“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”
Aristotle
Inner Haven Creatives & Artists
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Virginia Adams
Intuitive Artist
Katie Beltrami
Jewelry Artist
Katie Beltrami was not always a jewelry maker, and made her way to the crafting life through another path. Always interested in science and helping people, she has a background in Occupational therapy, which she currently practices, and environmental education, formerly presenting nature to guests at the Brookfield Zoo. Two very different activities, with a surprising overlap, balancing science with human interaction, both allowing and requiring creativity and spontaneity. A lifetime maker, her foray in jewelry making started three years ago, beginning with component creations, gradually expanding into wire wrapping and wire weaving, expanding her experience with metals to include more copper, stainless steel, brass, and sterling silver. Shortly thereafter, Katie was drawn to the esoteric practice of Electroforming, an almost mystical mix of art and science, that allowed for the incorporation of organic material into permanent pieces. As she strives to create, or decipher, a vision, Katie enjoys the journey; starting with a vague idea, an unassuming stone, or wild shape, then "playing with the wire" to see where things go and take shape. It's in the act of creating that she finds out where the wire ends up, or how the electroformed copper plates to the shapes. All in all, creating is a part of Katie's life, and she's finding and defining herself as she finds and defines her art.
Robert Buzek
Energy Artist
Born in Berywn, IL, Robert grew up in Oak Park, and currently resides in McHenry, IL. Robert spent a month on a Navajo reservation in the late nineties, and that experience left a profound impact on his life. That experience changed the way he sees the world and why he paints. Robert also studied the Kabbalah with the late Jim Lebick, who left a lasting impression on him about the metaphysical world. Robert’s work is described as a journey into a world of energy and dreams which he refers to as DreamsWorldArt. Robert feels like he’s got one foot in this world holding a paintbrush and one in the other holding a dream sword, cutting through the symbolism of his dreams. The subjects of Robert’s artwork tend to relate to metaphysical or esoteric themes, but he prefers to work with whatever comes out of his dreams or imagination. “I feel that all things are energy, and it is possible to put energy and intent into whatever medium. What inspires me is the beauty in mystery. The energies I put into my work are like dreamscapes, they take you somewhere you have never been. I like the vivid use of color and creating spaces that make you feel something.”
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Tigerlily Cross
Imagist & Artist
Because I am deeply connected to this beautiful planet the imagery I paint is ever changing. My style is definitely my own & recognizable to those who know or follow me. My themes & subjects change according to events, personal & worldwide. And I do paint “happy” pictures too, like a baby’s face in a flower ~ halloween paintings is another yearly theme. I’ve done mystery themes: characters in windows, ally’s & doorways which I once called “plot-driven”; Emotions run through my art like a tune… be it a kiss; a goodbye wave, cats tussling; a lonely homeless human, the beauty of a bird or animal or even a simple chair featured in all its upholstered beauty. Ive got a funny bone & often create characters like my cig-smoking bunny; really “wild”-flowers; my “Whirley girly beer maiden”; “date-night”; “woman-power”; racial comradely; sci-fi is really fun; …ideas will never end for me only when death itself says so. Born in Long Beach California. Lived & worked in many Cali costal towns. Enjoyed over a decade on beautiful Maui & Oahu, Hawaii. Still loving my adopted Midwest state of Illinois. Tigerlily Artist Biography I am a concerned painter, maybe to a fault = I see, I hear, I reflect…. I care! The older I become the more I feel “wonder & awe”. Hailing from California & Hawaii I paint outdoors 2-4 days wk outside. The magic of planet earth & inhabitants are daily on my mind - I’m sure it shows in my art. I paint it all= people, pets, landscapes, florals, war, cars, trains, scenes & abstracts. Just ask! Beauty is everywhere! Visually; in words, in music, in sound… and Action; which is why I donate art & have for many decades to (some going to); Treehouse Anti cruelty Society, W Grand Ave, Chicago The Humane League, California & Chicago PETA, Chicago & national events Inspiration Corporation, Broadway, Chicago Fairy Godmother Foundation; childhood Terminal cancer Make-a-wish Foundation, children in Chicago Ending