Claire Partington’s intricately detailed ceramic sculptures reinterpret the myth of the princess through a modern, critical lens—blending baroque aesthetics, fairy tale motifs, and luxury iconography. Based in London, her work challenges expectations of femininity and fantasy while drawing inspiration from art history, social trends, and personal identity. Discover how her ceramic figures embody both magical nostalgia and sharp cultural critique.

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.

Chicago-based painter Sally Blair creates large-scale oil paintings that explore the intersection of the micro and macro. Her intricate, brightly colored compositions are rooted in themes of geometry, science, and the sublime. With a background shaped by the landscapes of New Mexico and West Texas, Blair brings a unique perspective to contemporary abstraction, evoking the grandeur of unseen worlds.

Chester-based fine artist Maria Natalie brings fresh energy to classical portraiture through her Unfinished Finished series—vivid oil paintings that capture women in bold, incomplete states. Balancing traditional techniques with striking contemporary color palettes, her work draws attention to both subject and process, offering a modern take on timeless composition.

Aya Ogasawara, a Tokyo-born painter now based in New York, creates strikingly surreal compositions that blend Northern Renaissance influence with a minimalist Japanese aesthetic. In her series Memory and Mirage, Ogasawara explores themes of femininity, growth, and the sublime, crafting dreamlike tableaus that reinterpret religious iconography through the lens of adolescence and personal myth.

Betsy Walton is a Portland-based painter and illustrator whose layered, luminous compositions investigate the spiritual dimensions of life through color, form, and intuition. Influenced by nature, science, and personal growth, Walton's practice draws viewers into imagined spaces where wonder, balance, and inner dialogue take shape. In this feature, we explore the ideas behind her creative process and her ever-evolving visual language.

In the "Land and Longing" exhibition, Taylor Pierce’s landscapes explore not just the beauty of the desert but the stories it holds within. Through her work, she brings forward the resilience and history of the land, asking what it has witnessed across time. With each painting, Pierce invites viewers to consider their own connection to nature and the powerful link between the past and present.

Guy Nelson’s acrylic paintings delve into the intricate relationships between humans and the environment, focusing on themes of self-preservation, community, and the beauty of natural spaces. In his work for the "Land and Longing" exhibition, Nelson captures the atmospheric glow and mystery of forests and outdoor settings, inviting viewers to slow down and engage with the layers of meaning within each piece.

In the Land and Longing exhibition, New York-based artist Cary Hulbert presents fantastical worlds where flora and fauna blur, spirit animals roam, and imagination takes root. Her layered paintings—rich with color, transparency, and meaning—invite viewers to linger and uncover the subtle, shape-shifting beauty that dwells within her dreamlike terrains.

Painter Lindsay Mueller transforms her encounters with nature into sculptural works that blend material, memory, and emotion. With surfaces built from plaster and paint, her landscapes reference parks, roadsides, and the layered history of shared spaces. Now featured in Create! Magazine’s Land and Longing virtual exhibition, Mueller’s work asks: how real is this space—and where does it rupture?

Dana Oldfather’s paintings radiate with vulnerability, tension, and dreamy psychedelia. Known for her expressive, emotionally charged landscapes, Oldfather brings a deeply personal lens to the natural world, using it as a portal to explore fear, impermanence, and wonder. Featured in Create! Magazine’s Land and Longing exhibition, her work invites viewers into a space where the inner and outer worlds collide in vibrant, unsettling beauty.

Canadian painter Nicki Ault creates luminous, heartfelt landscapes that express her deep connection to the natural world and her own emotional experience of it. Ault, whose work is featured in the exhibition Land and Longing, shares how discovering her identity as a Highly Sensitive Person and Empath helped her understand the profound love and belonging she finds in nature—and how this understanding fuels her practice. Through rich, light-filled brushwork, she crafts visual love letters to the boreal forests, prairie skies, and northern lakes of Saskatchewan.

Tracy Kerdman is a Las Vegas-based painter whose work explores femininity, the body, and the symbolic weight of still life. Merging vintage influences with contemporary insight, her detailed oil paintings capture quiet moments rich with emotional depth and narrative possibility. Featured in New American Paintings and a recipient of the 2018 Spring Hopper Prize, Kerdman continues to refine a style that is both evocative and precise.

Mallory Tolcher is an interdisciplinary artist redefining the visual language of sport. In her series Post Up, she transforms basketball nets into handcrafted lace sculptures—blending strength, softness, and symbolism. Drawing from both athletic and domestic traditions, her work questions the gendered boundaries of athleticism and artistic labor. Through this unique lens, Tolcher invites us to reconsider how femininity and sport intersect.

Richmond-based artist Elizabeth Coffey brings together oil painting, domestic textiles, and stenciled text to explore the complexities of female identity. Her work, deeply influenced by a background in graphic design and early experiences with sewing, challenges the divide between fine art and craft. In this powerful artist statement, Coffey shares how lace curtains, typography, and portraiture become layered symbols of the seen and unseen.

Discover the powerful artistic journey of Michael E. Johnson, a Dallas-based artist whose work blends Pop Art, graphic design, and history. Through his acclaimed series "The Chronicles," Johnson celebrates Black culture, creating time capsules of influential moments that educate, engage, and visually captivate. With a passion for intellectual dialogue, his paintings offer a profound look at the legacy of Black trendsetters in American history.

Keerthana S Kumar, a contemporary figurative artist based in Bangalore, India, creates stunning works inspired by pop culture, fauvism, and symbolism. With her vibrant, color-rich portraits of women, Keerthana challenges conventional beauty standards and explores personal empowerment, all while reflecting on her own experiences with colorism and gender biases. Through her dynamic use of patterns, textures, and bold colors, she invites viewers to reconsider traditional representations of femininity and beauty.

Canadian artist Adam Strange combines traditional collage and film techniques with modern digital tools to create thought-provoking works. His latest collection, The Essentia, examines how corruption and societal decay manifest through art, offering unsettling yet captivating depictions of modern life. Strange's works reflect the undercurrent of global issues, from capitalism to violence, inviting viewers to confront uncomfortable truths about humanity's impact on the world.

Steve Moors, a British/American artist based in New York, blends photography, painting, and graphic design in his work. His hand-drawn large-format digital prints evoke a sense of organic artistry while addressing complex, contemporary themes. Drawing on his diverse career, Moors seeks to create images that provoke thought and stimulate the viewer's sense of self, presenting them with visual sutras for contemplation.

Step into the captivating world of Jack LaRoux, where stained glass and shattered glass converge to form a psychedelic, cubist vision. With a focus on light and its interplay with transparent surfaces, LaRoux's artwork weaves urban, surreal, and abstract elements. His enigmatic creations invite viewers to embark on a continuous journey of discovery, finding new interpretations with each glance. Explore the layered compositions and heartwarming subjects that make his work so mesmerizing.