Lisa Austin has been a mixed media artist since 2003 after leaving a studio career as a potter. It was a difficult change because she had won many national and regional awards with clay but her health precluded her from continuing in that medium. She turned to mixed media assemblage as her new art form with the help of scholarship and grants. She has exhibited in international assemblage shows in Europe and America as well as participating in the International Wearable Arts Show in Los Angeles, California. She has also received numerous awards for her assemblage and has been featured in magazines and books about mixed media. She has work in private collections and has been featured in eighteen single and group shows both locally and nationally.
“I love the idea of encapsulating a moment in time with objects, words, and images: whether it is an emotion, a social commentary, a piece of history, a person, or a place. To capture that moment and to keep returning to it because it evokes a feeling is my purpose in making mixed media. I want the viewer to think about the piece, have feelings about the piece, and to make art part of the collective experience. It is leaving a piece of time and our world behind in its physical form as well as in memory.”
In the age of immaterial communication, Tammy Burke believes in the power and place of the static object. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Herron School of Art in Painting and a Master of Arts in Media Communications from Webster University. She works in varied two and three-dimensional media, including painting, textiles, sculpture, and photography and has exhibited regionally. She works and lives in the Louisville area.
Nathan Morgan launched his career in woodworking in Birmingham, England. A third generation woodworker, his experiences in the Cotswold craft traditions of masonry and woodworking strongly influenced his pursuit of fine art carpentry.
He relocated to Louisville, Kentucky in 2000, and has since built a reputation in modern custom design furniture, retail space, cabinetry, and historic renovation. Recent installations include the Wiltshire Pantry on Market, the Home-O-Rama at Locust Creek, the Waterfront Park Place Penthouse, Basa Restaurant, the green building Java, and the Louisville Visual Art Association.
Nathan is committed to utilizing sustainable, green building methods, featuring use of reclaimed and alternative materials locally sourced. His influences blend historic European craftsmanship and the Bauhaus movement in modern furniture design; while his work aims to showcases the seamless, organic beauty of objects forged with the form and function of both the organic material and design space in mind. He recently launched Salvo, a hand to home collective featuring handmade, functional art, which opened in July 2011.
Presently, he is maintaining a practice in studio art, custom furniture in Louisville, KY. His work has been exhibited in galleries in Chicago, Louisville, and throughout Wisconsin. In July 2011, David’s work is featured at Salvo, a hand to home collective featuring handmade, functional art.
“The inspiration for this piece primarily came from the maker's mark label paper. I responded to the warm tone and texture immediately. I decided to create a lamp that showcased the barrel staves and the label paper as the inherent Maker's Mark icons that they are. The minimal armature attempts to subtly suggest sculptural form without distraction. Choosing the red cloth wire just seemed obvious. “
"The chandelier was inspired by my trip out to Loretto to see the Makers Mark distillery. There was a collection of bottles on a table by the door, and the light hitting them stood out to me, and I wanted to recreate that effect with found objects from Makers Mark. The rusted steel barrel rings, charred oak staves, bottles and signature wax all were sourced from the distillery. While it is tempting to cover the whole thing in that signature red wax, I was trying to emphasize that the bottle itself is also a signature, and that no labels or wax is necessary to identify the Makers Mark brand. I was also attempting a more vintage/period feel."
"The distillery tour at Makers Mark begins in the visitor’s center, a pre–Civil War distiller’s home that houses pieces from the Samuels’ collection of early-1800s furniture and other historical and craft items. I personally found kitchen of the visitor’s center to be the most visually stimulating room on the distillery grounds and knew almost immediately that I would begin my process with that mid century modern space. Early in the tour, one learns that Marge Samuels was responsible for the creative end of Makers Mark; by fashioning the logo still in use today as well as insisting the bottles should be dipped in red wax. Because I am currently combining encaustic wax with my photographic images, it was the obvious choice to enhance my piece with the red wax that is so synonymous with Makers Mark."
Mr. Stacy is a former U.S. Military man, Licensed Master Electrician, and electrical contractor. He calls himself the "consummate vagabond", as the third generation child of a family dedicated to military service, he has traveled the world as a military dependent and in his own service to his country. In total he is one of Eight generations of his family to serve his country, all the way back to the Civil War, including his mother. While born in California, he was raised primarily between Kentucky, Texas, and abroad in Europe and Asia. He calls Frankfort, Kentucky his home, where he lives with his wife (also a military veteran), their five dogs, and two cats. He has two sons, a grandson, and two granddaughters. Both of his sons are following in the family heritage of military service, and are on active duty in the U.S. Military.
