QUESTION OF THE WEEK #1

What are you favorite studio tools or gadgets for
art-making, storing and organization, or even comfort?

Featured Artist Mandy Bankson

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #39

Alberta, Canada

Inspired by open, spacious prairie landscapes and patterns in nature, Laurie Bentz’s minimalistic paintings are full of marks, textures, and layers. Her beautiful paintings are bold, yet carry great restraint. Take a moment to learn more about our Artist of the Week.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #38

West Vancouver, BC Canada

Influenced by her environment in the Pacific Northwest, Jane Kenyon’s paintings are abstract, each painting being a study of colour and contrast. The palette changes as she paints layer upon layer, obscuring what exists below. The process often feels careless and haphazard, but also passionate and engaging. Take a moment and ready about this very inspired and prolific artist.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #37

Brooklyn, New York

After being a figurative painter, Hannah Moon has fallen in love with abstract. She currently is particularly drawn to paintings that incorporate manufactured materials. Take a moment to learn more about this thoughtful and driven Artist of the Week.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #36

Asheville, North Carolina

Influenced by music, lyrics, feelings, stories, other artists, and the materials themselves, Jacqui’ Fehl’s art is as varied and unpredictable as her ever changing hair. She works both abstractly and figuratively and bounces freely between the two. Jacqui often colors outside the lines and doesn’t like to be limited in pallet, materials or genre. “If I had to describe my work, I would say that it is a blend of grunge, whimsy and outsider.” Read more about this unique and inspiring Artist of the Week!

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #35

Valla Beach, New South Wales, Australia

Jan Allsopp’s art is about memory and place. She brings memories and sometimes old materials to her current work, learning about old meanings and shifting perceptions. They hint at the past and sit happily in the present. Learn a bit more about our Artist of the Week!

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #34

Issaquah, WA

Starting off as what she calls a ‘hobby artist’, Pamela Beer is now making beautiful paintings full of color, forms and marks. Still on the journey of finding her authentic voice in her work, we applaud how far she has come and celebrate her as our Artist of the Week.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #33

Santa Cruz, California

Karuna Gutowski is a painter who likes to draw, make marks, scribble and explore; always seeking that wild, numinous place of spontaneous and evocative expression. It has been amazing to see the progress she has made in her work over the last year. We are honored to celebrate her as our Artist of the Week.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #32

Woodstock, Virginia

In Sally Veach’s expressive paintings she communicates her awe of the Virginia landscape in which she lives and muses on the complexities of life. Spending time appreciating the natural beauty that is all around her, storing visual memories and feelings of awe and joy, mundane errands are transformed into profound experiences by simply looking up and out, everyday.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #31

Walla Walla, Washington

Dianna Woolley is inspired by the colors, culture and topography of cities, continents, and islands to which I’ve traveled. Having a thirst for books relating to adventurous explorers lives, she pictures herself as one of them charting her own way through this life with paint, panels, and visual artistic projection.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #30

Charlottesville, Virginia

Judith Ely’s attraction and connection to art goes back to her childhood spending many hours drawing. From there stepping stones have led her down her path to the paintings she makes now. Spend a few minutes learning about Judith’s story and pop over to the Forum to help answer her question for the group.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #29

Seattle, Washington

Jacqui Beck’s colorful and expressive paintings successfully ride the line between the depth and whimsy of life. As our Artist of the Week, Jacqui shares with us that fear is both the most challenging and the most rewarding aspects of her work and process. Check it out!

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #28

Salt Spring Island, BC Canada

Amidst the bold, graphic, structural forms that define Sandra Stratford’s work is a rich narrative, full of symbolism and personal expression. Learn more about what inspires her work and and how chocolate helps her in the studio!

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #27

Oregon City, Oregon

Wendy Givens’ work is all about color and shapes within which she finds subjects with a touch of whimsy that emerge through the painting process. Learn a little more about Wendy as we celebrate her as our Artist of the Week.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #26

Bowen Island, BC

Kathleen Ainscough has been doing some kind of creative work all her life. As of late she has garnered some wonderful new opportunities to show her work. Read about this very busy artist and where she is on her creative path. She posed a great question to the group, so jump in and let her what you think!

