Tag Archives: Empower Radio

Apr 25 2012

Karen Vuranch: God’s Energy Comes Through Me

Karen Vuranch weaves together a love of history, a passion for stories and a sense of community. She has toured throughout the United States with her traditional storytelling and living history performances, as well as made five performance tours of Wales and England performing her play, Coal Camp Memories. In 2002, Karen participated in storytelling exchange in China.

“The ancient Celtics had the sense that God is in everything and everything you do is spiritual. That’s how I look at my life — spirituality is part of everything that I do. When I’m creating, I draw upon God’s energy, but I also just let it come out through me.” ~Karen Vuranch

Listen to Karen’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Karen brings history to life with historical interpretations of women from America’s past. She recreates author Pearl Buck; labor organizer Mother Jones; Indian captive Mary Draper Ingles, Civil War soldier and spy Emma Edmonds, humanitarian Clara Barton, Renaissance pirate Grace O’Malley, Wild West Outlaw Belle Starr and, the first lady of food, Julia Child, Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons. Her newest character is beloved children’s writer, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Additionally, she performs a WWII play, Homefront.

On a lighter side, Karen writes and produces audience participation murder mysteries. She often works with community groups, creating a production in just two or three days using members of the community.  She also has a troupe of actors that travel to present the mysteries. The In Cahoots Players are a troupe of incredibly talented actors from Southern West Virginia. Collectively, they have performed in plays, musicals and murder mysteries throughout the region. Their stage presence, lively and spontaneous banter and quick replies make for a hilarious evening of entertainment.

Karen says, “The art of storytelling and live performance becomes intrinsically involved with the audience  — the audience is as much a part of it as I am. I have a little mantra that I always do before I go onstage. When I offer my work to God, the connection with the audience is magical.”

Karen has been honored by many organizations including the Corridor Tourism L Commission, receiving the Robert C. Byrd Community Service Award in April of 2005. Other honors include the McWhorter Achievment Award from the West Virginia Storytelling Guild; Performing Artist of the Year for Tamarack, the West Virginia state arts center; the Spirit of West Virginia Award from the state tourism office and the Celebrate Women Award from the Women’s Commission of the West Virginia Legislature.  In 1994, Karen and her husband, Gene Worthington, performed together at the Ellipse Theatre at the White House.  On her audio tape, My Grandmother’s Necklace, Karen performs stories she has written and collected.  She is currently in production with a new CD of the stories and song show Potluck: Stories and Songs about Women, Wisdom and Food, which she performs with Julie Adams and Colleen Anderson. Karen also has completed a DVD of Coal Camp Memories.

Karen graduated from Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio with double majors in Sociology/Social Work and Theatre.  She earned a M.A. from the Marshall University Graduate College in Humanities, focusing on American Studies with a minor in Celtic Studies. In addition to her work as a storyteller and actress, Karen is an adjunct faculty for Concord University, teaching Theatre, Speech and Appalachian Studies. She is a freelance consultant for the Coal Heritage Highway Authority. For this organization, she wrote and developed their Interpretation Plan, organized an event celebrating coalfield baseball and is currently directing an oral history project.

Karen says, “My spiritual beliefs and artistic growth are totally intertwined with each other. As I create, I draw upon spiritual energy. As I become more of a spiritual person, I become a better artist.”

Find out more about Karen and her upcoming shows at www.wventerprises.com. Here is a recent article about Karen from the Register Herald newspaper in Beckley, WV.

Learn more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Apr 19 2012

Dixie Speck: Communing with God through Nature

For Dixie Speck, President, CEO and Lead Designer of Solterra Landscape Inc., plants and landscaping aren’t just a business, but an obsession. Her passion led her to leave a career in the engineering field, move to Atlanta, receive training in landscape design and horticulture, and start a landscaping business.

“I get to be outside every day enjoying communion with God through nature. After walking a property with a client, I walk through again on my own and start to get a vision of what the finished landscape could be and what plants could work well. I feel that God is leading me in that way and helping me figure out what would look great in my design for that particular property.” ~Dixie Speck

Listen to Dixie’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Solterra has gained a reputation for delighting their customers both in creating beautiful, distinctive landscapes and providing excellent maintenance service. Solterra customers know that they can request special services and it will always be accommodated.

Solterra’s clients are looking for MORE – particularly more quality and more communication. Dixie and her Solterra team have won local and national awards for landscape design.

Dixie says, “I pay attention to little details — not just the flowers and the color, but the difference in the textures of plants and how they can work together a living design. I feel like an artist on a grand scale when I assemble the puzzle pieces together to create a beautiful landscape with a variety of plant material. I’m working with God’s gift of all these gorgeous plants.“

Dixie has taught classes on landscape design for Emory University’s Continuing Education Program, and is regularly asked to speak at Garden Clubs and other industry events.  She appeared as a guest designer for several episodes of HGTV’s Landscape Solutions. Dixie serves as an expert resource for Atlanta Home Improvement Magazine and is on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Urban Ag Council. 

