Teacher Bios
John Iampieri
Abby Ober
Abby spent her youth abroad as the daughter of a foreign service officer, living in Poland, Germany, Russia, India and Greece. She pursued an education in the Fine Arts at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL, followed by a year long study in Graphic Design at Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC. After a career in advertising and decorative painting in DC, Abby moved to Pennsylvania and raised two children. During this time she returned to her love of painting, studying under various renowned Philadelphia artists. She also began to teach art to those of all ages, levels and abilities, taking pride in starting a adult program at Wayne Art Center in PA for those with cognitive impairments. In 2019, Abby moved to St. Michaels, MD on the Chesapeake Bay and works in a home studio creating larger landscape and abstract works. She teaches private and group lessons in her studio as well as regular workshops and classes at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD and at Wayne Art Center in Wayne, PA. She also is an weekly instructor at the Bay Hundred Hundred Senior Center in St. Michaels, MD.
She has participated in various juried plein air events including Easton Plein Air(2024 Honorable Mention Small Works Sunday),Gloucester Plein Air Invitational(2023 Best Vanishing Landscape) Wayne Plein Air(2009, 2011, 2019, 2023 (Revelite Award)2024(Sourcetek Award), Winter Park Paint-Out(2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) Wekiva Paint Out(2023), Plein Air Adkins(2023)and Paint Annapolis 2024.
Her work hangs in many private home collections as well as two galleries on the East Coast, Local in St. Michaels, MD and Gallery Cero in Longwood FL.
“I am dedicated to painting dramatic landscapes, seascapes, and vintage architecture capturing the distinctive light and patterns that surround my subject. Influenced by a career in graphic design, I have recently explored the elements of abstraction in my work. I enjoy sharing the dynamics of the creative process and strive to share my fundamental painting techniques and beliefs so that my students can reach their own personal aesthetic.”
oberabby@yahoo.com
abbyober.com
@abbyoberart on Instagram
Naomi Clark-Turner
Born in the southeast of England in the UK, Naomi was strongly influenced by her parents who were both accomplished, amateur artists, and completed her first oil painting, aged 12, for a school art show.
Balancing her love of art with her interest in science, she studied for a BSc and PhD in biochemistry and went on to work in the healthcare industry. In 2002 she was offered a job in the US and moved to Chadds Ford PA, with her family and started studying watercolor and acrylics with Karl J. Kuerner III.
In 2018, Naomi and her husband relocated to St Michaels, MD where she joined the St Michaels Art League (SMAL) and in 2021 was juried into the Working Artists Forum where she is currently its Vice President. Inspired and fascinated by the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay landscapes, flora and fauna, Naomi feels at home and is constantly reminded of her upbringing as a child, close to the familiar saltmarshes of the River Thames in the UK.
Naomi loves variety in her work and continues to challenge herself, learning new media and techniques and enjoys painting on location with Diane Dubois Mullaly and the Plein Air Painters of the Chesapeake Bay (PAPCB). She participates in local art shows and events including the St Michaels Art League (SMAL) Banner program and Labor Day Art Show; the Waterfowl Festival in Easton and the Oxford Fine Arts Show. In 2022 she was invited to participate in one of the Talbot Arts Council online exhibition series, showcasing artists in a variety of mediums and concepts from across the state of Maryland.
Jayne Roth
As a former graphic artist in the retail world, Jayne now embraces the challenge of exploring the third dimension. Toying with jewelry creations in her spare time for several years, she eventually evolved into a full-time jewelry artist, specializing in work fabricated in .960 and .999 silver metal clay. Her pieces are combined with complementary mixed media and patinated to evoke a vintage aura. In addition to exhibiting and selling her work in art and jewelry shows, she offers workshops, demonstrating the ease of creating unique and beautiful silver jewelry while using non-traditional materials and simplified jewelry-making techniques.
Collin Cessna
Collin Cessna is a visual artist living in Baltimore County Maryland. He studied visual arts at the George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology. In college, he studied Environmental Science and worked in the field for several years before returning to a life of creating art. Currently, he works out of his studio in his Baltimore County home.
