FEATURED INSTRUCTOR
JoElle Gragilla is a passionate landscape artist whose work is deeply rooted in the natural world—particularly the dynamic, ever-changing motion of waves. Drawn to painting en plein air, she values the full sensory experience of creating outdoors, where hearing and feeling are as integral to her process as seeing. This immersive approach channels directly into her evocative artworks.
Watercolour is JoElle’s primary medium, and she describes her relationship with it as a conversation—one filled with unpredictability, spontaneity, and joy. “You are never alone when painting in watercolour,” she often says. “It’s alive and full of surprises.”
A lifelong learner and creative explorer, JoElle is continually experimenting with new techniques and media, weaving fresh discoveries into both her personal practice and teaching. She is the founder of South Coast Studio in Island Bay, Wellington, New Zealand, where she teaches drawing, life drawing, painting, watercolour, and art history, along with an ever-evolving selection of inspired specialty classes.
Originally from Pennsylvania, USA, JoElle holds a Bachelor of Fine Art and a Teaching Qualification, with minors in Ceramics, Art History, and Psychology. She taught art for three years in the United States and eleven years in London before emigrating to New Zealand in 2005. Since then, she has also taught at The Learning Connexion, a private tertiary art school near Wellington.
Meet Our Instructors
Staci Adman
Staci Adman was born in Seattle and received her BFA in Painting from the University of Washington, where she focused on painting in egg tempera. After college she worked at a small jewelry studio in Seattle making jewelry from hand-blown glass tubing. She now works in glass, metals and fiber, and paints in a variety of media. Staci finds constant inspiration in the natural world and is a strong believer in the STEAM movement - an initiative to help inspire future innovation and keep art in our education system by adding Art and Design into the current focus on STEM subjects.
For nearly 20 years Staci has taught art lessons and organized special art projects in local schools. Some of those projects may still be seen where they are permanently installed on the playground at St. Edward State Park and at Kenmore Junior High. Her own work has been included in shows and hung in galleries around the region. She now enjoys a daily commute of a few steps out to her studio from her front door in Kenmore.
Sami Ariaz
Sami Ariaz, a Seattle-based modern painter, is renowned for his vibrant portraits that merge classical artistry with contemporary expression. He earned a Master’s in Fine Arts in Painting from the Fine Arts Academy of Genoa and a Bachelor’s in Graphic Design from the Fine Arts Academy of Carrara. His work has been showcased internationally at Art Generation Gallery in Paris, Merighi Gallery in Genoa, and Axis Gallery in Seattle.
Bonnie AuBuchon
Art has always been an integral part of my life and memory. It was what I truly aspired to and enjoyed from childhood until now. I attended the University of Washington with the intention of being an art educator but became enamored with metal while taking a jewelry making and hollowware class. I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Metal design in 1974 and have been designing jewelry, sculpture and enamels ever since.
Although jewelry design is my primary medium I continue to practice in other media striving toward competency. Printmaking has been a three year progression toward this goal. It has been an intensive weekly education that always brings surprises with an exciting evolution. Printmaking allows a journey into color and abstract forms that I have always enjoyed.
Working in the schools my sons had attended connected me with many opportunities to teach art in the community. Since 1990 I have taught art to children and adults through the Edmonds School District, Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood Arts and Recreation and many other institutions in the Puget Sound region.
Pete Barth
Pete Barth is a Painter and graduate from Florida State University in Studio Art and Biology. He excels in the teaching of art concepts such as color, value, materials, and composition. His paintings and classes delve into the exploration of nature in art, as well as the representation of animals in action- running, jumping, flying, migrating, burrowing, and swimming! Lively, outgoing, and patient, he is enthusiastic about teaching art concepts in an informative, in-depth manner, while bringing fun and creativity to the art process! When you attend his classes, you are sure to have a wonderful, creative time, and leave with a beautiful, fascinating work of art!
Anita Black
Anita's art career began as a graphic designer in the printing industry, then she found her creative passion - art glass. Her journey with stained glass began as a hobbyist in 1986 and she has been a professional glass artist since 1997. Her love of nature is reflected in the original designs that she enjoys creating for clients and students.
