Artist Contributors
The Incredibly Talented and Insightful Artists Featured in this issue of Roses & Wildflowers are:
Cover Art
Helena Domenic,
2024 Artist in Residence for the Society for Ritual Arts
Cover Art “Something’s Brewing”
Yonec
Davu the Explorer and the Druid Tía Yara “Crow”
Please enjoy more of Helena’s work and an interview with her here
Helena Domenic is an Associate Professor of Studio Art at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. Prior to Kutztown, she was an Associate Professor of Art History and Studio Art at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania for eighteen years. She is an accomplished painter who has shown her work in Philadelphia, New York, across the United States and in Germany, Egypt, and South Africa. Helena was born in Vicenza, Italy where she was exposed to great works of art from a very early age. After viewing the Sistine Chapel ceiling at the age of eighteen months, her mother predicted she would become an artist. She holds a BFA from Kutztown University, an MA in Art Education from The University of the Arts, and an MFA from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. She has also taken courses in Art Therapy from Cheyney University and will be entering Cherry Hill Seminary’s Spiritual Direction program in Fall of 2023. Helena lectures regularly at conferences about art and the sacred, painting, and installation at both academic and healing arts venues. Her interests include antiquities from all cultures, African and Nubian studies in particular. Her art is influenced by artists such as Leonor Fini, Leonora Carrington, Jimoh Biramoe, El Anatsui, Bettye and Alison Saar, and Agnes Pelton. Helena also offers classes in various kinds of art and spiritual studies from her studio in Phoenixville, PA, where she works to create an environment of community and creativity. Helena’s book, An Illuminated Guide to Wicca was released by Schiffer in April of 2022, and is enjoying great sales.
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/HelenaDomenicArt
Featured
Nymphya/Valentina Osinski
(Valentina Osinski) is a former Mechanical Engineer and Opera singer who now instead writes music and musings to sooth souls.
When she’s not brandishing her pen, microphone, or digital audio workstation, she enjoys fashionable excursions, painting, garden contemplation, studying the ancient mysteries, and the occasional single malt scotch.
She lives on the northwest coast of California, near the redwood groves and foggy crags, nestled in her 1922 bungalow surrounded by a myriad of greenery and relics.
Need links? HERE you are
Interior Illustrations
Jack Ruttan
“The Cat God of Zebula”
Jack Ruttan is a Canadian TV scriptwriter, freelance journalist, and illustrator with a sense of humour, and a fresh take on the world.
Feel free to investigate his site and find out more about him and his work. Jack Ruttan is at: https://mruttan.ca/
Visit his Patreon Page, and make a contribution, or ask for a commission!
https://patreon.com/user?u=
Drawing of Jack Ruttan copyright Patrick Hènaff, 2008.
Shelly Kay
Yellow Brick Roaddddd…: “Merrily”
Artist, magickal herbalist, and magick maker on a quest.
“It’s my jam to connect and align ideas, goals, and dreams to be transformed into reality. The intersection of the mundane and the spiritual is the theme of my work. I’ve been integrating healing modalities, such as Reiki and the chakras, psychology, spirituality, and consciousness for over 20 years into my work. I’m currently a Integrative Studies major at Northern Kentucky University applying psychology, business, and leadership to explore more ways to manifest beauty, joy, and love into the world.
I believe that the disconnection between the disparate parts of self is what causes dis-ease within society. The items I use directly represent this in my mixed media pieces; each work is another facet of the kaleidoscope of the self merging into wholeness, rejecting the normative standards set by society. Texture is often the focal point of my work and I am obsessed with how different materials react with each other; the tactility and grit of lace juxtaposed against a smooth wash of color…or a bit of broken jewelry in betwixt beads, paper, leaves & twigs, or some other found object. I use acrylics, watercolor, oil sticks, and ink to create layers of personality. You’ll often find bits of sparkling glitter or jewels emerging from the depth representing the hidden truths of your soul.”
To purchase this work, go here: https://theshellyverse.square.site/
“Merrily”
size: 11×15 inches
Media – Mixed Media on Watercolor paper using lace, velum, tissue paper, resin, stickers, and cardstock
Lauren Raine
“The Legend of Condor & Eagle”
“Circe’s Lament”
Lauren Raine MFA is an interdisciplinary mask artist and sculptor, best- known for her 20-year Community Arts Project “The Masks of theGoddess”. She also writes and is fascinated by the inherent power and sanctity of sacred places around the world. Visit her website at www.laurenraine.com
Seren Derryth
“Gem Against Flesh”
“Tammuz”
Seren Derryth is a Witchy Artsy Whimsical Fae!
