Career Area: Visual Arts
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Jeannie Rounsefell
“If you can’t go to sleep until you have done this thing, you will never rest easy. Be curious, challenge the world and yourself.”
Quick Facts
Education: Some elementary school in Aiken, SC; Self-taught
Years of Experience: 40 Years
About
Jeannie Rounsefell started creating art out of necessity. She was broke, young, a single mother, and had an urge inside of her to create something from her surroundings. Such objects were unlikely materials; unloved items and forgotten things other people had long given up on.
Forty years later, she calls herself a trash pirate (a compliment to her work). Jeannie’s creations are built on humor, irreverence, and a deep love for the absurd. She has a vast working knowledge of tools and processes, almost all of it earned through trial and error. This knowledge establishes a vast pocket of problem-solving skills, to which she implements both into her practice every day.
As for her career, her whole philosophy is that she simply creates. Jeannie follows what interests her, works with what she discovers, and allows the material to speak for itself. It is a practice grounded in freedom and curiosity. She supports herself with her making, which is what she intended and continues to do. For anyone wondering whether to start, her answer is short and clear: “Do it. If it keeps you up at night, you already know you have to.”
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Susan Lenz
“Get a timecard and track the number of hours actively spent making. Being creative is a skill that is improved through lots and lots of practice.”
Quick Facts
Education: Undergraduate
Years of Experience: 23 Years
About
Susan Lenz built her creative life in a familiar way to the arts: a little late, on her own terms, and with complete conviction. She was forty-two years old when she finally let herself say aloud what she wanted to be: a fiber artist.
She rented a studio in a cooperative artist enclave. With no formal degree program and no one to guide her through a process, Susan taught herself everything she needed to work professionally. She figured it out by doing, logging the hours, and treating the crafting process as her full-time job.
What she makes is entirely her own. Every piece is an original, born from a threaded needle, an object, and a specific way of seeing the world. For over two decades, she has built a full working practice of gallery representation, commissions, teaching workshops, and a daily studio habit that has never ceased throughout her artistic journey.
Her advice to anyone starting is to be practical and direct as “being creative is a skill that is improved through lots and lots of practice.” Track the hours. Treat the making like work, because it is work. Creativity is not something to either have or not. It is a skill, and like any other, it only gets better with more time and care invested into it.
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Carol Black-Lemon
“Avoid comparing yourself to others—learn from them instead.”
Quick Facts
Level of Education: Undergrad/Associate
Years of Experience: 25 Years
About
Carol Black-Lemon is a multidisciplinary visual artist who creates expressive, story-driven work that explores heritage, identity, and human connection. She fosters creativity and community through the art and outreach of others, taking pride in her own creative freedom. Carol balances her own artistic exploration by serving her community through collaboration, exhibitions, and creating spaces for the nurturing and sharing of creativity.
Carol prides herself on embracing challenges and committing to her art. From an early age, she had been drawn to art as an outlet to express herself and make sense of the world around her. Carol says she “didn’t wait for a seat at the table” and made her own, choosing instead to create, exhibit, and engage in art her own terms. At sixty-nine years old, Carol views her life as a powerful continuation and wants to set an example by living life creatively.
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C. Michelle Bryant Griffin
“Be your unique self, and let the world catch up.”
Quick Facts
Level of Education: A.C. Flora High School (Columbia); attended 27 schools across 12 years; some college
Years of Experience: 40+ Years
About
C. Michelle Bryant Griffin is an artist, author, and entrepreneur based in the Low Country of South Carolina who has spent more than four decades creating, building, and supporting others in doing the same. Her work today centers on helping dreamers, doers, and entrepreneurs bring their visions to life, transforming ideas into brands that shine and make their mark on the world.
Her path into photography began during a divorce in her late fifties, born out of vulnerability and a desire to rebuild. As she photographed other women navigating similar turning points, she found herself collecting their remarkable, under-sung stories which deserved a wider audience. That impulse became a magazine with a global readership for over a decade, dedicated to showcasing the overlooked and the underestimated. When the pandemic reduced print circulation, she pivoted to a fully online practice. She launched Fabulous Business Solutions, a practice that blends strategy, design, and hands-on support for writers, artists, and entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey.
She expresses her love for her work, saying that “everything I do is done with 100% heart and passion, as if it were my own personal project.”
Michelle describes her abundance of talent as both a blessing and a challenge; the question of how much to use, and in which direction, is one she holds lightly. But the answer she keeps returning to is love. Everything she does, she does because she genuinely loves it. And for her, that has always been enough.
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Winnifred Tataw
“Nurture your passion with persistence. Embrace the power of your unique voice, and remember that every story you tell is a bridge that unites us all. When we foster love and creativity, we create a world that thrives on connection and resilience. The world needs your art!”
Quick Facts
Education: College of Charleston
Years of Experience: 15 Years of Experience
About
Winnifred Tataw is an author, artist, and book publisher based in the Low Country of South Carolina whose work is rooted in the belief that stories have the power to connect, inspire, and celebrate the full spectrum of human experience. As graduate of the College of Charleston with a background in Studio Art and Writing, she has spent fifteen years crafting work that blends personal narratives with universal truths, creating as she describes, “an inviting tapestry where every reader finds a piece of themselves.”
Her love for art and storytelling grew side by side from childhood, shaped by the joy of listening to her parents’ stories and the richness of her heritage. The two passions are so intertwined that she cannot say which came first, but both have always been essential. Remarkably, Winnifred began publishing her novels during her first year of college, setting an early tone for a creative life defined by courage and momentum. She notes that she aims to, “create stories and art that connect and inspire action while celebrating the beauty of the human journey.”
For emerging creatives, her message is both generous and clear: the world needs your art. Foster your love of craft with persistence, trust the distinctiveness of your voice, and understand that every story you tell is a bridge, one that unites people, builds resilience, and reminds us of our shared humanity.
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Ismael Valentin
“Never be afraid to explore as many mediums as possible, because experimentation is where your voice begins to take shape.”
Quick Facts
Level of Education: Welding, Artist Residency in Italy
Years of Experience: 35+ Years
About
Ismael Valentin is a sculptor, photographer, and multi-medium artist whose work centers on bronze, wax, and traditional foundry techniques. These methods give each piece its own distinct character and depth, allowing him to create across multiple mediums as a way to express how he sees and interprets the world.
His relationship with art began at age eight, when he was encouraged to enter a raffle and won a set of artist supplies. That unexpected moment sparked a lifelong passion that grew alongside the mediums he explored. His artistic journey eventually led him to Italy, where he lived and worked during an artist residency that deepened both his technical skills and creative perspective.
To emerging artists, Valentin offers this advice: “As you follow your journey, you’ll find many people who try to critique your vision or put you in a box. Stay true to yourself and your vision.” To explore more of Valentin’s work, visit his website www.valentinartisticdesigns.com and follow his social media platforms for updates on his journey.