Jenna Breichbel
Jenna Brechbiel is a Seattle based watercolor artist and instructor. She has been teaching for 10 years and strives to encourage her students to enjoy the process of painting, not just the final product.
She has previously taught at Bellevue Collage, South Seattle Community College, Daniel Smith, Woman’s University Club, Antioch university, and Gage academy.
Crescent Calimpong
Crescent Calimpong is an artist, crafter, and environmentalist living in the Pacific Northwest. She hangs out in the corners of our forests and museums where art and the environment intersect. Crescent has a double major from UC Santa Cruz in Art and Environmental Studies, and a Master of Environmental Horticulture from University of Washington. Crescent wholeheartedly believes that we protect what we know. She strives to foster ways of learning and better understanding the environment around us. She works with others to tend, love, and know the natural world through art, restoration, and community. @thoughtsandefforts
Carol Cimolino
Carol has been a lapidary artist for decades and an instructor for 25 years. She has taught beginner to masters level techniques in the lapidary arts and associated metal techniques. Her expertise is sought by professional goldsmiths in their search for custom-cut stones and unique creations to set their designs apart. She has been self-employed for many years and is highly sought out for her innovative approach to achieving those unique creations. Her achievements include masters level ratings in the lapidary arts and best of show awards. She has a strong belief in the ability of students to achieve their goals and create a treasured keepsake or a lifelong passion. She believes in hands-on teaching and a calm, welcoming environment for her students.
Tina Carpenter
Tina has 24 years of experience as an clay artist in residence for Edmonds, Brier, Shoreline and Seattle School districts. She loves creating pieces with adults, kids and families that they can enjoy for years. She works with each participant to offer ideas to guarantee success.
Maria Casey
Founder and principal instructor at The Fat Brush Art Workshop. I hold a bachelor's degree in Interior Design from Universidad Femenina de Mexico and a Diplome' de Maitre de Formation de Pebeo in Art from Provence, France.
I ran my own Interior Design business, worked teaching art for a television show and as a Project Art Coordinator in two magazines.
Currently I serve as Art Instructor at schools in the Seattle Archdiocese, teaching a wide variety of creative expressions. I collaborate with the Lynnwood Library, the Everett Community College and WAGRO foundation where I work with underprivileged Latino and Hispanic children, helping them to understand their culture and identity through the arts.
I also have two certifications in Children with Special Needs: Physical Disabilities and The Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) by NAMI Eastside (National Alliance on Mental Illness).
Mariah Cavanagh
My name is Mariah Cavanagh and I have been lampworking with borosilicate glass for the last 11 years. My focus for the first 8 years of my career was functional glass and wholesaling to shops around the country. In the last 3 years my focus as an artist has been learning in the hot shop, freelancing for other artists, making my own work both in the hot shop and on the torch, as well as teaching. My passion for glass has only grown over the years and sharing this medium with others is a wonderful way to pass on my knowledge and also a way for me to learn from my students and make connections with artistic individuals.
Jackie Cort
Artist Jackie Cort, also known as the "Wax Slayer," has been a painter and maker of all things creative as long as she can remember. A self-taught artist, who has painted most anything that can be painted on, including people!
She is currently a full-time artist and teacher at her Studio in Snohomish, and the PNW area.
Jackie works primarily in Encaustic. This is the art of painting with molten beeswax and a blowtorch. It gives her great satisfaction to play with the flow of such a natural medium combined with bold and vivid pigments. Cort's subject matter is spontaneous and in the moment. She loves teaching encaustic workshops and meeting new creatives.
Shannon Danks
Shannon Leah Danks is the owner and operator of Shanrock Studios. Specializing in being creative, learning new skill and enjoying the process of creating art. Shannon enjoys working in multiple mediums to express herself.Mosaic combine much of the skills and techniques she has learned and loves. She is passionate about art and sharing her experiences with others.
