Creativity has a way of bringing people together. It connects strangers through shared stories, transforms ordinary materials into something meaningful, and reminds us that there is no single path to making beautiful work.
The Celebrate volume of The Turquoise Iris Journal was created in honor of a milestone, five years of publishing artists, makers, photographers, designers, and creative storytellers from around the world. Rather than looking back, this anniversary edition looks forward, celebrating the courage it takes to continue creating, experimenting, and sharing our work with others.
Within these pages you’ll meet painters who work intuitively, photographers who preserve life’s fleeting moments, textile artists who honor family stories, furniture artists who transform forgotten pieces, and mixed media artists who embrace curiosity over perfection.
Each artist offers something unique, but together they share a common thread: creativity is meant to be lived, explored, and celebrated.
Whether you’re looking for creative inspiration, discovering a new favorite artist, or searching for your next beautiful magazine to add to your collection, we hope these artists inspire you to create something meaningful of your own.
Featured Artists
Dionne Woods
Celebrating the People Behind Every Painting
For Dionne Woods, every painting is more than layers of acrylic paint, it becomes a collection of memories. Friends, retreats, conversations, students, laughter, and even moments of grief quietly find their way into each canvas. Her feature, The People in the Paint, reminds us that art is rarely created in isolation. Every brushstroke carries the influence of the people who shape our lives.
Throughout the article, Dionne reflects on the creative friendships that have developed through The Turquoise Iris Journal and how those relationships continue to influence both her artwork and her life. It’s a beautiful reminder that creativity grows richer when it’s shared.
If you’ve ever wondered where artists find inspiration beyond color and composition, Dionne’s story offers a heartfelt place to begin.
Juliette Crane
Finding Beauty Through Layered Painting
Wisconsin artist Juliette Crane has built a creative life around curiosity, intuition, and embracing the unexpected. Her luminous mixed media paintings invite viewers into layered worlds filled with gentle figures, expressive colors, and quiet emotion.
In this feature, Juliette shares how physical limitations unexpectedly transformed her artistic process, leading her toward more abstract work and deeper creative freedom. Rather than resisting change, she learned to trust it, a lesson many artists will recognize.
Her encouragement to embrace imperfections, slow down, and reconnect with childlike play makes her story especially inspiring for anyone feeling creatively stuck.
Riley Hershberger
Preserving Life’s Most Meaningful Moments
Professional photographer Riley Hershberger believes the most meaningful photographs are often the ones no one planned.
From weddings and family milestones to quiet everyday moments, Riley’s work celebrates authentic human connection. Her thoughtful reflections reveal why preserving ordinary moments can become extraordinary gifts years later.
Readers will especially appreciate her perspective that photographs don’t simply document our lives—they help us remember what mattered most.
Michele Rogers
Honoring Heritage Through Portrait Painting
Michele Rogers creates powerful portrait paintings honoring Indigenous women, grandmothers, daughters, and cultural traditions.
Each face she paints carries a story of resilience, wisdom, and identity. Rather than simply painting likenesses, Michele imagines the lives behind every expression, allowing each portrait to become both artwork and storytelling.
Her feature is one of the most moving in the volume, reminding readers that celebrating creativity also means celebrating culture, history, and the women who came before us.
Kim White
Trusting the Creative Journey
Australian artist Kim White shares an honest look at what it means to continue growing as an artist.
From creating her Angels with Attitude series to hosting her first solo exhibition, Kim’s feature explores the courage required to embrace new creative seasons. Her willingness to celebrate both successes and struggles makes her story especially relatable.
Readers will come away encouraged to trust their own creative evolution, even when the path feels uncertain.
Patty Levine
Creating Beautiful Spaces That Welcome Others
For Patty Levine, creativity has always been about making people feel at home. Inspired by family traditions and a lifelong love of vintage treasures, she believes a thoughtfully set table can tell a story long before the first meal is served.
In her feature, Patty shares how celebrating life’s everyday moments begins with hospitality, collecting meaningful pieces, embracing seasonal decorating, and creating spaces where family and friends feel genuinely welcomed. Her warmth shines through every photograph and every story, reminding readers that beauty doesn’t have to be complicated to be memorable.
