Visual Artists

Artists Celebration always has a diverse and provocative collection of visual artists. Their canvases include paint, video, and all types of media. Read on for some profiles.

---

Tova Speter

Tova Speter is an artist, art therapist, art educator, and community muralist based out of Vernon Street Studios in Somerville. She specializes in working with adolescents, and has 10+ years of experience leading 25+ collaborative art projects in the greater Boston area and internationally in Argentina, China, and Panama. Mostly taking the form of community mural projects, Tova has facilitated the process of bringing communities together and empowering them to brainstorm, design, and create inspired collaborative murals in their neighborhoods.

She has exhibited her own artwork in local businesses, independent galleries, and Open Studios since 2003. In her current work, Tova utilizes found wood as a conduit for an exploration of the energy found within. The grain serves as her guide on a journey into the lines, shapes, and flow of the composition of the wood. In transforming the pieces of scrap wood (that others thought as nothing more than trash) into works of art highlighting each piece’s natural greatness, she hopes to share the idea that everything has an inherent beauty that will shine through when the time is taken to look at it from a new perspective.

Find out more about Tova’s work at www.tovaspeter.com.

Linda Sacenti

Linda Sacenti is an illustrator and animator using digital formats and traditional media. She has won competitions for banner and logo design with her gently quirky style, which is also reflected in her furniture art.

As graphic designer for the Massachusetts Corporation for Educational Telecommunications, she created sets and artwork for distance learning shows such as “Zoo Sleuth,” winner of a regional Emmy. Linda’s artwork was also featured in shows taped for the Smithsonian Museums, the National Gallery of Art and the Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro.

She has taught art and performance techniques to developmentally disabled adults, culminating in “The Human Loom” project for ARTBEAT, the annual festival held in Somerville’s Davis Square.

Linda earned a BFA in Communications Design from Rhode Island School of Design. She has been a member of the Graphic Artists Guild, Boston Chapter, since 1988.

Her artwork can be seen at: http://web.me.com/lindysartworld.

Ellen Crenshaw

Ellen T. Crenshaw grew up in south Florida, but moved to the unpredictable Northeast to pursue her illustration career. Her clients include Beer Advocate Magazine, SmartPak and Boston’s The Weekly Dig (among others); she freelances at children’s media company, FableVision; she is a member of the Los Angeles-based illustrators’ group, Girls Drawin’ Girls; she has been published in comics anthologies Inbound and ZombieBomb!; and she regularly exhibits her work all over the United States. Currently, Ellen lives in East Boston with her animator husband and military kitty-cat.

Lynda Goldberg

I am an artist (daycare provider, art teacher, ….., mother and wife). Art has always been an important part of my life. Art allows me to share my love and wonder of nature with others. Monotype printing is my focus and specialty.

I have exhibited in the United States in both solo and group shows, and have received numerous awards. My work is in many corporate and private collections in the U.S. and abroad. I wrote a chapter “Monotype Nature Printing With A Press” for the Nature Printing Society’s THE ART OF PRINTING FROM NATURE book which came out this past March.

I am a member of the: Monotype Guild of New England; the Nature Printing Society; seARTS (Society for the Encouragement of the Arts (Cape Ann, MA); the North Shore, Rockport, Newton Art Associations and the Weston Arts and Crafts Association. I teach classes in monotype printing at the Jewish Community Center in Newton, MA as well as single or multi-day workshops on request.

Ariel Finelt Shoemaker

Bringing a passion for mosaic art to classroom, gallery and out-of-school settings, Ariel has enthusiastically taught mosaic art classes throughout Boston, Watertown, Cambridge, and in Waltham at her private studio since March 2002. Since then, Ariel has taught mosaic art to students of all ages and abilities at a variety of organizations, galleries, schools, and community education facilities. Such places include the Out of the Blue Art Gallery, Cambridge, MA, the Devotion School, Brookline, MA, Spark Crafts Studio, Somerville, MA, the Munroe Center for the Arts, Lexington, MA, the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, and the Watertown Adult Education Center, Watertown, MA.

Ariel’s volunteer experience includes teaching mosaics to at-risk youth through a non-profit organization called Citizen Schools in Boston, MA as well as teaching mosaics to members of Outside the Lines, an art cooperative for mentally and physically disabled adults in Cambridge, MA.

Ariel holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emerson College, Boston, MA with a concentration in Writing, Literature and Publishing. In June of 2004, she completed her Masters of Education, with a concentration in the Arts in Education, from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA. She currently lives and works from her studio in New England with her husband and two young sons.

Shannon Michelle Photography

A former Pre-Med student, Shannon couldn’t resist the desire for a career in photography. Shannon’s work has helped her land clients on TV shows such as ABC’s ‘I Just Survived a Japanese Game Show’ and the ‘Tyra Banks Show’, the cover of the Chicago Tribune, and a character in the Hasbro board game, Clue.

