Feminism – Cre8-Space

Caroline Kwas, Painter

Caroline Kwas lives in her RV full-time and pursues her art wherever she lands, connecting with her little families everywhere.

Feisty & Focused

With her high intelligence and private school education, Caroline’s family expected her to be a medical doctor. However, while working on her bio-chem major, she added an elective drawing class and, soon, med school dropped from her horizon.

Caroline’s father didn’t respond favorably to her new artistic aspirations. She was feisty, though, and found a work-around; moving in with her sister and sticking to her vision of pursuing art.

Three decades later, Caroline is still just as feisty and still sticking to her vision.

Back then, the father of her childhood friend, Nancy, talked with Caroline’s father and helped him see his way to supporting Caroline’s art studies. She then went to the Fashion Institute of Technology and earned an undergraduate degree in Illustration. She went on to earn a graduate degree in Literacy Education.

For a while on Long Island, Caroline catered food for fishing boats that would go out for weeks at a time. With four or five boats to cook for, she was gainfully employed and poured her creativity into food preparation.

Eventually, she put her degrees to use teaching Reading and English in New York before moving to Florida to teach corrective reading to seventh and eighth graders.

“They ate me alive,” Caroline says of the middle schoolers. She was an excellent guide and champion for the students who appreciated her attention and encouragement. Otherwise, she hated the job. Hated it. And she was terribly homesick, so she went back home to Montauk, New York, to teach.

“Unfortunately, I never took any time off,” Caroline says, “and, basically, was committing psychological suicide.” Even painting and exhibiting in weekend art shows wasn’t enough to compensate for the stress. Something had to change.

IMG_3126 (1) — Caroline painting in her booth at the Arizona Fine Art Expo

In 2010, while she was still teaching, Caroline researched art shows for the following spring and found the Arizona Fine Art Expo, an annual juried artist show held in Scottsdale, Arizona, from mid-January through March. She applied, was accepted and resigned from her teaching job around Christmas 2010. The next month, Caroline was in Scottsdale exhibiting in the 2011 Arizona Fine Art Expo.

By the time she returned to the show in 2012, Caroline had bought a fifth wheel toy-hauler RV pulled by a Chevy diesel dually.

“My boyfriend at the time said I needed a big rig,” Caroline says, making it clear the RV and truck were too much for her handle. In fact, her partner never allowed her to drive her own rig.

When she got rid of the boyfriend, she got rid of the big rig and bought a 29-foot C class Winnebago and a cargo trailer. Now comfortable and perfectly mobile, Caroline began crafting a nomadic lifestyle, spending winters in Arizona and then heading to wherever she chose for the summer.

Caroline & Bubbles — Caroline and Bubbles

For six years, Caroline has lived out of her RV and pursued art.

In 2012 and 2013, she returned east to work out of her own gallery in the Rocky Neck Art Colony located in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Rocky Neck is the oldest working art colony in the country, having brought artists together for more than 150 years. Her photorealism paintings from that time were influenced by the rocky shores, shells and fallen leaves of New England.

OnTheRocks-8x11-72dpi-web — *On the Rocks*, a photorealism painting by Caroline

“The gallery had a loft and that’s where I slept,” Caroline says. “Three times a year we had very high tides and the water would come up to within a foot of my gallery door.”

Every winter, she returned to Scottsdale and the Expo.

Caroline’s nomadic life allows her to be where she wants to be, when she wants to be there and with the people of her choosing.

“I have little families everywhere,” Caroline smiles.

Her blog posts show her mastery of living full-time in Bubbles, her RV. Friends tease Caroline for only washing her hair in rain water. But why wouldn’t she? It’s free. Yet rain is scarce in the desert. When it does rain, Caroline has her 5-gallon buckets ready. She sets them against the big white tent that covers the Expo and catches the silty water. When the dirt settles, Caroline has rain-fresh hair.

Beyond posting about her life as an RVer, Caroline writes poignant blog posts about her perceptions, seen through the eyes of an artist. A perfect example is her blog post titled Why is the Sky Purple? where she answers the question asked by a bored male patron:

Because when I stood at the base of this giant saguaro two weeks ago and it was lit up by the rising orange full moon, there was more to that scene than a blue-black night sky and a dimly lit cactus. There was a gentle majestic giant in front of me, soaring into a velvet sky, and he deserved to be lit up in gold and crimson like the king of the Sonoran Desert that he is. He needed that deep royal violet sky to complement him, to surround him, and most of all, he deserved a lot of color.

