Catherine Nickle is a realist impressionist working in oil and pastel. She enjoys painting en plein air to capture the mood, textures and fleeting quality of light in the beauty of the landscape.
Artists & Makers Studios
Jamie Downs A&M1, Gallery 209
Jamie Downs has been painting for over forty years. For most of the time, her work has been a non-objective Jungian search of the collective unconscious; but 15 years ago it took an unexpected turn. Very large close-up images of flowers became a part of the mixed media paintings, and that began a new direction and inspired some new work for this artist who works in series.
As a very young child Jamie was obsessed with birds – playing bird and drawing birds. What would thirty plus years of abstract expressionist style work do to her paintings of birds? That exploration would become a fun adventure which would expand to animals as well.
Like most artists, Jamie has had other day jobs throughout her life. Her work as a newspaper photographer, graphic designer and web designer, arts administrator, curator, gallery operator… has provided skill sets that have become a part of her creative process. The inspiration for several of her birds and animals comes from scanned black and white negatives from her time as a photojournalist. Other paintings are derived from her huge collection of photographs from family trips to zoos across the US or vacations in Central America.
Her process often begins as digital and is rarely shown at that stage. The final work on canvas or Mylar is several steps removed from this initial digital creation. Her mixed media paintings reflect her love of materials and techniques. Beginning with watercolor, colored pencil, water based crayon and markers, she progresses through acrylics and inks to Sennelier oil pastels and sometimes oils, using numerous mediums, metallics, glazes, pigments…producing multiple, though subtle, textures. Layers of the process are often preserved, color field style, on the edges of the painting or in line elements. Her colors are pure, bright and bold.
Her current series is birds and animals representing each letter of the alphabet.
Jamie’s studio is in Silver Spring, MD and is open by appointment. She has shown through galleries throughout the Mid-Atlantic and is widely represented on-line.
Elaine Boucher Burch Taylor, Affiliate
Biography
B.A. in Fine Art, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts
B.S.C.S. in Computer Science, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia
Study Art at Boston University, Harvard University, Montgomery College, Corcoran School of Art and The Compass Atelier
Career as a Software Engineer at NIH, National Cancer Institute
Exhibitions and Gallery Associations
Washington International Art Fair II, III, IV and V
Art Fair Gallery, North Potomac MD
Paul Rosen Graphics, Washington DC
Tidewater Artists’ Association, Norfolk VA
Montgomery County Artists’ Association, MD
United States Information Agency, Central America
Spectrum Gallery, Washington, DC
Gallery Grace, Menlo Park, CA
New York Expo, New York, NY
Art Expo West, Los Angeles, CA
Art Works, Alexandria, VA
Klevit Fine Art, Rockville, MD
Tideline Gallery, Rehoboth, DE
Strathmore Hall Foundation, Member, North Bethesda, MD
Strathmore Membership Juried Show 2007, Bethesda, MD
Strathmore Hall 25thYear Celebration Juried Show, Bethesda, MD
National Institutes of Health 2009 Juried Show, Bethesda, MD
Orchard Gallery, Group Show December 2010, Bethesda, MD
Orchard Gallery, Solo Show February 2011, Bethesda, MD
Strathmore Membership Juried Show 2012, Bethesda, MD
Resident Artist, Washington Art Works, 2015, Rockville, MD
Resident Artist, Artists and Makers II, 2016-2019, Rockville, MD
Resident Artist Group Show, Artists and Makers II, 2019, Rockville, MD
Affiliate Artist, Artists and Makers Studios, 2020-Current, Rockville, MD
Publication
Painting published by the United Nations for UNICEF card design; distribution started in 1983.
Techniques
Various media and subject matter explored over the years.
ebbtaylor.com
Elody Crimi, Affiliate
Elody Crimi is an alumni graduate of the Washington School of Photography and is an accomplished commercial and fine arts photographer, specializing in landscape and portrait photography. She is also a photography instructor, teaching a vast range of classes (currently via Zoom) including: PS Elements for the Painter (through the Compass Atelier), PS Elements for the Photographer and Smartphone Photography (through Washington Photo Safari), and DSLR Basics.
Her greatest passion is to experiment with raw images, using alternative processes and techniques to assure that the “emotion of the moment” has been captured. Currently, most of her work is creatively altered using various Photoshop techniques.
Davantiworkshops.com
571-274-2051
davantiphoto@gmail.com
Deborah Brisker Burk, Affiliate
I have been creating artwork since childhood. From a young age, I was fortunate to have been exposed to the great museums of the National Gallery in DC and to have been born into a family of musicians, dancers and writers. Over time my work has evolved from an impressionistic view of the world to an abstract practice.
