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INSTRUCTORS
ADAMS SCHOOL OF ART
Carlise Azmitia
Carlise Azmitia is a semi self-taught artist and felter. It all started 12 years ago during a quest to introduce her daughter to new creative outlets. Diving into tutorial after tutorial until she joined art schools and mentored with esteemed teachers. She now regularly teaches felting, watercolor, paper quilling and meditative art.
She is the art teacher at Orange-Ulster Boces Adult Continuing Education in Goshen NY, and regularly travels throughout the region as a teaching artist including Garrison Art Center, Peters Valley School of Craft, NY Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck NY, Bronxville Adult School and many local libraries. Carlise is a 2008 graduate of New York Institute of Photography Professional Studies Program and has mentored under Ken Goshen, New Masters Academy, Tracey Turner and Louise De Masi. Carlise has an active art and workshop studio in the village of Florida NY.
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She is the art teacher at Orange-Ulster Boces Adult Continuing Education in Goshen NY, and regularly travels throughout the region as a teaching artist including Garrison Art Center, Peters Valley School of Craft, NY Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck NY, Bronxville Adult School and many local libraries. Carlise is a 2008 graduate of New York Institute of Photography Professional Studies Program and has mentored under Ken Goshen, New Masters Academy, Tracey Turner and Louise De Masi. Carlise has an active art and workshop studio in the village of Florida NY.
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Emily Bicht
Emily has been an active artist in NYC and the Hudson Valley for over twenty years and a member of several artist groups, including The Exhibitionists and Open Ground. She received a BFA from Moore College of Art and Design and an MFA from Brooklyn College, City University of New York.
Her work incorporates a variety of mediums, including ceramics, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. She teaches ceramics at Garrison Art Center, Cedar Lane Art Center, Peekskill Clay Studio, and Kroll Ceramic Arts School. Emily lives in Peekskill with her traveling companion and teenage cyclones.
Website: www.emilybicht.com
Instagram: emilybicht
Her work incorporates a variety of mediums, including ceramics, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. She teaches ceramics at Garrison Art Center, Cedar Lane Art Center, Peekskill Clay Studio, and Kroll Ceramic Arts School. Emily lives in Peekskill with her traveling companion and teenage cyclones.
Website: www.emilybicht.com
Instagram: emilybicht
Susanne Brandt
Susanne Brandt is an artist and arts educator who lives and works between CT and coastal Maine, drawing inspiration from the natural beauty of the New England landscape. Susanne holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Alfred University as well as a double master’s degree in Art Education.
Susanne creates fine jewelry using precious metal clay, a medium that begins as clay and transforms into pure metal when fired. A certified metal clay instructor, she specializes in earrings and pendants with nature-inspired designs. Her work often reflects the textures and forms of marine life, capturing the delicate beauty of the natural world.
In addition to jewelry, Susanne also creates painterly, ethereal photographs that invite quiet reflection on nature. Her cyanotypes and phytograms often incorporate ocean water, seaweed and sand, reflecting her commitment to raising awareness about the urgent need to protect our marine life and oceans.
Susanne’s career spans 24 years of teaching ceramics, photography and jewelry at Wilton High School, where she served as head of the art department. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge and inspiring students of all ages to explore their creativity and connect more deeply with the environment through art. In her workshops, she incorporates elements of meditation and mindfulness, encouraging students to slow down and find relaxation through the creative process.
Susanne has been exhibiting her work in group and solo exhibitions in CT & New York City for over 30 years.
Susanne creates fine jewelry using precious metal clay, a medium that begins as clay and transforms into pure metal when fired. A certified metal clay instructor, she specializes in earrings and pendants with nature-inspired designs. Her work often reflects the textures and forms of marine life, capturing the delicate beauty of the natural world.
In addition to jewelry, Susanne also creates painterly, ethereal photographs that invite quiet reflection on nature. Her cyanotypes and phytograms often incorporate ocean water, seaweed and sand, reflecting her commitment to raising awareness about the urgent need to protect our marine life and oceans.