Be sure to read her post about Harry, a magnificent saguaro friend. I won’t give away Harry’s fate, but will share the post’s opening:

Like many people, the saguaro cactus was always the first thing I thought of when I thought about the desert. It’s the epitome of the desert, proud, distinct, and vaguely humanoid. But have you ever thought about the life of a cactus? Go up to a big one around midnight in the desert, and the hair on your arm just might rise a little. They loom there, stark dark silhouettes against a speckled sky, full of silent stories. Consider: for almost a century, it huddled in the shade of an ironwood nurse against the harsh desert summers as it began its life. An inch a year. It began growing arms; it grew into its role as the giver of life in the desert. Quiet centuries are spent keeping sentry over a forbidding landscape, the long shadows of its arms the last to unfold its embrace each sunset. Spend some time walking in the Arizona sun, and you’ll appreciate water. Spend some time walking in the Arizona moonlight, and you’ll understand mysticism.

“Little Girl” is the van Caroline pulls to drive on local errands. Recently, she launched a Facebook page and Instagram account for Little Girl, who narrates the blog and describes life on the road with Caroline from her unique vehicular perspective. Little Girl’s popularity is growing fast.

14322314_10208761270882576_775431505315879823_n (1) — Caroline and Little Girl

Leaving photorealism behind, Caroline has been painting cacti in a contemporary abstract style for a few years. She’s still an avid art student and laments not learning about color patterns and paint mixing when in college.

Caroline took matters into her own hands (as usual) and sought out a mentor. At the Expo, she approached Sam Thiewes, a fellow artist who lives in Prescott Valley and also exhibits his western paintings at the Arizona Fine Art Expo. He readily agreed to be Caroline’s coach and guide.

Caroline with Sam, her mentor, in his booth at the Expo

Each day during the Expo, they would regularly check in with each other. Sam would study Caroline’s latest painting to advise on composition, perspective or color. She listened to his wise counsel.

“I’ve learned so much from Sam,” Caroline says. “And from watching other artists for the last two months at this show.” This temporary artist colony in the desert grows into a tight community of creatives who naturally learn from each other, whether by observation or conversations.

Not having a house or apartment payment eases financial burdens. With her catering background and enjoyment of cooking, Caroline also works at the Expo Cafe while in Scottsdale and at the Great American Fish Company while in California, her usual summer place.

I’ve seen Caroline hustling during lunch at the Expo Cafe, running between the indoor counter and outdoor patio where she grills burgers and cooks soup on a two-burner gas-powered stove. Between preparing wholesome, locally-sourced breakfasts and lunches in the cafe and manning her Expo booth during the show, Caroline’s tenacity kept her going until she could finally put brush to canvas in the afternoons.

In 2016, Caroline received a much-needed validation for her artistic aspirations when she was selected as Artist-in-Residence at the Mojave National Preserve. Along with a boost to her national reputation, she also found a spiritual home in the vast, silent expanses of the Mojave Desert and takes every opportunity to return there for a few days and recharge.

“There’s nothing like the absolute silence of the desert at night,” Caroline says. “Feels like the universe is close at hand when viewing more stars than I ever knew existed. I unplug from civilization and am forced to live in the moment. It’s utterly head cleaning.”

During the Expo, in her spare time, Caroline would paint, paint, paint on her mission to get better and better, whether in her booth or in Bubbles. She’s completed plenty of paintings sitting at her compact dining table and admits to being at peace living with paints smears on her counter, table and even bed sheets.

When Caroline moves her RV to a new place, she’ll wake-up in her familiar, paint-dappled home, but often temporarily forgets where she is. But that’s okay. She figures it out quickly.

Waiting-for-the-Monsoon — *Waiting for the Monsoon*

“Change has always been my life,” Caroline says.

That’s true. The view from her front door changes, her painting style may change and the people she’s surrounded by change with the seasons, but Caroline will always find time to paint, paint, paint. Nothing gets in the way of her artistic vision.

She’s feisty and tenaciously focused that way.

Resources

Website – https://www.carolinekwas.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/caroline.kwas

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/carokwas/

Little Girl Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/littlegirlvan/

Photo Gallery

Christine Hauber, Photographer

Christine is an introvert, and it works very well for her. She’s calm. Centered. No drama. While she relishes her solitude, she doesn’t shy away from being with people. And she gets people. As a portrait photographer, she nails the core of their being in her photographs.

