Han Cashion

Han Cashion - Artist, CCAC Board Member, Beyond The Curve exhibitor, CCAC volunteer.
Han came to the United States in 1990 from Korea.  She found her interest in art while studying at CPCC in Charlotte.  Upon graduation, she furthered her education with nationally renowned water media artists and educators. 

Han has won several awards from regional and national juried shows, including receiving an emerging artist grant from the Arts and Science Council in 2000.  She brodens her artistic vision and wisdom by experiences such as attending one month residence program in the Vermont Residence studio and practicing Maum(mind) Meditation in 6 months in Korea.  

In 2006, Han had the privilige of visiting a home for disabled people, which was run by a ministry deep within the mountains of Korea. During her stay, she created 25 paintings of landsapes and portraits, and donated those for their home facilities and chaples. Han loves reading, movies, walking and playing with her dogs. She resides in Matthews with husband, Mo, and their beloved companion dogs, Bud and Lulu. 

Please view her artworks on her blog:

 http://artbyhan-carolinarustica.blogspot.com

Denise Torrance

Denise Torrance - Artist & Designer, CCAC Program Committee Co-Chair, Beyond the Curve exhibitor, CCAC volunteer.
Denise received her formal education from the prestigious Columbus College of Art and Design where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Illustration. She is a practicing studio artist, and was a contributing artist for Gallery 237 in Pineville.

Denise has been involved with the CCAC since its inception and was one of the primary art teachers for the 2008 summer workshops where she worked with children, ages 9 to 17. She  is one of the instructors for the adult Paint Till You Drop workshops. She was also a project leader and volunteer coordinator for the CCAC's WAMY Festival in 2008.

Denise formerly organized art curriculum for lower school grades K-6 afterschool program for Charlotte Country Day Schools. Denise served as a Gallery Assistant for Gallery 237 and project leader or assistant for various civic events including Shout, Firemen's 911 painting, Lake Norman Festival, Pineville Fall Fest.  In February 2009, Denise created a scultpure entitled "Tree of Life" which was donated for the Jimmy V Foundation Cancer Benefit - Dessert First Charlotte.

Denise's personal statement about art is: "to create something from the soul and put it down on paper or canvas with a burst of color and energy so intoxicating that any viewer feels a rush - is to me what art is all about."

Terry Thirion

Terry Thirion - Artist, Beyond The Curve exhibitor, CCAC Volunteer.
"My work relates to the various cultures that have shaped me as an individual and as an artist - my life here in the US, including Brooklyn, NY, South Florida and my formative years as a Flemish/ Walloon in Belgium."

Born in Belgium, Terry Thirion studied and graduated from the Parmentier School of Design in Brussels. She attended the Arts Academie in Leuven, Belgium and Broward Community College in South Florida. 

"The recurring theme in my paintings is community and the push/ pull of seeking its embrace while also avoiding its restrictions. It seems to be part of our nature to have this dichotomy between wanting solitude and wanting to be connected. I attempt through my art to convey our relatedness as human beings but also our pull towards separateness. I want to transport the viewer into my worlds and hope to evoke some emotion that leaves them thinking."

Email: Terry@enjoylifenow.com

Click here to visit Terry Thirion's website

Lisa Rodriguez

Lisa Rodriguez - Artist, Beyond The Curve exhibitor, and CCAC volunteer
is a published artist and TV Weather Anchor who loves to paint.  Lisa holds a MA in Communications from Cal State University, Fullerton, CA.  She is certified in the Bob Ross Wet on Wet technique and especially enjoys painting seascapes.  “I love the ocean, particularly at dusk.  Painting a seascape evokes immeasurable joy inside me.” 

Click here to visit Lisa Rodriguez's website

Stanley Burford

Stanley Burford - Artist, Beyond The Curve exhibitor.
Nature is reflected in a very personal and abstract way in my work.  Many years  as an avid scuba diver have given me a feeling of reverence and wonder for the ocean and the unique areas around it's shoreline.  The images, feelings and messages from these encounters are what I explore in my art and what inspires me - Stanley Burford

Click here to visit Stanley Burford's website

Janet A. Lasher

Janet A. Lasher - Artist, Beyond The Curve exhibitor.
Janet has been working in textile and fiber related art forms since she was old enough to sit in front of a sewing machine. Her work has been exhibited throughout the world and has won numerous awards. It can be found in private and corporate collections including the Bernina International Collection in Switzerland where one of her pieces, Waiting as a Garden (2002), was chosen as the first piece for their collection.           

