Thom Bissey

Ceramic art by Thom Bissey is all one of a kind. Working from his studios on Long Beach Island in New Jersey and from his rural hideaway in Pennsylvania, Bissey focuses on alternative firing techniques to achieve his unique finishes. Bissey began his exploration into alternative firings over 30 years ago. Beginning with a simple hole in the ground of his backyard in Tucson to elaborate gas and saw dust fired kilns today on the east coast, each firing brings something new. Some of the firing methods used are, American Raku- Post firing reduction technique, where the pots are fired to roughly 1800 degrees. The pots are pulled from the kiln while red hot and placed in containers filled with various combustibles. The results produced range from metallic flashing, crazed and crackled glossy, to deep carbon blacks. Horse Hair Raku- A contemporary style of reduction where individual strands of horse hair are placed on red hot pots. Sometimes fern leaves and other organic material are used, like feathers and sawdust. Saggar Firing-Pieces are placed inside a ceramic container known as a Saggar. The Saggar is filled with various combustibles and chemicals, then placed inside a kiln and fired. The heat from the kiln causes the combustibles to burn and the chemicals to vaporize, leaving traces of color and smoke on the finished piece. Sawdust Firing-In this method, pieces are completely buried in sawdust and fired. Sometimes chemicals are mixed in with the sawdust for a flashing of color other times they are left with pure sawdust producing dark waves of black. Also with this method, pieces can be covered with a clay slip before firing. The slip cracks during the process causing dark crackled patterns where carbon slips through. Pit firing-Pit firing is just that, firing in a pit. Using mainly wood, straw, and sawdust. Sometimes various chemicals are added before and during firing. All work produced by these methods described above are intended to stand alone as Art themselves. They are not to be used to hold liquids of any kind and should not come in contact with food. Bissey also produces work that is functional using traditional oxidation and reduction firing.
 

Chelsea Combs

Chelsea Combs, a Pennsylvania native and current Philadelphia resident, portrays in her work a compassionate reflection of human needs that go unmet and a smart critique of a society that turns away. Chelsea Combs grew up in a small-town, middle class family and quickly discovered her voice through photography. Behind her camera Chelsea is imboldened to enter situations that would make most people uncomfortable. Often unnoticed by her subjects, she discovers the poignant, raw emotional imagery of people caught in unguarded moments. Her new series of works, some of which are currently featured at the ArtHouse Lounge, is entitled, "Adverse Circumstances" because it focuses on intolerance, poverty, disability and other obstacles faced by many in their daily lives.
 

Michelle Hogan

Creation is something that has always been an essential part of me ­ be it sand painting, cooking, textile arts, gardening, landscaping, sketching, or watercolor painting. The last, painting, was the precursor to my photography. I would photograph scenes that I would wish to paint at a later date, and it was several years before I began to consider the photographs works of art in themselves. Eventually, this led me to the pursuit of formal education in Photography at Harrisburg Area Community College, where I am a student ­ taking a break at the moment. I especially adore capturing images of nature, but also love the photography of form ­ be it the figure, buildings or other architecture. All of my photographs are landscapes of a sort. I work frequently in digital imagery now, but still shoot Black and White film for development and printing in my darkroom. My next venture will be the exploration of alternative process photography.
 

Robyn Jacobs

I am a painter from Littlestown, Pennsylvania. I was born and raised a few blocks from where my family lives now, and where we live now was formerly my husband’s grandmother’s house. I married the boy next door (actually across the street and four houses down) and we have two children who pose for some of my paintings. Almost all of my work deals with textures and light, and I love the look of grass, wood, and materials in a state of decay. The abstracts are often based on landscapes, and they really seem to have taken over my studio in the past five years. My daughter - who is also a painter - and I had a joint show in May of last year at Gallery 30 in Gettysburg, PA and in October of last year I won the thousand-dollar grand prize in the Adams County Arts Guild’s juried show. In the past, two of my paintings were selected for the Art of the State show at the State Museum in Harrisburg, PA (2005 and 2006). I have a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts from Temple University, and in addition to painting for myself, I accept commissions for murals and portraits. My website has photos of most of my personal work, and a few painting demonstrations.
 

Michael Moppin

Born in Harrisburg, local resident Michael Moppin has long been exploring our fine ability to dream and believe. He is the visionary behind Art Boy Products, a freelance illustration and design business based in Lemoyne. Michael's self described style "Technicolor Soul Pop" is shaped by numerous influences. These include artists from Salvador Dali to Keith Haring and the current underground/lowbrow art scene, growing up in the 70's, a cartoon filled youth, comic books, psychedelic poster art, the vast world of music and the exploration of our infinite inner self. In addition to his commercial ventures Michael occasionally exhibits paintings and other works of mixed media in area galleries and arts events.
 