violence against women art auction, Chicago 911 Benefit Auction N.Y. (artists who lost everything Ox-Bow winter Fundraisers, Chicago Science And Arts Academy, Des Plaines Il Oak Park Area Arts Council Nat’l. Association of Women in Construction, National Nasty Woman, Art Show. 2017, both Chicago & Evanston events Project Onward “Art on Cardboard “ developmental disabilities fundraiser, yearly Boys Town, Chicago. Chicago House Fundraiser 2015 - 2021 Niles North High School’s - Auction to benefit abused children Art Associations Oak Park Arts Council Des Plaines Art Guild Chicago Art Coalition (CAC)- present Chicago Art Open 2003-2009 Around the Coyote 2007 until it’s end Woman made 2018 Exhibited = Inner Haven Art GalleryGratslake, IL Des Plaines History Center, IL Dancing Krow Gallery, Oak Park, IL Outside The Loop, Congress Theatre, IL Phuture Art Gallery, Wickerpark, IL The Open Door Gallery, Milwaukee ave, IL Lucid Artists Gallery, Lake Point Tower, Navy Pier John Gault Gallery, Chicago Peter Jones Gallery, Chicago Blue Moon Art Gallery, Skokie IL Thomas Mole Gallery, LaGrange, Texas Faces Gallery, 5th ave.,Maywood Inclusion Arts Gallery, Glenwood Ave, Chicago Studio 99, James st., Blue Island, IL Diebert Fine Art, oak Park, IL Ferenczak Gallery, Park Ridge, IL The Wild Sisters, Busse, mount prospect, IL Lane Art Gallery, park ridge IL Ferenczak Gallery, Harrison St, Oak Park, IL On-line Cafe’, des plaines. IL Des Plaines Library, IL Cornerstone, James st. Blue island, IL Pick-a-cup Diner & Art Gallery, Evanston, IL Invitationals= Emily oaks nature center Plein air competition, Skokie, IL Chicago underground Artist's show, the Vic Theatre, Chicago Chicago Urban Arts Society, Halsted, chicago Scott Jackson’s annual Halloween Shows, Chicago Menopause the Musical, Apollo Theater lobby exhibit, Chicago Nine - GhostBar & Nightclub, Randolph, Chicago 2 woman show Delilah’s bar, N. Lincoln, Chicago, IL Wisconsin central Corp Office, Rosemont, IL Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hi Kaha Kihei. Maui, Hi
Ruth Day
Mixed Media Artist
I capture emotion with storms of color and form. I paint and draw what lies beneath the surface - mixed with what the eye sees. The results are surreal and evocative. I love to play with images of animals and people. I amplify their spirit and beauty by combining my photos, paintings and drawings. I imbue desired mantras, themes and dreams in my Intention paintings. I can personalize these by request. I’ve drawn and painted since I could scribble growing up in Ontario, Canada. Constant art experimentation alongside raising three intriguing humans brings me to the artist I am today. I create in my Chicagoland home with artistic commentary from my parrot Picasso. "Every woman is a rebel, and usually in wild revolt against herself." - Oscar Wilde
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Katherine Flynn
Channeler, Life Aligner, & Artist
Katherine Flynn is a Channeler, Certified Intuitive Life Purpose Coach, Psychic Medium and Artist who supports people in unlocking their life purpose with channeled wisdom and grounded guidance, direct from Source. An aspect of her channeling is creating energetic infused artwork with stones including clear quartz, amethyst, kyanite and citrine, allowing for her pieces to connect with the intended recipient.
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Christina Hladnik
Mixed Media Intuitive Artist
“As an artist, I feel called to create pieces to remind myself and others of our true essence and innate magnificence. My work not only speaks for me but for anyone who wishes to reconnect to their innocence and beauty. Each piece of art I create is made with love and immense gratitude for the beauty of nature and our humanity. My personal quest for a feeling of connection to what lies beyond the imperfections of our human bodies has not only been my spiritual mission, but has led me to a deep understanding of something that I learned long ago from the late, Dr. Wayne Dyer: “We are not our bodies, our possessions, or our careers. Who we are is Divine Infinite Love.” It is my deepest wish that through my work, you are reminded of your innate magnificence and knowing that you are enough and always have been. I am deeply honored to be able to do what I do and I hope that you enjoy my work as much as I have enjoyed creating it.”
Moushami Iyer
Mixed Media Artist
Jenny Kelch
Mixed Media Artist
“Jenny Kelch is a versatile and spiritually inspired artist, known for her captivating creations in alcohol ink and watercolor paintings. Drawing inspiration from the beauty of nature, Jenny's paintings are a testament to her deep connection with the world around her. Through vibrant colors and fluid forms, she invites viewers to immerse themselves in the healing power of art.”
