Instructors

My name is Maria Ananieva and I am a Bulgarian oil painter, based in Batavia, IL.

I am very inspired by nature and moved to create when I’m surrounded by it. Most people nowadays are very rushed – rarely do they stop or slow down to look around. There is a whole other world outside our rushed 9-5 schedule – butterflies and hummingbirds fluttering. Flowers blooming, birds singing. Do you even notice how the seasons change?

My latest work represent’s nature’s process. It is a reminder to stop and look around. Please feel free to browse through my collection of original artwork on my website or visit me in person at Water Street Studios, Batavia IL (studio #14)

Anthony Alonzo is an award-winning artist whose works have been displayed in local, regional, and national exhibitions. He has received numerous awards, including several Best of Show. Anthony is known for his rich, vibrant colors and creative depiction of the subject. Design is carefully considered, and each painting is unique.

He pursued an art education and obtained a degree from the American Academy of Art. Anthony credits the Academy for having the most significant impact on the development of his unique artistic style. Quality design, originality, luminosity, and intensity of color are the hallmarks he strives to attain.

Anthony’s paintings have been displayed at Triton College, the Tamale Hut Cafe, and the Addison Center for the Arts. He has had solo exhibitions as well as gallery exhibitions. Mr. Alonzo is excited to announce the construction of his new art studio, projected to be completed in the upcoming year.

Learn more about Anthony and see examples of his art on his website: https://www.anthonyalonzo.com/

Benita grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, earned a BFA in drawing from Indiana University and an MFA in electronic art from the University of Cincinnati. Before turning to painting, she worked as a graphic designer and animator for many years and then became an assistant professor at Indiana University – Purdue University, Fort Wayne. Painting for Benita is a form of storytelling. Her ideas often start with a personal connection to a person or object. It is a spark used for developing a composition that reflects the essence of the memory, but becomes more abstract and universal. The story may be hers, but hopefully the viewer interprets the image from his or her own perspective.

George has an Associate Degree in Architecture from Southern Illinois University and a degree in Fine and Applied Arts/Graphics and Advertising Design from University of Illinois, Champaign. He worked in the Graphic Design areas of several major corporations, then became part owner of a Marketing/Packaging Design Company in Chicago. George recently retired from that business to pursue his desire for fine arts. Upon retirement, he studied watercolor under Dick Shipley, took several workshops in watercolor from nationally known artists, and later discovered the world of oil pastel taking classes with George Shipperely. He has become hooked on oil pastel, although he paints in both mediums on a regular basis. George thoroughly enjoys the non-objective approach to oil pastel. His work is shown in various places in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Margaret Bucholz started taking Saturday oil painting lessons as a teen in Hawaii where most of the classes were painting on locations. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from University of Hawaii. Upon graduation she moved to Illinois and worked as narrator at conventions at McCormick Place. Her passion for art was nurtured by taking many workshops at the Clearing and Dillman’s Resort from many well-known artists. She has taken 3 years of colored pencil classes at Beech Tree Studios. Margaret has won numerous awards for her artwork and many of her watercolor, acrylic and colored pencil paintings hang in private collections. She has given demos at art leagues and has taught children and teen classes in watercolor, acrylics, and colored pencil drawing. Her hope is to share her enjoyment of art and her skill in creating color harmonies with her students. margaretbucholz.com

Rachael focuses on drawing and painting while experimenting with both 3D and 2D elements. She encourages young artists to work with a variety of exciting materials, some of which may be completely new to them.

Through a mix of individual and collaborative projects, she engages students in activities that ignite their imaginations, build confidence, and foster a strong sense of self.  Along the way, students expand on their unique style and creative voice, making her classes a space for exploration, growth, and plenty of fun.

Rachael is the Art Studio Coordinator at STARS Family Services

Dan Danielson’s fascination with watercolor began at The American Academy of Art, studying under the well renowned artist, Irving Shapiro. After an exciting creative director career in advertising, Dan began painting and teaching full-time. His award-winning work has been seen in many watercolor shows and businesses. Dan continues to develop his colorist, regionalism style while allowing the medium the freedom to reveal it’s unique qualities of brilliance and fluidity. Capturing the medium’s translucent elegance and strength is an ongoing odyssey and a heck of a lot of fun.

