Andréa Keys Connell

Four years ago, I moved to the mountains. These sculptures are the result of my shifting internal and external landscape. Through this body of work, I am attempting to tap back into apart of my imagination that has been dormant for some time. The part of me that enjoys telling visual stories that reflect on time, family, how we become who we are, and how we are all connected. I am attempting to direct the eye to a range of hidden stories that perhaps reflect what cannot be expressed with words.

Andréa Keys Connell is an Associate Professor of Ceramics in the Department of Art atAppalachian State University. She is a former Fountainhead Fellow and served as the Head of the Clay Area in the Department of Craft/Material Studies at VCU from 2010-17. Andréa’s work has been featured in a number of national and international publications and she has widely exhibited her work. She has had 16 solo exhibitions in various galleries and museums since 2009, including The Florida Holocaust Museum and The Kentucky Museum of Art andCraft. Andréa also works on large-scale public art commissions such as the See Also endowment commission with the Cleveland Public Library.Along with exhibiting her work and teaching at App State, Andréa has taught workshops on figure sculpting at various craft schools across the country including Haystack, Arrowmont, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.

Jeanie Collin Keys

Flowers influenced my life since childhood, from the stylized floral embroidery I learned from my Hungarian mother to the dozens of splendid peony bushes in the gardens where I played.There was always a colorful vase of handpicked flowers on the table in the summer. I was fascinated with surface decorations, patterns and family place settings. The delicious kitchen smells and sound of preparation remain clear, adding dimension to the experience. Painting flowers and vases within imaginary environments is my emotional marking, translating the warmth I feel from the past. The paintings are visual journeys between reality and imagination in time. It is an emotional response to form and color beyond representation. I think about the fragility, the beauty, the symbolism and the grace of flowers as a reminder of the miraculous life moments we hold in our hands.

Jeanie Collin Keys graduated from Longwood University with a degree in Art Education. Upon graduation , she apprenticed as a graphic artist for John Hoskins Design Associates for a few years where she learned about the printing industry, typography as an art form, illustration and ad design. Eventually she became art director for an ad agency in Fairfax, Virginia. In her late 20s she began exploring watercolor. Through her 30s, she exhibited in various galleries in the Washington, DC area, winning awards as well as publishing work for various newspapers and magazines. Eventually, Jeanie worked for a gallery learning the framing trade which helped her develop her own business. She sold her framed watercolor mini prints nationally through Nordstrom Department stores for 13 years. She sold privately to designer clientele, commercial and interior designers and showrooms in the NYC and Atlanta showrooms. Oprah Winfrey is the owner of several of Jeanie’s watercolors. Retiring from the commercial business, Jeanie began her journey with oil painting. She participated in solo shows and groups shows which continues today. Some of her paintings are published through Art Classics LTD. She is exploring clay and other materials to create mixed media sculptures. Jeanie also works with china painting, clay mono printing and surface decoration on materials. She is self taught, learning through various workshops and lectures at Arrowmont School of Craft.