BLUR: the intersection of art and design

CAROLINE CLARK | LUKE FLOWERS | MICHAEL HEATH | RYAN PUTNAM | JESSE TAYLOR

Where does art and graphic design intersect? Each artist in Blur presents work that
challenges the boundaries between the two—if those boundaries even exist—defining creativity on their own terms through distinct processes and media. This exhibit  features design work and/or personal art made by designers.

Blur features the artwork and designs of Colorado Springs-based
designers Caroline Clark, Luke Flowers, Mike Heath, Ryan Putnam, and Jesse Taylor

Caroline Clark:

Caroline Clark is no stranger to the rugged landscapes of the American West. Caroline's work is a dynamic mix of vintage-inspired designs, digital techniques, and a touch of the unexpected, all of which shine through in her playful western-themed pieces.Caroline's journey as an artist is as unique as her designs. Once a competitive climber, she now balances her art with motherhood, drawing inspiration from the surrounding mountains, deserts, and forests. Her passion for the outdoors is evident in everything she does. It's more than just a backdrop for her work, it's the soul of it.

The pieces in Blur explore Victorian-era lithography techniques based on month's of Caroline's research. These techniques were primarily used to mass-produce commercial illustrations, requiring giant stones for each color. The circular dot pattern helped illustrators more quickly replicate the picture, keeping in-tact the same texture and shading. For these pieces, each step of these vintage techniques is recreated digitally and by hand, based on that research. 

Luke Flowers:

Luke Flowers has illustrated over 60 children's books. Writing and illustrating has been his lifelong dream since his grade school days. He has created work for a range of clients that include Scholastic, Penguin Random House, Little Golden Books, Disney, Fred Rogers Productions, The Jim Henson Company, Nickelodeon, Little Bee Books, Imprint (Macmillan), Two Lions, Source Books, Hallmark, Discovery House Publishing, Highlights, Workman Publishing, and The Smithsonian Institute. When he is not in his creative cave, he finds inspiration in strumming on a guitar or banjo, performing with his puppets, playing basketball or just enjoying a book with a cup of coffee. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado with his biggest inspirations, his wife and three kids.

Michael Heath:

Michael Heath has been running his own business doing 3D, motion graphics and illustration for more than 14 years. These days he primarily creates book covers for major publishers, including Random House, Penguin, Harper Collins and Macmillan.

Heath loves the work, and has an agent, but he’s also aware that it’s his personal pieces that often attract new clients. “One of the main reasons people hire me is that they are drawn into the heart and story of my artwork,” he says, explaining that his primary tools are Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Marvelous Designer, Photoshop and Octane.

“I think what people are attracted to is the way I capture the innocence of youth within the context of adventure,” he continues. “I have fond memories of the outdoor adventures my brother and I had as kids, and I think the best environments have a touch of manmade culture combined with the wildness of nature.”

Ryan Putnam:

Ryan Putnam is a Colorado-based artist and designer. Outside his work as a designer in the tech industry, Ryan's art practice is a deliberate turn toward the physical and handmade. Working across printmaking, ceramics, and collage, Ryan is drawn to processes rooted in material and touch, creating objects that feel simultaneously discovered and made.

Jesse Taylor:

Jesse Taylor is a multidisciplinary artist and designer playing at the intersection of branding, nostalgia, and cultural commentary. Raised on the visual language of the 90s and shaped by a career in graphic design, Taylor's BLUR series reimagines iconic logos, campaigns, and brand identities through clever twists that shift their meaning while preserving their familiarity. The work explores how brands function as a modern shared language—capable of carrying emotion, identity, and cultural values beyond their original intent. These pieces challenge conventional ideas of originality, suggesting that contemporary creativity is less about inventing something new and more about re-contextualizing what already exists. Through humor, reinterpretation, and unexpected visual connections, Taylor invites viewers to reconsider the symbols that shape their memories and the influence they continue to hold.