Susanne’s career spans 24 years of teaching ceramics, photography and jewelry at Wilton High School, where she served as head of the art department. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge and inspiring students of all ages to explore their creativity and connect more deeply with the environment through art. In her workshops, she incorporates elements of meditation and mindfulness, encouraging students to slow down and find relaxation through the creative process.
Susanne has been exhibiting her work in group and solo exhibitions in CT & New York City for over 30 years.
Rebecca Bratt
My name is Rebecca Bratt and I live in Carmel New York. I have a master's degree in math and education, but a passion for creating beauty from the world around me. When my husband and I bought our first house I fell in love with tending to the land and spent hours and hours freeing the trees on our property from invasive vines. I began to take my skills from traditional basketry and apply them to the vines, weaving with grapevine and wisteria, brambles, ivy, and wild willow. I eventually found an artist to learn more nuanced and complex wild basketry skills from and the rest is history. I especially love to work with invasive plants, turning them into useful, eye-catching vessels. But what really keeps me coming back to this craft is the slow, meditative process of wild basketry. From the foraging and drying of materials, to the preparation of materials; And then using the materials to transform them into something completely different. It's like the magic of alchemy at my fingertips, all from what I find in the forest.
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Janelle Chandler
Janelle Chandler is a botanical illustrator based in New Haven County. Chandler has been a lifelong artist who in 2019 earned her Bachelor of Arts in Illustration from Western Connecticut State University, and in 2022 earned her M.F.A. in Visual Arts, Illustration from the same. She earned a diploma from the Society of Botanical Artists Distance Diploma Program, United Kingdom in 2024.
Chandler is a member of several artist organizations, including the American Botanical Society of Artists, (BASNCR and NESBA chapters), Colored Pencil Society of America, and is a fellow member of the Society of Botanical Artists UK. In 2020, her work was selected for an international juried exhibition at the Derwent Pencil Museum in Keswick, England. In 2022 her work was shown in Blue Mountain Galleries, NYC and she has since exhibited her work in multiple galleries and exhibitions throughout CT, and NY.
Chandler is a Professor at Western Connecticut State University, an art instructor at NYC Parks and Recs Art Program and enjoys teaching classes and workshops when she isn’t creating art or spending time with her family. Her website is https://jchandlerartistry.com/.
Chandler is a member of several artist organizations, including the American Botanical Society of Artists, (BASNCR and NESBA chapters), Colored Pencil Society of America, and is a fellow member of the Society of Botanical Artists UK. In 2020, her work was selected for an international juried exhibition at the Derwent Pencil Museum in Keswick, England. In 2022 her work was shown in Blue Mountain Galleries, NYC and she has since exhibited her work in multiple galleries and exhibitions throughout CT, and NY.
Chandler is a Professor at Western Connecticut State University, an art instructor at NYC Parks and Recs Art Program and enjoys teaching classes and workshops when she isn’t creating art or spending time with her family. Her website is https://jchandlerartistry.com/.
Sinrong Chen
Sinrong is an artist specializing in Chinese calligraphy, painting, and watercolor. She received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Fine Arts from the Chinese Culture University in Taipei, Taiwan, where she studied extensively to refine her craft.
With over 20 years of teaching experience, Sinrong has shared her passion for art with students of all ages. She has taught at various institutions in the Westchester area. She has conducted workshops at such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, JCC Mid-Westchester, and Pierrepon School at Westport.
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With over 20 years of teaching experience, Sinrong has shared her passion for art with students of all ages. She has taught at various institutions in the Westchester area. She has conducted workshops at such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, JCC Mid-Westchester, and Pierrepon School at Westport.
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Megan Collins
For over 30 years, Megan Collins has taught Art to children in CT schools and internationally. Whether through paint, printmaking or clay, she encourages students to express themselves with joy and confidence. She looks forward to leading parent&child ceramics workshops at the Hammond, inviting all to explore possibilities in their hand built creations and whimsical sculptures.
