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Faculty Bios
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Diana D Baker
Diana returned from Barcelona, Spain where she had been living for the past fifteen years. She has a degree in Art History from Middlebury College with a focus on Studio Art. In Barcelona, Diana taught and painted professionally, showing widely and winning several awards, not only in painting but also for her short animation, Musical Landscapes. She paints in a variety of mediums, including oil, acrylics and gouache and most frequently mixes her own paints from pigments. At present she lives in Mystic and works in her studio.
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Frances Baldwin
Frances Baldwin lives in Mystic with her son, William. She completed a certification program at SCSU in art education and earned her BFA from Manhattanville College in Purchase NY. She also studied painting at Saint Martin's College of Art in London for a year. Frances incorporates her interests and enthusiasm in her well organized lessons based on real artists, past and present.
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Paula Bradley
Paula has a Bachelor of Science in Art Education from Central Connecticut University, and, for a time taught classes in the Groton Public School System, as well as several private establishments. It was at her last place of employment that rekindled her desire to paint as a profession and to fulfill the dream of a degree in Fine Art. Paula has since graduated from Lyme Academy of Fine Art with a BFA in Painting and a minor in Art History.
For most of the last thirty years, Paula has resided in Waterford, and has had many wide-ranging academic and occupational achievements. “The shoreline area has abundant possibilities for artistic exploration of subjects. The geographical location alone has many opportunities of artistic application, between the unpretentious and elegant beauty of the landscape, and the exhilarating play of color and light.” Paula’s painting with pastels allows her the physical connection directly with the paper, her medium, and ultimately, the picture.
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Jack Broderick
A member of the Center's faculty for many years, Jack Broderick lives and paints in Eastern Connecticut when he is not traveling. Jack studied at the Lyme Academy, UConn, University of Notre Dame and Marist College. His patient, easy style lends itself to the river front atmosphere of the KTJ studios of the Center. A full time artist and teacher, Jack spends some of his time painting in Argentina, Spain, Italy, Japan and Ireland returning to exhibit and teach. Beautiful portraits, vibrant still life and light infused landscapes are elegantly presented in traditional frames. New England streams, fields, waterfronts, Irish farms, Spanish cities and Buenos Aires sidewalk parillas are among Jack’s favorite studies. Mr. Broderick’s a member of numerous organizations including the MAC and Copley Society of Boston.
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Pamela Pike Gordinier
Known for her vibrant and lush works, Pamela Pike Gordinier evokes an emotional world through a hybrid technique that combines representation with abstraction. She has been awarded membership in the CT Academy of Fine Arts, Copley Society of Boston, and CT Watercolor Society and is an Elected Artist member of the Mystic Arts Center. As an educator for over thirty years, her teaching has focused on de-mystifying the language of art and providing an environment for student exploration.
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Gretchen Higgins
After running a Veterinary Hospital in New York City for half her life, Gretchen Higgins drove, camped and photographed cross-country to pursue a degree in Studio Art at California State University San Bernardino, returning to her hometown area ten years ago. Mainly a black and white photographer, concentrating on form and faces, she often incorporates them into mixed media work. Ms. Higgins exhibits regularly in Connecticut venues and strives to improve her work through classes at RISD.
She is an elected artist of the Mystic Arts Center, the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts and the Norwich Arts Council Cooperative Gallery, an artist member of the Urban Artists Initiative, Institute for Community Research, CCATCHF, and serves on committees for a number of arts organizations.
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ConamLee
Conam Lee is a professional illustrator and teacher. Since 1995, he has worked as an illustrator and graphic artist. Majored in illustration, Conam graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a degree of fine art. Lee spent his childhood years in Hong Kong and has a diverse artistic background with experience in caricature, computer graphics and costume design.
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Eva Leong
Eva Leong emigrated from China in 1982 to the United States, studied at the Art Students’ League in New York for six years and then began attending Parson’s School of Design, where she received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts. Not long after, Leong opened Work of Art, in Olde Mystic Village, where she sold her own designs crafted onto painted silk and cotton products. Using emotion and energy in her work, Leong centers her teaching on the Sumi technique. Leong resides in Mystic with her son, Jordan and continues teaching the Sumi technique at the Mystic Arts Center.
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Christopher Long
Originally from Manchester, CT, Christopher Long now lives, works and teaches in Westerly, Rhode Island. The multiple grant and award winning sculptor and draftsman earned a BFA in sculpture from the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art, and has apprenticed with sculptor/ educator Don Gale. Over the past five years Long has traveled the continental U.S. researching a wide range of topics for his works, building a portfolio of distinctive commissions and exhibitions.
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Jack Montmeat
Jack Montmeat, an award-winning artist, resides in New London and exhibits his works in this region. Jack graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio, studied at Lyme Academy and overseas in Paris and Florence. He has won the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant three times and recently the 2004 Art of New England drawing award juried by Burt Silverman. Mr. Montmeat teaches drawing at the Mystic Arts Center where his works receive recognition in many of our exhibitions.