Janet currently works in mixed media with a focus on pieces that combine printmaking and fiber processes to develop abstract  and emotional art in textiles and paper. Janet has been invited to create wearable art for the Bernina Fashion Show four times, has exhibited at the McColl Center for Visual Arts, Charlotte, NC, and in the 2008 was awarded the 7th Street Windows Exhibition.  The beadwork reliquary, Ix Chel (2007) is traveling internationally with Beadwork International through 2010.

Images of her work, as well as many articles, have been seen in various publications including, Quilting Arts, FiberArts, HeART Quilt Quarterly, Art2Wear, Quilting Quarterly, and Professional Quilting.  She has been awarded an Affiliate Artist residency at the McColl Center for Visual Arts in 2006. In 2005, she was the recipient of the Charlotte Quilters’ Guild Education Grant.  She has recently been published in the Lark Book, Beading with Pearls. 

Janet currently is a Regional Artist for Mecklenburg County where she is currently developing textiles for production.  She designs art curricula and teaches workshops for art teachers, adults, teens and public and private schools in North Carolina. 

Before becoming a full time professional artist, she pursued a career as a statistical, financial, and systems analyst in educational and corporate institutions while continuing to create award-winning wearable art garments. Janet lives with her husband and teenage son in the historic district of Charlotte, North Carolina.  

Click here to visit Janet A. Lasher's website

Maria Y. Wiatrowski

Maria Y. Wiatrowski - Artist, Beyond The Curve exhibitor.
My technique involves applying a multitude of layers of paint onto the canvas, thus conceiving richness in color, and shine, which in turn, creates an illusion of space and atmosphere. The intent is to create and explore motion in space trough the relationships between the forms and elements, which come from viewing nature in the most conceptual and abstract level possible.

The same concept is applied into my tapestry medium.

Click here to visit Maria Y. Wiatrowski's website

Loren DiBenedetto

Loren DiBenedetto - Artist, Beyond The Curve exhibitor.
Born in Carteret, New Jersey, Loren was classically trained attending “Du Cret School of the Arts”, located in  Plainfield, New Jersey .  There she graduated with a degree in Fine Art.  She furthered her education by attending the “National Academy of Fine Arts & Design” and later at the “Art Students League”, both located in  New York City.

 Loren is an award winning artist best noted for her bold still life paintings, vivid floral compositions, luscious fruits & vegetables and dramatic life drawings.  

She has won numerous awards in regional juried competitions, and has participated in national shows where her work has been highly regarded as well. 

 Loren is currently represented by Merrill-Jennings Gallery in Davidson, North Carolina, by Red Sky Gallery in Charlotte, North Carolina by  The Art Cellar in Banner Elk, North Carolina & by  Carteret   Contemporary   Art   Gallery  in Morehead City, North Carolina .  

Loren is also a member of the Charlotte Art League.

Loren continues to showcase her talents in the immediate areas and does both commissioned pieces along with freelance artwork.

Click here to visit Loren DiBenedetto's website

Joan C. Thomson

Joan C. Thomson - Artist, Beyond The Curve exhibitor.
International artist Joan C. Thomson had always been known as an artist, doing artistic things such as designing needlepoint and arranging flowers.  A late-bloomer, having spent far too many years as an accounting clerk, she didn’t begin her formal art training until her 30’s.  She studied at The Frog Hollow State Craft Center in Vermont and The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee then earned an AFA in painting and printmaking at Central Piedmont Community College.  “It took eight years, but it was one of the best things I’ve ever done.”  Originally from Houston, Joan lives in Charlotte with her husband of over thirty years.  She has exhibited widely and spoken to many groups.  For years her art has traveled throughout the world without her but in the past three years she’s taken her art and skills to Spain and Albania where she taught art, trained an international team of artists and oversaw the designing and painting of a mural in a children’s hospital. 

Click here to visit Joan C. Thomson's website