OUR ARTISTS

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Fill out this form AND become a member to be featured in our directory!

Monika Jaymes

Musician

North Carolina native Monika Jaymes is an accomplished singer-songwriter with a passion for southern rock, folk, and country. Having decades of experience with her own Monika Jaymes Band, her original songs can be found on most major streaming platforms. She's been nominated for two Carolina Music Awards and three Charlotte Music Awards, and has shared the stage with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Parmalee, and Nantucket, to name a few. Monika joins Riggsbee Road as rhythm guitarist, bringing full fresh sounds to the band's signature new grass style.

To get more information, please visit her website. 

Destini Richlin

Visual Artist

I am a multidisciplinary creative celebrating 13+ years as a freelance designer and photographer (DBA visual.destini). I’m also a fine artist, set designer, SFX makeup artist, and more. 

My biggest and/or smallest project is the Tiny Painting Project. Series 1 is 100 tiny 2x2” canvases of real-life objects painted life-size. I've just begun Series 2, big moments made tiny. In both cases, each tiny canvas is a unique subject - you may have seen them at Sertoma Art Center last summer. My larger paintings have been featured in 311 Gallery and Truist Gallery, in Raleigh and Durham respectively.

For the last year I’ve focused mostly on public art projects, like Hive & Seek, a 6 foot fiberglass bee sculpture I painted for the City of Sanford, “colorblocked” with realistic native plants. I've recently been commissioned for a second bee sculpture, this time sponsored by Pfizer. 

My Hoppin’ grasshopper piece can be hopped across on the asphalt nature trail in Cape Fear Shiner Park in Lillington. My Classy Cart for Raleigh, Toil & Trash, is a custom painted commercial trash can adorned with transparent rainbow bubbles, brought out during city events.

You can find all of the above work at destinirichlin.com and on Instagram @chaosartery.

Dora Fromer

Visual Artist

After homeschooling her children for 16 years, Dora went back to school to study design. Graduating from Meredith College with a double major in Graphic Design and Studio Art as well as minoring in Photography.

Currently she is a freelance graphic designer and photographer. Her studio work centers around her love of sewing, which she did for 20 years, but branches into nature and other unique subjects. These are often, but not always in the mediums; of fiber, photography, and graphic design.

She recently has had her work in two juried student exhibitions, photography featured in an art and literary publication, and won a photo contest for study abroad. Most recently her work was in a group exhibition titled Transfiguration. 

Click HERE to see here exhibition.

Elyse Johnson

Visual Artist

Growing up in Apex, North Carolina, Elyse started taking art classes in middle school, and by high school she was in love. She took every single art class that was available to her, both in and out of school. After graduating from Meredith College with a Bachelors of Arts in Studio Art and Art Education, Elyse worked for the Wake County School System for several years teaching 2D and 3D art and eventually even pottery. 


While Elyse was pursuing her career in education, her then-fiancé was starting an adventure that would take them across the globe to New Zealand. The five years that they spent there molded her in so many ways as she experienced the new and different culture, and helped her learn more about herself. One aspect of New Zealand’s culture that impacted Elyse the most was the collectiveness, valuing of teamwork and the success of the community over individualism. For example, there is the analogy of the field of poppy flowers. If one flower is taller than the others, it is cut so that the entire field is uniform. Elyse, like many artists, embraces uniqueness and self-expression thus causing her to stand out and giving her the name of a Tall Poppy.


Upon returning to the United States, Elyse shares that she has a new love and respect for the way that Americans embrace individuality, and now signs all of her artwork with a poppy as a reminder that Tall Poppies are needed in this world, and that her goal is to create more of them.


Now as a local Dunn artist, Elyse has been developing her artist career by selling pieces of her work and teaching both private and semi-private art lessons to clients of all ages through her business Artifactual. She also owns VanGoat Studios and paints murals in and around North Carolina.

Heather Adams

Visual Artist

Heather is a native of southeastern North Carolina. She called Wilmington and the surrounding areas home until recently when she made the move to Raleigh and most recently to Harnett County.

Heather has studied multiple art mediums by attending workshops, as well as, attending studio classes at Cape Fear Community College. It was at CFCC she learned best studio practices and explored various mediums including acrylic, textiles, photography and drawing. Additionally, during college she had the opportunity to give weaving demonstrations at a weaving studio located on a historic site in Wilmington, NC.

Her favorite mediums to work with currently are watercolor, pen and acrylic.

As a child, Heather had the pleasure of calling the beaches of southeastern North Carolina home. Here she found a love and respect for nature. You can see influences of coastal living in her artwork.

She has a bachelors in education from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Additionally, she has a masters in Parks, Recreation, Tourism, and Sports Management from NC State University.

To get more information, please visit her website. 

Betty Wishart

Musician

Betty Wishart received degrees in piano performance from Queens University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and pursued further studies in piano and composition in New York City. Her music, lauded as “exceptional”, “beguiling”, and “intriguing”, has been performed in Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, South Korea and at diverse venues throughout the United States including local performances at Campbell University, North Carolina State University, and Methodist University.

Select honors include awards from the National League of American Pen Women, Neue Musik Frankfurt (Germany), Composers Guild, American College of Musicians; Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in Music; and most recently, Honorable Mention in the 2025 American Prize Competition for orchestral music. Recordings of her music are available on the Ravello, Navona, Sarton, and Phasma-Music labels.

Learn more at her website www.BettyWishArt.com

Kat Novales

Photographer

Kat Novales is a freelance photographer and creative consultant living in Harnett County, North Carolina. She retired from the United States Air Force in 2021, after 20 years of service. She served as the Superintendent of Public Affairs at Pope Army Airfield where her work was featured in various local and military websites, and publications.

Her desire to serve the local community led her to accept a position as the communications specialist for Harnett County Schools from 2022-2024. She poured her time and talent developing printed work, styling events, and story telling. Her award-winning body of work received multiple recognition from the North Carolina School Public Relations Association.

Kat is a dedicated arts advocate with years of experience in project management, organizational leadership and outreach. As a local small business owner and volunteer, she continues to serve Harnett County in addition to her professional work, by supporting local artists, schools, and civic organizations. She is invested in endeavors that seek to expand access to creative opportunities and promote cultural enrichment across the community.