Get To Know GoggleWorks´ Studio Artists
GoggleWorks Artists of the Month: May, 2013
- Heidi Reuter | Studio 219
- Daniel Gorman | Studio 214
- Rich Houck | Studio 312
- Sandi DeFranco Giannini | Studio 303
GoggleWorks Artists of the Month: June, 2013
- Amy Stevens | Studio 221
- Fran Parzenese | Studio 203
- J L Carothers | Building 4
- Sharon McGinley | Studio 310
Artist-of-the-month artwork is on exhibit in the studio lounges on the 2nd & 3rd floors.
Kevin Brett | Studio 315
Please click here to view a video interview with Kevin Brett.
Kevin finds it very challenging to take everyday, overlooked objects or subject matter and capture them in ways that the viewer can extract feelings from personal experiences of their own. As when he worked in other mediums of visual art such as drawing, painting and sculpture, great effort is made to have everything within the compositions become valuable characters in the motionless plays captured through a lens. The use of unusual and dramatic angles gives the photographs views intended to make seemingly insignificant items a bit more powerful and emotional. Kevin´s style of photography is very pure and traditional but there are always conceptual intentions behind all the fine art images created. While rarely including people in his photographs, Kevin attempts to capture what it is to be human in every image. Each photograph is titled with only one word. The ambiguity of a one word title only opens the door for the viewer with freedom to roam through their own thoughts rather than defining the images with a complicated heading trapping
the viewer on the surface and not allowing the unrestricted journey beyond the scene.
Website: www.soul-imagery.com
Email: kbrett@soul-imagery.com
Wilfer Bugo | Studio 213
Wilfer Bugo was born Colombia, South America, in 1972. Since then he has studied drawing at the Instituto de Bellas Artes, Medellin, Colombia. In 1989, Wilfer came to United States to study sculpture at the Art Students League of New York City. Wilfer is an artist who creates his works with the sensual in mind. His pieces are naked forms that are a part of elements that interpret dreams and life experiences.
JL Carothers | Building 4
Platemark Studio
Artist’s Statement
I am driven to portray my love for nature and organic forms. My focus is to explore related elements inherent in defining my subject beyond visual discription. My passion for printmaking lies in the endless variety of techniques for manipulating materials to express my ideas. My varied subjects may be handled as traditional tightly drawn etchings or abstract landscapes and figures in painterly monoprints. I explore textures, color layers, and design elements; incorporating hand-made papers and collagraph plates to add dimension. Most of the processes in the studio are “GREEN”(ecologically and artist friendly!). I paint in oil on canvas primarily plein aire paintings of landscapes, gardens, and historic architecture. I always carry a camera to capture interesting subjects often abstracted in macro formatting, a celebration of “the little things in life.” My artwork is displayed in National and International juried exhibitions and in several private and corporate collections.
Background
B.A. in Art with three years post-graduate study in Printmaking . Independant studies in numerous studios including Union Printmakers Atelier, George Washington Univ. Washington, DC , the Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA; Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY, and the Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA.
Professional Associations
American Print Alliance, Philadelphia Print Center, Southern Graphics Society, Philadelphia Water Color Society Signature Member, CPF certified by the Professional Picture Framers Association, Biltmore´s Who´s Who Business Association
Website: www.jlcarothers.artspan.com
E-mail: platemarkstudio@msn.com or
Janna Carrozza | Studio 321
“Weaving with respect for the environment has been a passion for many years.” Janna Carrozza weaves eco fabric created and developed into works of art. The weavings consist of organic cotton, tencel, soy silk, banana silk and corn silk. Most of the fiber is dyed with natural plants and flowers.
Janna attend Philadelphia University, where she studied Fashion Design. She later transferred to Kutztown University where she received a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and Art Education. Janna also completed a Masters degree in Education.
Janna is involved with community mural projects in the city of Reading. She works full time as an art teacher as well as an artist.
Alan Cernak | Studio 306
Norakuro — or Black Stray — is a 3-D adaptation of a 1934 japanese manga of the the same name.
It is part of a series we have begun using historical manga as the basis for similar constructions.
Mary Lou Creyts | Studio 204
Mary lou is an award-winning artist with a specialty in commissioned portraiture and caricatures. She also features colorful and energetic pastels, water color and oil paintings.
Juried Exhibits: “The Natural World” GoggleWorks; “Art of the State” Harrisburg; “Philadelphia Sketch Club- Pastel Exibit- Honorable Mention’ Berks Art Alliance Juried Exhibition, Court Room Artist.