Courageous Christine

In the early 2000s, Christine traveled the byways of America meeting people in villages and communities, documenting their professions by capturing them in their work element. Her book “Working in the USA” is a love letter to working folks, a fascinating study of people ordinary and extraordinary, all the more poignant because she shot each one in black and white.

IMG_3156 (1) — A spread from Christine’s book, “Working in the USA”

I dare you to open her book and try to close it after a few pages. I sure couldn’t. Its width straddled my lap and I turned page after page, unable to stop looking at the next person — a firefighter, a Cajun accordion maker, a gold miner, a shrimper – each with their earnest face surrounded by the tools of their trade. Proud people. Humble people. Dignified.

IMG_3155 (1) — More USA workers photographed by Christine

For an introvert, Christine excelled at traveling in her RV and meeting all kinds of people along the way. She stills lives in that same RV… since 2001. These days, she winters in Scottsdale, Arizona, and summers in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

IMG_3154 (1) — Even more USA workers photographed by Christine from all lower 48 states

From Denver to Daring

Growing up in Denver, Christine enjoyed spending solitary time drawing and coloring when she wasn’t out being “one of the boys” with her two older brothers. From an early age, she was immediately attracted to pencil and charcoal drawings, which formed the basic artistic thread running through her life; producing works in black and white.

Christine also loves animals and had planned to be a veterinarian, until one summer when her mother arranged for her to work on a pig farm in South Dakota. “I realized I didn’t like seeing animals in pain,” Christine says.

These days, she photographs portraits of rescued and protected animals, like donkeys, horses, goats and sheep, and transfers their black and white images onto wood panels that she embellishes with white tissue paper, textures and paint or encaustic.

Christine in her booth at the Arizona Fine Art Expo, transferring a cow print onto canvas

Christine’s animal faces are charming. But photography and mixed media pieces aren’t her only creative outlets. She also cooks. Each winter, she exhibits at the Arizona Fine Art Expo and also runs the Expo Cafe with her assistant, Caroline Kwas, also an exhibiting artist. Together, they prepare breakfast and lunch seven days a week for visitors and resident artists.

Each summer, Christine hosts multiple Art Spas in Santa Fe. While her business partner teaches painting classes, Christine prepares their meals and demonstrates cooking. She focuses on healthy vegetarian foods while explaining the cooking process. In a recent Art Spa, she taught everyone how to create and roll their own spring rolls.

Christine’s Expo gig in Scottsdale goes beyond just showing her art and cooking wholesome foods (which keeps her busy for 80 hours each week). She is also part of the crew that erects the giant u-shaped white tents for the Expo.

The entrance to the Arizona Fine Art Expo

The show launches mid-January and she arrives from Santa Fe in November to get the Expo up and running, along with the show managers and facilities team. When the Expo closed on March 25, Christine spent April leading the crew in dismantling and packing up the massive tent for storage until next year.

During the Expo, Christine stays busy painting, running the cafe and then walking to her RV out back each evening where she continues to make her art.

Many people dream of pulling up roots and following their passion, living an endless summer in mild climates. Christine is doing it, though she admits it’s not as freeing as it might sound. The hours are long, the work hard and the pressure is on to make a living from her art.

“You can do anything for 10 weeks,” Christine laughs. That’s her motto for this year’s Expo.

Christine with her new elk mixed media work

Though her location changes, Christine’s focus on producing art never does. She continually learns from customer feedback, what’s selling and what’s not, to try new things. “I’m always chasing that carrot,” she says, laughing. Making a living from art drives Christine each day to discover new ways to market what she does.

Working in the USA

Christine received her college degree in psychology and worked for a year counseling troubled youth for $6 an hour, which was minimum wage. Working with the kids was fine but after a year, Christine realized her co-workers were the ones with the more severe issues. To compensate for work stress, she took a class on darkroom techniques and promptly fell in love with it.

She also took a couple of pre-med courses for genetic counseling but soon determined speaking with pregnant women about potential baby problems would be too taxing. When her father pointed out how passionate she was about her hobby of photography, and encouraged her to consider turning professional, she took his advice.

Christine chose commercial art photography over her pre-med studies and started her own Portrait studio in Denver. She liked to experiment, to stretch her creative muscles, and worked with infrared film, which plays off of the red spectrum to produce ethereal photos.

For six years, Christine ran her business and also spent two of those years caring for her aged grandmother. Soon, feeling stifled by traditional portraiture and her home life, she longed to follow her creative urges to travel and take pictures.

