Fall Northampton Show Stoppers

The 200+ artists and makers who are accepted to participate in the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton are the “best-of-the-best” of America’s independent painters, sculptors, and craft makers from every corner of America. Each season, Paradise City introduces dozens of exciting new artists who will exhibit their work in the Northampton show for the first time. 

We are pleased to welcome a fresh crop of brand-new exhibitors to the show. From those artists making their Paradise City Arts Northampton debuts, we have selected six as our Show Stoppers. Please welcome these six and dozens of new artists to Paradise City Arts this fall!

Trish Overstreet is a self-taught sewist whose work transforms forgotten textiles into evocative, one-of-a-kind wearable art. Working from a vibrant home studio in Northampton, MA, Overstreet brings damaged vintage quilts, antique quilt tops, and rescued fabrics back to life with reverence and vision. Her studio, aptly named Redemption Dry Goods, reflects her commitment to sustainability, honoring the labor and artistry embedded in these historic materials.

Overstreet began sewing in 2020, during the early days of the pandemic. What started as patchwork evolved into a deeper calling when she discovered vintage quilts—beautiful, storied pieces of American folk art left to deteriorate. For Overstreet, each quilt is a conversation with the anonymous women who created them, a collaboration across time.

Her pieces are guided by the textiles themselves, elevating their histories while placing them in a modern context. Overstreet’s devotion to craftsmanship and sustainability has earned her a devoted circle of collectors who share her ethics and appreciation for beauty reborn from the discarded.

 

Tara Santoro is a jewelry artist known for her bold, architectural designs that celebrate individuality and fearless fashion. Working from her studio in Lowell, MA, Santoro handcrafts striking rings, earrings, and pendants in sterling silver for those unafraid to make a statement. Her aesthetic is rooted in a deep love of modern design, architecture, and the clean lines and geometry of the Bauhaus and Mid-Century Modern movements.

Raised in the fashion-forward boroughs of New York City, Santoro was influenced early on by her stylish mother and grandmother, along with fashion magazines, designers, and models of the time. She began her journey into metal jewelry design 25 years ago, inspired by a friend to take a class at the Museum School in Boston. Since then, she has pursued extensive hands-on education in metalsmithing techniques, ranging from foundational skills to advanced processes like fold forming, corrugation, granulation, and texturing.

Though she balances her art with a full-time career as a Project Manager in telecommunications, Santoro’s true passion lies in creating wearable sculpture. Her jewelry speaks to the power of strong form, thoughtful design, and the beauty of handcrafted, contemporary expression.

 

Tim McMahon is a Portland, Maine-based ceramicist known for his whimsical, cartoon-adorned porcelain pottery. His creative journey began in childhood and led him to earn a BFA in sculpture from the Maine College of Art and Design, where he focused on wood and metal. Surprisingly, his passion for ceramics bloomed later, while teaching at a prep school. Asked to mentor a student in wheel-throwing, McMahon took a continuing education class in ceramics—and was immediately hooked.

What began as a supportive teaching endeavor quickly became a personal obsession. He immersed himself in the world of clay, discovering that wheel-thrown vessels were perfect canvases for the playful doodles he’d drawn his whole life. Despite initial self-doubt, McMahon’s wife encouraged him to sell his quirky, cartooned pots at craft shows—an experiment that quickly launched a full-time career.

Working solo in a backyard studio connected to his kiln and storage space by a brick path, McMahon throws all his pots from porcelain clay. His process includes hand-painting with underglazes and using sgraffito to carve in fine details, followed by layers of colorful glaze. His work—equal parts fine craft and joyful storytelling—reflects a lifetime of creativity, humor, and a deep love for the handmade.

 

Clare Dalby is a Maryland-based wood artist working out of her studio in the small town of Jarrettsville. Largely self-taught, she draws on a rich family tradition of creativity—learning to use tools from her woodworker father and finding early inspiration from relatives who painted and illustrated. Over the past 25 years, she’s developed a distinctive style that blends woodburning with watercolor, acrylic, gouache, and ink to create richly textured wall art.

Dalby began working professionally a decade ago, and in 2019, her husband Josh joined her full-time in the studio. Their collaboration transformed the scope of the business, with Josh managing shop maintenance, technical support, and providing valuable design input. Together, they craft one-of-a-kind pieces that emphasize the natural beauty of wood grain, often using it as a stand-in for skies, water, or mountain ranges.

Her work explores the intersection of nature and geometry, favoring clean lines, negative space, and a calming palette. Inspired by hikes, travels to remote landscapes like Iceland and Nepal, and minimalist architecture, Dalby’s art evokes a peaceful, meditative quality. Her pieces have found homes around the world, valued for their warmth, precision, and quiet sense of wonder.

 

Glass artist Dylan Levesh-Raabe creates luminous, thought-provoking work from his studio along the Blackstone River in Cumberland, Rhode Island. A Gloucester native, Levesh-Raabe began blowing glass in 2004 at a small studio in Salisbury, Massachusetts. Though glass was originally a form of personal expression and escape, it became a serious path during his studies at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where he earned a BFA in Glass in 2011.

The artist’s early work leaned heavily on Venetian techniques—bright colors, optical patterns, perfectly crafted vessels. In recent years, however, his focus has shifted. Drawing from ceramics, woodworking, and other craft traditions, he now explores form, surface, and the space between function and sculpture.

Each piece starts with a drawing—shapes and colors mapped out before hitting the hotshop. From there, Levesh-Raabe uses a mix of traditional and experimental techniques, combining cane work, multiple firings, and cold-finishing methods like grinding and sandblasting. The result is work that’s grounded in tradition but driven by a constant push to evolve, question, and refine.

 

 

Megan Lagueruela is a wearable artist based in Greensboro, North Carolina. A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design with a concentration in Fashion and Textiles, Lagueruela has over two decades of experience in sewing and 15 years of weaving. The artist is a certified Level 1 Master Weaver who’s always learning and exploring new techniques—from pleating and patchwork to “weft painting” with fabric strips.

Lagueruela’s work is rooted in a zero-waste, body-inclusive approach. She often begins with remnants from past pieces, designing intuitively and letting the materials lead. Her “loom-shaped” garments are designed to follow the natural form of the body, not restrict it. Her collections shift with her current fabric fixation, but always aim to tell a story—of the cloth, the maker, and the person who wears it.