Mesoma Hammida Onyeagba’s vibrant work bridges painting and textiles, transforming salvaged fabrics into powerful visual narratives. Influenced by her Nigerian heritage and collaborative practices, Onyeagba honors identity, nostalgia, and community through rich textures and immersive storytelling. In this interview, she shares insights into her creative process, inspirations, and her ongoing exploration of representation and joy.

Margarida Fleming’s vibrant figurative paintings explore the complexity of feminine identity through expressive brushstrokes and textured layers of color. Rooted in both tradition and contemporary culture, her work invites viewers to reflect on gender, empowerment, and the stories that shape us. Based in Lisbon, Fleming’s art transcends stereotypes, offering a fresh perspective on the human experience.

Cher Xu’s recent paintings focus on artists within their community, portraying their likeness, personal environments, and collected objects with warmth and honesty. By flattening pictorial space and leaving sketch lines visible, their work challenges viewers to engage deeply and thoughtfully with each detail, offering a quiet invitation to slow down and truly see.

Natalie Pivoney’s richly layered oil paintings revisit college memories, Midwestern bars, and domestic still lifes, blurring the line between realism and abstraction. Through bold light, color, and intimate compositions, she reimagines the everyday as something worth remembering. Learn more about her creative process and inspiration in this feature from Create! Magazine Issue 52.

Inspired by global myths and personal dives, Jo Gamel’s still life paintings reimagine ocean relics as symbols of the feminine psyche—tempestuous, sacred, and enduring. Her practice blends traditional oil techniques with spiritual storytelling, inviting viewers into spaces of wonder, memory, and transformation.

Jessie Ross brings a sense of magic and fragility to her watercolor paintings, where flora and fauna morph into whimsical, dreamlike forms. Influenced by her time in fashion design, her coastal walks, and the contrasts of city life, Ross's work explores transformation, perception, and the quiet wonder of the natural world. In this interview, she shares her process, inspiration, and the delicate balance between spontaneity and structure.

Blending personal history with universal themes, Camille Myles’ Remembrance series reimagines forgotten family photos through expressive, layered portraiture. Based in Tiny, Ontario, Myles draws from her background in heritage conservation and public history to explore identity, absence, and healing. Her evocative work invites viewers into quiet moments of reflection, honoring what’s often unseen or forgotten.

Nashville-based artist Sharon Harms made the leap from award-winning graphic designer to professional painter in 2020. Drawing from decades of experience in visual communication, her work explores narrative and emotion through a refined yet intuitive painting style. With selections in international exhibitions and features in top art magazines, Harms continues to prove it’s never too late to pursue your passion.

Ilana Wajcberg’s work invites viewers into a poetic dialogue between architecture, botany, and femininity. Using watercolor and mixed media, she creates layered, dreamlike landscapes that explore memory, motherhood, and transformation. Her Deep Femininity series offers a sensitive reflection on the evolving female experience, merging personal narrative with broader themes of identity and nature.

Angel Wagner’s deeply personal oil paintings explore themes of healing, transformation, and feminine strength through a surreal and symbolic visual language. Informed by her 16 years as a licensed counselor, her work offers visual affirmations that challenge outdated portrayals of women and celebrate their agency.

Dallas-based painter Michael Reeder is known for his bold use of color, layered symbolism, and a process-driven approach that balances humor, identity, and existential reflection. With roots in graffiti, graphic design, and fine art, Reeder’s work invites viewers into a world where meaning is fluid and the unexpected is essential. In this interview, he reflects on creative chaos, chasing inspiration, and staying true to the work while navigating the business of art.

Born and raised in the South Bronx, Cope2 has been a driving force in graffiti and street art for over four decades. From tagging subway cars in the 1970s to exhibiting abstract expressionist canvases in galleries worldwide, his signature bubble letters and wild style continue to shape contemporary visual culture.

Create! Magazine is proud to feature artist Sarah Burns in the “Land and Longing” virtual exhibition. Based in Southern Oregon, Burns captures the vibrant landscapes of her home region using traditional European painting techniques. Deeply inspired by the natural world and historical art practices, her plein air paintings not only preserve the beauty of the environment but also foster a deeper connection to place, history, and community.

Nathaniel J Moody’s paintings blend memory, landscape, and emotional resonance into powerful visual narratives. Working in oil and watercolor, Moody captures the shifting nature of identity, belonging, and connection to land. His work, included in Create! Magazine’s Land and Longing exhibition, invites viewers to reflect on personal and collective journeys toward home.

Yemaya Diethelm’s multidisciplinary practice weaves together memory, the human body, and nature, with a focus on the ecologies of the Pacific Northwest. Her latest works, featured in the "Land and Longing" virtual exhibition, reflect on the fragility and resilience of our environment through powerful oil paintings. Discover how Diethelm uses seaweed as a symbol of ecological strength and addresses themes of climate grief in her compelling visual narratives.

In Create! Magazine’s Land and Longing exhibition, British artist Daniel Freaker shares richly layered paintings that balance bright, beautiful color with deeper reflections on the human condition. Freaker's work captures the tension between structure and chaos, inviting viewers into dynamic narratives of searching, connection, and meaning.

Laura Barr’s richly colored paintings capture fleeting, transcendent moments where light, color, and form transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Through her Here and There series and other works, Barr explores impermanence, water conservation, and meditative beauty. Featured in Create! Magazine’s Land and Longing virtual exhibition, her art invites viewers to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the quiet wonder of the natural world.

Ontario-based artist Phil Irish brings together painting, collage, and environmental insight in his striking Niche Species series. Created during an Arctic Circle Residency and now featured in the Land and Longing exhibition, his work explores the beauty and fragility of the natural world through emotionally resonant animal imagery and stark Arctic landscapes. Each piece is a meditation on climate change, interconnection, and what it means to care for our planet in a time of crisis.

Cheryl Hochberg’s artwork invites viewers to reflect on the deep connection between humans and nature. Through her ongoing projects in places like Wyoming, South China, Finland, and Tucson, Cheryl captures the beauty, struggle, and resilience of the landscapes she visits. Her work, currently featured in the Land and Longing virtual exhibition, embodies a unique exploration of the impact of human industry and nature’s ability to heal and adapt. Learn more about her process and the stories that shape her projects.

In her emotionally rich abstract landscapes, Denver artist Kathy Knaus channels the tension and harmony of the natural world through expressive color and texture. Her work, featured in Create! Magazine’s virtual exhibition Land and Longing, reflects on the healing parallels between people and the earth. Drawing from her background in Five Element Acupuncture and a lifelong connection to nature, Knaus creates vivid, intuitive compositions that ask us to slow down, look closer, and honor the beauty in resilience.