​ I am a conceptual and figurative artist creating mixed media sculptures. My work draws from both nature and myth, blending together the natural history of the subject with its folkloric origins. My earliest study and work as an artist were as an illustrator, and my sculptures work as an illustrative representation of form and movement. As I work with a variety of materials and mediums, it is the subject itself that determines the medium in which it will be depicted. In creating the sculpture the challenge then becomes translating the illustration into a three-dimensional object that still maintains a sense of weightless fluidity within a static form.

I am a multi-disciplinary visual and social practice artist that creates meditative fiber artworks incorporating uniquely created plant dyes and hand stitching to provide meditative spaces. My work speaks about the relationship between the seen and unseen in life. 

My art practice blends the slow process of hand-made plant dyes and hand-stitching with drawing on natural fabrics. I create drawings of herbal plants connected to their roots to explore the relationship between the unseen and seen world. I fuse together layers of fabrics with cut-outs to play with lighting and transparency. Both my natural healing journey and garden inform my art practice. I want to bring about an awareness of healing benefits of natural methods and the significance of thought-life on our resiliency in life.

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Hello! I'm a professional photographer based in the heart of Kansas City, MO. I have dedicated my career to capturing the magical moments of one of life's most beautiful days - weddings. With a keen eye for detail, an artistic touch, and a passion for capturing authentic emotions, I strive to make your special day a visual story that can be cherished forever. I believe in capturing love in its purest form, making each photograph a unique piece of art that reflects your love story. I consider it a privilege to be a part of your special day and to be the one to preserve your precious memories. I can't wait to meet you and help make your wedding day as magical as your love story.My first big start in photography was capturing weddings. From my first wedding, I fell in love with the excitement, the emotions, the venues, and the decor. For me, the most important part is the vows that two people make to each other on their wedding day. They vow to join together as one and spend the rest of their lives together. I am truly lucky to be able to capture images of a couple on their amazing and unforgettable wedding day.

Artist Statement, Pic, & Social Media Links Coming Soon

​Dawn is a goofy, happy-go-lucky Asian American woman who radiates positive energy. Many people find her friendly and endearing wherever she goes. Regardless though, looks can be deceiving. When it comes to her art, she is attracted to stories that are emotional and heartfelt. These stories aren’t something to be taken lightly either. Making things that are rather introspective in nature, she can be a heavy hitter with those emotions. It is to the point that you wouldn’t even know that someone with an infectious, bubbly laugh like hers can bring forth the dark and depressing very well. 

Combined with her versatile nature, she can connect to anyone with her stories in many different forms. That is why she likes to make what she does. She is drawn to human connection and being a comforting presence to the brokenhearted. So, she wants people to feel and experience an emotional release, a reminder of delicate but beautiful humanity in a visual form. The reason why is she hopes the content she makes helps others with their life journey.  

For nobody wants to go through things alone, and she is more than happy to be a needed friend for those who need it.​ 

   In hard times, I find comfort in learning how to slow down and gather joy from simple things that happen in the moment.  At the same time I have a fascination with what crumbles and what remains with the passage of time.  One thing that inspires me to pick up a camera is the transitory nature of everything, which is especially obvious living in a town with seasons.  Butterflies, flowers, fall leaves, the snowfall before it melts… the moments passed between people when they connect, captured in a body position or a look.  As a child I was often looking toward the destination and failed to notice the path beneath my feet. Older now, my camera helps me slow down enough to notice more of the world around me, to respect the journey.  I hope that my work invites viewers to walk a little slower, or pause for a moment and just notice something, anything that you would have missed while rushing quickly through life. 

My paintings are about connections (or lack thereof) between people and the world. I paint the psychological space between people and the space between words. The push and pull of the paint that causes the background to encroach upon the figures and take away pieces of them, or that causes the figure to dissolve and scatter into the environment describes the figures’ psychological state.

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Connections, people, and how people interact with their social environments are fascinating subjects to me, partially because of my somewhat nomadic childhood – I moved almost once a year, and was constantly having to adjust to new schools, people, and environments. So, I started studying them and how they interacted with one another, and with me.

I can’t not make art – it is just something I have to do to describe how I see the world and to reflect what is going through my head. For me, painting is more expressive and easier than words.

My art is how I connect with people and the world. I hope you enjoy my work, and I hope that it has connected with you.

Deante "Deecor" Howard's childhood was divided between two passions: sports and art. However, at the tender age of 13, a spinal illness abruptly ended his athletic aspirations, steering his focus towards the world of painting and drawing during his recovery. Raised in an environment where success as an artist, especially for someone like him, seemed like an unattainable dream, Deante reluctantly put his artistic ambitions on hold.

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Yet, a chance encounter in 2020 with a successful artist who shared his background reignited Deante's dormant passion. In 2021, he decided to give art another shot while continuing his job in insurance. Despite maintaining his corporate job, Deante began selling his artwork on the side, receiving an unexpectedly positive response.

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In 2022, fate intervened when Deante was laid off from his job. Rather than despairing, he embraced the opportunity to focus on his art full-time. To his delight, his artwork resonated with audiences, leading to commissions, media features, and recognition across borders.

But beyond the accolades, Deante's true motivation lies in spreading joy and hope through his paintings. Every stroke is infused with a message of resilience and optimism. This is why Deante continues to create art today.

I work from the insight that art is a form of social material. My own art seeks to address issues of our awareness and understanding of our presence in the world. It is meant to mediate and guide our actions, by focusing on recurring themes, such as innocence, magic and the loss of magic in our lives. Through my work, personal traumas and loss become bridges to what we as people have lost - our deep connections to nature, to each other, to community and landscape. Art is how I make sense of everyday experiences, especially the more unexplainable parts of existence.

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The materials I use and my subject matters are traditionally female. I love working with "women's" materials, fibres, beads, and craft materials, as well as painting themes that lend themselves to a woman's perspective. Much of my art making is also centered on process, namely on creating problems and then solving them.

My art comes from my personal life, reflected by lore, stories and myths. It is grounded in my heritage and in my past. As with many present day artists, I am engaging in conversation with the natural world: what we have done to our climate, our creatures and ourselves.  The conversation also speaks to innocence, and more particularly, the moments we lose or have lost our connections with the natural world.  I want to breach the gap between life and art by raising appreciation and awareness of our earth and real world issues. 

Tj Templeton is an interdisciplinary artist and Kansas City native. His work has been collected for over 30 years nationwide and been featured in such outlets as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, ArtMove Magazine, KC Studio Magazine, and the Martin Scorsese screening room at the Tribeca Film festival. He is currently the Gallery Director at the Bunker Center for the Arts, where he maintains his studio and curates the gallery’s inventory of over 20 local, regional, and international artists.