In addition to her professional work, Shannon has given back to her community by teaching photography classes for grades 5 through 8 of the Citizens School, a 10 week after-school program.

In 2007, Shannon opened the doors to Shannon Michelle Photography Studio in South Boston.

In Her Own Words…

When did you fall in love with your art?

I fall in love with it every time I shoot, especially when working on a particularly inspiring shoot. There was a pivital moment when I was about 12 years old that changed the course of my life forever….and it took just a fraction of a second. It was when I took a photograph that, by accident, created motion blur in the movement of trees blowing in the wind. It’s such a small thing but it was the first time I saw that you could create an image, not just copy one.

What’s the most challenging shoot you have done?

I was in NY shooting a designer’s lingere line and the shoot itself wasn’t particularly challenging but the time constraints were. Due to booking of the venue and an a few last minute changes that were made, we had apx. 3 hours to shoot a full line of clothing AND three or four pieces as a sneak peak for the upcoming season! It was a very unrealistic expectation and I wish I had more time to work with each look but we got it done and the client was happy so that’s all that matters:)

How can an amateur photographer take better pictures right away?

Before taking your candid photo or even a posed photo, take a look at what’s around you. Are there bags near by? Is there a lot going on in the background? Is there a telephone pole coming out of the back of someone’s head? Stop, take a look at anything that could potentially be distracting from what it is you want to photograph, and either do your best to crop it out of the photo or move the subject matter, if possible.

www.shannonmichellephotography.com

---

Andrew Leonard

Andrew Leonard graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2003 with a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts. After graduating, Leonard moved to Boston’s South End where he currently lives and works. Trained as a sculptor, Leonard now focuses mainly on installation/video. His current work focuses on questioning the effects of the lack of ritualized culture on contemporary society.

His installations use performance based video and graffiti tribal paintings, blending ancient tradition with contemporary concerns. Leonard has had solo shows at the Bromfield Gallery in Boston, and Asymmetric Arts Gallery in Rockland Maine, as well as group shows in the Boston area.

In His Own Words…

When did you fall in love with the visual arts?

It’s hard to say really. I was always drawing as a child, and never really stopped. All through school I was constantly drawing, I couldn’t pay attention in class unless I was doodling. It wasn’t until I was a senior in High School that I really focused on art and began to consider myself an artist, and the more I focused on it the more I realized it was all I wanted to do.

Which one of your pieces has had the most impact on you?

I would say that it was my first installation, “Idol.” The piece was based on the idea that lack of ritualized culture today is negatively impacting society in ways that we don’t even see. I created a ritualized masked culture based on a combination of traditional and contemporary ideas. Creating this made me think about and break down what is going on in society, you really start to focus in the interconnectivity of everything.

What is the biggest lesson visual arts has helped you learn?

To never quit. Being an artist is a difficult life. I work a full time job and create all of my art in my studio apartment. But whenever people see my work I am reminded that it is all worth it. Following your dreams can be a hard road, but if you are passionate about something it is worth it. Never give up on what you love.

---

Adina Sutton

At the age of 14, she was the official graphic designer for a 36 page newspaper. Hungry for more knowledge about the arts, Adina enrolled at Pine Manor College as a Visual Arts major where she developed a love for art of all mediums.

Adina now runs DesignsbyAdina, a growing art business in which she shows her artwork as well as sell commercial and private pieces. The long term goal for DesignsbyAdina is to open an art gallery in Adina’s community for other artists like her to showcase their artwork and have a place to grow their portfolio and skill sets.

In Her Own Words…

When did you fall in love with the visual arts?

I fell in love with art actually in college. I’ve always liked art, and would always do small pictures, mostly landscapes and flowers. But not until I took college art courses, did I realize I very much loved the way a blank white canvas can become a work of art by my hand. It’s a fascinating thing that I definately wanted to master.

Which one of your pieces has had the most impact on you?

There’s a piece called “A Mothers Love”…it features a mother holding her son, her eyes are closed, and you can see the love in her face as she holds her child, and the innocence on the childs face. The piece was inspired by a silent auction I particpated in for a Children of Uganda fundraiser. After reading about the plight of children in Uganda, I produced this piece, and another that was sold at the auction!

What is the biggest lesson visual arts has helped you learn?

Patience!! A blank canvas cannot become a work of art overnight…and an artists brush cannot be rushed. As one who is not a patient person, I’ve learned that I have to step back, evaluate, and make sure my vision is clearly captured on paper. Not as easy as it sounds!

Professionally Adina works primarily in the following mediums: Charcoal, Oil, Watercolor, Acrylic, Gouache, Pencil, and Pen and Ink.

Adina’s work can be found on Amazon.com. You can also join her mailing list by emailing designsbyadina@yahoo.com.