Featured Artists
Cathren Housley
Illustrator, writer
Cathren Housley is an award-winning artist, illustrator, and writer. Cathren is a graduate of RISD’s Children’s Book Illustration Program. She has illustrated five children’s books and produced two animated films. In her animated film The Land of the Skyfighter, Cathren uses artwork created by children to animate the film.
In 2018, Cathren created a large-scale collaboration titled “The United American Peace Flag.” The Flag was created using the individual peace flags of 312 Rhode Islanders. Cathren’s goal in creating the Flag was “to strengthen the respect for all [Rhode Islanders]–both newly arrived and long-time residents; to represent all colors, nationalities, ethnicities, religions, and ages, and unite our visions for peace.”
Cathren has been a staff writer for Motif Magazine since 2015.
Sandra DeSano
Painter
Sandra describes her childhood as one spent “out of doors.” It’s clear that this early exposure to the outdoors has had a lasting impact on her and her approach to her work. Sandra’s work is on display at Lake Effect Gallery in Meredith, New Hampshire and Gallery Z in Providence, Rhode Island.
Sandra was awarded the Best National Landscape award at the National Exhibit in Barnstable, Massachusetts for her painting “Silent Moment.”
Karen Murphy
Painter
Karen Murphy is a contemporary landscape painter. In her work, Karen uses muted colors and soft contours to “evoke a quiet contemplative mood.” Her process involves her walking “through nature as a quiet observer – seeking to understand nature’s poetry.” She then brings her memories and feelings back to the studio and starts painting. Most of her work is created this way, in the studio, from her imagination. Karen and her work have been featured in publications like American Art Collector Magazine, New England Living and The Bay Magazine.
Paul Morse, aka Pfunk
Painter, Graffiti Artist
Better known as PFunk, Paul has been painting for over 30 years. Paul is a nationally recognized painter and graffiti artist, and a member of the New York City Graffiti Hall of Fame. Aside from painting and street art, Paul is a prolific digital artist.
He has had his work on display at HeARTspot Art Center and Gallery in East Providence. His street art has been featured and celebrated on many local news outlets.
Rachel Brask
Oil Paintings
Rachel creates oil paintings that celebrate the bright colors, contemplation, and spirit of renewal that comes with rainy days.
Rachel has a BA in Art from Houghton College and has been accepted into art residencies at the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill and the Golden Apple Studio and Art Residency in Maine.
Kathy Hodge
Painter, illustrator
Kathy has served as an artist-in-residence for the National Parks Service and the National Forest Service. She has lived in 10 different National Parks. She says of her time spent living in these parks: “The residencies in which I have felt closest to the spirit of the park have been the ones with the most primitive accommodations. Light from a kerosene lantern, water from a pump. My actions dictated by the journey of the sun across the sky, the changing weather and tides…”
Kathy was awarded the 2017 Rhode Island State Council on the Arts’ Fellowship in Painting award.
In 2010, she was awarded First Prize at the Bristol Art Museum’s Members’ Show.
Kathy’s paintings are done in oil and egg tempera; her drawings are done in pastel and charcoal.
John L. Gieg
Illustrator, Writer, Ceramic Artist
John describes his work as a “reflection of himself…quirky, often funny and a little odd,” and that his work “honors the overlooked.” John is the author and illustrator of A is for Absoloth: A Primer of Forgotten Gods, Monsters & Heroes and A Coloring Book of Many Dragons. He lives in Riverside.
Jennifer Gillooly Cahoon
Painter
Jennifer is a self-taught painter with a background in sculpture. Jennifer spent nearly 20 years in the public school classroom before leaving to open her brick-and-mortar business: HeARTspot Art Center and Gallery. She’s best known for her pop-culture icon portraits and her Beyond the Diagnosis work. In 2019 Jennifer became a RISCA funded artist and started a public art project that highlights members of our local community. She spends quite a bit of her time teaching and regular studio practice.
Wendy Anctil
Fiber Artist
Wendy is a self-taught fiber artist, specializing in felted wool paintings. She works primarily with wool and other fibers using wet-felting and needle-felting techniques. Wendy’s work is influenced by her love of nature and the moon. She was the recent winner of the People’s Choice Award for Felted Art at the Bristol Art Museum in Bristol, RI.
A. Keith Carreiro
Writer
Keith creates stories filled with the rhythms of music and the lyricism of poetic expression. His style is influenced by Keith’s “consuming interest in poetry” that started when he was in high school. In 2014, Keith started working on a nine-book science fiction/fantasy thriller saga called The Immortality Wars. Thus far, he has written and published 3 of the 9 books in the series. Keith is an adjunct faculty member of the English Departments at Bridgewater State University and Bristol Community College.
Paul F. Caranci
Writer
Paul is an author with ten published books to his credit including four award winning books. The Hanging & Redemption of John Gordon: The True Story of Rhode Island’s Last Execution was voted one of the top five non-fiction books of 2013 by the Providence Journal. Scoundrels: Defining Corruption Through Tales of Political Intrigue in Rhode Island was the winner of the 2016 Dorry Award as the non-fiction book of the year. The Promise of Fatima: One Hundred Years of History, Mystery, and Faith earned Paul a finalist spot in the International Book Awards. I Am The Immaculate Conception: The Story of Bernadette of Lourdes landed Paul the same honor.
Mary Catherine Volk
Writer
Mary Catherine is an author and spiritual life coach. Mary writes about coping with grief and loss through searching for signs from the departed. Mary’s books are filled with humorous and heartwarming stories that heal and comfort.
Melissa Linhares Spurr
Writer and Illustrator
Melissa is a writer and illustrator. Melissa has worked in the field of writing for over 15 years. Her creative work reflects her reading interests, with much of her illustration ideas coming from old and overlooked texts like The Lusiads. Much of her work explores her heritage as an Azorean New Englander and her deep attachment to the sea.
R. K. Bentley
Writer and Photographer
R.K. is a writer of science fiction, photographer, and graphic designer. His most recent work, Where Weavers Daire is a “space opera” that comes to us “from the cold and dark reaches of space to across the Wailing Sea, [where] something old has been summoned.” R.K. lives and works in Rhode Island.
- Kim Belleavoine – link
- Rachel Brask
- Linda Bonaccorsi – Photographer – link
- Emily Farnsworth – link
- Michael Fournier
- Dolores Gaynor
- Jenna Goldberg – Artist and Furniture Designer – link
- Cristina Martuccelli
- David O’Connell – Sculptor
- Laurelin Sitterly – link
- Sherri Snyder – link
- Rich Watrous – Sculptor and Designer – link
- Jeanie Hicks
- Marilyn Eanet