About Us
Meet The Team
Randy L Purcell
About Randy L Purcell
Randy L Purcell is a visual artist based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2009 he received a BFA in studio art at Middle Tennessee State University. Since 2010, exhibitions of his artwork include events like ArtFields, ArtPrize, Artclectic, Flying Solo at BNA, Dogwood Arts, and the Harding Art show. While Randy’s focus is on his process of transferring ink onto beeswax, his early interest in making furniture has resulted in the creation of pieces of functional artwork as well, including the Metro Arts Nashville “Bee-Cycle” bicycle rack and the ReTune Nashville effort to repurpose damaged musical instruments and equipment. He is a founding member of the Nashville Collage Collective, Four Artist TN, and the Mystery Art League. His work has appeared in publications like American Bee Journal, Nashville Voyager, Main Street Media, and the Tennessean. In 2020 he was featured on NPT’s Tennessee Crossroads. He has displayed in various places, including fine art galleries, schools, restaurants, and has work in private collections across the United States and in Canada. Randy currently serves on the board of Number, Inc. (a publication on art of the south), Turnip Green Creative Reuse, and L’Evate (leadership organization in the Donelson/Hermitage/Old Hickory area.
Connect with Randy: www.randylpurcell.com
Tim Buchanan
About Tim Buchanan
When Buchanan was a child, he was getting dismal grades in math until his mother bought him a computer game called Algebra Adventure. The game required the player to solve math problems to navigate castles, dungeons and other places more interesting than everyday life. Suddenly Buchanan’s math scores improved as did his interest in games as an avenue to educate. These days Tim has his Masters in American History and Government, his thesis project completed by writing and coding an interactive computer game based on the Abolitionist movement and Underground Railroad. He is currently an adjunct professor of American History in Kentucky.
Connect with Tim: www.spuncounterguy.podbean.com
Grant Cooley
About Grant Cooley
Grant Cooley is a Nashville Based Illustrator whose work tends to be conceptual in nature. Working in inks, acrylics and oils, Grant shows work locally and regionally usually accompanied by demos and lectures.
Connect with Grant: www.instagram.com/grantcooleystudios
Dayo Johnson
About Dayo Johnson
Dayo has been creating beautiful works of art for over 30 years. She has traveled to many states exhibiting her work at juried art shows and other events. Her work is represented by many galleries including Ellis–Chambers Gallery, Art on 5 and in gift shops including The Tennessee State Museum. She has had solo exhibits at Vanderbilt University and her works can be seen in several centers’ private collections throughout the campus. She has been commissioned as a muralist for Metro Nashville Public Schools and is a self- published illustrator of a coloring book. Her work can be seen in online publications like The Creative Jar and Sara Cannon Center for the Arts. She’s also a member of Nashville based, female Artists group “Artsy Chicks”. She is best known for her “Children of God” series which depicts children of all nationalities with expressions of unity, love, faith, and peace. Dayo enjoys sharing her gift with people of all ages through teaching private and community-based art classes.
She currently resides and creates in Nashville Tennessee.
Ken Walls
About Ken Walls
Ken Walls lives in Nashville and has been part of the Nashville Art Scene for the past 15 years. He is a photo realist painter working mainly in oil. He chooses subjects that speak to those viewing his work in a “shared memory” experience.
Sheri O’Neal
About Sheri O’Neal
My world of art revolves around words, images, texture and found objects. I love old things…wire, chipped paint on wood, rusty metal, string, and items that have interesting shapes and angles. Each piece of art starts with a memory or a concept in the beginning stages but often takes on a flight of its own once put into motion. My work is an extension of who I am encompassing parts of personal life experiences, beliefs and deep morals or ideas.
From the time I was introduced to finger paint, paper, pencil and wood I have wanted to create. Upon graduating from high school, photography seemed the most practical career choice and began my creative journey. Having played with film since the age of six, I felt that I saw things very differently than most of my peers. As I experimented with different art mediums I was dedicated to finding a way to live that would not confine me to a single day of “sameness.”
Creating art comes naturally, as if I am on autopilot often not realizing what is happening until the composition appears before my eyes. Incorporating old things of the past and elements of design fused with personal written thoughts is magical. Moving forward as the ideas race through my mind I refrain from questioning myself. I love the flaws and imperfections that the old discarded items and memories convey. Sometimes I struggle with the idea of perfection, in those times I get quiet, clear my mind, and dig deep within myself. I discard any worry of what the outside world might think and allow the creative process to carry me through the struggle.
