Our Members

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Photographer

 Melissa is a local photographer who has resided in Wilmington, NC since 1995. In addition to being a member of the Wildlife Artists of the Carolinas, she is a member of The Art League of Leland, a member and current treasurer of The Wilmington Art Association, and a member of the Cape Fear Camera Club. 

Her photos represent her emotional ties to the natural beauty of the Cape Fear Area, particularly the coastline. Melissa’s photos have been displayed locally at various art galleries and events such as the “8th Annual ArtFall” (Community Arts Center of Wilmington juried event); “It’s ALL Art” (Art League of Leland juried event); Wilmington Art Association Annual Art Show and Sale (Juried event and official art show of the Azalea Festival); “Cape Fear Landmarks” at Gallery Citrine (Juried event show); Wilmington Art Association “12x12” Show (Juried event at Aces Gallery); and “Art in the Arboretum” ’22 (Juried show). Her work has also been part of the Wilmington Art Association Window at Gallery Citrine. 

Artist

Suzie Gregg was born and raised in Michigan. Suzie was exposed to art early in life by her favorite aunt who explored many mediums  together. Melted crayons became pieces of art. Bits of newspaper and glue became papier-mâché animals. She is a Central Michigan graduate (BSW) and University of Michigan graduate (MSW).

Throughout life, Suzie dabbled in various mediums and fell in love with mixed media as she can incorporate many mediums together, but her signature hallmark is bead mosaic. What makes her art truly special is the combination of traditional mixed media with bead mosaic. Mosaics have been around for centuries. Suzie loves that broken or small pieces when brought together can create a whole beautiful work. Small glass beads and crystals are placed by hand individually in a painterly style.

Various shapes, sizes, colors create shadowing, texture, and detail to the bead mosaic feature. When combined with mixed media it creates a  new sense of depth to the art work.

Suzie is inspired by all of nature. She sees God's masterpieces and is inspired through Him to create her own work. Since 2019, Suzie has been a full-time artist. She currently resides near Wilmington NC.

Artist

  My inspiration to be an artist came from my Grandmother. She was an excellent artist, painting in the style of the old masters. Unfortunately, she passed away when I was about 6 years old, so I was never able to learn from her. As with many of us, life got in the way... I grew up, married, raised four children and worked. As I was preparing to retire, I decided I wanted to learn to paint, so I took courses in drawing and painting from the Wake County Community College in Raleigh, NC and after retirement, classes from University of North Carolina in Wilmington, NC.  I was hooked!  Although do not hold a degree in art, I have taken many opportunities to broaden my skills through classes and workshops from local and nationally known artists, books and painting, painting, painting. My style is realistic. I paint the landscapes, seascapes, birds, flowers and wildlife so that I can share  the wonderful diversity of the East Coast area where I live and perhaps bring some of that to your home.

I have participated in many group and solo exhibits and have won a number of awards. I currently have a studio in theArtWorks in Wilmington, NC and am a member of the Wilmington Art Association.

Photographer

   Tom Hanna is a local resident of Wrightsville Beach, which is the landscape for much of his photography. After over 40 years of working as a General Contractor, Tom decided to dive deeper into his passion of photography. In an effort to master his new passion, he began taking photography classes and attending workshops through the Cameron Art Museum. Tom is also a volunteer photographer for UNCW athletic programs and gravitates towards action shots, highlighting the beauty of capturing a rapidly moving subject and preserving that moment in the stillness of a photograph. 

Among Tom's favorite subjects to photograph are the Black Skimmers at Wrightsville Beach. He enjoys capturing the majestic and graceful quality they possess in flight. Driven to perfect his art of photography, Tom continually trains himself to adapt as many skills and techniques as he can in order to snap a high quality photo directly, with minimal editing and post processing.

 For more info about Tom or to view his work, please visit wrightsevillephotographyy.com

Fine Artist, Photographer

Heather Harman is a fine artist and photographer, who loves the challenge of painting realism. Her favorite subjects are birds and flowers, but she also enjoys painting other nature scenes. She has a degree in Industrial Design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh but has been drawing and painting since she was a child.

Heather, a Pennsylvania native, is now located in Coastal North Carolina with her two Italian Greyhounds.

Heather is a member and serves on the board of the Art League of Leland.

Artist, Sculptor, Author

  Ed Hearn was born in Nashville, Tennessee on June 26, 1949, and lived in that same general area of the state for his first fifty years.  After graduation from Tennessee Technological University, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management, he moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee and worked for 32 years in Nashville at a manufacturing/printing business, where he served as a member of the management team and as a part-owner. 

He has two sons, John and Matt, and two grandchildren, Owen and Isabella.  The decision to retire from the business world came for Ed well over two decades ago, and he currently lives in the Landfall community located in Wilmington, North Carolina. 

