 50 years she has finally figured out what to do with all this stuff she has collected … Create Art! 

Her interest in art began at an early age.  As a child she played alone, using her talent and imagination to create her own personal Art out of ordinary cast off objects.  She dreamed up new ways to use these things, creating her own order, and continues to do so today.  Wan looks at what others might consider trash and sees possibilities. Her Art is about recycling, repurposing and reinventing.  Her work demonstrates skill and willingness to experiment using a variety of unconventional material. She does this out of a need to change things and revisit the past.  Wan’s mixed media collages consist of, but are not limited to paint, paper, wood, glass, photography, metal, fiber and found objects.  She also incorporates many of her unique decorative painting techniques to achieve unlimited effects.  Wan’s mixed-media work has been featured in shows and has won numerous awards, the latest being The Members Hall of Fame Award on Ovation TV. 

A native of Charlotte, Wan studied art at the Governor’s School of North Carolina at Salem College in Winston Salem North Carolina, Penland School of Crafts, Spirit Square, the Mint Museum, CPCC in Charlotte, North Carolina and with many nationally known collage and mixed media artists.   Wan has a degree in design and a horticulture technology degree specializing in landscape design.  She has taught decorative painting classes at CPCC in Charlotte art classes in the public school system, and also teaches privately.
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Rosemary Peduzzi

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Stephanie Quattrini

Stephanie Quattrini is a fiber artist and teacher who relocated to the Charlotte area in 2008 from New Zealand, where she lived for 10 years.  Originally from the UK, Stephanie was considered by her high school art and needlecraft teachers to be ‘beyond teachable’!

Having little to do with any artistic expression until she reached New Zealand in 1999, Stephanie finally gave in to the natural beauty and magnificent landscapes surrounding her.  The fact that there were 67 million sheep probably steered Stephanie in the direction of felting first of all which is still one of her major passions.  Stephanie works mainly with textiles and multi-media.  Her mission is to make color sing.  She also loves to pass on her skills through the classroom and is committed to ensuring that everyone she teaches becomes a creative star.

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Ahmad Sabha



I believe in the simplicity of the form. I use the most ubiquitous of pottery forms, the bowl as a vehicle to explore containment. Bowls sing with a graceful purity that is truly spiritual. In my line of work I thrive to explore the volumetric space of a vessel and to the relationship between the size of the foot and the displaying surface to create an object full of sculptural power.
My vessels give the vertiginous sense that they have actually levitated.  Weightlessness; my bowls are defying gravity, suspended in space, and reaching for the skies.
They pull towards the earth and at the same time reach for the open skies. These vessels have a new sense of both gravity and gravitas. In the process they speak more about mass than volume.
The wave pattern on the outer surface records and possesses a fluid action. The inside pattern of the vessels holds the throwing rings; exposing the making process. The outside wave pattern contrasts the soft throwing rings in the inside creating dynamic visual tension between the interior and exterior.  Both surface markings preserve the sense of the energy that went into the process. The open mouth as wide as the clear blue sky draws you into its intimate emptiness.
In my choice of materials, I have chosen to execute the vessels in porcelain and stoneware. The glazing is done with iron-saturated glazes.
The porcelain vessels have a clear celadon glaze. Calm and clear; giving the vessel tranquil soft feeling. The color is shiny, matt, reflective and dense emphasizing depth and elegance. Color brings to mind the serene blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
Colors are mostly dark for the stoneware vessels - including brown juxtaposed with black and gray - sometimes with velvet sheen, sometimes with a matt finish, always emphasizing the general mood of elegant restraint. Gold and silver luster have been applied to the surface which achieves a radiant effect maximizing the depth of the colors. The dark color pallet reminiscent of the stones in Mesopotamia; basalt, slate, schist and anthracite
This duality – mass/volume, waves/rings, dark/clear, coarse/soft - is the key theme running through these deeply considered and precisely designed vessels.

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Richard Siegel



Richard Siegel’s work is a collaborative effort with nature where technique, control and self-expression are realized.  Watercolor painting is Richard’s first love: depicting beautiful landscapes and seascapes.  He also enjoys working with different types of wood, turning bowls and building custom furniture.

Richard has been an artist and craftsman for 50 years. Presently, he lives in Charlotte, North Carolina where he has his studio and gallery.  A degree in fine arts from the Massachusetts College of Art was the beginning of Richard’s journey.  Richard has also studied at the University of Frankfurt in Germany.  It was at the North Bennet Industrial School in Boston, that Richard developed his interest in furniture making and at the Wentworth Institute in Boston, he studied architectural drawing.