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Bruce Dunbar
Bruce Dunbar is a visual artist working in the expanded field of photography. His work moves between lens based and cameraless photography to explore the natural world and the nature of light sensitive materials. He frequently works across processes and combines different processes from analog to alternative to experimental. His work with combining photographic processes and natural sources is an attempt at capturing an impression, an inescapable essence of what once was, the invisible force through which matter changes- the state of flux in which all organic matter is caught.
Currently based in the Lower Hudson Valley, Mr. Dunbar was born and raised in Connecticut. Mr. Dunbar holds a BS from Boston University, a MA in Photography from New York University and a MFA in Visual Art (Photography) from Lesley University.
He has been a photography instructor, teaching traditional, alternative, experimental and digital photography courses at the Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, CT since 1998. In 2012, Mr. Dunbar became an adjunct professor of Photography at Western Connecticut State University. He has also conducted photography workshops for the Art Explorer Program at Weir Farm National Historic Trust in Wilton, CT, Rye Arts Center, Rye, NY, Guilford Art Center, Guilford, CT and The Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, CT.
Mr. Dunbar has been an artist member of the Silvermine Guild of Artists since 1997. In addition to exhibiting his work at the Silvermine Galleries, his photographs and mixed media photography have been exhibited in numerous group and solo shows in Connecticut, Philadelphia and New York City including the Lockwood Matthews Mansion Museum, Katonah Museum, Chroma Fine Art Gallery, and CJG Projects.
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Currently based in the Lower Hudson Valley, Mr. Dunbar was born and raised in Connecticut. Mr. Dunbar holds a BS from Boston University, a MA in Photography from New York University and a MFA in Visual Art (Photography) from Lesley University.
He has been a photography instructor, teaching traditional, alternative, experimental and digital photography courses at the Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, CT since 1998. In 2012, Mr. Dunbar became an adjunct professor of Photography at Western Connecticut State University. He has also conducted photography workshops for the Art Explorer Program at Weir Farm National Historic Trust in Wilton, CT, Rye Arts Center, Rye, NY, Guilford Art Center, Guilford, CT and The Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, CT.
Mr. Dunbar has been an artist member of the Silvermine Guild of Artists since 1997. In addition to exhibiting his work at the Silvermine Galleries, his photographs and mixed media photography have been exhibited in numerous group and solo shows in Connecticut, Philadelphia and New York City including the Lockwood Matthews Mansion Museum, Katonah Museum, Chroma Fine Art Gallery, and CJG Projects.
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C.J. Guerin
C.J. Guerin has been teaching art to youth through adults for 25 years. Her work is in numerous private and public collections. Many of her solo shows are fundraisers to bring attention to the need for rehabilitating and rehoming abandoned and abused animals, both farm and domestic. Education: Post-Graduate- City College, NY; Master of Arts- Adelphi University, NY; BA, Queens College, New York. Teaching Experience: Silvermine School of Art. Her work in selected collections and galleries.
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Heather Houston
Heather Houston was born in 1977 in Panama City, Florida. After a semi nomadic military upbringing that helped develop her appreciation for the folkways of different cultures, she attended the University of Georgia at Athens. She studied with Ted Saupe and Andy Nasisse while completing her BFA in Ceramics, where she began to explore the possibilities of the whimsical figure. The pursuit of her MFA led her to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she studied at the University with Gina Bobrowski and Bill Gilbert and participated in the groundbreaking Land Arts of the American West program.
Her solo MFA show, Liminal Colony, drew the attention of the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, NY, where she completed a one year artist residency culminating in a solo show, Horses in Midstream. She then accepted a position at the Silvermine Arts Center as the ceramic studio technician/manager and ceramics instructor. In this role, she gradually became more and more interested in making functional work, particularly hand built pieces, and experimenting with glazes.
After becoming a mother, she left studio management but continues to teach and make work at Silvermine Arts Center. Current work centers on showing the touch of the artist’s hand, making unexpected shapes, and creating a jewel like glaze surface. She continues to pursue her education by attending workshops with some of the top ceramic artists in the country. She lives and works in Norwalk, CT.
