Artists

FIBER ARTS/CUT PAPER
@wovenbyleah

Maleah Bretz is a Winston-Salem native who has always experienced life and spirituality most tangibly through her creative practices. While her medium and methods are always shifting with her curiosity, her love of God and nature have been the common thread woven throughout her work since as long as she can remember. Her work has been featured in the FiberArtNow magazine as well as a book, Create Naturally. Maleah lives in Kernersville, NC with her husband and two daughters. She feels blessed to spend her days crafting, baking, breaking up toddler fights, and weaving the truth and light of Christ into her girls' lives as a stay-at-home mom.

AUTHOR
WEBSITE
@h.e.reynolds.writer

Hannah Clifford writes fiction under the pen name H. E. Reynolds. As a student and alum of North Greenville University, she had several poems and short stories published in The Mountain Laurel, NGU's literary magazine. She earned her Master of Arts in English degree from Wake Forest University in 2017, the same year that the first draft of her classic murder mystery Death Comes to Greenwood was a semi-finalist in a novel writing contest. Ever since she can remember, Hannah has been writing stories – and she has the notebooks to prove it! Although she loves nearly all types of fiction, her favorites to write (and read) are fantasy, mystery, and historical fiction. She also enjoys devotional writing, and finds that many times she most deeply interacts with the Scriptures through poetry. Hannah currently writes content for a product brokerage company by day and carves out time for her own writing wherever she can get it. When she's not writing, you might find her hiking in the NC mountains or baking delicious dairy-free treats. Death Comes to Greenwood, her first novel, is available on Amazon Kindle.

POETRY
WEBSITE
@brisalvo

Brittany DiSalvo has been teaching, writing, and sharing poetry for nearly two decades. Since 2018, Brittany has facilitated writing groups within juvenile facilities, nonprofit headquarters, and a vast array of living rooms. She is a Montessori educator who especially adores fanning the flame of wonder within children in her classroom. Her first published book of poetry was released in 2023, entitled, Sincerely, Light. Brittany is convinced that the best things she’ll ever write are letters to those she loves. She currently resides in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the soil that has exponentially grown her lifelong fascination with trees.

FIBER ARTS/DRAWING/PAINTING
WEBSITE
@jenpedwards

Jennifer Edwards lives in Kernersville, NC with her poet husband and a cat named Milo. Their three grown children are the most amazing artworks they know. Jennifer delights in all things creative, from paper and paint to spinning wool, knitting and weaving. Jennifer is a professional artist in paint and fiber. She offers original artwork, knitting designs, handspun yarns, and weavings via her Etsy shop. Jennifer also enjoys writing from time to time and offers these penned lines in books available on Amazon. No matter the medium, Jennifer views life through the lens of creativity, longing to see beauty in the mundane and difficult places of daily living.

POETRY/LINOCUTS/CO-FOUNDER
WEBSITE
@backward.mutters

Randall Edwards is a pastor, poet, father, and husband – not necessarily in that order. He pastors Grace Kernersville in Kernersville, North Carolina. His poetry is published in two chapbooks of poetry, Walking the Way (2017) and Walking with Jesus (2018), and his poetry is featured in the collaborative work, The Stations of the Cross (2021).

POTTERY/SCULPTURE

Karis recently moved back to Winston Salem, NC with her husband and daughter. She holds a bachelors in Studio Art from The University of North Carolina At Wilmington. Art has become a place of freedom and healing in her life. Specifically, Karis is passionate about ceramics, metals, and plaster but also loves exploring other materials. Most of Karis’s work takes on an organic form in texture and color which leads her to feel connected with the environment, people, and God. Conceptually, Karis always strives to create a connection between humanity and the Creator. In Karis’s heart, it is of great importance her art embodies and testifies of the love and glory of God.

VISUAL ART

I grew up in Raleigh NC and spent most of my childhood singing, dancing, and horseback riding. I occasionally drew or painted for fun to make gifts for family and friends but never formally studied art. I got my masters in counseling from ECU in 2003. Shortly after, my husband Barnes and I moved here to Winston Salem and have 4 children ages 18-8. Motherhood and my love of Gods creation has led me to be more creative in recent years as I’ve spent more time trying to paint what I see. There is endless inspiration if we keep our eyes open to have AWE and gratitude for the beauty around us each day. I mostly paint in watercolors and recently have learned oil painting. I’m so thankful to keep learning and sharing my art!

POETRY/MUSICIAN
@amy.leigh.hughes

Amy Leigh Hughes lives in Winston-Salem, NC with her husband and three children. She enjoys all manner of creative endeavors, such as singing, crocheting, and bullet journaling. Though she has been a crafter of words her whole life, she has only recently begun to release her poetry into the world for others to witness. She desires to assist people in naming things in their own experiences that they hadn’t noticed or verbalized before. She seeks to capture many facets of the human experience, so that others may know they are never alone.

