Conversations in Fiber, Glass & Photography

About the Artists

Connie Bloom

While Connie was best known for her inimitable prose, her passion for the written word eventually took a backseat to her compulsion for fabric and she ultimately reinvented herself as a textile artist. “I am doing what I always did, telling stories. I am just using a different toolbox,” she explained. “Fabric replaces paper, Needles instead of pencils.”

She hand dyed, printed, and painted most of the cloth she used in her modern day tapestries, which from afar look like paintings. As viewers draw closer, they pick up second and third layers of detail from Connie’s extensive threadwork, freehand drawn without the use of tools or computers.

Art aficionados strolling the frequent festive events at Summit Artspace have lately missed the eager smile and welcome of Connie Bloom at her third floor studio and gallery, where she had been making art quilts since 2010. Connie died of complications from cancer on August 29, 2016.

Enchanted visitors often launch into conversations about stories Connie had in the Akron Beacon Journal about their families, pets, food, art, entertainment or how-tos from years of reading her work in the local paper and its sister publications, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, from 1972 through 2008, when she retired.

Bradley Hart

Artwork, and creativity in general, is Bradley Hart’s method of making sense of the world. He is inspired by all the traditional sources—nature, experience, master artists from the past and the present—but increasingly by visual social media like Instagram, and the amazing art being created all over the world on those platforms. Bradley has a B.A. in Photo Illustration from Kent State University.

“I am an advertising photographer by day and artist by night. One of the most rewarding things about my career is having the technical skill and expertise to photograph art for my fellow artists for their portfolios, competition entries, reproductions, prints, and so on. I love photographing art! It’s like I get a private showing of an artist’s work!”

Marianne Hite

Marianne Hite studied at Kent State University where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1987 with a concentration on glass and enameling. Marianne specializes in glass art, with a strong focus on fused glass. Her unique body of work is often influenced by nature, taking inspiration from the natural world around her and reflecting this beauty through the medium of glass. 

Marianne’s work is extremely versatile, ranging from intricate jewelry to expansive public art installations. Consultations are available for custom artwork and larger installations. 

Classes are offered weekly at her private studio in Green, Ohio as well as through Peninsula Art Academy in Peninsula, Ohio. Many of her pieces can also be viewed and purchased from many galleries in Northeast Ohio including Peninsula Art Academy, Gallery 143, Akron Glass Works, and through Harris Stanton Virtual Gallery.