Website: http://heather-houston.squarespace.com/contact
Her solo MFA show, Liminal Colony, drew the attention of the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, NY, where she completed a one year artist residency culminating in a solo show, Horses in Midstream. She then accepted a position at the Silvermine Arts Center as the ceramic studio technician/manager and ceramics instructor. In this role, she gradually became more and more interested in making functional work, particularly hand built pieces, and experimenting with glazes.
After becoming a mother, she left studio management but continues to teach and make work at Silvermine Arts Center. Current work centers on showing the touch of the artist’s hand, making unexpected shapes, and creating a jewel like glaze surface. She continues to pursue her education by attending workshops with some of the top ceramic artists in the country. She lives and works in Norwalk, CT.
Website: http://heather-houston.squarespace.com/contact
Nash Hyon
Nash has taught art in public schools, continuing education, Brookfield Craft Center and at Silvermine Arts Center since 2000. She has demonstrated encaustic techniques at two of the International Encaustic Conferences. Besides encaustic (hot wax) Nash teaches mixed media, acrylic and oil and cold wax painting.
Her work has been in many private and corporate collections including Flagg Venture Partners and most recently the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Research. Her work is also included in the William Benton Museum of Art. Exhibitions include: Montclair Art Museum, Knoxville Museum of Art, NY Hall of Science, National Academy of Sciences as well as many regional exhibitions. She has an MFA from Vermont College.
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Her work has been in many private and corporate collections including Flagg Venture Partners and most recently the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Research. Her work is also included in the William Benton Museum of Art. Exhibitions include: Montclair Art Museum, Knoxville Museum of Art, NY Hall of Science, National Academy of Sciences as well as many regional exhibitions. She has an MFA from Vermont College.
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Karen Jaimes
Karen Jaimes is a ceramic artist-activist-educator based in the Hudson Valley, New York. She creates sculptures and installations that address socio-political issues, designed to inspire social engagement. Jaimes invokes the rich visual language of her ancestors to continue the practice of creating social commentary through art. She has an MFA in Ceramics from SUNY New Paltz and a BFA from Manhattanville College. Her sculptures have been exhibited in the Hudson River Museum, the Dorsky Museum of Art, and the Katonah Museum of Art among others. She is a seasoned educator who has worked with people of all ages and learning capacities at public schools, universities, art centers, museums, and community centers. She is an enthusiastic ceramics instructor who uses the transhistorical and transcultural properties of clay to engage in diverse dialogues to foster community and connection in the classroom.
Website: www.KJclay.com
Instagram: KJ_ceramics
Website: www.KJclay.com
Instagram: KJ_ceramics
Natasha Karpinskaia
Natasha Karpinskaia is an artist, art historian, and educator. She has had numerous solo and group shows both nationally and internationally. Her works are in many private and some corporate collections in the U.S. and Europe. She was a recipient of a prestigious grant from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts.
She has been teaching courses in abstract painting, mixed media, printmaking, and art history at the Silvermine Guild of Art, Pyramid Atlantic in Washington, D.C., and other art centers. She was a professor of art history at the New York Academy of Art. She had also worked as a curator at the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, one of the largest museum of Russian art. She received her PhD (ABD) in American art from Columbia University in New York, M.A. from the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia, and M.A. from the University of Linguistics in Moscow, Russia.
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She has been teaching courses in abstract painting, mixed media, printmaking, and art history at the Silvermine Guild of Art, Pyramid Atlantic in Washington, D.C., and other art centers. She was a professor of art history at the New York Academy of Art. She had also worked as a curator at the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, one of the largest museum of Russian art. She received her PhD (ABD) in American art from Columbia University in New York, M.A. from the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia, and M.A. from the University of Linguistics in Moscow, Russia.
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Michael Keropian
Michael Keropian has been an artist all his life, and a professional sculptor for over 45 years. He has a total understanding of all areas of sculpture including, new and old technical processes and use of materials such as marble, wood, plaster and metal. His work is in both private collections and in public spaces. He has taught at a number of fine art schools in the New York and Connecticut area and is a sculpture conservationist. Michael is known for his nine colossal tiger sculptures on Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tiger baseball team and his local sculpture of Sachem Daniel Nimham in Fishkill, NY. He concentrates on figurative portrait sculpture of historical subjects and fountain sculpture. He is a board member of the National Sculpture Society and the Hudson Valley Art Association.