Find out more about Dixie and Solterra Landscape at www.solterralandscape.com.

Learn more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Apr 12 2012

Dr. Tammi Baliszewski: Creativity Takes Many Forms

Dr. Tammi Baliszewski has a double Ph.D. and is a Holistic Life Counselor. Her teachings are a blend of psychological and spiritual principles. Tammi is a hypnotherapist, Art for Healing instructor, Sacred Art Facilitator, ordained minister, artist, writer and author of Manifesting Love From the Inside Out. Her intention is to support those she works with in tapping into the creativity, power, beauty and wisdom within.

“I’m creative every day. I am not a painter every day. I am not a writer every day. I’m not a counselor every day. I start every day with a simple practice of centering myself — I invite spirit to work through me for the highest possible good of myself and for others. From that place, I’ll have something I intend to do which may be painting, writing or counseling. Creativity takes many forms.” ~ Dr. Tammi Baliszewski

Listen to Tammi’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Her centering practice helps her overcome blocks to her creative flow. Tammi says, “If I lend myself to Spirit, there’s always something there.”

She goes on to say, “Ego can have us play small and claim that we are less than we are. I believe we are breathing in an aspect of creative intelligence and therefore we are creators. We are artists. Our life is the most important creative medium that we have.”

Tammi is host of the radio show, Journey to Center, airing weekly on Empower Radio.

Find out more about Tammi, her book and her art at www.TammiBPhD.com.

Learn more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Apr 5 2012

Brandon Tutman: Trust Your Instincts

In 2011, Brandon Tutman turned to fashion after beginning his career in architecture. He now heads the Neiman Marcus, Atlanta Ralph Lauren boutique, as a fashion consultant. He utilizes the many labels within Neiman Marcus to style his clients.

 “I’ve learned to trust my instincts. If I hadn’t taken that chance of moving from architecture to fashion, I wouldn’t have grown. I would have been living life to someone else’s expectations and I wouldn’t have known what I was fully capable of.” ~Brandon Tutman

Listen to Brandon’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Brandon was educated at Southern Polytechnic in Architecture. After briefly practicing architecture, he took the opportunity from a downward economy to leave his first love and embrace what has been his guilty pleasure of all pleasures; Fashion! Brandon’s foundation in architecture helps him understand each client’s physical structure and dress them for any occasion.

Brandon says, “If architecture is the art in which we dwell, then clothing is the art in which we function.”

He goes on to say, “When you get dressed, your clothing is a representation of you. The right outfit can help you feel relaxed and confident throughout your day. Let your clothing choices help you put your best foot forward.”

Brandon’s latest platform to merge the arts is through his lifestyle blog to be launched in late 2012 named, S.T.O.C.C. Seasonal Trends on Classic Collections. Contact Brandon through the Ralph Lauren boutique at Neiman Marcus in Atlanta, GA.

Learn more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Mar 28 2012

Pat Fiorello: When You’re Creating, You’re Alive

Pat Fiorello is a professional artist who especially enjoys capturing the beauty and energy of nature in her vibrant oil and watercolor paintings. She is known for her impressionistic paintings of landscapes, gardens and florals.

Pat’s family name “Fiorello” comes from an Italian lineage meaning “one who lives near a wall of flowers,” so it’s no accident that she is drawn to painting flowers and scenes which capture the essence and beauty of nature.

“When you’re creating, you’re alive. It doesn’t matter what you are creating. You could be creating a piece of music or a dance or a spreadsheet or a casserole. When you’re in the experience of taking nothing and creating something, there’s nothing more enlivening. The creation itself is an amazing process and gets you out of your own self – out of your own ego and the voices in your head. You are present in the moment.” ~Pat Fiorello

Listen to Pat’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Pat has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and worked in corporate marketing for 20 years including positions as Vice President, Marketing at Nabisco and Coca-Cola.

Self taught at first, Pat later studied with noted artists to develop her talents and skills. In 2002, she left her corporate marketing position to pursue her passion for art and concentrate on painting full time. Now she teaches others to paint at the Spruill Center for the Arts in Atlanta and other places in the U. S., Caribbean and Europe. While she is helping people build skills in art, her broader intention is to provide enrichment experiences for adults.

She says, “I really believe that you can never stop learning in art. I share with my students a quote I have in my studio that says, ‘I am still learning.’ That was a quote by Michelangelo when he was 87. You can start learning at any age and art is something that will last a lifetime.”

Pat has served as President of the Georgia Watercolor Society and Chairman of the Atlanta Artists Center. Given her unique blend of business and art skills, she also works as a coach with artists and arts organizations to help them be more successful.