Ed enjoys golf, tennis, boating, fishing, traveling, writing, creating highly detailed three-dimensional sculptures made of both wood and bronze, producing acrylic paintings, and participating in both U. S. National and World Level Masters Track and Field Championships held throughout the United States and in many foreign countries around the globe.  His specialties have been the javelin throw, shot put, and discus events.  After winning the World Championship gold medal in the javelin throw, within his five-year world-wide age bracket during 2017 in South Korea, he finally decided to retire from those aggressive physical activities, which included eleven years of intensive involvement as part of Team USA. 

He currently has fourteen books in print and spends a large amount of his time creatively writing both personal memoir stories about his life and creating a variety of other novels.   

Artist, Sculptor

Cathy is a multi-talented, award winning, nationally recognized  realism nature and wildlife artist with a style that captures breathless images. She specializes in the most detailed and realistic oil, graphite, pastels, sculpting, pyrography, and wood-carved subjects. Cathy has had a passion for art since early childhood but began her formal art training in 1982 at Cape Fear Technical Institute and continued to the UNCW Art program. From there, Cathy studied extensively with various artists groups and experts in the field. Cathy currently shows her work in Seaside Gallery in Nags Head, NC, Eclipse Artisan Boutique, theArtWorks in Wilmington, NC Sunset River Marketplace Gallery in Calabash, NC, and various NC art shows and exhibitions. She has a working studio at theArtWorks in Wilmington, NC.

Cathy is tenacious and detail-oriented while being a good friend and mentor to other artists.  

Photographer

Dave grew up in rural Indiana where he developed his love of Nature.  His first camera was a Kodak Brownie he received as a child and he started his nature photography by photographing animal burrows, yes shooting holes in the ground.  Dave’s photography experience progressed in high school where he was a photographer for the school newspaper and year book using a 5X7 large format camera and developing the images in the school’s darkroom.  After high school his photography took a hiatus while he earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Tri State University and started his career in the defense industry.  In 1986 Dave received a Minolta Maxxum film camera as a gift from his wife Brenda.  Over the next years Dave enjoyed photographing little league games, family events and vacations.  After retiring from 35 years in the defense industry Dave and Brenda moved from Northern Virginia to Calabash, North Carolina.  Dave was then able to pursue his lifelong passion for wildlife and nature.  The Coastal area of Brunswick County provides great opportunities for photographing wildlife and landscapes.  With the huge variety of birds along the shore and in the marshes, he enjoys the challenge of photographing them.  Dave not only photographs shore birds but also enjoys photographing birds in his back yard and has also photographed the unique birds found in Africa.  Dave’s goal with all wildlife photographs is to depict the subjects in their natural habitat.

Artist

I was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to a mother who encouraged me to draw. I was raised in Suffield, Connecticut and practiced my art work through High School. I attended a four year art school, Swain School of Art and Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts. I was employed as a graphic artist by Monsanto Co. in Bloomfield, Connecticut while I continued my art education at the University of Hartford. When I married I moved with my husband to the Chicago area then to Columbus, Ohio and to Nashville and Columbus, Indiana.  In that time I took courses in oil painting, watercolor and pastels. I belonged to several galleries. I was a member of the Central Ohio Watercolor Society and the Indiana Watercolor Society. When we retired and moved to Leland, NC I became a member of the Darrell Edwards Gallery in Southport, NC for four years. I started painting with the Richard Staat art group at the Franklin Square Gallery in Southport. My paintings have been in many shows in this coastal area.

I am a member of the Art League of Leland, the Oak Island Art Guild, the Brunswick Arts Council, the Pastel Society of North Carolina, the Coastal Carolina Pastel Painters and now the Wildlife Artists of the Carolinas.

Artist

   I love painting, especially acrylic. Since moving here two years ago I am in awe of the inspiration opportunities. The wildlife is abundant. I grew up an army brat and travelled a lot. I started drawing as a child and continued in college…twice. I’ve painted many a set for theatre productions and had a mural business for a short while. I live in Leland with my husband and have two grown sons and one adorable granddaughter. 

Artist

     Deborah M. McDuffie is a native Californian.

      Now living in her adopted State of North Carolina , her career path as a painter has included commissioned family portraits as well as paintings and portraiture for local businesses.

      She paints in Oils , Pastel, Acrylics and other Water-media.

      After many years of traveling through the South East, especially into North Carolina's Great Smokey Mountains, Deborah says that her work has recently shifted back to Mythic /Archetypal figures and their connections to the natural world.

    Mostly self taught, she continues an independent study  along with attending  many workshops and Patreon /Seminars/webinars . Some  have included  - Daniel Greene......and Alex Powers . Sue Lyons and Scott Burdick ,.Tatanya Kulida...David Dunlop...... Lisa Clague Sculpture

       Favorite quotes: " No matter where our ancestors came from , in Spirit , we all have equal rights to it." Carl Jung.

Artist

 Deborah Levitt Smith (Deb) is a biologist/scientist/clinical researcher by degree and an artist by design. She was born in southern California, but is a true North Carolina girl at heart (has lived in NC for 50 years now). She says she has always felt the desire to be an artist and dabbled here and there creating things for friends and family, but didn’t make the time between raising a family, work, school, life in general, etc. etc. to follow her dream…until now. She likes to create beautiful things, spaces, places, photos, illustrations, paintings, mixed media art, and jewelry…creations that bring joy, delight, sentiment, and just a little sunshine and happiness to others!

