PARTICIPATING VISUAL ARTISTS 2025
FEATURED ARTISTS
CAITLIN FLYNN received her BFA from the University of New Hampshire. While attending UNH she sold and exhibited her work. After living and exhibiting in Santiago, Chile, Flynn moved to NYC and earned her Masters degree from Pratt Institute. Flynn lived and exhibited in NYC before moving to Neptune Beach, FL where she has lived for the past 10 years. Flynn currently teaches drawing at the University of North Florida, and exhibits and sells her work throughout the United States. Her work is in prestigious collections in California, New York City, and Ireland. Flynn gathers inspiration from Abstract Expressionism, Wolf Kahn, and the Bay Area Figurative Movement. "Flynn offered emotive abstract ocean scenes reminiscent of Richard Diebenkorn, as well as moody expressionist figures. She imbues all her work, figurative and abstract, with a gracefulness and painterly sensitivity."— The Huffington Post STATEMENT: "To me, art is about losing yourself and tapping into something larger- suspending time in wonder- angst- and hope." Flynn created the American Dream: Steps toward Abstraction series to examine her reflections on the American Dream. This body of work intends to question the narrative of the American Dream. The series is broken into 3 stages: Daydream, Fog, and Abstract. The work slowly transitions from bright and dreamy to muted and evocative. The paintings in this series begin with words written hundreds of times on the canvas. She paints over the words and plays with the visibility of that word in the painting's context. Flynn works with the concept of memory in her studies, often beginning with a specific experience — either her own or inspired by a photograph. Memory is fluid; figures are intentionally kept loose and gestural. She plays with paint. Like memory, it's sometimes lush and vibrant, sometimes thin and dripping away. Land and seascapes are broad and dreamy, stripped of specificity. Color, composition and mood dominate. The final stage, abstract, represents a deconstruction of images either from the media or from something Flynn studies. The images are then reassembled through painterly collage.
BALSAM ABO ZOUR I am a Lebanese artist based in Florida, with over 25 years of experience specializing in oil painting, printmaking, and illustration. I completed my BFA in 2008 and earned my Masters in Printmaking from ALBA in 2012, receiving the Alexis Boutros Award for excellence in visual art. I have had solo shows in Lebanon, the Netherlands, and the United States, and have participated in many collective exhibitions in Beirut, Paris, Turkey, and the USA. In 2018, I received a special mention from the jury of the Sursock Museum for my exhibited work. I was honored an award for the best creative work at the St. Augustine Art Association in spring 2023. My art aims to challenge cultural norms and explore the human psyche in the modern world. You can find my work at the Florida Mining Gallery in Jacksonville and the Mark Bettis Gallery in Asheville, NC. For more information, please visit my website at www.balsamabozour.com.
AMANDA HOLLOWAY is an artist, educator, coach, and life-lover. She began taking photography seriously in 2003 while taking traditional, wet darkroom classes at FSCJ with Mark Sablow. Her love of seeing the world through a viewfinder has taken her to over a dozen different countries early in life and earned her a bachelor’s degree in photography. After several years living in Philadelphia and working at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Holloway moved to Montana where she worked for the Conservation Corps- living in a tent, working in the mountains and photographing every single moment along the journey. She went back to college for a second degree in Art Education at the University of Montana and continued amassing piles and piles of notebooks full of negatives and test strips before returning to Florida to live with her family in the warm sunshine. Holloway currently teaches photography at Global Leadership High School here in Duval County and devotes more than half of her waking hours to her work as an art educator. She loves nothing more than inspiring her students to find their own voice through their artwork and assisting them in getting those important voices heard! Her work in the classroom has won her accolades like “Teacher of the Year” (twice!) at her respective schools in DCPS, “Florida Art Educator of the Year” (middle school division, 2020, FAEA), and most recently, the city of Jacksonville’s “Art Educator of the Year” from the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, 2024. Art in all its’ forms is necessary for our hearts and souls, our minds and bodies. Amanda draws inspiration from her students, her family, friends, and the natural world around her. She values the small moments in between breaths of inconsequential conversations, and she savors the ‘fly on the wall’ experiences we so often miss out on. Amanda is so grateful to Emily Cargill for this opportunity and for all the incredible work she does for our creative community here in Jacksonville. Events like WAX are what keep our city alive and expansive!
ANNE CULLUM is a contemporary abstract painter who explores themes of personal growth, internal reflection, and spiritual pursuits. Her approach flows from the nuance of wrestling through seasons of adversity or moments of overwhelm, and her process mirrors her personal quest for balance and harmony - in real life and on the canvas. Her works invite viewers to confront and reflect upon their own paths of self-discovery, establishing a universal dialogue of resilience, transformation, and hope within the "higher story" of our human experience. One of Anne's earliest memories is drawing cartoons with her father during weekend visits in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her creative endeavors followed her to Jacksonville, Florida, in 2001 and have continuously unfolded ever since.