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #25

St. Louis, Missouri

For many years Julie Snidle has provided instruction to students and created her own mixed media and encaustic paintings. Here in the Academy she has shared some recent successes with her work as well as potential gallery representation. We’re so excited for Julie, our Artist of the Week!

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #24

Oakland, California

As a graphic designer and business owner, Hae Yuon Kim has been merging creativity and business together for many years. We are very excited for her as she is finding more time and energy for her art. We encourage her to keep up with her beautiful marks and painting! Take a minute to read more about her and her story.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #23

Camden, Maine

Ingrid Ellison’s beautiful, vibrant and calming paintings capture the details she sees in the mood, colors and imagery of the Maine coast where she lives and works. We’re looking forward to seeing the work that emerges from her new venture that pairs her with a local farm to increase visibility of local food sources and their sustainability. Read more about it here, and take a look at her incredible work.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #22

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

I travel quite a bit. Traveling is rewarding and enriching, but it is also tiring and time consuming. At times I find it a challenge to maintain a daily creative practice while away from my studio. I have recently started to collage while traveling. I now pack scissors, paint, glue, and plenty of paper. Collaging instantly draws me into an art making zone. It demands focus, but is fun and spontaneous. The reward is an assemblage of color and shape that express time and place.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK #21

LOS ALTOS, CA

As an award-winning interior designer, Lena creates distinctive, beautiful spaces for her clients. Which is just like her personal art–full of bold and beautiful designs. Check out this thoughtful and talented Artist of the Week.

Glenda Green

A lifelong doodler, Glenda Green has turned her obsession into her passion. She now creates bright, beautiful, bold paintings, inspired by the forms and colors of the 60’s, adding her own unique style. Check out this groovy artist and her work.

Suzanne Jacquot

Sebastapol, CA

Suzanne’s paintings are an exploration and response to spontaneous energy she feels energetically and intuitively. She creates her expressive paintings working in layers of paper, adding marks with a variety of materials to create a single image. Take a moment to learn a bit more about this very thoughtful and prolific artist.

Nadine Renazile

New York City, NY

Nadine Renazile describes her work as “visual storytelling”. Through the arrangement of marks, shapes and colors she explores the personal, political and social issues of the day. Her current series dives into the theme of Gentrification. Join us this week as we celebrate this very talented artist and her very powerful work.

Jacqueline Quinn

Whitley Bay, UK

Inspired by the ever-changing colors of the landscape around her, Jacqueline Quinn creates lush paintings full of color, symbols and nature forms. Check out what drives her to create these beautiful works in this week’s Artist of the Week segment.

Margarita Daines

Meudon, France

Inspired by unconscious memories and the environments she’s observed, Margarita Daines often creates work that reflects architecture and ancient ruins. Join us this week, as we celebrate this talented sculpturist.

Alice Sheridan

London, England

Inspired by her environment, whether it be the London city bustle, or the nature of the English countryside where she lives, Alice Sheridan paints what she notices and observes. She collects it all and interprets these surroundings into her work, looking to strike a balance of order and what comes naturally. Join us in celebrating our Artist of the Week, Alice Sheridan.

Stephanie Dalton

Atlanta, Georgia

Stephanie Dalton has had a lifelong creative drive. In fact, she had her first solo show at age 7 when she won a local art contest. She has had several lives as a creative professional, including being a staff photographer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Today, and with great success she continues to be an illustrator, while at the same time has a desire to move forward into a career path as a visual fine artist. From looking at Stephanie’s work, I think we all would agree that this path is most definitely worth pursuing. Check out this Artist of the Week, and help answer her question in the Forum.

Jennifer Harwood

Vancouver, BC

The surrounding nature of Vancouver, BC, is where Jennifer Harwood draws her inspiration from. Her work is created from capturing the feeling of place, and she creates her beautiful landscape paintings with unique interpretations of color and mark making.