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Noelle O'Connor
Noelle O’Connor received her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and her M.A. in Art History from Columbia University, where she was also an International Fellow in the School of International and Public Affairs. She has worked for many years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, taught Art History at Pace University and F.I.T., and teaches seminars at the Great Neck L.I. Teacher’s Center as the Art and Museum Specialist. Her publications include articles in the Encyclopedia of Modern Asia (2005) and the Columbia Encyclopedia (3rd edition). Her goal as a teacher is to make the Art History accessible, entertaining and irresistible.
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Amanda Oakes
A member of the Mystic Arts Center faculty for the past seven years, Amanda earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Skidmore College with a concentration in Ceramics. She has chaired our Young at Art exhibition for several years and is a loyal volunteer here. Ms. Oakes teaches art at schools in the area and enjoys her pottery classes at the Stonington COMO. Amanda enjoys children, animals and donating her artwork for local fundraisers.
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Jacqueline Phillips
Jacqueline grew up on Block Island, and now resides in Southeastern Connecticut. Jacqueline has studied painting for many years and has experience in commercial art and jewelry design. Jacqueline has exhibited her work at numerous art shows and galleries including the Lyman Allyn Art Museum of New London, Lyme Art Gallery of Old Lyme, Slater Museum of Norwich, the Pfizer Art Show and the Mystic Arts Center where she served as a Board member and teacher. Jacqueline is an Elected Artist member of the Mystic Arts Center and the Norwich Arts Council. She was also Chair and ran the Niantic Outdoor Arts & Craft Show. Mrs. Phillips has a long history of involvement in the arts community and shares her skills by teaching pastel techniques. In 1998, she chaired a Silent Art Auction and Cocktail reception at the Garde Arts Center for Hygienic Art, Inc to enable that charitable organization to purchase and renovate the historic Hygienic Restaurant building in New London, CT. For the past 15 years, she has been chosen by her peers to paint the official Hygienic Art Show Poster.
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Frances Topping
Frances Topping, a native of England, has resided in the USA since 1970. She recently moved to Charlestown, RI. She has a degree in Geography with Botany and Zoology from Sheffield, England and a BFA in Graphic Design with Illustration and Photography from Akron, Ohio. Previously an interpretive naturalist with a park system she now freelances natural history illustration and fine art in mediums such as pen and ink, scratchboard and watercolor with some acrylic and oil. She employs informal teaching to encourage students to persist in their interests, learn skills and appreciate the world around them. Her past experience has dealt with all ages and she welcomes beginners or more accomplished students.
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Jennifer Wheeler
A resident of Salem, CT, Jennifer is a recent graduate with a BFA in painting from the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. Jennifer enjoys teaching both children and adult classes in our KTJ Studios. Her current work centers on narrative still life, and focuses on feminine imagery and the role of women in American society. When not painting, drawing, and teaching, Jennifer is spending time with her husband and two daughters, preferably laughing and hiking.
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Susan Winchester
As the Mystic Art Center's Studio Manager, Susan is involved in all aspects of the Education department. She especially enjoys teaching the Visual Thinking Curriculum to local elementary children. Susan is a certified teacher, journalist and art history enthusiast. Originally from England, she now lives in Stonington with her husband and two children.
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Don Woodford
Don Woodford received his Master of Fine Arts degree in in 1967 from the University of Wisconsin after which he taught painting for three years at Cornell College then for four years at Reed College before joining the art department faculty of California State University San Bernardino in 1975. Here he lead the painting program and also taught occasional courses in drawing two-dimensional design and art history. He served for 14 years as director of the University Art Gallery for three years as department chair before retiring in 2003. Woodford's paintings drawings and collages have been shown in numerous significant galleries and museums including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, The St. Louis Museum and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His work can be found in both public and private collections throughout the United States and Europe. Throughout his career as an artist, Woodford has maintained an active interest in the medium of collage and has worked exclusively in that format for the last ten years.
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Christopher Zhang
Christopher Zhang is an Elected Artist Member and teacher at the Center. Christopher received his initial art training at the East China Normal School before coming to the U.S. in 1990. By 1993, Mr. Zhang graduated with a master’s degree from Rhode Island College. A figurative artist, Zhang combines East and West training and traditions into unique and powerful works on canvas. A May of 2001 exhibit at the MAC of his works titled “Soul of the Dancer” revealed the skills and intensity with which he works. Months of study, photographs and studio time resulted in intuitive and dramatic compositions with skillfully rendered figures of working ballet dancers. “A Personal Journey to Tibet”, exhibited in 1999 by the New London Art Society contained huge canvases of Tibet landscapes and people.
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