Artist

There’s this fascination I have with texture, depth, and detail. I grew up right at the edge of the woods, and spent much of my childhood in,

under, and around trees.  I waded through streams and napped on the forest floor, and stuffed my pockets with bits and pieces of leaves,

mosses, acorns, bark, pebbles, feathers, and wild flowers, to turn into artwork or save as treasure.

I went to school when I had to.

As a watercolorist, I developed a painting method that includes utilizing warm/cool glazes for depth, and texture/detail techniques for

dessert.  

As a cut paper sculptor, I work with lots of sharp, sharp tools to create texture, depth, and detail, with bits and pieces of paper.  It all gets framed.

Metals.  Metals.  My love affair with metals has held true and strong for decades.  These days, I work mostly with silver and copper, and bits

and pieces of other stuff like gemstones, pebbles, and leaves, to create personal adornment, sculpture, and... stuff.  I work with saws, hammers, and fire, to alter and manipulate metal, to create new stuff, often inspired by random pocket stuff, and always focusing on texture, depth, and detail.

I now live near the sea, in coastal casual Wilmington, North Carolina,

and my pocket stuff now includes garden stuff, beach treasures, and seashells.

Artist

   Becky Steele uses bold, vibrant colors to create figurative abstracts that present diversity in a fun and respectful way showcasing how different we all are and yet, how we are all also the same.  

Steele's first “professional” painting was on the cinder block fence in the back yard of her childhood home. Her dad asked her to

paint the silhouette of an eagle on the fence. She says it turned out surprisingly well and may still be there after 60+ years. 

As with many of us, life took Steele in another direction,  first as a wife and mother and later as a sales and marketing executive in the corporate world. 

Fast forward to 2012, when Steele picked up a brush again and began painting acrylic abstracts. She loves abstracts. “For me abstraction is the very heart of creativity. It allows me to open fully

to my imagination and connect with all the energies so I can better communicate my ideas and what I'm feeling through my

painting.”

Steele retired from her corporate career in 2019 and began painting full-time.  She has work represented in both personal and

corporate collections all over the US, and several pieces are currently on display at Sunset River Marketplace Gallery in

Calabash, SC., Franklin Square Gallery and The Artisan’s Gallery on Howe in Southport, NC, and Gallery Citrine and theArtWorks

galleries in Wilmington, NC.

Steele and her partner live with their dog, Latte in Little River, SC. They love life at the coast.

Artist

Lori White is a contemporary realist painter of landscapes, still lifes, and a variety of wildlife. Lori is an Associate Member of the Oil Painters of America and a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America. Lori has studied with some of the top representational painters in the country including Luana Luconi Winner, Sean Dye, Albert Handell, Bob Rohm, Greg Biolchini, Scott Christensen, Frank Serrano, Kevin Macpherson, and Robert Bateman. Her work has been published in Fine Art Connoisseur, Painting North Carolina - A Visual Journey, Painting North Carolina – Impressions en Plein Air, Wake Living magazine, and Midtown Magazine. To learn more about Lori and view her work, please visit LDWhiteArt.com.

Artist

Over the years, I combined different sources of media I love to work with, drawing, painting, and photography. I select subjects that are of interest to me. My inspiration comes from places I’ve been, people I see, textures and colors of materials. Painting landscapes or figurative scenes from observation and sometimes imaginary, I enjoy certain freedoms that derive. "I don't want to limit myself to oil painting or pencils. Making art is more versatile and as a visual artist, I want to express a certain style in my work. I'm trying to be not only creative with my process, but to develop my technique."

I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana and as a young girl, I liked to draw characters and flowers. After my first visit to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I was fascinated with oil paintings of flowers. I discovered I had a desire to study art. My father was always encouraging, and he helped me to realize I should explore my passion for the arts.  Years later, those remembrances inspired me to attend my first drawing class at Heron University in Indianapolis, IN.

However, it wasn’t until after my family and I moved to North Carolina, I decided to enroll in Guilford College, in Greensboro, NC and completed my education in Liberal Arts. I received James McMillan Honors for Excellence in Art, awarded in 2013 and 2015.  In 2017 to 2018, I joined the Greensboro Mural Project, a community involved organization, who paints murals in public places and schools. I participated in the first Artist in Residence (AIR REV) Program in 2017. My first solo art exhibit was hosted at the Revolution Mill Historical Building in 2018.

As a Visual Artist, I continue to develop my technique with an open mind in making Sept!

Artist

My name is Elena Wright and I’m an artist living and working in Wilmington, NC. In 2001, a year before retiring from the Defense Department, a six-week adult education class in stained glass ignited a love for all things glass and led to over 20 years of working with glass. I love working in fused glass, sculpted glass, and mosaics and also using cut glass, sculpted clay, fused glass, tiles, and found objects in 2D multi-media.