In creating abstract artwork of the land, sea, sky, and figure, my intuition regarding the color, texture and shape serves as my guide. As an observer of the world around me, I strive to bring an interpretive eye to my work, based on memories, mediations and travel. Action painting, being in the flow of the here and now—a moment of time is how I am able to distill the imagery from the recesses of my psyche. Beyond that, I aim to connect to the culture and people through my work— to uplift and bring a place of serenity and inquiry to the viewer.
debbybriskerburk@instagram.com
mobile: 240-432-0004
Teaching Artists
The Oro Valley location hosts classes and workshops under our portico seasonally for rent, and gallery space than can flex for small classes and workshops. Teaching artists may also reserve fresh air space under our beautiful portico. If you are a teaching artist looking for a new place to bring people together for hands-on workshops, consider renting a studio, or inquire about holding classes and workshops at A&M Oro Valley as an independent contractor. We will list your classes and workshops on our site, directing students to a link on your artist site where they can register and get a supply list. You will only pay a classroom fee for use of the space.
Rose O’Donnell, Affiliate AZ
I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Practice of Art then spent 30 years teaching art and music at all grade levels from pre-school to college. I worked at various private art galleries in the Sacramento, CA area, started a cooperative gallery with a group of friends and served as Gallery Director of the Ridley Gallery at Sierra College in Northern California from 1996 – 2002.
My traditional watercolors were exhibited widely in the Sacramento, CA area. However, after the death of my father in 1999, my work became much more introspective reflecting on memory and loss. My mixed media work and prints allow me to express those feelings. I studied printmaking at Discover Graphics in the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA. I joined the Art League in Alexandria, VA in 2005 and was Director of the Art League Gallery for ten years. After retiring in 2018 I moved to Sedona, AZ where I am an exhibiting member of the Sedona Arts Center. My work has been shown at the World Bank in Washington, DC, Mattawoman Art Center, Maryland, Ellipse Gallery in Arlington, VA, The Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA, The National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC, Washington Printmakers and the Sedona Arts Center. My mixed media work titled, Rosalie, is currently part of a traveling exhibit titled One House. http://www.artwatchdc.com/one-house
NEW – Affiliate A&M Memberships for Artists!
“Artists & Makers Studios is dedicated to providing a supportive and vibrant environment for artists to realize their creative goals – through studio practice, collaboration, education, opportunities, networking and connecting with the community beyond our doors.”
Part of our vision is to support, each and every day, the artists in our community and beyond. While we host a population of practicing metro-area artists, we also work to help grow the careers of artists with studios elsewhere through the sharing of information & opportunities and connections with designers, consultants, and gallery professionals who place and showcase artists’ work.
In 2020 we are offering an annual Affiliate Membership to artists which will allow a profile on our high-traffic site, free application for solo exhibits, participation in two Open Studio Weekends per year, promotion of accolades and exhibits through social media as appropriate, and access to special opportunities that come across our Executive Director’s desk on a regular basis.
This membership may be renewed each January, and is just $100. Membership fees may be paid via PayPal by entering the following email address: Judith@ArtistsAndMakersStudios.com
After confirmation of payment, please send your resume/bio, your website URL, 1(one) 300dpi image of your work, and phone number and or email address if you would like them listed on our site with your profile to Judith@ArtistsAndMakersStudios.com
Judith HeartSong A&M1
I have been working as a professional artist for more than thirty years now, after a public school education in which my focus was completely art-centric. As a child I was always out in nature, in the woods and along the creek beds of northern Pennsylvania. I developed a sense of awe and respect for the natural world early on and that devotion has never wavered. My work is often called Romantic Pop.
Special allowances were made in the course of my education to provide art instruction and the time I needed to focus on it. I studied privately with some tremendous artists and worked with every sort of material I could get my hands on to build my knowledge of mediums.
Plants and flowers fascinated me with their lush shapes and wonderful colors, and I was always interested in looking at botanical renderings and nature studies. To me they were often cold and impersonal, and that was not how I saw nature. I became captivated with trying to capture and share the world as I saw it.
Tony Ventouris Photography A&M1
Born into a family of contractors, Tony Ventouris has been surrounded by architects, developers, and artists since an early age and has naturally developed a deep appreciation for the art of building. His unique background, photographic education, and lifelong devotion to the creation of artistic images has resulted in his successful career as a professional photographer.
Laura-Leigh Palmer A&M1
Laura-Leigh Palmer is chief and only creative at asap graphics+interiors360 a boutique marketing firm for small and medium businesses and organizations. She takes the company motto “making small companies look big and big companies look good” seriously. Work for both print and web includes: social media postings and graphics, web site creation, brochures, logos, ads, print collateral, illustration and event and product photography.