Whether you love vintage collecting, home styling, or simply gathering people around the table, Patty’s feature is a celebration of tradition, generosity, and the joy of making everyday moments feel special.
BJ Massa
Finding Joy in the Wonderfully Unexpected
BJ Massa has never believed creativity should be perfect. Instead, she embraces the quirky, the unconventional, and the beautifully imperfect, proving that some of the best ideas come from following curiosity instead of rules.
Her feature explores the playful spirit behind her mixed media work, furniture transformations, and lifelong love of collecting forgotten treasures. With humor, honesty, and contagious enthusiasm, BJ encourages readers to celebrate experimentation, trust their instincts, and remember that every creative journey is filled with delightful surprises.
If you’ve ever hesitated to begin because your work might not turn out “just right,” BJ’s story offers permission to embrace the wonderfully wonky side of creativity.
Porsha Chalmers
Weaving Stories Through Fabric, Memory, and Meaning
For Porsha Chalmers, every stitch carries a story. Through textiles, pressed flowers, repurposed fabrics, and thoughtful handmade details, she transforms treasured materials into meaningful works that honor both memory and legacy.
Her feature beautifully reflects on how creativity can preserve the past while creating something entirely new. Drawing from her experiences, family history, and personal journey, Porsha demonstrates that making art can become an act of healing, remembrance, and hope.
Readers who appreciate slow making, sustainable creativity, and heartfelt storytelling will find themselves deeply connected to Porsha’s thoughtful approach to creating with intention.
Porsha Chalmers
Renee Smith
Painting Faith, Hope, and Quiet Beauty
Renee Smith creates artwork that invites viewers to pause, breathe, and find peace. Through soft landscapes, expressive florals, and atmospheric paintings, her work reflects a creative practice rooted in faith and authenticity.
In this inspiring feature, Renee shares how she learned to embrace her own artistic voice instead of trying to create what others expected. Her reflections on trusting God throughout the creative process reveal how painting became both a personal journey and a way to encourage others.
For anyone seeking gentle encouragement, soulful creativity, or artwork filled with hope, Renee’s story offers a beautiful reminder that honesty often creates the deepest connection.
Danielle Kaminski
Celebrating Community Through Creativity
Danielle Kaminski believes creativity becomes even more meaningful when it’s shared. Whether she’s designing murals, supporting fellow makers, or building spaces where creativity can flourish, her work reflects a passion for bringing people together.
Her feature highlights the exciting evolution of her creative business, including the collaborative mural project celebrating both history and community. Danielle’s thoughtful perspective reminds readers that every creative milestone is built one idea, one relationship, and one act of generosity at a time.
Her story is especially inspiring for artists, entrepreneurs, and anyone who believes creativity has the power to strengthen community.
Vanna Tursini
Honoring Memory Through Mixed Media
International mixed media artist Vanna Tursini creates deeply personal work inspired by memory, nature, family, and life’s quiet rituals. Every layer, texture, and found object becomes part of a visual language that celebrates both personal history and shared human experience.
In her feature, Vanna reflects on how intuition guides every stage of her creative process. From treasured fabrics and handwritten papers to seeds and natural elements, she demonstrates how ordinary materials can become extraordinary expressions of gratitude and remembrance.
Readers will be inspired by her thoughtful philosophy that every creative act is an opportunity to celebrate life itself.
Wendy Conklin
Bringing Color, Confidence, and Joy Into Everyday Living
Known for her joyful upholstery transformations, Wendy Conklin has inspired thousands of creatives to see forgotten furniture as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Her colorful designs prove that creativity can completely transform not only a piece of furniture but also the spaces we call home.
In this feature, Wendy shares the lessons she’s learned through both creating and teaching, encouraging readers to trust their instincts, experiment boldly, and celebrate progress instead of perfection. Her approachable teaching style and contagious enthusiasm make creativity feel accessible to everyone.
Whether you’re drawn to colorful interiors, DIY projects, or simply creating a home that reflects your personality, Wendy’s feature is filled with encouragement and practical inspiration.
