on display January 6-31
public reception on Sunday, January 18, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
An invitational exhibit curated by Diane Fleisch-Hughes, focused on collaboration and community.
Anna and Sam Weisend are a mother/daughter team who create together as multi-
media assemblage artists since 2018. Anna has been a practicing artist for 25 years in
several different mediums and Sam has a bachelor's degree in Studio Art. They use
their different but complementary skills to elevate their work.
They start with discarded and unloved items, both manmade and natural, and
repurpose them and give them a new life where they can be appreciated and
celebrated. Their favorite medium is paper. They explore mostly nature based themes
such as nests, hives, moons and anatomy.
Linda Janosko has been working with various art media ever since she was a little girl and picked up her crayons to “illustrate” a book that had no pictures. She has been an art teacher in several Ohio public schools and taught many aspects of design for theatre at colleges and universities in Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Georgia and Indiana before retiring and moving back to Ohio. You can see some of her artwork at Stella’s Art Gallery in Willoughby.
“I love storytelling through photography and assemblage. My artwork is often quirky, a bit
disjointed, and full of vintage parts…just like me!
As an assemblage artist, I typically combine disparate objects to create something new. A story
develops around an initial, inspirational object.
Diane launched this collaborative project by allowing each of us to choose one of her beautiful
life drawings. My contribution involved examining this object—her drawing—to determine
how best I could explore, translate, and emphasize its unique parts.
Entitled “More Than the Sum of Her Parts,” this artwork not only reflects our collaboration, but
also what it means to be human.”
– Luanne Bole-Becker
Julie Cook is a self-taught artist who mainly works in acrylics and mixed media. Julie
has lived in Madison Township for over 30 years. She enjoys experimenting with paint
and products to see what new textures and techniques she can create. Julie uses
traditional tools as well as unique items like scraps of wood, plastic, and recycled
packaging material. Julie is deeply inspired by God's creation and is thankful for the
ability He has given her.
Julie's artwork has been juried into several shows throughout Northeast Ohio, and she
has had several solo shows including those at Penitentiary Glen, Fairmount Art Center,
Solon Center for the Arts, and Holden Arboretum. She is an artist at Stella’s Art Gallery
in Willoughby where her work can be seen in Studio 1. A portion of the sale of each
painting is sent to https://www.globaladvanceprojects.org/ an organization that helps at-risk
children on the Thailand/Burma border where her daughter works. Julie’s paintings are
making a difference in the lives of those children, as well as bringing peace, joy, and
contentment to many others.
“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint’, then by all means paint, and that voice
will be silenced.” ~ Vincent van Gogh
Julie Cook
Contact information:
wallexpressionsbyjulie@gmail.com
Instagram: Wallexpressionsbyjulie
FB: Wall Expressions by Julie
Juniper Mainelis creates imagery inspired by mystical and imaginative themes and
describes her work as a sacred journey to open the portals of the imagination. She is
also a certified teacher of Intentional Creativity and is available for leading workshops.
Juniper has won numerous awards for her art and is a grammy nominated vocalist and
is often inspired to write songs and poetry to accompany the paintings.
To learn more visit www.heartsongzstudio.com
Gregory Alan Johnson was born in 1954 and grew up in Brook Park, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
He grew up with a passion for drawing, encouraged by his artist father, who provided him with reams of
paper, and a newly created tool called “Magic Markers”,
He was accepted into Cooper School of Art in Cleveland in 1974, majoring in Illustration.
He was a freelance illustrator and cartoonist for many years, which would influence his later independent
work. Upon retiring from his day job, he decided to become a full-time creative artist, with the deep
desire to harken back to his childhood days, when he just doodled into the night. This is exactly what he
did, resulting in almost 400 works in over four years’ time, five solo shows, pieces in the Ohio State Fair
Fine Arts Expo, the Zanesville Museum of Art, and several exhibitions in Cleveland, Columbus, Canton,
and Ashtabula.
Soft things make my spirit happy. So it is a delight for me to work with fibers. In addition to wool, I love working with silks, fabrics, and yarn and add those fibers into my work. I have always admired textile arts from afar. But being challenged with a lack of traditional fiber skills I was never able to explore the art form. Until I discovered needle felting. Using simple dyed wool and special needles you can create amazing paintings. I adore the fact that my needle felting passion is sustainable and earth friendly as well. It often feels as though I am just a facilitator for the art, as though the pieces have their own need to be created.
As with my other mediums, color is my inspiration. It motivates all my artistic endeavors. I approach my needle felt paintings in the same manner I work in oil pastels. I lay in dark shapes and shadows and layer towards the lightest colors. Through light and shade, the flowing organic lines, and the play of the varying colors the rush and rigidity of daily life falls away. Needle felting, as a craft and art, is gaining in popularity and recognition. However, I still meet with weird looks when I take wool and needles out in public. But I like to answer whatever questions I can and help promote the art form. But the simple act of stabbing the wool with a needle is therapeutic as well as creative.
