Artist

“I look for different colors, rainbows, and surprises. I use marker and crayons. I get my paper ready in the morning.” – Maria Vanik Brand new Chicago Studio artist, Maria Vanik, has had a passion for art throughout her life. She has an eye for color and enjoys working on drawings, collage, and fibers pieces. […]

Each day at the studio, Daniel Frownfelter arrives before other artists and immediately gets to work. After greeting the staff who are already here, Frownfelter puts his lunch in the refrigerator, sets his things down next to his chair, and starts doing the work. From there, his creativity rarely stops. At lunch, Dan can be

The Arts of Life Chicago Studio promotes peer curation through an ongoing Artist of the Month series. For the month of May, curatorial committee member Tim Stone (TS) selected Debbie Vazquez. Debbie’s work is characterized by bright colors, dense textures, and abstract forms. After curating and installing the work, we sat down to talk about

Oly Trindl joined our studio in mid-March. Armed with charisma and congeniality, she is integrating easily into our community. Oly is someone who appears to perpetually be in a good mood, meeting difficult situations with humor and grace. “She is very empathetic, can read others’ emotions well and identify with them, which is a lovely

With a new month and warmer spring weather, it was time to rotate in a new Artist of the Month. Frances Roberts (FR) was selected for her bright imagery and stand-out shapes. Genre Specialist, Julia Klein (JNK) took some time to chat with her, and with curatorial committee member, Kris Schenkel (KKS). [Image: Frances and

Meet Aaron Kleeblatt, one of the newest additions to The Arts of Life North Shore studio. He fills a much-needed role in our community: Artist as Social Commentator. His opinions are strongly held and don’t conform to anyone’s expectations.Aaron’s relational nature is clear in his work. His paintings, which often include political undertones, provide entry

March’s Artist of the Month in the Chicago studio is Linda Ruzga, whose colorful, texture-rich work mirrors her bright and enthusiastic personality. To make her work, Linda layers mixed materials such as silk flowers, beads, foam shapes, feathers, fabric strips, and yarn with glue and paint, and sometimes encrusts the pieces with glitter. She also

“The impulse to paint comes neither from observation nor from the soul (which is probably blind) but from an encounter: the encounter between painter and model: even if the model is a mountain or a shelf of empty medicine bottles.” — John Berger, The Shape of a Pocket Renata Berdes harnesses the experiences of her

The Chicago studio features an Artist of the Month, whose work is exhibited in the waiting room. Visitors, volunteers, staff, and artists are greeted as they enter the studio and can become more familiar with an individual artist’s practice. The artist is selected by a curatorial committee of four artists along with Vincent Uribe, our

Ralph Bemont joined the Chicago Studio in January 2016, after working for decades at Austin Special.  From the moment he walked in the door, we knew he was a natural.  Making art was a source of great joy for him and there was no limit to his creativity.  He had been drawing and painting for