Richard sees teaching as a stimulating challenge.  The Cambridge Center for Adult Education in Massachusetts and the Dallas Creative Arts Center in Texas have been just two of the many places where Richard’s students have inspired him. Presently, he is a Continuing Education instructor at Queens University and Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Richard has work in many private and corporate collections.
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Pam Swinney



Pam Swinney began her arts and crafts career studying pottery at Queens College and UNCC.   After a 20 year hiatus from art making raising her family, Pam began experimenting with various jewelry making techniques.  Currently she is focusing on combining enameling, glass and metals in pendants and earrings. Pam has studied metalsmithing and enameling at Penland School of Crafts and CPCC.  A former social worker and accountant, Pam supplements her jewelry making habit currently with an industrial automation business she owns with her husband, studio artist Jack Swinney.  A Charlotte native, Pam and Jack have two grown children.
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Julie Tassy

Bricklend Ward has an associates degree in Graphic Design as well as extensive continuing educations in fine arts. Her work varies from painting, ceramics, lampworking, jewelery, computer design and culinary arts. She is completely fascinated with colored glass and that has lead to an obsession with lampworking and jewelry. When she makes beads, the ability to see her work come to fruition in such a short time is one of the biggest rewards. She has always loved hands-on art and loves the instant gratification of lampworking.
Currently, Bricklend is a stay at home mother to two wonderful boys, but definitely enjoys her art as a creative outlet. She says she can get "lost" for hours on end with different types of glass. She also
enjoys making high end, whimsical cakes and has a passion for edible art too.
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I started sewing at an early age.  I primarily made garments at first.  As my sewing skills progressed, I made tailored clothes and even several wedding dresses, all the while trying new sewing techniques such as quilting and wall hangings.  I developed an interest in pottery after seeing some pieces in galleries and gift shops.  After my husband and I moved to North Carolina, and I learned of North Carolina's rich pottery history, I thought I would give pottery a try.  I started with classes at Clayworks in Charlotte.  I first tried the wheel, then moved on to hand building.  I was totally taken with pottery, but it became evident that I would need a large space and a kiln to do it on my own.  I had neither, so I put pottery on hold.  I came across a craft book on making baskets using clothes line and strips of fabric, coiled, then zigzagged together with a
sewing machine.  It looked interesting so I gave it a try.  I immediately felt how similar it was to making pottery.  You are making a piece and  using your hands to to form it.  I knew this would fill my desire to do pottery and I wouldn't need a studio or a kiln.  After making several baskets, it occured to me that if I made 2 baskets, placed them on top of each other,and sewed them together, I could make a vessel, such as a vase, or pot.  After trying a few vases,and having pretty good luck, my wheels started turning, thinking
of different shapes and also of how to add a third or forth piece to make objects such as pitchers or tea pots. I call my work "Soft Pottery". 

Pam Wittfeld works mostly in fine silver jewelry forms.  Her designs focus on decorative and constructive use of pattern – and textural markings.  Her collection includes one-of-a-kind bracelets, earrings, brooches and pendants in fine silver, each made with personally handcrafted individual fine silver components, combined with semi precious stones, crystals, and a variety of other embellishing components and traditional metal materials and techniques. 

Pam has studied with acclaimed metals instructors at Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Crafts, Savannah College of Art & Design, and with the Florida Society of Goldsmiths.  She received a 2007 Regional Arts & Science Council Artist Grant, and participated in an eleven week Art Teacher Resource Residency at the McColl Center for Visual Art (2005).  Pam has participated in various exhibits and shows, receiving special recognitions including a Judge’s show award for 3D Design.  Her work is published in the books Making Metal Beads, and Metal Clay Beads from Lark Publications.  Pam demonstrated her jewelry work and processes at the 2008 American Crafts Show

Pam is a National Board Certified Art Educator who has taught in the public classroom for 28 years.  She has taught numerous jewelry workshops for art educators at the local and state levels, and publicly for the McColl Center for Visual Art.  Pam’s jewelry-related educational lessons are published on the Mint Museum of Craft and Design/Penland Anniversary website, as well as on the website of a national educational publisher and in national classroom textbook. 

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Allison Wolf



Influenced by 1700s Asian art, Gustav Klimt’s early 1900s works and George Barbier, Allison Wolf’s art reflects her current state of mind.  She works in the moment where she sees the big picture first and finds the details from that vision.  “I am a graphic designer by trade and designer and artist by passion,” said Wolf.  “I love bright, beautiful patterns and find a lot of modern influences from textiles, which I incorporate into all of my art.”
A true entrepreneur and artist, Allison Wolf  is always looking for ways to help people stand out through art and bring new avenues for art to be seen.  Allison’s newest venture is to provide design and creative conception for businesses through Allison Wolf Designs.  She is also the co-owner and founder of The Boulevard at NoDa, a unique fashion, art, craft and gift marketplace. 
A passion for art and design, Allison started Green Rice Designs after moving to Charlotte from Greensboro in 2002.  Allison provided creative print, Web and logo design work for businesses in and around Charlotte.  After falling in love with the energy and culture of NoDa, Allison combined her love of art and design and opened Green Rice Gallery in 2003.  Green Rice Gallery is the one of a few galleries in Charlotte to showcase the works of local artists. In just five years, the Gallery grew to national recognition and six times its initial size and recently sold to local entrepreneur.  In addition to founding Green Rice Designs and Green Rice Gallery, Allison saw an opportunity to get local artists’ work out into the mainstream further through unique fashionable clothing and home décor items.  Allison designed her first Milkweed Collection in April 2006 with the goal of creating conversation pieces with clothing and home décor. Just two months later, Allison opened The Boulevard at NoDa to provide a much needed retail destination to the area and the only place for local artists and designers to sell their wares through rented space in a sophisticated and creative environment. 
Allison’s passion for her community and the arts is evident in her career path and choices, but she also volunteers her time to advocate for continued growth in the arts in Charlotte and increase the visibility of the NoDa community.  She isn’t just interested in growing her own businesses, but growing the arts community as a whole.