Resident Artists
At the Commons
Stephen Lanford
Stephen Lanford is a Little Rock–based painter specializing in watercolor and oil, known for an eclectic style rooted in emotional depth. His work moves between fluid, expressive layers and richly textured compositions, exploring themes of feeling, memory, perception, and interior experience. Balancing intuition with control, Lanford’s paintings evoke atmospheric, emotionally resonant spaces that resist fixed interpretation. By combining contrasting techniques and moods, Lanford creates pieces that invite viewers to connect on a personal and emotional level.
Lanford holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and teaches watercolor classes at Hillcrest Commons in Little Rock, Arkansas. His dedication to education complements his studio practice, fostering a thoughtful engagement with both technique and creative exploration.
His work has been exhibited widely throughout Arkansas and beyond, including group exhibitions with the Six Bridges Watercolor Group and the Mid-Southern Watercolorists, as well as juried exhibitions such as Flourish: d’Art’s Annual National Juried Floral & Botanical Exhibition in Norfolk, Virginia. Lanford has also presented solo and two-person exhibitions, including Oil and Water (2024) and collaborative shows with his wife Patty Jolliff.
See more of his work here: stephenlanford.weebly.com
Larry Crane
Crane has been an artist his whole life… Since 1979, he has painted on canvas with acrylic paints. His works have been exhibited in the Arkansas State Capitol and the Oval Office, and elsewhere. Crane travels extensively visiting (and paddling or rafting) rivers east and west, and has walked pilgrimages across Portugal, Spain, and Italy. Wherever he travels, on his return home, he often paints to capture the feel of his experience. After his last studio at the St Joseph Center was destroyed by Fire and Water, Crane has made a happy rebirth in his studio at Hillcrest Commons.
Drop by or Message him. Text him at (501)944-4314
Colin Jorgensen
Chandler Colin Jorgensen has been making candles since childhood. Unicorn Dream Candles are made with a blend of premium soy and paraffin waxes. Soy burns longer, holds more fragrance oil, and throws more fragrance, but soy is soft and doesn’t hold shape in pillar form. Paraffin is harder and displays color more boldly. With a soy + paraffin blend, candles are long-burning and bold-colored and have powerful fragrance—beyond what is typically possible with a paraffin pillar candle. The best braided coreless wicking is used, which burns with a large and hot flame. Jorgensen has tested hundreds of fragrance oils over decades of candle-making. Oils interact with wax in unique ways—for example, some oils mix into a creamy and opaque solid, while others mix into a translucent finish. Jorgensen tends to prefer the strongest and priciest fragrance oils, which have proven popular, and he always uses the maximum amount of oil that the wax will retain, maximizing fragrance potency. Oil-based liquid dyes are mixed to create any color. Jorgensen is a fan of rainbow patterns, but there are no limits to colors and color combinations. Candles are poured by hand, one color/layer at a time for layered candles. Colored wax pieces are made separately and arranged in molds for single-pour candles, creating a jeweled effect inside the candle. Jorgensen is also a fan of glitter, and Unicorn Dream Candles are generally dressed atop with cosmic sparkle. After full cooling, candles are polished by hand, wicked, and wrapped to protect against blemishes and preserve fragrance. But fragrance degrades and color fades over time—so Unicorn Dream Candles are made to burn!
Caroline Miller
Caroline Millar works in eco-printing and cyanotype processes. Inspired by illustrations of early 19th century naturalists, Millar enjoys capturing the natural world encountered in everyday life onto textiles such as clothing and vintage linen, and works on paper. Her work has been shown at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art Museum Store, Gallery 26, The Little Craft Show, and Box Turtle. She also teaches workshops locally.
To see more of her work, visit her family's craft business at www.goofballindutries.net, or on instagram @goofballindustries.
