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Workhouse Artist Of The Week

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Marni Maree

Find her work in building 5 of the Lorton Workhouse for the Arts.

Watercolor artist Marni Maree has come a long way from drawing on the wall behind her childhood bedroom door with chalk. “We had this great paneling, just behind the door,” Marni said. "I’d draw on there, and the door would open and my parents wouldn’t know it was there. One day they shut the door from the inside and said: 'What’s all this yellow in between the paneling?' I just remember thinking that I was in so much trouble. But I sort of remember them laughing, thinking it was pretty clever.” Bedroom graffiti aside, Marni’s developed her artistic talents in grade school. “There was a free class in Philadelphia and you had to be in the 5th grade and I got in,” said Marni. “I was so nervous because you had to be accepted. I got there and…

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Jacqueline France

Oils, Watercolors, Acrylics and Pencils

Art is Jacqueline “Jackie” France’s passion. France is June's featured associate artist at the Workhouse Arts Center. Associate artists enjoy the benefits of belonging to the Workhouse Arts Association without having a studio at the center. “When I’m painting I wish that I could continue for every single minute of every day,” she said.     Since childhood, France has been taken with art. In grade school she designed and illustrated hallway bulletin boards; in high school she provided art for the yearbook and school newspaper, and held her first solo exhibition. She was suspended because she forgot to tell the principal that her paintings were of nude models. A New York native, France studied painting and sculpture at Rhode Island School of…

c samuels

12:15 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011

Jackie's large oil portraits are not to be missed. I think the gallery show is open through the month of June. Sam   more ›

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Joan Hutten

Art to Wear: A Collection of one-of-a-kind fiber art

Sometimes the journey is as important as the destination.  Building W-6 June featured artist Joan R. Hutten says that’s the case with fiber arts.  “If someone asks how long it’s going to take, they’re not going to be a fiber artist,” said Hutten. Hutten hand-dyes wools and silks in her studio, makes fabrics, then crafts them into scarves, shawls, hats, jewelry and more.  She begins with fleece – the wool shorn from a sheep or other animal -- and cards it if it hasn’t already been prepared. Hand-carding is a traditional method of separating and straightening the wool fibers to prepare them for use in making a textile. Hand-carders are a pair of wooden paddles with wire faces. To make fiber felt, Hutten lays out the carded fibers in a …

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Terry Anstrom

Painting Flowers Petal by Petal

After 25 years teaching high school math, 15 in Fairfax County, Terry Anstrom has returned to her first love -- art.  The watercolorist is a featured artist during May in Building W-6 of the Workhouse Arts Center.  Anstrom paints primarily flowers and fauna, often close-up, and always a petal or leaf at a time.  She enhances her paintings with techniques including color glazes, layering of color, background washes, lifting, and negative painting.  The richness of color and light are central in her work. Anstrom has always loved drawing, and as a child her creations were featured in displays at a local library in Colorado.  “It was nice to be praised for something that I did, but I never thought of it as something from which I would make a …

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Barbara Weber

Weaving baskets is her second career.

It was at a family reunion that Barbara Weber discovered her new career. Nearing retirement after 30 years as a research scientist and research administrator for the U.S. Forest Service, Weber wondered what she’d do to fill her time. “I took a basket weaving class from my sister-in-law at a family reunion, and it just clicked with me,” she said. That was in 2002, and she’s been weaving baskets ever since. During May, Weber is one of the featured artists in Building W-6 of the Workhouse Arts Center. Her show is entitled, “May Baskets, May Flowers.” Weber weaves tradition and non-traditional baskets. Traditional styles include egg, market, bread and Easter baskets. “Nontraditional baskets are usually non-functional and they usually include …

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Sandi Martina

A Passion for Mosaics and Kilnformed Glass

Sandi Martina was attending the Elizabeth Hartwell Eagle Festival at Mason Neck State Park in 2008 when she noticed an information table for the Workhouse Arts Center. “I’d driven by the Lorton Prison many times and wondered what was being done there,” said Martina. She soon toured the Workhouse and almost immediately registered for classes. “I just went nuts I was so excited,” she said. Three years later, Martina is the May featured artist for the Glasshouse, Building W-7.   For 30 years Martina made her living as a graphic designer, but had never worked with glass. “I took Gene Sterud’s three mosaic classes, one after the other,” said Martina. Sterud is a retired anthropologist/archaeologist who teaches mosaic. “Gene suggested that I try…

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Charla Wilkerson

Humor in colored pencil and acrylic

Charla Wilkerson’s Morose and Her Black Dog reminds some viewers of Pablo Picasso and his Blue Period.  “I love Picasso,” said Wilkerson, when this comparison was made to her. “I wasn’t trying to copy him in this work, but it did come from what I consider my blue period,” she said. In fact, all the works from her blue period are included in her current show. Wilkerson is May’s featured Associate Artist at the Workhouse Arts Center.  Wilkerson took a few art classes in high school and college, but is mostly untrained. “I like to explore with colored pencils and acrylics on my own, and I enjoy using them to express my views,” she said. Those views are influenced by her Christian faith and a humorous approach to life. “All my work is a little…

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Wayne Guenther

First Featured Artist for the Workhouse Photography Group

Wayne Guenther shot his first photo in the late 1950’s, “I kept stealing my sister’s Brownie Hawkeye,” said Guenther. Today, Guenther is a one-man photography business, documenting events, shooting portraits, photographing artwork for painters, and pursuing his own art. His work will be on display Wednesdays through Saturdays in May in Gallery W-16 at the Workhouse Arts Center.  “My underlying visual orientation is toward abstract and medium to close-up views,” said Guenther. “I’m always looking for something visual.” Guenther and his wife travel frequently, and he roams with his camera looking for interesting images. “I’m especially drawn to curves, circles, angles, shadow definitions, and diagonal lines,” he said. His photographs can be …

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Carol Iglesias

Light and Color Are Key to Her Work

Carol Iglesias is a pastel artist whose love of travel inspires her work. Her featured exhibit, All About Color, runs May 11 to June 5 in Building W-4 at the Workhouse Arts Center. “I love to paint buildings, boats, water -- what I would tend to call street scenes,” said Iglesias. “I love to travel, and I combine that with my love of painting,” she said. “All my works are places that I’ve been." Iglesias said she is drawn to places with lots of color. “My pastels are very bright,” said Iglesias. “The Impressionists used color accurately, painting what they saw,” she said. “I bump up the color,” she said. For that reason she considers her style abstract/impressionism in vibrant colors. “Color really sets in my mind the ambience of a place…

Monday, April 18, 2011

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Laura Markish

"Anticipation" in Building W-6 Through May 8

Mixed-media artist Laura Markish said that for her, “texture is everything.” Her April 6 through May 8 featured exhibit Anticipation, in Building W-6 at the Workhouse Arts Center, includes items ranging from glass to roofing shingles. Markish said that mixed media – the combination of traditionally distinct visual art media like paint, ink, collage, etc. -- allows her freedom to experiment with common yet possibly quirky textures. She said the colder days preceding the blooming of the Cherry Blossoms inspired the name of her exhibit. “A few colorful blossoms can brighten one’s spirits, creating enthusiastic anticipation,” she said. Markish comes from a family of artists, writers and musicians. “I remember sitting in my aunt’s lap, being …

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