Our Instructors:
Dara Alter
Dara Alter is a Toronto born visual artist. She received her Honors B.A. in Studio Art from the University of Guelph in Canada in 2009. She recently completed a painting residency at School of Visual Arts in New York City. Dara is most interested in exploring location and place as it relates to her personal experiences. She uses a specific palette in her aerial landscape paintings that corresponds to the scenery in a particular region. At the same time, she makes stream of consciousness drawings in public places that blend text with figurative imagery. Her solo show, My Heart is Here took place in Princeton, in February 2011. And, Dara will be pleased to show her work in a two-person show in Kettering, Ohio at the Rosewood Gallery in 2012. Dara’s work has also been exhibited throughout Toronto, in Minneapolis, New Jersey and in New York. Dara’s work can be found in public and private collections in the United States and Canada. Dara Alter has been providing private art instruction for the last four years to adults and children. She has taught classes in watercolor, figure drawing, portraiture, and still life. As a guest instructor at Gan Israel Summer Camp in Princeton, Dara instructed a series of drawing and collage classes. Dara currently lives and works in Central New Jersey.
Gail Bracegirdle
Gail graduated from Moore College of Art with a BFA in Textile Design, and then began her career, working in that field for over 20 years. In 1992, ready to explore new challenges, Gail made the decision to dedicate her time and energy to painting in watercolor. “I chose the fascinating world of watercolor because I was drawn to the clean, environmentally sensitive nature of this medium”, she says. “Every painting is a journey and challenge. I love experimenting with various textures and styles of watercolor papers and pigments – always searching for the perfect combination of surface and paint to create a specific effect. If I can think of yet another way to make art with watercolors, I’ll try it. This has lead me into monotypes, and recently I’ve even been adding collage for textural elements.” In 1993, Gail began teaching watercolor and has found it to be a wonderfully enjoyable and rewarding experience. She taught at Triangle Art in Lawrenceville, NJ for 10 years & has led workshops at the Ocean City (NJ) Arts Center, and on location in Beaufort, SC and Chimayo, NM. Currently, she is a faculty member of ARTWORKS in Trenton NJ, the Abington Art Center in Jenkintown PA, and is one of the artist instructors at Riverrun Gallery in Lambertville, NJ. Each summer she holds plein air classes in and around Mercer and Bucks Counties.
http://gailbracegirdle.artspan.com/
Chris Bonner
Chris maintains a home studio in northern Bucks County. He works in a variety of materials and techniques including wood fired ceramics, plaster, cement and various types of mold work. In addition to his own work he is a lecturer in Ceramic Arts at Penn State University. His most recent sculptural investigations include the use of computer aided design and CNC milling.
Selma Bortner
While preferring to work with surface techniques such as fine cut, wood cut and collographs–is familiar with all printing techniques. She often combines these techniques, using them in new combinations and with non-traditional materials in order to express the message of her work as clearly as possible. Bortner earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Sciences in art education from the Tyler School of Art in 1948. Bortner has taught locally, including the art department at Bucks County Community College, where she taught printmaking and design for 23 years. Bortner continues working on her own projects, always seeing herself as a working artist. She has won numerous awards for her work, including; the Pennell Memorial Medal in 1970 and 1971, and first prize from the American Color Print Society in 1995. Her work is featured in many collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts, and the James A. Michener Art Museum.
Larry Chestnut
Larry is an east coast artist specializing in alla prima painting and in a manner of painting called premier coup – paintings that are inspired by the scene directly in front of the artist and generally completed in one sitting. The artist applies this style of painting to studio and plein air work to achieve spontaneity of brush work and color. The artist’s has been painting, teaching and selling his work for nearly 30 years. His subjects range from people, to old cars and their parts, to architecture and landscapes. He has received many awards for his work which is included in a number of private, museum, and corporate collections in the US and Overseas.
Susan Freeman
Susan is an award-winning artist, and has been an Artworks instructor since 2006. Her prints are in private collections in South Korea, Israel, France Canada and the US. Her following appreciate her jewelry, funky to fabulous and her myriad fine artistic talents. She has a BFA from Cornell University.
Kate Graves
My mission is to make objects of beauty and utility. As a teacher my role is to guide students in the process of designing and fabricating work that reflects their individuality and creativity. My fabric collection has grown over 20 years to include hundreds of materials that each have a story. Adaptive reuse of Hawaiian shirts, batik skirts, and gifts from friends and family make my collection unique, a woven library of color and pattern. The process of collecting fabrics, sharing stories while sewing, and making something meaningful is what keeps this tradition alive for me, and I enjoy sharing what I have learned along the way.
Mike Gyampo
Mike was born into a family of educators in 1950 at Aburi-Ghana. He is a third generation artist in the Gyampo family. Mike graduated from the College of Art University of Science and Technology Kumasi- Ghana in 1979, with a B.A. (Honors) in Sculpture and an M.A. in African Visual Arts from the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon-Shana in 1982. Mr. Gyampo worked as a TV. set designer at G.B.C and as Assistant Secretary of Ghanaian Artists before leaving for the US to study at the Johnson Atelier in 1983. He was a staff member at the Atelier and maintains a studio at Grounds For Sculpture. Mr. Gyampo has participated in over 120 exhibitions, both indoor and outdoor including several solo exhibitions. He has relieved 10 awards in US, given lectures and workshops, and is represented in both private and corporate collections here and abroad.
