Friends mural is complete!

The mural that I began in 2006 is finally finished. It took a long time, but was worth the wait to see the last two panels installed. They are Equality, and Stewardship. Now the Quaker "SPICES" are complete! The SPICES are as follows: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality and Stewardship. The unveiling was a wonderful event. All of the students gathered in front of the mural and Beth Reeves, the Headmaster said a few words about the significance of the mosaic to the Friends School community. I then was presented with a folio of letters written by students on what the mural means to them. So precious are these letters! It was the best opening an artist could ever have.

Mosaic Owl at Special Services Cumberland Campus

It has taken me awhile to post this photo of the beautiful owl with "hands" sky. My time at Special Services has come to a close and I have to say that I will miss working with both students and staff incredibly. Such are the hazards of  teaching artists who work for  short periods of time as a resident artist. In my case, I was artist-in residence for an entire year and grew very bonded to students and staff. This piece represents the school mascot, the owl, and the hands of every student and teacher at the school. Tracing all the hands enabled an intimate relationship to build between myself and all participants. I am so grateful for the experience of working in this school and for the opportunity of getting to know everyone on such a personal level. Thanks to Appel Farm for making this residency possible.

Mosaic Surf Board at Beach Haven Elementary School

Just finished grouting this beautiful surfboard that is going to be on display at Beach Haven Elementary School on Long Beach Island NJ. Beach Haven hosted a "Clean and Green" evening in April." Clean and Green" is an event sponcered by Young Audiences of NJ. Its mission is to provide families with workshops that teach sustainability through the arts. It is a wonderful program. Many families showed up to create all the beautiful sea creatures on the mosaic. The surfboard is vintage and was donated by a man who showed up and worked on the mosaic too! It was an amazing road trip for me to work on this project. I spent many summers on Long Beach Island. My grandfather was a accomplished organist who owned a series of hotels and resturants along the Island. I have many fond memories of falling asleep every summer night to the sound of his Hammond B3.

 I am so grateful I had the chance to come back and work with the community.

Study for Peace Garden

Last Year, I designed a large scale mural that was created by students and groups around the Atlantic City NJ area. The mural is titled "Peace Garden". Scroll below to see the final stained glass mosaic. It is on the side of the Noyes Arts Garage located at 2200 Fairmount Ave, Atlantic City, and it measures fourty foot long!
Here is part of my original design. This one measures one and one half by three feet. I hope to create a few more in this series.

Residency at Salem County Special Services

This past school year, through a grant from Appel Farm, I had the privilege of working as artist-in-residence with the Salem County Special Services School District at the Cumberland Campus. I visited with students 2 days a week, from September through June. The students created many beautiful paintings, prints, drawings and paper mache sculptures. I really enjoyed working in the school. I am looking forward to creating a mosaic with the staff and students, which will be a permenent reminder of the wonderful time I spent at this inspiring and caring school. Thanks to Appel Farm Music and Arts, for making this work possible. Here are a few selections of some student work:

Empty Bowls at Bradley Beach

Saturday May 2nd 2015, Bradley Beach Elementary staff and students held an Empty Bowls event at the Bradley Beach Food Pantry. The bowls were made by the students in grades 2nd through 8th. The Empty Bowls project was part of the A.I.E grant at Bradley Beach. There were well over 200 bowls on display. Most of them were sold! Thanks to the students and their art teacher Jennifer DiZefalo, for making this event a huge success. Many people in the community will benefit from both the AIE grant, the service project it funded, and the efforts of so many staff members and volunteers at the school.

Bradley Beach Elementary

Eighth grade students at Bradley Beach Elementary are continuing work on their Maya inspired pots.
They have learned how to handbuild using slabs to create a cylinder. The completed cylinders will have surface decorations that use either an incised, scraffito or a water etched technique.