Mr. Stacy has always been an artisan. He has been a sketch artist, and painter since before he could walk. In 2002 Mr. Stacy was injured during and accident on a job; while enduring four surgeries on his hand, he could not draw or paint for nearly three years. Mr. Stacy was given his first serious camera on his birthday during that time by his wife, as a “therapeutic tool”. One of his first images was entered into the 2007 Kentucky State Parks, Summer photo essay contest and won, that next year the image was included in a coffee table book. He was invited to be a participating artist in the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games Art Festival, a 2010 US National Park Service Photo Study that included nine national parks across the United States, he was an applicant artist for the 2011 Al Smith Fellowship and Emerging Artist Award presented by the Kentucky Arts Council. A "Monster was unleashed" in Mr. Stacy, as his wife puts it, and he has never looked back. Little did she know she would be the catalyst for such an insatiable passion.
"The photograph is taken from the center of “Whiskey Creek” which runs through the Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY. The frame is made from actual Oak Staves used in making Maker’s Mark Bourbon. The Mat is designed from the actual linen paper used to create the labels for Maker’s Mark Bourbon. I wanted to make the work as completely representative of Maker’s Mark as possible and use as many of the actual elements from Maker’s Mark that go into the bourbon as I could."
“I wanted to create a mixed media piece that not only incorporates the atmosphere in which Maker’s Mark is typically consumed, but also literally uses the materials of Maker’s Mark to create the art. Items that I incorporated into my piece include labels, wax & barrel staves.”
Joen Pallesen (b. 1979) grew up in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1999 he finished his education of screen-printing at København Tekniske Skole. He has practiced and created graffiti art since 1994 and in 1997 created an assemblage of other graffiti artist under the name Open Your Mind, or better known as OYM. He has been a contributing member of the artist collective, Copenhagen Cruise since it’s beginning in 2002. He has exhibited his work at Øksnehallen in 2003, Støberiet from 2005-2007 for their monthly event, Rytmisk Legestue with fellow artist Mikel Kvisgaard. Over the course of the past decade he has been commissioned to paint several murals and facilitate art events for the city of Copenhagen. In May of 2011 he has recently moved to Louisville with his family and has had the opportunity to create artwork for events held by the Louisville Visual Art Association, Salvo Collective and Center for Neighborhoods.
Amy Lemaire is an artist and educator based in Louisville, KY. She received a BFA in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000, and an MFA from Pratt Institute in 2011, also with a focus on painting. In addition to her paintings and performative artworks, Amy has been working with glass since 1997, and specializes in flameworking, with an emphasis on soft glass sculpture, beadmaking, and botanical replication. She exhibits her work nationally. Additional information can be found at www.amylemaire.com.
Lemaire’s recent series of works contemplate wearable sculptures as political art. Historically, necklaces, headdresses, bracelets and other jewelry pieces have been worn to communicate status and rank, and to make a visual statement to others particularly regarding political and social affiliations. Displayed on the body, touching the flesh, a piece of jewelry is also intensely personal, reflecting the wearers individual style . It is through this duality of public/personal that a connection is made to political art.
BH Choker, by Amy Lemaire, was constructed from oak plugs which are used to seal bourbon barrels during the aging process. Once the bourbon is extracted from the barrel, the plugs are discarded. By salvaging, carving and refining these oak pieces, and combining the reworked pieces with flameworked glass, the plugs are transformed into a wearable, sculpted necklace which carry the history of the materials through the gravity of the wood and glass.
“Waiting is from a photo I took while taking a tour of the Maker’s Mark distillery. I made my canvas out of the wood slats that are inside the Maker’s “46” barrels. I painted my picture in acrylic paint and framed the piece with the same wood slats, clear coated the whole piece in a water-based clear coat and to top it off I melted the Maker’s red wax down the sides and a little bit down the front. This was a really interesting piece to make since we had to use out of the ordinary materials. Hope you enjoy it like I do!"
Chris Chappell is a 33 year old self taught artist, life long Louisvillian and a dabbler of several mediums. His passion is making instructional paint videos and public murals, and whenever possible, live painting. His subject matter could be anything on any given day, but mostly he likes to explore the idea of life consisting of 2 parts, 1 half joy and 1 half tragedy. His work, including videos can be seen at clchappell.com.
"Since my day job is working around glass, I wanted to do this piece in glass and make it kind of sculptural but for the wall. I am a painter so I always work 2 dimensional and wanted to challenge myself to something different. Basically I wanted to see how nice I could make something new & different with the tools and equipment that I have access to."
"Walking into the Maker’s Mark Distillery, I was bombarded by the comprehensive sensuality of the space. The sights, smells, and sounds of the distillery meshed together like few places do. The collaborative aroma of bourbon and oak distinguish themselves from the rest. My intention for Ol’ Factory was to use the bourbon-soaked oak barrel staves to reproduce the smell of the distilling process. As the viewer moves in to view the organic display of the Maker’s Mark signature red wax, one cannot help but notice the bold oak fragrance complimented by the sweet trace of bourbon."
