Artist Bios – May 2017
Devon Balwit is a teacher/poet from Portland, OR. She has two chapbooks: How the Blessed Travel (Maverick Duck Press) & Forms Most Marvelous (forthcoming with dancing girl press). Her work has found many homes, some of which are: The Cincinnati Review, The Stillwater Review, Sierra Nevada Review, Red Earth Review, Under a Warm Green Linden, Tule Review, Muse/A Journal, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, and The Inflectionist Review.
Edward Doyle-Gillespie is a long-time Hampden resident. Holding a degree in History from George Washington University, and an MLA from JHU, he spent roughly ten years in the field of education. His writing has appeared in journals and books in US and other Western nations. He is the author of On the Later Addition of Sancho Panza.
A painter, teacher, curator, and writer, Cara Ober layers drawing, painting, and printmaking into mixed media works that examine and reinterpret sentimental imagery. Ober’s narrative works utilize specific phrases and fonts to suggest multiple voices, perspectives, and time periods. Rather than illustrating the text, the images create discord and contrast, layering metaphorical and nonsensical outcomes over personal notation. See more of her work at caraober.com.
A resident of New York City, Kerfe Roig enjoys transforming words and images into something new. She likes to recycle materials, but she does not limit herself to any particular media. You can follow her explorations on the blog she does with her friend Nina, https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/.
A self-taught artist, Magan Ruthke has been a long time resident and champion of Baltimore City. Her art reflects her travels, her love of the natural world and folk design. She owes a great deal of her passion to her amazing friends and teachers from her time at Joppatowne High School. Magan currently teaches Creative Foundations at World House Community Supported Education. She has as B.S. in Theatre Arts and M.S. in Human Resource Development from Towson University. Magan thanks her partner in life, writer, Seth Sawyers, for his unwavering support for all that she creates. See more of her work at maganruthke.com.
Crystal Snoddon is a Canadian writer who loves play with words when not working in a more prosaic field. She is supported by a forgiving family who rarely mention the burnt offerings laid out on the dinner table. Previous poetry may be found in Communicator’s League, Rat’s Ass Review, The Ekphrastic Review, The Quarterday Review, among others.
Simon J. Ward is a writer of poetry and short stories. He teaches composition, literature, and creative writing at Anne Arundel Community College, and also works as a Sous Chef in Baltimore. His poetry has appeared in literary magazines in both the US and the UK, and his prose is upcoming in Workers Write! He received a master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow in 2012.
LuAnn Zubak is an artist who lives at Artist’s Housing, Inc., a co-op in Baltimore city. LuAnn grew up in western Pennsylvania on a farm, where she also worked at the family general store. She studied studio art and Art History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has a Master’s Degree in drawing and painting from the University of Maryland, College Park. She often uses her collection of vintage photographs as source material for her drawings and mixed-media works.
Mychael Zulauf is a poet, book artist, and musician currently living in Baltimore. Check out his music here: soundcloud.com/weleavehome and his books here: akinogapress.com.