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Corinne Lapin-Cohen
Corinne Lapin-Cohen is an artist living and working in Katonah, New York, where she teaches drawing and painting at StoneHouse Studio. She is a member of the Silvermine Guild of Artists, Inspiration Art Group International, the American Society of Botanical Artists, and the Society of Layerists in Multi-Media.
Lapin-Cohen graduated from Russell Sage College with a degree in art history, and did her graduate work in environmental preservation. An internship as a naturalist with The Audubon Center in Greenwich, Ct. combined her art with her environmental concerns. “My work is layered with environmental awareness.”
Corinne was the founder of the botanical art program at The Lasdon Arboretum, taught botanical watercolor and drawing at The New York Botanical Gardens, Northern Westchester Center for the Arts, as an adjunct professor at Lehman College and at the Katonah Museum of Art. She was part of the panel discussion “Artists Talking on Art” with the Smithsonian Institution, and appears as a guest lecturer for various groups speaking on botanical or abstract art.
Her artwork is exhibited in museums, universities, art galleries, corporate headquarters, botanical gardens, arboretums, hospitals and environmental centers throughout the country. She is included in the permanent collections of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University, Ameriprise, and Merrill Lynch. Her work is acquired by collectors and has been published in books and periodicals.
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Lapin-Cohen graduated from Russell Sage College with a degree in art history, and did her graduate work in environmental preservation. An internship as a naturalist with The Audubon Center in Greenwich, Ct. combined her art with her environmental concerns. “My work is layered with environmental awareness.”
Corinne was the founder of the botanical art program at The Lasdon Arboretum, taught botanical watercolor and drawing at The New York Botanical Gardens, Northern Westchester Center for the Arts, as an adjunct professor at Lehman College and at the Katonah Museum of Art. She was part of the panel discussion “Artists Talking on Art” with the Smithsonian Institution, and appears as a guest lecturer for various groups speaking on botanical or abstract art.
Her artwork is exhibited in museums, universities, art galleries, corporate headquarters, botanical gardens, arboretums, hospitals and environmental centers throughout the country. She is included in the permanent collections of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University, Ameriprise, and Merrill Lynch. Her work is acquired by collectors and has been published in books and periodicals.
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Clare Lewis
Clare Lewis has a degree from Smith College (Northampton, MA) and also studied at the Cornell University Summer Studios in Art (Ithaca, NY), Brookfield Craft Center (Brookfield, CT) and John C. Campbell Folk School (Brasstown, NC). Past teaching credits include Brookfield Craft Center, the Katonah Art Center (Ceramics Director), Northern Westchester Center for the Arts (Head of Ceramics), Farmington Valley Arts Center and Silvermine School of Art. A member of NCECA and the Silvermine Guild of Artists, she exhibits her work regionally. Clare started out as a functional potter but found her interests also led her to more sculptural forms. For her functional work, the accent is on beautiful forms and gorgeous glazes. For the more sculptural work, she starts by throwing simple yet elegant forms and then alters her pieces by pushing or stretching the clay with her hands or adding more clay and texture. During the glazing process, she tries to bring a sense of freedom to her technique that translates into the visual appearance of the piece after firing. The right balance of form, design, color, and texture is the goal. And when teaching, Clare stresses this balance, as well as the need for contrast in a piece to create drama and interest.
