Get To Know The GoggleWorks Artists

GoggleWorks Artists of the Month July 2010

• Fran Parzanese| Studio 206
• Raylene Devine| Studio 208

  
  

• Sue Small|Studio 311
• Mary Stoudt| Studio 314

  
  GoggleWorks Artists of the Month August 2010

  
  

• Sheila Shuman| Studio 221
  
• Roger Evans| Studio 212

  
  

• Adrienne Trafford| 315
• Miles DeCoster| 323

Artist-of-the-month artwork is on exhibit in the studio lounges on the 2nd & 3rd floors.

Marko Biddle | Studio 304

In our mass-produced culture where a majority of objects are machine made, I have a strong appreciation for unique handmade objects. Ceramic arts is a means to connect with one another in a society where we spend much of our time in isolation. My ceramic works often will visually tell stories or express my personal opinions about how we as a culture deal with consumption, addiction, and manipulation. Through clay I record memories, feelings, or thoughts. I enjoy sculpting into clay the people, places, and things from my life that shaped me into the person I am today.

I have a strong appreciation for ceramics as a craft and it´s rich traditions and ability to bring people together. I enjoy constructing pots that are durable and can maintain everyday use. When I am creating a mug I try to imagine the journey the mug may take. Will this mug become the ritualistic mug from which someone will drink his or her morning cup of coffee? Will this mug be used by a friend or loved one and cause him or her to reminisce about moments we have shared together? I enjoy the process of making just as much as sharing my work with others.

Artist Email: marko.biddle@gmail.com

Artist Link markobiddle.com

Susan Biebuyck | Studio 203 & 204

Forrest´s Box

Yes it´s true, I DO JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN! In my
mind, art should be pleasing to look at and to create. I´m
serious about not being ´too serious.´
I´m attracted to a variety of subjects: foremost energy,
nourishment, connectivity and decadence; the ever
common nourishment of food and its enticement and the
environment. My series of works are meant not only for
your enjoyment but for mine too. Yes, I´m selfish; I paint
when I know I´m going to enjoy the process.

Kevin Brett | Studio 308

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

W. Eugene Burkhart, Jr. | Studio 215

W. Eugene Burkhart, Jr. is an international lecturer, exhibitor, floral designer, judge, pressed flower artist, teacher, and author. Eugene has been an exhibitor since the age of 6. He enjoys creating his unique designs with pressed plant material. As an exhibitor he has won over 1500 prizes, ribbons, trophies, and certificates including numerous Best of Show awards and 11 Artistic Sweepstakes Awards at the prestigious Philadelphia International Flower Show.

Gene´s designs were selected for the 1st International Pressed Flower Exhibition in Nagano, Japan in 1997. Gene also lectured at the exhibition held in the White Ring in Nagano, Japan and he has been a keynote speaker several times at the Philadelphia Flower Show. His work has been chosen on numerous occasions for the Directory of Traditional American Crafts in Early American Life Magazine. In 2000, Eugene was inducted into the Muhlenberg High School Hall of Fame for his international achievements as a pressed flower artist and floral designer.Gene received the 2005 Pagoda Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts given by the Berks Arts Council. He is the author of Pressed Flower Art published by Stackpole Books.
Finally, Gene is the producer/host of Lively Arts at the GoggleWorks.
GeneBurkhart.com

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.

Beth Carson | Studio 216

As a new artist I am just beginning to fill the walls of my studio. I normally enjoy painting in both acrylics and oils but occasionally dabble in textiles, glass and quirky crafts as the mood strikes me. Most of the time the subject matter I choose to paint is in some way connected to nature with trees and leaves being a recurring theme. My latest series however, has been a study of a single expression...a smile, a grimace, a giggle or even a baby´s cry. On a small 6"x6" canvas, the essence of a person´s individual personality is captured and through it´s one-of-a-kind qualities- it speaks volumes.

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 213

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.
MilesDeCoster.com

Raylene DeVine | Studio 208

I am a doctor of pediatrics by day and fill my soul as a painter by night. My passion for painting started in 1993, when I was traveling extensively abroad and walking in the steps of the old masters. With each painting I observed, I learned to paint. I paint of the past, and of the now, and of the future. I paint because I have to.

Tara Espinoza | Studio 213

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

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: evansrogerj@yahoo.com
Phone: 610.898.0553

Wen Fan | Studio 305

My work is an investigation of ambiguity and the distinction between body and soul, as well as the conflict between the physical and the spiritual. I
seek to find balance between these inner tensions
by expressing them through clay objects.
ceramicfan.com

Suzanne Fellows | Studio 307

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

Sandy DeFranco Giannini | Studio 303

I¹ve 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 ³Before Sunset² 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.

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

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

Liz Irwin | Studio 308

It was in Alaska that Elizabeth was introduced to the art form of Russian Icon painting. She has studied with Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox and Episcopalian icon artists, and has been doing icon "writing" for the past
seven years. Elizabeth has been an artist for more than 30 years and also uses her art skills to paint wall murals and decorative furniture.

