Connie Parkinson

Lampworking – Beads & Glass

In 1995, after years of collecting beads from all over the country, Connie Parkinson finally made the leap and took her first beadmaking class from a local lamp worker in the Tampa Bay area. From the very first bead, she knew that she had found her true passion: “lampworking” or the art of melting and manipulating glass in a flame.

Connie makes her creations at home in her own personal glass studio and prides herself on never mass-producing her inventories. She sells her work in galleries and specialty stores and participates in juried art shows around the State.

“Lampworking” is the art of melting and manipulating glass in a flame. The glass is wound around a steel welding rod (called a mandrel). When the bead is complete, it is annealed in a kiln, and when cooled is removed from the mandrel, cleaned, and made into jewelry.

Mikell Herrick

Photographer & Palm Frond Art

Mikell Herrick is a self-taught photographer who takes most of her pictures right in her backyard, on the shore of Lake Rhonda, with a focus on the many birds that visit her every day. Sharing her images through a wide variety of prints and note cards, you can expect to see intimate views of wildlife, beautiful scenes from the natural world around us, and even the amusing antics of the squirrels and cats that call her place home. After retiring to Dunedin in 2014, she also took up painting Palm fronds and seed pods, recycling this native “yard waste” into a variety of colorful & whimsical fish and masks, to become iconic Florida art.

www.mikellherrick.com

Patty McAnally

Ceramic Artist

Patty taught Art in Cherry Hill, NJ Public Schools for 17 years. Her clay work reflects the many influences she has had over the years of working in clay.

Her work is mostly functional that can be for daily us or decorative purposes. She throws on the wheel using hand-building techniques, and at times combines the two techniques together.

The textures and color are what give each piece a distinct style and look. She loves making pottery and currently uses the Dunedin Fine Art Center as a hub for her creations. Working clay has been a constant source of joy, learning, and change, and allows her to express her creative talents.

https://www.facebook.com/pattymaclay/ 

Evelyn Dufner

Acrylic & Mixed Media Artist

Evelyn is fascinated by the collective experiences and stories that weave through the human experience. As a storyteller, she often plays with concepts of self-awareness, evolution and exposure, sensuality, vulnerability, and whimsy. Her work exhibits similar narratives, providing windows to her own sense of self in order to connect to the rest of the world.

Her current body of work utilizes acrylic, ink, paper, stencils and collage to create texture and contrast. She is known for working in bold, vibrant colors, often blending directly on the canvas, sometimes pushing, washing, or dripping medium, or pollinating brushes with different paint colors.

evelyngallery.art

Carol Sackman

The Mosaic House of Dunedin

Carol’s life revolves around art, so much so that her Dunedin, Florida residence has, in itself, become an enormous ongoing work of art that is now a year-round tourist attraction that hosts the area’s annual Studio Waltz and open house sale. Working primarily in mosaic, fiber and painting, the interior and exterior walls of the house are a sight to behold, not to mention the home’s cabinetry, closets, and other such fixtures. In 2013, she and her husband, artist Blake White, were commissioned to create and install a large mosaic mural for the Tampa Aquarium. In stating “Art is for everybody,” Ms. Sackman goes on to say, “It’s up to you. There are no more parent rules. Do what pleases you; what makes you happy.”

carolblakesedgyarts.com