Award winning artist Mary Kinzel Means has been creating as long as she can remember. Some of her earliest memories were watching her grandfather, artist Henry Kinzel, in his studio. "My grandfather's studio was mesmerizing, full of odds and ends, paintings strewn everywhere, the air thick with the smell of turpentine... I was in awe!" After studying art and psychology at the University of Tennessee, she headed to Atlanta as an art consultant where she has been a successful gallerist for over thirty years. Mary's focus for the past few years has been figurative sculpture in mixed media ceramics.

"Peaceful" is the word most often used to describe her work. "I aspire to capture lightness and fully embrace the spiritual feel of my work". "It may sound strange to some, but I can feel the energy come through the clay, almost like I'm capturing an image of a visitor from above. I feel only lightness when I work, stress and negativity seem to magically disappear the minute my hands get in the clay. I'm hopeful the gift of "lightness of being" translates through my creations," says Mary.