Dottie Lou Crisp, Crocheter and Mixed Media Artist, Tells Her Story

I never thought of myself as an artist. In the past I have been an actor, a singer, an attorney, a consumer advocate, and now, in retirement, the metamorphosis has begun . . . finally.

Crocheting has been a part of my life since I was 5 years old when my MomMom taught me how to crochet; however, it wasn't until I retired from the practice of law that I really began to enjoy the art of it all.  

It is so much fun to just create little creatures from a hook and yarn. Watching them develop their own personalities is a most pleasant pastime. I have found that it is very rewarding to take the drawings made by young children, and turn them into 3-dimensional creatures. The children really love it too.

A couple of years ago, after reconnecting with friends from high school, I started exploring the wonderful art of mixed media!! Talk about an eye opening experience! This is certainly where I have really found a niche. 

First, I started working with some acrylic paints and some darling rubber stamps from RubberMoon!  (I love their stamps so much). Then I took a couple of on-line classes from KaePea  (aka Kristen Powers of RubberMoon & The Moon and the Maker) and now, I want to try everything ... well, maybe not oils so much. 

I just finished taking some more classes from KaePea while she was a visiting artist at The Queen's Ink in Savage, Maryland. It was such a learning experience, not only to take her classes, but also to meet lots of wonderful artists from the east coast and hear their respective stories.

I, for one, heartily recommend retirement. It has certainly allowed me to spread my wings and learn to fly! 

Love to all!  xoxo 
dottie lou crisp
aka Dottie Lou LaDiDas

This is Week 35 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Dottie Lou's story today!

Nikki D. May, Artist & Designer, Tells Her Story

I’ve wanted to make art for as long as I can remember. I spent my childhood drawing more than anything else. I took every art class I possibly could as a teenager and never considered not studying art in college. I had a brief flirtation with graphic design when I attended the Rhode Island School of Design Pre-College summer program. But this was before computers and it held no appeal for me. I much preferred the time I spent in RISD’s Nature Lab where I was able to check out a taxidermied squirrel and take it back to my dorm room to draw it.

Unlike a lot of artists, I was also always really good at and very interested in math. I may be the only art major who actually took calculus as an elective in college. When computers became easily accessible, I was immediately hooked. But it took quite a few years before my art and my computers joined forces.

My undergraduate studies (University of Georgia) were in fine art - drawing and painting and my graduate studies (Savannah College of Art & Design) were in fibers. In between I’ve also flirted with printmaking, ceramic sculpture and jewelry. But drawing was always my first love. 

My first job when I finished grad school was for an apparel company in Alabama, designing t-shirts for organizations like National Audubon Society, Ducks Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy. Getting paid to draw plants and animals all day? Yes please! I got the job based on my drawing and (limited) design skills, but I had only used a computer for design for the one test assignment I was given for the job. So when I started working, and was presented with a computer to use to design t-shirts, I panicked (on the inside)! 

And so began my self-taught computer design career. I still spent the majority of my time drawing by hand, but learned how to use the computer to complete my designs. My professional life has been a tug-of-war between art and design ever since.

Art and design have some similarities and quite a few differences. They are both very creative endeavors that encourage problem solving and satisfy my lifelong need to create something. However, fine art (to me) allows me to be creative with no confines other than my own imagination and skill. Design is being creative in solving someone else’s problems. 

After the job at the apparel company, I moved back to Atlanta and freelanced for a while doing design and illustration for local businesses. This was in the mid 90s and the internet was just starting to be a place where people presented portfolios and looked for jobs. I taught myself enough web design and coding to put up a portfolio website to show my design and art work in the hopes of getting more freelance work. I launched a website for my newly named design business - Blue Frog Designs - in early 1997.

I started listing web design and HTML skills on my resume and job searching websites. In late 1997, after one freelance web design/development job I was contacted by a contracting company looking to fill a 30-day temp job doing HTML for IBM. That temp job turned into a 10-year career ending with me as a Creative Director working with clients like The New York Times, Carrefour (the second largest retailer in the world at the time) the 2000 Sydney Olympics and other global companies. 

