Freelance artist/illustrator/designer Ricki Mountain communicates ideas of human expression, individuality and creativity .

Artist Statement:
As an artist I understand that duplicating work to represent a style has some merit. However, my signature style is the process itself. I always seem to take each project to the next level using what I learned from the previous session. I’ll sometimes start by copying the idea, and then I allow it to become its own entity.”

As an artist to attain success, I believe it is thru failure. This truly makes me try new and different methods. My style allows me to be very creative; this is the most exciting part, to know that I will always be able to create something new.

“Always create freely,and thrive on rejection.”

Artist Information:
Stepping outside the standard artist-gallery business model, Ricki Mountain has an eclectic style, and has gained a reputation as a prolific creative resource.

She often uses elements of mid-century modern design, photography ,traditional and digital techniques in conjunction with each other.

Mountain is regularly commissioned to create custom paintings, prints, and interior accents for retail and commercial clients.

Her artwork has been shown nationally and is in Private and corporate collections in both the United States and Europe.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5225703

I grew up in a small town in the much drier and agriculturally inclined eastern side of Washington State. In high school I focused in Multimedia/Broadcasting, Fine Art and English. When I graduated, I packed my bags and moved to Australia. For the next seven months I was practically reinvented.

That time in Australia lead me to the Middle East, and for a month and a half I struggled and found myself with a people I had never before paid attention to. I shyly photographed smiling children and pained mothers in refugee camps, and discovered the person I once knew was now the one suffering alongside a people long oppressed. That time abroad radically shaped my life, my perspective, my politics, my relationships and my art.

Afterwords, I landed back in the Pacific Northwest and poked my head into things, one of which being a photography school in Hawaii.

Now there’s a good story to how I ended up in Hawaii, but we’ll suffice it to say I flew there on a one-way ticket, without being accepted into the school, with little resources and no plan B. Some may question that particular choice I made, but there was this thing inside of me growing, something we might call a desire to bring excellence to God’s Kingdom. I decided the school in Hawaii was where I could go to help me attain that.

And, long story aside, I was accepted into the school.

That tossed me into a twelve week full-on photography course, covering everything from basic technique, to critique, to use of color. We studied various photographic genres and ventured into studio work and lighting. Six hours a day, all about photography.

From Hawaii I moved to New Orleans to volunteer with disaster relief work. Six months later I surprisingly found myself back in Washington, amongst the endearing embrace of muddy hills and rainy days that these spring months graciously provide.

As far as art and photography go however, I think the writer CS Lewis in his book The Great Divorce says it best: “Light itself was your first love: you loved paint only as a means of telling about light.”

website: www.kaarins.com

Brooke McAllister, originally from Ojai, California now resides in Vancouver, BC Canada.

www.bmpimages.weebly.com
www.littlebirdweddings.com

I live with my husband in Western Mass. I have 2 really great kids.

My travels as a child through Asia (India and Nepal) and later with my husband in West Africa and then with all four of us to Mexico and Central America have all influenced my color and pattern sense as I observed the Folk arts, crafts and architecture of these countries.

I worked for many years in public schools mostly with kids in kindergarten, I have my elementary teaching degree in Multicultural Education from the University of Massachusetts. As a teacher I would integrate the arts into classroom themes and realized the importance of good illustration as a teaching tool. In reading to my class I was exposed to hundreds of children’s picturebooks. I have always loved the way words and pictures go together visually and appreciate when it is done well. I have also studied illustration in a local college taking classes in computer arts, illustration, design and oil painting.

My work is bold, joyful,vibrant and colorful. Gouache, water color, pen and ink and Collage are my favorite mediums. . I have used collage for many book covers and educational illustrations. For years I have also been making personalized handmade books and 3D collages in the form of crowns for special occasions.

Much of my work could be used in journal covers, book covers, packaging, toys, character design, games, stationery, greeting cards, posters, fabric design, murals and wallpaper.

What I love about illustration is that it is like solving a puzzle for me and I love puzzles. Having a limited amount of space and having to make the subject matter understandable and beautiful presents the challenge that I crave. Doing the research for a piece gives me an excuse to learn something new and try out new styles. Deadlines and direction in general keep me motivated.

I have a studio in my home. I also do carpentry with my husband’s business and matting and framing for another small local business. We have a huge vegetable garden around the house that we built and raised our kids in. We spend winters in Costa Rica fixing up our place there and soaking in the tropical colors and natural beauty.

Listing of illustrations for books, shows, magazines;

Many local shows in the Amherst/Northampton Massachusetts area.
Eight book covers for Interlink Publishing Company

John Sheldon’s “Possum in the Kitchen” music show at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst Mass.
Reading rainbow illustrations for stories told by Eshu Bumpus

Cricket Magazine
Hartcourt Achieve
Zaner-Bloser Publishing
Sundance Publishing

McGraw Hill Wright Group

Personalized crown for Kurt Vonnegut’s 80th Birthday

Stamp designs for the Massachusetts State Park system

artmicha.com

Above the Garage is a homemade, freshly squeezed graphic design studio from Charlottesville, Va. Ashley Walton and Phillip Tamburello started this project in late 2008 with an enthusiasm and a longing for creating beyond the walls of our daily 9-5 jobs. Above the Garage currently designs and sells original, pre-stamped postcards at the local comfy coffee spot, Para Coffee, encouraging the old-school pen to paper communicating to friends far and away, and right next door. In addition to postcards, Above the Garage has been working on other projects such as posters, logos, t-shirts, and wedding materials.

Ted Frericks is a Rockford, Illinois based photographer. Mostly self-taught with a few key influences along the way, his style can usually be described as documentary. Regardless of genre, he always strives to capture and share what he sees in the most simple way possible.

flickr.com/tedfrericks

I am a photographer and art history graduate student living in Charlottesville, VA.

