About Us

Rebecca Braziel was born in Savannah, Georgia.  She graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in fibers in 2008.  Since then, she has gained experience as an artist assistant, workshop instructor, middle school art teacher, and co-op member.  She has continued to be involved in the fibers department at SCAD, both as guest critic and
senior mentor.

With a fibers background at the core, she focuses on texture, process, material, repetition and attention to detail. A pivotal element in her work is material sourcing.  A lover of collaboration, she feels that found objects bring their own story to the table and provide an inspirational starting point.

Rebecca moved to Houston in 2013. Since then, her work has been shown at Galveston Art Center, Mountain View College, and Hunter Gather Project. Earlier this summer, Rebecca won the Texas Biggest 10 Award from Katy Contemporary Arts Museum.

Rebecca will be with HCCC through February, 2017.  During her six-month residency she will explore her passion for creating a contemporary twist on traditional textile techniques, including paper-cutting, paper-making, beading, and dye processes.  She strives to push her work further into the sculptural realm and take scale to the next level. To learn more about her work, visit rebeccabraziel.com.

Shiyuan Xu was born in Hangzhou, P.R. China. She graduated from China Academy of Art with a Bachelor of Arts in 2012. In 2016, she received her MFA in ceramics from Arizona State University. Most recently, Shiyuan completed a summer artist residency at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana.

Shiyuan explores natural forms at the microscopic level with her own interpretation of scientific facts. Her pieces reveal the diversity and beauty of unnoticed tiny things.

Primarily working with porcelain paper clay, Shiyuan hand builds structures with slabs and coils to create intricate forms. Her chaotic lines create a harmonious volume within a single form, generating a unified whole.

Experimenting with various glazes, Shiyuan applies layer after layer, to form and freeze the growing motion. Through her sculptures, she wants to deliver an appreciation for nature and life.  Shiyuan will be with HCCC through August, 2017. To learn more about her work, please visit shiyuanxu.com.

Amber Marie Smith was born in Redlands, California. In 2011, she graduated from California State University, Long Beach, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, followed by post baccalaureate studies. Amber left California to attend Virginia Commonwealth University, where she obtained her MFA in craft and material studies in 2015.

Using primarily clay and balsa wood, Amber recreates furniture and duplicates home environments. She investigates the way her mind alters memories–especially childhood memories. The intimate space of a bedroom allows for the representation of these distorted childhood recollections. The house tableaus she designs are missing parts, shifted in height and replicated. Amber often makes two of the same piece, mirroring the work, for more alteration. For Amber, the doubling is a way to hold on to something longer. If one possesses multiples of an object, and one thing is lost, then there are others to replace it.

Amber will be with HCCC through February, 2017. During her six-month residency, she plans to continue doubling and exploring the reflective surfaces of mirrors, glass and water. She also wants to expand her skills in making new objects, including ceiling fans, lamps and playground sets. To learn more about her work, please visit ambermariesmith.com.

Originally from Manhattan Beach, California, Lisa Hardaway has had an extremely diverse career as a musician, musicologist, photographer, ethnomusicologist, spinner/dyer/weaver and teacher. She has a BMus and MMus in flute performance (1981), and a MMus in historical musicology (1989) from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

Lisa’s interest in fiber arts began as a child. She learned embroidery, sewing, and crochet. Coupled with an interest in drawing and painting, she designed functional pieces that she wore and household decorative textiles. (She still makes most of her clothing). About 12 years ago, she taught herself how to spin yarn, and a few years later, she acquired a loom and began the process of learning how to weave.

Although she has woven very fine linen, cotton and wool, the spinning, weaving and dyeing of wool for rug making has become Lisa’s specialty. Inspired by the design and rugs of the Native Americans, Peter Collingsworth of England, and of the Swedish, she learned basic Navajo weaving techniques from Jennie Slick of Arizona, and learned the rug making techniques of Peter Collingwood from his son, Jason. She also studied traditional Rio Grande rug weaving and wool dyeing using natural dyestuffs at Tierra Wools, Los Ojos, New Mexico. She worked with Kate Smith and Norman Kennedy to learn repp rug weaving, Shaker weaving, and the use of synthetic dyes at the Marshfield School in Vermont. She also studied Swedish design on her own.