Wendy Conklin
Lindsey McCord
Celebrating Personal Style Through Color and Fashion
Lindsey McCord’s playful portraits blend fashion, illustration, and storytelling into artwork that celebrates individuality. Influenced by her background in fashion design, her colorful figures capture confidence, elegance, and the joy of self-expression.
Throughout her feature, Lindsey reflects on building a creative business, opening her own studio, balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship, and trusting her artistic voice along the way. Her work demonstrates that creativity evolves just as we do, becoming richer through every season of life.
Readers who love bold color, fashion-inspired artwork, and expressive illustration will find endless inspiration in Lindsey’s joyful perspective.
Carol Webster
Preserving Family Stories Through Mixed Media
Carol Webster believes creativity begins with paying attention. Through fabric collage, stitched papers, vintage textiles, tea bags, and treasured family keepsakes, she creates artwork that preserves stories that might otherwise be forgotten.
Her feature explores how everyday objects, from a father’s neckties to worn fabrics and handwritten notes, can become meaningful works of art filled with memory and emotion. Rather than chasing perfection, Carol encourages readers to embrace curiosity, experimentation, and the beauty found in well-loved materials.
For artists who enjoy collage, textile art, family history, or meaningful storytelling, Carol’s work is a gentle reminder that the smallest details often become the most lasting memories.
Creative Themes Throughout This Volume
One of the things that makes the Celebrate volume unique is how each artist approaches creativity from a different perspective. While their mediums vary, common themes weave throughout the entire issue.
Mixed Media & Layered Expression
Artists like Juliette Crane, Kim White, BJ Massa, Vanna Tursini, and Carol Webster demonstrate how layering color, texture, paper, fabric, and found materials can tell stories that words alone cannot.
Painting with Meaning
From Dionne Woods’ expressive florals to Michele Rogers’ powerful portraits and Renee Smith’s faith-filled landscapes, painting becomes a language of memory, hope, and celebration.
Creativity Through Home & Design
Patty Levine and Wendy Conklin remind us that creativity isn’t limited to the studio. Beautiful tablescapes, colorful interiors, vintage furniture, and joyful design become everyday expressions of artistry.
Photography That Preserves Memory
Riley Hershberger shows how photography can transform fleeting moments into lasting family treasures.
Textile Arts & Storytelling
Porsha Chalmers and Carol Webster weave family history, heirlooms, fabric, and memory into work that honors both past and present.
Why Readers Love the Celebrate Volume
The Celebrate volume is more than an art magazine. It feels like spending an afternoon inside the studios of fourteen remarkable creatives.
Inside you’ll discover:
- Fourteen in-depth artist features
- Behind-the-scenes creative processes
- Mixed media, painting, photography, textile art, furniture design, and home inspiration
- Curator roundtable discussions about creativity and artistic growth
- Personal stories of perseverance, experimentation, and creative confidence
- Beautiful photography and editorial styling throughout
- Inspiration that encourages readers to create in their own unique way
Whether you’re a practicing artist, creative hobbyist, collector, or someone who simply appreciates beautiful publications, this anniversary volume offers inspiration you’ll return to again and again.
Add Celebrate to Your Creative Library
Some magazines are read once and recycled. The Turquoise Iris Journal is designed differently.
Each volume is created as a keepsake, something you’ll return to when you need fresh inspiration, a new creative perspective, or simply a quiet afternoon surrounded by beautiful artwork and meaningful stories.
The Celebrate volume brings together fourteen remarkable artists, each sharing their own creative process, personal journey, and encouragement for fellow makers. It’s a timeless collection that celebrates not only five years of The Turquoise Iris Journal, but the countless ways creativity enriches our lives.
Whether you’re discovering these artists for the first time or adding another treasured issue to your collection, we hope this volume inspires you to slow down, create boldly, and celebrate the beauty of making.
Available in print (while inventory lasts)
Also available as a digital edition
Perfect if you enjoy furniture painting, home décor, and creative living
Originally created to celebrate five years of The Turquoise Iris Journal, the Celebrate volume remains one of our favorite collections of artist stories and creative inspiration. Today, we’re revisiting the remarkable makers whose work continues to encourage artists around the world.
