Virtual Coffee @ Ten Talk: April 28

Liz is a mixed media artist and photographer. She is a lifelong Michigan resident and has lived and worked in Ann Arbor for the past 30 years. She holds a BFA from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art. In addition to practicing and exhibiting her work, she is also the director of trustArt studios and Barickuda Gallery, an artists' workspace and gallery in Ann Arbor, which she founded in 2012 to develop opportunities for creative collaboration in her community (trustartstudios.com). 

Liz’s mixed media objects and installations integrate various materials and objects she collects with her photos using encaustic transfer techniques. The result yields an unexpected juxtaposition of 2D versus 3D, of time versus place, and of the fleeting moment versus the permanence of the material world.

“My creative process is greatly influenced by taking a closer look at my environment and the objects within it. Pausing to observe details during the course of an ordinary day offers an insight to the beauty of nature and time to consider the material world around me. I often stop to photograph things I find compelling or to pick up a variety of objects and materials along the way, building a collection of images and materials, ranging from the extraordinary to the mundane, that capture my attention and pique my curiosity. I combine my photos and materials to provide structure and fuel content in my work. I approach my work with purpose and deliberation, but also with an organic, intuitive unfolding as the creative force, building relationships between the materials and imagery to express my perspective.”

The content of her work draws from the themes of nature, nostalgia, memory, growth/decay, and tension/harmony, and the female experience, coupled with the Midwest landscape and lifestyle, strongly resonate in her imagery and materials.

Douglas Coon is the instructor of photography in the Art Department of Hillsdale College.  In eighth grade, Coon was introduced to photography by his science teacher Bill Vincent, sparking a life-long passion. He received a bachelor of science in television and film production from Western Michigan University. Coon has continued his training in photography through numerous classes and workshops. Initially a film-based photographer, Coon now works exclusively with a variety of digital cameras.

In his teaching, Coon emphasizes proficiency in photographic technique, as artist merit in photography is seldom achieved using the “shoot and pray” method.  In addition to his teaching duties, Coon is the staff photographer for the External Affairs Department of Hillsdale College. His work is featured in a variety of the College’s printed publications and web media.

Coon travels extensively throughout the United States and Canada capturing both natural and man-made landscape images.  His work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows and is represented in galleries in Michigan and Ohio.  He also works as a commercial photographer for a variety of clients.  He resides in Hillsdale, Michigan.

Jason Robert Jones is a self-taught visual artist working in the medium of photography. Born in Livonia, Michigan, in 1976, Jones was drawn to the arts from an early age. Involved in various art programs all throughout his school career, Jones decided to pursue a career in film and video. Jones attended Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida, graduating with honors and a degree in film and video production in 1997.

Jones moved back to Michigan at the end of ‘97 and built a career in the corporate production industry as a video engineer and editor. While this career path did allow him to exercise creativity, Jones found the corporate environment lacked depth and left little room for personal growth and artistic development.

In 2003, Jones made the jump to digital photography. His passion for the craft continued to grow, but it wasn’t until 2010 when it really took off. In June of that year, his daughter was born - the catalyst for what would become an all-out obsession with photography. Portraiture work was very different than the candid, street photography he had been producing, and this required more control and understanding of the craft.

Over the next two years, Jones spent much of his free time devouring all things photography and putting this knowledge to use, often with his daughter as the subject. It was also during this time when he began to become more interested in landscape photography. By 2011, Jones had started a small portraiture business and started producing landscape work with intent. By mid-2012, Jones made the decision to focus his attention on landscape, his true passion.

In September 2012, Jones stepped back into the realm of film photography and made a commitment to pursue a career as a fine art landscape photographer. In October of 2014, Jones and his family moved from Oakland County, Michigan to Suttons Bay, seeking both a better environment to raise a child and to be closer to the landscape he loved, continuing to photograph the unique landscapes of the Great Lakes Region.