Our Artists
Please select by first name or studio from the alphabetical menu below to learn about our featured artists. If you are looking for more information than what is provided here, please don't hesitate to contact us!
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Ann Adele Smith is a vibrant, expressive oil painter whose inspiration comes from the faces and places she has seen and experienced from traveling the country and the world. A self-proclaimed "color freak," she aims to provide joy and respite through her whimsical take on realism.
Anne Freels is a full-time corn shuck doll artist. She dyes the natural dried corn shucks by hand, rolling and tying them into each of her doll figure styles. Finally, she embellishes them with a variety of natural materials and repurposed objects.
Woodworker Anthony Shipley creates functionally beautiful pieces for any space, often incorporating metal elements into the wood as well.
Each mosaic by Autumn Wilkins is created a piece at a time. Buttons, beads, glass, metal wire, and other fragments come together to form a scene that tells a story. Each mosaic is made with clear resin and can withstand the heat from the sun.
B
Working full-time in her pottery studio, Becca Irvin is recognized for the uniquely formulated glaze combinations that come to life on her sculptural, functional stoneware pieces.
As a child Becky Smith was always encouraged to be creative, and as she grew up she began to focus on creating wearable artwork. Today she finds enjoyment making highly personal, highly detailed hand cut sterling silver jewelry.
Betsy Brey lived on a dairy farm when she learned to make baskets. She focuses on traditional mountain methods of bark basket creation, such as gathering and drying peeled poplar tree bark in the spring.
C
Jewelry artists Linda and Carl Caristo of Caristo Jewelry Designs have created a beautifully unique take on stained glass with the application of translucent resin enamel to hand pierced sterling silver. The surface tension of the poured resin helps it stay in place within the silver cells as it cures, which also makes it much stronger than typical stained glass.
Working often from photographs, Christopher Peterson seeks out the best combination of light, color, and design for his paintings. His paintings are fundamentally urban landscapes, featuring familiar scenes from the highly mechanized and complex life we all live.
Cindy Long is a weaver who purchased her first loom, a "funny-looking thing" for $50, at a second-hand shop many years ago. Most of the yarns used are remnants that come from nearby mills, which means Cindy is helping keep the legacy of local fiber alive through her intricately woven scarves.
Created Beautifully was born from Jennifer Cashel's experience in visual merchandising for over a decade. Jennifer is a self-taught jewelry and leather artist with the goal of creating stylish and comfortable items for everyday use.
Creative Paths is the joint effort of husband-and-wife team Michael and Kate Kedzierski. Together they make finely crafted and strikingly contrasted keepsake boxes from black walnut and poplar, perfect for holding small trinkets and treasures.
D
Debbie Skelly's bold and textured jewelry suits many kinds of moods. Working with mixed metals and earthy gemstones set in hand burnished bezels, Debbie aims to create works of art that tell their own stories as they are being worn.
As an art teacher Debbie Wilson "fell into" gourd art after basket weaving, having discovered endless inspiration from these natural, hard shelled canvases. For almost two decades now she has carved, painted on, wood burned, and woven onto a beautiful selection of gourds—still learning and creating along the way.
Don Michael Meinders grew up drawing and painting, with wildlife and nature being among his favorite topics. His colors are vibrantly blended together with energy and texture; each subject receiving life through brush and palette knife.
Dori English has been an artist ever since she started drawing on her bedroom wall as a child. She frequently uses creativity in her non-profit therapy practice—extending the same joyful spirit to her wildly imaginative and beautiful original clay sculptures.
E
Jim Rientjes of Earthworks Gallery creates all of his pieces by hand, using simple slab forms and boldly carved textures to build a whimsically functional assortment of colorful items for the home.
Having worked as a production potter in the past, Erin Janow now works from her own home studio creating beautifully streamlined pottery for everyday use. Collect sets of matching pieces or branch out into multiple color schemes for a well-blended assortment of attractive, functional wares.
G
Greg Broadwell's background in both fine art and manufacturing has turned into a multifaceted career in woodworking that includes turning wood bowls on the lathe, as well as building custom furniture.
Greg Hart paints joyful depictions of family gatherings as well as heartwarming friendships between unlikely characters, such as whimsical gnomes and songbirds.
Master potter Greg Pace has extensive experience building custom kilns for his pieces. His vast understanding of glaze recipe calculations and firing techniques can be seen throughout his collection of unique statement vases and urns.