VISUAL ART

Since her childhood in the foothills of North Carolina, Kristin White Jones has been creating art. Every hike in the woods, every trip to a national park, and every adventure in a foreign county has stirred her imagination. Kristin graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in English and a minor in art. As an artist she has explored many mediums and techniques, but oil paints and the palette knife have become her favorites. Her landscapes are a study in texture and light while still capturing a realistic view, clearly showing the influence of the Impressionists she loves. Kristin lives with her husband in the small town of Wallburg in rural Davidson County. When not painting, she enjoys playing her fiddle and mandolin, reading, gardening, and cooking for colonial reenactors. Her motto is “Too many hobbies, not enough time.”

POETRY
WEBSITE

Jensen Armstrong Kirkendall is originally from Santa Cruz, CA. After studying Literature and Humanities in the LA area, he moved to Winston-Salem, NC to earn his MA in Literature at Wake Forest. Jensen’s deepest passions include education, the intersection of faith and the arts, poetry, and warm lighting. He is a middle-school Humanities Teacher at The Covenant School in Greensboro and the Parish Administrator at Christ Church Winston-Salem. Jensen has published poetry with Ekstasis Magazine (2022); co-authored Journey Back Again (2022), an academic book on J.R.R. Tolkien; and self-published a collection through Barnes & Noble entitled Tithe Poems (2023).

PHOTOGRAPHY
WEBSITE
@hazelkuehn

Hazel is a professional photographer specializing in portraits that capture the beauty and unique personalities of families and the special occasions in their lives. Her studio art background informs her photographic compositions, but also continues to find expression in oil paintings and watercolors. When she isn’t behind the camera or in front of the canvas, she is out in the garden or birding. All of these things typically include her three daughters right alongside who are also painting and calling to the birds. Hazel and her husband, Michael, live in Kernersville, NC.

SINGER-SONGWRITER/CO-FOUNDER
WEBSITE
@mckuehn

Michael Kuehn’s experience in everything from concert halls to punk rock garage bands to Nashville’s Music Row has made him what he is today: a classically-trained modern storyteller. His songs pair melodic landscapes with poetic reflections on living a life of faith. Michael lives in Kernersville, NC with his wife and three daughters. He is the Director of Worship and Education at Grace Kernersville and director of Almond Tree Artist Collective. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Bandcamp.

POTTERY
WEBSITE
@ofmagdalapottery

Poem Nicholson is a clay creator, using hand building and wheel throwing techniques. She started learning about the art of clay in 2019 in Detroit, MI and has since gleaned inspiration from God’s creation in rural North Carolina. Working out of her home studio she has the freedom and space to discover her style and the expression of God’s workmanship inside of her. Poem finds purpose in stirring Awe and Wonder in the hearts of people, and she sees no better way to do this than through the nature around her and the art within her.

VISUAL ART
@artbyhannahelise

Hannah Gaskins Pabón graduated with a bachelors in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. During her time there, she discovered her love of painting with oils. She currently works as an artist and a teacher at an art-based school for young children. She creates pieces inspired by current day events and experiences. Her goal as an artist is to create work that is engaging and evokes emotions, thoughts, and ideas. Art is a universal language, and so Hannah hopes to help open conversations that lead to inspiration and empowerment.

VISUAL ART
WEBSITE
@sophieearlepardue

Sophie-Earle Pardue is an impressionistic landscape artist based out of Denver, CO. She received her BFA from Clemson University in 2019. Growing up in Charleston, SC, the value and wonder of nature was impressed upon her at an early age. As she grew, nature and landscapes became crucial to her spiritual life and is now one of the main lenses through which she understands the world around her and therefore understands herself.

VISUAL ART
@artby.hp

MUSICIAN

VISUAL ART/POETRY/MUSIC
WEBSITE

Hailing from Winston-Salem, NC, Annalena exists as a multimedia artist, poet, and musician. She makes it her mission to cross the threshold between the tangible and intangible, whether by putting sadness to song or by turning discarded items into newness. Over the past six years, Annalena has had the privilege of exhibiting work at MIXXER, Artworks Gallery, and Culture Studio, and joined Almond Tree Artist Collective in November 2023. As she grows in her faith and in her community, Annalena aims to share more of her work spanning across mediums, using her voice to share the Good News and her hands to give God the glory.

QUILTING/FIBER ARTS

Diane Zobrosky, a follower of Jesus, married to Mark Zobrosky from 1974-2021 when God called him Home; mother to four daughters and grandmother “Marmee” to 18 grandchildren and 3 great-grands! Member of Grace PCA. Lover of threads, needles and fabric; quilter, embroiderer, slow-stitcher, and crocheter. She also enjoys writing poetry and dabbling in paints.