In The Studio with Make Studio of Hampden, Maryland

Today, we are going In the Studio with 6 featured artists from Make Studio, which is a nonprofit community art center in Hampden, Maryland that creates opportunities for everyone to connect through art.

“We empower artists with disabilities to grow as professionals with visibility and voice in their communities. We envision a world of acceptance and inclusion where art opens doors for everyone.”

For more information, please visit their website at www.make-studio.org/home.html Their artwork is on display in our Hal Gomer Gallery from September 10 - November 8, 2026.

A transplant to Maryland from SoCal, but born in Milwaukee, Patrick Dwyre (b. 1970) joined Make Studio in 2024 and quickly showed us how he had honed his practice during his prior tenure with progressive studio Tierra del Sol. There and here, he has always been very active with his family and community, drawing inspiration from family trips, his very successful exploits at casinos (choosing to always give his winnings to nieces and nephews), and flying with his father. Patrick himself has accumulated enough flight hours to earn a pilot’s license. He has a distinct manner of layering primarily pastels and woodless colored pencils, sometimes using scraping to define expressive forms that are often depictions of places he has been. Rendering dense scenes with both dark and vivid and velvety surfaces, he reveals his intuitive understanding of color and texture. He exhibited extensively at the First Street Gallery in Claremont, CA while at Tierra del Sol (2009-2023), and so far while at Make Studio his exhibition activities have included Miami Art Week 2025, the inaugural SCOUT Art Fair (Baltimore, MD), in “Textured Narratives” at Chesapeake Arts Center (Brooklyn Park, MD), and “Memories” at Able ARTS Works (Long Beach, CA, 2025). His work has also been acquired by Gordon-Feinblatt for their permanent collection. This is his curatorial debut.

How do you decide when a piece is finished?

Patrick Dwyre: Sometimes I push hard and break the paper and I know it's reached it's limit.

Is there a medium or material you're looking forward to trying in the future?

Patrick Dwyre: More felt, more clay.

Do you prefer to work large or small?

Patrick Dwyre: Both! Big is better for bridges and rivers.

Ethan Smith (b. 2004) began working with Make Studio in 2023, after exploring a potential studio practice as part of our transition-age workshop series for young artists, but already was identifying very strongly as an “artist.” Today, his consistent work ethic and unlimited creativity have confirmed his instinct, and along the way he has matured in his artistry while constantly drawing and painting at the studio and at home. Ethan tackles a wide range of subjects, including but not limited to landscapes, animals, portraits, and flowers. He has shown his artwork regularly since joining Make Studio, and further shared his techniques through leading workshops, such as painted rock workshops hosted by Baltimore County Public Libraries and Baltimore City’s therapeutic rec center. He loves doing crafts at home and building Legos, and further shows his craftiness by doing wood projects offered at Home Depot. He s a graduate of Perry Hall High School.

How has Make Studio contributed to your artistic career?

Ethan Smith: I am selling more art, I have more art in shows and I lead more workshops since joining Make Studio. I also volunteer at Make Studio which builds my job skills - I help prepare the walls for art shows and have tried exhibition design for our upcoming, "Scoobytorium," opening mid-October!

Why is making art important to you?

Ethan Smith: I'm good with art. I am inspired by other artists and want to try out their style. I paint rocks because my mom started it with her school. Now I paint them on their own and I leave them anywhere so people can find them and take a photo.

Louis Middleton (b. 1981), one of the original Make Studio artists who joined in 2010, is a long-time resident of Owings Mills, MD and is a devotee of all things retro. He gravitates towards epic landscapes and portraiture, or a combination of the two, as well as architecture in his art. His landscapes cover a variety of scenes from tropical beaches to Baltimore City to snowy mountain ranges, and his portraits are often of celebrities he finds interesting, like country singers, U.S. Presidents, and comedians. Besides painting, Louis dabbles in ceramics and has long enjoyed taking photographs and digitally manipulating imagery. He was one of the featured artists in the exhibition “Storytellers” at Make Studio’s Showroom Gallery. His work has also been included multiple times in Art Enables’ “Outside Forces” (Washington, DC), as well as in many other shows, and he has sold more artwork (including internationally) than any other Make Studio artist. In recent years he has become an avid teaching artist, presenting workshops based on his own painting style to all-ages audiences. He made his art fair debut in Open Invitational at Miami Art Week in 2025.

Who is an artist that inspires you? How do they influence your art?

Louis Middleton: Bob Ross! Brushstrokes! - (said enthusiastically! He likes watching his show)

Julian “Jules” Hinmon (b. 1987) recalls that he has always been interested in “how art tells a story” and started his art practice in the late 1990’s/early 2000s before joining Make Studio in 2016. At first, he used construction paper and pencil to draw Pokémon characters and his childhood experiences, but then widely and wildly expanded from that start. Jules takes great pride in his artwork and really enjoys the creative process, working at a very fast pace with various graphic media. His current work continues to be inspired by his childhood, media he feels nostalgia for (cartoons, in particular!), and the personalities of people he knows and looks up to. Jules’ work has been recently shown in the comics and animation-themed exhibition, “Make Studio Funnies,” as well as Chesapeake Arts Center’s “Wildlife Wonders” and at Able ARTS Work (Long Beach, CA) in “A Playful Spirit”.

How do you find inspiration in the world around you?

Jules Himmon: Various sources, like the things I love. In addition to finding inspiration in other artists, I find it in things I love, like women and cats.

Shermilla Fischer (b. 1980) joined Make Studio in 2013. Shermilla enjoys sculpting, painting with acrylics and oils, drawing with charcoal and pastels, embroidery, and other explorations with textiles. He loves watching the news, studying history and other cultures, and is inspired by people, landscapes, and their own imagination. Shermilla laughs easily and often! Their work has been shown at "We Make Art. Celebrating Make Studio's Black Artists" at OCA Mocha (UMBC, Arbutus, MD), "a tenderness: Black, SGL, LGBTQ digital zine" by Rooted Collective, MASKerade with MAP (Baltimore, MD), and “Advocacy Through Art” at OCA Mocha (UMBC, Arbutus, MD).

Do you have a particular routine that helps you get into the flow of creating?

Shermilla Fischer: What’s the first thing you do when you get in the studio: “Get coffee”

7 Eleven in the morning

When you start a piece what do you think about:

Shermilla Fischer: Thinking about how much time my piece will take

Matthew Slattery (b. 1997), a resident of Lutherville, joined Make Studio in 2019. Once at the studio, he wasted no time getting into a routine, and ever since has always made it very clear when he feels that a piece is done. He is known for his unique sense of humor, often deployed when wanting to take a break from working, seeking more coffee, or giving his dad a hard time. Matthew works mostly in colored pencil, watercolor pencil, and watercolors, but has dabbled in ceramics, leading to his having work on display at Baltimore Clayworks.

What is the hardest part of making art?

Matthew Slattery: Technically I am right-handed so...

What is your artistic practice?

Matthew Slattery: My brain comes up with an idea and then I sketch. I use the light pad to get [the sketch] onto good paper. I decide on color or black and white.