Amy René is a Montréal based artist with a passion for piecing things together after having diligently taken them apart. She began art-ing and crafting at a very young age. It became very clear at that time that she was happiest when creating. She went on to study Design Arts and Photography at Concordia University but only started painting once her degree was over and safely in the bag. She loves the physical sensation of painting, of creating layers of skin for each new piece. Each painting has many lives before settling into it’s final incarnation.

Amy is a multidisciplinary artist that has trouble keeping track of all her obsessions and ideas. She has co-owned and designed for a small jewelry company, helped her brother make sock puppets, painted entire shows in a week, made books with mixed CDs for friends and still found enough time to make herself a new skirt before going out on the town. The busier the better. Answers are found in actions.

If you have any queries or just want to shout out, you can reach Amy at moonshineandmayhem@gmail.com

flickr.com/moonshineandmayhem

You can’t depend on your eyes if your imagination is out of focus. -Mark Twain

website: zbryant.com

Graphic Designer by trade; creative by nature. Carrie Reagh currently resides in Brooklyn, NY hailing from Cleveland, OH. Her work is very detail inspired with a strong interest in macro photography. Seeing the beauty in the everyday and catching an image that only lasts a moment are very rewarding.

www.carriereagh.com

I am a London based web designer and photographer. For me photography is about the going out and shooting more than the final result. It hones ones eye to what you would normally miss. This is a big reason that I work mostly with film; with limited shots and the fact that you can’t see the results immediately, means you need to really look at what you are shooting.

My photoblog (www.dicksdaily.co.uk) has been running for over seven and a half years and is essentially a diary of my life. I have taken a photo every single day of those seven and a half years and this is why dicksdaily contains quite a mix of images – it’s not about simply choosing a best photo from the archives to post each day – sometimes it’s about posting whatever I have – however bad! These self imposed restraints made me start posting to flickr (www.flickr.com/dicksdaily) here I could post images when I wanted from whenever I wanted!

I also set up and run london.thewayweseeit.org a London based collaborative photo project where a new location is chosen every week and anyone wanting to participate can go and shoot and post to the site. Last year this was voted one of the 50 best London websites by timeout London magazine.

Eric Johnson is a musician and avid traveler. His travels have brought him to various nooks and crannies of this earth, which has spurred him in his rising interest in photography.

Jessyel Ty Gonzalez is an editorial and portrait photographer in Denver, Colorado. Many people mispronounce his name and think he’s a woman upon hearing it for the first time. Be assured, his name is quite easy to pronounce (Jess-E-L) and he is indeed… a boy. Visit his photoblog at www.dailysnap.com.

I am a photographer living in Chicago, IL. I have a photography business with my partner and make-up artist Lizz Neish called IshootRockstars.com. We shoot high-concept photos and specialize in music, enterainment and fashion.

You can find us here: www.ishootrockstars.com

i take the pictures that make the photographers, that take the pictures that make the young girls cry, cry themselves

brianmilo.com

flickr.com/brianmilo

I am a photographer at heart that spends my day playing a Supply Chain professional for a high tech manufacturing company. I started shooting seriously in the mid 90s with medium format black and white film and all the nasty chemicals I could ever want. Thankfully, I am fully transitioned to digital and love every minute I can spend behind the lens. My primary motivation for this project is to help me develop as a photographer with a secondary goal of documenting 2009 the best way I know how. If you are interested stop by the link below and follow along on the journey. Thanks bg

flickr.com/briangudasphotography

Photography is my favorite activity and I do my best make it a part of my life on a daily basis. I love nonsense, orange soda, my burgundy boots, Biggie Smalls and Boo (dachshunds extraordinaire), driving around aimlessly, collecting things I don’t need, movies, caffeine, and last but not least my friends and family. I live in Austin. I have been to many places and want to go everywhere.

website: recoveringlazyholic.com
blog: recoveringlazyholic.blogspot.com
flickr: flickr.com/sock_puppet

Leah Gregg is a photographer who spends her days working on the Communications Team at Union Gospel Mission on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She looks for beauty, peace, love and truth. She rides a pink beach cruiser and loves chocolate.

flickr.com/simonehudson

twitter.com/simonehudson

Russell Leng is an artist living outside Vancouver. He likes spicy tuna rolls, firm handshakes, the sound of a quarter going through a payphone, sharp mustard, and hearing the ocean before he sees it.

russellleng.blogspot.com/

Meet Aaron Schwartz, a true South Florida native, born in Miami and currently residing in Broward County. To say he knows his way around the area would be an understatement. As a location scout and photographer in the film and television industry for over a decade, Aaron has seen most of Miami from more angles than anyone. The city’s vibrant colors and imagery have influenced him and this shows in his art.

Aaron’s artistic roots are in abstract oil paintings. Music and painting. Jazz and abstract expressionism. You can see the energy derived from listening to hours of recorded jams that have been channeled onto canvas. The only big difference seen in his more recent work is the medium in which this energy is captured. After graduating with an art degree and spending some time working around film and photography, Aaron traded his white canvas for photographic prints.

The growing respect for the camera merged with his love for painting. The rich colors mimic that of the city and his compositions are drawn from the angle of his lens. The oil paint has been replaced by ink and other mixed media. The result of combining these materials and the photographic emulsion is an incredible texture resembling that of a scratched surface or a weathered piece of metal.

What makes Aaron’s technique so unique is not only the unorthodox use of materials, but the idea of what a photograph can become. The photographic images underneath his paintings are not meant to be the focus of the art, but merely an inspiration to the finished piece.

www.abstract-decor.com