Always a traveler at heart, Christine had taken solo trips to China, Singapore and Hawaii. She knew her new dream of traveling the U.S. and taking photos was doable, with proper preparation. She talked about her project with a purpose. She dreamed about it. Finally Christine’s dad convinced here there was no time like the present to chase a dream.

Again, she listened to her dad and set her departure date for one year ahead.

Heeding the wanderlust call, Christine bought a 29-foot RV and converted the main bedroom into a compact custom darkroom. In April, she set out to visit all 48 lower U.S. states and photographically document workers of all professions. Her project, called Working in the USA, was a way for Christine to show people in other countries what real Americans look like, as opposed to those seen on TV shows and in movies.

“We’re a nation of diverse people who work hard,” Christine says, “and work is a common theme all over the world. The first thing we ask when meeting someone new is ‘what do you do?’”

For three-and-a-half years, Christine traveled 70,000 miles with her cat Ansel and her dog Gracie. When her travels were over, she worked on producing her book “Working in the USA,” which was published in 2006.

Christine had finally burst out of traditional portrait methods and captured people from all walks of life. Along the way, she learned to avoid tornado alley in May and June, to avoid the north in the winter, to look for free RV lots, to lay low while parking overnight at truck stops and to overcome her natural shyness to approach people and learn their stories. She was traveling before people were actively blogging and before social media provided a platform for instant sharing. She wrote about the people she met, in addition to photographing them, and she still has many stories to tell about the people in her book. I’m looking forward to hearing those stories. And to seeing what Courageous Christine does next.

“There are no excuses to not travel,” Christine says. “Don’t wait for a traveling companion. Don’t wait to pursue any dream. Get out there. You’ll survive.”

Christine should know.

The name of her RV says it all: Dream Catcher.

Photo Gallery

Resources:

Christine’s Blog:

http://www.christinehauber.com/photo-and-travel-journal

Christine’s Website:

www.christinehauber.com

Podcast – Keep Your Day Job: Radical Sabbatical

http://www.keepyourdaydream.com/radical-sabbatical/

Christine’s Book:

https://www.amazon.com/Working-USA-Christine-D-Hauber/dp/0976617013/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440824407&sr=8-1&keywords=working+in+the+USA

Shawna Scarpitti, Collagist/Sculptress

She’s Wild at Art

When I first saw Shawna’s large, bright canvases from a distance, I had to get down there… and fast… even if it meant passing up many other artists’ booths. Up close, her bold, singing work did not disappoint and when Shawna came around the corner with her wild hair barely contained and her stride full of joy, I instantly knew her natural glee perfectly matched her art. And who wouldn’t be drawn to both!

As an undergraduate at Auburn, Shawna was a nude model for painters at the nearby Columbus Museum of Art in Georgia.

“It took some getting used to,” Shawna says, “ but I made $20 an hour, the most I’d ever made.”

Her body isn’t the only thing she’s bared for art.

This past December, Shawna quit her job as an art therapist, packed a van with art supplies and home furnishings, and drove from Jensen Beach, Florida, to Scottsdale, Arizona, to exhibit her tissue paper pieces at the Arizona Fine Art Expo, a 10-week show housed in a giant white, u-shaped tent.

Shawna in her Expo booth, shared with her partner Gregory, a glassblower.

Every year from January to March, more than 100 artists occupy booths at the show and paint, sculpt, make jewelry, etc., in their spaces, sharing their work and techniques with guests seven days a week.

Shawna took a leap of faith to try her hand at being a full-time artist, encouraged by her boyfriend Greg Tomb, a masterful glass blower who has made a living from his art for years by traveling to shows around the country.

So, newish relationship, new “job,” new city, new condo… all at once. Hello, Overwhelm.

“January was a stinker of a month,” Shawna says, laughing. “Setting up a booth with a partner for the first time was stressful as we got used to each other. And traffic at the show was slow, so we naturally worried about money.”

By February, Shawna had made friends throughout the giant tent and she and Greg were grooving as a couple.

“I’m the type who has to be connected with people,” Shawna says. “If I’m making art, I must also be doing something to make a difference in other people’s lives.”

She’s a cheerful and kind spirit who gives and gives of herself. Her artwork, created by gluing colorful tissue paper onto canvases, is an outward sign of her inward joy. Full of happy, bright colors, her pieces cause continuous smiles.

