The Arts Council of Calvert County recently hosted an Artist Market for Small Business Saturday. Local artists set up booths at the CalvArt gallery to showcase and sell their work. Events like the Artist Market provide a space for artists to connect with the community and share their work but also inspire everyone to appreciate the creativity in the area.
Cindy Herndon was one of the featured artists at the Artist Market and showed visitors how to make a wooded scene with red maples. She also displayed pieces she made that drew inspiration from stunning scenery. Such as a photograph her friend sent her of a foggy morning in Shenandoah National Park and a view of the rocky Oregon-California coast during a drive she took.
“I am drawn to the fleeting moments against timeless landscapes,” she said.
Herndon’s artistic medium focuses on fibers and fabrics. Her work combines classic sewing techniques with innovative methods. She uses tiny fabric scraps to create scenes such as forests or oceans in a style similar to Monet’s impressionism. She uses layered fabric to add texture and detail, she even creates art from unusual materials such as clothing labels or recycled wool.
“My methods grow as I see things and try to incorporate new methods and fibers,” she says.
Her current focus is on needle-felted wool landscapes, which use felted wool clothing and fibers to bring scenes to life.
Herndon’s love for sewing began in seventh grade during a home economics class. Her passion grew over 50 years, from making clothes to quilting, and finally to creating art with her sewing machine.
“I moved from garments to quilts about 25 years ago but quickly learned that I didn’t want to follow the rules,” she said. “I wanted to make art using my sewing machine.”
Lauren Brumbach was another featured artist at the market and shared pieces such as Winter Expressions and Walking With Wordsworth series. The Winter Expressions pieces highlighted winter colors and the magic of snow.
Walking With Wordsworth, which earned first place at the St. Mary’s Arts Council’s Artwalk, showed a calm scenery inspired by a walk she went on in Port Tobacco, Maryland.
“It is a soft and solitary moment, where poetry, birdsong, and the beauty of nature have a moment together; a moment I am so grateful to have been witness to,” she said.
Brumbach’s primary medium is oil paint, but she also uses oil pastels and metal leaf. She often builds layers and textures with a palette knife and brush to achieve her signature style.
“Colors talk to each other and dance with the brushstrokes,” she said. “My work rests pretty steadily in abstract expressionism and realism that flirts with impressionism.”
Since the beginning, Lauren Brumbach has always gravitated towards art.
“My mom has a video from my preschool graduation of me proudly holding up a big sign that says “when I grow up I want to be an artist,” she said. “Art was a driving force behind every education and career decision I made since that day.”
In 2013, Brumbach completed her Studio Art and Art History degree in Perugia, Italy. She then received her Master of Fine Arts in Museum Exhibition Planning and Design in Philadelphia. Then, years later in 2023, she decided to pursue fine art full-time after previously working in design.
“After years of painting professionally part-time, I was able to go full-time,” she said. “I’m now in the Arts Council of Calvert County and St. Mary’s Arts Council’s galleries year-round and continuously show in solo and group exhibitions nationwide.”
Cindy Herndon and Lauren Brumbach believe that art is more than just creating; it is also about connecting.
“I think art speaks when words cannot or are powerless,” Herndon said. “Artists’ Market provides platforms to support those who would rather use images instead of words to communicate.”
Brumbach has a similar view, highlighting how art brings people together.
“Art connects everyone. Whether it’s film, paintings, pottery, poetry or food, we connect over these shared experiences,” she said. “Supporting local artists through their shows and markets, gives your oddball, avant-garde, daydreaming neighbor the chance to grow and bring wonder to our community. In addition, art markets, exhibits, festivals and fairs give all of us a direct opportunity to share these stories and create new ones together.”
Both artists believe that local art gives joy and purpose to people’s lives. By supporting local art and artists, we help those ideas grow and bring people together.
If you are interested in seeing more from Cindy Herndon and Lauren Brumbach, aswell as all things art, check out the Arts Council of Calvert County’s website.