SELECTED ARTISTS
KELLI SUZANNE's art is informed by her life and love for beautiful things. Being an only child Kelli spent a lot of time imaging and creating her own worlds. Her first influences being Jim Henson and Dr. Suess. Kelli’s art weaves mythological symbolism, elements of the divine feminine, love, loss, pain, motherhood, and desire with own signature abstraction to create a work that is as unique as the woman herself. Her mediums range from oils and watercolors on canvas and paper to whimsical and floral clay pots. Kelli Suzanne grew up in Lake City Fl. The only daughter of Burt and Sadra Freeman. As a young girl Kelli saw the Nutcracker and fell in love immediately. Much of her girlhood was spent in a dance studio. She laced up satins and had toepads and sports tape as some of her best friends into her early twenties. Her mother always reminding her that practice makes perfect. During an art project in the third grade Kellis art teacher remarked that she had an amazing ability at abstraction- a foretelling of what was to come. In 1996, Kelli started her first business in entertaining, with the help of her first husband, and father of her two daughters. Southern Traditions was an established floral and catering company in north central Florida until deciding to pull her focus away from food and flowers to focus full time on motherhood. In 2004 Kelli Suzanne moved to Jacksonville with her Second husband novelist Sean T. Smith. Together the couple had two sons. As a mother of four Kelli turned to painting as an escape from the rigors and responsibilities of motherhood and the pain of a bad marriage. In 2015 after being encouraged to get an Instagram account for her painting she was found by Pulitzer Prize winning art critic Jerry Saltz. In the decade that has followed Kelli Suzanne has put a heavy emphasis on her art. Her art has been seen on the IG pages of both Jerry Saltz and Andrea Schwan. Locally she has shown in a number of group shows as well as student shows at FSCJ and a solo show at Karpeles manuscript library. In 2022 she performed her one woman show, Nurturing the Surreal, at Babs Lab in Cork Arts District. Then in the summer of 2024 she took to the Stage at the Florida Theater for Their Untold Stories Series telling her story Summer Mother. As an experienced art model Kelli has been drawn, painted and photographed by some of the most prominent and talented artists and photographers in Jacksonville. In 2023 Kelli returned to entrepreneurship when she opened the chic and eclectic, Whiskey in a Teacup, a floral design studio that creates whimsical and elegant florals. She is a full-time student in her final year in FSCJ’s Interior Design program and a member of the National Society for Leadership and Success. Kelli Suzanne resides in Murray Hill with her two sons, William and Henry, and fur babies Lancelot and Maximus.
LIZ CONNOR is a fourth-year BFA Dance and Neuropsychology double major at the University of Florida. She has trained in a variety of styles with a focus on contemporary, jazz, and ballet. Liz has showcased her talent in works by accomplished choreographers, including Peter Carpenter, Isa Garcia-Rose, Elizabeth Johnson, and Onye Ozuzu. She also participated in UF in Bahia, an immersive study abroad program in Brazil, where she trained under Augusto Soledade and Millicent Johnnie. In addition to her professional collaborations, Liz has performed in numerous student works, both on stage and in film. Liz is actively involved in the University Scholars Program, conducting interdisciplinary research for the College of the Arts. She is deeply passionate about choreography and filmmaking, having produced two dance films and currently working on her third. Her senior thesis, tHEory of LaPsed MEmories, is set to premiere in late February.
ARIEL HARDER is an emerging fine oil painter located in Jacksonville, Florida, best known for her coastal influences, such as abstracted marsh landscapes and painterly, still life oyster shells. Art has been Ariel’s lifelong passion, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she took her passion and turned it into a business, partnering with Stellers a local gallery. You can now find Ariel’s artwork at Well + Wonder, an online collective of southern artists and at the luxury coastal brand Serena & Lily. Ariel’s days are spent happily married to her high school sweetheart turned Naval Flight Officer, painting, and busily caring for her 4 children and foster placements as they come.