Website: www.clarelewispottery.com
Instagram: clarelewisclay
Pinterest: clarelewisclay
Website: www.clarelewispottery.com
Instagram: clarelewisclay
Pinterest: clarelewisclay
Catie Massa
Catie is an illustrator and educator based in both Brooklyn and Connecticut. She received a BFA in Communications Design (Illustration emphasis) with a Creative Writing minor from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She currently works as an extracurricular art instructor with Private Picassos and Concorde Education at various schools across New York City. Catie also works at Not Another GALLERY! in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and has exhibited her work there as well as at Cape Cod Art Center, ARTHOUSE.NYC, The Brooklyn Monarch, and others. She also has vended at conventions such as MoCCA Arts Fest, Brooklyn Independent Comics Showcase, FlameCon, and many other local art markets. As an illustrator, Catie has worked as a book cover artist for Three Rooms Press and as a colorist for an indie graphic novel. In her personal work, Catie primarily specializes in digital painting, heavily emphasizing storytelling at the heart of what she creates.
Website: catherinemassa.com
Instagram: @catcreates
Website: catherinemassa.com
Instagram: @catcreates
Nancy McTague-Stock
American artist Nancy McTague-Stock was a Fellowship Recipient for post-graduate work at The Slade School of Art at the University of London in Experimental Drawing. She received an MFA from Lesley University in Cambridge and a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Metalsmithing and Textiles. Having served for over thirty years as an artist’ mentor, arts writer, curator, juror and teacher for many academic, private and public institutions for exhibitions, including The Prince of Wales Foundation in the UK, Nancy’s experience is extensive. Her experience is extensive and her passion for sharing her knowledge is broad. Nancy McTague-Stock credits early exposure to environmental experiences as the impetus for her life long artistic focus. Ms. McTague-Stock has been the recipient of many awards, residencies, grants and fellowships. Her work has been exhibited in group exhibitions at over eleven museums, solo/group shows in galleries and universities in Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Mexico City, New Zealand, Portugal, Serbia, and The Venice Biennale and in the U.S., from Los Angeles to New York. Nancy’s work has appeared in the New York Times (reviews), Plein Air Magazine, Studio Visit Magazine (feature), Art New England Magazine (feature), VENU Magazine (feature & cover), Hearst Media, Connecticut Post, The Woven Tale Press (feature), VCU Arts, CBS Connecticut, Connecticut Magazine (feature), Moffly Media, New England Home (feature), EastCoast Home & Design (feature), and others.
Her work is collected by private and public institutions worldwide, including The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., The Douro Museum in Portugal and The Chateau Orquevaux Permanent Collection in France and Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Nancy is also listed in Who’s Who in American Women and Who’s Who in American Art.
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Her work is collected by private and public institutions worldwide, including The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., The Douro Museum in Portugal and The Chateau Orquevaux Permanent Collection in France and Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Nancy is also listed in Who’s Who in American Women and Who’s Who in American Art.
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Justin Perlman
Justin Perlman is a sculptor and fine artist living in Bethlehem, CT. The pursuit of various artistic processes has taken Justin on diverse roads as exemplified in his work, which exists in private and public collections around the globe. From studies in anthropology at Hampshire College he journeyed to focus on sculpture at the Art Students League of NY. From there he moved to Pietrasanta, Italy so that he may work with master sculptors and artisans of marble carving. Seeking deeper knowledge in sculptural processes, Justin returned to the USA as an apprentice and master chaser at a bronze foundry where he trained in all facets of fine art bronze casting. In 2004, Justin moved to Connecticut where he continues to create works of art for exhibition, as well as private and public commissions. He also serves as the co-artistic director for Sova Dance and Puppet Theater. Through all of his travel and studies, he has maintained the belief taught to him by his father, “Whatever you do, take care in it, and do it well.” This belief and understanding guides his hand along with his heart. Justin is also teaching sculpture and bronze casting at the Silvermine Art Center in New Canaan, CT, and is the president of the New England Sculptors Association
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Shizue Pleasanton
Shizue Pleanton was born in Japan and has been studying classical Ikebana since 1967. She married an American in 1975 and moved to the United States where she continued her studies in Ikebana and received her first teaching’s certificate, Eight Level Degree International Sogetsu, Riji.
Living in England for a short time, she exhibited her artwork at the Japanese Embassy in London, Trinity Church and numerous flower shows. Returning to the United States in 1996, Shizue has given lectures and demonstrations to many groups including the New York Botanical Gardens, Christie’s Auction House, the Metropolitan Museum, the Garden Club in Fairfield County and Southern Connecticut University.
