Witty Workshop

Today I am featuring the charming work of Valerie Parizeault , a very talented illustrator. Please read her bio below.

"Valérie Parizeault is a Canadian Illustrator & designer from Montreal. She is the owner of Rose Flash, Playfully spirited Jewelry (www.roseflash.ca) and the creative mind behind the Witty workshop (www.wittyworkshop.etsy.com), a place to buy and enjoy her Illustrations and prints. Inspired by whimsical moments, children’s universe and storytelling, she is living her dream life as an artist with her husband by her side and her black cat Tokyo. Tree hugger and business connoisseur, she blogs both in French and English about Eco-friendly causes, Indie designers and her daily life trough her creative blog Pot aux Roses (www.pot-aux-roses.blogspot.com) and about the ups and downs of entrepreneurship through her business tip blog Bite http://bitethebusiness.blogspot.com/. Valerie speaks of herself in the third person, well, because she is so darn shy!"

Quirkyn Berkley

Today's feature is on the wonderful shop of QuirkynBerkeley. Please read Carol's bio below.


"Love paper. Love color. Love Berkeley. Love Etsy.Beyond that, my style is eclectic and I love to experiment. I get completely absorbed in engineering my varied creations for hours. Each one is a new and unique production, made of treasures from my collection of paper and ephemera, transfigured into a single piece held together by a little glue, a lot of ideas, practice and work, and most of all, a great amount of joy. Some of my custom work can be viewed at http://picturetrail.com/photos/quirkynberkeley. Everything is made in a smoke free environment."

The Finishing Touch!

The anticipation of opening a holiday gift is always sweeter when the gift is beautifully tagged and wrapped. These charming Santa tags will be the perfect finishing touch for your gifts this seasson Quirkyn Berkeley has some wonderful items in her etsy shop The gorgeous flowered card below is sure to put a smile on the face of the reciepient. Don't forget to check Carol's blog too.

Here Comes Santa Kitty

Looking for unique and lovely lampwork beads? Then be sure to visit the shop of Catldy99. This Santa kitty is a perfect lampwork bead for a necklace or bracelet. Check out Judy Richard's shop for more beads and lovely jewelry like the bracelet below. Don't forget to take a peek at her blog too.

Judy Richards

You will find truly unique lampwork beads and pieces in the etsy shop of Catldy99. Read Judy Richards bio below:

" B.A. University of Minnesota Magna Cum Laude in Technical Theatre Coursework in Graphic Design at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, CA Coursework in lamp working - Portland, OR Member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakersseller on ebay for 5 years - over 500-100% positive feedback Judy Richards resides in Portland, Oregon where it rains this time of year. A well kept secret is that it doesn't rain all year around.Judy is a member of the Portland Bead Society, the ORBS (Oregon Regional Beadmakers Society) and the ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers).Judy makes lampwork beads and designs jewelry - unique and hopefully artful jewelry. She is always striving for new ideas, new shapes in glass. Judy is inspired by nature (flowers, birds) depicted in glass. She loves abstract lampwork most of all with layers of glass and complexity. She is always striving to that goal.She has done the work of reasonably exact glass beads - but yearns to break out of that toward something more complex and deep in an artistic sense. She also has a sense of humor and doesn't take herself too seriously - she is the owner of 2 cats, hence the cat beads. Judy likes to laugh and make others smile with her work.Judy's dream buyer is the Sundance catalog.Probably the best things she has made are jewelry with her own lampwork beads and semi precious stones that have sold. They are really pushing the envelope of what we think of as jewelry and adornment."

Sunflower Power!

George McKim's sunflower lino cut prints will brighten your room and your outlook. Sunflowers have always been on my list of favorites. I love their happy yellow faces. I chose the black and white print to feature because I liked the way the cuts appear on the "face" of the flower. The print below it has such beautiful colors and design, it needed to be featured here as well. George's shop carries some absolutely beautiful work. Don't' forget to check out his blog too.

George McKim

It is easy to see from this list of credentials, awards, and exhibitions that George Mckim is quite a talented artist.
Education:
1986 - Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine - Postgraduate study, Painting
1986 - East Carolina University, Greenville, NC -MFA, Painting and Drawing
1977 - Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va. - BFA Painting and Printmaking

Awards:
1986 -Full Independent Scholarship, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
1991 - Emerging Artist Grant, Wake County
1983- Best in Show, Rebel Literary Arts Magazine Competition, ECU
1984- Best in Show, Rebel Literary Arts Magazine Competition, ECU

Publications:
1998 - New American Paintings – Southeastern United States Region - June

Collections:
2007 - PPD World Corporate Headquarters, Wilmington, NC

Solo Exhibitions:
1991 - Municipal Building Art Exhibitions, Municipal Building, Raleigh NC
1990- Lee Hansley Gallery, Raleigh, NC1987 - Hanes Art Center Gallery, UNC Chapel Hill, NC
1987- Coltrane Art Gallery, Brevard College, Brevard, NC
1985 - College of the Albemarle, Elizabeth City, NC
1984 - Durham Art Center, Durham NC

Selected Group Exhibitions:
2003 - The Perfect Painting, Lee Hansley Gallery, Raleigh, NC
2002 - 200 Under 500, Lee Hansley Gallery, Raleigh, NC
1996- North Carolina Artists Triennial, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC / Curator - Linda Shearer
1993 - North Carolina Artists Triennial, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC / Curator
- Michael Auping
1990 - North Carolina Artists Triennial, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC / Curator - Stephen Westfall
1990 - Greensboro Artists League Traveling Exhibition, Greensboro NC and Pleides Gallery, New York, NY
1987 - North Carolina Artists Triennial, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC / Curator - Roberta Smith
1984 - North Carolina Artists Triennial, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC / Curator - Howard Fox
1986 - Fragments, Grey Gallery, ECU, Greenville, NC1985 - Colors/Marks/Patterns/Planes, Zoller Gallery, Penn State University, University Park, PA
1985 - Tampa Triennial, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL1983 - Masks, Arabesque Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1982 - Southeastern Spectrum, Sawtooth Gallery, Winston Salem, NC

Gallery Affiliations:
2007 - Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA2007 - Kipton Art, New York, NY
2007 - Art Reach, Albuquerque, NM2006 - Eric Schindler Gallery, Richmond, VA
2006 - Art Source Gallery, Raleigh, NC1990 - Lee Hansley Gallery, Raleigh, NC