Artists & Makers Studios

A&M is the 2018 Editors’ Pick, Best Place to Experience Art in BEST OF Bethesda Magazine

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Artists & Makers Studios is the
“Best Place to Experience Art”
according to the editors of the 2018 issue of
 BEST OF BETHESDA MAGAZINE, JAN/FEB 2018

 

Featuring the studio of Kristina Penhoet
 Featuring Christine Cardellino (Torpedo Factory Artist) and her solo exhibit at A&M

“Want to try your hand at painting, glassmaking or even belly dancing? Artists & Makers Studios has offerings in everything from smartphone photography to doll-making and provides an outlet for all kinds of creative pursuits for beginners through professional artists……..”



Editor’s Pick PDF here

 

And Best Bets in the same issue of BEST OF BETHESDA MAGAZINE
Featuring the work of David Amoroso
and mentions for
Marily Mojica
&
Sergio and Claudia Olivos

“Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was known for her intense self-portraits, but an exhibitionat Artists & Makers Studios in Rockville shows how four local artists depict the famous painter, feminist and political activist. The Mexican holiday Day of the Dead is another common theme among the paintings and mixed-media artwork by David Amoroso, Marily Mojica and Sergio and Claudia Olivos on display in the exhibition Frida and the Day of the Dead……”

 

Best Bets PDF here

Terry Svat A&M1

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I am artist and a printmaker in Washington DC area. I have been creating art my entire adult life. My prints hang in Argentina, Chile, Germany, Panama, Brazil and most recently in the new embassy in Sarajevo. Because I have had the opportunity to live and travel across the world, I naturally absorbed some of the culture and the spirit of the people including their symbols, rituals, and markings.

Terry Svat

Patricia de Poel Wilberg A&M1

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Having traveled extensively, Patricia works in glass, mixed media, and sculpture who skillfully incorporates hand drawn elements into her work.

School of Art at the Cooper Union
University of Southern Maine
High School of Art and Design, NY, NY

Patricia de Poel Wilberg

Cecelia Laurendeau A&M1

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At an early age I began to go beyond coloring and ventured into drawing and painting. The moment I uncapped my first tube of oil paint and squeezed out that brilliant buttery hue, I knew I was on a journey of artistic discovery. This natural ability was nurtured by my loving talented parents. They were not only lovers of art, music and the beauty of life, but were artists in their own right.  My Mom a soprano singer, fiber artist and poet, my Dad a builder, stained glass artist and photographer. It was not long before I would put a camera to my eye.

Real life images. The story that nature tells in the stillness of the landscape, the greatness of the ocean and the journey of the seasons. This is what excites my senses as an artist and my photographer’s eye at home and in my travels. Creating compositions in oils and pastels, my inspiration is drawn from my photographs. The creative process for me is re-visiting that place and moment in time. Remembering and feeling the emotion of the scene my lens captured and bringing it to life as a painting to be experienced and shared in a new way.

“Art is not what you see but what you make others see”. . . Edgar Degas

laurendeauart.com

Anita L. Albertson A&M1

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What is Art?  To me, art captures something essential about life.

“Art makes life bearable. It isn’t a luxury. Like our capacity for understanding, and our experience of love, it is a vitally important part of life.”
–Gillian Pederson Krag

How does one share the charm and communicate the wonder of living, breathing and being? By using color, pattern, light, texture, style, angles, laughter, beauty, nature, industry, rigor, challenge, and words; then one weaves in the rainbow of emotions and experiences– all of which shine light on the magic and the drudgery of being.

To this point I have played with self-expression and aimed toward connective conversations in the margins of my life and the privacy and intimacy of my own home.  I am largely untrained, although I have had the benefit of some recent classes with some amazing and gifted artists.

Life has stages.  I have supported my children to grow and be and do and supported my husband as he has accomplished and achieved and is recognized for his talents.  I have weathered the declines and deaths of my grandmother, mother-in-law and parents.  These have been both difficult and amazing endeavors — greatly enriching my world and theirs.   Connecting me with all that has been, all that is now, and all that will continue after I cease to be.

Inside me is a calling to express, create, play.  I need to sit, think, write and design, uninterrupted and untethered.   Connecting with others on that path.  Sharing what is in me/what I can with those I know and with people I don’t know yet.  Growing.  Being.  Breathing.  Learning better how to express what needs to get out on paper.

I seek a community to help bridge my untrained enthusiasm into something more – at first for myself, but after a period of time, for and with others.

Working with a combination of mixed media – paper, acrylics, watercolors, pencils, pastels, fabric, yarn, pens and markers – I want explore the emotions and experiences of life.  My intention to start is to learn more about the craft of art by being in community with artists and pair my creations with poems, short stories or prose.

Eventually I would like to share these tools of self-expression with a wider range of children and adults in a relaxed, spontaneous way including those in marginalized communities seeking self-expression and through it, compassionate understanding.