She is the Sogetsu Study Group Vice Chairman of Connecticut and past New York Branch Director. Shizue is presently teaching Sogetsu Ikebana at the Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, CT.
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Living in England for a short time, she exhibited her artwork at the Japanese Embassy in London, Trinity Church and numerous flower shows. Returning to the United States in 1996, Shizue has given lectures and demonstrations to many groups including the New York Botanical Gardens, Christie’s Auction House, the Metropolitan Museum, the Garden Club in Fairfield County and Southern Connecticut University.
She is the Sogetsu Study Group Vice Chairman of Connecticut and past New York Branch Director. Shizue is presently teaching Sogetsu Ikebana at the Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, CT.
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Cindy Sacks
Originally from New York City, Cindy Sacks designed products for a decade while continuing to study fine art with renowned artists, most notably Burton Silverman. After moving to Northern Westchester Cindy established her career as a fine artist. Sacks’ watercolor and oils share the expressive marks of a painterly hand and a lively imagination. Her art has been published by The National Foundation of Wildlife and licensed for tableware and fine art prints. Paintings were recently featured at The Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC, at The Sorokin Gallery, Greenwich, CT, and she is a juried member of The Hammond Museum, NY.
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Wendy Shalen
Wendy Shalen has taught figure and landscape drawing and painting to adults and teens for more than thirty years. She has taught drawing, painting and portfolio development at The Art Students League of New York for 20 years since 2005.
She is a magna cum laude graduate of Brandeis University, where she majored in art history. She also studied at the Art Students League in the late 1970s with Daniel Greene, Harvey Dinnerstein, and Robert Beverly Hale, and privately with Burton Silverman.
She has exhibited at Allan Stone Gallery (New York City); Abbot & Holder (London); Carol Craven Gallery; Gardner Colby Gallery (Martha's Vineyard); The Art Students League of New York; the Katonah Museum of Art (Katonah, NY); the Housatonic Museum (Bridgeport, CT); and the Belskie Museum (Closter, NJ). Ms. Shalen has also taught a Portfolio Development Drawing class for high school students, as well as landscape painting workshops for adults, at the Silvermine Guild School of Art in New Canaan, Connecticut, at the Vytlacil Campus of the Art Students League. She is currently a member of the Prince Street Gallery in Manhattan where she will have a solo show from March 25- April 19, 2025.
To see Wendy Shalen’s artwork visit: www.wendyshalen.com and on Instagram : @wendyshalen
She is a magna cum laude graduate of Brandeis University, where she majored in art history. She also studied at the Art Students League in the late 1970s with Daniel Greene, Harvey Dinnerstein, and Robert Beverly Hale, and privately with Burton Silverman.
She has exhibited at Allan Stone Gallery (New York City); Abbot & Holder (London); Carol Craven Gallery; Gardner Colby Gallery (Martha's Vineyard); The Art Students League of New York; the Katonah Museum of Art (Katonah, NY); the Housatonic Museum (Bridgeport, CT); and the Belskie Museum (Closter, NJ). Ms. Shalen has also taught a Portfolio Development Drawing class for high school students, as well as landscape painting workshops for adults, at the Silvermine Guild School of Art in New Canaan, Connecticut, at the Vytlacil Campus of the Art Students League. She is currently a member of the Prince Street Gallery in Manhattan where she will have a solo show from March 25- April 19, 2025.
To see Wendy Shalen’s artwork visit: www.wendyshalen.com and on Instagram : @wendyshalen
Nomi Silverman
My art deals with the shifting shadows of social issues. I use my love of drawing as a path to express innate concerns about liberty, fear and hope, about an individual’s need for work and for sustenance, for shelter and for love. Some are as geopolitically volatile as the indignities people suffer when they lose their basic freedoms. It is by means of charcoal, ink and paint that I celebrate, agonize and weep over this life, whether it is in the glare hurtling off of an arm wrenched by jailers, or the shifting glow on necks entwined in an embrace.