John Kirkpatrick Jr.
Abstract Expressionist Painter
John Kirkpatrick Jr is an Abstract Expressionistic Painter from the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. His use of color, texture and line represent the busy hustle and bustle of the big city life. He incorporates a loose and energetic style that highlights his expressionistic fun lifestyle.John’s subjects are usually full of life and personality. John’s favorite subject is the human form, and he likes to show the form full of emotion by using color, texture and heavy line. “My influence’s come from the painters that use the paint to communicate with the viewer of the piece. I love the way LeRoy Neiman shows the joy and competitiveness in his paintings of athletes. Ed Paschke created portraits that explode off of the canvas by using extreme color and heavy line! Andrew Salgado’s paintings make me feel as if I know the subject on the canvas, by showing us the vulnerability of his figures. Guy Denning creates unmistakably heavy, stressful, painful emotion by using thick black lineage in his portraits ” John’s obsession with the figure and human form can be summed up like this; “I want my subject’s to be alive and to be interesting. I want the person looking at my paintings to want to get to know the subject and to feel as if the subject in the painting has something to say or is full of angst, joy or pain.” John received a Bachelor’s degree in ART from Northeastern Illinois University. John currently works for a Non-Profit organization in Libertyville Illinois and shows his paintings in many galleries in the Northern Illinois area. "As people, we all experience highs and lows. Sometimes we can look at people and get a sense of how and what they are feeling. I want you to look at my work and feel what the subject is feeling. I paint people, because that is what I can relate to the most. In my paintings, emotion of the subject and viewer response is everything. With my abstract expressionistic style I use texture and heavy line and color to convey this. I want the viewer to look at my work and feel what the subject is not only feeling emotionally, but physically as well. I’m an Expressionistic painter, and I once heard that Expressionism is a style of art in which the intention is not to reproduce a subject accurately, but portray it in a way as to express the inner state of the artist and or the subject on the canvas. I hope you enjoy viewing my paintings as much as I have enjoyed creating them."
Michelle O'Connor
Intuitive Abstract & Mixed Media Artist
My art is a vivid exploration of the interconnectedness between nature, energy, people, and healing. Through vibrant, abstract, and sometimes whimsical depictions of the natural and figurative world, I aim to evoke a sense of wonder in the harmonious relationship between the organic and the ethereal, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in a world where the shared human experience, personal imagination, and reality converge. Each piece is a manifestation of my intuitive artistic process and every layer, mark and hue is guided by energies I perceive & process deeply. My work forms a bridge between the physical and metaphysical, inviting viewers to ponder the shared essence of the human experience and our oneness within the tapestry of nature.
Nancy Pirri
Ceramic Figure Artist
If one could see the depth and complexity of a woman plainly on her surface, would we see beauty? Would we see their scars, if we look closely enough? I let each woman tell her story through my hands. My work is about woman’s struggle to find emotional balance, which I depict using texture, expression, attitude and gesture. While every woman has strength, compassion, and an incalculable ability to endure, we also have complex roles of mother, lover, sister, friend, or wife, where our arguably weaker sex is continually called upon to put others before ourselves. Biography Nancy Pirri was born in Brooklyn, New York and currently lives in Chicago, IL. She has dabbled in every art form since childhood, discovering clay to be her true passion in 1996. From 2004-2019, she was represented by Just B Gallery in Three Oaks, MI. In 2015, her piece titled ‘ Ain’t I a Woman’ received the Best in 3D Award from the Beverly Arts Center and ‘Tamara’s Stain’ was published in ‘500 Figures in Clay’ V2, 2014. In 2010, she received an Honorable Mention Award with the Rockford Art Museum for her printmaking on clay technique. She exhibits at many different venues including solo shows, galleries, charity auctions, private homes, and many group shows. Her studio is located at Lillstreet Art Center @ 4401 N. Ravenswood in Chicago, 2nd Floor.
