John De Fabbio

Bio

I have owned and operated a full service photographic studio for the last 25 years. During this time, I have visited 30 countries and sold photographic prints worldwide through Sothebys in New York City . Also, I have been a permanent artist selling my art at Eastern Market for the last 10 years.

I also am an artist at Passageways Studios in Riverdale and have been painting for just over a year.

Statement

The painter Ben Shahn said: “It is the mission of art to remind mankind that it is human.”  My goal is to create works of art that will give the viewer both happiness and inspiration as well as remind them of the beauty that is found everywhere.

I constantly strive to create images that will remind the viewer not only of their humanness but also of their divinity. As the people of this planet move from competition to cooperation, I would like to think that in some way my images may help to facilitate this transformation.  As I produce my art, I feel I am connecting with all the great masters of photography and art that have gone before me.

Bio

Though a native of Washington, DC, I grew up in Denver, Colorado, where I received a bachelors degree in studio art. Working as a stained glass artist, I designed and constructed windows for several churches. My work is in private and public collections in New York, Ohio, Colorado and California. As a founding member of Passageways Studios in Riverdale, Maryland, I’ve continued working in glass, watercolor, acrylic, photography and printmaking.

Statement

My paintings are characterized by texture and layers of  transparent color. I am interested in intimate landscape, especially the translucency of leaves and the motion of sunlight on earth and water. These motifs also lead to work that is non-objective but rooted in the eastern landscape, its gardens, hills and coastal features.

I have owned and operated a full service photographic studio for the last 25 years.  During this time, I have visited 30 countries and sold photographic prints worldwide through Sothebys in New York City.  Also, I have been a permanent artist selling my art at Eastern Market for the last 10 years.

I also am an artist at Passageways Studios in Riverdale and have been painting for just over a year.

Statement

The painter Ben Shahn said: “It is the mission of art to remind mankind that it is human.”

My goal is to create works of art that will give the viewer both happiness and inspiration as well as remind them of the beauty that is found everywhere.

I constantly strive to create images that will remind the viewer not only of their humanness but also of their divinity. As the people of this planet move from competition to cooperation, I would like to think that in some way my images may help to facilitate this transformation.

As I produce my art, I feel I am connecting with all the great masters of photography and art that have gone before me.

Bio

 My first profession was as a Clinical Psychologist. I have been painting for over 40 years. I was privileged to study painting with a distinguished group of teachers  at the art department at Catholic University. In 1991 I left teaching and my practice of Psychology to spend full- time in art. I joined artists at PassageWays Studio in Riverdale, MD. I continue to maintain a studio there. I am primarily an oil painter, but also work in many other mediums and print-making.

Statement

Art is the center of my life. I derive great satisfaction in the search for beauty- through seeing, creating and sharing my work. I have frequently been described as a colorist- and I feel like a colorist. I am amazed by, dazzled by color- and I make that the center of my work. I enjoy greatly the hard work of painting- and I take great delight in the completion of each piece. I sincerely hope that this shows itself to viewers of my art.

Bio

 I have always had a camera of some kind in my hands. I graduated from the University of Miami with a M.A. in creative writing, but not much of my writing was very visual, or used photographs as a starting point. I have worked at the National Portrait Gallery as a silkscreen artist, as well as four years as photographer/archivist/creative projects director at Marineland of Florida. I now work as a freelance photographer /digital artist.

Statement

For the past four years, I have been documenting the development/ scene of the Atlas Arts District in N.E. DC. My focus has been the Palace of Wonders and the performers who have made this such a unique venue for variety arts. I would describe the work as documentary with an often dark art edge. I am available for photographic /digital art assignments. My specialty is collage/ montage.

Bio

Born in Cameroon, Africa in 1951. Started painting and training to a painter in 1971. Moved to the USA at the end of Dec. 2006. Won an arts award in Greenbelt in 2007 and won the PG paint out award in 2008.

Statement

I love to paint. Sometimes I feel like I have paint running in my veins. I also give respect to the Almighty God through Jesus Christ.

Bio

Allita Irby grew up in Oklahoma where she appreciated the Native American art and dance of the Great Plains Indians. At an early age, she learned floral arranging at home. From her mother, Mary Price Irby, Allita found her Native American heritage through her relatives in Tennessee and Ohio. She studied Art History and Drawing at Cameron satate University (OK). At Bowie State University (MD), she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with heavy concentration in Anthropology. Allita went on to get a Masters of Administrative Science from John Hopkins University in Baltimore (MD).  Her work has been exhibited in various public spaces such as offices (Greenbelt and Takoma Park, MD) and restaurants (Silver Spring, Hyattsville and Riverdale, MD). Allita has been invited to sell her work in various hops and boutiques on the East coast.

Statement

My art work centers on the recording or documenting of nature. A collector since I was a child, I would play in the garden and meadow and bring home flowers and rocks in my early years. My love for organics and botanicals is expressed in the Shinocock (North American) Indian practice of making bundles of dried flowers and herbs wrapped in fabric and/or leather.  For my love of landscapes, sand and sea, I use photography to capture nature. I am fascinated by the multitude of blues in the skies and in different bodies of water. My subjects include flora, landscapes, and beach scapes.

Bio

 Returned to art after raising family and successful career as business woman. Received BFA from the Corcoran College of Art& Design in 2000. Have shown in MD, DC, CA, and Berlin, Germany with pieces  in collections in Md, WV, & NC.

Statement

I’ve loved painting, particularly in oil, from the first time. Color, texture and form are what interests me the most.  In my recent work, I’ve tried to capture light and shape in a simplified style that merges from light through the use of color.

Bio

I am a sculpture, doll craft artist and designer.  My love for the arts was nurtured by my grandmother, who exposed me to the arts at an early age, by visiting museums, galleries, and parades. Tamara attended Prince George’s Community College and took several semesters of Sculpture I &II. And repeated them because she enjoyed the creativity. My dolls are handmade one- of -a-kind and original. I have transformed bronze and ordinary flea markets items into sculptures.

Statement

I was led to create arts as a therapy after having been involved in multiple motor vehicle accidents. As therapy, creating art took my mind off my pain and suffering, and as a result, I made a transformation and discovered an ability that I did not realize that I possessed. I create my art because it is relaxing and fulfilling. One of the favorite things about my work is the exciting responses that I get from potential customers and clients, such as “They are so beautiful , Oh they are too cute, And they look like someone I know.” I primarily use wood, recycled plastic bottles, fabric, found objects, acrylic paint, beads, synthetic hair, trims, and other mixed media. I draw the faces, design the hairstyles as well as all clothing and accessories.