I am a painter exploring both the physical act of painting and how meaning is created on canvas. Process is essential part of my painting practice. I work primarily with oil paint for its physical richness and manipulative quality. I make a lot of changes to a painting over an extended period of time by layering, scratching, drawing on and rubbing out the paint until I feel the work is finished.

Elyse Martin was born in Chicago and has lived there most of her life. With breaks for chasing down celebrities and enjoying disco, Elyse was immersed in art all her life, including a 7th grade Saturday Scholarship class at the Art Institute. Elyse thrived, and fueled her artistic expression with a love for art supplies, and spend hours at art stores with her father.

Randi Shepard is a photographer and printmaking artist from Chicago. After receiving her B.F.A in Visual Communications from The Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1983, she immediately broke into the commercial photography scene in Chicago, working with people photographers, such as her long-time mentor Jean Moss (as well as Steve Ewert, Joann Carney and Marc Hauser). 

My work reflects an ongoing inner dialogue with myself and my materials. I am attracted to the reflective qualities of the glass beads, the interaction of materials and the historical implications of the materials. Due to the nature and slow process of beading there is much time during the art making process to reflect and let feelings surface. As a result of my process I am interested in the layers that compose each of us. Thus there are many layers within my sculptures.Each sculpture is thickly encrusted with beads.