Tony Carlone is originally from Hazelwood, Missouri and currently lives and works in King, North Carolina where he continues his artistic practice in addition to teaching papermaking and other eco-friendly workshops. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the State University of New York at New Paltz Printmaking Program. He has his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Art from the State University of New York at Oneonta, as well as his Associates degree in Web Design from Schenectady County Community College. His work has been exhibited nationally, and he is an honoree of the 30 Under 30 Alumni Award from the State University of New York at Oneonta, a recipient of the 2015 Research and Creative Projects Awards Recipient as well as the 2013 Dr. James Jerow Elting Memorial Award. He is interested in creating local-plant based art by using the natural environment as a source of inspiration, raw material, and the beginnings of a social conversation. The works he makes uses forms that echo themselves in the natural world and attempts to explore the symbiotic relationship between humans and their environment.