Katie Cassidy
Tammy Vitale
Lillian Pennypacker
Katie Hurley
Ted Mueller
Ted Mueller is an award-winning photographer, formerly employed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory as an engineer, system engineer, project manager, and Chief Programs Manager in the Space Department, as well as Vice Program Chair and Adjunct Professor at The Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. After retirement he pursued photography and is currently working on a Professional Photographers of America Master of Photography degree.
Diana Evans
Cryssi Jefferies
Cynthis G. Miles
Sha’Breia Banks
Paige Davis
Francisco “Paco” Loza
Loralie Caciolo
Aggie Beletsky
Aggie started professional dance training in her twenties, when she walked into an Arthur Murray Dance Studio in San Diego, California. Although she had been partner dancing (waltz and swing) with her father back in Poland, she never had any formal training prior to entering that dance studio. Shortly after placing first in her first few amateur competitions, she started competing Pro/Am with her dance teacher at competitions all over the U.S. Aggie joined Dancing on the Shore nine years ago and has experience teaching all levels.
Jan Boettger
Jan started by taking a glass class at DCA under the instruction of Bill Wise, a teacher at the center in the 80’s. When Bill retired, Jan continued to produce her sparkling images as well as teach the art of stained glass. Jan’s love for working in glass and teaching the craft shows in both her students’ work and her own. When asked Jan says, “My greatest joy over the years has been the variety of students I have taught and the pride these students have for the beautiful pieces they created.” Much of Jan’s work can be seen in various buildings around the shore.
Diana Evans
Diana has been teaching watercolor techniques for over 9 years. She enjoys painting landscapes, seascapes, flowers, and the wildlife of the Eastern Shore. Diana enjoys teaching beginning students and encourages her students to request subjects that are of interest to them.
Griselda Jiménez
Griselda, originally from the State of Veracruz Mexico, has had a passion for art and nature since she was a child. She started three years ago sponsoring activities in Mexico, Cambridge and Colombia. In August 2020 she founded WorldWide Hope starting with 7 students teaching upcycling Art. Now it has 35 active members and 6 coordinators in Latin America, Goldsboro and Cambridge MD. “Art develops skills in children, works as therapy and at the same time we take care of the environment. “I want to leave a legacy, a legacy of love to the planet”.
José Ramirez
José Ramirez is a watercolorist and oil painter originally from Guatemala. His professional art career launched i 2009, after attending the Manuel Herrarte Lemuz art school in Chiquimula, Guatemala. He began exhibiting at the age of 21 and has since enjoyed considerable success. Jose moved to the United States in 2012 and currently resides in Dorchester County, MD. Ramirez has developed his style through both plein air and studio painting. His intention is not to create a photorealistic image of a scene, but to capture the feeling evoked by his subjects. He is a member of the Plein Air Painters of the Chesapeake Bay based in Easton, MD. Jose has found that the creative inspiration that drives his art and ability to communicate is his excitement about nature, people, and everything that surrounds him.
Find Jose at joserami439.faso.com
De’Vonte Perry
De’Vonte Perry is an actor with a passion for performance, dogs, and gardening. He majored in Theatre – Performance and minored in Music – Communications at Salisbury University. De’Vonte currently works with The Improvaneer Method and various organizations across the country teaching improv to those with developmental disabilities. His mission is to equip people of all ages with tools that fuel an abundant mindset through theatre games, storytelling, experiencing, collaboration, and creative group play.
Barbara Zuehlke
Barbara is an award winning Eastern Shore artist. She works in various mediums from serigraph to oil, focusing primarily on watercolor. Using wet pigment on wet paper (wet on wet), Barbara creates a softness and flow that is exciting when combined with the sharp, clean edges of working on dry paper. Barb creates beauty for your enjoyment; believing that good drawing is the basis
for good painting and that the observer needs to feel the medium… “ the flow and transparency of watercolor or the rich gooeyness of oil.”
Find Barb at BarbaraZuehlke.com.
Robert Gladney
Robert’s profession is art and design. He is multi talented and has studied the fine arts of drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, and graphic design at various art schools across the country. Always keen to help others experience the joy that he has found in art, he particularly enjoys the beginning students and is always there to answer questions and help the student figure out the answers.
