Catherine LaPointe-Vollmer brings a deep reverence for nature to her soft pastel landscapes, highlighting the subtle patterns of light and shadow often overlooked in everyday scenes. Her impressionistic works, featured in the Land and Longing virtual exhibition, are rooted in the forests, rivers, and seasonal shifts of her native North Country. Through plein air sketches and intuitive composition, LaPointe-Vollmer reveals how the ordinary becomes extraordinary when viewed in just the right light.

Oakland-based painter Tara Esperanza brings the intricate beauty of succulents to life through her bold, representational oil paintings. Featured in Create! Magazine’s Land and Longing virtual exhibition, Esperanza’s work offers a vibrant reflection on nature, community, and resilience—seen through the imaginative lens of both artist and observer.

In Land and Longing, Susan Stillman’s evocative paintings capture the subtle drama of light as it transforms everyday landscapes into spaces of wonder and reflection. A longtime educator and accomplished artist, Stillman invites us into scenes both familiar and extraordinary, drawn from her neighborhood walks and travels abroad. With an intentional absence of the figure, her work focuses entirely on light, color, and the quiet beauty of a single moment.

Lily Timberlake’s work invites us to slow down and savor the passing moments that often go unnoticed. Featured in the "Land and Longing" virtual exhibition, her oil paintings explore the intersection of time, memory, and the landscape, capturing the tenderness of everyday experiences. Timberlake’s intuitive approach to painting preserves the spirit of fleeting moments—from the warmth of a neighbor's garden to cherished objects and personal rituals. Her work encourages reflection and offers a sense of enchantment, as viewers are drawn into the vibrant layers of life she masterfully immortalizes on canvas.

Featured in Land and Longing, a virtual group exhibition by Create! Magazine, David Linneweh’s work offers a contemplative look at suburban architecture and the emotional pull of memory. His image-transfer technique paired with vibrant color fields transforms familiar neighborhoods into layered reflections on time, idealism, and the fading mirage of the American Dream.

In Create! Magazine’s Land and Longing virtual exhibition, artist Jaclyn Gordyan presents a body of sculptural work rooted in nature and emotional resonance. Working from the forests of Michigan, Gordyan combines natural-found materials with abstract techniques to reflect on our ancestral ties to the Earth. Her contemplative process and evolving practice transform foraged elements into meditative, organic forms that explore human experience through the lens of the natural world.

Sara Roberts' work invites viewers into a world where reality and dreams converge, capturing fleeting moments of beauty within vast, luminous landscapes. Featured in the "Land and Longing" virtual exhibition, her paintings explore the profound relationship between humans and nature, using light, water, and shifting perspectives as metaphors for memory and perception. Experience the delicate balance of expansion and contraction in her evocative landscapes and dreamscapes that transport us into a space of introspection and stillness.

Mason Owens’ paintings capture the subtle, transitory nature of everyday life, focusing on the intimate moments shared with friends and loved ones. His work, imbued with nostalgia, humor, and childlike curiosity, transports viewers into landscapes where ordinary scenes are transformed by the warmth of memory. Owens’ practice—now part of the "Land and Longing" virtual exhibition—combines egg tempera with a playful, experimental approach, translating the magic of these fleeting experiences into timeless pieces.

Jena Thomas’s thought-provoking work bridges the gap between human nature and the natural world. In the Land and Longing virtual exhibition, Thomas delves into how humanity idealizes nature and creates artificial environments, capturing the transient collision between the two. Through emotive abstractions and surreal landscapes, her work challenges us to reconsider how we relate to both the world around us and the marks we leave upon it. Discover more about her unique approach and thematic explorations in this featured artist profile.

Yuan Butler’s work embodies the intersection of cultural heritage and personal exploration, where abstraction meets figuration to evoke the power of mythology and nature. Featured in the Land and Longing virtual exhibition, Butler’s art delves into the mysteries of water and female forms, creating an immersive dialogue that invites viewers to reflect on the fluid myths of time and space. Her paintings offer a glimpse into her internal landscape, where intuition, nature, and identity converge in an ever-evolving, meditative practice.

