July 14, 15 & 16, 2023
Saturday and Sunday
10 am - 5 pm
*Friday night kickoff party at GFAA Gallery July 14
Grab a brochure / map at the GFAA gallery or any of the studio sites...or simply navigate via your mobile phone.
2022 Artists
THE TOUR IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Visitors will have the opportunity to see the artists at work, and to view and purchase a wide range of original work directly from the artist.
Sharing studio tour site, GFAA, with Sandra Matasick and Linda Krause.
Candace McCaffery, Fiber Artist
Blackberry Winter Patchworks
GFAA Gallery
Gainesville, Florida 32601
352-226-7760
https://www.artisansguildgallery.com/candace-mccaffery
Candace McCaffery learned sewing from her mother at an early age. After graduating from college with a BS in forestry and wildlife ecology, she began exploring the technique of quilting. Candace has developed her own contemporary style and technique. Fiber reactive dyes, hand-painted, printed, hand-dyed, and marbleized fabrics are all elements of the original designs for her pillows and wall hangings. Frogs, lizards, turtles, and snakes are often immortalized in her art and reflect her love, respect, and humor for the natural world.
“I try to create art that reflects my connection to nature. I enjoy experimenting with many surface design techniques to create unique fabrics that I incorporate into my art.”
Sharing studio tour site, GFAA, with Candace McCaffery and Linda Krause.
Sandra Matasick, Jeweler
GFAA Gallery
1314 S Main Street
Gainesville, Florida 32601
352-281-7553
https://www.matasick.com/
One simple class in jewelry making and I was hooked. By the time I crawled in the window to work all night in the locked-up school studio, it was pretty obvious what I was going to be: somebody who can’t stop thinking about making jewelry.
The college degrees in metal smithing landed me work in jewelry stores and the real world. “If you can fix your own mistakes,” somebody there told me, “you are a master Jeweler.”
I made rings, I made pendants, I made them in the style the customer wanted. That meant getting a feel for their style when they weren’t quite sure what they wanted themselves.
In time, I grew into my own style and started my own business. I began traveling across the country to art festivals and expanding my custom design work. My interest in historical jewelry and modern design gives me ideas for pieces that sometimes surprise even me.
The details and hand-crafting do take me some time. A new design can also take its time to show up. A good stone can be sitting on my bench for years before an idea comes to me for what to make with it.
I suppose, after 35 years of making jewelry and fixing it, I have just gotten used to the fact that some things take time.
Sharing studio tour site, GFAA, with Sandra Matasick and Candace McCaffery.
Linda Krause, Fiber Artist
GFAA Gallery
Gainesville, Florida 32601
352-575-7943
https://www.facebook.com/BlueFlagStudioLindaKrause/
Linda is a native Floridian. She received her MS in Computer Science from the University of Florida and in the process fell in love with Alachua County where she resides to this day.
Her artwork, Aspens Alive, has been published in the Perspectives catalog by Studio Art Quilt Associates. She was also selected as an Artist in Residence at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and was a proud recipient of a scholarship to the Quilt Surface Design Symposium in Ohio. Linda received the “Award of Excellence” and “Judges Selection” awards at the GFAA Summer Showcase and Fine Arts for Ocala shows, respectively.
Linda’s fiber art expresses a spiritual connection to the natural world. It draws on experience as a former park ranger and takes inspiration from her nature photographs. Marrying pencil, paint, dye, bleach, and ink with the timeless quilting materials of cloth and thread conveys a sense of respect for tradition while also reflecting the rhythm of the modern world. Visual harmony is created through layers of rich, vibrant colors using these materials. These layers on the cloth represent the layers of nature.
Gainesville Fine Arts Association
1314 South Main Street Gainesville, Florida
Sweetwater Print Cooperative
Gainesville, Florida 32601
352-474-9504
"My path as an artist intertwines between spiritual and dream work, and an ever-growing connection with nature. Nature serves as a living metaphor for the connectedness of all things; internal, external and universal. Land, trees, and animals are the projections and identifiers of self and universe."
Leslie's pieces begin with a profound personal experience. Next, the long, arduous process of carving begins. The blocks are printed on an etching press and color is added with watercolor, encaustic medium, or through reduction or multi-block printmaking.
Leslie Peebles, Printmaker
(linocut & wood-cut relief prints, mixed media)
Jane Medved Art Studio & Gallery
Gainesville, Florida 32601
352-375-6879
"My art studio is a hidden two-story structure near downtown Gainesville. The building style blends with the neighborhood’s historic architecture.