— Nancy Nelson-Brotz
on display January 6-31
public reception on Sunday, January 18, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
An invitational exhibit curated by Diane Fleisch-Hughes, focused on collaboration and community.
Anna and Sam Weisend are a mother/daughter team who create together as multi-
media assemblage artists since 2018. Anna has been a practicing artist for 25 years in
several different mediums and Sam has a bachelor's degree in Studio Art. They use
their different but complementary skills to elevate their work.
They start with discarded and unloved items, both manmade and natural, and
repurpose them and give them a new life where they can be appreciated and
celebrated. Their favorite medium is paper. They explore mostly nature based themes
such as nests, hives, moons and anatomy.
Linda Janosko has been working with various art media ever since she was a little girl and picked up her crayons to “illustrate” a book that had no pictures. She has been an art teacher in several Ohio public schools and taught many aspects of design for theatre at colleges and universities in Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Georgia and Indiana before retiring and moving back to Ohio. You can see some of her artwork at Stella’s Art Gallery in Willoughby.
“I love storytelling through photography and assemblage. My artwork is often quirky, a bit
disjointed, and full of vintage parts…just like me!
As an assemblage artist, I typically combine disparate objects to create something new. A story
develops around an initial, inspirational object.
Diane launched this collaborative project by allowing each of us to choose one of her beautiful
life drawings. My contribution involved examining this object—her drawing—to determine
how best I could explore, translate, and emphasize its unique parts.
Entitled “More Than the Sum of Her Parts,” this artwork not only reflects our collaboration, but
also what it means to be human.”
– Luanne Bole-Becker
Julie Cook is a self-taught artist who mainly works in acrylics and mixed media. Julie
has lived in Madison Township for over 30 years. She enjoys experimenting with paint
and products to see what new textures and techniques she can create. Julie uses
traditional tools as well as unique items like scraps of wood, plastic, and recycled
packaging material. Julie is deeply inspired by God's creation and is thankful for the
ability He has given her.
Julie's artwork has been juried into several shows throughout Northeast Ohio, and she
has had several solo shows including those at Penitentiary Glen, Fairmount Art Center,
Solon Center for the Arts, and Holden Arboretum. She is an artist at Stella’s Art Gallery
in Willoughby where her work can be seen in Studio 1. A portion of the sale of each
painting is sent to https://www.globaladvanceprojects.org/ an organization that helps at-risk
children on the Thailand/Burma border where her daughter works. Julie’s paintings are
making a difference in the lives of those children, as well as bringing peace, joy, and
contentment to many others.
“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint’, then by all means paint, and that voice
will be silenced.” ~ Vincent van Gogh
Julie Cook
Contact information:
wallexpressionsbyjulie@gmail.com
Instagram: Wallexpressionsbyjulie
FB: Wall Expressions by Julie
Juniper Mainelis creates imagery inspired by mystical and imaginative themes and
describes her work as a sacred journey to open the portals of the imagination. She is
also a certified teacher of Intentional Creativity and is available for leading workshops.
Juniper has won numerous awards for her art and is a grammy nominated vocalist and
is often inspired to write songs and poetry to accompany the paintings.
To learn more visit www.heartsongzstudio.com
Gregory Alan Johnson was born in 1954 and grew up in Brook Park, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
He grew up with a passion for drawing, encouraged by his artist father, who provided him with reams of
paper, and a newly created tool called “Magic Markers”,
He was accepted into Cooper School of Art in Cleveland in 1974, majoring in Illustration.
He was a freelance illustrator and cartoonist for many years, which would influence his later independent
work. Upon retiring from his day job, he decided to become a full-time creative artist, with the deep
desire to harken back to his childhood days, when he just doodled into the night. This is exactly what he
did, resulting in almost 400 works in over four years’ time, five solo shows, pieces in the Ohio State Fair
Fine Arts Expo, the Zanesville Museum of Art, and several exhibitions in Cleveland, Columbus, Canton,
and Ashtabula.
Soft things make my spirit happy. So it is a delight for me to work with fibers. In addition to wool, I love working with silks, fabrics, and yarn and add those fibers into my work. I have always admired textile arts from afar. But being challenged with a lack of traditional fiber skills I was never able to explore the art form. Until I discovered needle felting. Using simple dyed wool and special needles you can create amazing paintings. I adore the fact that my needle felting passion is sustainable and earth friendly as well. It often feels as though I am just a facilitator for the art, as though the pieces have their own need to be created.
As with my other mediums, color is my inspiration. It motivates all my artistic endeavors. I approach my needle felt paintings in the same manner I work in oil pastels. I lay in dark shapes and shadows and layer towards the lightest colors. Through light and shade, the flowing organic lines, and the play of the varying colors the rush and rigidity of daily life falls away. Needle felting, as a craft and art, is gaining in popularity and recognition. However, I still meet with weird looks when I take wool and needles out in public. But I like to answer whatever questions I can and help promote the art form. But the simple act of stabbing the wool with a needle is therapeutic as well as creative.
— Nancy Nelson-Brotz