About the Artist

Originally an immigrant from Moldova, Volta Voloshin-Smith celebrates food with art and animation. 

She is the founder of Color Snack Studio and her mission to watercolor the world can be seen in various projects such as custom illustrations, animations, workshops and brand activations that she creates for national and international brands (like Dallas Mavericks and Michaels Stores). She has taught thousands of students in her online and in-person watercolor workshops, where she encourages everyone to rediscover their inner artist. 

Volta is also the author of Watercolor Snacks, an instructional book on how to paint various foods with watercolors. It’s a book that takes a fun and approachable way to encourage others to pick up a brush and play. 

Volta’s fine art pieces range from evocative still lifes that capture nostalgia of meals shared with others, to playful birds on snacks that celebrate life’s simplest joys.

Artist Statement

I grew up in post soviet union Moldova where I spent my youthful summers helping my grandmother in her garden. Being a part of the process from planting to harvesting left an imprint in me to appreciate the fullness of the food in front of me and all the journey it took to get here. 

Coming to America opened up my eyes and stomach to the possibilities of food from many other cultures. Exploring other cultures helps me connect with my community and I carry that inspiration with me when I paint. 

Painting food brings up a sense of belonging, of sharing a meal and sharing in each other’s triumphs and losses. It is how I tether myself to my environment; always inspired by a local chef’s recent creation and moved to the point of tears upon seeing beautiful and fresh produce. 

My art aims to uplift, to encourage, to color. I embraced watercolors as my chosen medium because of its effervescence and soothing qualities. My intention is to combine the joy of vibrant colors and the calm of watercolors for an experience of pure, unfiltered joy, the kind we all used to have back before the world told us we needed to fit into a box.

About the Artist

Sara Glupker is a painter who works out of her studio in rural Michigan. She earned her B.F.A. in Painting from Western Michigan University in 2005 and has been working as an artist for the past 15 years. Sara enjoys painting with acrylic, watercolor and oil paint and her paintings are described as colorful, whimsical and representational of flowers and nature. Sara’s paintings reside in many private and corporate collections including the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo and Bronson Methodist Hospital of greater Kalamazoo, MI- who own over 50 of Sara’s paintings among multiple healthcare locations. Sara’s studio, named Cherry Tree Art Studio, is adjacent to her home and was built on special family property that was once a cherry orchard. Sara finds her inspiration being in the woods or running on trails outdoors and she enjoys telling stories with her paintings. Sara is a mother to three budding artists and enjoys creating with her daughters. In her spare time, she likes to run, read, be in her garden, bake, cook, sew, bike and swim. Sara’s work can be viewed and purchased on her website: www.SaraGlupkerArt.com and her studio is open year-round by appointment.

Artist Statement

I believe that as human beings we need to create and use our hands. For me, my favorite way to create is to use paint and a brush or palette knife. I love how the paint glides over the surface, whether it is smooth or a bumpy canvas. I am drawn to nature as a subject matter, I love the shapes of nature, the colors and the textures. I am particularly drawn to flowers at this moment. I love all of the cultural symbols that flowers represent: femininity, beauty, individualism.  I love how different flowers can symbolize different ideas like love, freedom and friendship. I am also very drawn to color and how different colors soothe while other colors spark action and excitement. I love to experiment with colors and combinations of colors in my paintings. At my core, I believe that art heals both the creator and the viewer. Painting not only makes my heart sing but it is a salve for my soul. I have used the time in the last year and a half in my studio to explore this idea of art and healing and have allowed my artwork to take me deeper into my healing journey. It has been an incredible adventure that has rewarded me so much. It is my hope that this pouring of love, energy and healing into my works is absorbed into the canvas and is later received by the viewer.

Artist Bio

My name is Carson Kowar Bradbury. I am 26 years old and I became a full time artist 2 years ago. From the time I could walk, I was drawing. I learned how to sitting on my grandpas lap at his farm in North Carolina. Fast forward, I turned a hobby into a career attending NC State University and majoring in Art + Design. From NC State, I went on to work for Under Armour as a Print and Pattern designer for 3 years. It was their that I decided I wanted to become a full time artist, and I quit my corporate job to follow my passion and travel the country.

Artist Statement

For me, artwork is a gift of emotion and feeling. I create artwork that amplifies what I am passionate about- in a way words cannot. I create realistic portraits using charcoal pencils and pastels. Working in black and white creates high contrast and bold imagery, amplifying the expression and emotion of someones face in a very distinct and impactful way. It is through charcoal drawings that I am able to tell someones story – be it my own or someone else’s. And, each story is can be filled with passion, joy, love, grief, history, and hope.

What does “Gaze” mean to you & how do you connect it to your work?

‘Gaze” represents a direction in which we are looking, and there are times in life when we need to adjust our gaze. This piece of artwork, titled ‘Noelle’, symbolizes a shift in direction – a new way of seeing.

‘Noelle’ was originally a commissioned portrait of a clients daughter. The girl in the portrait, Noelle, has a white mother and a black father. Noelle noticed she didn’t have the same blonde hair her mom, and so Noelle’s mom had me create this piece to show her daughter that makes her uniques is what makes her beautiful.
As a white woman, I have spent a lot of time this past year trying to image life in a black woman or mixed woman’s shoes. How a black woman feels when someone looks at her. How people treat her. How society sees her (or doesn’t see her). This drawing of Noelle symbolizes a call to shift how people view black woman and black culture. It is a call to shift our societies gaze to a new definition of beauty, equality and racial justice.