As far as I can remember I always had a lot of fun creating art. Making drawings of crazy characters has always been my way of generating smiles around me. In the year 2003 I began to paint. My basic idea was to transport the characters that I drew on paper to canvas. Starting from scratch, I experimented with oil paints for two years, painting wildly away without a lot of direction. Good times. Then I met this wise man named Jan Buytaert, who taught me how to use acrylic paint. This was the most important change in my painting style. Acrylics were the tools I needed to shape my own little world and bring my little weird characters to life. My main aim while painting is to have fun and enjoy the moment. I want to capture this good vibe in my paintings and transfer it to the public. This usually results in joyful works full of color and positive energy. With my paintings I like to invite viewers to look at the world through the eyes of a child and to revisit a childhood past of curiosity and enthusiastic discovery.
I’m an old hippie whose jewelry making began 20 years ago when on a dare my wife signed me up for a beginner beading class at a local bead shop. I was hooked pretty quickly and began making women’s jewelry using silver, stone and crystal beads and constantly learning techniques to make better pieces. While beading is still a passion, most of my work now is with chain and wire wrap.
Five years ago on yet another dare, I began making rings from old silver coins. I don’t cut or solder the coins. One coin makes one ring and the detail from both sides of the coin is preserved and visible. I fell in love with working metal, and am constantly learning new techniques and exploring the boundaries of turning old coins into cool jewelry. Taking something like a 100-year-old coin and turning it into something it was never intended to be has been an unbelievably rewarding journey, and I love that the possibilities are endless.
Peculiar Sentiments boasts of completely unique, handcrafted leather cuffs, bib necklaces, and a variety of jewelry and accessories made from repurposed and found items. Though some of our jewelry features unique new pieces, our love is for vintage jewelry, antique buttons, repurposed hardware, pocket watch parts, clock pieces or any other re-loved and re-discovered treasures, clustered together for a vintage look. Each piece carries its own delightful story. Every cuff is unique, featuring focal pieces carefully selected and clustered into an exquisite work of wearable art. www.PeculiarSentiments.cominstagram.com/peculiarsentiments 936-870-6993
An artisan, photographer and entrepreneur, Natalie has been creating unique designs since she was 13 years old. Repurposing anything and everything from jewelry, furniture, clothing, and even recipes, Natalie’s driving passion is to turn something old and loved into something new and beautiful, while preserving the heart and soul of the original piece.
In October 2012, Natalie launched her business, Peculiar Sentiments. Creatively combining her only available resources: her courage and creativity, a stock of remnant leather, and vintage jewelry from her late grandmother she began creating unique handcrafted cuff bracelets. Encouraged by her family, friends, and customers, Natalie began expanding her repertoire beyond cuff bracelets, to include bib necklaces, earrings, hats, and much more.
Lauren Luna was born in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating from Kent State University’s School of Fine Arts with a focus in painting, she moved to New York City. She began teaching Special Education for New York City schools and entered a Masters program at Manhattan College. Upon graduation, she moved back to her hometown of Columbus along with her son and continued teaching. Later enrolling in the Academy of Art University for her second Master’s degree, in Fine Arts.
In 2011, Luna relocated to Houston, Texas, pursuing her new life as a full time artist and footwear designer.
Lauren Luna was named a Top 50 Entrepreneur by Scion Car Company, participated in Austin and Houston Fashion Week, was featured in British Vogue and Glamour Magazines, and had a shoe design in an exhibit in the Grassi Museum in Germany.She was honored to receive the Margot Siegel Award for Design by the Goldstein Museum of which two pairs of her hand painted shoes are a part of the museum’s permanent collection.
In 2015, after winning Best In Show at a juried art competition, she was commended by the Alvin Independent School District School Board, and was put into Congressional Record by the District’s State Representative.
She is a frequent participant to local art festivals, and also has a mural at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Luna currently is an art professor at Lone Star and San Jacinto Colleges, and is Co-President of the D.R.E.A.M Affect Foundation, a non-profit organization that awards scholarships to minority art students pursuing Fine Arts, and grants for emerging artists to show their work.
Joel Anderson’s artwork showcases the beauty and versatility of encaustics. With its ability to resemble smooth glass or heavy texture, he layers, embeds, transfers images, and etches to create artwork that pops. JoelAndersonArt.com 713-829-1065
Joel Anderson is a largely self-taught artist specializing in encaustic paintings. He produces his art start-to-finish from hauling 4’x8′ sheets of plywood home and cutting them down, mixing his own encaustic medium, and making his own frames.
Joel’s background is information technology, which he retired from professionally but carries elements of into his artwork.
He is a member artist at Archway Gallery and an active volunteer with the Visual Arts Alliance.
Follow his creative process via his social media accounts:
My medium is a varied mix of tiny shells, scraps of paper, slivers of glass, thick gel mediums, crusted gouache additives, creamy acrylic and globs of oil paints, traces of watercolor and melted wax crayons combined with hardened enamels and carefully chosen 14kt gold flake.
Every piece is original and every creation is an unpredictable surprise! I create with a clear heart, no expectations. The materials combined together create a resist-like reaction and the results are different every time…..each piece is genuinely unique and original!
I’m passionate about living the artful life. I have a great appreciation for nature and animals,20% of all sales goes to S.N.A.P. (Spay and Neuter Assistance Program) for animals. I am also an active advocate for the “Adopt Don’t Shop!” movement which means finding forever homes for our homeless furry friends.
Hi, it’s Diana, aka. Life Beneath the Pines. I am inspired by the repetition, pattern, texture, rhythm, and yumminess, I find in nature, baking, literature, and textiles, and I practice translating that into photographs, mixed media paintings, and quilts.
My art is conceptual, accessible, quirky, and has been called “cute”. There’s a story behind each piece. I’d love to hear what story you find or to share my story with you.
Currently, I have a series of distorted portraits inspired by the challenged book In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak, a series of abstracted florals inspired by the three-song playlist: “I Can’t Stand the Rain” by Tina Turner, “Come to My Window” by Melissa Etheridge, and “Coming Home” by Ulali, a series of black and white photographs inspired by texture in nature, and old denim repurposed into crazy quilt(s).
Acrylic landscapes and abstract paintings. I get my inspiration from nature and process it through all my feelings and emotions. The result is shown in my art work as a way to express myself. If any of my art will make anybody happy for a moment, my mission is accomplished.