In her feature for Land and Longing, Rainey Straus shares The Old Growth Project, a multidisciplinary body of work that merges technology, ecology, and ritual. Through LiDAR scans of California’s redwoods and embodied observation, Straus paints the presence of trees beyond human-centered narratives, inviting us to consider new ways of relating to the natural world. Her work unearths beauty and urgency in the forest’s voice, resonating with themes of loss, reciprocity, and reverence.

Sharon Wensel’s art invites us into moments of stillness, healing, and reflection through vibrant scenes inspired by the natural world. Following a return to painting later in life, her work now appears in Create! Magazine’s Land and Longing exhibition, celebrating the deep emotional resonance found in nature’s beauty.

Elisha Enfield’s evocative paintings draw from the rich history of human rituals, blending themes of fire, funerary rites, and remembrance. In her works, she examines how we navigate grief, celebrate life, and honor those who are no longer with us. Featured in the Land and Longing virtual exhibition, Enfield’s paintings invite viewers to reflect on the interplay of memory and myth in the human experience.

Brooklyn-born artist Nora Wiley-Schwartz blends personal memories with artistic exploration, focusing on nostalgia and domesticity in her paintings. With works that evoke a sense of quiet reflection, Wiley-Schwartz invites viewers to appreciate the beauty in everyday life. Featured in the "Land and Longing" exhibition, her latest work draws from landscapes tied to her childhood and artistic retreats, bridging the gap between urban life and natural environments.

Painter Gillian Wainwright shares insight into her latest body of work, created over four years within the ever-changing microcosm of her backyard. Influenced by light, season, and her love for working from life, Wainwright's paintings have shifted from realism to gestural abstraction. Now on view as part of the Land and Longing exhibition, her work speaks to the intimate connection between observation, memory, and place.

Kendra Dandy’s vibrant artwork mixes humor and deep emotion, using the cheetah as a personal symbol of her feelings and experiences. Her playful, mood-driven creations challenge the conventions of self-expression, inviting viewers to connect with their own emotions. Featured in collaborations with major brands like Marc Jacobs and Vans, Kendra’s unique style blends vintage design, nature, and post-impressionist art, creating a dynamic conversation in every piece.

Step into the imaginative world of Bella Wattles, a self-taught artist whose maximalist still life paintings transform everyday objects into playful, symbolic characters. Inspired by nostalgia, storytelling, and the drama of stage lighting, Wattles creates emotional vignettes that blur the line between the ordinary and the fantastical. Her compositions invite viewers to rediscover wonder in the unexpected.

Lauren E. Peters’ work delves into the performance and construction of identity through the lens of self-portraiture. Drawing from both historical and personal influences, her art explores gender, the notion of “costumes” as armor, and the complex navigation of self-definition. In this feature, we explore how Peters combines vibrant colors and rich symbolism to challenge traditional narratives and invite a new visual language that exists beyond societal binaries. Explore her journey and upcoming work in the issue 51 of Create! Magazine.

In her multifaceted works, Moyan Wang combines ceramics, painting, and sculpture to create powerful metaphors for unspoken stories tied to China's collective memory and the experience of diaspora. As an MFA student at UNC-Chapel Hill, Wang explores the intersections of personal and societal trauma, evoking a deep sense of history through rich, culturally significant materials. Her work speaks to themes of gender, immigration, surveillance, and the weight of silence, as she creates a layered narrative of resistance and resilience.

Jennifer Cronin’s work reveals a unique perspective on the mundane, finding magic in the overlooked corners of everyday life. Her latest collection, supported by prestigious grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation and Chicago DCASE, invites viewers to discover the extraordinary in ordinary moments. Delve into her artistic journey and how her paintings transform the mundane into something magical.