Diane Kennedy | Studio 207

Diane is a Basketmaker from Boyertown, Pennsylvania, specializing in the use of natural materials, many of which she gathers and prepares. She began making baskets in 1978 with vines such as honeysuckle, grapevine, wisteria, willow, raspberry and bittersweet. An abundance of walnut trees on her property led her to begin using natural dyes with black walnut husks, butternuts, onion skins, and pokeberries. In 1978 she took an adult evening class in basketry where she was introduced to the traditional techniques and shapes using mostly round reed rattan. After several years of taking workshops she wanted to share her fun with others and began teaching.
Diane is a juried member of the Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen http://www.rbcrafts.org/ and a juried member of the PA Guild of craftsmen
http://www.pacrafts.org/pacrafts/site/default.asp.
As a member of the guild she participates in unique, top quality craft shows.

View her work and upcoming shows at http://www.flickr.com/photos/basketrybydianekennedy/ or contact her at BasketrybyDK@aol.com.

Judy Lupas | Studio 217

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.
judylupas.com

Susie Martin | Studio 311

Lumps of clay are beautiful things but viewers do not realize this until the final project is complete. When I present my ceramic pieces, I show the viewers the heights and depths that ceramics can reach. I enjoy designing vessels with irregular/abstract shapes and form. My favorite part is the construction and design of these ceramic pieces.
This design time is about letting your unconscious mind have fun away from your daily life. The inspirations for these pieces come from simple scribbles on paper. I let these scribbles transform into designs. The next step is glazing, which is a science unto itself. Instead of glazing the entire piece, I toss the glaze, which then forms a unique pattern, while also exposing part of the clay body. This technique gives a great Asian quality to the piece and establishes a wonderful color scheme between the matte and glossy finish.

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.
SharonMcGinley.com

Fran Parzanese | Studio 206

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

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
HeidiReuter.com

Sheila Shuman | Studio 221

My fine arts education began at the Wayne Art Center at the age of 5. My love of craft developed while I was in high school. The way in which I express myself through art encompasses a wide range of the artistic spectrum. Therefore my favorite medium is collage/mixed media because it allows for the use of both fine art and craft.
I received my BS and BFA from Kutztown University. I am the Ceramics instructor for the Opportunity House, Souper Bowl committee. I am a member, Reading - Berks Guild of Craftsmen, as well as a GoggleWorks Artist and teacher. My work has been exhibited from Boyertown, PA to Brazil.
I work with fine metals, ceramics, and fibers. Private classes are available for individuals or groups in all mediums for adults, children and team building.

Susan Small | Studio 311

I enjoy experimentation and a trial and error approach to art making and find clay a great medium for this kind of practice. Ceramic relief sculpture and carved formed surfaces are my current focus and this avenue includes wallpieces, tiles and tile assembages including larger scale murals. I have also kept my hand in pottery making as pottery has almost universal appeal and is both fun to make and fun to share with others. Lastly I like to experiment with ceramics´ more challenging practices such as outdoor installations as such ventures help me to stay intellectually and artistically stimulated.

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.
MaryStoudt-artquilts.com

Stephanie Rado Taormina | Studio 211

The “LIGHT” series consists of 27 new works on canvas reflecting the theme of light, clarity and color. Light often represents hope and happiness, that feeling you get when you first open your eyes and wake up to a bright new sunny day; there´s always a chance for a new beginning… As color reflects and affects our moods, the colors in this series are bright and clear with some light shining through them in order to bring that feeling of lightness and optimism to the minds of those who view this work.
I received “Award of Excellence” at the York Art Associations´ 2007 Juried exhibit for the piece” Landscape of Green”
I work with oil, acrylic, guache, pastel,and charcoal. Abstract Expressionism is my specialty.
StephanieRadoTaormina.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.
BarbaraThun.com

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.
AdrienneTrafford.blogspot.com

Pam Ullman | Studio 319

Pam Ullman is a photographer, writer, and recovering lawyer. Since turning to photography in 2007, her work has been selected for several juried shows, and has appeared in numerous print publications. Winner of the Random House Bold Type Short Story Contest, Pam´s stories, essays, and book reviews have appeared in such places as Central Pennsylvania Magazine, War, Literature & the Arts, and A Mammoth Anthology of Miniscule Fiction. On Wednesdays, she writes the Front Page for Utata, an on-line collective of photographers, writers, and like-minded people who share a compelling interest in the arts. Visit her at www.pamullmanphotography.com

ARTIST´S STATEMENT
The photographer sees things that others do not: some real; some imagined. In all of my work, I photograph familiar scenes in an unusual way, making creative use of patterns, natural light, story elements, textures, and ephemera. Surrounded by painters, sculptors, and other artists in my studio at the GoggleWorks, my work is constantly evolving, and in the last year, has become decidedly more painterly than photographic. Indeed, I feel I have succeeded when a visitor asks if she is looking at a painting or a photograph. When I raise the camera to my eye, time stands still, and I am both apart from, and a part of this world. My work is personal and interpretive, inviting the viewer to merge her own reality with the moment I experienced when I pressed the shutter.

Birdie Zoltan | Studio 315

In my art, I am drawn to those everyday objects that strike me as eager to assume new roles and realities. Working primarily with found objects and castoffs, I create sculptural personalities of unrepentant whimsy. To fabricate each piece usually employs several techniques, which could include welding, casting, weaving, sewing, woodworking and carving. The mood of each piece, and frequently its form, tends to arise organically from the materials at hand. I acquire the raw materials I use during my daily walks, from excursions to thrift shops, garage sales and junkyards, and by gratefully accepting the countless donations offered by friends and acquaintances familiar with my eccentricities.
www.BertaZoltan@hotmail.com