“I view ceramics in two ways. First as a bold and even subtle expression of form and second as a canvas that gives the form its final statement of expression.”

-Tim Hoover

Tim Hoover is the next artist we will be featuring during the 2009 Gallery Walk. Don’t forget to check out the other artists and we hope to see you on September 13th!

Tim was born on May 12, 1965 in Boise, Idaho. He moved to Carlisle in 1973 and attended Big Spring High School, where Tim’s appreciation of art began. In the summer of 1983, he was accepted into the summer session of the Pennsylvania Governor’s School of Arts Program. He went on to further study art and ceramics at Kutztown University. In 1991, sponsored by the American Crafts Council, Tim went to Japan where he studied with several potters. He attended Kutztown University as an art major, specializing in ceramics, wood and painting.

In addition to his paintings, he continues to push ceramics with visual imagery of 2-D designs onto a 3-D format.  Tim’s work can be found in the Perry County council of the Arts Gallery, and in Carlisle at The Garden Gallery and the Carlisle Arts Learning Center. Tim’s work is also owned by a  number of private collections overseas and the state headquarters for the Comanche Tribe, in Lawton Oklahoma.
Tim resides in Carlisle where he maintains a studio and continues to work in ceramics and painting.

Special thanks to:

James Krabiel – Game On

Our next featured artist is James Krabiel.  James work will be on display on September 13th during the 21st Annual Art Association of Harrisburg Gallery Walk.  Be sure to visit VQC Designs during the walk to enter a chance to win Jame’s art.

It was at the age of eight when James gained an interest in art, first through comics, and cartoons. It was then that he began attending the Old Donation Center for the Gifted and Talented and upon completion of that program in 1997; he began attending the Governors School for the Arts in Norfolk Virginia. He finished the Governors program upon graduating from high school in 2001.  James was featured in Who’s Who of American High School Students of 2001. And held a successful show at the Kane Marie fine arts gallery in Virginia Beach.

Shortly after graduating high school James relocated to Carlisle Pennsylvania where he began working for Ron Stinson, a metal sculptor in Carlisle, at Ron’s Metal Expressions studio. In 2001, James began attending the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, graduating with honors in May of, 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in fine art. In 2009, he accepted a position in the Dickinson College Art Department as an art lab technician.

James now resides in Carlisle were he maintains a studio at the Haverstick Gallery & Studios and continues to work in diverse media such as ceramics, paints and metal.

Special thanks to the Garden Gallery for providing the artists and their art

Proceeds Benefit

“Pastel is my preferred medium. To be able to have no tool i.e. brush or palette knife between my hand and the working surface gives me great satisfaction. Touching the surface and blending the pastels with my hand feels natural and gives me a sense that I am literally ‘IN’ the painting”

-Chris Mackie

This September 13, VQC Designs will be hosting gallery space in the 21st Annual Art Association of Harrisburg’s Gallery Walk.  For this year we wanted to amp things up a bit and really show the Harrisburg locals a good time.  We decided to team up with one of our favorite galleries to visit: The Garden Gallery and host an art raffle from local artist’s work.  The proceeds from this event will be donated to the Cultural Enrichment Fund to help promote the local arts in the Harrisburg Region.  Over the following days leading up to the event we will be posting the work and bios of the artists who will be participating.

Our first featured Artist is Chris Mackie.  Chris Mackie grew up in the working class village of Gawthorpe, England. He developed an interest in art from an early age drawing on anything he could find such as old newspapers, his parents old cigarette boxes, or scrap pieces of paper. In his early school years he would produce pencil sketches of super heroes and icons from the big screen and later took an interest in Hip Hop graffiti art.

At the age of 20 Chris decided to join the Military. He joined the Elite Parachute Regiment of the British Armed Forces, serving for 5 years including a 3-year tour of duty in Northern Ireland. He then transferred to the Royal Air Force, becoming a Physical Training and Adventure Training Instructor, serving for another 10 years. In 2006 Chris was recruited into the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

During his time in the military, Chris continued drawing and painting, and in 2004 was being represented at The Coppergate Gallery in York, England and The Jay Senior Contemporary Art Studio in Wakefield, England.

In 2006, Chris switched from painting with acrylics to pastels, and his work took on an entirely new direction. He began painting inspirational images that were much more meaningful with emotional content. To Chris this was real art. Chris went back to his working class roots and looked to British Master painter L.S. Lowry, his favorite childhood artist for further inspiration. He loved the simplicity and the power of his works. Lowry’s industrial images with the working class folk in their big shoes and plain clothes evoked memories of his own childhood.

Today Chris’s subject is his journey through life.  His work expresses an array of human emotion and the importance of self-reflection. Love is a theme that you’ll often see as a recurring symbol in Chris’s work – “The Love Heart.”

He now lives in Carlisle, PA where he continues to paint. Chris’s work can be seen at The Garden Gallery and the Haverstick Gallery & Studios in Carlisle, PA.  Chris’s work can also be found across Europe, Australasia and the US.

Chris At Work

Proceeds Benefit:

Special thanks to the Garden Gallery for supplying the artists & their work.