American Craft Forums

Laura Brown is a printmaker and textile artist who works with salvaged materials to make community-oriented artwork with a colorful and graphic sensibility. This takes the form of postcards, prints, quilts, and many other things that make people ask “is it art or is it a craft?”

Laura holds an MFA in Studio Art from University of Texas. She has been a resident artist at North House Folk School, Women’s Studio Workshop, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Kala Art Institute and the Myren Graffikk (Kristiansand, Norway). Her work appears in collections at Yale University and the Library of Congress, among others. Her work has been exhibited in many places, including The Soap Factory (RIP) and The Minnesota Museum of American Art. She lives in Minneapolis and works as the Partnership Coordinator and Resident Instructor at Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

https://www.mnbookarts.org/
@mnbookarts
@laurabrownart

Inspired by the beauty of her island home, Susanna Cromwell creates inspiring art in the form of illustrations, unique framed paper quilts, original block prints and more. Regardless of the medium, expect flora, fauna and ocean life to be front and center.

Though raised outside of Boston, MA, Susanna’s parents are from Cape Verde, a small archipelago off the West Coast of Africa, so she grew up fascinated by tales of island life. Today, those dreams of island life are a reality, as she resides here on Maui. Working as an artist and raising her four children, art has become a family affair. In fact, handcrafted frames are made by her husband using hardwoods in their adjoining Haiku studios.

Pieces have a decidedly vintage Hawaiian look, though her approach combines traditional Indian and Japanese block printing with unconventional techniques to create one-of-a-kind pieces.

She’s inspired by vintage aloha shirt designs, African tapestries from her heritage, antique botanical drawings, and Matisse cut-outs, to name a few. As a young teen, Susanna embarked on a transformative journey at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA. During her four years there, she immersed herself in the world of art, developing a profound appreciation for three-dimensional and folk arts. This experience played a pivotal role in shaping her artistic vision and technique.

https://cromwellhome.com/ @susanna_cromwell_art

LaToya M. Hobbs is an artist, wife, and mother of two from Little Rock, AR, who is currently living and working in Baltimore, MD. She received her B.A. in Painting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and M.F.A. in Printmaking from Purdue University. Her work deals with figurative imagery that addresses the ideas of beauty, cultural identity, and womanhood as they relate to women of the African Diaspora. Through her mixed media works she explores the “Matrix as art object” combining key elements from both her painting and printmaking practices. Hobbs is also a Professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art and a founding member of Black Women of Print, a collective whose vision is to make visible the narratives and works of Black women printmakers, past, present and future.

https://www.latoyamhobbs.com/
@latoyahobbs

Michele Farwell started block printing wallpapers and drafting pattern reproductions at Adelphi Paper Hangings in 2000, when the company was in its second year. While she brought drafting, design and illustration skills from coursework at Cornell University and Rhode Island School of Design to the position, most of her training and experience in printmaking has been through her work at Adelphi, the only commercial production facility for block printed historic wallpapers in the United States. Adelphi has reproduced papers for a number of historic institutions in the United States and England, including Sir John Soane’s Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, the White House and Mount Vernon. For Michele it’s been a privilege to contribute to the company’s growth over 25 years and to be a part of a small talented team dedicated to creating quality papers and preserving a traditional craft.

https://www.adelphipaperhangings.com/
@adelphipaperhangings