There are two basic themes that consistently appear in my work. The first is the image of a bird. To me, images of flight and weightlessness represent the idea of a soul and our spiritual existence. It is the part of ourselves that longs for the freedom of an immense open sky. Emily Dickinson describes the symbolism of a bird perfectly in her poem “Hope.”

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune–without the words,
And never stops at all…

Have you ever held a small bird in your hands? They are disturbingly light. It is a wonder that something so delicate could survive wind and rain, coming out of the most violent storms unhindered. The birds in my paintings represent hope.

As well as birds, another reoccurring theme in my work is the human skeleton. The skeleton is earthy. Bones are the portion of us that lasts the longest. After our flesh is long gone, the skeleton remains. These connect with the idea of solidity, of being anchored to this earth. I connect with the skeleton because it represents the everyman. A skeleton has no skin color, no face, it is the structure and support within all of us. For another poetic reference, I connect with T.S. Eliot’s descriptions of the bones in his poem Ash Wednesday:

Shall these bones live? shall these
Bones live? And that which had been contained
In the bones (which were already dry) …
My guts the strings of my eyes and the indigestible portions…
Let the whiteness of bones atone to forgetfulness.
There is no life in them. As I am forgotten
And would be forgotten, so I would forget
Thus devoted, concentrated in purpose…”

My paintings utilize a build-up of mixed media elements. I use found items to contribute or add structure to my pieces – old windows, sticks, feathers, scraps of wood. Using these natural materials connects me with the physical act of creating, showcasing objects and old papers that have stories intertwined into them. These are not museum artworks, not stiff and cold paintings of landscapes that sit in gold plated frames. They are pieces of life collected that, when reassembled, struggle with ideas of human existence.
This connection with stories continues within my paintings themselves. Rather than depicting realistic scenes, my works have an illustrative narrative sense. I use the images to tell a story or at least to give glimpses into one.

Here are a few pieces that we just added to the store. Please check the artwork section to see all current listings from her as most of her pieces are one of a kind and may change often.

What is your process behind setting the stage for your fine art pieces?

Often it starts with an image in my mind and the story sort of builds itself around it. Sometimes instead I will take a concept from literature or music and attempt to create a visual representation of the story.

Your finished pieces get a lot of their personality from the hours you spend in photoshop after the photo shoot is over. What would you say the average number of photoshop hours is for each piece?

I would say most pieces average 4-6 hrs, although I easily have 20+ hours in a few of my pieces. I treat each image as if it were going to be enlarged to a 5 ft print, so I’m meticulous when it comes to any cut-out or detail that might be seen at that size.

Aside from the photoshop work, you obviously have to have amazing photos to begin with. Are you self-taught or did you study photography?

Thanks. I am self taught. I grew up treating each class in school as if it were art. I drew all the time. I never took photography before the invention of photoshop because the photos that were coming out at that time were pretty boring; b&w railroad tracks, doorknobs, spiderwebs. I came across Photoshop and an SLR camera in 2004 and fell in love. The ability to treat photography more like a painting really appealed to me. I began shooting professionally in 2005 and haven’t looked back.

Outside of your work, you are also the curator/landlord of Gallery Underground… how did that come into existence?

I started the gallery in 2007 because I felt like their was a definite lack of alternative art in the galleries in Fort Collins. Lots of aspen trees and cowboy paintings, which is fine, it sells, but I wanted a place to house some of the more creative local work. People who were pushing the boundaries of original art. Artists like Ryan Guilame and Amanda Marie. Their work was hanging primarily in coffee shops or bars at the time.

How would you describe Gallery Underground?

It’s now morphed into sort of a bohemian bubble that houses 15 resident artists, many of which work out of the gallery on a daily basis, as well as displaying their art to the public each first Friday. I believe visiting an art gallery shouldn’t be an intimidating or stuffy experience, so twice a month we open our doors and try to create more of a fun atmosphere that opens a dialogue between the artists and the supportive art fans of Fort Collins.

What are you working on right now that you’re most excited about?

I’m working on a series of photos from traditional nursery rhymes, some of which take an edgy turn. I will be displaying those at an upcoming First Friday opening so the locals who come out will have a chance to see them before they are offered online.

Outside of taking pictures, what do you most enjoy to do?

Riding my bike and hanging out with my amazing wife and daughters.

