Bellefonte Artist Members
BA members offer a variety of artistic mediums and handcrafted work available in our shop on Brandywine Boulevard in Bellefonte, DE, minutes from Philadelphia, PA, and a few seconds from Wilmington DE. A few of our artists teach our classes, and many participate in our annual art festival. Take a few moments and learn more about our artist members.
Liz Baehr - A La Liz
Fabric, Fiber, Textiles
Liz makes handmade handbags, clutches, headbands and other accessories in her home studio in Delaware. Playing with color and pattern is what she thrives on. She likes to use a mix of fabrics including vintage style with a modern aesthetic, bold and colorful patterns, and playfully stylish. She also is a fiber artist exploring knitting, weaving and needlepoint.
www.alaliz.com
Irena Kelso
Fine Art By Irena
Pet and Wildlife Portraits
Color Pencils, Pastels, Acrylics, and oils
Irena is a self taught hyperrealistic artist that works with a wide verity of mediums, from acrylics, pastels, to color pencils, with her favorite medium to work in is color pencils. She loves sharing her passion for animals through her art, as she watches the animals she draws come to life and jump off the page. One of her high points is creating memorial portraits and seeing the owner’s face light up when their beloved pet looks back at them from her creations. When she needs to take a break from drawing fur, she is known to paint a landscape or two. When refreshed, she returns her mind and hand to the fine details of animal fur, or scales.
Stephanie Grant
Sassy Bee
Stephanie, local beekeeper and owner of Sassy Bee, finds inspiration all around. She strives to mimic nature’s creativity, from delicate to bold, simple to complex and even odd and bizarre,in all the products she creates, including natural beeswax candles and bee hotels. Sassy Bee beeswax candles range from uniquely decorative candle tins, tapers, exquisite pillars and votives molded into decorative shapes so beautiful you may not desire to burn them! 100% beeswax candles emit a warm, bright light and provide a subtly sweet scent that comes from the honey and flora that are in the wax the honeybees have made. Beeswax is also known to be hypoallergenic and to cast negative ions while burning, assisting in air purification. Sassy Bee scented beeswax candles provide fun and unique scents to mix things up a bit.
Bee hotels? Do bees go on vacation? No, not like we do however, native bees such as the Mason or Leaf Cutter Bee do need a safe place to lay their eggs. They don't stay, just visit to lay eggs and the following year a baby bee emerges and flys away! Created with solitary bees in mind Sassy Bee Be Hotels are uniquely created in a variety of styles and colors and are predominantly made with natural components to provide a safe haven for our pollinators and beneficial insects. Add striking decor to your garden or yard and feel confident knowing you are supporting our native bee populations. Bee inspired!
Marsha Minutella -
Marsha Neal Studio, LLC
Ceramic Clay, Sheep Wool, Beads, Fibers, Wire
Marsha enjoys the process of making shapes in ceramic clay, fibers, and beads. She finds it quite enjoyable creating textures with clay and colors with glazes and fibers to create her small pieces. Most of her work is small enough to sit on a windowsill or in a small special nook to be discovered when you take the time to look. She also really enjoys making beads for people to use in their own jewelry designs. She feels that her ceramic bead work in the hands of others allows for a sort of collaboration of vision for a finished items beyond her vision.
MarshaNealStudio.com
Eric W Zippe
Fine Art Photography, Photographs transfered on to wood and Laser Engraving
Eric's involvement in fine art photography began in the early 1990’s. His work is conceptually based, relying heavily on the use of found locations, subjects and objects as equivalents. It is designed to invoke thought with emotion and to convey the viewer simultaneously into the physical space of the image and into the observer's own subconscious understanding. Working directly in reaction to the surrounding environment and visual everyday occurrences is the starting point of visual exploration that continues to the desired impression is captured in frame. Often these framed instances would go unnoticed in their original context and take on a minimalist or abstract quality. Once the process of photographing is concluded, he then works using various methods to hone the color, shapes and textures of the final image. Once complete the image is transferred, printed or engraved on to various substrates of paper, wood and metals.
www.ezippe.com
Karen S. Furst
Trilby Works
Mixed Media
Karen Furst transforms found objects and household recycling items into radical robots, damaged dolls, quirky creatures, and maniacal monsters inspired by fantasy, folk tales, and dreams. Her work in assemblage and mixed media combines metal, hardware, resin, clay, and paint with a healthy dose of imagination.
Kara Hinson
Fine Art
Watercolor
Kara Hinson is visual artist based in New Castle, Delaware.