“I particularly enjoy commissions, be they portraits (People or pets) or other requests. I have a great deal of teaching experience in a wide variety of mediums.”
April D’Angelo | Studio 201
Please click here to view a video interview with April D´Angelo.
April D´Angelo has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Moore College in Philadelphia. She has been painting watercolors, acrylics and portraits since 1989.
April also enjoys illustrating childrens´ books and teaching art lessons. April has exhibited in several shows in Chester and Berks counties. She belongs to The Artists Circle group and is a founding member of Flying Colors Fine Artists group. Both have annual shows in Chester County.
e-mail April D´Angelo at april@artbyapril.com
Miles DeCoster | Studio 323
Miles DeCoster is a painter, printmaker, photographer and book artist. His work has been shown throughout many exhibitions in the United States and Europe and is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the California Center for Contemporary Photography and others. He has
received grants from the Chicago Council for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Washington Post and the Headlands Institute for the Arts.
Mr. DeCoster has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington University School of Fine Arts in St. Louis and a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Amanda Deibert | Studio 311
Amanda Deibert became a GoggleWorks studio artist in August. As a passionate teacher and learner, she looks forward to being involved inmany Goggleworks programs. Amanda enjoys working in a variety of media and her work is informed by the properties of her materials. Careful attention to texture is a constant in both her functional and fine art works. Amanda received a B.A. in Fine Arts from Ursinus College and a Certificate in Art Education from Kutztown University, where she is currently working towards a Masters in Art Education.
Adry Eberhard | Studio 205
Adry Eberhard is both a self-taught and classically trained artist. She has studied art since she was 11 years old. Her strengths are portraits and landscapes in all mediums including pencil, charcoal, oil, acrylic and watercolor. Adry mixes her lifelong appreciation of art and her knowledge of Art History with her understanding of different methods and materials. Creative, enthusiastic, patient and skillful, Adry is well suited to help kids translate their raw creative energy and life experiences into art.
Tara Espinoza | Studio 201
Tara Espinoza is a freelance illustrator, a fine artist, and silkscreen-printing nut. Tara works in many different mediums ranging from printing, painting to sculpture. Her work tends to be cartoonish & childlike. She expands on hidden meaning and sarcastic humor through cute and whimsical characters she creates. Miss Espinoza is fascinated with animals as well as food taking on human qualities using her artistic style and humor.
Miss Espinoza received her Masters degree from The Ohio State University and a Bachelors degree from Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, OH.
She has shown her work locally & nationally. She is actively pursuing ways to show, promote , and expand her artwork.
Email: tara.espinoza21@gmail.com
Blog: http://taraespinoza.blogspot.com
Web: www.taraespinoza.com
Roger Evans | Studio 212
Please click here to view a video interview with Roger Evans.
Roger J. Evans, BA Elementary/Secondary Art Ed, (Special Talent Scholarship from McKenderee University).
“I have worked with both graphic and fine arts throughout my career. I have had a working studio at The ArtWorks at Donecker’s and now at GoggleWorks. My original watercolors and lithographs have sold both regionally and nationally.”
Roger believes that painting is the by-product of true art: the art of perceptions.
Watercolors lessons available.
Email: rjeh2oclrs@yahoo.com
Phone: 610.898.0553
Suzanne Fellows | Studio 307
Please click here to view a video interview with Suzanne Fellows.
Suzanne, who describes herself as a feminist, activist and mixed media artist, says, “My favorite part of a project is the idea stage: that moment where I’ve begun to wrap my mind around a problem, allowing fermentation to take place. Often two or more ideas collide in the next stage – the ah-ha! And I can then move to selecting materials appropriate to the manifestation of the idea. The excitement and energy released in solving the puzzle is the reward.
Suzanne recently received her MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College of Fine Arts where her work ranged from large oil paintings and giant puppets to small pastel drawings, Flash animations and mixed media artist books. She teaches classes and workshops at the Goggleworks and has been involved in education in the arts for over twenty years. And, she also ghostwrites a blog for her role model Eudora Clutey, at: eudoraclutey.weebly.com
“It’s my hope that when people look at my work they can see both the heart and the humor involved in sending an old woman paper doll out on the Internet to gather an army – an army of crones that will attempt to solve mysteries of the human psyche, specifically: ageism and all forms of oppression.”