Anything else that you think we should know?

Life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves. ~Bill Hicks

Make sure to check out Summit Style to see more images from Darren.

She hand-cuts and fires each pendant made from specialty fusing glass with her brand new spanking kiln. (Insert appropriate congratulations here).

Below are a few pieces that we’re currenty selling from her on the site, but expect lots of unique necklaces in the future. You can buy these items in our Accessories section

Sharing my passion for art landed me a job teaching middle school students in a rural setting to love it just as much as I do. After having my second child, I found I couldn’t go back to the classroom and began looking for a creative outlet that was all my own. I began teaching myself metalsmithing in a dusty corner of my garage, and I found I could learn relatively simple techniques in short bursts of time while my kids napped. Etching on the pieces I created became a way to permanently record my drawings on timeless materials. I feel like a weight is lifted from my shoulders every time I sit at my workbench to begin a new piece of original art. I never realized how precious time was until I shared it with motherhood duties, and I guess my art embodies that feeling. These are all precious pieces meant to be treasured by their wearers.

All of her artwork is original and handmade (with the exception of beads and findings for the pendants and embellisment on earrings), sometimes even from recycled and repurposed materials. Due to the original nature of the work, duplicates will not be produced or sold. Check out some of those precious pieces we’re selling in our shop right now below:

Although you’ve only seen his laptop decals on our site, Viee is quite a talented artist and sells out almost all his shows. Therefore, he’s been too busy between his day job and steady artist night job to create artwork for us to put up for sale on the site, but I’ll give you a sneak peek of some of his previous works to give you an idea of the goodies he has in store for you.





The first is a layered vinyl and glass work called Disconnected that speaks volumes about his talent. And the second is a shot of his living room as he’s gearing up for a show. If he ever gets around to recreating any of this work or creating some new stuff, I’ve already got my eye set on the Colored Cassette Tapes piece…. so, hands off.

Check out some of the pieces he has up for sale currently on our site below:

By night, she’s an artist, recently focusing on acrylic paintings, but with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Sculpture, she turns out some really unique and interesting sculpture pieces as well. My favorite is the Army of China Dolls, an installation piece from 2005, shown above. We met her back when she was a coworker of Bumpas at the good ole Steamboat Pilot & Today in Steamboat Springs, CO…. now she’s moved on to bigger and better things and bigger and better artwork.

With the spirit of re-creating in mind, Liz recently started turning her unsold paintings into wallets and purses and selling them to raise funds for her entry fee into the 2010 Utah Arts Festival. We’re supporting her cause by selling her wallets in the store right now and will be selling her clutches mid-January when they are ready to jump into the market.

Check out some of the wallets currently in stock below.

She’s inspired by the world around her, by nature, and it shows in her work. Each item is handmade from a variety of metals or beads and is one of a kind. Snag one of her etched cuffs or her latest earrings.

Check out the items we have from her at the moment:

In between classes at Colorado State University, you can find him in his studio at the Gallery Underground in Old Town Fort Collins.

We’re selling some of his original artwork as 5×7 prints for only $10!

What? Seriously? No really… check them out below:

Check out the items we currently have available by Roll & Tumble Press:





Have questions for Christie and Caleb or want to inquire about custom artwork? You can contact them here:

Christie Turk
104 Barton Street
Little Rock AR 72205
501-412-2049
email: rollandtumblepress@gmail.com

Shipping costs for posters is $5.25, they all are shipped within 3 business days and will travel in a secure tube, packaged in a cello sleeve, via Priority Mail.

Our motto, “Find your wings” is about finding that one thing that moves you, the one thing that makes you push your limits and reach for the sky. Because, after all, life is too short to settle for the ordinary.

We like to think that we cater to people who love the lifestyle we love… those who keep pushing themselves to try new things, that wake up at 5:30 to get fresh powder or a sunrise wakeboard set even if they were out the night before. People that get excited at the beginning of each season because they know that soon they will be carving the slopes, or climbing rocks, or being pulled behind a boat on a glassy lake. We love all these things, but mainly we love life, we love excitement and we want you to too.

Akinz was founded in November of 2005 in a 1-bedroom apartment in Houston by Suzanne Akin. It started as just one shirt and has been growing slowly ever since.

Check out the apparel and accessories section to see what they’re featuring these days as Akinz should be a regular character on the Morningbird site.