Lennie Poitras: jewelry metal artist, private instructor

I have always felt a need to make things. As a trained Horticulturist I am crazy about plants and as a jewelry artist much of my work centers around plant forms translated through various metals and glass. From my studio here at 320 Studios I create traditional metalwork and also work with an exciting and relatively new material, Metal Clay. I also play with glass as enamel and fused glass and dabble with pastels.

Kristen Brown: fiber artist

I am drawn to reflect beauty through art, with a focus on wildlife. Fabric has become my favored medium. I enjoy the limitations imposed by creating with commercial fabric and rely on the variations within fabrics to create shape and color. Pieces are collaged in layers like painting with fabric. The work is then quilted to complete the project. I am looking forward to more exploration of color and design as I play with this medium.

Many art forms are of interest to me as this interest became alive at an early age.  Inspiration and appreciation occurred predominantly through my mother and actualization first viewed through my father who was a cartoonist and sports writer.  The art I create involves real images of people, visual and constructive ideas, inspirations from past and current artists, and appreciation of color, adventures, and beauty.   

At this stage of continued development within my life I engage in oil painting thus transitioning from a water color background.  And most recently have initiated a marble sculpture project forming a model with Roma Plastilina clay, and using hand tools and some power equipment. 

Art seems to have always embedded in my personality over time influencing perceptions and attitude within myself and others. 

Marty Brace

Starting in childhood, I've always loved textiles.  Beginning in junior high I made my own clothes and, in my college years, discovered the fun of cutting up various fabrics and sewing them back together in structured patterns. Since then I've stitched and hand-quilted a variety of projects, mostly wall-hangings.  (Bed coverings take way too long.)  In addition to my enthusiasm for past and present textiles and their myriad uses (clothing, decorative and functional items in the home, in industry, and oh, so many more applications), I love color -- by itself, on fabric, in flower beds, the sky, rocks, the evening sky, in paintings, in my imagination.
Having a space in 320 Studio has given me a burst energy.  Being surrounded by creativity and enthusiasm adds a sense of community previously lacking in my creative life.  Now, if I can just remember that finished is better than perfect....

If you've ever seen the Nickelodeon show Avatar: The Last Airbender, you'll understand when I say I'm definitely in the Earthbender tribe.  I began working with clay in high school where we antagonized the jocks with our Varsity Ceramics club.  I took several classes and independent studies, worked as a teaching assistant, and apprenticed with a ceramic artist in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When I attended the University of Vermont for English and Classical studies, I worked at the Burlington City Arts clay studio, teaching classes and working as a studio assistant.  I am now serving as the Lander Art Center's Artist in Residence, and am excited to help them develop their clay space at 320 Studio. Working with clay grounds me, which is helpful as I spend a good chunk of my time off the ground rock climbing.  I use everything from the classical world to the Wyoming landscape as inspiration.