Author: Benartex Admin

Dianna Swartz is a self taught artist who grew up in the lush rolling hills of Southern Ohio. From an early age she had a great appreciation for the simple things that she saw on the hills and valleys around her. The animals, farm buildings, tractors, streams and ponds all had interesting shapes that appealed to her soul. The people that she met were hard working folks that had a great appreciation for what God was providing to them. She loved to sketch things that appealed to her. Eventually she painted from many of those memories. Her art has been produced in framed prints, wooden panels, wooden trinket boxes, door hangers, candle labels, pillows, calendars, greeting cards, wallpaper and many other products. Dianna designed ornaments for the Ohio Governor’s residence for several years and was chosen from the state to make ornaments for the White House two years in a row. Her work has been in the Museum of American Folk Art. In 2011 she was asked to design exclusive Fife and Drum art to be used by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, in Williamsburg, VA. She truly loves to help others when it comes to donations for her community. Dianna resides with her husband, Ira, in Huntersville, NC. She is the mother of three daughters.

Marta Cortese lives and works in Turin, Italy; she was born and raised in Asti, in the middle of the Monferrato hills.

An architect by training, she chose to follow her attitude towards a creative profession, in which she can freely express herself: Marta began to explore the world of visual communication, exploring typography, calligraphy, illustration, and finding the best way to express and combine her great creative imagination with her innate aesthetic taste.

Since 2015 Marta has been working as a professional textile designer, in 2017 she co-founded nerodiseppia studio, no longer active; from 2020 she has chosen to continue operating as an independent designer, signing the designs she creates and offering her clients custom services.

In parallel with her work, Marta loves to devote herself to experimental calligraphy, a variant that approaches the pure sign, up to the complete abstraction of the letter; she further elaborates her calligraphic tables through folds, cuts, and binding, and transforms them into book sculptures that can be opened and discovered in many different ways, letting oneself be carried by the creative flow.

This practice allows her to experiment with a manual technique capable of giving her a great creative drive, which she then transfers into her daily work.

Originally from Russia, Oxana Zaika is an established painter whose works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions internationally. Drawing from a very young age, she defines  her current style as being inspired by different traditions, crafts and myths of the world’s cultures. She has mastered a variety of  techniques, like watercolor and oil painting, lace drawing and Byzantine icon painting. Oxana primarily works in watercolor and india ink, creating detailed depictions of animals and people in fantastical settings. 

Her artwork aims to reveal an optimistic and imaginative view of the world by using bright color palettes, intricate patterns and enchanting reinterpretations of folkloric subjects.

I make my quilts on the same block in the Bronx where I’ve lived my whole life.  Until my mother-in-law passed away in May 2021, we were three generations living within a block of each other on this most northern NYC street: my daughter, my mother-in-law, my husband and me. For over twenty-five years, my workspace in our ninth floor, two-bedroom, cram-packed-with-fabric-and-sewing-stuff apartment was the forty-two-inch round kitchen table. Our perpetual dining companion was a Singer Featherweight, purchased for $25 at a yard sale. I used to call it an old machine until I learned it was a year younger than I am. Together we made my first quilt (a comforter cover, really) in 1968 in my college dorm. We continued as a team through the first twenty-seven quilts in my kaleidoscopic series. Today I work in a 15- by 10-foot studio revamped from my daughter’s former bedroom. Picture ceiling-high cupboards stuffed with fabric, drawers overflowing with the paraphernalia quilters collect, six feet of design wall, and a Bernina poised on a 4 by 6-foot counter, waiting to continue the forty-five quilt in my series.

My interest in things kaleidoscopic began in 1987 when I was struck by a bolt of fabric—a sumptuous, sinfully expensive, bilaterally symmetrical Liberty of London tana lawn. Little did I know that purchasing a quarter yard would change my life forever, leading me, three years and four quilts later, to the state-of-the-art kaleidoscope and a new career. The lesson from this anecdote is obvious: buy that piece of fabric no matter how expensive it is. As I peer through the incredible kaleidoscopes I have garnered over the years, like a sleuth searching for clues, I discover my design inspiration all over again. Who knows what the next turn of the scope will reveal, to me or to you?

Internationally known artist Ruane Manning creates spectacular works of art with a reverence for nature and the creatures that share our small planet. His images come to life through the expert use of light, authentic detailing and intimate knowledge of his subjects’ form, behavior and habitat.

Ruane studied at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, then spent several years as an advertising artist. He has won awards from the prestigious Philadelphia Art Alliance for his illustrations and sculpture. In 1968, his first wildlife print was published. Since then, he has won international acclaim for original oil paintings and works created for such companies as the Danbury Mint, the Franklin Mint and the Hamilton Collection. His sculptures are included in the collections of U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.

Ruane’s home and studio are located on a farm in southern New Jersey, where he resides with his family and numerous animal friends.

In his new series, Ruane brings us all things simple: a roadside farm stand, the Americana charm of Main Street, and a quiet day on the farm. These Kirkland’s-exclusive pieces prove that all country roads lead home–where memories are made, love and laughter are a way of life, and good friends are just around the bend.

Terry Redlin has given the world a great gift with his ability to capture the memories so many of us share from our childhood and life in America. Visitors from all over the world can visit Redlin’s hometown and collection of over 150 original oil paintings at the Redlin Art Center in Watertown, SD. The museum is open year-round and admission is free.