Mary pursued the arts in her education earning a Master of Arts from National-Louis University along with four Art Certificates including two in Advertising Art, one in Painting from the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and another in Fine Arts from The Art House in Chicago. In 2015, Mary transitioned from her career in education to pursue painting full time. She has exhibited at several galleries in Chicago and her work has been included in Southwestern Art catalogues. A member of Oil Painters of America – in 2015 she was selected as an Artist in Residence at the Petrified Forest National Park, in 2017 served as one of three Artists in Residence at The Art House in Chicago, and in 2019 had a Solo Exhibit at the Addison Center for the arts.

Wes Douglas is an award-winning art director, illustrator, and co-founder of the Elmhurst-based innovation agency, Maddock Douglas, Inc. In addition, Wes developed “Speaker Sketches” (his unique creative meeting notes which blend hand-written words and sketched pictures), concept visualizations, and package designs. He is also the primary book illustrator for the Amazon best-seller, Free The Idea Monkey (to focus on what matters most) by Mike Maddock. Wes has been a co-admin for the Chicago chapter of Urban Sketchers since 2013.

Meaghan graduated with a double major in studio art and English from North Central College in 2016. She received a master’s degree from the University of Rochester in 2022, where she studied British Romanticism and creative writing.

Her landscape and botanical artwork is rooted in storytelling, both visually and in words. Each piece reinterprets or relates to history or literature in some way.

The Romantic period has become her touchstone. “Just as the Romantic artists and poets looked to the past to understand how it could shape their present moment, I look back at history and philosophy to spin tales into new emotional and social metaphors that speak to our contemporary moment.”

https://www.meaghanmarie.art/

Marge earned her degree in Commercial Art at Southern Illinois University’s Vocational Technical Institute. Her first commercial job was as head of the Art Department at Eastex Packaging in Aurora, IL – and, to this day, we see her original artwork on cartons of Christmas Eggnog. After raising four boys, Marge began teaching at the DuPage Art League. Marge has received numerous honors and awards in prestigious competitions and has shown her work in exhibits, art fairs, and galleries. She is particularly well known for her floral portraits.

Chris was a Fine Arts major at Utah State University before changing to a business major at Boston University.
His experience of living abroad and traveling has brought both ideas and inspiration to his works. 
His paintings have also traveled on special exhibits to both China and Russia as part of a fine arts cultural program.
Chris has earned recognition and awards in competitions in Texas and Illinois. He is a member of the Naperville Art League and the DuPage Art League and has earned many awards including Best of the Best nominations.  He is part of a weekly art critique group as the co-leader in organizing and sending out newsletters for Artist-Show n Tell.
Website: www.hughespaintings.com

I love being fully in the flow of pure creativity in which art creates itself on the canvas in front of me and others cannot help but connect to it.

I also aspire to continuously be a source for my students and other individuals to be inspired and to create their own art as a means of personal expression.

Katie has taught art in the Chicago Public Schools since 2006. You can learn more about Katie and view her art at https://www.katiekurischart.com/

Vicki grew up in Monona Wisconsin and lives in Lombard Illinois. She attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison as an art major with an area of emphasis in drawing and completed a B.S.E. in art at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. Beginning in high school she spent most of her working life as a graphic designer, typographer, web designer and corporate Art Director with brief stints as a K-12 art teacher and a not-for-profit office manager. After retirement she was able to renew her interest in fine art. She has taken classes at area art leagues and many workshops with nationally known watercolor artists. Vicki is a member of the DuPage Art League, the Nature Artists Guild of the Morton Arboretum and the Chicago Pastel Painters. Her work has won awards at the Danada Nature Art Show, the DuPage Art League and been featured in the “Nature Artists Quarterly” of the Nature Artists Guild. 

Ellen received her formal art training at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois earning both a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education and a Master of Arts Degree. She taught in area high schools for 12 years, teaching painting, drawing, ceramics, and jewelry. Ellen also established a gifted arts program in the high school and within the art department of a junior college. Since leaving the education system, she has done private tutoring and concentrated on the development of her own style working primarily in pastels. Ellen has taught numerous classes at DuPage Art League including beginning and advanced drawing, perspective, portraits and pastel painting. A winner of numerous awards, she has exhibited in shows throughout the area.

Brian first began working with pastels while attending the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Since then, he has focused on painting pastel landscapes as his main subject matter. As an award-winning painter and art teacher, he loves to inspire others and enjoys helping his students develop and grow at all levels.

As Vice President of the Chicago Pastel Painters, he helps to educate others while raising awareness and appreciation for all the pastel medium has to offer. He is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and a Master Circle Member of the International Association of Pastel Societies. He is also a freelance writer for Pastel Journal magazine and his work is represented by galleries in Illinois, Michigan, and Wyoming.