Lee Muslin

Lee Muslin has been a fine art photographer for over 30 years and in 1995 she began to explore the mysteries of digital imaging. Lee's photographs capture the wonder and beauty of the world around us. In her digital images, the wonder is achieved by layering, combining and blending her photographs. The use of the computer as a tool enables Lee to create new artwork with the application of effects that could not be accomplished with traditional photography techniques.
 

Brian Nolet

Why didgeridoos? This is a question Baltimore native Brian Nolet is often asked when playing his handmade instruments. “Because I failed miserably at piano, drums and guitar.” A natural born noisemaker with no musical ability to speak of, Brian stumbled on “the instrument for the rest of us” while on vacation in Australia. The didgeridoo, made and played for centuries by the indigenous Australians, is a staple of aboriginal culture and ceremony. Years later Brian combined his love for didgeridoos and woodworking into an unusual hobby. With wood collected locally, Brian uses a “split and hollow” technique to achieve what would traditionally have been accomplished with the aid of some unlikely helpers—a colony of termites. Once hollowed, the didgeridoos are finished inside and out with a durable epoxy to create a true one-of-a-kind instrument. These unique hollow sticks are played with vibrating lips that resonate through the instrument’s shaft creating the signature “drone” sound. The “drone” is then manipulated with lips, cheeks, tongue, throat, lungs, and a host of vocalizations. Circular breathing is a must to sustain the music. Soothing and meditative, the primal sounds of the didgeridoo are limited only by one's imagination.
 

Jennifer Peachey

Bio coming soon...
 

Michael Peluso

From early childhood, Michael Peluso was interested in drawing and art. When he started his undergraduate university work in southern Virginia, he initially majored in architectural and interior design; however, he quickly discovered that he preferred a greater art base within his work. He returned to central Pennsylvania and when he took his first glassblowing class on a whim he knew he had found his calling. It was only after this that he discovered he was continuing a family tradition; his ancestors had blown glass in both Italy and Germany. Michael's studies in glass continued at the soft glass studio of Harrisburg Area Community College, where he received a degree in visual art and design. He now continues to work independently at the college and also operates a small flameworking studio in Dover, PA. In addition to his work in Pennsylvania, Michael has taken numerous classes at the Corning Studios of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY. He has studied under glassblowing and flameworking masters such as William Gudenrath, Michael Scheiner, James Nowak, Michael Rogers, Milon Townsend, and Jane Bruce. Michael's work is displayed in several regional galleries, restaraunts, and shops, including Tangerine Fine Art Gallery of Harrisburg, PA, Thistles Fine Art of Lewes, DE, and Sasha's Hideaway of Linglestown, PA. His shows include Harrisburg's Artsfest and Kipona Arts Festival, Art for the Holidays in the Cumberland Valley, and Christkindlmarket at the Hershey Museum in Hershey, PA.
 

Jason Piper

My journey begins and ends within my soul. As I walk the Earth I am drawn to nature and it’s through nature that I perceive my world to be an honest and pure existance. As I push myself towards existentialism I find an inner peace that lifts me to a state of euphoria. The total lapse of reality — the feeling as if time stands still just long enough for you to breathe in and realize you exist in that moment as something powerful and insightful, connected and rooted to the Earth — is what I live for. It's creativity at it's most profound moment that propels my mind into a state of pure and incomprehensible ecstacy. It is this fervor that thrusts me zealously into my work. Art, for me, is a totally free expression of oneself that only the artist himself understands. It's therapy for the soul, an outlet for the mind. Art is something that evokes continuous thought while merely existing. It’s defined only by what moves you from the most inner part of your being, not what psuedo-scholars believe it to be on the outside. My quest to create a natural, peaceful, independent existance for myself through my art is well within reach. May the Great Spirit absorb the burdens of my soul so I may continue to praise His nature and all that is good through my art. Peace — PIPER, 2007
 

Hope Sanders

Hope Sanders is a Harrisburg native who exhibits in many local area galleries. She leaves many of her paintings untitled so the viewer is open to interpret their own meaning from the piece without any preconceived idea that a title might imply. She challenges the viewer to explore their own perceptions and opinions and suggests that the purchaser of the art title the work themselves based on their own interpretations.
 

