Shawna Hatton – teacher and visual artist
I photographed Shawna at The Betty, a gallery at Front Street in Dayton, where she’s had an exhibition for the last two months. .
“I put a group of my larger works in this exhibition” she told me. “They’re from several time periods.”
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I first met artist Caitlin Cartwright at Dayton’s Front Street Buildings, on a night when more than three dozen studios and galleries were open to the public. Caitlin was the featured artist in the Color of Energy Gallery, and her vibrant painting-drawing-collages were creating quite a stir.
Caitlin explained that there was a narrative underlying each of her works, and I asked her to tell me a bit about some of them. Continue reading
I visited Jeremy Long in his studio in the Creative Arts Center at Wright State University. Continue reading
Rebecca Sargent spends her days at K12 Gallery & TEJAS, Dayton’s leading arts education organization, which is in Dayton’s most colorful building. Continue reading
I first visited Trish McKinney in 2014 when she opened a gallery/studio, Trish McKinney Studios, a retail gallery and open studio space on the 2nd floor of the Hotel Gallery in Tipp City. Continue reading
I first met Matt Kish when he was being interviewed on The Art Show, a program on Dayton’s public television station. I was there to take behind-the-scenes photos, but Matt’s story was so interesting that I found myself listening instead of shooting.
Matt had been making art for years, with little commercial success or recognition. He finally decided he would quit making art, but only after completing one last project. Moby-Dick had always been important to Matt, and he decided to make it the linchpin of his final art project. He decided to make one drawing a day for 552 days, with each drawing inspired by one of the 552 pages in Moby-Dick.
Matt posted each drawing online. They began to attract viewers, then speaking engagements, then an agent, and finally a publisher. Far from being Matt’s final project, the Moby-Dick drawings seem like they might be a beginning to a successful art career. Continue reading
Painter Terry Hitt works in Dayton’s most colorful building, the K12/TEJAS building at 341 South Jefferson Street. The first time I met Terry he told me how much he enjoyed working there because “it’s filled with so much good energy and artists of all ages to talk to.” Continue reading
Jane Dippold divides her time between illustrating children’s books and creating collage paintings, often landscapes of the countryside near her home north of Dayton. Continue reading
I first visited Daniel Brown because something he had said resonated with me. On his website I read that “finding a direction is one of the toughest things for an artist to do.”
Daniel’s direction is cars. For the last 11 years, he has been earning a living as a full time artist. All of his paintings include one or more cars. Continue reading
Mike Elsass may be Dayton’s most colorful artist, and he works in what is definitely Dayton’s most colorful studio. Mike rents most of the top floor of one of the Front Street buildings. His space includes a beautiful gallery, several large production rooms, plus space that he rents out to other artists. Continue reading
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