on display January 6-31
public reception Sunday, January 18, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
An invitational figure art exhibit curated by Diane Fleisch-Hughes, focused on collaboration and community.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Tracy Zakraysek
Tracy Zakraysek is an Ohio-based digital artist whose vibrant work celebrates the untamed spirit of the natural world. Painting on an iPad, she transforms pixels into powerful portraits of wildlife that pulse with life and emotional resonance. Her distinctive style combines bold color choices and expressive brushstrokes to capture not just the physical appearance of her animal subjects, but their movement, personality, and presence. Each piece serves as both artistic achievement and subtle advocacy for the natural world, inviting viewers to forge deeper connections with the animal kingdom. Working at the intersection of fine art and digital innovation, Zakraysek’s portfolio demonstrates how contemporary tools can capture timeless themes. Her work can be found at Stella’s Art Gallery in Willoughby, Ohio, in her Etsy shop (TracyZakraysekPrints), and on Instagram (@tracy_zakraysek). Her pieces serve as vibrant reminders of the extraordinary diversity of life that surrounds us.
Gregory Alan Johnson
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.
Angie Simone
Angie Simone is a Photographer and Mixed Media Artist at Stella’s Art Gallery in Willoughby, Ohio. The first art medium she explored was digital photography and later grew into mixed media. She enjoys creating mixed media compositions with interesting tools such as; found objects, various upcycled materials, cookie cutters, and unconventional mediums like; sand, eyeshadow, and found organic matter from outdoor explorations. Angie expresses a strong ethereal and eccentric style of composition that is informed by afflicted & joyous emotions, interesting life experiences, and a tenacious science-based mind. Each piece is a unique abstract that often incorporates the female form juxtaposed to bright colors and spontaneous lines.
Julie Cook
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.
Diane Fleisch Hughes
Diane Fleisch Hughes is a licensed, nationally board-certified Art Therapist and contemporary working artist based in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Her practice centers on mixed media figurative painting, though she enjoys exploring a wide range of materials and techniques. Guided by intuition, Diane’s work combines realistic imagery with expressive color fields, creating a dynamic balance between control and spontaneity. Through layered media and painterly mark-making, her pieces generate visual and emotional energy across paper, canvas, and board. Diane has completed artist residencies at the New York Studio School in New York City and at Wildacres in North Carolina. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and can be found in private, public, and published collections around the world.
Juniper Mainelis
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
Luanne Bole-Becker
Luanne Bole-Becker makes magic from the mundane.
“My artwork is a lot like me: quirky, whimsical, a bit disjointed, and full of vintage pieces and parts!I love storytelling through photography and assemblage, building magical worlds to explore. My work often includes:
– Surprises–unexpected angles and perspectives, quirky details, or pairing of incongruous elements.
– Vintage items I’ve accumulated over the past 40 years. These objects carry history, unique craftsmanship,
and reflections of usage and decay.
– Whimsical creations that entertain.
– Behind-the-scene stories that intrigue.
– Immersive worlds that invite.”
Tanya Hough
Tanya Hough studied at Ringling School of Art in the 70’s and has always had an eye for beauty and color. After retiring from teaching, she began painting full-time, largely to help navigate the anxiety and grief surrounding the decline of her aging parents. From there, painting morphed into a way of life, and she continues to master her craft. “Color has always attracted my imagination, and exploring it in paintings makes me happy. I paint primarily with acrylics, though I immerse myself in other media such as colored pencil, watercolor, and occasional multimedia and collage. I love the challenges of new subjects and varied approaches, and I adore using the palette knife and varying brushwork and surfaces.” You can find more original paintings at Stella’s Art Gallery in Willoughby where there is an entire room full of her original artwork, prints in two sizes, cards, magnets, and t-shirts. She also teaches acrylic paintings and takes commissions for pets, nature, and architecture. You can check out her body of completed work at tanya-hough.pixels.com or #tanyahoughartistry. One of her paintings, “That Banyan Tree,” is the cover art for Banyan Moon, a novel by Thao Thai, released June 2023. It also graces the cover of the same novel in Europe and came out in paperback in 2024. Four of her paintings can be seen on electrical boxes in Willoughby.
Linda Janosko
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.
Carol Leikala
Carol Leikala retired from teaching high school art after 33 years. She is a fiber artist/illustrator/photographer at Stella’s Art Gallery in Willoughby , Ohio. Carol has taught workshops at Stella’s, Ashtabula Arts Center and Valley Arts in Chagrin Falls.
Nancy Nelson-Brotz
Nancy Nelson-Brotz is an East Coast native who joins the AAC staff having been part of the arts family in Madison for years through her art education work at Rabbit Run Community Arts Association, the Painesville Recreation Department, Perry Library, Madison Library, Mentor Senior Center, the Painesville Senior Center, and Stella’s Art Gallery. She earned a BA in Art from California University of Pennsylvania. She creates artworks in oil pastels, mosaics, and needle felting. She serves as the Visual Arts Director at the Ashtabula Arts Center and on the board and as a participating artist at Stella’s Art Gallery. She is the administrator for The Paul and Norma Tikkanen Painting Prize as well as serving on its board. Nancy has won many regional awards for her work as well as has been published several times.
Cynthia Holley Brewster
Cynthia Holley Brewster, born in Michigan began drawing at a young age. She graduated from Macalester College with a BA in Art. She continued her graduate studies at the University of Oslo Norway. She moved to Cleveland to teach. She continued her education at the Cleveland Institute of Art and through continuing education workshops. She is an associate member of the Allied Artists of America, Portrait Society of America, a juried member of the Pastel Society of America and a Signature Member of the Degas Society. Her one woman show, Illusions of Reality, was held at the Ashtabula Arts Center in September 2021.
Delinda Mariani
Delinda Mariani has worked as a professional artist and art educator for the past 20 years. She has worked with vitreous enamel for 20+ years and has a background in printmaking and mixed media which includes, papermaking, encaustics and painting. She teaches workshops at Stella’s Art Gallery and Ashtabula Arts Center while holding a full time position as an Arts Educator for The Cleveland Schools. Her work is shown at Stella’s Art Gallery, Flux Metal Arts and Something Different Gallery. Delinda’s work has also been exhibited at Juma Gallery, Canadian Clay and Glass Museum, Spaces, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, Micheal Stefan’s, Cleveland Magazine and belongs to private collections. She holds a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and a M. Ed. from Baldwin Wallace University
Yvonne Columbus Jaska