In June of 2007, Terry announced his retirement from painting and print signing to the home he built on a spot he fished from as a boy on the shores of Lake Kampeska in Watertown. Terry noted, “An American novelist once told us that you ‘can’t go home again.’ He was wrong. In my mind, I never left home even when physically away. And when I finally returned, it was a great relief. I was reconnected to my past and to a childhood that was magic.” Terry enjoyed his retirement surrounded by the family, friends and the places that have inspired him for nearly 70 years.

Terry passed away on April 24, 2016, leaving behind a lifetime of artistic achievements and many windows displaying his creativity, love for the outdoors and commitment to conservation.

In the very beginning of his artistic career, Thomas Kinkade put his entire life savings into the printing of his first lithograph. Though at the time he was already an acclaimed illustrator, Thom found that he was inspired not by fame and fortune, but by the simple act of painting straight from the heart, putting on canvas the natural wonders and images that moved him most. It was this dedication and singular-minded focus on the ultimate goal of Sharing the Light™ that made Thomas Kinkade, a simple boy with a brush from the small country town of Placerville, California the most-collected living artist of his time.

Thom’s dearest wish had always been that his artwork would be a messenger of hope and inspiration to others – a message to slow down, appreciate the little details in life, and to look for beauty in the world around us. As millions of collectors around the world sit back and enjoy his artwork in their homes, there is no doubt that Thomas Kinkade had indeed achieved his goal of Sharing the Light™.

Valentina Harper grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, where her childhood was filled with drawing, coloring, and painting. As an adult, she came to the United States with a brilliant imagination and a heart full of dreams. After getting a degree in graphic design and working for fifteen years as a graphic designer, Valentina discovered a new life as a professional artist. In her Nashville studio, she spends countless happy hours playing with her paints and her Rapidograph pens, nurturing her world of fantasies and dreams where her uplifting drawings and designs take shape. She enjoys working with different materials, but black ink is one of her favorite mediums. Her attention to intricate detail is a signature of her drawing style.

David Galchutt can pin down the moment he decided to be an artist to a long ago day in kindergarten. The class was drawing trees with crayons. His tree did not look quite like the others. He was indignant that trees most definitely did NOT look like brown and green Q-tips. Trees had branches and leaves and bird’s nests and that is how he chose to draw his.

David Galchutt comes from a family of artists. His parents met in art school. His father was a graphic designer and his mother studied costume design. David attempts to incorporate design and costume into his artwork as the assignment allows. He is a graduate from Art Center College of Design.

A native Southern Californian, David Galchutt has been working as an illustrator/painter for over 30 years. Though he did some advertising illustration in his early years, the primary focus of his career has been in the children’s industry working for both toy companies and publishing. In 1993 a children’s book that he both wrote and illustrated was published by Simon and Schuster. He continues to freelance for children’s magazines, primarily for Highlights for Children. This relationship is especially rewarding as he had a subscription to that magazine as a child.

He was awarded the 2010 award for Best Children’s Magazine Illustration of the Year (ages 9-11) from The Association of Educational Publishers.

Additionally, he has worked the past decade designing for the giftware industry. He is comfortable working in both watercolor and oils.

Danny O’Driscoll grew up in Charleston, SC and began his art career as an illustrator with Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC. He has been a professionally working artist for about 45 years, and his work has appeared in publications such as Artist Magazine, Airbrush Magazine, and the bestselling book Wildlife Painting: Step by Step by Patrick Seslar. Danny annually participates in major wildlife art shows such as the Southeastern Wildlife Expo in Charleston, South Carolina, Plantation Wildlife Festival in Georgia, Southern Wildlife Festival in Alabama, as well as many regional outdoor arts and crafts festivals. As a child growing up in Charleston, SC Danny was fortunate to spend a lot of time outdoors. This reflected in his art then and now.

Lorraine burst into the world of textile art in 2018 with a 26-piece special exhibit at IQF in Houston, just two years after creating her very first art quilt! Since then, she has become an Aurifil Designer, Aurifilisopher, been featured in major quilting magazines, and seen on Quilting Arts TV and the QuiltShow with Ricky Tims.

Lorraine is a proud Benartex fabric designer and brings a lifetime of creative experience to her textileart. A commercial artist for forty years, Lorraine won two Emmy Awards as a lead designer for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and is the recipient of multiple awards at the San Diego International Comic-Con in her role as Art Director of the Library of American Comics.

She combines her varied experience as a watercolorist, commercial artist, and television animator with her love for all things fabric to create exciting multi-textured fabric designs.

Lorraine also teaches and lectures internationally, and is an author and motivational speaker who strongly believes in moving thought into action.

She has yet to meet a fabric embellishment she doesn’t like!

Lorraine works from her studio in Clearwater, Florida.

At the age of 30 and with zero art experience, Kelly Rae Roberts started playing with paint, and everything changed. Painting brought her what she was craving: healing, unburdened joy, and awakening. Kelly Rae’s tender style of truth-telling and possibility-driven approach to life, work, & art has been featured in many books, and in countless magazines. Much of her work can be found worldwide on all kinds of uplifting home decor, gifts, and stationery products. She is the author and teacher of many beloved e-courses that celebrate the intersection of art and healing.

She lives in Sisters, OR with her son True, husband John, and two English Bulldogs, Lulu, and Amelia. You can learn more about Kelly Rae at KellyRaeRoberts.com.