Barbara De Pirro
Barbara De Pirro is a painter, sculptor, installation artist and educator, sponsored by Golden Artist Colors, Inc. She works both two and three dimensionally, translating and cross pollinating her concepts from one media to the other. Her expansive knowledge of acrylic, combined equally with her broad understanding of a full range of media opens the door to endless possibilities. All of this, she generously shares with other artists in her workshops and lectures.
De Pirro's artwork has been commissioned and exhibited both nationally and internationally. She has completed numerous public art installations both interior and exterior. Honored as Resident Artist at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma three years running plus traveled throughout parts of Europe, Asia, South and North America via art and education residencies. Additionally, De Pirro's artwork and techniques have been published in multiple articles, publications and books.
KATE DWYER
Kate Dwyer’s fabric mache’ bowls are unique using a technique she developed using thread, fabric and glue. After years as a painter Kate began making thread and fabric creations about 5 years ago. Her work is available at Museum of Northwest Art store, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art Store, Museo Gallery in Langley. She was recently included in the summer show, Northwest Expressions, at Bainbridge Museum of Art. Kate lives in Port Townsend.
Sharon Gottula
A graduate of San Francisco State University, Sharon Gottula earned her BA in Fine Art with an emphasis in photography. An active member of the San Francisco photography scene, she was involved with San Francisco Camerawork and the Ansel Adams Society, working behind the scenes to organize exhibitions, artist talks, and fundraising activities.
Gottula is an instructor with the world-renowned Painting With Fire encaustic online workshops, teaches at the Schack Art Center, and creates art tutorials on her YouTube channel.
You can follow her @sharongottulastudios on most social media platforms.
Brigitte Hefferan
Brigitte Hefferan teaches for various Calligraphy Guilds and at her studio. As a free lance artist, she explores ways to combine her passion for lettering with watercolors and other mediums. She has exhibited her work locally at the WA State Convention Center in Seattle, the Mountlake Terrace's "Arts of the Terrace, Edmonds Conference Center and the Two Vaults Gallery in Tacoma.
Joann Kim
Joann Lee Kim is a visual/performance artist and community organizer based in Shoreline, Washington. As a teaching artist, she has developed curricula for workshops, courses and programs, taught arts workshops for community based organizations and schools, and facilitated arts-based social justice learning projects for elementary school students in classroom settings.
Eriko Kobayashi
Eriko Kobayashi (b.Tokyo, Japan) fell in love with the color and texture of glass in 2014. This fascination led her to study at Toyama City Institute of Glass Art in Japan (2016), and later pursue her MFA in Glass at Southern Illinois University (2022). Kobayashi recently relocated to Seattle to continue her career in glass. Kobayashi introduces playfulness to the technically demanding glass works in ways that are positive, and enjoyable to experience. She utilizes forms we encounter in our everyday lives to engage her viewer with the familiar, but also to challenge them to question and rethink these objects.
Richard Langley
Richard Langley began blowing glass as an apprentice to Michelle Kaptur in Bend, Oregon in 1997. In 2001 Rich moved to Florence, Montana and opened Cloud Cap Glass studios. In Florence he started a production line and taught classes on glass blowing. After a few years blowing glass in Montana, Rich decided to further his education and career by moving to Seattle, where in the past 15 years he has worked for various artists and production glass houses. Rich has also built another glass shop in Seattle where he has continued to make his own line of blown glass. Rich also enjoys rock climbing, mushroom hunting and playing in the great outdoors.
Leslie Moon
Beyond her personal practice, Leslie Nan Moon is dedicated to community engagement and education. As an instructor she shares her passion for printmaking with others.
Notably, she led the Seattle Monorail Column Art Project where her linocut artworks are displayed on 19 gateway columns of the city's beloved monorail. This project also included collaborative workshops with young adults from YouthCare whose creations were featured on select columns.
Moon's artistic journey is deeply intertwined with her personal experiences and environment, making her work both a reflection of her life and a contribution to the broader community.
Elizabeth Moncrief
Elizabeth retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 2014 and settled in Skagit Valley, WA, where she now devotes her time to weaving, gardening, and enjoying the outdoors.