"My process pushes me forward. I follow Amor Fati, embracing life as it comes, translating it into abstracts, spaces, portraits, and glowing forms. Without creating, life feels aimless. Painting keeps me moving, but I cycle between other creative outlets like guitar, photography and writing. Through this process I'm learning to trust myself. Exposing vulnerabilities to inspire change and understand all the parts of myself. Some moments, I’m fully in the flow, unbothered by anything else. Other times, every brushstroke, note, or sentence feels wrong. But I carry on. What else is there to do? At this point in time, my work is an admiration of life's overlooked moments. I've been driven by words- quotes people tell me, writings and songs. I hold onto that feeling, and let it unfold through me." -Jaylene Cabrera
BURKLEE STOKES is a mix media artist. She practices a technique of manifestation art. Burkelee believes that through art, one’s soul can be made new and one’s intentions can be brought into reality.
JENNAN NORENBERG is a visual artist who works with concepts of memory and mysticism. After spending time in both Tennessee and Texas, they returned to their home state of Florida and are enrolled at University of North Florida. They study fine art with a concentration in painting and drawing while working as a library assistant. They have shown work at various regional venues and continue to produce their visual autobiography.
VALERIE LAMB-STEECE is an artist currently living and working in Atlantic Beach, Florida. She is a painter and collage maker, using oil, acrylic or watercolor paint on paper, canvas and on occasion found objects. Her work is about the unseen but often felt, invisible currents that exist culturally and within nature. Feelings and ideas without words, not unlike intuition, are without parameters, she creates images that seek to express the undefined. Depicting animals, landscapes, tropical plants and the figure in a variety of ways to create narrative. Her work is informed by natural surroundings, memory and family story. Often combining images drawn from life, with imagery from memory. Valerie grew up in the countryside outside of Columbus, Ohio, as an only child of parents interested in gardens and bee keeping. She graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design, graduating with a BFA in painting. Website valerielambsteece.com Instagram @valerie.lambsteece Email valerie.lambsteece@gmail.com
ALANA FAY GIDDENS, a Massachusetts native, discovered her passion for art early on, immersing herself in various art classes. She pursued her BFA in graphic design at Endicott College, where she deepened her skills and artistic vision. Though her career initially focused on design, her life shifted with motherhood. After the birth of her three children, Alana reignited her passion for painting and has devoted the past four years to her art. Now based in Ponte Vedra, Florida, she draws inspiration from the coastal landscapes around her, specializing in acrylic paintings that capture the beauty of her surroundings.
AMBER LEE is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in immersive visual storytelling through painting, folk craft, and sculpture. With a background in Fine Arts and Digital Media, they have developed a practice that blends traditional methods with intuitive expression. Their work has been showcased in WAX, Fem Art Gallery, St. Augustine Art Association and The Jacksonville Art Center. Divining inspiration from ancestral history, nature, and human connection, Amber continues to explore new dimensions of creativity, bringing art to life in dynamic and unconventional ways.
My art springs from a sacred space when I shift perspectives… LAURA DILL is an award-winning visual artist and writer living in Jacksonville, Florida. A self-taught creator, her artistic journey began as an exercise to overcome crippling anxiety and PTSD but has blossomed into artivism that seeks to challenge and transform through brush, pen, and lens. Her macro and street photography often requires Zen-like moments of stillness to reveal the extraordinary and often-overlooked beauty surrounding us. Her paintings are bold abstractions or contemplative pieces that reveal the fragility of humanity and the natural world. Laura’s work frequently pairs photography and paintings with poetry and essays focusing on resilience, environmental issues, and social justice. Her artwork and writings have been published in numerous anthologies and exhibited in solo and juried shows throughout NE Florida’s First Coast and St. Augustine. Her work is frequently showcased in their promotional materials and on social media. She has displayed work with Downtown Jacksonville in public art projects and special events. Laura has also shown her work internationally through virtual platforms and streamed performances. Several of her writings and artworks are preserved in the permanent archives of Stanford University and Florida State University. Website: www.LauraDillArt.com Insta: @perspectvz
Born in 1967 in Georgetown, Guyana, RICHLIN RYAN immigrated to the United States at the age of eight, settling in Brooklyn, New York. Her artistic journey began early, with art classes at the Brooklyn Museum and later formal studies in graphic design at the Rochester Institute of Technology and The School of Visual Arts in New York City. In 1991, Richlin married fellow artist Weldon Ryan, and together they founded Rich and Well Graphics, Inc. Their professional and personal partnership flourished as Richlin honed her skills as a designer, ultimately becoming the Art Director for IDD Magazine at Thompson Financial in New York City. In 2004, Richlin relocated to Palm Coast, Florida, where she continued her design career while also expanding her artistic endeavors. She became the creative force behind Greenup Magazine and Voice Youth Magazine for the Florida Endowment Foundation and served as the Art Director for OVT