Gabrielle Kanter
Gabrielle Kanter earned her BFA from The University of the Arts and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has worked professionally as an artist and art educator for the past 15 years. Prior to moving to Stockton, NJ in 2004, she lived in the Philadelphia area. During that time, while teaching at area universities, Gabrielle’s artwork was awarded a PA Council on the Arts Fellowship, has been featured in national publications, exhibited extensively in invitational exhibitions at galleries, museums and public facilities both locally and throughout the country. Presently, Gabrielle is a studio artist and director of The Arts, an art education center where her studio is located.
Stephanie Magdziak
Studied portrait sculpture with John Shahn at Tyler School of Art in Rome; Received an MFA in Printmaking from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Apprenticed for three years to portrait painter Nelson Shanks, Andalusia, PA; Worked as an artist for Michael Graves and Associates for twenty years, choosing architectural and product colors, refining and painting models and prototypes, formulating faux-finishes and producing murals and sculptures. Stephanie is presently producing figurative bas-reliefs. “I am a representational artist with experience in drawing, printmaking, painting and sculpture. I have an acute sense of accuracy and surface, and consistently produce work of high caliber. Drawing is my first love and the basis for work in all mediums; I am very happy to teach it.” Some of my work may be seen at
Joanna Platt
Studied sculpture, receiving a BFA from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers and an MFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia; additional studies at the Johnson Atelier in Mercerville, NJ and the Slade School of the Arts in London, England. Recent exhibits of Joanna’s work include Galeria Nacional, San Jose, Costa Rica, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery and Caplan Theatre, Philadelphia, PA, Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham, AL and Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI and Extension Gallery, Mercerville, NJ. Joanna’s work may be seen at
Diane Podolsky
Known mainly as a printmaker and her line of hand pulled graphics (Anniepod Press), Diane Podolsky is also an established mixed media and installation artist based in Philadelphia. Diane has garnered many awards for her work, including the Gold Medal at the Philadelphia Plastic Club, Best of Show at the Bethlehem Fine Arts Festival, and several first and second place awards. She was also awarded a New Courtland Artist Fellowship in 2009 to conduct an intergenerational workshop and teaches as a visiting artist in area public and private schools.
Winnie Radolan
Winnie started her papermaking career at the site of America’s first papermill, Rittenhouse Town, over 20 years ago. After a ten year involvement at R-Town, that included running papermaking workshops for adults and children, Winnie moved on and her papermaking adventures became itinerant. She now travels her local states of PA, NJ and DE extensively, teaching in schools, art centers and universities. She currently teaches at University of the Arts and Bucks County Community College in PA and has enjoyed being a guest instructor at the American Museum of Papermaking in GA and at Yale’s Center for British Art in CT. She writes an ongoing column about her experiences for Hand Papermaking’s quarterly newsletter. In between sharing her love of papermaking with students of all ages she enjoys making both 2D and 3D works of paper art.
http://www.guildofpapermakers.com/radolan.htm
Linda Reboh
“I have a Fine Art Degree from Bucks Community College. There besides drawing and painting I studied the Art of Metalsmithing. Later, I took an interest in a fairly new product call Metal Clay. I became certified by Rio Grande to teach Precious Metal Clay. I have personally had the pleasure to study with the following experts in this field and the like: Chris Darway, Holly Gage, Sherri Haab, and Celie Fago. I have also added Glass Fusing, polymer clay and various mold-making techniques to my portfolio. I am a member of the “Artists of Bristol” and the Arts and Cultural Council. I love all types of media and when having to give myself a name as to what type of artist I am I chose Media Junkie. The one thing I enjoy more than creating things is sharing that with others. I love to teach and give all of myself to my students. I try to provide and fun atmosphere while also teaching all you need to produce your own wonderful pieces. In my own Art I like the viewer to have a strong emotional reaction to my work. I love to create a sense of mystery in my pieces so the viewer feels engaged to look beyond what he or she is seeing.”
Caron Sisko
2011 KART (Kids Are Readers Too) Kids Book List winner. Writing and illustrating a children’s picture book is a slow and arduous journey. Text and illustrations must be intertwined in painstaking detail in order to give the story meaning. I have come to understand the relationship between text and art. My personal experience with writing and illustrating has given me insight into the meaning behind the art in picture books that have been published by other authors. I have both knowledge and experience that I would like to share with children in the community; children who could very well become tomorrow’s literary artists.
Stephen A. Slusher
A Practicing attorney for over 30 years, with substantial experience in intellectual property matters involving artists. Stephen has represented artists in copyright infringement litigation as well as transactional matters such as licenses, sales agreements, gallery agreements and copyrights. He has taught art law classes both to practicing artists, craftspeople and to lawyers.
Karen Titus Smith
Karen is an artist-painter with experience painting paintings (often mural sized) for a Major New York design firm. This firm placed her work in exclusive four and five star hotels and corporate spaces throughout the United States. Ms Smith has been exhibiting work since the late 1980’s. With this work in 1992 she won a fellowship from the state of New Jersey and she has received many awards throughout her exhibition career. She has exhibited in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Karen earned a BFA from Moore College of Art , Philadelphia, PA and continued her studies at The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and Tyler School of Art, Temple University. She has taught Visual Art courses at University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, LBI Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Loveladies, NJ and MCCC, Trenton, NJ.
Clifford Ward
Clifford is a sculptor/painter who has exhibited extensively in galleries and museums. Having been a member of the technical teaching staff at the Johnson Atelier, he has lead and taught many workshops using his main material, plaster bandages for which he has developed a special technique. Its use has been taught in workshops and classes throughout the area. Clifford has his studio on the Grounds for Sculpture; an exhibit his work is currently featured in a solo show at the Trenton Museum in through February, 27, 2011.
http://www.afrigometry.com/index.html