She has been teaching weaving and dyeing since the 1990s, offering both in-person and virtual workshops for all levels. Her teaching credits include major conferences like Intermountain Weavers, HGA, MAFA, FiberFestNW, and numerous guilds across the U.S. and Canada.
Liz designs for the Silk Weaving Studio in Vancouver, contributes to Handwoven magazine, and exhibits and sells her award-winning work at galleries and art shows. She weaves on 8, 12, and 24-shaft computerized looms and loves sharing her craft with students and visitors to her studio.
Miles Labitzke
Miles Labitzke is an artist and educator based in Everett. Coming from a multidisciplinary background, his studio practice focuses primarily on drawing, painting, and printmaking. He engages with a variety of themes including memory and experience; connections to time and place, and the impact of our interactions on one another and the environment. Miles has been teaching at Everett Community College since 2015 and approaches art as an exploration with an ever-evolving curiosity.
Maren Oates
Maren Oates is a self-taught mixed media artist who uses gel printing as the foundation for her work. Whether creating monoprints, collages, or other mixed media works her pieces always start with unique gel printed papers. You can follow her creative journey on Instagram @maren.oates.
Marion Richards
My name is Marion Richards, I am originally from Southern Oregon, currently residing in Lynnwood. My day time work involves animal nursing, working in a small animal ER. I have had a passion for natural dyeing and the natural world throughout most of my life. I completed my undergrad at the UW through the Program on the Environment. Through school I learned about using mushrooms for remediation in environmental conservation and have been hooked on mushrooms ever since. I currently teach dye classes and demonstrations through our local mushroom club in Seattle. I also grow a plant dye garden which allows me to cultivate a variety of dye plants to continue my passion for natural dyeing. I teach our annual mushroom dye class to 20 students in October, I also taught a class through the mountaineers with the same topic last month. I offer our dye demonstration through our annual fall and spring mushroom shows as well, dyeing all day both days of the weekend these shows fall on.
FORAM SHAH
I'm Foram Shah, the founder of Pehchaan. With a background in Textile and Fashion Design from Mumbai, India, I bring a decade of experience in garment designing, manufacturing, and exporting to the table. After owning and operating my own successful manufacturing and design company in Bangalore, I embarked on a new journey a decade ago, which led me to the vibrant city of Seattle. Art has always held a special place in my heart, and over the past ten years, I've nurtured a deep passion for it. In my commitment to fostering creativity, I've dedicated myself to teaching art in my children's schools, and I've taken immense joy in organizing city-wide painting events that not only bring the community together but also spread the warmth of kindness.
SAMAN SHOJAEI
Saman Shojaei was born in 1984 in Iran. His artistic journey began in his teenage years when he started drawing cartoons for a book publishing center at age 18. In 2008, he shifted his focus to creating miniature houses inspired by real buildings, showcasing his work in exhibitions in both Iran and the U.S. Saman holds an MS degree in Agricultural Engineering from Iran and moved to the U.S. in 2015. Since then, he has shared his passion for art by teaching at various fine art schools, including North Seattle College, Pratt Fine Art Center, Seattle Central College, Woodcraft of Seattle and Schack Art Center.
Evelyn Sipher
With over 35 years of experience in education, Evelyn brings a deep commitment to student growth and learning. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with minors in art and physical education, as well as a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. As a teacher, she is dedicated to creating an engaging, safe, and inclusive learning environment where every student is encouraged to thrive. She believes in the potential of every child and challenges her students to become lifelong learners. Outside the classroom, she enjoys spending time outdoors, especially hiking and biking.
ELENA WEBER
Elena Weber, an experienced multidisciplinary designer with over a decade of expertise, expresses gratitude for the opportunity to contribute to our art center. Holding a master's degree in Interior Design and having collaborated with well known brands and small businesses, she is a versatile artist skilled in 3D design, signage, packaging, illustration, branding etc.
As a certified 200h RYT Yoga Teacher and a therapeutic art practitioner, Elena infuses her classes with a holistic approach, creating an atmosphere of creativity and well-being. Her commitment to providing a relaxed and nurturing environment aligns seamlessly with her lifelong dream of guiding both kids and adults through transformative art experiences.