Education BA, Barnard College; National Academy of Design; Art Students League; Privately with Burton Silverman. Teaching: Center for Contemporary Printmaking; Greenwich Continuing Ed; Greenwich Art Society, Center for Contemporary Printmaking.
Solo/ Group Exhibitions: Westchester Comm. College; National Academy of Design; Allied Artists; Ward-Nasse Gallery, NY; Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT. Select Collections: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; The Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts, The Fine Arts Museum of SF, CA. The Janet Turner Print Collection, California State University, Chico, CA; Fairfield University Art Museum, CT; Awards: CT Commission on the Arts Fellowship; Allied Artists; Nat’l Acad. of Design; Akron Soc. of Artists; Duke U. Fellowship.
Publications: NY Times; LA Times; Advocate & Greenwich Time. Member: Society of American Graphic Artists; Society of Tempera Painters; Silvermine Guild.
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Education BA, Barnard College; National Academy of Design; Art Students League; Privately with Burton Silverman. Teaching: Center for Contemporary Printmaking; Greenwich Continuing Ed; Greenwich Art Society, Center for Contemporary Printmaking.
Solo/ Group Exhibitions: Westchester Comm. College; National Academy of Design; Allied Artists; Ward-Nasse Gallery, NY; Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT. Select Collections: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; The Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts, The Fine Arts Museum of SF, CA. The Janet Turner Print Collection, California State University, Chico, CA; Fairfield University Art Museum, CT; Awards: CT Commission on the Arts Fellowship; Allied Artists; Nat’l Acad. of Design; Akron Soc. of Artists; Duke U. Fellowship.
Publications: NY Times; LA Times; Advocate & Greenwich Time. Member: Society of American Graphic Artists; Society of Tempera Painters; Silvermine Guild.
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Liz Stine
Liz grew up in lower Westchester and knew as a young child, art was her passion and she wanted to make it her career. She received a BFA in sculpting with a minor in Ceramics from Purchase as a freshman, and then the College of New Rochelle.
She has pursued, and still enjoys, a life-long career as a commercial toy and giftware sculptor providing work for the toy, museum reproduction, giftware, and cosmetic industries to name a few, including clients such as Mattel, Disney, Dark Horse Comics, Victoria Secret and many others. Recently, in the last seven years, she has been re-exploring her love for the ceramic arts and has been very passionately working both with wheel throwing and hand building. She views it as another extension of working in a three dimensional creative sculptural medium. Her pieces are very textural and patterned, her love of the natural process of clay and its properties being evident in her work.
She currently lives in Putnam County with her husband and teaches clay classes, both wheel throwing and hand building, at Interarts in Patterson NY.
Websites: www.stinesculpture.com www.SimplyDivinebjd.com www.stinesculptureceramics.com
Instagram: stinesculpture
She has pursued, and still enjoys, a life-long career as a commercial toy and giftware sculptor providing work for the toy, museum reproduction, giftware, and cosmetic industries to name a few, including clients such as Mattel, Disney, Dark Horse Comics, Victoria Secret and many others. Recently, in the last seven years, she has been re-exploring her love for the ceramic arts and has been very passionately working both with wheel throwing and hand building. She views it as another extension of working in a three dimensional creative sculptural medium. Her pieces are very textural and patterned, her love of the natural process of clay and its properties being evident in her work.
She currently lives in Putnam County with her husband and teaches clay classes, both wheel throwing and hand building, at Interarts in Patterson NY.
Websites: www.stinesculpture.com www.SimplyDivinebjd.com www.stinesculptureceramics.com
Instagram: stinesculpture
Kiara Taylor
Kiara Taylor studied Human Development and Fine Art at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY). Since 2019, she has worked at several pottery studios across New York, and currently works as a Clay and Glaze Technician at Peekskill Clay Studios. In her personal artistic practice, she creates both functional and sculptural vessels.
Website: www.kiarainthewinter.com
Instagram: kiarathrows
Website: www.kiarainthewinter.com
Instagram: kiarathrows
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