Artist of the Month

Valentine Payne (she/her) is a young African-American artist who uses colorful acrylic paint on canvas. Her painting style is a mix of abstract and cartoon. Valentine also creates exquisite digital art logo designs. Her art has been on display at various schools and venues. She sells her art and does custom pieces.

Follow Valentine on Instagram at @prettycrispy1

Valentine was the OFK Artist of the Month in July 2024.

Meetri'a Angelo (she/her) is that author of A Stroke of Recovery, a memoir recounting the author’s road to recovery following a devastating stroke.

Learn more about Meetri'a and purchase a copy of her book at https://www.meetriaangelo.com/about-the-author

Meetri'a was the OFK Artist of the Month in August 2024.

Max Matthews (he/him) usually works with watercolor, but likes to experiment with mediums, textures, and styles. He takes a lot of inspiration from the fantasy genre, particularly dark fantasy, as well as his experience as an individual in the LGBTQ+ community.

Raymond Falkiewicz (they/he) is a local illustrator and photographer. They have been drawing for as long as they can remember, but began taking it more seriously in 2012. His current specialty is felines and digital illustration, but he enjoys trying new things to expand his horizons. In 2016, they fell in love with the art of photography; they especially enjoy nature photography and activism photography. Raymond decided to expand his skills to a small-business level in the spring of 2024, taking on art shows and crafting events. Outside of artistry, they enjoy reading, taking nature walks, and traveling with their girlfriend. 

Learn more about Raymond’s work at https://linktr.ee/mxraymondf.

Austin Rounds is a twenty-two-year-old artist who has used his art as an outlet and a way to express himself when the world around him may feel off kilter, beautiful, and even challenging. Being autistic has not always been easy, but it is a part of who Austin is, and only adds to his creativity.

We launched Austin’s Art Gallery after Austin’s graduation from High School in 2020 (austinroundsgallery.com).  

Austin was published as the sole illustrator for the book, Michigan Monsters and Macabre Series Two (available now) by Wicked Harvest Books last September (2022).

Austin is currently working on his second book (Quilliam Series) about a young hedgehog with autism. This children’s book will be loosely based on Austin’s experiences in Elementary School, which will including his struggles, triumphs and supports.

Austin continues to work on commissioned pieces of art and enjoys working with a variety of styles and mediums. Austin has been participating in the Kalamazoo Art Hop since June of 2021 and has been the feature artist at multiple venues including the Kalamazoo State Theatre, Arcus Gallery, and Kalamazoo Valley Museum.

Austin has been interviewed for Kalamazoo Lively Arts by PBS. Austin had multiple art exhibits at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and the Center for New Media (downtown Kalamazoo) in the fall of 2022. Austin has also been featured in two panel discussion (Western Michigan University and KVA Museum) summer/fall 2022.  

Please enjoy the marvelously creative and unbridled art of Austin Rounds.

Audrey Lynn is a local, self taught artist that enjoys embarking on all styles of art from cake decorating to DIY projects to just simply drawing or painting. As of now she is trying to figure out screen printing so she is able to take her art from the paper and put it onto many other mediums.

Since finding her own style, she has entered into two competitions at her local VAMC, where in the second competition she was able to take a first place ribbon in all three of the categories she had entered.

Audrey : "Someone at the second competition had came up to me and congratulated me for getting a hat trick, I looked at the individual a bit confused by what they had said and then verbally expressed my confusion."

They said : " Oh, you haven't heard? You took first place in every category, Congratulations!"

"Needless to say, I was a little shocked."

That second competition helped open a networking door where she was asked to be one of twelve veteran artist to display their work for veterans day at one of the local VFW's later that year.

Audrey mainly uses art as a form of therapy and self expression,

Quote from artist "When I start to draw or paint, once I like... get in the flow of it.. in the moment, the world starts to get a little quieter; my racing thoughts subside a bit, and I let what I feel or have recently felt find it's way so graciously to the paper/canvas. Bonus, since I was never "classically" trained in art, I am not handcuffed to staying within any certain boundary to complete my piece."

Currently, her plan is to start a business in the beginning of 2025 so she is able to start selling her art to the greater public. As well as getting a few pieces ready to submit for the artist installation or artist corner at the Electric Forest music festival in 2025.