Meet the Artist: Stephanie Kastler

                                                                              Stephanie Kastler

       This is the seventh in a series of profiles
                                       of the artists who are living The Tallulah Life.

My first memory of making jewelry was at my 5th birthday party. Back then I used nylon fishing line and plastic beads. Today I prefer sterling, gold, glass and pretty stones.

While I love to string all kinds of pretty beads in any configuration that comes to mind, I've been trying to stretch myself by learning bead weaving, bead crochet, kumihimo, and improving my wire working skills.

The best part about making jewelry (besides playing with all the pretty beads!) is when someone picks up one of my pieces and their face just lights up because it touches them in some way.

When I'm not making jewelry, I'm working with young adults with developmental disabilities. While I do love my job and the people I work with, it can be stressful and having a great creative outlet is wonderful.

custom rosaries

I have lots of plans for new beady projects, so I'm looking forward to this summer!

Meet the Artist: Cherokee Haab

                   Cherokee Haab

             This is the sixth in a series of profiles of the artists

                                                                                   who are living the Tallulah Life.

  

Ever since I was given my first glitter glue at the tender age of five, I have wanted to make things pretty.  If it didn’t move, I put glitter on it.  Mama drew the line on glittering the crucifix, and I learned some restraint.  I love it all; paper, fabric, wood, paint, crayons, and of course, glitter.

Quilting gave me an eye for color and design.  It was great fun to build a fabric stash, always searching for that perfect piece of material that would complete a quilt in progress.  After winning awards for several quilts, I was hooked!

                            

And now, as I have discovered altered art, I’ve discovered how much fun it is to take an ordinary thing and make it unique.  These days, I look at objects with a curious eye, trying to think how it could be used in a new and unusual way.

 

But in truth, my passion is Halloween and my heart races whenever I see something orange and black!  Creating anything for my favorite holiday makes me most happy. Thank goodness my family understands; not everyone has a Halloween kitchen like me.

 Now that I’ve retired, I can play in my art room all day long.  It’s funny, I thought I’d be busy decluttering and organizing my house, but I can’t wait to get started on my next art project….so I guess all that other boring stuff can wait.

Without the support of my very cool husband, none of this could happen.  He makes me laugh, which keeps things in perspective when I start to freak out.  Our son and his wife, even though they live thousands of miles away, encourage me and sometimes challenge me to go outside my comfort zone.  Luckily, our daughter and her husband, with their two children, live around the corner and can provide on-the-spot cheers and manual labor J.  And our two grandchildren give me a happy point of view.  I’d forgotten how much fun it is to paint rocks.

Meet the Artist: Robin Walton

                                           Robin Walton

                                   This is the fifth in a series of profiles of the artists

                                                                             who are living The Tallulah Life

Born in Oklahoma but raised on Long Island, NY, I consider myself to be a native “New Yorker.” Our two children grew up in Philadelphia and during that time I was blessed to be a stay-at-home mom. For many years I enjoyed sharing my creative spirit with our children and friends.

Now grown, our children live nearby in Charlottesville. My son has his own child and lives around the corner from our daughter. I enjoy traveling to C’ville once a week, spending time with our sweet grandchild Norah. My “Mondays with Norah” are a joy.

Canvas art





Altered art

With a lifelong love of crayons, paper and paint, with a spirit to design and create, my art has evolved into collage and altered art. With an ongoing love for antiques and nostalgia, my art is much about transforming, bringing the past to life. My love of nature and the past reflects in my work.

 

Having established two shops dedicated to creative living, one in Philadelphia and the other in Richmond, my desire to bring art to life remains my comfort and dream.

  

 

Meet the Artist: Cathe Kervan

             Cathe Kervan

                                           This is the fourth in a series of profiles of the artists

                                                                                         who are living the Tallulah Life.

My interest in fabric artistry began when my mother taught me how to make my own clothes at age 12. By high school, I was sewing one-of-a-kind prom dresses and even swim suits. Later, at a small, liberal arts college in southwest Virginia, I had the wonderful opportunity to study fiber arts.

All of these early events set the stage for my life-long work in design with fabric, fibers and needles. I snatched time to quilt, knit or sew whenever possible during my 30-year career in public relations and marketing. Along the way, I began incorporating photography in my artwork.  

I also freelance as a residential painter, taking on small jobs for other people and tackling my own home improvement projects at my Hanover County, Virginia home. If you come searching, you will most likely find me in my back room studio, absorbed in the creation of something artsy.

I am greatly indebted to my fellow Tallulah artists for the abundant creative inspiration and personal encouragement they give me.  

                          

                      

Join Cathe and the other artists at

The Tallulah Faire

on Saturday, April 28, 2012, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

(raindate: Sunday, April 29, 2012, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

9177 Hunters Chase Court

Mechanicsville, Virginia 23116

"A garden gathering of 8 artists

who wish to share their creations with YOU."

Tallulah Faire: The beginning

You should know, first, that The Tallulah Life includes more than just the blog author. This Tallulah Life is not about a single "fruitful woman," but about a group of friends with common interest and love of creative arts. Most of us met through a retail shop that fed our love of scrapbooking and other paper arts. Out of this store grew a group who met monthly to learn and bond over projects and techniques. Even when the shop, sadly, closed, many of the friends kept in touch. Some of us met to continue our learning and creation of lovely objects d'arte. And even after those meetings became less formal and less frequent, some of us met regularly just for coffee at our favorite Panera, where we continued to share what we were making just for the love of it.


Tallulah Faire is our first endeavor to share the fruits of our creativity with friends and neighbors. The plan, as it stands at the moment, is to hold this event on Saturday, April 28th (raindate: Sunday, April 29th). In the coming days and weeks, we will share more of the particulars. This will include a detailed time and place, previews of the art that will be for sale, and introductions of the Tallulah artists.


And so it begins...