H
Jessica Ullom produces chic and utilitarian leather accessories and homewares entirely by hand. Her line, Hawks & Doves, aims to combine repurposed found materials with both new and deadstock American made textiles.
Hunter Jay's paintings embrace an admiration of peaceful simplicity. Sharp foregrounds and soft backgrounds come together under Hunter's use of bold colors and clever geometry, resulting in a thoughtfully eye-catching approach to his subjects.
I
In Blue Handmade is a collection of journals, wallets, and handbags created entirely by hand. Starting with top grain cowhides, a talented team of leather workers trace and cut the pattern pieces, sew them, and stamp them.
J
J Mills Studio creates fresh and affordable jewelry for all ages. Juli's love of simple, modern designs translates beautifully into an incredibly extensive collection of sculptural bracelets, earrings, and necklaces in both sterling silver and 14k gold fill. Each piece is hand forged with care.
Jack DeGraw embarked on his woodworking journey after he retired, picking up skills from neighbors and friends. His work often features multiple contrasting woods joined together in beautiful patterns.
Jack Stern resides in the scenic mountains and uses his natural surroundings to imbue his original oil paintings with a realistic sense of place.
Janet Donnangelo grew up in a tropical setting and uses this theme in many of her pottery designs. Handmade leaves and vines out of clay adorn her pieces by either winding across the sides of vessels or becoming handles for mugs.
Jeff Pittman's landscape paintings are meant to convey beauty and peace. Coming from an artistic family, he has observed and painted scenes from the mountains to the coast.
Jennie L Keatts is a multidisciplinary silversmith who creates all of her jewelry by hand, including the stones. She creates them out of stoneware clay and fires the pieces in a kiln, each receiving a special glazing method that includes many fine layers of translucent depth.
Jennifer Barrineau has said it's hard not to use the entire rainbow in every painting she creates. She uses highly pigmented acrylic paints, most often without mixing or diluting them, to bring to life bold and beautiful trees, wild animals, and pet portraits.
Jennifer Spear has been exploring art as far back as she can remember—doodling, drawing, and painting her way through grade school to a degree from art school. She creates her paintings by using oil and watercolor on birch board, finding a way to blend the vividness of the oil paint with the soft and often translucent quality of watercolor.
Woodworker Jim Caskowski uses a myriad of tools and found wood to create his bowls. Most of Jim's works feature his signature etched single or double band design, which he carves in small patterns while the bowl is still turning on his lathe.
Pottery artist Jim Metlicka's modern, graphic style is inspired by touches of classical art and architecture as well as urban graffiti and pop art.
Each map from Jim Mitchem is an individually signed print of his original ink and watercolor work. Jim's love for local mapmaking and research is evidenced by the way each mountain in the Blue Ridge is topographically depicted by name.
John Saunders is a Catawba Valley potter creating unique wares from stoneware clay. Many of his finely crafted pieces feature the traditional "Catawba Swirl" design, while others are created through the use of various raku firing methods.
John Taylor is a master wood carver trained in ornithology, with decades of experience studying birds and carving and painting their likenesses. Each one of John's mounted birds has realistic glass eyes and is rendered to scale in full color tempera.
A common thread throughout Jonathan Bidwell’s paintings is a focus on his immediate surroundings and current lifestyle. He strives to interpret contemporary life with unique style and insight—his work experience including a wide variety of fine art, commercial illustration, performance art, and graphic design.
While in dental school Joseph Rhodes developed an interest in precious metals, which grew into a passion for jewelry making. Following his retirement from dentistry he now creates unique sterling silver and gemstone designs that define his exceptional jewelry collection.
Joyful Adornments is glass artist Bonnie Scott's special line of jewelry made out of the recycled antique mason jars in their unique blue glass hue produced from 1858 to the mid-1900s. This collection helps renew history in a beautiful way by creating an entirely original and one-of-a-kind heirloom to cherish.
Specialty potter Judi Harwood is a master at implementing alternative firing methods such as horsehair and crackle raku in order to achieve intricately burned patterns and marks on her vases and vessels.
Glass artist Judy McManus works mainly in high quality clear glass, having experimented with other styles of glasswork as well. Her most recent collection is the culmination of clear and multi-colored glass blended together into bowls, vases, and goblets.