She is an Adjunct Professor at Montgomery College teaching Introduction to Digital Illustration and Intro to Web Design, and is a Google Trusted photographer creating StreetView Enhanced tours for local businesses. She is active in multiple organizations: Keyclub Advisor for JFKenndy High School, Secretary of the Wheaton Silver Spring Kiwanis, past President and current member and on the board of the Wheaton Kensington Chamber of Commerce, and past President of MAA (Montgomery Art Association) and current member. She is the founder of Adobe Addicts and Digital Creators and active with the Wheaton Arts Parade and Festival projects: parade, arts factory, gallery and pop up arts events.
Recent 2d work includes a wall mural at Artists & Makers Studio (Butterflies Rebirth) that falls in line with her interest in optical illusions and dreamscapes. 3d work involves book deconstruction with folding, pocket size icons and yin yang symbol collages formed from found objects. Currently working on a series of the 60 year Chinese Zodiac and is concentrating on founding a new organization the Wheaton and Greater Kensington Historical Society as a place for the research she accumulated while writing Images of America: Wheaton published by Arcadia Press.
240-354-5454
laura.leigh@asapgraphics.com
Ann Corbett A&M1
I make art to discover the joy that is within. All the elements of nature’s patterns and beauty are ours to discover and celebrate.
As an explorer, I open myself to the discoveries of paint and canvas. In that realm is an opportunity to find what lies under the surface of daily consciousness. I begin with loosely applied marks applied in an intuitive manner. Building upon this with spontaneous/loose gesture, I respond with variations of shape, color, texture to create abstraction related to emotion and feeling.
As colors and shapes emerge – some more dramatic and lyrical than others – negative shapes are defined; some areas recede while some blend; and the whole emerges as a simple, all-in-a-moment (gestalt) experience.
These new mark-and-shape relationships can suggest leaves, lozenges, triangles, ovals, dots, waves and other reminders of the natural world’s geometry, patterning and beauty.
My process varies slightly in the two different media – whether distilling down to essentials as seen in making the large acrylic abstractions or accumulating and layering through the cold wax and oil works.
Ann Corbett has a BFA from the Corcoran School of Art and Design. Her gestural mark-making and interest in texture has evolved through various post-graduate painting workshops.
Her paintings include organic shapes in bold colors as well as a form of personal geometry that highlights her joy in nature’s creation.
anngcorbett@aol.com
Pooja Campbell, Lifetime Affiliate
My figures co-habitat a world filled with nature and colour – because that is how I see myself. Essentially nature. The subtleties, complexities, the curves, and arches of the body are very like the forms and lines you would find in the natural world around us.
Using line and form as structural guidelines, I sort through the internal dialogue I have about the realities of life, the truth in meditation, and my place in nature.
Sometimes I conflict with nature – my un-enlightened self, and sometimes I am in harmony with it – my ultimate self.
In my lotus series, my goal is to get the viewer to focus on the simplicity and elegance of line along with the beauty and almost abstract quality of the shapes.
I respond deeply to the lotus’ symbolism and the role it plays to a Hindu in our spiritual awakening. Rising from muddy waters to a thing of beauty and purity – devoid of attachment, the ultimate goal.
By keeping colour to a minimum, all extra noise is cut off and viewing the paintings becomes an almost meditative experience.
EDUCATION
1999 – 2001 – Textile Designing Cape Technikon, Cape Town, South Africa
1995 – 1999 – B.F.A Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
1994 – 1995 – Visual Arts Centennial College, Toronto, Canada
1991 – 1994 – Fine Arts Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore, India
www.poojafineart.com
A&M is the 2018 Editors’ Pick, Best Place to Experience Art in BEST OF Bethesda Magazine
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 the Compass Atelier with Glen Kessler and students
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……”
Terry Svat A&M1
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.
Tamra Spievogel, Affiliate
Tamra is an artist who paints with glass creating slumped and molded forms that are sculptural and sometimes functional.
Kathleen Litz (In Memoriam 2024)
Kathleen was a treasured member of the A&M family. Her dedication to, and love of her practice, (and children and dogs) lives on in our hearts.
Kathleen Litz is a painter and mixed media artist who teaches enriching children’s classes and workshops from her studio at A&M1 Parklawn.
Patricia de Poel Wilberg A&M1
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
Restaurants and Good Eats Near Artists & Makers Studios
If you plan to visit both locations of Artists and Makers Studios and want to make a day of it, Take a look at our list to enjoy a meal at one of these fine establishments!
Cecelia Laurendeau A&M1
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