"My paintings of nature and human nature generally fall into three categories I’ve dubbed waterscapes, peoplescapes, and worldscapes. I enjoy the challenge of painting water with its shifting light, reflections and wave patterns. I paint wildlife and human visitors having fun outdoors. My worldscapes are satires of life on earth. I also create folk-art masks and will hold a drawing for a free mask on each day of the studio tour."
In addition to local venues, Jane's artwork has been shown at Montana’s Yellowstone Art Museum and at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, and Museum of Arts and Design.
Jane Medved, Painter (acrylics)
Steve Howell, Potter/Sculptor
Gainesville, Florida 32601
352-256-7994
A self-supporting studio potter and sculptor for more than 50 years, I am currently working in two areas. One, making functional redware Majolica pottery, including all sorts of plates, bowls, and covered containers. Two, working with copper strips that are woven together to make sculptures of boats, containers, and wall pieces.
My education includes a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin (1975) and an MFA in Ceramics from Wichita State University (1977).
I have just completed construction of a new studio at my home in the Duckpond neighborhood. I will demonstrate pottery-making on the wheel as well as show my techniques for weaving copper. The studio is open, full of light and a pleasant place to see an artist at work. There is also ample parking available.
Gainesville, Florida 32601
205-470-7541
https://marcuswoodworking.com/
Predominantly I make coffee tables, end tables, and dining tables, as well as Japanese-inspired 'Tansu' Styled Chests of Drawers. I choose specific boards for each project and once the wood is delivered, I hand the final design details over to the wood. The wood reaIly does "speak to me." That is a fact and integral part of my process.
Growing up in a Mid-Century Modern furnished home designed, in part, by my architect-father, I was then educated with degrees in Art History (BA Univ. of the South, Sewanee, TN, and MA from UF). I bring all my educational and creative talents to bear on my more significant pieces. Learning to turn wood under my mentor Raymond Ferguson, a gifted educator simply by example, has given my life meaning.
Marcus Collier, Fine Woodworking
1105 NE 3rd Street
Gainesville, Florida, 32601
352-316-1751
https://www.EleanorBlairStudio.com
Eleanor Blair received a BFA from Cooper Union in New York City in 1969, and moved to Gainesville in 1971. Her work combines visual accuracy with painterly brush work and rich color. Florida landscape is her primary subject, but her portraits, still life, interiors and architectural studies demonstrate her fine draftsmanship and sense of light.
“I paint and draw the world around me - my dogs, my travels, interesting objects, dreams and memories.”
Eleanor Blair, Painter (oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and pastels)
Gainesville FL 32609
352-228-1786
Using photography, paint, and collage (both digital and analog) Michelle’s work is about telling stories, sharing feelings, and chronicling moments in time. She is inspired by shapes, color, lines, and the beautiful little details hiding in plain sight around us. She finds her inspiration in nature, architecture, books, and the dreaming world. Her latest experiments combine paint with her photography, and she plans to give painting and photography demos during the Studio Tour. She is also part of a collaborative art project called Wild Together Art with Peter Senesac. Together they paint abstract works and plan to give live demos of their process during the Studio Tour. Michelle has been photographing and painting since 2010. In that time she has shown her work at numerous art festivals, and local and national exhibits, and has received several awards. Most notably she was invited to be the Santa Fe College 50th Annual Spring Arts Festival poster artist in 2018 with her limited edition piece entitled Into the Garden of Dreamers.
Michelle Nagri, Photographer and Painter
Michelle is sharing her studio tour site with Peter Senesac, Painter.
Wild Together Art is a collaboration between Michelle Nagri, a photographer and mixed media painter, and Peter Senesac, More info see... Wild Together
Peter Senesac, Painter (acrylics and oils)
"I have been making art for as long as I can remember. Painting, for me, is a chance to explore alternate views of reality. All my paintings, even the abstracts, seem to resolve as landscapes. I want to express how the land and sky are shaped by light and how reflections describe the surface of water. Mood and atmosphere are more important to me than representing a particular place. My intention is to encourage the viewer to daydream, to remember, to invent a story.
"I apply both oils and water media to canvas, watercolor paper, or prepared wood panels. With brushes, palette knives, improvised tools, and sometimes bare hands, my techniques range from thin washes and glazes to spattering and thick impasto. Finished paintings are protected with varnish. You can follow my painting on all the social media platforms, Etsy, and my website under the name Art For Pete Sake."