After getting a Master’s degree in art therapy, Shawna has been a nationally board-certified art therapist for 20 years. She honed her skills working with tissue paper while showing clients how to express their emotions through their hands; even if it meant they used only black. The simple act of wanting to switch to a color other than black could signal a big breakthrough for a client.

How does someone help traumatized people day after day without succumbing to trauma themselves? Especially someone like Shawna who is sensitive and attuned to others’ feelings and energy.

“I’ve been lucky to work for companies that offer insurance with mental health benefits for employees, and really good self-care is a must,” Shawna says, with a chuckle. “Plus, helping people freely express in 2- and 3-dimensions while encouraging them to connect to their imaginations and innate creativity is very rewarding.”

Shawna was born in Alliance, Ohio, but grew up in Jensen Beach, Florida, influencing the definite coastal feel in some of her work. From the age of 2, Shawna chose crayons and paint over dolls and TV. Her mother knew, even then, that Shawna was an artist.

Shawna used her therapy training to acclimate to her new nomadic life and the self-contained art community that pops up each winter in the Sonoran desert.

When people show interest in her work, she delights in telling them how she does it. Oftentimes, they want to learn to do it.

“After several women expressed interest in doing tissue paper art, I put up a class sign-up sheet in my booth and it filled up in less than a week!”

Shawna has given several classes during the show in a classroom available to artists for just such activities, and she’s an excellent teacher/coach/cheerleader. I was lucky enough to take her “Tissue Paper Art 101” class and admired how she put everyone at ease about being creative.

“First thing we’re going to do is take off our judgement hat and throw it out of this room,” Shawna says.

Animated, she tosses her imaginary hat like a frisbee and smiles big. Her long hair, extra curly and full, moves when she does, accentuating her vibrant personality.

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The room we’re in has walls but no ceiling, except for the big white tent overhead. We can hear cars on Scottsdale Road, but Shawna can easily be heard telling us about the nature of Bleeding Art tissue paper, the medium for her artwork. When the paper gets wet, colors bleed onto adjacent papers, creating unpredictable patterns.

Shawna then uses a sponge brush to gently apply a mixture of Elmer’s glue and water, adhering the paper to a canvas. Or she might use a bristle brush to smooth it into place. In this beginner’s class, our only objective is to experiment.

In class with Shawna, fellow student Annie and a big mound of tissue paper!

“Cut it or tear,” she says, “there is no wrong way. You’re learning about the paper’s qualities with every piece of tissue you add.”

After working with tissue paper for decades, Shawna has mastered composing images, although she admits controlling how the colors bleed is nearly impossible. Coat hangers hold folds of tissue paper already splashed with water and fully dried. Working when the paper is wet can be difficult, so Shawna always has lots of dried, prepared paper on hand.

Greg’s talent isn’t limited to blowing remarkably beautiful glass bowls. He’s a good carpenter, too, and built Shawna a rolling cart to hold her art supplies, including glitter glue, paints, tiny canvases on wooden easels and all sorts of tiny sparkly notions to add to a completed piece of art. The cart even has a handy rail on one side for displaying her many coat hangers of inspiring papers.

In class, we get very quiet as we experiment with collages of tissue on a thick piece of paper, to get a feel for how to handle the glue, paper and active colors. The moistened foundation papers tend to warp or curl.

“No worries about curling papers,” Shawna assures us. “Once it’s dry, simply put it inside a large coffee table book overnight and it will emerge flat.”

After experimenting, we tackle covering a canvas with tissue. Shawna has several canvas sizes available. I grab a 10-inch square and spot some prepared papers with orange, white, pink and yellow. The brighter the better is my motto. Plus, I have visions of Shawna’s art in my head. Using her prepared paper means my piece of artwork is a collaboration with her.

The piece I made in Shawna’s class using her prepared paper.

Two hours fly by. Shawna finishes our partially-dried artwork with a spray acrylic in either mat or gloss. It also provides UV protection.

I enjoy the class so much, I’m hoping to be able to take her Intermediate course before she packs up and goes back to Florida.

IMG_3087 (1) — One wall of Shawna’s booth holds the smaller items she collages and paints.

Canvases aren’t the only surfaces Shawna covers in tissue paper and paint. She makes one-of-a-kind notecards and decorates the covers on planning calendars and bound journals, turning them into useful works of art. I bought one of her journals to use in a writing workshop my daughter Jaime and I are taking in Paris this June.

“Art is integral to who I am,” Shawna says. “I find a natural flow between creating therapeutic space for the art-making process for others and for myself. I’m in constant connection to my creative core, even when addressing an envelope, cooking or starting a new art project.”