Terri Griffin
Re-cycled furniture is Terri’s passion. Being able to save an old worn piece and turn it into a beautiful whimsical piece of furniture is her mission. She creates useful unique furniture made from various papers, dried leaves, foil and fabric and loves to share her knowledge and inspire whimsy within her students.
Find Terri’s work on Facebook @ Pollie and Paper- Recycled furniture by Terri Griffin Home
Windy Karpavage
Windy is a fiber artist and owner of Kaire’je Studios, a fiber arts retail business on Taylor’s Island that carries high quality and unusual fibers and materials. Windy is passionate about knitting and felting and is familiar with many fiber art forms. She has worked as a test knitter for a knitwear designer where she perfected fine finishing details. She currently teaches knitting at DCA and helps knitters new and experienced bring their own unique flare to their work.
Find Windy at KairejeStudio.com.
Marianne Kost
I’ve studied art over the years with Maryland and Virginia master painters including Phil Metzger, Edwin Ahlstrom, Walt Bartman, Robert Liberace, and Nancy Tankersley. The influence I gained from these artists range from expressive color and composition to drawing draftsmanship and classical technique. Earlier in my career, I attended the University of Michigan, the Corcoran School, Montgomery College, and the Alexandria Art League. I’ve been juried into the National Gallery of Art Copyist Program. This is a time-honored tradition of painting from masterworks. I’ve participated in many exhibitions and several galleries, winning first place and honorable mention awards. I’m an active member of the Working Artist Forum and the St. Michaels Art League. I’m looking forward to participating in the 2022 Easton Plein Air Festival as a juried Local Color participant as well as the 50th Anniversary of the Waterfowl Festival in November 2022. I’m interested in creating expressive portraits and landscape paintings that move beyond capturing a likeness to telling a story that has universal appeal.
Find Marianne at mariannekost.com
Laura Rankin
Laura Rankin has been creating art in one form or another all her life. She taught herself needle felting and wet felting about ten years ago. Her professional art career began in the 1970s, first as a courtroom illustrator for the CBS affiliate in Buffalo, NY, then as an illustrator in editorial at THE BUFFALO NEWS in Buffalo, NY. After that, she moved into her 30-year career as an award-winning children’s book author and/or illustrator of 20 books.
Lee Reece
Lee Reece is an independent comic book creator who has been drawing since he could hold a pencil and was first commissioned at 7 years old. He has a background in graphic design for nearly 25 years and has recently turned his attention back to illustrating comic books. Lee prefers to create traditional illustrations and has added digital illustrations to his portfolio. His main goal is to keep learning, as well as teach, as much as he can to fuel his passion for the comic book industry.
Warren Saunders
Warren is a master decoy carver born and raised on a farm in Dorchester County. Warren spent his early life studying waterfowl in their natural surroundings. Warren studied with noted carvers over the years and has become one of the noted experts in his craft. He participates in exhibitions and shows throughout the eastern United States. He became an Open Class Carver over 22 years ago and was notified by the international Wood Carver’s Association congratulating him on being amongst the top 120 top carvers in the country.
Sheryl Southwick
Sheryl Southwick has lived in Easton since 1987. Originally from Baton Rouge, she earned a BFA in Painting from LSU. She participates in various artists’ workshops in the region. She is a teaching artist for a number of venues on the Shore. Paintings, collages, prints, and mixed media pieces are her concentrations now. Mixing it up while focusing on a subject is the way she works.
Find Sheryl at sherylsouthwick.com/portfolio
Robert Sullivan
Robert Sullivan is a documentary, landscape, and portrait photographer, with a passion for night photography, including the night sky. Since studying film and photography in college, his career path has taken many twists and turns, before finally settling on what he loves most and should have been doing all along: working as a full-time photographer.
His photographs have won many awards and have been displayed in numerous galleries and museums. He also teaches, tutors, and runs workshops dedicated to helping photographers develop new skills and enhance their creativity. Robert is based in Cambridge, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Find Robert at workingimagephotography.com