Her art prominently features portraits and illustrations of women in a variety of medium. Her most notable work is characterized by vivid, layered watercolor portraits. With surrealistic colors and details, her paintings focus on the diversity of women and often incorporate elements of nature and fantasy.
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Lisa Lutwhyche
Whispering Light Creationss
Watercolor
Lisa Lutwyche is a painter, poet, author, produced playwright, and actor. She has a BFA in painting and a BA in art history and studied at the University of the Arts, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and Youngstown State University. She received her MFA in creative writing from Goddard College in 2013. Lisa has been selling her artwork for decades, and her watercolors have also been used as cover-art for published books, including the cover of her own full-length poetry collection, A Difficult Animal (which came out in 2016 from Saddle Road Press). Her poetry and fiction have been published in literary magazines across the US and the UK. Lisa is currently an adjunct Professor of English at Cecil College and at Delaware Technical Community College. She also still teaches watercolor. She lives with her British poet/actor husband and rescued cats in a quiet forest.
Dorothy P. Bobo
Bobeaux Jewelry Design
Jewelry
Dorothy's love of nature is reflected in the palette of her jewelry designs, whether it is birds, flowers, leaves or the sea. She often finds vintage pieces to incorporate in her work, transforming them into a fresh new wearable work of art. She also uses elements of nature such as semi precious stones and shapes, to showcase the changing of the seasons.
Stephanie Przybylek
Creative Animal
Acrylics, gouache, colored pencils and mixed media of all kinds
Stephanie’s art is a colorful but carefully observed take on creatures, fueled by a love of nature and travel far and wide. Obsessed with animals as a child and fueled by trips to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, she even took taxidermy correspondence courses (as a pre-teen!) Stephanie has a BA in Art from Gettysburg College and an MA in Art History from University of Delaware.
After many years in the museum field as a curator, exhibit designer and administrator, Stephanie decided to return to creating her own art. She works in a wide variety of materials, from acrylics and gouache, colored pencils, and even to found objects and driftwood — anything to provide inspiration and appreciation of the natural world.
Alice N. T. Reid
Etomi's Treasures
Jewelry, Textile Art,
Bath and Body products
Etomi's Treasures is the outlet for the creative and imaginative items that Alice designs and crafts. These items include jewelry, textile art, and bath and body products. Her work tends to reflect her African and indigenous heritages, using natural materials: stone and gemstones, Akoya pearls, wood, metal, and organic beads. It also features materials from the Third World, which include clay, horn and bone beads, and - specifically from Africa - trade beads, sandcast and glass beads, Krobo beads, horn, woods, and brass. Polymer beads will be her next experiment; however, the inclusion of items from nature will always be the focus of everything Alice handcrafts.
Arlene Finocchiaro
Polymer Clay, Jewelry,
Every art piece Arlene creates is a journey, whether it’s combining beads into a one-of-a-kind necklace, forming polymer clay in to sculptural forms or crafting cards from memorable photos or stamped designs.She hopes to convey her excitement of combining colors, textures and forms to delight the eye and the spirit.
Ryan Pic
Earthworm Emporium
Ryan Pic is a 24 year old artist based in Wilmington, DE. Fiber arts like weaving, embroidery, and papermaking build the foundation of their art practice and experiments with printmaking, natural pigments, found objects, and three dimensional collage. While their abstract works strive to capture the emotional resonance of dreams and hazy memories, much of Ryan’s work integrates the human form with representations of plant, animal, and supernatural life in an
exploration of identity and spirituality. Their work examines the natural and fantastical through a queer, trans masculine, disabled perspective. The history and processes of fiber arts function as the perfect locus for reflecting on their experiences subverting expectations of gender,
religion, sexuality, and ability. Ryan’s practice exists through consistent, measured allocation of energy to each piece, a necessary consideration for living with multiple chronic illnesses and is sustained by the support of queer friendships, family, and time in nature.
Kristin McCourtney
Lucky Star Macrame
Kristin’s journey with macrame began one knot at a time during the pandemic. She found a creative outlet in macrame and connected to its meditative qualities. Her knots eventually turned into gifts for family and friends who encouraged her to start Lucky Star Macrame. Using mostly cotton cord, Kristin’s knots are tied with an intention to bring beauty, peace, and happiness to others. Whether she’s made a large wall hanging, plant hanger or keychain all pieces are made with knots of love.