Sculpture is another 3-D art form Shawna relishes as she uses organic materials to evoke the Divine Feminine. “Nature is rarely linear and my sculptures are a celebration of all that is feminine, soulful and passionate,” Shawna says.

As an undergraduate, she dove into sculpting with wood, clay and stone, and sometimes using found objects to create assemblage pieces. In fact, her senior thesis was based on a theme for nine large-scale assemblage sculptures. But when she started working, sculpting took a back seat, even to her collage work.

Two years ago, Shawna’s best friend, Susannah, fell in love with the carved wood, alabaster and marble pieces Shawna had created in early 90s. “Susannah asked me who had done the carvings and she couldn’t stop touching them,” Shawna says. “When I described how I carved them, she nearly flipped because she’s only known my tissue paper collages. She emphatically told me I must, must, must get back into sculpture as soon as possible. In fact, she made me promise I would.”

The Expo, a creative place to the max, is the perfect spot for Shawna to sculpt, paint, and, most importantly, make good on her promise to Susannah.

Shawna is wise to acknowledge her need for being emotionally connected with the people around her. We all have that need to some extent, yet some of us don’t always honor it… and we’re the poorer for it.

A giver, Shawna has created a new life and a new relationship that gives back. She credits Greg with evoking the courage she needed to embark on this current desert adventure. In fact, he convinced her to see the possibility of taking a two-month hiatus from her job last summer and travel to New York where he would rent an apartment, giving Shawna the freedom to produce her large-scale pieces for two art shows in which she and Greg would participate.

Shawna’s employer did not offer anything like a hiatus and she expected a big fat “no.” But when she asked, they said yes!

Greg believed in her work enough to know she could pursue it, and they could share a life on the road as partners in every sense of the word. He also believed in her talent enough to hand-build the large canvases for her work.

“It was amazing and scary to wake up each day and only have to make art,” Shawna says. During those two months, she learned a lot about art, about Greg, about herself and about the public’s reaction to art.

When Greg suggested they both apply to exhibit at the Arizona Fine Art Expo, Shawna saw the stars aligning. That’s when she made the decision to leave her job of nearly four years and dive head first into being a professional artist. These last four months have been eye-opening, frightening and a catalyst for her next stage.

Recently, Shawna scheduled an art therapist job interview for early April back home. “I’m hopeful to go back to work full-time in South Florida,” Shawna says. “I will definitely continue to do my art on the side, and exhibit at shows.”

Greg has a few shows lined up for the remainder of 2018, giving them an opportunity to flex and strengthen their intermittent long-distance relationship with FaceTime and other technological wonders to stay connected.

Shawna sounds at peace with their future. “We have plans to join forces down the road,” she says.

I’ll miss Shawna when she’s back in Florida, but I have no doubts she’ll brighten the lives of her clients through art therapy and retail art therapy.

Shawna’s extraordinary parents, Jim and Melody, taught her to always be kind. She takes kindness one step further and is always loving, even with people she doesn’t know.

On a daily basis, Shawna bares her soul to those who are lucky enough to be near her, and she gives us permission to open our souls and be creative, be vulnerable, be colorful, be loved and see the joy in life.

Shawna shows us how to throw our judgement hats out the window, and we’re the richer for it.

DragonflyDetail — Detail of the dragonfly above.

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in sculpture from Auburn University.

Master of Arts in Art Therapy from Ursuline College, Cleveland, Ohio.

Resources

http://www.shawnscarpitti.com

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/ShawnaScarpittiFineArt

Pixels – http://pixels.com/profiles/shawna-scarpitti.html

Instagram – @shawnamariescarpitti

Twitter – @seascarp

Photo Gallery

Mary Jo Strauss, Painter

Mary Jo perfected the art of hair styling before she plunged into painting with all her heart.

Mary Jo Strauss, Artist

Her mediums: oil, acrylics, charcoal, pencil

Her website: maryjofinearts.com

Mary Jo with her latest work-in-progress and little Topo yearning to be petted.

Human hair was Mary Jo’s artistic medium-of-choice for 30 years. She didn’t card human hair like wool and knit animal sweaters; the hair was always attached to the human. Instead, she used her design skills, color sensibilities and shears to transform the coiffure of thousands of Manhattan women for nine years, and then for hundreds of Steamboat, Colorado, women as proprietress of “The Gallery” for 20 years.