Phyllis Jenkins

San Jose, California

Our featured artist this week takes an experimental approach to her figurative/collaged paintings. Her ideas are often inspired and created by doing dream work, as well as the theatre and dance of life all around her. Take a moment to check out this thoughtful and imaginative artist.

Betsy Birkner

Charlotte, North Carolina

Working with ceramic and mixed media sculptures, Betsy Birkner explores the meaning and function of garments and what we philosophically armor ourselves against in today’s societies. This week we celebrate this very intuitive, thoughtful and talented artist.

Mary Grandpre

Sarasota, Florida

Mary Grandpre’s career has been a storied one, to say the least. Having worked as a freelance illustrator for nearly 25 years, Mary’s clients have run the gambit, from – in her words – “commercial ads for canned soup to editorial illustration and children’s books.” Despite this, it was only recently that she decided to make the bold move into creating her own work, and the results have been nothing short of stunning. Take a moment to check out our newest artist of week.

 

Catherine Fields

Vancouver, BC

If one were to take a lesson from our newest artist of the week, Catherine Fields, it would be the importance of perseverance and believing in yourself. After working in a variety of professions, she decided to take the plunge and become a full time artist. That was 10 years ago and she hasn’t looked back. Take a moment to check out her inspiring story.

Raquel Baldocchi

San Francisco, California

An alumni of the Mentorship Program, Raquel Baldocchi has been creating art throughout her life. Within the last several years however, she has been experiencing an artistic revival, pushing her work into some exciting new directions. Bold human forms overlapped by a variety of vibrant shapes and colors lend her work a playful dream-like quality. Let’s all take a moment with this up and coming artist.

Holly Dean

Merrickville, Ontario, Canada

Holly Dean lives in this world, and, yet is a part of another. Her work is inspired by memories of a past – or many pasts – and the beauty, mystery and connectedness that is revealed to her. Holly’s childlike wonder compels her to create, and is ever-present in her spirit and her work. This week we celebrate the art and artistry of Holly Dean.

Janet Jaffke

Alsace, France

Hailing from the CVP program, our new artist of the week has been making some incredible strides with her work, pushing those themes and concepts she was already drawn to even further. Bold mark making, combined with a new sense of openness has given her compositions a vibrancy reminiscent of Wassily Kandinsky and the Abstract Expressionist Movement. We’re looking forward to seeing what this artist has in store for the future…

Galen Garapolo

Illinois, United States

For many creatives, one of the biggest leaps of faith can come from letting go and allowing the materials to be themselves. For Galen Garapolo, she takes that leap head first, imbuing her work with a vivid sense of motion…take a moment to check her out!

Amanda Hebden

Melbourne, Australia

Having gone from being largely representational to nearly the exact opposite, Amanda Hebden understands the importance of embracing change. Where her work once almost exclusively dealt with the female form, we now see an entirely new aesthetic, dominated by scoured interlocking and overlapping shapes. We’re excited to see where she goes in this new abstract direction…

Allison B. Cooke

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

As artists, what we create is often a reflection of our surroundings. This much is certainly true of Allison B. Cooke, who has spent the last decade in Florence. Weathered fields of color stretch spread across her work, and one can’t help but feel the warm pull of something deeper and older than ourselves. Read what she has to say about her direction…

Jennifer Mayol

Novato, California

Having recently undergone a creative revival, our newest artist of the week has delved headfirst into abstraction. Non traditional marks paired with subtle, partially obscured geometric forms results in compositions that can’t help but draw the viewer in, eager for more. Take a moment to read her story and see her work, both past and present…

Insa Hoffmann

Basil, Germany

The dramatic shift that has occurred with Insa Hoffmann’s work is impressive to say the least. An alumni of the CVP program, she has moved from the strictly representational to comprehensively abstract, and her new body of work can only be described as vibrant. Take a moment to check out our 1st artist of the week…