The Gallery of Artists | The Basement On Byers

The Gallery
of Artists

“We believe that—at the core of everything—artists
are people who make art.”
-Jillian Marie, Owner & Founding Artist

CONTRACTED ARTISTS

‘HIGHER RESOLUTIONS’ EXHIBITION ARTISTS

CONTRACTED ARTISTS

Matthew Phelan

DIGITAL ART | PAINTING

‘HIGHER RESOLUTIONS’ EXHIBITION ARTISTS

“HIGHER RESOLUTIONS” EXHIBITION

Artists of The Basement, both those emerging and long-established, represent some of the best creatives in Virginia. Below are a some of the artists whose artworks are being featured in our “Higher Resolutions” Exhibition, December 10th thru January 22nd. Select their names to learn more about them!

ZOE RIS

Zoe Ris

painting /
mixed media

she/her/hers

Whether through abstract compositions through doodling and acrylic pours, or through character designs and other illustrated worlds from my stories, what I aim to achieve through art is a physical connection to the heart of my imagination; a constant beating heart without pause and a borderless land in an endless explosive spiral of ideas and creations.

www.blueadalaire.wixsite.com/adabluearts

SQUID THA ARTIST

Squid
tha Artist

painting

he/him/his

Every artist was first an Amateur

-Ralph Emerson

“I paint what and how I feel. I create works that someone can see and be able to reflect on and shape the painting into their own perspective. The colors, actions, and titles associated with each piece, allow people to immerse completely into them and resonate with it. I want people to see my work and immediately feel the emotion put into it and be able to ask, “what do you see” or “how can you relate” instead of showing them a picture and asking, “but how does this make you feel?”

MACREE WORKMAN

Macree
Workman

drawing

he/him/his

“Over the past year, my artistic efforts have been focused on drawing with pen and ink. I love the idea of mark-making just for the sake of putting ink on paper. How the pen or pencil feels as it crosses over the paper, this way and that, is captivating. Drawing has always proved to be the best way to calm my anxiety, and there are plenty of ink-filled sketchbooks to prove it. During the pandemic, I started drawing on a larger scale than my usual hand-sized sketchbooks. The more significant the stressor seemed to mean the bigger the paper. Repeating the same motion of drawing line after line creates a mindful and meditative headspace that allows time to process thoughts.”

KRISTIE HEVENER CROSS

Kristie Hevener Cross

mixed media

she/her/hers

“I’ve dashed around from pastels to watercolor (inspired by John Lurie) to acrylic, ink, collage, and the whole mixed media gamut. Currently, my obsessions are portraits/figures with charcoal on large newsprint paper; and abstract acrylics with inks, charcoal and whatever else I can find on roughly textured canvas.
Most of all, I am striving to make interesting marks.”

JOE WISLAR

Joe
Wislar

functional art

he/him/his

Futility Studios (Joe Wislar) works almost exclusively with vintage car, motorcycle, and industrial parts, repurposing rather than buying new. The artistic goal of Futility Studios is to highlight the beauty in industrial design, while giving discarded objects new functional purpose. Wislar draws inspiration from modernist interior design of the 1950s and 1960s and often names his pieces after world mythology and science fiction.

Futility Studios got its name from a fortune cookie he received that read, “One day you will realize how futile your life really is.”

www.futilitystudios.com

ALISON THOMAS

Alison Thomas

digital/
photography

she/her/hers

“Nature has always been an important part of my life. Growing up, I could go to the woods, as close as across the street, and I could find peace and solitude, my center and my God.”

www.serenityscenes.com

DANNY ROSE

Danny
Rose

photography /
rock balancing

he/him/his

LAINIE MABBITT

Lainie
Mabbitt

mixed media/
textile

she/her/hers

“When my father passed away, I found that I was particularly drawn to a pile of his t-shirts that he’d lovingly worn for years. They were faded, some stained and others full of holes; not really good for much, but they held within them the simple and wonderful stories of his days. I wanted to keep them, but there was no real use for them – so I adapted an old-style rug-hooking method to transform the shirts into a wall hanging.

That’s when I became entranced by the stories that are held in our worn, discarded fabrics. Using strips of cloth from old fabrics like wedding gowns, baby blankets, uniforms, aprons, dining linens, curtains and children’s clothes from the 1940’s to present, I create wall hangings, rugs, trivets and coasters. I imagine all the history that is held within those much-used, faded, forgotten but once-treasured items, and it makes me happy to give them a second life.”

MAE STOLL

Mae
Stoll

painting

“In this late life art ‘awakening,’ I find myself experimenting and simply playing – I try different styles and techniques, and the resulting works I tend to like the most are those that surprise me – the ones that sort of ‘happen’ with little interference from me. In my twelfth month of painting, I bought a cheap set of soft pastels just to see what that feels like. Yep, I’ll probably now be doing some dabbling in soft pastels, too! Inspiration comes mostly from nature and from the emotions and memories evoked by the world around me.”

https://www.adornmentsbymae.com/