Mary Jo retired from being a hair dresser in 2013 and lives with her electrical engineer husband, Hans, in New River, Arizona, on a dirt road that climbs past their home and meanders up the base of Apache Peak. Raw desert views surround and city noises do not penetrate, just silence marked by the occasional rooster crow, propeller plane or all-terrain vehicle. Hans, originally from Norway, can often be found in the yard, spreading gravel, and building walls and botanical gardens designed by Mary Jo. Their shared vision has manifested in little niches of delight.

A small zen area made peaceful by Mary Jo’s wall and colorful planters.

Mary Jo sketched and painted for most of her life. At age 8, she was invited to attend a summer program at the Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio, where she was born and raised. “I was naturally drawn to painting,” Mary Jo said, “and always gravitated toward painting models in magazines like Seventeen and Glamor. My paternal grandfather was a chemist who painted portraits and landscapes as his creative outlet. When I visited, he’d play Opera and we’d discuss the art of painting.” Mary Jo had seven brothers and sisters, so support for her passion from her parents wasn’t strong, even with a grandfather who painted.

Mary Jo bought her first paint-by-number set at age 12. She saved the paint and brushes so she could paint on paper plates or on paper her father brought home from his paper salesman job. In the 6th grade, she won a safety poster contest, beating all other entries from across Dayton, Ohio, and was awarded $15, in addition to having her poster printed. Affirmations of her artistic talents continued over the years, with the exception of an episode with a nun in her Sophomore year of high school.

rhino-maryjostrauss — *Departure* 48″ x 36″ oil on canvas.

The assignment was to paint a landscape picture. “I actually painted from a photograph I had taken,” Mary Jo said. “My instructor, a nun, saw the photo on my desk, took my painting up to the front of the room and ripped it up in front of the entire class. She then said, ‘Mary Jo will grow up to be a convict and will be thrown in jail because she copied from a photo.’”

“In that instant,” Mary Jo continued, “I knew I had to get out of that school. I forged the principal’s signature on some paperwork so they would expel me, which they did. When I switched to a public school, the art teacher encouraged me and I ended up winning an award in Cincinnati, Ohio, for a sculpture. He made me realize I could actually go to college even though the Catholic school insisted I wasn’t college material.”

Mary Jo studied painting at Ohio State for two years and later returned to college to study interior design. She also dreamed of becoming an architect, and a few years later found herself in jobs that used her creativity. She worked with a Denver architectural firm and was being trained in lettering and rendering. She also worked for a silk-screening company designing t-shirts. Eventually, while Mary Jo moved between Steamboat, Colorado, New York City and Scottsdale, she went to beauty school in New York.

Gorgeous water feature and wall designed by Mary Jo and built by Hans.

“I was lucky to be hired at Henri Bendel,” said Mary Jo about the iconic 120-year-old women’s speciality store. “I worked at the salon of Jean Louis David in Henri Bendel. I received top-notch experience for nine years. It’s a famous store with famous clients, so working there was always interesting and fun. Also, in those days, Studio 54 was the place to be after hours in New York, and as a hairdresser we were always welcome to come right in.”

Life happened while Mary Jo was making other plans. She married, her son Tyler, and later divorced. Back in Steamboat, Colorado, she opened “The Gallery.” Why call a hair salon a gallery? “I had an art studio in the building and sold my paintings. However, within six months I was so busy with hair styling I quit doing art, except for the occasional sketch.”

greatdane-maryjostrauss — *Lover Boy* 48″ x 36″ mixed media.

mycontessa_600_pixels — *My Countessa* – 36″ x 48″ oil on canvas.

bluerhapsody_600_pixels — *Blue Rhapsody* – 30″ x 40″ oil on canvas.

Mary Jo may have quit doing “traditional” art during those years, yet it’s clear she simply channeled her artistic talents into being a hair designer… and many women benefitted!

There are a lucky few of us New Riverites who have the privilege of wearing Mary Jo’s artwork on our heads these days. Hans installed a professional salon sink and stool in her art studio, enabling Mary Jo to continue her hair artistry. It’s like going to a Henri Bendel’s hair dresser, but at a much lower price and only a short walk through our neighborhood.

In recent years, Mary Jo has created several large paintings, some of them multi-panels. A few pieces of her work are exhibited at Easy Street Galleria in Carefree, Arizona. In fact, one of her 8′ x 4′ foot paintings was chosen from among the gallery’s many offerings to be exhibited on the exterior of the gallery. One client commissioned a 9′ x 5′ foot painting, which Hans helped her build and install in the client’s Cayman Islands home.

