Meet Our Instructors
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CHRIS BUTTERWORTH
Mixed Media Textile Artist and Spiritual Director Chris Butterworth is a mixed media textile artist and spiritual director whose passion is to bring the divine into her creations. A seamstress, smocker, knitter, quilter, and more, Chris is drawn toward the spiritual side of creating and creation. Trained from a young age alongside her mother, she creates almost anything, from yarn to thread to fabric. Chris received her Spiritual Director certification from Richmond Hill in Richmond, Va. Chris was a Navy wife for 20 years. She has two grown children, Justin and Emma, and is married to Gary, an Episcopal priest. She currently resides in Gastonia, N.C. Among the possible classes Chris will teach are sewing, quilting, art quilting, smocking, and embroidery. She also facilitates vision board sessions and spiritual retreats and is interested in combining art practices and spirituality. Quote that inspires Chris’s creative practice: "Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature." —Thich Nhất Hanh |
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BRITTA JONES
Ceramic/Jewelry, Mixed Media Artist and Seamstress Certified Art Teacher Learn to Sew Summer Camp, Painting and Mixed Media Instructor Britta Jones is an elementary school art teacher and artist residing in Brevard, North Carolina. She grew up on Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska where her wild spirit grew and inspired her creativity. Britta went to school in Bozeman, Montana at Montana State University and studied Art and Earth Science, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Art Education and Minor in Earth Sciences. After School she went on her way gathering experiences in the wildernesses of the world. She cooked at a fly fishing camp on the South end of Kodiak Island, traveled to India and Nepal to explore meditation and the Himalayan Mountains, and moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina to work in Wilderness Therapy. Throughout all these adventures she was developing and working on her art and creative style. Eventually, Britta returned to what she studied in school and now works as an Elementary Art Teacher in Pickens, South Carolina. At a young age Britta’s mother showed her how to use her old sewing machine and she took off spending a lot of her young life creating things, from quilts to formal dresses. Her most recent endeavor was making her sisters wedding dress! While in school at Montana State she was taken on as an apprentice at Ella’s Sewing where she learned the trade of alterations. Britta has been sewing for over 20 years and loves to share her knowledge with others. Combining her love of teaching and sewing she has developed the Learning to Sew! summer camp! A quote that has inspired Britta Through her life: May the sun bring you energy by day, May the moon softly restore you by night, May the rain wash away your worries, May the wind blow new strength into your being, And May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life. Check Britta out on Instagram or Facebook @janglesbybritta. |
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DARLEEN O'DELL
Creative Writing Darleen O'Dell taught at the College of William and Mary and Clemson University. She has published The Story of the Philadelphia Eleven, Sites of Southern Memory: The Autobiographies of Katharine Du Pre Lumpkin, Lillian Smith, and Pauli Murray, I Followed Close Behind Her, and multiple articles and essays. She is currently a writer for the Family Narrative Project and recently released Dr. Dar's Freewriting Prompts with FNP. In 2014, she founded Freewrite Fridays in Brevard, NC. Visit her website at darleneodell.com. |
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JOY POE
Mixed Media, Drawing, and Fiber Artist Joy is a multi-dimensional artist, always curious about new techniques, tools, and materials. Her creative work and inspiration for teaching extend from a love of people, shape, color, and ideas. She received her B.A. in Art from Brevard College and went on to study classical drawing at The Fine Arts League of Asheville and The Art Atelier. After her artistic studies, Joy became a massage therapist, deepening her knowledge of the shape of the human form. She can often be found teaching drawing, painting, and mixed media collage techniques throughout the Brevard community. She has a part-time business, Heartfelt Flowers, in which makes and sells felt flowers for special occasions. Look for her classes in mixed media techniques, figure drawing, post card art, and felt flower making! Quotes that inspire Joy’s creative practice: “Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave.” --Rainer Maria Rilke “Joy is not meant to be a crumb.” --Mary Oliver “Just Flow.” --Anonymous “Create your own sunshine.” --Anonymous |
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NANCY E RICHARDS
Painting, Monoprinting, Mixed Media, Retreats Nancy E Richards has been living and working in Brevard since 2004. Primarily a painter, Nancy has created with a variety of media since she began making art in the 1970s. She loves to experiment with color, texture and form. Inspired by the natural world, Nancy creates both abstract and representational work. Themes of connection, abundance, and the beauty found in everyday life are predominant in her work. She creates primarily with Alcohol Ink, Acrylics, Watercolor, Enhanced Monoprinting and Mixed Media. Nancy is a graduate of Oberlin College, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Episcopal Divinity School. She has studied art in New Hampshire, Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia, New York, Italy, and many places in North Carolina, and has taught art classes locally at Brevard College, MudDabbers Pottery, and ArtLab. Art-making is a process of experimentation and growth, and Nancy loves sharing that process either as a learner or a teacher. Nancy is a member of the Number 7 Arts Cooperative Gallery and her work can also be seen at Firefly Craft Gallery in Flat Rock. Nancy works locally as a landlord/property manager, a community volunteer, and a minister. Her artwork can be viewed at nancyerichards-artist.com or on Facebook at Nancy E Richards – Artist. You can email her at [email protected] |
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CINDI SPILLMAN
Photography, Mixed Media, Visual Journaling, Art Camps, SoulCollage® Photography has long been Cindi’s primary art form. She has studied with renowned documentary photographers (including Mary Ellen Mark, Bruce Davidson, Sam Abel, and Antonin Kratochvil), photojournalist Peter Turnley, and National Geographic editor Leah Bendavid-Val and is working on publishing her first book of photographic images, D is for Dog. She'll tell you that ArtLab has three rules: 1. Tell your inner critic to take a hike. 2. Try it—even if someone once told you that you weren’t good at it. 3. Have fun! For more information about Cindi and her work, click here. Quotes that inspire Cindi’s creative practice: "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." —Confucius "The fun for me in collaboration is . . . that working with other people just makes you smarter; that’s proven." —Lin-Manuel Miranda |
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LINDA VOLTZ
Fiber Artist Linda Voltz earned an Art degree in textile and design and a master’s degree in Gifted education at Notre Dame College. She taught art for thirty years from elementary through high school and at Kid’s College for Gifted students. She has taught paper piecing exclusively since 2006. A love of fabric has made her a devoted fabri-holic with a brag worthy stash! Although she has been sewing since she was five, her first quilt was made in anticipation of the birth of her eldest son, 40 years ago. After finding a treadle machine, piecework became easier but not accurate enough. When She discovered Foundation Piecing (also called paper piecing) in 1983, and realized she could match points and corners with greater precision, make many of the lovely traditional patterns more easily and venture into new patterns - including her own- She fell in love. For the last ten years she has been teaching her own patterns. “I love to see how all of the spaces can be filled with different fabrics and completely change how the pattern appears, as well as the surprises that occur at the corners where the blocks create a whole new design”. Free motion quilting is a major focus for Linda, enabling her to complete all of the work on a quilted piece herself. Although the bulk of my work is done on a machine she still hasn’t found a substitute for a nice hand blind-stitched binding! Linda lives in Brevard with her husband and two cats. Quote that inspires Linda's creative practice: “Color is the place where our brain and the universe meet." —Paul Klee |