With all that Pat juggles as an artist, teacher, coach and business owner, she says, “At the end of the day, it’s just a great day if I’ve had the opportunity to paint, learn or inspire someone to grow or get one step closer to their dreams.”

Learn more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Mar 21 2012

Stanton Lanier: Life is an Adventure to Live

Pianist-composer Stanton Lanier offers a unique concert experience, combining signature melodies, inspiring life stories and audience interaction. Before pursuing music full-time, he was a chemist and financial planner.

“For a long time I took life too seriously. I thought life was more of a problem to solve. Now I know that life is an adventure to live. God has inspired all this music through me and He keeps showing me that he’s bigger than I think.” ~Stanton Lanier

Listen to Stanton’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Four of Stanton’s seven albums were produced by William Ackerman, Grammy winning Founder of Windham Hill Records, including Christianity Today’s 2011 Notable Sacred Music (A Thousand Years) and ZMR Awards 2009 Best Holiday Album (December Peace). His music can be heard on The Weather Channel, Sirius-XM Spa, Music Choice Soundscapes and many other outlets.

Stanton is also the Founder of Music to Light the World, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with a vision to offer God’s “peace and rest in a hurried world.” Their Get Music Give Hope℠ has led to 20,000 CDs being donated to cancer centers and hospitals offering hope and healing to patients.

He says, “There’s a Bible verse about how God’s ways are higher than our ways. He is unconventional. He can bypass the whole system if he wants to and do it His way. It will blow your mind. There’s an inner affirmation of following our heart and then there’s outer affirmation as people respond. It can be good to not know how everything is supposed to work.” 

Find out more about Stanton and his music at www.stantonlanier.com. Send your family and friends a free music sample with an e-card.

Learn more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Mar 15 2012

Carrie Newcomer: There’s a Spiritual Current in My Work

Carrie Newcomer is a rare breed of singer/songwriter: the kind who illuminates life with startling depth, humor and clarity. Her ability for sharp observation of the world lead the Dallas Morning News to rave, “She’s the kind of artist whose music makes you stop, think and then say, ‘that is so true’.” She has been described as “a soaring songstress” by Billboard, a “prairie mystic” by the Boston Globe, and Rolling Stone has said that she “asks all the right questions.”

“There’s a spiritual current in my work because there’s a spiritual current in my life.” ~Carrie Newcomer

Listen to Carrie’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

She says, “When someone creates a work of art or when we hear a song and a person has put their finger right on the open palm of something true, it shakes the world just a little bit.”   

In the fall of 2011 Carrie released her fifteenth album, Everything is Everywhere, as a special benefit project for the Interfaith Hunger Initiative on Available Light Records. The Interfaith Hunger Initiative is an organization including faith leaders and laity Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Sikh congregations, dedicated to the common cause of providing for those most vulnerable in our communities. Carrie says, “In a time when we are encouraged to fear difference or diversity, Everything is Everywhere was created as an alternative to fear and an affirmation of creative and compassionate engagement. I am one of a growing number of people who are choosing to not put the Sacred in such a small container.” 

She says, “We live in a world of distractions and it’s easy to not be present in our own lives. But when I’m here, when I am present in attention, I start to see miracles and I sense the sacred everywhere. At the center of what I am doing is an artistic practice but it’s also a spiritual practice. It’s to be here and to be open — to what’s right here, right now in front of me — and then write about it.”

Carrie internationally facilitates workshops and presents keynotes on the topics of songwriting, spirituality and vocation at colleges, universities, and spiritual communities, retreat centers. Newcomer, a Quaker, cuts across secular and spiritual boundaries. In recent years, she has emerged as a respected and recognized artistic voice for the progressive spiritual community.

Find out more about Carrie and listen to free samples of her songs at www.carrienewcomer.com. Click on the link titled Messages from Carrie to read her poems and articles. I wonder if Carrie’s poem titled “The Dare” will offer as much encouragement to you as much as it has to me?

Learn more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Mar 9 2012

Chuck Cogliandro: Drumming Brings So Much Joy

Chuck Cogliandro is a drummer, teacher, healing practitioner and Director of Kumandi Drums & Healing. Since 1992, Chuck’s path has included bringing people together in the shared joy of West African drumming.  He is a graduate of the Barbara Brennan School of Healing and is completing his second year of studies in Family Constellations work with Peter and Jamy Faust.

“Drumming brings so much joy. It gets people out of their minds and out of their anxieties – out of the mental level of worrying. It raises their energetic level of vibration into the spiritual level. That’s where healing comes through the music and the drums.” ~Chuck Cogliandro

Listen to Chuck’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Chuck annually hosts and organizes the Kumandi African Drum & Dance Camp near Asheville.  He has directed performing community and professional drumming groups, helped organize and performed with the 100-member drum tribe in the Opening Ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympic Games, and has made CD, commercial and soundtrack recordings.