Peter is sharing his studio tour site with Michelle Nagri, Photographer.
Wild Together Art is a collaboration between Michelle Nagri, a photographer and mixed media painter, and Peter Senesac, More info see... Wild Together
Christine Brundige, Painter
Art Studios of Grace
3146 NW 13th Street
Gainesville, Florida 32609
(behind Grace Presbyterian Church)
352-642-6013
Christine draws inspiration for her art from the bright colors and light of Mexico, from the lush plant life of Florida, and from the expansive vistas of her native Colorado and the West. She has worked with painting and dyeing of fabric and various printmaking techniques. For the past two decades she has pursued the medium of watercolor.
After receiving her Master's Degree in Art Education from UF, Christine spent four liberating and gratifying years in Mexico, teaching at the Instituto Allende and completing a Master's Degree in printmaking and mixed media. She constructed several painted fabric installations exploring the concept of shelter, sharing her materials with the students at the orphanage where she volunteered, and encouraging them to construct shelter spaces of their own. In the bilingual children's book she wrote and illustrated with original lithographs, she explored the concepts of adventure, home, and belonging by recording the adventures of a pet dog, Napoleon, through the streets of San Miguel de Allende.
Since retiring from teaching art, Christine is pursuing her own art full time. She finds the more she immerses herself in her art the more inspiration she finds. It is important to capture the beauty and calmness of the moment, so that feeling may be shared with the viewer. She has shown her work in Mexico, Colorado, and Florida.
Jay Winter Collins - Acrylic Paintings & Illustration
Art Studios of Grace
3146 NW 13th Street
Gainesville, Florida 32609
(behind Grace Presbyterian Church)
352-870-2843
https://jaywintercollins.com/
Jay uses high-flow acrylic, applied with markers and brush, on wood, canvas or found objects to create vivid images and patterns. The work may include more than 16 layers with thin varnishes between layers to maximize the density of color.
The whimsical subject matter is meant to engage the viewer, gladden the heart and encourage a moment of delighted mindfulness, as the brain is stimulated by the juxtaposition of intensely saturated line and pattern.
Jay is the illustrator for the Rhoda the Alligator series of books, written by Governor Bob Graham.
Art Studios of Grace
3146 NW 13th Street
Gainesville, Florida 32609
(behind Grace Presbyterian Church)
352-262-7278
Linda Zidonik is a retired art teacher. She first found her love of mosaics in Italy where she took a week-long workshop. Since then, she began making mosaics from her barn in Micanopy. She now is a resident artist in the Art Studios of Grace. “I love the whole process from scoring the glass to “painting” with the pieces, grouting, finishing the frames, everything. I love the challenge of painting with glass, the hard surfaces and distinct colors blending into a soft, thoughtful expression. I love sharing my passion with others in workshops.” Linda’s work can be found at McIntyre’s Stained Glass Studio and Gallery in Thornebrook.
Linda Zidonik, Mosaic Artist
Kate Shakeshaft Murray, Potter
(stoneware & porcelain functional pottery)
Gainesville, Florida 32605
352-318-4462
https://kateshakeshaftmurray.com/
Kate enjoys clay and the processes of throwing, trimming, glazing and firing so much that she has continued doing ceramics for 40 years. Her work is both useful and thoughtful. Currently she teaches at Santa Fe College and welcomes you to her personal studio.
Kate has a BFA in ceramics, sculpture and drawing from the University of Iowa, and an MFA in ceramics from the University of Florida. She has exhibited nationally, winning awards along the way.
Linda Blondheim, Painter
Blondheim Art Studio
Gainesville, Florida 32609
352-363-0797
https://www.lindablondheim.com/
Linda Blondheim lives in Gainesville, Florida, and works in acrylics and oils. She has a museum history in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia and is gallery-represented in Florida.
Linda specializes in trees and the rural, agricultural landscape. Her work is often described as painterly or representational painting. She enjoys plein air painting fall through spring during the mild Florida climate months and enjoys occasionally traveling for artist residencies. Linda's paintings are done en plein air and in the studio. Her paintings are found in private and corporate collections throughout the United States, China, Germany, England, Poland, Italy, Finland, South Africa, France, and Japan.
Linda studied with Joe Testa-Secca at the University of Tampa where she received her BFA in 1976, and studied at the University of South Florida as a graduate student. She has been painting for 50 years. She is a founding member of Plein Air Florida, Alabama Plein Air Artists, and Fresh Air.