Website: suzannefellows.com
Email: suzanne@suzannefellows.com
Melissa Fiskaldo | Studio 216
Artist Statement
We all have a place we have come from and a story to tell; a journey of how the small parts that make the entirety of who we are came to be as we navigate through the world. These small units and the nature around us is what intrigues me most and influences my work. Nature holds so many secrets for us to learn if we only just look closely. What may appear as a larger smooth creation to the untrained eye, turns out to be a complex pattern or texture up close. Humans are no different. We appear as a simple shell on the outside, but are very complex creations with textures and patterns of our own that can be found in our personality and what we have experienced over our lifetime.
These units, relationships, textures, and patterns all find their way into my work. In sculptural and ceramic pieces I bring attention to these through surface treatments on thrown and hand-built forms that mimic what is found in nature by carving, piercing, and scratching their surfaces.
It is in my fiber work where I find the most connection between the world around me and the expression of that through a medium. It is malleable, pliable, and can be found everywhere we look. Those around me seem to experience that same want and need to reach out and touch the woven, crocheted, and felted pieces I create. This is just one more aspect of the medium I am drawn to – the intimate connection we all have to fiber.
In my current work, I combine ceramics and fibers together to explore the relationship between the two mediums – how they can express the textures and patterns found in nature and in ourselves. My intention is to also stimulate a deeper inner reflection process in myself and the viewer. The pockets and recesses are direct metaphors for the similarities found in nature and in ourselves – secrets, fears, mysteries, wounds, and small windows and glimpses into the past. These pieces require the viewer to explore and have a dialogue with the work. A sentence is not just given by me and received by them. Questions are asked, wonderings are pondered, and they begin to also reflect inwards.
Background:
- BA in Art Education with a minor in Arts and Crafts, Kutztown University, Graduating May 2013
- BA in Interactive Design, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, PA
Email: mfiskaldo@gmail.com
Hilary Fraley | Studio 313
Encouraged in art from an early age, my paintings reflect my love of nature, its colors, patterns and seasons. I appreciate what Leornardo Da Vinci said, “Follow only one master: Nature”. I am especially drawn to landscapes, their personal history in the form of buildings or the spatial relationships of woods, sky and fields. I try to capture my impressions and memories through renderings of my sensational experiences of the chaotic natural forms of clouds, leaves, hedgerows, plant flora and undulations of geography.
I strive for emotional excitement in my paintings. I want to depict the fantastic physical occurrences of earth, the changing colors and forms, and the geometry of converging planes of matter and light. I also like strong colors. Before painting I draw patterns that are informed by my memory of spontaneous sensational experiences. Hopefully a feeling emerges from comingling forms and the color can unleash it. I enjoy the act of putting the paint on the surface and releasing the vibrancy of colors.
I hold a degree in Fine Art from Smith College, and I have studied at The Arts Students League in New York City, The Studio School in New York, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and at The Cleveland Institute of Art.
Call: 484-794-2000
Email: hilaryfraley@gmail.com
Sandi DeFranco Giannini | Studio 303
I’ve been a professional artist since graduating from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1986. Although I¹m known for my large-scale paintings, I also paint portraits and still-life. I try not only to portray the landscape but the tensions, light and space that nature exhibits.My work has been exhibited regionally and nationally in juried and solo exhibitions. My paintings have won many awards including the 1st place from the Lehigh Art Alliance, 2009 for “Before Sunset” shown above. My work has also been featured in many reviews, including American Artist Magazine,2001. Most recently, I began creating in the ceramics studio at GoggleWorks,teaching myself how to throw on the wheel. This work will be shown at the Reading Berks Pennsylvania Crafters Guild Holiday Show.
Susan Golembiski | Studio 208
Since she was very young, Susan Golembiski has sewn. Although she works within the confinements of the female form, Susan finds this expression to be the most freeing. She believe fashion is art that is compelled to move, to be organic and to breathe.
Susan is a freelance fashion designer based in Reading, PA. She has been sewing since she was 10 years old and learned pattern making at Vocational-Technical school. Her work primarily consists of designing for “alternative” brides and recreating heirloom gowns. She is an adjunct professor in the fashion department at Albright College.
Email: susan@frockonpenn.com
Dizey Zemog/Yezid Gomez | Studio 213
“I believe that the power of art can create solutions for many of our problems. Art brings people together. The symbolism and the belief in the idea within a piece will cause people to reflect on the message of peace, making the world a better place for us all.”