 

Linda Cohen (In Memoriam 2018)

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Linda was a treasured member of the A&M family. Her dedication to, and love of her practice, lives on in our hearts.

“I love the creative process of art which has always been a part of my life.  For many years,  I made silver jewelry with an interest in the texture and form of my pieces. About ten years ago I took up plein air painting – there is something so peaceful being outside and painting the moment. I am especially drawn to the elements of water and reflections.  I have taken plein air painting classes with both Glen Kessler, founder of Compass Atelier and Gavin Glakas, with Yellow Barn.  I have been taking portrait and figure painting with Gavin for the last 6 years which has proved especially challenging and rewarding.”

Sue Fierston, Affiliate

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I like to work in series and I’m in the midst of white-line woodcuts based on Yosemite National Park, where I’ll have my second arts residency in August 2017.

In painting, it’s an endless, fascinating puzzle to capture the effects of light on a microscope or a flower. Italian Wooden Microscope, seen here, is a watercolor from my solo show of historical microscope paintings on Yupo, a plastic surface, at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. 

My aim was to contrast the precise shapes of the microscope (all those circles) with the unpredictable flow of watercolor on plastic.

As a printmaker, I make images with woodblocks and with a walking press. I also make direct and indirect prints on paper from natural items, such as fish and leaves. I’m a member of the international Nature Printing Society and I’ll be teaching nature printing out of my studio here at Artists & Makers Studios.  

 suefierston.com 
 sue.fierston@gmail.com

 

 

Elizabeth Davison A&M1

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Every individual should have access to art and culture in their daily lives. It’s our goal to provide a medium between art enthusiasts and the artists themselves.

From the outset, our project’s goal was to enable visitors to not only understand the art we display, but also to generate group discussions about the pieces as a way to bring culture into one’s valuable leisure time. We have forged many partnerships over the years and obtained many patrons who support this initiative.

John Dennis Murphey A&M1

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Hi!  I’m John Dennis Murphey.  And yes, I’ve started using my middle name, Dennis.  There are just too many other rascals out there with the same moniker.  Note too, there’s an “e” in Murphey, which hopefully will further cement my identity!

Since 2000, I’ve had my own architectural practice called Meditch Murphey Architects.  So when I’m not architecting at my architectural office you can find me working away at my studio at Artists and Makers 2. 

My studio work is focused on the visual arts where I employ a variety of media – watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen, ink and graphite.   At the center of my work is my fascination with light and space, something I’ve also pursued in photography.

Recently I’ve taken photo workshops with Ira Block, Alex Webb, David Allen Harvey, Norman Mauskopf and others at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop.  This spring I will be a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, trying to capture some of this great city’s spirit!

So with these three passions of mine, I have these three websites!

MurpheyMarks plays host to my mark-made images.

MurpheyWorks is all about images I’ve pulled through a lens.

Meditch Murphey Architects is a gallery of some of the projects I’ve helped design.

www.murpheymarks.com

www.murpheyworks.com

www.meditchmurphey.com

Jean Hirons, Affiliate

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Jean Hirons works exclusively in the beautiful medium of soft pastel. She is a teacher of the medium and the author of Finding Your Style in Pastel, her highly acclaimed self-published book on all things ‘pastel.’ Hirons is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and a Master Circle member of the International Association of Pastel Societies.

Poplar en Perigord 2 by Jean Hirons

A native of New England, Hirons paints landscapes, many of which include houses, boats or barns. Recently she has created a series of paintings called The Insider’s Washington, which focuses on the beautiful, but less touristy, places in Washington, DC, such as the C&O Canal in Georgetown and the alleys of Capitol Hill. Hirons also paints pure landscapes from New England, the Mid Atlantic and her many travels.

www.jeanhirons.com

301-340-3198

Jeanhirons48@gmail.com

Christina Murray A&M1

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Christina Murray is an abstract mixed-media artist, who recently turned her passions of painting and collage-making into a full-time gig after fifteen years of working toward eliminating violence against women and girls, teaching and coaching women.  

Christina approaches most of her paintings intuitively, meaning without an end goal in mind.  She begins a painting by layering her canvas or paper with acrylic paints, collage (papers, acrylic skins), inks, charcoal, colored pencils and crayon (watercolor, oil pastel, wax).  She does this until she sees something she likes (usually a color or line), then adds more of it.  Over time the painting is slowly revealed.

Christina enjoys the juxtaposition of neatness (in color or line) with the more quietly messy areas.  She wants to the viewer to catch tiny glimpses at the layers underneath, and wonder about the painting that was there before.

Christina has exhibited in many Northern Virginia galleries, most recently at the Art League in Alexandria, Virginia where she was awarded an Honorable Mention.  She is a member of the Art League, Falls Church Arts, McLean Arts Society, Maryland Federation of the Arts, Del Ray Artisans, and McLean Project for the Arts. 

