Resident Artists & Makers

Elody Crimi, Affiliate

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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

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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.

www. briskerburk.art

debbybriskerburk@instagram.com

debby@artvistas.com 

mobile: 240-432-0004

 

Judith HeartSong A&M1

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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

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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.

tonyventourisphotography.com

Laura-Leigh Palmer A&M1

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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. 

asapgraphics.com

240-354-5454

laura.leigh@asapgraphics.com

Ann Corbett A&M1

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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

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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

Josh Scott A&M1

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I once was a zombie.

Maybe not technically, but pretty close. I was cognitively impaired, groaned a lot, had no short-term memory, and shuffled from room to room in a half-awake trance. I was still human, kinda, but an undiagnosed neuropathy (nerve damage) in my legs was robbing me of deep sleep, turning me into a  “zombiefied” version of myself. As my family searched for answers, I started painting again. 

That’s when the lasercats were born. 

I make them now for a few reasons. The first is a simple desire to infuse levity & humor into a complex and chaotic world. The second is distraction. The new creative process I discovered during this time allows me to be positively distracted from pain. I use large rolls of transparencies 10 feet at a time, flicking, stroking, spraying, scraping, dripping and pouring paint as I move around the large surface. With my art school & interactive design training, I incorporate traditional painting, as well as digital into the mix, layering them into my mixed-media art sandwich. It’s the hybrid marriage of mark-making skills, along with my personal art therapy, that interests me most about this process moving forward. The themes I am exploring in the work include levity in chaos, information overload, empowerment, the pros and cons of technology, and the augmentation of the organic.

In case you are wondering, we solved the zombie riddle. My neuropathy is under control and I am human again for the first time in years.  100%

artscojo.com

Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Lifetime Affiliate

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EDUCATION & TRAINING
Howard University- MFA Painting Spring 2012 Jackson State University – School of Liberal Arts Degree: Bachelor of Art in Art; May 2004
 Magna Cum Laude
 
ART RESIDENCIES
 555 Non Profit Gallery and Studios- Detroit, MI. June-August 2012 Art Residency
Tougaloo Art Colony- Tougaloo, MS. July 2003 Art Residency
 
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibitions 2017
Athena Shrugged (2) Long/Sharp Gallery New York, NY April 26 – June 17, 2017
2016
 Mosaic Project Pennsylvania College of Art and Design Lancaster, PA August 23-October 30, 2016
Take Me Away The Southern Gallery Charleston, South Carolina
2015
 The Cost of Making Her Run The N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art Detroit, MI November 6- January 2, 2016
 

From CultureType.com:

“AS A YOUNG GIRL, Jamea Richmond-Edwards got lost in the pages of Ebony magazine. She was particularly drawn to the runway images from the Ebony Fashion Fair show. Through the otherworldly photographs of stunning black models styled in wildly imaginative ensembles, she discovered haute couture and envisioned herself as a fashion designer. Years later, she chose visual art over fashion design, but never gave up on her desire to explore the artifice of dressing.

“Those images were very visually affirming for me. It presented black women in a space that I had never seen before,” Richmond-Edwards told me via email………”

jamearichmondedwards.com

Naan Pocen A&M1

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Naan is a mixed media artist and jeweler.

Naan Pocen is a multi-media artist born in Jos, Nigeria. Although a trained Journalist, she has spent a good part of her career life as a teacher, a freelance writer, a service coordinator in the Maritime sector and a fashion designer for which she had formal training in Italy. She is a published poet and short story writer.

She belongs to a number of artistic guilds and organizations including the Jos chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), International Polymer Clay Association (IPCA), Potomac Fiber Art Guild and Artists and Makers Studios.

Naan is a modern-day Jill of all art; her artistic pursuits are focused on bead art, polymer clay art, sartorial design and creative writing all of which are produced in her home studio. Naan currently resides in Maryland USA with her teenage daughter.

www.naanmade.com

Syreeta Herbert A&M1

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Fashion should always SPEAK SANS SPEECH!

Syreeta C | Fashion is an edgy, yet sophisticated brand that specializes in couturier services. It was created to tell the story of the modern woman – bringing a renewed tailored attention to the expression of each distinctive wearer. Syreeta C: An appreciation of engineering is visible in my knack for quality construction, tailoring, and keen eye. Self­ expression drives my custom design production. Take the metaphor: the wearer as the messenger and fashion as the medium, for we all have a story to be told. Fashion tells an individual’s unique story ­ where you’re from, where you’re going, your culture, your ideals… who you are. It has the ability to break barriers ­ language and otherwise ­and communicate more accurately than the most colorful of words. I love being the translator for my custom clientele.

syreetacfashion.com

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.

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