Magazine. She has also curated numerous art exhibitions at prominent venues including Bethune- Cookman University’s Performing Arts Center and Visual Gallery, and the Yvonne Scarlett-Golden Cultural and Educational Gallery. Now focused exclusively on creating mixed media artwork, Richlin’s current body of work reflects a fusion of her diverse creative background and her passion for storytelling through visual art. Her art continues to evolve, embracing new techniques and concepts while maintaining a connection to her cultural roots and rich personal history. ARTIST STATEMENT My paintings are vibrant, textured assemblages that explore the relationship between form, color, and emotion. The works evolve through a layered, almost tactile conversation between me and the canvas, where figures and ground shift constantly until harmony is achieved. Each piece reflects my personal journey of self-expression—an ongoing process of confronting, navigating, and balancing the complexities of thought and feeling. The subject of my work is not fixed; it fluctuates between abstract gestures and suggestive forms. I use color tissue paper and acrylic paint to create layers that resonate with an emotional intensity, giving form to the unseen. The physicality of mark-making and layering on canvas mirrors the inner dialogue I experience, translating the abstract into something palpable. The energetic brushstrokes, the torn edges of paper, and the interplay of bold color are all metaphors for the fluctuating nature of our inner lives, constantly in motion, searching for clarity and connection. I liken this process to a dance—one that feels spontaneous yet rooted in a deep understanding of my materials and how they interact. As I layer color and texture, I respond to the canvas, allowing the work to evolve in ways that feel both instinctive and deliberate. The result is a rich, tactile surface that encapsulates both the energy of creation and the emotional landscape beneath it. Through these layered compositions, I seek to convey the complexity of human experience—the push and pull between chaos and order, certainty, and uncertainty, calm and intensity. My artwork serves as a vessel through which my emotions and thoughts are communicated, capturing the raw, physical energy of the process while revealing glimpses of the intangible, deeply felt moments that drive it.
SELAHMON JONES is a cosmic abstract 3D mixed media artist exploring the intersections of art, spirituality, and the universe. Through vibrant, immersive pieces, Selahmon invites viewers to experience the mysteries of the cosmos and the human experience. 'Cosmic Awakening' is a reflection of the artist's own journey of transformation and growth, embodying the dynamic, ever-changing nature of the universe and body.
ALEXIS ALEXANDER is an Ohio native now based in Florida. This polymathic artist presents pieces that explore both personal and collective narratives. Having enjoyed many years as a multidisciplinary registered nurse, she deeply understands the healing power of expression which has led her to fully embrace an art-centric season of her life journey. From introspective self-portraits to dynamic acrylic compositions, Alexis uses her canvas to tell stories of growth, resilience, and shared human experiences. Recently expanding into mural art, she brings her vision to public spaces, creating immersive pieces that invite connection and reflection. Through her evolving practice, Alexis continues to harness the transformative power of creativity, inspiring both herself and her community.
MEGAN FERRICANE started Irondog Arts after decades of being an artist and art teacher, to formalize her desire to bring the joy of creating art in a multitude of ways, while also providing a platform for her own Fine Art and expression. Currently an elementary art teacher, she also provides private lessons, hosts art parties, and exhibits her work and that of her students in galleries.
Born and raised in Jacksonville, FL, KRISTIN CRONIC began her art journey painting at night while serving as an officer in the United States Navy. While experiencing the confinement of living on a ship at sea months at a time, Kristin yearned for a sense of freedom, space, and rootedness. As a result, she turned to plants as her primary source of inspiration, delving into the wisdom they offered as a guidepost to her self discovery with in an environment that demanded sameness. Soon after her daughter was born in 2016, she left the Navy, and committed more deeply to her studio practice. Plants and trees continue to influence her work, but she also explores domestic scenes as a response to her experience as a mother and wife. She occasionally creates soft sculptures using textiles, where she explores ideas of relationships and human journey. She earned her MFA in Visual Art from Jacksonville University (JU) in 2022 and currently lives and works in Jacksonville, FL with her husband and three children. She currently teaches at JU as an Adjunct Drawing Professor. Kristin primarily works in oil painting, but also explores acrylic painting, mixed media, and graphic media drawings. Notable exhibitions and permanent collections include the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, the United States Pentagon, and the United States Naval Academy Museum, as well as numerous solo and group shows around the United States.
KIM HURT is an artist, curator and art consultant from Jacksonville, FL. A third generation photographer born and raised in Texas, she studied sculpture and photography at Abilene Christian University. Through surreal depictions of the human form, Kim seeks to prompt the viewer to look inward and examine attitudes towards purity, nature, isolation and the longing for connection. Kim is a former photography instructor at Texas State Technical College in Brownwood, previous gallery director of ArtSee & Shop and currently maintains a professional photography studio in Jacksonville, FL.