Creating mirth and magic in a multitude of artsy and craftsy ways, sidhe likes to work with a multitude of mediums, including spectacular semi precious stones and gems, sparkly crystals, fantastic pendants and charms, her beloved IPad for digital art, ever trusty colored pencils, gorgeous gouache, and more!
Denita Benyshek
Artist in Residence, Botanica Gardens in Wichita, Kansas.
You Are Red: “Dawn Mountains” & “Sunset Mountains”
“I am a mother, a multi-media artist, a mental health counselor, and an interdisciplinary researcher on contemporary artists as shamans. Korean manshin Kim Junghee initiated me as a shaman through a traditional naerim gut. In my work, I integrate healing and channel nature spirits to provide a gift to my audience. Awards include Ucross Foundation, Pilchuck Glass School scholarship, and Botanica gardens artist in residence. My formal education: BFA and MFA in painting, MA and PhD in humanistic and transpersonal psychology, with additional training in dance and jazz/blues vocals. My artworks are in many private and public collections, including University of Washington Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, King County Ethnic Heritage Collection, and The Glass Museum, Ebeltoft, Denmark. Past curated group shows include Redefining Visionary Art, New York City. I will be presenting a multi-media art/academic research presentation at the Creativity & Madness Conference in Santa Fe, NM, August 1-4, 2024.”
Research and publications: http://saybrook.academia.edu/DenitaBenyshekPhDMFA
Art: http://www.denitabenyshek.com
https://www.instagram.com/denitabenyshek/
Joel Bisaillon
“Two Moons in a Purple Sky”
“I am a self-taught freelance digital artist from Canada who focuses on dark and dramatic, bold and colorful imagery with a flair for the fantastical. One can see I appreciate the darker aspects of fiction genres holding close to horror and fantasy. This could be a throwback from my old days playing P&P RPGs. I have over the years worked with several renowned roleplaying, tabletop gaming, and publishing companies trying to bring the unreal to life.”
https://www.artstation.com/umbraludus/
https://www.instagram.com/umbraludus/
Kerry Mairie
“Weather of My Own Making” – Cailleach
“Eyes and Ears” – The Gates at Samhain
Kerry Mairie is a mixed media painter, illustrator, and museum educator hailing from the banks of the Delaware River. Her work explores mythology, folklore, and magic in art. She loves storytelling and all things weird and wonderful. More of her art can be found at DrawingDownLore.com
Thana Meejinda
Davu the Explorer and the Druid Tía Yara “Davu”
“Hello! I’m Thana or Lena, I’m a lover of any form of the arts and additionally an enthusiast of combat arts, historical Asian artwork and birds.”
Incidental Art
Carly J.J. Turner
Carly J.J. Turner (aka Mede Potawatomig Ikwe) is a Pipe Carrier and medicine woman, O’Jibway from The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, The White Earth Indian Reservation, and Wisconsin, The Bad River LaPointe Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Her Clan is Mukwa-Bear.
When Carly isn’t skipping through a pink-glittered desert speaking with her animal friends, she’s likely to be away fasting and praying or simply enjoying a cup of pu erh tea and creating art.
Carly has an Associates Degree in Art and a Journalism and New Media CCL. She hopes to spread her words, art, and healing to many.
For consulting work or to see her ritual art visit: Phosphenesandaether.com
She accepts donations for her shares, if you’d like to donate:
Venmo: @journeyhawk
Editorial Staff
Arts Editor This Issue: Nashay Jones.
“In painting, printmaking, collage, and mixed media, I examine my own life. Through this lens I hope to explore themes universal to the human experience: silence, separation, love, fear, growth, birth, rebirth. I seek freedom, healing, and life. In trying to find my voice, I endeavor, as Frida Kahlo said, “to paint my own reality” as a woman, as a black person, as queer, as a sister, as a lover, a friend, a daughter . . . as me.”
Web design by Kristen Skold
Did you love the art featured in this issue? Please leave a “tip” here. This is all or nothing and will be up for 60 days from March 1, 2024. Funds will be distributed evenly between the artists on this page. Ko-Fi campaign HERE