Sheri Leff Simon
Sheri has been painting watercolor for about 15 years "on and off” depending on her other jobs that actually pay the bills. She is a member of the Midsouthern Watercolorist Society and her painting "All Around Frisco” was chosen for the annual show as well as the traveling show. The painting was awarded the Arkansas League of Artists award. In addition to watercolor, Sheri enjoys doing calligraphy (Hebrew and English), photography, cross-stitch, knitting, crocheting and she has designed T-Shirts and sweatshirts. She worked for 10 years at Congregation B’nai Israel where she was the Temple Administrator and Religious School Director. Sheri earned her Ph. D. degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Carolina and is now working for Arkansas Disability Determinations for Social Security Administration. Sheri has served on many volunteer boards for the public schools as well as the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, Temple B’nai Israel and Ati Day Yisrael Preschool. She was awarded the Eugene Reville Spirit Award by the LRSD for service to Washington Magnet School and the Jewish Federation’s Tikun Olam award for volunteer service to Temple B’nai Israel. Her most favorite volunteer activity has been to personally tutor 38 students (teens and adults) for their B’nai Mitzvah. She currently serves on the Parent’s Board for UAMS College of Medicine. She hails from New York, but has made Little Rock her home for the last 28 years with husband Michael "Micky” Simon (also a psychologist at Arkansas State Hospital) and two sons, Joel (currently a 3rd year student at UAMS) and Eric (currently a junior at University of Kansas). Look for Sheri’s booth at the Jewish Food Festival this May in Little Rock this year!

Tina Oppenheimer
I am so very fortunate to get to live in the woods on a mountaintop in my little one room palace, I guess you could call Ozark Cards a "palace industry.”

I’ve been drawing and making things all my life. Originally I made our own Holiday cards. Then I started making cards to sell, it was a very gradual evolution to where I am now, one little thing at a time.

My cards are unique in that they are a combination of printed and handmade. They are all my original designs and a few are reproductions of etchings. I print them myself, cut them and glitter them each by hand. A week or two later when the glitter is cured, I fold them.

I love weeks on end at home, plying my crafts and tending to my environment on my own schedule. I also love the trips to town to be around people, my kids and grandkids, visit my outlets, take in some music, stock up on supplies, etc. I’ve had the policy of only having card outlets where I have grandchildren, though recently I’ve been able to start working with a couple stores outside the area that aren’t requiring my visits, which is indescribably helpful. I love meeting people that know my cards, it makes me feel like a bit of a rock star. I love the fact that I’ve been able to make this work with no business training. At the University of Life I majored in Living in the Woods.

A craftsperson at heart, my favorite art medium is Free Form Crochet Sculpture. I make crocheted wearable art & rugs, custom baby name blankets, hats, bags, etc. I have been crocheting since I was ten and given some workshops. I built my house by myself and make grapevine baskets, outdoor sculptures with nature’s free form supplies, and love to garden and landscape!

Iris Oliva
After returning to Little Rock in 2005 after a 32 year absence, Iris began taking water color classes at LifeQuest and the Arkansas Arts Center as a "retirement project". She and her husband of 44 years, Robert, have lived in various cities in the United States and Europe but find Little Rock the best place to live.

You can find Iris' work on display at this year's Jewish Food Festival.

Elizabeth Deborah Luckom Bentley
Growing up in and around New York City in a family of artists, I was exposed to a wide range of creative expression. Although I received little formal training, I have exhibited my craftwork and fine arts in a variety of venues.

After extensive travel in this country and Canada, I settled in the Arkansas Ozarks in 1972. I moved to Little Rock with my three children in 1987 and joined Temple B’nai Israel.

For me, the act of creating is how I maintain and express the presence of God in my life. Creativity is at the heart of all that I am.

Susan Strauss
It's been ten years since I started stringing beads again. I loved beads since I was little and would go over to Sallye Phillips' house and watch her make necklaces fo M.M. Cohn. The bead trend came back and I jumped in.

Over the years, I took my love of making Raku clay and applied it to jewelry making through Precious Metal Clay. This is recycled fine sterling silver in clay form. It works like clay and then when fired, everything that is not clay burns out at the high firing temperature.

More recently, I have begun making things this way in bronze, too. I am learning still to solder and make things in metal through classes at the Arts Center- it is much harder than it looks! The gemstone beads that I currently use are mostly gem quality, faceted stones that make the piece special.

I am lucky to be able to sell my earrings and necklaces on an ongoing basis at The Box Turtle on Kavanaugh.

Elaine Luber
After seeing pottery at someone's home that they had made, I knew that pottery was something I had to try. I took a class at the Arkansas Arts Center in 1979, and I was hooked.

I am still actively involved as a potter at the Arts Center, as well as my home studio. I have also attended many nationally recognized workshops and exhibited at various local galleries and craft shows. I love to make things that I, and others, can use and enjoy. I work mostly on a potter's wheel, and can do high fire stoneware, low fire terra cotta, and decorative Raku pieces.

My work can be seen at Gallery 26 in Hillcrest, the Arkansas Arts Center Holiday Sale, and the Arkansas Rep. For more information, please contact me at 501-221-5898.

Rabbi Jerome Fox