Artfolios invites you to join us on Saturday, May 3 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm for an Studio Visit with Alix Hitchcock, Lea Lackey-Zachmann, and Terri Dowell-Dennis at their studio their studio—Studio 434—located at 434 Brookstown Ave in Winston-Salem. This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome. Hors d’oeuvres will be served.

Alix Hitchcock shared with Carrie Leigh Dickey, Owner & Visionary of Artfolios, that she never once questioned the legitimacy of creating. As a child she remembers drawing from her imagination and from life. “Since the age of three, I have been drawing on any surface available at home—walls, office paper from my father, any material from my artist mother. Having rarely been taught anything about technique or materials, I was free—until college studio classes—to invent my own world in creating imagery by drawing…I want the making of art to be an open-ended mental and visual journey for myself as well as the viewing public.”

When Carrie asked Terri Dowell-Dennis what drives her, she began: “I have always had a compelling need to make things. What inspires me daily,” she continues, “is waking up to see the changes each new day brings through my window, looking through photographs I’ve made in both ordinary and extraordinary places, and passages of poetry or prose I encounter in my nightly reading.”

“Creating is one of the most inspirational, natural, challenging, and satisfying of activities and a daily necessity for me,” considered Lea Lackey-Zachmann as she spoke with Carrie. “When days go by without some creative effort, I often find myself feeling off balance. I create because I must.”

Lea, who just had a retrospective show of her artworks, has been considering where 2025 will take her. “I find myself with at least two avenues of interest. One is the relationship of sound to image—this is called Cymatics.” (Cymatics comes from the Greek word “wave” and is the study of wave phenomena—especially sounds and their visual representations.) “The other project I am contemplating is the creation of a small print edition of a story I’ve been thinking about for several years. The edition would be hand printed in movable type, bound, and illustrated with images from my imagination.”

“I have an endless desire to experiment with visual effects from many approaches and mediums,” shared Alix contemplating her journey, “and the experience to pursue my art making until I get results—though often with frustration.” In recent years, Alix has concentrated on drypoint monoprints on paper that are hand colored. She has decided to return to gelli plate monotypes in 2025. Specifically, she wants to focus on hand pulled prints of a larger size with new imagery and techniques. “Moving to new approaches will hopefully stretch my vision beyond how I’ve worked earlier in this medium.”

Terri muses, “I have far more sketches and ideas than I ever seem to realize, and when I have an idea that won’t rest, I start to consider how to make it physical.” Recently, she added clay and copper to her media repertoire. “Clay is wonderful and so new to me! Likewise, I’m learning the rudiments of copper etching. I can’t say where this experimentation is going, but what really interests me now is whether I can encourage these mediums—and others—to ‘talk’ to each other.”

Come have dialogue with these three diversely talented artists and their artworks: Studio 434 is open for visitors!