KATIE MAHER

We first met Katie when we wandered into her studio in Salida, Colorado. ARTSTINKS™ was nothing but a vague idea at the time, and we had no clue whether artists would be into the idea of letting us put their work on a candle.

We spent a while in Katie's gallery admiring her work and making small talk, but social anxiety got the better of us — we left without asking her what she thought of the art-meets-candle idea. Halfway down the block, Duke said, "Screw it. What's the worst that could happen — she laughs at us?"

Katie, of course, did not laugh at us. She was gracious and encouraging, and we credit her with giving us the confidence we needed to pursue this idea in earnest.

Her paintings are beautiful and we love them, plain and simple. Of her own work, Katie says: "I believe that real beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What makes an art piece special isn't necessarily what has been included as what has been left to the imagination of the viewer.

"I call my style fractured. Broken down into fractal geometric shapes in order to produce a vibration of color and line that mimic movement. I am attempting to capture the ever shifting nature of life and interconnected energy that animates everything."