Chuck’s company name, Kumandi, is from the Malinke language spoken in West Africa. He says, “Kumandi means to call or to invite or to sound. So that’s the purpose of the drums – to call people together and to invite them to make sound.” Chuck adds, “Drumming is powerful. It creates vibration that affects you on all levels. On the physical level, your body feels the music and the vibration coming from the drum. Your spirit is touched from the people creating this vibration collectively. Especially with African drumming, drumming is used to bring the community together to celebrate.” 

His longing is to co-create communities for transformation, using expressive elements of drumming, music, voice and movement. Chuck is also an enrichment instructor at Atlanta’s Orion School, drumming with children diagnosed with autism and ADHD.

Find out more about Chuck at www.Kumandi.com.

Learn more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Mar 1 2012

Patricia Hayes: We Are Collectively Changing the World

Patricia Hayes is an international lecturer, teacher, author and artist. She is the author of five books and has been a pioneer in intuitive and spiritual development for over 45 years.

Patricia and her husband Marshall Smith are the founders of Delphi University in McCaysville, GA. Patricia developed the extensive career-oriented certification and degree programs offered through the University. Patricia worked with the well-known medium Arthur Ford in the 60’s and 70’s, and after his death, in 1974 founded the Arthur Ford International Academy of Mediumship. Today, graduates of the school from 42 different counties use their spiritual abilities for the purpose of channeling, guidance, and healing. In the early eighties, Patricia founded The RoHun Institute which offers an extensive study program in Spiritual Psychotherapy and Transpersonal Psychology for aspiring therapists. Patricia is the founder of selfenlighten.com; a Self Enlightenment correspondence study program.

Patricia is also an artist that works in soft pastels. She has developed a technique of channeling art that she has named Entura Art. Patricia has used this method of art throughout her career to establish a relationship with Spirit. Of all her accomplishments, her favorite thing to do is channeling art and teaching aspiring artists this unique technique.

“What you worship in life and what you value in life does matter. Everyone of us is creating this world. Every single one of us matters. I think that’s the biggest thing that people are awakening to. I matter. How can I, just a little me, matter? But we do. Because we are all collectively changing the world, positively all the time.” ~Patricia Hayes

Listen to Patricia’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

She says, “I’ve always loved the mystical. It is the mystical that keeps me moving and inspired, growing and expanding.”

Patricia teaches others how to channel energy and to create Entura Art. She says, “When I create my art, I never know what I’m going to draw before I do it. I am channeling an energy and each energy is totally unique. This kind of art is actually easier to teach someone that has never drawn anything than to teach an artist.” Full details about the next Entura Art intensive are available here. www.delphiu.com/entura.htm

Patricia has appeared on numerous television programs including Current Affairs, Unsolved Mysteries, Unexplained Mysteries and Strange Universe.  The producer and crew spent time at Delphi University filming Patricia for the Japanese version of 20/20 in Tokyo. Her work has been written about in over thirty books over the last thirty years. She is the author of four previous books: Intuitive and Spiritual Development, Know Yourself, The Gatekeeper and The Extension of Life that she co-authored with her husband, Marshall Smith. Her latest book, Prince Abba and Magi Patiput has just been published.

Find out more about Patricia at www.PatriciaHayesArt.com or at www.DelphiU.com.

Learn more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Feb 22 2012

Jill Felts: I Draw Out My Prayers

Jill Felts is Founder, C.E.O., and lead designer of Atlanta-based Compelling Creations, Inc.

As a faith-based, party plan direct selling company, the name Compelling Creations has become synonymous to marketplace ministry as the inspirational jewelry is passed from one woman to another by independent sales Consultants.

“Some people write out their prayers and I kind of draw them out.” ~Jill Felts

Listen to Jill’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

She says, “I let ideas bake. I come up with a new jewelry line by paying attention to what keeps reappearing in my life throughout the year. I just doodle and doodle the same design over and over and over again.”

Jill finds that listening and being still are important to her creative process. She says, “I feel like God already knows everything about us and what our heart’s desire is and so a lot of it is being still and letting go and just letting the flow happen.”

Since 1996, Jill has channeled her entrepreneurial drive into a passion to share her beliefs through messages and symbols inscribed on jewelry. Selling the jewelry through a team of independent sales Consultants has touched lives nationwide.

Prior to forming Compelling Creations, Inc., Jill was a project manager and account executive with several target marketing companies in Washington, DC, New York, and Chicago. Jill holds a B.A. in Rhetoric and Communications and a B.A. in French from the University of Virginia.

Jill and her husband have two adult daughters who grew up in the business.

See Compelling Creations jewelry line and contact Jill at www.Compelling-Creations.com. 

Learn more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.