K
From coast to coast Kathryn Starrs has studied career glassblowing intensively. Currently she is both working on personal projects and teaching glass art full-time.
Kimberly Anderson is a former professional graphic designer and scratchboard artist currently working with alcohol inks. She draws inspiration for her vibrantly illustrated tile paintings from local flora and fauna, depicting our natural world in brilliant washes of rainbow colors.
Kitty Bryant is a jewelry artist whose handmade cork bracelets are a renewable, sustainable, and vegan alternative to leather. They are colorful, comfortable, and one of a kind. The same may be said of her striking statement necklaces, which are made from vintage chains, beads, found objects, and upcycled sari silk.
Kristen Eisenbraun’s vivid, emotional paintings explore the relationship between people and nature. To see her artwork is to step into the beauty and magic of the outside world and experience the extraordinary.
L
Laura Poss grew up fascinated with watercolors. The way the paint is at the mercy of the water on the paper is her motivation, and the results feel second nature.
Little Blackberry Creek is the joint effort of Lynda Gayle Banner and her family. A custom blend of special glazes adorns the majority of this well-known pottery collection.
Matthew and Nikki Lonon make functional wheel thrown pottery that is a delight to collect. After a great start in 2019 they have now converted a section of their property into Lonon Pottery, where they continue to hone their technique creating colorful wares.
Lyn Lyndall is an accomplished artist many times over. She is a classically trained painter, as evidenced mainly by her beautiful and extremely lifelike depictions of animals, and when she’s not painting she is working with leather.
M
Animals have always been important to Marbie Guyon Kollath, and not a day goes by that she doesn't enjoy them—either by spending time with her pets or by painting the various wildlife she encounters while hiking. Her paintings and oil pastels are beautiful renderings of all that nature can offer.
Painting on silk is an ancient art form. Margee Halsch honors the tradition beautifully by hand painting and hand stitching all of her gorgeously multicolored scarves herself.
Mary Bryson studied medical illustration and ran an award winning studio before shifting to landscapes and floral paintings. Capturing the color nuances, the delicacy of petals, and the inner light of flowers provides endless challenges.
From luminaries to lidded casseroles, Garold Amsberry of Midnight Sun Pottery aims to create attractive, well-loved pottery for the kitchen and home.
As a young student Mitzy Jonkheer was an aspiring English teacher, but her path changed forever the first time she took a jewelry class. Elements from the natural world as well as from her first love, writing, help inspire her sterling silver collections.
Dee Sharp was the creator of an impressive collection of highly detailed silver work. Her charms and pendants are presented to you by us at Mountain Nest Gallery in memory of her legacy.
N
As well as teaching jewelry classes locally, Nadine Fidelman works from her home studio creating fine wearable artworks from high quality gemstones. "I enjoy the challenge of turning your keepsake pieces into a fabulous piece of jewelry."
Painting is a family tradition that Nat Dickinson is proud to carry on. His acrylic landscapes focus on our deep attachments to places, and the continuous transformations of them that take hold.
Self taught jewelry artist Nirado Sloan is experienced in many art forms, working also with fiber and clay. While practicing in the healing arts she introduced gemstones into her sessions and began to incorporate them into beautiful jewelry pieces, which also function as wearable healing artworks.
Growing up on a farm required Norm LeBlanc to develop many hands-on skills, leading him to a career in product design and engineering. Most recently his focus has been on creating exotic wood jewelry using a cast resin process that lends itself to countless unique designs.
O
Olga Dorenko and her family moved a lot when she was a child, and exploring her local landscapes inspired her to begin painting. Her interest in her surroundings allows her to convey richly detailed and compelling scenes.
P
Patricia Cotterill paints beautifully realized "moments in time" inspired by everyday life, animals, and nature. Working primarily in oils, she is able to portray a lively kind of energy within even the most tranquil scenes.
As a studio landscape painter who enjoys traveling, Peter Krobath relies on photographic references to create his natural images. The photorealistic nature of his watercolor paintings proves his heightened attention to detail.
Many of Philip DeAngelo's brightly colored paintings are based on the Golden Ratio, having elements that balance each other. Natural textures are combined with simplified forms and complementary colors in order to portray to the viewer what is most important in the scene.
Tori Banton of Pottery Chick creates the most candy-colorful mugs, plates, and bowls. Bright glazes are her specialty, Tori says, and they're a fan favorite. You can't help but feel cheered up and comforted when you hold a piece of her work in your hands.