ChristinaMurrayArt.com

cmurray8@gmail.com

Brian Fisher A&M1

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Brian Fisher’s art combines the rich history of master painters with evocative memories of a working class childhood.

Brian was born and raised in Seattle Washington.  He began his art studies at North Seattle Community College, which had, at the time, one of the few Associate degrees in Fine Art in the country.  After finishing that degree, Brian transferred to the University of Washington where he earned his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Painting. 

After graduation he moved across the country to Bethesda, Maryland, where he enjoys the rich art bounty within the many museums of Washington DC, New York and Boston.

Brian’s portraits and paintings hang in private residences in multiple states and localities.

Brian-Fisher.net

Pauline Jakobsberg A&M1

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“Family history is the driving force behind much of my art which is layered with powerful undercurrents of connection, loss and renewal, as well as tenderness, humor and humanity.  I avail the full richness of print media to construct poignant narratives aware of my inability to fully grasp the past as I turn history into a visual reality.  While my clothing images are visually fun, many of my prints are quiet, reflective and intimate, confronting the highly charged subjects of personal and cultural memory to please the eye and feed both the soul and mind.”

The hand pulled print has been Pauline Jakobsberg’s method of expression for the past 35 years.  She co-founded the Washington Printmakers Gallery in 1985 and founded the Graphic Workshop, a printmaker’s studio that existed in Silver Spring until 2016.

Pauline’s works are in several private collections around the world and have been widely exhibited in the US and Europe, including two solo exhibitions in the Czech Republic. Her most recent, in 2015, was at the Houston Holocaust Museum where she trained 100 docents prior to her reception.

Pauline gets invited to speak to 5th through 7th graders in public and private schools, introducing WWII and the Holocaust into their history studies. She has also served on college panel discussions, and lectured at adult education programs.

In 2016, she was chosen among eight artists in the Washington, DC area to have her work permanently documented in the ArtCart, Saving the Legacy Archives of Columbia University in NYC.  Several of the works were recently shown at the Katzen Museum.

Pauline lives in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC.

PaulineJakobsberg.com

Kathy Moore Wilson, Lifetime Affiliate

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I love to draw more than just about anything, and I draw and paint nearly every day.  I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil, but it took me years before I considered doing it full time.  In my upbringing and education, it was more of a pastime or hobby, but not a stable profession.  I started my professional career as a cartographer.  It took a long time to evolve from cartographer, to fine artist and illustrator, graphic designer, and then animator.  But the artist in me would not be contained and found a way out.
I started out by drawing maps, using traditional tools such as pen & ink. I later moved on to colored pencils and paint.  I found I had a special love for drawing portraits of children and animals.  These are the subjects I draw and paint the most.

Over the years I began to learn to use a camera, and software such as Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter to create drawings and paintings.  I then learned Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere to create animations and videos to make my drawings move.  This eventually led to my going back to school and earning a Master’s Degree in Motion Media Design.

I have been greatly influenced by children’s book illustrators, particularly when the illustrations are rendered in pen and ink, or black and white pencil.

Chris Van Allsburg, Brian Selznick, and Brett Helquist are three of my favorite illustrators.

The painters who have influenced me are too numerous to list.  I will always love all of the French Impressionists, but Mary Cassatt will always be my favorite.  I love how she took simple domestic scenes and managed to show the wonder and contentment in the everyday.

I love Andrew Wyeth for his emotional, limited palette watercolors, and the illustrator and painter Alan Lee for his pencil, pen & ink, and watercolor forest imagery.  I am also inspired by Edward Hopper for his use of color and light and for also for his ability to capture emotion and to tell a story with everyday scenes.

There are many animators who I admire: Brad Bird, John Lasseter, Glen Keane, Chuck Jones, Joanna Quinn, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas.  Their stories are flooded with emotion and feeling, and their characters are very real to us.  These fine directors, producers and artists all motivated me to first dip my toe in the world of animation and video, as well as simply inspiring me to be a better artist.

It is important that to me that I express emotion and tell stories and teach with my art.  If I can get an emotional response, then I feel that the art I have created has fulfilled its purpose.

Creating art brings me joy.

Boris Lermontov: Why do you want to dance? [Vicky thinks for a short while]
Victoria Page: Why do you want to live? [Lermontov is surprised at the answer]
Boris Lermontov: Well I don’t know exactly why, er, but I must.
Victoria Page: That’s my answer too.
—From “The Red Shoes”

pendragonartstudios.com

Cathy Hirsh A&M1

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Cathy Hirsh is an artist who likes to experiment with media techniques to achieve visual impact.  Media used might be watercolor, oil, acrylic, gouache, or a variety of mixed media, and her subject matter might be landscape, floral or abstract. She paints on location and also in her studio—studio #41 at Artists and Makers Studios (A&M) Parklawn.