Sholo
Mixed Media Intuitive Artist
Living art to the fullest. I am a mixed media intuitive artist, living in beautiful Chicago. I have learned to embrace my mistakes, for a better understanding of what the universe wants for my art. I am always eager to work on a big scale as a muralist, and I thrive on making little utopias and changing the environment with my art. Seeking to always learn from nature, and the female body's energy is my calling for my expression of art. I was lucky to attend top art colleges in Chicago. I rebelled against the rules of techniques and styles to develop my own. I am a fashion junkie for textiles and patterns from the thirties to the seventies, and that is a clear reflection of my style from painting to collages, and even with my murals. "I am aware I am rare" is my motto, embracing being a female black artist without boundaries for expression in my art. "Nothing is forever Except change" Buddha
Elizabeth Sincox
Whimsically Joyful Art
Hello! my name is Elizabeth (Liz) Sincox I am a retired top producing real estate Broker and HGTV Real Estate Expert. I sold more than 700 homes in my 26-year career and did more than 30 shows for HGTV. In 2019 at the age of 56, I decided to stop working for a living and start working on living! So I hit the reset button and retired from the pressure and fast pace of my life. I really wanted to give painting a try. With no formal training I picked up a paint brush and found a passion for painting! I am now selling my paintings in 2 stores and this wonderful Gallery!! As well as selling in Art Shows and doing commission work for clients. I also host painting parties and sell painting kits! SO MUCH FOR RETIRING! (HAHAHA!) I love helping other people find their passion! It is such a thrill!
Colleen Steenhagen
Mixed Media Assemblages and Photography
Since photography has always been a source of inspiration for her and a means of meditatively exploring nature, Colleen often finds herself walking along the timeless shores of Lake Michigan. In addition to the waves and the clouds, her eyes also fall upon the many ‘gifts’ left at the water’s edge: rocks, rust, feathers, bones, beachwood & glass, anything torn, tattered and weathered. She gathers bags and boxes of found materials from the beaches, intrigued by the altered remnants which have been transformed by the elements. She “creates from them and with them, as if directed by some gentle force to see what's unseen and to give them a new life,” resulting in the emergence of Little Spirits, Spirit Sticks, Spirit Hues Pendants, Story Stones & and abstract or mixed media compositions. “I see it as co-creating with nature, dissolving boundaries of time and place.” Colleen is a mixed media artist who likes to blend her found objects with photography, fabric, ink & wax, in collage, assemblage or mobile forms. Colleen began her university studies at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI and then at University of New Orleans. Before she obtained her degree, her life path shifted and she began traveling the world to countries such as Guatemala, Nepal, India and Thailand. Always with camera in hand she intensely observed different cultures and different lands. Two decades later after owning a storefront in Kenosha for 7 years, she changed her path once again and returned to school at UW-Parkside where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Arts: Sculpture, Photography and Printmaking. One of her sculptures, a movable, metal flower, “Blossom,” is on permanent display on the grounds of UW-Parkside, Kenosha, WI.
Susan Volk
Ceramic Artist & Oil Painter
Susan Volk is a Chicago-based artist working in the mediums of ceramics and oil paint. Beginning her academic career at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she later transferred to the Art Institute of Chicago where she received a bachelor of fine art in painting and sculpture. Her current work explores the themes of human nature, archetypes, and the sacred feminine. “The purpose of my work is to explore the expression of personal evolution through archetypes and symbols of nature. I also enjoy capturing simple moments and building vessels to be enjoyed daily. They say the sacred is in the ordinary. These are the sacred and ordinary stories of my life.”
Ryan Voykin
Astrophotographer
Hello, My Name is Ryan Voykin I am an Astrophotographer. I spend any cloudless night imaging the night sky and on weeks during the New Moon will typically take a trip away from any city light pollution and camp under the night sky. The process involves taking long exposures of specific targets using a telescope, equatorial mount, and a specific type of camera and filters. Light Pollution and Clouds are the enemy of the hobby! My passion is showing people what is out there in the universe if you take the time to study and look through the lens of a telescope. I also have a youtube channel DarkRangersInc (https://youtube.com/@darkrangersinc?si=lcdji0fTuSYDjH1Y). Where I cover all things astrophotography related. I grew up in the Midwest but got into the hobby while living for 5 years in Arizona which has access to many more cloudless nights, and I hope to end up back out there at some point. Some of my other interests include: Golf, Landscape and Architectural photography, Hiking, and Working out. If you’re interested in learning more you can reach out via Instagram @DarkRangersinc or my website www.darkrangersinc.com I hope you enjoy my work and if you have anything specific you are looking for feel free to reach out and I can put a project together! Clear Skies, Ryan Voykin