On left *Heart of Gold* 36″ x 48″ and on right *Heartfelt* 48″ x 36″. Both are acrylic on canvas with gold leaf and 3 layers of clear acrylic resin.

Hans is as much a creative partner to Mary Jo’s painting career as he is her life and business partner. He moved to Steamboat to help Mary Jo when she started her wholesale company, Rodeo Cosmetics, and two retail stores, Cowgirls and Angels, and Yippie-I-O.

Hans builds the framework for many of her paintings and helps coat some of them with epoxy. He even encouraged her to go to Bali for two months in 2013 to study with an abstract master painter, Carja. Mary Jo had just retired from styling hair and was ready to get serious about painting. She ended up extending her Bali trip an extra month after adopting three baby monkeys and helping to raise them until they were placed in good homes.

Carja is known for his huge abstract paintings. “He didn’t teach us how to paint,” Mary Jo said. “He taught us how to paint from within. He’d tell us to close our eyes and mix paint colors, and feel it. He gave me permission to let go of rules and open up to painting from my emotions. He told me to just paint, every day if possible. ‘You’re style will come,’ he told me, ‘and you’ll be selling your work within three years.’”

Mary Jo began selling her paintings soon after returning to New York.

*Glory of the Flower* 24″ x 18″ oil on board.

Is Mary Jo a Feminist? Maybe not a politically active feminist, but her work has always centered on helping women feel good about themselves, and not just on the surface. While making and selling women’s beauty products, and styling hair, Mary Jo mastered the art of connecting with her clients on topics that matter. Topics that nurture the heart and mind, then work their way outward. People find it extremely easy to relate to Mary Jo and often feel immediately comfortable with her.

It’s no coincidence that from an early age, Mary Jo was compelled to draw women. She has three examples of early sketched portraits framed in her guest bedroom, and her latest project was inspired by the 2016 presidential election results. “I was at an appointment the day after the election and the technician, who was African-American, told me her little girls had asked at breakfast that morning, ‘Does this mean they will bring back lynching?’ She and I both cried, and I knew I had to portray in my art that emotional state of women and minorities. I went straight to my studio and started painting.”

Her focus on women has come full circle.

Mary Jo poses next to her earlier women’s portraits.

Mary Jo is painting the new women’s series on textured wallpaper given to her by her brother. She leaves the side edges raw. “I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to paint over the textures, but I was drawn to the paper for this series as a representation of life’s complexity. Plus, my brother, who gave me the paper, is a member of the LGBTQ community, and I’m painting to give expression to all minorities and groups often ignored or, worse, vilified.”

*River of Tears* 44″ x 35″ Mixed media: the first in Mary Jo’s women’s series.

*They Say I am a Dreamer* 38″ x 28″ mixed media: the second in her women’s series.

Love is my Alibi.jpg — *Love is my Alibi 38″ x 32″ mixed media: Work-in-progress.*

Mary Jo’s well seems bottomless as she focuses outward, listening like the professional she is after years of bonding with her clients. But Mary Jo has a rich inner life, the source of her creativity. And that’s what we’re here to talk about!

Q&A

Q: How do you describe your creative drive?

A: There’s a special feeling I get when I’m connected to my art. Like a high, or an adrenaline rush. I like to get some good music going and just lose time and get into the space. It’s the same feeling I get when I do something for someone else. I’m inspired by photographs and live entertainment. My response to learning more about elephants as endangered species was to paint them. My current project, a series of charcoal and oil paintings of women, came from watching Trump disparage and objectify women. My portraits emphasize the humanity in women.

Q: How have your life lessons contributed to your art?

A: I started out in life being a people pleaser and wanting to be loved. I wanted to prove to myself that I could be good at something, and that I was a survivor. It made me strong and brought me to this moment where art is central to my life.

Q: What is some good advice you can give creative people trying to start their own art thing?

A: Get a sketchbook and keep it with you, place it on the night stand next to your bed. Sketch before you fall asleep and when you wake up, and any time during the day. Close your eyes and sketch. Sketch your feelings. The more you create, the more comfortable you’ll become creating.

Q: Who influences your art style the most?

A: My brother’s partner, Sylvan, was an amazing artist before he died of AIDS. He taught me how to use leafing with gold, bronze or silver, and I still use leafing today. I also appreciate Georgia O’Keefe and never fully appreciated how similar our styles are until I moved West and began painting cow skulls and flowers.