southern artists: stephanie howard

when it comes to discovering great southern artists, i owe a debt of gratitude to shop scad. the savannah college of art and design creates and celebrates so many incredible artists and designers that i always discover someone new when i'm down visiting.

one of the first artists that i really connected with was stephanie howard. i'll never forget when i first saw her work- i had this other-wordly feeling, as if i was seeing a picture of someone i'd known in another life, in another time. i was standing in front of one of her "shag queen" portraits and was haunted by the look on the woman's face, and in awe over stephanie's illustrative style. she uses tiny lines and hash marks to create each piece (almost like intaglio printing), something you can only tell when you're up close to each work.

what i love most about stephanie's work is her reliance on the stories and imagery of the deep south. i've never seen a young artist whose work seems so in touch all things 'southern gothic'. i'm always showing her work to friends, some of whom find the women's faces in stephanie's work to be almost eerily sad- but that's what i love about her work. there's a haunting look in each face, and a sense that each woman she draws has a story to tell, laying just below the paper.

to see a selection of stephanie's work, click here.

*stay tuned for more from the south this afternoon......