Art Beat

Pamela Paulsrud is recognized internationally as a papermaker, calligrapher, book artist, and collaborator. Her work includes smaller pieces and large-scale installations. But Paulsrud's greatest passion is an ongoing project she co-created called Treewhispers, an international collaboration about the human connection to trees.

Janice Marsh-Prelesnik was trained as a musician. But much of her life has been spent in holistic healing, as a midwife, a massage therapist, and a herbalist. Now, Marsh-Prelesnik uses the sonic experience of plant music in her expressive arts/music therapy practice with people in hospice and memory care, during bodywork sessions, and for deep relaxation and meditation.

Dawn Soltysiak says, "Makers have to make." The one-time real estate agent left that career and city life behind to preserve her sanity. The Fennville potter now lives on a farm raising chickens, peacocks, and livestock. 

Very few people would look at a lump of elephant dung and see art. But Maryellen Hains does. She sees beauty not only in elephant dung but in most everything. The multi-media artist is known for her work in jewelry, glass, and silk painting. And yes, she's made a brooch out of a mold of a piece of elephant dung.

If you know anything about poetry rooted in Michigan, you know about Jack Ridl. He’s the author of the poetry collections Broken Symmetry; Practicing to Walk Like a Heron; and Losing Season, all of which have won national awards. His new collection, Saint Peter and the Goldfinch, was just published by Wayne State University Press.