Pamela Speaker

Pamela Speaker graduated Cum Laude from Kutztown University in 2007, receiving a BFA in fine arts with a concentration in painting. Pamela has shown in numerous exhibitions, including the 40th Annual Juried Exhibition, “Art of the State: Pennsylvania, 2007” at the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg. In 2007 she also had a solo show, “A Process of Exploration” at the McFarland Student Union Gallery in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. In 2006 and 2007 she had a variety of paintings published in the Essence Literary and Fine Arts Magazine, a Kutztown University Publication. Pamela describes the action of painting as a very personal and intimate experience. She is fascinated with abstract painting because it is constantly presenting her with a challenge.
 

Elizabeth Staz

Elizabeth Staz was educated at Smith College and George Washington University with a degree in American Studies. She has a diploma in fine arts from the York Academy of Art. Elizabeth won the gold medal from the Pennsylvania Watercolor society as well as awards from the Pittsburgh and Baltimore Watercolor Societies. Her art is in many public and private collections. Elizabeth's art is the story of an inner journey which expresses itself in color and form. She views her art as a record of the joy and strength she receives from her family and from the beauty of the natural world. It is the story of one human beings life.
 

Sally Tobias

Ms. Sally Tobias was born in Lebanon Pennsylvania In 1965. She completed her academic schooling in Pennsylvania. Ms. Tobias trained continuously in various mediums including oils, pencil, pen & ink, and charcoal. She excelled at creating landscapes and still life pieces and continued focusing on developing her artistic talents formally in a studio setting over the next eight years guided by her professional artist, mentoring her and allowing her to develop her own unique style. After finishing her formal study of the arts, Sally began to explore several different forms of art, including interior design. Her natural born talent to blend colors and create stunning renditions led her to enroll in Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts to pursue her degree as an interior designer. Sally, always hungry for knowledge, dove into her work once again, developing new skills including drafting, elevations, and perspectives, as well as floor, electrical and ceiling plans. Her studies there also included art history, lighting, sketching, and rendering. In 2001 Ms. Tobias graduated with high honors and earned an associate’s degree in interior design which is another achievement to furthering her in-depth knowledge of the arts as a whole. Recently, her interest in jewelry and her flare for design led her into a new area of the arts, custom jewelry design. The new line of high quality jewelry is now available, including a large hand made variety of earrings, bracelets and necklaces constructed with “crystals” and other mediums including exotic stones and beads. The quality of Sally’s jewelry is second to none and is sure to be a hit. Preliminary ideas include an exclusive unique “wedding jewelry” line as well. In closing, Ms. Tobias’ vast knowledge of the arts and the master skill level displayed in all of her work will undoubtedly leave a legacy in the art community as a whole. Sally is a truly gifted woman and the passion and emotion that she expresses in her work are the mark of a master artist.
 

Reina Wooden

REINA -76- ARTIST born Reina Aguilar Wooden on March 9, 1976 is an Abstract Painter from Harrisburg PA. Her art has been featured with Gallerie 13 Mechanicsburg PA, the Meatlocker Gallery & Progressive Galleries in Harrisburg PA, the Brooklyn Art Project & SoHo20 Gallery in SOHO, New York, NY. Growing up, REINA 76 ARTIST spent most of her life battling abuse. Both her father and grandparents were Farmers. Her mother is from Venezuela. Cultural constraints between the two forced REINA 76 ARTIST to paint objects created from both the South American and Farmer American point of view. However, it was an encounter with domestic abuse in August 2006 that led REINA 76 ARTIST to pursue her art aggressively, letting no art techniques stand in the way. Artwork such as ''''L. RON HUBBARD UNCON BOY 1911-1986'''',''''TOM CRUISE SUCKS YOUR LOVE 1962'''', and ''''LINCOLN FREES HUMAN BEINGS 1865''', painted in acrylic and oil pencil truly describe the dark and devoid mind of an artist ignored. "I am someone who never feels alone. There is always a shadowy presence that follows", states REINA 76 ARTIST. "Many in the art world are shunned for turning their canvases into an "Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray" experience. I do not fear the idea of raw emotions painting their way onto my canvas. This is what I want to capture. It is true life before our eyes. Souls waiting to be seen." REINA 76 ARTIST's philosophy caught the attention of Arts writer, David Dunkle of the Patriot News, as his article "Emerging Artists seize their success online" (March 3, 2008) describes REINA 76 ARTIST as "an underground artist known as Reina 76 scribbles intriguing political imagery on colorful canvases, often targeting hypocrisy and injustice". REINA 76 ARTIST currently resides in Harrisburg PA.