Watch this video to learn more about Brian: https://youtube.com/shorts/uLsHyucWLxU?feature=shareand

See more of Brian’s work at: www.sauerlandstudio.com

Forouzan Shemirani is a certified Process Painting Facilitator and Transformational Soul Coach with an educational background in Fine Arts. As an artist, interior designer, soul coach, and facilitator, she blends her experience in creativity and self-discovery to help others explore themselves through painting.

She has found process painting to be a transformational experience. By setting aside expectations and showing up to paint, we open ourselves to our unique expressions. Her mission is to help students tap into this well of creativity to freely explore, connect, and uncover new layers of themselves. She is dedicated to creating a safe and welcoming space where everyone—no matter their experience level—can explore their creativity. Find out more about Forouzan on her website: https://www.artfulsouljourney.com/

Kay Wahlgren is an accomplished watercolorist, master gardener, space planner, and cut paper artist. A past President of the art league, she is currently teaching Beginning and Intermediate watercolor classes. Kay has a degree in Architectural Design and, for many years, taught classes in the creation of intricate multi-dimensional cut paper pieces. About 5 years ago, she began sharing her watercolor skills and her approach takes the mystery out of watercolor. Step by step, she builds a foundation so that students master the skills and avoid the pitfalls.

Suzanne Wegener is a freelance artist specializing in natural history art and education using pencil, pen and ink, watercolor, and gouache.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Scientific Illustration from Northern Illinois University and an MS in Biomedical Visualization from the University of Illinois at Chicago. A strong love of all things relating to plants drew her back to botanical art.

Suzanne is a past president of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and also the American Society of Botanical Artists. She was the Manager of the Nature Art Certificate program at the Morton Arboretum for 11 years until it was discontinued. She continues to teach at the Arboretum as well as the DuPage Art League and other institutions in the area.

Suzanne works from her home studio in Lisle and also has a studio at Water Street Studios in Batavia.

Charles is a full-time graphic artist as well as a cartooning instructor. He has created character concepts and illustrations for major corporations including General Mills, Nestle, New York Life, Brown’s Chicken, Parker Brothers, and many others, and has taught cartooning and illustration at the DuPage Art League for many years.

Chad Wooters is an architect, oil painter, writer, and inventor. A native Midwesterner, he enrolled in the architecture program at the Illinois Institute of Technology, which Mies van der Rohe inspired. IIT’s emphasis on expressing the inherent qualities of materials and the organic nature of design remains an influence in his work. After graduating in 1989, he began practicing architecture.

Chad began developing his interest in the fine arts by learning printmaking techniques at the Harold Washington College in Chicago, from instructor Nelson Ghorbanian, and focused on copperplate engraving for the challenge of the medium’s unforgiving exactness. He later refined his technique at Expressions Graphics, an Oak Park artist cooperative for printmakers. While working at Expressions Graphics, he studied traditional oil painting techniques under artist Dominic Vignola. He supplemented this training with additional lessons from artist Andy Conklin at the Palette and Chisel Academy in Chicago.

For the last 20 years, Chad Wooters has practiced as a semi-professional oil artist and his work is an extension of the living tradition of tonal realism that extends back to Atelier Carolus-Duran. 

Visit his website: https://www.chadwooters.com/

Follow him on Instagram

Carol Zack has a B.A. in Arts Education from Vanderbilt University and an M.A. in Arts Education from the University of Illinois. She works primarily in soft pastels and oil pastels, and enjoys creating luminous layers and utilizing intuitive approaches to shape, value, color, edges, and texture. She is known for her impressionistic landscapes, large floral studies, and traditional figurative studies including formal commissioned portraits. Carol is affiliated with the Yellow House Artists, The Oil Pastel Society, The Portrait Society of America, and is a past board member of the Northwest Area Arts Council. She also teaches at The Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles.

Janice Zeuch (pronounced Zoik) has a B.A. in Art Education from Kent State University and a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Cleveland Sate University. She has taught middle school students in the Fairview Park City School District for ten years, and has taught and directed at Cain Park School of the Arts prior to her move to Chicago. Janice’s passion for teaching comes from her love of being part of the beginning stages of an artists journey. In her free time, she enjoys printmaking, pencil and ink rendering, as well as experimenting with color and collage on large scale canvases. She enjoys raising her family here in Wheaton and, on the side, has a water coloring business.

Website   http://www.watercolormyhouse.com/