It was an amazing experience that I have no regrets about, except that it took me away from working on my own art for many years. I was working 80-hour weeks and traveling quite a bit and when I had any free time, I had no creative energy left to make art. I had an amazing creative career with impressive clients and better salary and benefits than any art major ever imagines, but I was dying inside. I knew I needed to make a change.

I decided to go back to freelancing and brought Blue Frog Designs back to life, with the thought that I could control my own schedule and do enough design work to pay the bills while having the time and energy to get back to my own art. I decided that I’d need to leave Atlanta, since I wouldn’t be able to afford to live there any longer without the high-paying job. I found Paducah, Kentucky and the Artist Relocation Program while looking for a smaller, more affordable town that still had something going on culturally. This was in early 2003. By the end of that year, I was living in Paducah’s LowerTown Arts District. It was another four years before I left IBM and went out on my own again, but in that transition time, I got back into making art and settled into a community that I love.

I’m still walking that line between art and design, but as time goes on it’s more and more on my own terms. The design still pays most of my bills and I’m working on tipping the balance more towards art - but the tug-of-war between art and design is now feeling more like a nice balance and not a struggle. I used to see it as two different worlds that I went back and forth between, and now I’m feeling as if it’s merely two sides of who I am. My biggest project right now is merging those worlds conceptually and literally. In the past I have always considered it two separate businesses and maintained two separate websites for the art and design. I am currently working on merging the two - from Blue Frog Designs for my design work and nikkimay.com with my art portfolio - I am forming one business, one site under the name Nikki D. May Art + Design, where you’ll be able to see all of the work that I do for myself and for my clients. 

It’s been a long road, but I’m well on my way to living the more balanced life doing the art and design work that I love!

You can find me at the following places:

nikkimay.com (Please sign up for my email list to get updates and find out when the new art + design site launches!)

https://www.facebook.com/nikkidmay

http://instagram.com/nikkidale

http://www.twitter.com/nikkidale

https://www.pinterest.com/nikkidale/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkidmay

This is Week 34 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Nikki's story today!

Adiante Franszoon, Master Woodcarver, Tells His Story

I was born the son of a Saramaka tribal chief in the rainforest of Suriname in tropical South America. My people are descendants of rebel African slaves and are renowned woodcarvers. I learned to carve when I was a young boy growing up in the village of Dangogo. In 1968 I came to the United States to get an American education.

I graduated from the University of Baltimore with BS Degree in Engineering but my passion has always been woodcarving. Today, I live in Baltimore and spend the weekdays carving in my studio. On weekends I come to Eastern Market in Washington, DC to sell my work.

My goal is to incorporate the Saramacca Maroon style of woodcarving into the contemporary western style of furniture making. I want to make unique objects that my clients will consider heirlooms to hand down to their children. When my clients speak of my work, they can tell about how each object was crafted because when I am commissioned to create a piece, I collaborate closely with my client during the decision-making process. I do not stain or dye the woods, they are all natural. I do not use any nails or screws in my work, it is all assembled with dowels.

I work closely with my clients to co-create the design, select the wood, and consider the form and function of each object. I use only the finest woods, such as teak, mahogany, and tropical cedar because of their strength and beauty. Each object I make is the result of our collaboration.

I am known for my hand-carved tables, chairs, full-length mirrors, and unique cutting boards. I also make decorative wall hangings, combs, headboards, doors, room dividers and stools. I do all of my carvings with a utility knife. I make things in all sizes, shapes, styles and colors -- just like human beings!

I’m not on social media except for my website and YouTube (see the link below) but you can email, call, or visit me at Eastern Market on weekends.

I am at Eastern Market every Saturday and Sunday (year-round, weather permitting). 

Here is how to contact Adiante:

Address: 2624 Saint Paul St., Baltimore MD 21218 

Email: adiantefr@yahoo.com

Phone: 410-598-2849

To see a video of Adiante at work click here.

Adiante’s work has been exhibited at: The Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution, the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC, Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland, Fondo del Sol Museum in Washington DC, and Maya Gallery in Washington DC.

He has won the Fine Craft Award from the Cherry Blossom Festival, an Alcoa Foundation Scholarship and a Rotary Educational Fellowship.

If you are interested in seeing or reading more about the art and ways of Adiante's Maroon ancestors, click here.

This is Week 33 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Adiante’s story today.