Dan Gorman | Studio 214
I paint a variety of subjects in a realistic style with a focus on landscapes. I look for dramatic light that captures a moment in time and space. Good design is important to me, probably coming from my 25 years in the commercial art field. I also do found object assemblages, sometimes political, mostly just fun.
I participate in many regional shows throughout the year. I was accepted into the 2008 Paint the Parks competition, my first national exposure. I was lead artist on 2009 summer mural project through GoggleWorks Community Art Program. Primarily oil on canvas. Have done numerous commissions including portraits. Accepting commissions, with a six month lead.
I teach landscape painting in oils at GoggleWorks.
Rich Houck | Studio 312
Please click here to view a video interview with Rich Houck.
My paintings contain images of natural beauty: blossoms, trees, leaves, clouds, with enhanced silhouettes of those same subjects. The results are colorful, textural, and dramatic compositions representing familiar shapes, moments, seasons, and experiences. I use a simplified natural visual language of contrasts, unity, chaos, and progression to represent perception, recognition and knowledge. Each of my works stands alone and can be appreciated on several levels, while also considering it part of a larger idea, as a word can have several meanings and is part of a language.”
Rich attended The University of the Arts, Philadelphia and Temple University, Rome. “Large” works, commissions and prints available.
On-site preview, event décor; installation available. richhouck.com
Annalie Hudson | Studio 313
Annalie´s life journey has taken her from a childhood in Philadelphia with summers spent in Germany, to an adulthood exploring the globe – across the Americas, to Asia, through Europe – adopting her daughter from China, hiking the Camino Trail across northern Spain, sipping wine with friends in Tuscany. These experiences have brought Annalie to a time and place where she can translate her images into paintings using evocative colors and shapes. Self taught, working mostly with acrylics, she uses palette knives and brushes to drag and sweep rich tones onto varying surfaces.
By far her favorite place and the greatest influence on her art is the American Southwest. She feels more at home in Arizona than anywhere else. The endless blue skies and solace of the desert serve as her muse. She is challenged and guided by an inner voice, which is expressed through her painting.
Currently enrolled at Rosemont College, Annalie is pursuing another dream. That is an MFA with a concentration in Creative Writing. She hopes to graduate in three years with her Masters Degree at the same time her daughter graduates from High School.
Annalie’s paintings have been in various juried art shows, galleries, museums and exhibitions; as well as Philadelphia Stories Magazine and the Arizona Collectors Guide. Other works currently hang in private homes and area corporations.
- AZ Humane Society – Wizard of Pawz Artist Equity Annual Exhibits
- Chester County Art Assoc. Exhibit Phoenix Village Art Center
- Starbucks Art Exhibition The Berman Museum of Art
- Wine Styles Art Exhibition Barnstone Gallery
- Nestology Gallery Widener University Art Gallery
- Fountain Hills Artists’ Gallery Manayunk Arts Festival
Judy Lupas | Studio 217
Please click here to view a video interview with Judy Lupas.
I love color and movement in painting. A moment in nature catches my eye and the transformation with paint begins. My work can be found in the archives of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, in private homes and corporate centers. I primarily use acrylic paint. I find most freedom in it’s fast drying quality. Commissions for home and office are my specialty. The right piece of art for the right space.
James Maria | Studio 206
James Maria is a recent graduate of Kutztown University´sFine Art and Art Education programs. During his time in Kutztown, he began and now continues to maintain his studio production. In addition to exhibiting in international juried shows within the watercolor community, James also works with Red Raven Art Company in Lancaster, Pa, near his home in Sinking Spring. His work is largely informed by Pennsylvania´spost-industrial landscape, from which he draws inspiration. Abandoned interiors serve as an unorthodox tool to explore and communicate spiritual truths. His work also employs art historical references, materials and techniques to subtly reinforce the relationship between the disparate elements of theology and the beauty of entropy.
Sharon McGinley | Studio 310
My paintings are narratives, full of bright color, flying fish, sleeping cats and hovering angels. The subject matter may be serious or light – it depends on the story that needs telling – and there’s always a story that needs telling.
I have exhibited nationally. I have illustrated thirteen childrens books which have been reviewed in the NY Times Book Review, Horn Book, Kirkus Review and Publishers Weekly. I have received many awards.
I use acrylic inks on paper or board. My brother Patrick builds most of my painted frames.