Artist Statement
I explore the natural world of Florida, enriching my life with the culture and history of the region. My mission is to record this beautiful land while it is still with us, unmarred by development. I believe in order to paint a landscape subject well, an artist must have a deep respect for the land and the people who own and nurture it. The North Florida culture is deeply embedded in my life. My effort is to speak to others about my love for rural Florida through my paintings.
Diana Tonnessen, Printmaker
(linoleum block prints)
Floridiana Studios
Gainesville, Florida 32605
352-665-9331
https://www.floridianastudios.com/
Through whimsical compositions, luminous colors and the rustic texture of the linocut I aspire to capture the charm and allure of an Old Florida vacation and explore the state’s colorful history as a travel destination for millions of Americans.
My art is inspired by the Florida I remember as a child, when our family made the three-day trek on U.S. Highway 441 and U.S. Highway 301 from our home in New Jersey to my mother’s Central Florida hometown of Bushnell, Fla.
I now live just a mile west of U.S. Highway 441 in Gainesville, Florida, where roadside relics of that era can still be found. One of them, the Florida Motel (1935-2018), is where I began my artistic exploration of the Sunshine State’s rich cultural history as one of America’s favorite vacation destinations.
My limited-edition linoleum block prints are made entirely by hand using the centuries-old process of relief block printing. Each print, or impression, is pulled from a hand-carved block of linoleum and printed on archival paper using a hand-cranked etching press.
Cindy Barnett, Potter
Back Porch Pottery
Gainesville, FL 32605
352-256-6082
Cindy apprenticed to a studio potter in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and her first art show was the prestigious Ann Arbor Art Faire. She eventually bought the pottery studio and spent 8 years throwing pots full time, and the next 14 years doing shows in Michigan and Florida, working as a speech pathologist, and raising a family.
Cindy graduated from the University of Michigan and completed an M.A. in Speech Language Pathology. Drawn to Gainesville, Florida in 1975, Cindy worked in the public schools, skilled nursing facilities, and was Clinical Faculty in Medical Speech Pathology at UF, treating patients and training students at Alachua General Hospital.
Cindy returned to her love of functional wheel thrown clay forms in 2017 after an over 20 year hiatus, and was accepted into the Spring Arts Festival, Micanopy Fall Festival, Thornebrook, the Downtown Arts Festival, and became a part of the Artisan's Guild community, Gainesville Fine Arts Association, and other shops and galleries.
Since May, 2019, the studio became "BackPorchPotteryFI" in time for the GFAA 2019 studio tour, and establishing working at home just months before it was "necessary".
Cindy will be demonstrating wheel throwing throughout the 2 day studio tour and there will be opportunities to try bubble glazing. The showroom will also be open for pottery purchases and refreshments will be served.
Alfred Phillips, Painter (contemporary realism, acrylic)
Alfred Phillips Studio
Gainesville, Florida 32605
954-326-3133
https://www.alfredphillips.com/
"Because I almost always paint realistically but never to the point of photorealism, I call my work 'contemporary realism,' and it often has a narrative theme--sometimes humorous and sometimes serious. Lately I have been introducing abstract elements into my work and experimenting with mixed media."
Alfred Phillips is a Gainesville-based artist who specializes in acrylic painting. Educated in Louisville, Kentucky's Art Center School, with a full scholarship four-year studio degree, Phillips has a long, successful career in commercial art. This included stints at ad agencies, then his own graphics design firm. In 2003 he closed the firm and took up acrylic painting full-time when he relocated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, earning multiple awards and making sales on national and international levels. In 2013 he moved in Gainesville, Florida, and became active in the arts community.
Bettianne Ford, Glass Artist
Gainesville, Florida 32607
352-246-7506
"I use my love of color and shape to inform the pieces I create. Skills gained a photographer and stained glass artist provide me with the background for the composition, structure and techniques of glass work. Combined they allow me freedom to experiment with my designs, while the variety of glass colors available offers me unlimited possibilities in the studio."
Adrienne Gonia, Painter
(acrylic, oils & cold wax)
Gainesville, Florida 32607
352-328-4977
https://www.adriennegonia.com/
A retired traveler who has made Gainesville her home, Adrienne is continually inspired by the landscape of Paynes Prairie and the animals that live there. The ever changing light in North Central Florida provides a dramatic backdrop to our local environment and her goal is to paint the wild beauty of our area.
Recently she has been working with cold wax, an oil-based process, and will be giving demonstrations both days during the Studio Tour.