Valerie M. White
Words and Water
Valerie enjoys the liveliness that watercolor brings visually in expressing on paper her admiration of nature's beauty, often painting the ocean, the full moon, clouds, and sunsets. She is captivated by the evocotive expression of words and water. Her series of original minis and bookmarks combine the two loves. Valerie returned to art after a long hiatus when she began hosting a poetry reading at the Bellefonte Cafe called the Bellefonte Wordsmiths. Since then, she's created the Bellefonte Arts Festival and the collaborative art shop Bellefonte Arts.
Nancy Butler
Alley Cat Jewerly Studios
NancyButler is a Delaware jewelry artist who designs and handcrafts unique original one-of-akind beaded jewelry. Nancy works primarily with semi-precious stones, pearls, crystal, lampwork and Czech glass, sterling silver, vermeil, copper, base metal and lead-free pewter and she enjoys traveling around the country searching for unusual and great quality beads to incorporate into her designs. When designing jewelry, Nancy lets each piece develop naturally, often taking inspiration from the beads themselves. Nancy established AlleyCat Jewelry Studios in 2012. The AlleyCat name was inspired by her two real-life alley cats that she and her husband rescued from the streets of Wilmington several years ago. Both cats also love to play with beads and string and often accompany Nancy for hours at a time while working at the bead bench.
Alley Cat Jewelry Studios
Joy Littleton
Pottery
Joy is a retired Art Educator and Artist. Her works range from Pottery to Mixed Media and Photography. A native Delawarean who currently lives in Bellefonte, Joy has been creating art most of her life. Entering teaching after graduating from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, PA, much of her creative energies were devoted to her students. Throughout that time, she still exhibited her artworks in various galleries, festivals, and shops. Recently retired from the Brandywine School District, Joy says she is very excited to have found her way back to the artist within. Her work focuses mostly on explorations in clay stoneware and raku pieces that offer distinct and individualized works of art. In her wheel thrown and hand built forms she really enjoys exploring and experimenting with glaze combinations and surface designs to produce unusual and exciting finishes to her expressive creations.
Joy Littleton
Wendy Fantini
Multi-Media Artist
Wendy Fantini is a self-taught multi-media artist. She designs/builds stained glass pieces and mosaics, paints up-cycled objects, and creates digital media. Her artwork is the culmination of a lifetime of creative pursuits and the ongoing development of her skills in design and fabrication. She recently graduated with a BA in Graphic Communications. She grew up in Philadelphia, PA, then moved to Delaware where she resides with her family in The Brandywine Hundred area. She looks forward to sharing her work as she grows in both tactile and digital expression.
Wendy Fantini
Christi Chaos Art
Multimedia
Christi is a multimedia occasional artist, hobbyist, and crafter who works in whatever medium calls to her in the moment. Likewise, Christi's artistic style reflects that of her mood and ranges from realism to fanciful.
Nzuri Metope
Body Products
Mallory and Dwayne Johnson create Shea based, handmade body products. They use a combination of essential oils, natural oils and butters to create soap and body butter. They offer appealing scent combinations and soaps are colored naturally with mica. The words Nzuri Metope mean beautiful mud.
Sara Heintzelman
Bitty Bat Arts
Always fascinated by fantasy, fictional creatures, bright colors, and collectible toys, Sara uses digital illustration and polymer clay to create bright and colorful creatures. Polymer clay and digital art are their main mediums, but they enjoy working in any medium they can try, including needle felting, 3d modeling, character design, costume making, sewing, dollmaking, and more.
Maureen T. Collins
Dovetail Designs
Photography, Mosaics, Collage, Fabric Design, Wallpaper Design
Upon receiving her first camera at 8 years old, Maureen began a lifelong passion for the visual arts, and it changed her world. Her journey is woven through photography, painting, collage, mosaics, silver work and fabric design. An idea that is born through one medium often inspires and flows through the other media. Inspiration is everywhere: exceptional images evoke further exploration, intriguing sounds inspire a variety of visual patterns, a well turned phrase will echo in resonance with a variety of motifs and expressions. Creativity is a language that allows Maureen to share the beauty, uniqueness and Gratitude for each new day.
Through Dovetail Designs, many of Maureen's photographs and paintings are used in her collage work for fabric and wallpaper designs. She will layer several images of her photos or paintings to create unique and colorful artworks. These designs are either printed on metal as a unique expression or translated into various fabrics and wallpaper designs.
Colors, textures and tension of contrasts all contain kernels of revelation; re-interpreting each aspect allows Maureen to make them uniquely her own.
Some of her hundreds of fabric designs can be viewed here, along with many designs not yet released:
Dovetail Designs