I accept commissions, paint small murals and give presentations to schools on illustrating children’s books. Recently I’ve started doing assemblages out of recycled materials, mostly decorative crosses, altars and masks.
Fran Parzanese | Studio 203
Please click here to view a video interview with Fran Parzanese.
Watercolor has been my passion ever since I applied my first brush stroke. I love the spontaneity of a loaded brush of pigment mixed with water to create luminous colors. I was taught by a Chinese master to paint koi fish by looking for them in a sea of paint. “Look and ye shall find” is the concept and it works. I love creating beauty, so florals and nature subjects are what I mostly paint. My love affair with painting has changed my life. I am currently retired from public school teaching and feel blessed to be able to pursue my passion. Painting changes the way you see the world and I love sharing my vision.
I work in watercolor, acrylics and oils. I do commissions for house portraits, or special subjects. I teach watercolor workshops for the Goggleworks.
Heidi Reuter | Studio 219
Please click here to view a video interview with Heidi Reuter.
Heidi Reuter has a MA with Merit in Photographic Journalism from the University of Westminster, London, a BA in Art and Communication from Muhlenberg College and has also studied Fine Art and Communication at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She now teaches photography at Alvernia University and Penn State Berks. Reuter is also a freelance photographer and graphic designer for magazines and companies based in Berks County, Philadelphia, Susquehanna Valley, Lehigh Valley, NYC, London and China. Highlights of her photography career include photographing Prince Charles, Jay-Z, Russell Simmons, and Fall Out Boy. She is available for portraits, weddings and commercial work.
Medium, specialties, commissions, classes, etc: Photography – Commercial, Editorial and Weddings
Juan Carlos Ruiz Jr. | Studio 319
Artist Statement:
I was born in Reading, PA, and I am of Puerto Rican decent. Growing up, I was interested in comic books, and later in life, my influences expanded to Renaissance Art, fantasy, realism, surrealism and a little bit of abstract expressionism. After graduating from Wyomissing High School, I attended Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia, where I completed courses in illustration, fine art and graphic design. When working in fantasy and sci-fi art, my main fields of interest, my style is visceral, dark, imaginary, and a little expressive, but maintains an overall realistic look. My fantasy work often contains a hidden message or tells a story. I am open to do murals, freelance illustration, portraits, graphic design, book art and more.
Email: jcrj13088@hotmail.com
Elaine Soltis | Studio 211
Please click here to view a video interview with Elaine Soltis.
Elaine Soltis brings a vivid imagination, intuition and unconventional use of material to her paintings and collages. She invents her own visual art techniques and demonstrates interpretive possibilities. She feels that one moment in time is enough to change an entire life¹s passage, so she believes in being present, listening to even the silences, and being grateful for the chance to comfort the soul with art. ³Focused efforts of expression are an essential combination of taking a chance and trying,² she says.
Elaine works in water media, digital photography of nature and a subtext of a work rather than just decorative reflection.
While creating her own artistic style, she is influenced by her father who was also an artist, and she shares his passion for color.
Credentials:
- Actor´s Equity
- American Federation of Radio and TV Artists
- Regional and State Exhibitions
- Past Promotional Colorist and Artist for YSL, Chanel, Dior and Givenchy; Reiki Master
She is currently accepting commissioned work.
Kelley Stanford| Studio 201
Art was always something I liked to do in school and although I did well I never saw it as a pursuit of mine. I was more interested in the performing arts: theater, dance, flag twirling…etc. I always wanted to be on the move.
My mother and my sister both are artists and I love what they do but I never thought I had the patience to be an artist. Then about 15 years ago I was diagnosed with kidney disease. Basically my kidneys were on a slow decline that would eventually lead to having a kidney transplant in 2002.
During the time between being diagnosed and the transplant I was very tired and could do very little. It was my mom who suggested I try to draw or paint. I was able to work on something a little bit at a time and I found that not only did I enjoy it very much but I liked what I had done and so did my family and friends. I continued to paint for a few years under the tutelage of my mother learning various techniques used in water colors.
My mother and sister belonged to an art group called Flying Colors, a group of all women artists that meet once a week to work on their craft and once a year have an art show. It was suggested that I jury to be a part of this group and was accepted. So, now I have been painting and doing an art show with this group for about 8 years.
Along with Flying Colors my work has been displayed and sold at a local restaurant, a small gift shop and a local arts and crafts show.