R
Once an employee of a metal fabrication company, Randy Chapman now creates sculptures from discarded steel scraps. Whimsical characters are cleverly designed out of nuts, bolts, screws, railroad spikes, and even old tools like clamps and wrenches.
Now created by husband-and-wife team Paul and Evelyn Ray along with skilled Seagrove craftsmen, Ray Pottery began as a family endeavor in the late 1700s—since then striving to enhance the celebration of daily life through fully functional cookware with beautiful lead-free glazes.
Self-taught artist Richard Baker depicts glowing light in softly textured oils. Richard has said that he often studies an area for months before painting the chosen scene because this allows him to capture the exact perfect lighting.
Richard Wright joins a small number of traditional potters using native materials to produce his wares, digging and hand mixing his own clay before drying it in the sun and storing it in a barn on his property. His pieces range in scale from handheld mugs to impressively large statement vessels with eye catching glaze details.
S
Salvaterra Pottery was born from Sue Salvaterra Hintz's desire to manage her own company and work for herself, creating meaningful pottery. Her wares are fully functional and available in an array of beautiful glaze choices.
Sandie Reed's love for fine metals and gemstones has followed her throughout her entire life. She grew up sitting on the floor behind the counter of her family's jewelry store, practicing the techniques that would eventually guide her own career in fine jewelry making.
Sandra Bottinelli has enjoyed evolving as an artist both personally and professionally. She has a passion for combining traditional oil techniques with modern subjects in order to convey mixed interpretations of her influences. This approach invites the viewer to form their own perceptions.
Sarah Rolland's deeply hued and slightly moody expressions via clay can be most enjoyed through her gracefully sculpted vases and pitchers.
Sascha Frowine believes she was destined to live a life full of celebration and personal adornment. Color, texture, and form are the foundation of her creative process, the culmination of which is realized through bold and beautiful statement jewelry.
Stephen St Claire works in a technique he calls "Dialuminism," which means "light passing through." Oil paints are applied to a base layer of metallic leaf in order to create the image, and a top layer of resin is applied to the final piece. The result is a painting that appears backlit, creating a dimensional experience that shifts with the viewer.
Former art professor Steven A Ramsey's glass work has been recognized internationally for its unique style and beauty. Shards of broken blown glass and slivers of cane are reincorporated into colorful and highly textured vases and vessels that need to be seen to be understood—no two being alike.
Like most self-taught painters, Sun Sohovich learned to develop her unique technique at her own pace. Working with oils allows her the time to blend colors and build up layers with strong, confident brush strokes.
Susan Brooks creates jewelry for self-expression, inspired by insects, blossoms, leaves, and animals. Working with precious metal clay brings an organic, flowing quality to her work and each piece is one of a kind.
As a kid Suzanne Barrett Justis was always drawing. Today she works primarily in oils because of how tactile the paint is, and how it lends her work a particular sensuality and vividness.
T
Teresa Hall's passion for art was enhanced by her childhood growing up in the beautiful mountains. With no shortage of natural, colorful scenery and animals as subjects, Teresa was quickly able to learn how to paint from her teachers and peers.
Timothy Moran of Celtic Pottery is a chemist and artist who has perfected his own special recipes for crystal bloom glazes on pottery. Years of discoveries have led to what he calls a ginkgo leaf crystal, seen on many of his pottery pieces.
Tisha Cook's porcelain stoneware mugs, trinket vessels, platters, and bowls are uniquely beautiful and one of a kind, each with different glazes and techniques applied.
Harry Hearne of Turning Point Clay Studio is a full-time potter and former teacher of the art form in workshops at various schools. His beautiful and fascinating work focuses primarily on raku firing techniques with the novel incorporation of stained glass glazes.
V
Velda Davis makes pottery that is friendly and functional. Soft matte glaze and carved rib textures add extra personality to each piece.
After becoming interested in engineering and architecture at a young age, Virginia Hurley of Tiger Moon Studio now seeks creative building methods in the form of ceramic arts, using alternative firing techniques such as raku and even developing her own glaze formulas.
To Kyle Keeler of Visionary Glass, art is a necessity and through creating it, anything is possible. Exploring the relationship glass can have with other materials, such as delicate feathers, is a large part of his artistic process.