Circle Furniture Local Artist Event

We are excited to share our local fine art program at our Seaport store. One of our core values is ‘community,’ and we believe that sustainable, modern, organic furniture and beautiful, local fine art go hand in hand. We invite you to visit our Seaport location to explore the gorgeous, unique fine art from some of the region’s best multi-media artists. There's nothing like fine art to complete the room of your dreams! 

Irina Gorbman:

“ My belief is that art is a battery that can “recharge” our body, elevate the spirit, and cleanse a room. ”

Being formally trained in mechanical engineering (Moscow, USSR) and international relations (Fletcher/Tufts), Irina switched to making art as a way to rewire my brain after a postpartum mini-stroke. She isa self-taught artist. Her art process is a meditation, where she bring higher energies onto the canvas. She paint without sketches, predetermined color palette, or my glasses. The more you look, the more you see - mountains, rivers, people, animals that have not been intentionally painted. There is always more than meets the eye. She likes to go with a flow, her hand picks up colors intuitively and paints in a gestural, automatic, and abstract style. When the painting is completed, she step back to meet and greet the creation. Please see her studio and hear her story on YouTube

Irina believes that art has a healing power - whether we create it or view it. She also believe that in our technology-driven world, we need a color boost to feel more energetic and become more holistic. We live in an unprecedented time, and the need for the healing power of art is real. The world has changed, permanently - we feel a reset in social interactions, explore our deeper selves and want to find happiness inside. The colors - happy colors of the Universe that she uses - can help in this process of elevation.  

Renn Gulla:

“ If you can find the heart, you can find the joy and gratitude in everything you do ”

Renn is a self taught artist inspired by her mom and her grandmother Florence, who were also artists. She currently lives in Franklin, Ma but grew up Sherborn, MA. She is the mother of three grown kids; Alexie, Tristan, and Liv and a granddaughter, Elsie.

Renn works in oil medium using both heavy brush strokes and spontaneity with the artist knife. She loves to experiment with colors and textures to bring life to her paintings.

During Covid, Renn moved back to Massachusetts from Canada and transformed a passion for painting into a business.

Renn is passionate about helping others find their joy and gratitude as she believes these were key in helping her anxiety and depression which she has fought her whole life. After surviving cancer, she began to look at life differently and hopes to inspire others. In all of her paintings there is a hidden heart for you to find. She hopes her art will inspire others to find and nurture joy and gratitude in their own lives as easily as they find her hidden hearts.  

Amy Aker:

"Botanicals, birds, nature, and veils of color have alwys been recurring themes and messages in my work." 

My artwork is an exploration of layered elements in pursuit of creating a harmonious whole. I find delight in seeing one color veiled above another, encouraging the viewer to envision what’s beneath the surface. I’m inspired by the shapes and textures found in nature and the world around me. Some of my work takes on an added dimension with raised areas of paper or fibers, tapping into childhood memories of designing dioramas at the kitchen table. Printmaking, painting, cutting a shape, creating a splash or spill – for me it’s all a wonderful discovery! I’m happily involved in the lifelong process of expanding my artistic voice.

Carol Rissman:

"Beauty is my content." 

I’ve been a maker of functional ceramics and sculpture for over 25 years, usually hand-building with slabs and coils. Some pieces emphasize form, and I use a restrained surface to enhance it. Other pieces act as a canvas for painting, carving, and monoprinting with stains and glazes. Much of what I find beautiful are patterns and textures in nature. But the appealing line of barkcloth decoration, or the color and complexity of a quilt, can also send me down a road. My pleasure is in taking the risk, combining inspiration and the material properties of clay. My art education has been informal, through classes, workshops and a lot of experimentation. I have work in various private collections and at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and have shown at the Fuller Craft Museum and several art galleries.

A special collection of pieces is now at Circle Furniture.

Tarja Cockell:

"I enjoy creating art with layers of mystery, shades of color." 

A native of Finland, Tarja Cockell has a degree in textile and design majoring in weaving. Her work is influenced by Scandinavian sense of simplicity in design. Motifs vary from abstract to representational images and are often merely suggestive, hinting at shapes and forms. She explores mixed textile mediums with a contemporary twist to create her wall art. Her studio is in artist community at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell. She is a juried member of NH Craftsmen’s League and she is showing her work in their annual summer Fair at Sunapee in New Hampshire.

Mike Gruber:

"I love creating whimiscal New England architecturally inspired paintings." 

Lowell-based artist Mike Gruber has been creating whimsical paintings for the past several years. Originally an architect, Mike has blended his unique eye with familiar places to create fun, newly imagined scenes. He looks at the world through a slightly skewed lens so that the viewer gets an image of something grounded in reality but in an abstract world.