Amy Stevens | Studio 221
Amy Stevens (b. 1975) grew up in the Arizona and New Mexico. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography and a certificate in Women’s Studies from Arizona State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Photography from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.
Stevens has participated in both group and solo shows in Seattle, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto and Ireland. Stevens has notably shown in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Delaware Art Museum, Photo LA, Photographic Center Northwest, Philadelphia International Airport, Maryland Art Place, The Center for Photography at Woodstock and Jen Bekman Gallery in New York. Amy’s work is part of the permanent photography collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.
In the summer of 2010, Stevens completed an artist residency program in Roscommon, Ireland where she worked in a bakery, resulting in a new series of work, a group show and a publication. In Fall of 2010, Amy had a solo show in Philadelphia at Fleisher Art Memorial as part of the Fleisher Wind Challenge 2010 and was announced a winner of the Hey, Hot Shot! Photography competition. In November 2011, Amy will be traveling to China as an honored guest to exhibit in the Lishui International Photography Festival. Stevens was just awarded a travel grant from the Center for Emerging Visual Artists for an exhibition she is curating in Dublin in the summer of 2012.
Amy Stevens is featured in the latest issue of Muze. Muze, is a French quarterly publication for young women. Her work is included in the company of much admired photographers and artists. June 7-10, 2012
Amy will also be participating in a The Big Bloom group show Mercantile Home, 140 Northampton Street Easton, PA. The show runs June 9- Sept 9, 2012.
email: amy@amystevensart.com
website: www.amystevensart.com
Mary Stoudt | Studio 314
Intuition and improvisation both play a role in my process in creating my studio quilts. Such is the case with ³Lightning Strikes,² one of a series of quilts based on a village theme. Lightning Strikes is based on an experience that happened several years ago,when lightning struck my home as I stood inside near a phone. My entire second floor was filled with an amber glow, followed by a horrific cracking sound. The phone, inches away from where I was standing, was hit, along with a thousand dollars worth of miscellaneous damage to the rest of my home. The long yellow line dividing the composition represents the lightning. The colorful houses are reminiscent of the village where I presently live.
Joseph Szimhart | Studio 207
Please click here to view a video interview with Joseph Szimhart.
Wherever that urge to produce art comes from it has been with me since I was very young. Perhaps it came from my Hungarian grandfather who was an amateur artist. That urge was strong enough to change my major from engineering in my third year at the University of Dayton to fine arts. I advanced my studio training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts that awarded me a certificate in painting and printmaking. My next move was to live in Santa Fe, NM for nearly 18 years where I taught art at New Mexico State Penitentiary and life-drawing at St. John´s College while exhibiting in galleries. I also executed a series of murals for a hospital. I was a summertime fixture on Santa Fe´s Plaza for 14 of those years where I sketched portraits, completing maybe 7,000 “heads.” My last large commission:14 iconic canvases representing the Stations of the Cross for St Columbkill Church in Boyertown, PA. My work includes drawings, monotypes, and oils that range in imagery from figurative to landscape to abstract, often with symbolic features. For the past fifteen years I have been exhibiting with the Perkiomen Valley Artists Center.
Website for art career under construction soon.
610-582-7666
http://jszimhart.com represents my long career as a “cult” information consultant and author.
Cynthia Thomasset | Studio 304
Please click here to view a video interview with Cynthia Thomasset.
A dream of being in a gallery filled with collages is what led me to being a studio artist at the GoggleWorks. Having collected letters and stamps my whole life; I dreamed that I saw paintings filled with stamps, words, vibrant color. I woke the day after this dream and did my first “love stamp collage”. This led me to join Berks Art Alliance and get 2 pieces accepted at a juried show at Goggleworks in the summer of 2010, which then led me to apply for studio space. It was a very natural process and I am thrilled to be part of such a vibrant community.
I am a self taught artist, combining watercolor, stamps, pen and ink, my photography and old post cards in my work. For years I was a social worker and incorporated the arts into my therapy with clients. Having secured a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts enabled me to do a huge mosaic tile mural project with victims of domestic violence in Wilmington, Delaware where I worked for the YWCA.
I am also an adjunct professor at Albright College where I teach 5 subjects in psychology to non-traditional students in their accelerated degree program. I enjoy employing non-linguistic learning tools in the classroom; this brings an element of the arts to my academic life and students.