I have to tell a story because it is where my art originates. My biggest reward as an artist is standing off in the distance and secretly watching people analyze my work. My hope is that as they dissect each meaningful element, they are able to connect and create a story of their own.
I am a visual storyteller….it’s what I do and it is all that I know!
Connect with Sheri: www.learnandcreate.com/links
Valentine Adams
About Valentine Adams
Connect with Valentine: www.instagram.com/valentineadamsstudio
Mihail Tomescu
About Mihail Tomescu
Mihail Tomescu is a Romanian-born visual artist active in the United States and internationally. His recent exhibitions include shows at Ground Floor Galley, Blue Fig Gallery in Nashville and Scope Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
He received his MFA from Penn State School of Visual Arts and BFA from the University of Arts and Design, Cluj Napoca, Romania. After graduation he moved with his family to Southeast Missouri where in 2012 opens his own Art Gallery in the historic building “Cotton Exchange Bank” in downtown Kennett, MO.
Until 2017, when he moved to Nashville TN, Tomescu traveled extensively getting exposed to various cultural influences which he actively explores and assimilates.
For the past five years he lived and worked in Austin, Texas and Oahu, Hawaii.
Robert Bruce Scott
About Robert Bruce Scott
Hi.
I like to recycle stuff. I enjoy collecting all the things that you and I throw away, mash it together, and see what happens. I collage, paint, draw, print, deconstruct, sculpt, and assemble. I pour things on and scrape things off. I gather things in the hope that one day I will be able to use them in a work. This has led to a wonderful collection; an assortment of this and of that which I can choose from at will. When deciding to begin a new sculpture or collage I simply pick out a piece of something and begin building. It may be something I have been thinking about or it may be a simple, random choice. (That’s why it’s good to be surrounded by a lot of interesting stuff.) Whether working from an idea outward, or letting chance dictate direction and allowing meaning to evolve, it’s always a challenge and usually a whole lot of fun.
Connect with Robert: www.robbrusco.com
Natalie Plasencia
About Natalie Plasencia
Giving voice to the mysterious strength of the human soul has always guided Natalie Plasencia’s vision. It has been a keen interest which inspires her sculptures. Working with the arts, civil rights, children and families has been her passion. Growing up, as a Cuban American in Hialeah she immersed herself in her father’s architecture/construction sites, her mother’s work with women and children, sewing with her grandmothers, painting for her spiritual advisor, before officially studying sculpture in the university. While studying the fine arts, Plasencia concentrated on exploring the delicate nature of the human soul as the subject matter and sewing, plaster, mold making, wax and metal work as her mediums.
Michael Damico
About Michael Damico
Owner and operator of Damico Frame and Art Printing. Michael is a professional artist and framer. Having studied art for years, his attention to detail and discipline in his personal art productions carries over into your picture frames, prints, and giclees.
Connect with Michael: www.damicogallery.com
Carrie Mills
About Carrie Mills
Noted as a Renaissance woman, Carrie Mills’ art and creative life spans the gamut from mixed media collage, photography, fashion, styling, jewelry design, songwriting, singing, and pet portraiture. Carrie also writes a monthly column, “Kvetch in the City” for the Observer newspaper of Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Carrie is the curator for the art galleries at the Gordon Jewish Community Center going on 17 years.
Connect with Carrie: www.carriemills.com
Panashe Tanya Mwinga
Panashe Tanya Mwinga
Panashe Tanya Mwinga is a 19-year-old student from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Currently she is studying Visual Communication and Multimedia design at Chinhoyi University of Technology. Striving for a photo-realistic style/approach to her artwork, Mwinga often uses a mixture of gouache and watercolor pencils as her medium. She also loves listening to music, reading, and watching K-dramas.
How It All Started
The Mystery Art League is a group of artists employing various artistic media with the goal of bringing interactivity and fun to the art exhibition space. These artists seek to engage the general public through the technical and thematic components of art. To accomplish this, the Mystery Art League creates games that encourage participants to search for clues in the artwork in order to uncover hidden stories.