Laura Allen is a Virginia-based sculptor who creates primarily abstract, organic forms using post-consumer and reclaimed materials. Through hand-worked processes such as stitching, weaving, wrapping, and assembling, her work reflects traditions of women’s handiwork while exploring the tension between the natural world and the plastic one we create. Her sculptures grow piece by piece, echoing biological processes and carrying the histories embedded in everyday discarded objects. This slow, attentive, materials-led practice also shapes her work with children, where curiosity, experimentation, and making by hand are central to creative learning. Rooted in environmental and social inquiry, her quiet practice connects past traditions to contemporary issues and future possibilities.

John A. Hancock is a professional artist whose career spans roles as a studio artist, college art professor and department chair, exhibition curator and judge, arts program director, and community arts administrator. In 2000, following a residency at the Vermont Studio Center, he relocated to west-central Virginia on the slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains. His paintings, drawings, collages, and mixed-media works explore the natural world and humanity’s place within it, drawing on direct observation as well as personal, community, and historical memory. Through a process that blends aesthetic, poetic, and scientific inquiry, Hancock creates evocative visual experiences that invite reflection and connection. John has over 30 years of experience teaching a broad range of painting, watercolor, drawing, and design to adults, college students, and teens.

Heidi Thorsen discovered the Zentangle Method in 2016 and became a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) in 2024. Drawn to its meditative, stress-relieving qualities, she values how the method’s gentle structure quiets the mind while strengthening creativity. In her classes, Heidi emphasizes the accessibility of Zentangle—no artistic experience is required, and students are guided step by step while encouraged to trust their own unique expression. A Virginia native and Crozet resident since 2003, she has taught art to children as a homeschool educator for over 12 years and now teaches both children and adults. She is excited to share the Zentangle Method with the Crozet Arts community.