Artists Exhibit Craft at Joe & Rosie's Coffee Shop

An art exhibit sponsored by Ann Arbor Women Artists (AAWA) and featuring the paintings of Judy Bemis and photography of Laila Kujala is at , 8074 Main St. in Dexter, through July 18.

“Our work is very different, but I really felt kind of artist kinship with (Bemis) and I’m happy I got to know her through this show," Kujala said.

Kujala, who paints, makes jewelry, creates stuffed animals and digital art based on her photographs, will exhibit her nature alphabets, that she also sells as custom letter art on etsy.com.

Last winter, after getting an idea to make an alphabet based on plants and flowers, she went through her photographs of flowers, and spent time photographing blooms at the University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor.

In the fall she visited the Silver Lake sand dunes on the west coast of Michigan. Fascinated by the markings that wind makes on the sand, she made a sand dune alphabet from her photographs. She is also creating an alphabet from photographs taken at Eberwhite Woods in Ann Arbor.

Kujala, who spent four years at the Art Students’ League of New York in New York City studying drawing, impressionist painting and printmaking, is also exhibiting at the Mallett’s Creek Branch of the Ann Arbor District Library, Whole Foods Market and Common Cup Coffee House in Ann Arbor. She will take part in the AAWA annual summer show at the Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti and in the Ann Arbor Art Walk in October.

Her art expresses a spiritual search that leans toward Eastern philosophies and many of her paintings are based on dreams and inner visions, she said. She is also strongly inspired by nature.

“Once I decided I don’t have to follow any rules on what art is or is supposed to be my creativity really opened up,” she said. “It’s about the process of creation that I love.”

A long-time resident of Ann Arbor, Kujala is a head teacher at a Gretchen’s House Child Development Center, where art with her young students is an important part of each day.

Bemis, owner of Heart’s Ease Studio on Jennings Road in Webster Township, and a member of Webster United Church of Christ, is a retired social worker. She has been painting since her retirement in 2005, and has taken art courses at the Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Center, Washtenaw Community College and Eastern Michigan University.

Her work has been exhibited in juried shows as the Riverside Art Center in Ypsilanti, Southeastern Michigan Women's Center, Whole Foods in Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Art Center and in Grand Rapids.