In a similar way that she combined her varied skills as a musician, photographer, and historian in the field of ethnomusicology, Lisa now combines traditional American weaving, contemporary English rug weaving techniques, and Swedish design in her work as a rug weaver. During her residency, she plans to further personalize her work by using images from her photographic archive and natural objects of significance. She will be with HCCC through May, 2017. To learn more about her work, stop by her studio on your next visit to HCCC.

Anthony Sonnenberg was born in Graham, TX. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in 2009, and in 2012 he received his MFA from the University of Washington at Seattle.

On a societal and personal level, Anthony critiques the cycle of denial and decadence through the lenses of his lifelong struggle with obesity, the timeless veracity of Greek myth, and the excessively ornate Baroque and Rococo aesthetics. Decadence is a by-product of attempting to cope with the fear of uncertainty. Crowns and candlesticks—things made in the moments just before a crash—are the subject of his work. Rather than casting judgments, Anthony seeks to actively engage with and bear witness to the tragic and beautiful nature of this cycle.

His making comes from seeing the writing on the wall and not knowing what to do about it. His work has been featured in solo presentations at Seattle Art Museum; Old Jail Art Center in Albany, TX; Conduit Gallery in Dallas; and Art Palace Gallery in Houston, TX.

Anthony comes to HCCC having been awarded artist residencies at Archie Bray Foundation (Helena, MT), Sculpture Space (Utica, NY), Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), and Lawndale Art Center (Houston, TX).

He will be with HCCC through December, 2016. To learn more about his work, please visit anthonysonnenberg.com.

Carolyn Watkins is from Cincinnati, Ohio, where she received her BFA from the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati.  She received her MFA in ceramics from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 2015.

Carolyn has exhibited nationally in exhibitions, such as Beyond the Brickyard at the Archie Bray Foundation, and at venues including the Jung Center in Houston, Texas, and the Indiana University Museum of Fine Arts.  She has completed multiple ceramic artist residencies, including Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado and the Mendocino Arts Center in California. She has also studied ceramics at the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China.

Carolyn works primarily in hand-built ceramics. Clay is her chosen medium because she is drawn to the archival nature of ceramics and is fascinated by its ubiquity in people’s lives as an interface with the physical environment. Her forms are inspired by the human form and by historical ceramic vessels.

Carolyn will be with HCCC from June through August, 2016. To learn more about her work, please visit https://carolynwatkinsart.com.

Madison Creech is a multimedia artist with a dedication to digital fabrication. She received a BFA, as well as a BS, in textile, merchandising, and fashion design from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, followed by an MFA in fibers from Arizona State University.

Madison’s research involves the parallels between bird migration and her own story of navigating and deciphering what is familiar and what is unfamiliar. Something happens when humans encounter an animal; this exchange cannot be translated into human knowing without distortion or loss.  In her art practice, Madison is constantly searching for tools and symbols to illustrate and challenge the fragmented and confusing relationship between animal and human.

Included in her exhibition record is a Surface Design Association juried exhibition, Explorations, as well as the juried public art show, Prints in Peculiar Places, for the 2015 Southern Graphics Council International Conference.  She held a residency at the nationally recognized Techshop in Chandler, Arizona, where she received comprehensive training on digital equipment, as well as general wood- and metal-shop equipment.

Madison will be with HCCC from June through August, 2016. To learn more about her work, please visit http:/www.creechers.com.

Rene Lee Henry was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, and relocated to San Diego, California in 1990. She has been a professional graphic designer for the past nine years, but is striving to shift her primary career to full-time jeweler. She received her BA in Fine Arts with honors from San Diego State University in 2013, where she was the recipient of the Women’s Jewelry Association Scholarship Award, and received scholarships from Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

Rene is co-founder of VAR Collective; a group of makers that exchange ideas as well as creating and promoting group projects and exhibitions in San Diego. Her individual work has been selected for exhibitions across the United States, published in Showcase 500 Art Necklaces by Lark publishing; and was the recipient of San Diego State University Student Exhibition President’s Award.

She currently has a studio practice making one-of-a-kind and limited production jewelry in San Diego, but will be temporarily relocating to Houston, Texas to participate in Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s Artist Residency Program January through May 2016. While at HCCC, Rene will be focusing on new work pushing the focus beyond its current emphasis on formal elements to encompass a greater depth of meaning through personal narrative. This work will be based upon her fascination of modern day ruins and the “relics” left behind. To learn more about her work, please visit https://reneleehenry.com.