Carolyn DeMaggio - As a painter and a jewelry artist, I find inspiration in nature, geological structures and ancient civilizations. Many of my paintings evolve from photos that I’ve taken of textures, colors and moments in time. Since I spend my year between Columbus, Ohio and Fort Myers, Florida, my sources of inspiration are many and varied. My paintings are mostly acrylic and mixed media and vary from abstract to representational. My jewelry is primarily copper which I manipulate and finish with patinas and texture to create something that seems as if it may have been dug up in an archeological ruin. I strive to create paintings and jewelry that are unique and pull the viewer in to the color, texture and richness of the piece; to experience (or create) its story and its possibility. Although I graduated from college with a degree in art, my career was spent in corporate America. The moment I retired, I jumped back into the art world with both feet. I love creating art pieces that bring joy to those that have purchased my work.

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Pat Howard - Robert Coomer is an internationally recognized, award winning photographer who grew up on a farm in Brown County, Ohio. Art has always been a part of his life and in 1994 he graduated with a BS degree in Graphic Design from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning. He draws from his farm roots to shoot images of backyard wildlife, old barns, farmscapes, and scenic landscapes in Southwestern Ohio and Eastern Kentucky. His work is an exploration of light and subject, and discovering beauty in unexpected places. I find beauty in age and decay, and then reproduce it in a way that maintains a sense of time and place. To do this, I use distressed steel as the basis of my pieces. It can take up to 3 months to build up the rust and patina patterns on each piece of steel and then up to 12 hours of surface work to strip and reveal the damage done. Once I have my surface, the image is printed to the metal with various techniques, and then float mounted on stained wood using distressed bolts that maintain the aged and worn appearance. Through this process I am able to create an emotional connection to the image, and produce a piece authentic enough to look as though it had been stolen from the scene and presented to the viewer as an artifact on display. The work is modern and industrial, but is equally at home among antiques and more traditional settings.

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