I do commissions and my work is available as prints.
www.cjthomasset.com
Barbara Thun | Studio 301
I continue to explore the human connection to the natural world – our vulnerability to its power, our mirroring of its cycles and the fact that today we exist in a precarious relationship with nature. The unstable balance between man and nature could threaten the existence of both. While my work expresses the essence of nature´s finite existence and the strong structural reality of it, it is important that we recognize and protect it´s vulnerability.
Adrienne Trafford | Studio 317
Adrienne Trafford’s whimsical, award-winning art is influenced by artists who were inspired by color such as Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt, and also by manga, anime and steampunk artists. Her work consists of figurative and landscape subject matter taken from current and past cinema, literature and art. Currently she is working in watercolor and ink on illustrations for an Oracle card deck, coinciding coloring book and childrens book for Schiffer Publishing. She also continues to work with acrylic on canvas and is the “unofficial artist laureate and creator of the official mascots – Spike and Tilly” for the Humane Society of Berks County. She has a BFA from Kutztown University and continues to exhibit and sell in juried shows and galleries in the community. Adrienne takes commissions on a regular basis.
Lauralynn White | Studio 305
Lauralynn White is an artist pursuing her own vision of the world. She expresses her core belief in the necessity of living in harmony with nature through her sublime yet powerful fusions of the human body with the earth. She believes there is an inherent oneness in all things and pursues that as a reality in her work. White´s acclaimed Figurescapes are a mythic fusion of landscape and the human form. They strive toward oneness with the terrestrial divine. Lauralynn imparts to the canvas a collective sense of earthly elegance and mystical grandeur. Her illustrations have recently graced the pages of Mother Nature´s Daughter, a new American myth by P.S. Lutz.
In the month of September 2012 she is exhibiting in various locations around the globe as well as on the 3rd Floor Lobby of the GoggleWorks:
From Within
- GoggleWorks Center for the Arts
- Reading, PA
- September 10 – November 4, 2012
- Opening Reception: First Friday
- October 5, 2012 | 5:30-7:30pm
From Reading to Reutlingen
- Volkshochschule, Reutlingen, Germany
- September 30 — October 21, 2012
- Opening Reception: Sunday, September 30, 2012 | 4 pm
EXPOsition de PiNAS-II
- Curator: Victor Bong Espinosa
- MUSEO DABAWENYO
- Davao, Phillipinnes
- Sept. 14, 2012 – Oct. 13, 2012
Lauralynn was born in Pottstown, PA in 1969 and educated at Savannah College of Art and Design. She holds a BFA in illustration and art history and is an exhibiting member of the National Association of Women Artists and the Visual Arts at Chautauqua. She is a member of the Allied Arts Association of America and has exhibited in New York City and in nationally juried shows.
Currently, she works out of Studio 305 at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, PA where she also serves as Gallery Director.
Visit Lauralynn White´s work at www.AshgarStudios.com
Jeremy Yoest | Studio 216
I discovered my talent for clay at PSU, Shenango campus in 1995. I was a sophomore that loved to paint and draw but I could not find a reason to commit to either medium. My intro to pottery teacher, Steve Mikola, noticed my talent and encouraged me to continue working in clay. It was the push I needed to find a medium that would continue to challenge me and reward me at the same time.
I continued my education at Youngstown State University in Ohio. There I discovered different techniques such as raku, salt firing and gas firing. I had the privilege of being a studio assistant and learning more about my chosen medium. YSU helped me excel in ceramics and learn more about design and textures.
My work since college has evolved dramatically. Focusing on larger vases and lanterns for
my functional work lets me express myself on a larger scale. The raku pieces I create are a reflection of the more expressive sculptural side of who I am. By pushing the clay to its limit natural cracks and textures created during the working process are revealed. Creating different patterns with the texture allow me to pull out emotion from each vessel. Ultimately, I want the viewer to feel something on an intimate level when looking at my work.
I have been influenced by three main individuals in my work. The first being my introduction and motivater to work in clay, Steve Mikola. Steve made almost every form imaginable. His lanterns were the most influential. They really left an impression. I enjoy making them and believe that we all have an inner light. The second influence would be Steve Branfman. His large raku forms have really inspired me to work larger. I had the privilege to take two
workshops with him at The Goggleworks. The third influence being Toshiko Takaezu. Her closed forms that embody the spirit and idea of “mystery” fascinate and captivate me. They are forms I find inspirational and they are so much fun to create.
Artist videos produced and sponsored by
