Artists' Work
F to J
Paintings are original unless otherwise stated.
Maureen Fitzpatrick
Director
Barefoot Bay, FL
Email: jawafitz@gmail.com
Maureen’s natural talent for drawing started at an early age and she considers it her gift from God. She followed her interest in fashion by attending Traphagen School Of Fashion Design in New York City. She is primarily self-taught in watercolors, oil and acrylic, but her favorite is drawing in pen and ink and graphite. With this medium she has won many awards. At this present time, she is president of the Barefoot Bay Artists’ Guild, a member of the Vero Beach Art Club and Cultural Council of Vero Beach.
My husband and I moved to this area about two years ago from West Virginia. We both enjoy and appreciate the creative process. He has done woodworking, and I have been into crafting.
After I retired, I began exploring acrylic painting by taking a few classes in my home city. Being here at the Art Center around other wonderful artists has helped me in my artistic learning, and I hope to continue improving my skills.
My other hobby is photography, and I have put some of my favorite subjects on canvas.
Influenced by Impressionists like Monet and Ce”zanne, Richard started painting water scenes in highschool. His father, Richard sr., already an accomplished artist, encouraged and taught him the finer points of perspective and color theory. After graduating with a 60 hour major/minor in Fine Art from Western Michigan University, it was time to get a job and start making a living. Thus began a 36 year career in sales and marketing, during which Richard started several companies. During this time art took a back seat to making a living but was always a part of the process in designing ads and marketing strategies.
After retiring from his insurance business in 2005, Richard picked up the brush again and joined the Sebastian River Art Club. Still active with the club, Richard has served as Chair of Art in Public Places, Vice-President and President of the club. Talking about his motivation the artist says, “The interplay of light and reflection on the water remains fascinating to me. Thirty years of living in the Florida Keys and traveling in the Caribbean has given me a huge store of visual memories, and I enjoy putting them down on canvas. For the last few years Richard has been displaying and selling his “kinetic sculptures” as well as his paintings at venues like Art By the Sea, and Art on the Island In Vero Beach.
Georgene began painting 20 years ago and has taken hundreds of professional art classes in portraiture, landscape, and abstract art. She paints in oils & acrylics and enjoys focusing on portraiture. She is inspired by beautiful smiles, bright eyes, and soulful expressions. She is a member of the Lagoon Artists of Barefoot Bay, Vero Beach Art Club, and Sebastian River Art Club. She has exhibited and sold her artwork in many shows in Florida and has received several awards in juried shows. She also excepts commissions. Georgene splits her time between Florida and New Jersey.
Jemal Hayes' passion for portraiture shows not only in the impressive portraits he paints, but also in his photography. A completely self-made businessman and owner of Mr. J's Media, he has transferred his love of the portrait in photo into a love of portrait in paint.
Although fairly new to the art scene, his current body of work speaks well for his keen observance of the people and world around him. Jemal hopes to gain the same skill level with the brush that he has already attained as a successful photographer and videographer, as owner of “Mr. J's Media.”
With an eye for light, composition and beauty, he does everything from portrait photography to weddings, as well as producing personal, legacy and corporate videos, and has a list of clients that are very impressive.
His mission is to “Embrace Life,” not only with the shutter, but from the tip of the brush.
Michele Henry exhibited talent at a very young age, working with knitting, sewing and crafts, and taught knitting and needlepoint while raising her family.
After a successful career in New York, she began to paint seven years ago after retiring to Florida. She has studied with Kenn Backhauss, John Trainor, Judy Stach and Charlotte Dickinson who is a Master Painter and Founder of the American Impressionist Society, and with Judy Burgarella, President of the Sebastian River Art Club and a very well-known portraitist and landscape painter.
Michele is now consumed, and has helped found an art club in the community where she lives. She loves to paint outdoors, and is a member of the Sebastian River Art Club and the Vero Beach Art Club. Her work has been shown at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, the Artists Guild Gallery, Art by the Sea, Art on the Island, The Orchid Island Art Expo, the Emerson Center Spring Art Show, and the Sebastian River Art Club's "Beautiful Lagoon Fine Art Show." She has been the recipient of several notable awards, and her work is in private collections throughout the United States.
Sandra Johnson
E-mail: ssjgaj@gmail.com
My lifeline seems to be meandering over the landscape`-- actually more like a river than a road. The confluence of wandering rivulets brought me to my present form. In the early years I taught speech communication at St. Cloud State University.
Our family grew. Four children later, I left academia to become a financial planner. Turns out I loved running a business. Who knew? I cherished my clients and the individuals with whom I worked; 32 years later, it was time to retire and set a new course.
I now get to put away charts, efficiency models and financial forecasting for something else, something new, something that speaks to another part of my being. I'm a happy lady. We are able to spend half the year at a cabin tucked on a small lake in Northern Minnesota and the other half on the Florida Treasure Coast.
My art tends to reflect the spaces I occupy and the people that populate my world. It’s a journey.
