MEET THE ARTISTS
Diana Conley, Studio Manager
While mostly crunching numbers and managing the growing studio-projects list in the office, Diana spends her hours outside of the office practicing contemplative arts. Her deep interests lie mostly within the Japanese arts of shodo, ikebana, and aikido. Also an avid seamstress she is hoping to expand her knowledge of the Japanese aesthetic by studying her latest intrigue - fabrics and textiles. She is constantly working to bring the aspects her artistic practice encourages, like relaxed attention and clarity of response, to the small business endeavors in the Studio.
Katie Lime, Production Assistant
Katie received her BFA from Indiana University Bloomington in 2006. She moved to Chicago to pursue her interests in jewelry making and metalsmithing. Her current work focuses on groupings of delicate forms, simplified refined shapes, and the soft quality of silk fibers. She is inspired by the natural world surrounding her: flowers, plants, blossoms, fungi, coral reefs, and sea life.
Kate McLeod, Production Assistant
Originally from Montgomery, AL, Kate is getting her Masters of Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. While her passions lay in community work and teaching, she is also a practicing artist. Her interests include combining the whimsical with the mundane through watercolors of animal portraits, stuffed animals dressed in chainmaille armor, and anthropomorphic books.
Chloe Kobernuss, Production Assistant
Chloe recently received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. While there she explored the architecture, fashion, fibers, sculpture, metals, ceramics, and designed objects departments. With such a vast accumulation of skills and conceptual ideas Chloe’s work still seems to be cohesive, residing between modernity and natural detailing. Nature has always had a large impact on her work. Although most pieces reference nature in form, they also keep nature in mind. She finds that it is extremely important to acknowledge that we have limited resources and it is essential to find processes and materials that involve reuse. Visual aesthetics combined with critical thought is essentially what matters.
Allyson Williams-Yee, Studio Manager
Allyson is a practicing painter and illustrator. Her paintings, very dream-like in nature, focus on the mysterious and spiritual while her illustrations are more straightforward, colorful and fun. Currently, she is collaborating with writers on different projects, including illustrating poetry and children’s books. Allyson’s passion lies in oil painting, however, she loves exploring the use of other mediums. Working for Kathy has introduced Allyson to the world of jewelry and to another new, artistic medium, which she will translate into her own work.