Her award-winning work can be found on multiple websites, in Washington-area gallery and display venues, and at periodic solo and group shows.  Her work has appeared at Brookside Gardens, Strathmore Hall, the Blackrock Center for the Arts, the Yellow Barn at Glen Echo, and the Delaplaine in Frederick to name a few.

She is also a teacher, providing art workshops and classes in her studio.  As a Master Gardener, she speaks to garden groups on art concepts related to garden design.

Active within the artist community, she is a past president of the Montgomery Art Association (MAA), led the MAA Gallery at the Westfield Wheaton mall for its 6-year existence, and is currently leading the group of artists participating in Gallery 209.  She is also the current Curator for the A&M Guest Artist Gallery at Parklawn.

About her work, Hirsh says, “sometimes it is just magical—the piece seems to “happen,” capturing what I’ve imagined.  Other times, it can be a real struggle whether it’s because of the subject, a new technique, or simply being outside fighting the weather and insects!  Whatever, it is an exciting journey.”

She hopes viewers find themselves excited and intrigued by her work.  Firmly in the belief that all can find their own unique artistic voice, she invites her viewers to begin a journey of their own by taking her classes.

www.HirshStudio.com    CathyHirshArtist@gmail.com

  

Kari Minnick

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My art and life are a study of contrasts: order and chaos, thick and thin, questioning and acceptance.  Using rich surfaces and layers of glass, I contrast fleshy realism with abstraction.  Immediacy and restraint, delicacy and directness; I balance bold composition and nuanced line.

A maker of pictures and teller of stories, I’m soothed by familiar fluency and stirred by ecstatic newness.  Fleeting gesture on solid ground, murky meaning and bruising impact, chaos and eerie calm.  Disparate elements crescendo and resolve into beauty.

Kari Minnick holds a degree in studio art from the University of California at Davis and has been an exhibiting artist and educator for over twenty-five years.  Collected internationally, Kari’s works are in private, corporate and embassy collections.

Kari Minnick 5x9 72dpi

Kari is the artist/owner of Kari Minnick Art Glass Studio, LLC, located in the heart of the Arts & Entertainment district in Silver Spring, MD.  The studio offers architectural commissions, fine art, and internationally recognized courses in kiln formed glass.  A dynamic educator, Kari teaches her signature courses throughout the United States and in her Maryland studio.

Kari Minnick Art Glass Studio
8230 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910
240.678.8649
KariMinnick.com

Phyllis Gordon A&M1

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With silk as her canvas, Phyllis Gordon creates hand painted, one of a kind scarves, scrolls and framed art. 

Working mostly from her own photographs, combining her love for color and fabric, Phyllis finds silk painting addictive and exciting.  The lustrous silk brings an added dimension that goes beyond paper or canvas.

Phyllis studied drawing, oil painting and watercolor for many years before turning her focus in 1996 to painting on silk – a most unpredictable canvas.  

She has studied with nationally respected silk artists Susan Louise Moyer, Karen Sistek, Natasha Foucault, Suzanne Punch and others at numerous conferences and workshops and has exhibited in juried venues and galleries in the North East and Mid-Atlantic.  Phyllis was juried into the Silk Painters International exhibit, “Asian Art, Botanicals on Silk” at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC.  

After many years in Massachusetts, Phyllis and her husband retired to Maryland in 2011, where she continues to explore her art while enjoying time with her family and grandchildren.

 

Phyllis Gordon 

designsonsilk@me.com 

designsonsilk.com 

Katherine Janus Kahn A&M1

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In the three decades that I have been maintaining a studio and making serious art, I have found myself doing many different things inKatherine Janus Kahn 5x10 72dpi many different media.  But as my studios have become smaller, I find that space is a powerful informer of the things artists make. 

Natural processes of development and changes in interests (themes) are the other main vehicles of change.  I am, like the proverbial caterpillar/butterfly, transforming once again.

I will be working on smaller paintings, but still on modular drawings.  I have always been a figurative artist; I will continue with the figure.  I am sometimes driven by “global politics”.    If and when I need to respond to that, I will do so.

Several years ago, I started confronting the aging process.  For my 65th birthday, I started working on a series of 65 self-portraits.  I suspect that work will be at least part of my continuing focus.

I am showing four very different images.  The first two I deem political: “Cain and Abel: The Assassination of Rabin”, from 1996, and an installation in response to 2001 called “When Mothers are Missiles and Babies are Bombs”.  The others are later portraits:  a self-portrait called:  “Katherine the Great” and a very recent drawing called “Now/Then”.

If you don’t see me working in the studio five days a week, it will be because of my other “art”,  illustrating children’s books, which I do in a home studio.  With over 50 published books, and two presently in the works, there are sometimes deadlines that keep me focused there.

www.katherinejanuskahn.com

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