Lives in: Rockville, MD                                    

Website: www.mariericcio.com             

Social Media:

Maria is on Facebook and Instagram.

Media and subjects: My media is mainly oil paint although I sometimes paint with gouache if time is restricted or I am not able to transport my oils. My main subject is still life but I also paint the landscape as well as the figure.

Why you joined MAA: I joined MAA for the opportunity to connect with a community of local artists.

Something fun about you: During the summers of high school and college I worked as a puppeteer, putting on shows at the local beaches on Long Island.

Artist Biography: Art has always been a part of my life whether through creating or viewing it. I started my art journey as an abstract painter, but after earning an MFA from University of Pennsylvania, I fell in love with observational painting. 

Over the years, I have gravitated towards still life painting in the studio. Still life painting gives me the joy of orchestrating objects to create an emphasis on color, light and composition and the chance to play with abstract ideas. Most of my still life paintings contain personal stories that are revealed to me during the painting process. I also enjoy plein air painting on a regular basis and paint or draw the figure as often as I can.

For many years I worked as a graphic design and this has also influenced my work. I grew up outside of New York City and moved to Rockville more than 20 years ago. I have exhibited my work in the Washington, DC area and beyond. I am an artist member of TAG/The Artists Gallery in Frederick where I served for six years on the board including as president for two years. I have also curated still life exhibits promoting this often-overlooked genre at both The Washington Studio School and VisArts in Rockville. 

Please enjoy several of Marie's wonderful still life paintings. 

Amongst the Turmoil  12x12" oil

Young Love 16x16" Oil 

Perfect Diamond 20x20” oil

We have a number of paintouts scheduled for this summer. Most events are free to MAA members with advanced registration requested.

JUNE

Windridge Vineyards, Darnestown

Spend the early morning and early afternoon painting en plein air with fellow MAA members at the beautiful Windridge Vineyards. The vines have started their journey toward the sky, with the hope of luscious purple grapes later in summer. The vineyard sits atop rolling hills surrounded by forested areas that are bursting with new growth. No doubt you will find lots of artistic inspiration.

Register for Windridge

Great Falls Park, Potomac

We'll meet on the Maryland side of the falls and offer two sessions, on Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11, so that those who work during the week have an opportunity to join, too. Subjects include the falls themselves, the historic Great Falls Tavern, the C&O Canal, the canal boat, and more.

Register for Great Falls

JULY

Lilypons Water Gardens, Adamstown

We have been invited on two days in July to make the most of the flowering season of water lilies and lotuses! The sessions are scheduled for Tuesday, July 5 and Tuesday, July 19. The gorgeous conservation area is in Frederick County, just 40 minutes from Rockville. Join us on either or both days.

Register for Lilypons

McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, Poolesville

We are monitoring the growth of the sunflower fields at this protected area in Poolesville and will set a Saturday date for painting in the coming weeks. While the painting conditions can be tough--hot weather, tall grasses and lots of bees and mosquitos--the scenery is unparalleled! 

SEPTEMBER

Plein Air Competition at the Paint the Town Labor Day Show

MAA members and others from the local community are invited to participate in our annual painting competition, which will be held rain or shine on Saturday, September 3. After getting your paper or canvas stamped, you'll have until 3 pm to complete a piece of artwork within the boundaries of Kensington, Maryland (the zip code 20895).

Registration opens in July.

Lives in: Falls Church, Virginia

Website: klinallenart.com

Social media: @klinallenart on Instagram, Tiktok, and Facebook. 

Media and subjects: Representational/figurative oil painting

Why you joined MAA: To be more involved in the local art scene. 

Something fun about you: I like to make costumes and use them for the subjects of my paintings.

Artist Biography: Kara Allen is a representational artist based in Northern Virginia. They have been making art since they could hold a pencil in their hands. They began using oils at age 14 when they attended the high school scholarship class at the Yellow Barn.

After high school they attended the Montgomery College arts program while working as a seamstress and costume designer. Currently they are a candidate in the Master Artist Program at The Compass Atelier. 

Please enjoy several of Kara's paintings:                                                                  

                

            

Congratulations to our 2022-23 Board of Directors! With 103 members voting, we are pleased to confirm that Jennifer Kahn Barlow will be our next president. She and the other newly elected Board members will take office on June 1, 2022.

Officers

• President: Jennifer Kahn Barlow (shown at right
• 1st Vice President, Programs: Frank Mancino
• 2nd Vice President, Shows: Amelia De Silva
• 3rd Vice President, Communications & Marketing: Elissa Poma
• Secretary: Kathy Tynan
• Treasurer: Anastasia Walsh
• Past President: Alan Rich

Committee Chairs

• Activities: open
• Children’s Activities: Judith Levine
• Communications: Teresa Sites
• Community Outreach: Marta Lopez Teigeiro
• Equipment: Joyce Koeneman
• Hospitality: Simin Parvaz
• In-Person Shows: open
• Marketing: Martina Sestakova
• Membership: Kathy Tynan
• Online Shows: open
• Paint the Town Labor Day Show: Anastasia Walsh
• Plein Air Events: Sandhya Sharma
• Programs: Hiral Joshi

By Judith Levine

On a sunny Saturday, MAA’s plein air painters met up at the National Capital Trolley Museum. The museum, which was established in 1961, was originally in Baltimore but by 1966 had moved to its current home in Colesville, MD. It aims to teach and allow the public to experience how trolley cars and street cars fit into the story of public transportation.

As plein air painters, our aim was to interpret those cars as works of art. And that is precisely what happened. Thirty of us descended on the museum starting at 9:30 am. Nobody had any preconceived ideas about what they would paint.

We spread out from just inside Street Car Hall, which was open on one end for cars to leave for the tracks, then we spread all the way down the tracks. Some chose to paint the cars themselves and just as many set the cars into scenes that would have been normal when they actually ran the streets, providing one of the most common modes of public transportation.

It was an exciting day. Outside of our Paint the Town Labor Day Show, we hadn't previously hosted a plein air event that both lasted all say and was judged. We additionally hadn't ever held an auction.

The judge awarded six prizes to the following works:

• 1st place: Street Car Hall by Rajendra KC
• 2nd place: Cart Hall by Vicky Zhou
• 3rd place: Trolley Bumper by LeAnn Sawyers
• Honorable mentions: Grand Cypress Green by Christopher Hoppe, Aged to Perfection by Jean Cooper, and Good Memories of the Past by Yik Chek Phan.

Street Car Hall by Rajendra KC (watercolor on paper)

The prize-winning pieces were offered to guests during an auction, and most of the other works painted during the day were available for sale. In total, 11 works sold.

We were also happy to welcome a Pennsylvania video blogger and transport aficionado, Caleb, who created this video of our day, including interviews with a number of participants.

Lives in: Middletown Maryland

Media and subjects: Photography, nature photography, landscape and botanicals

Website: lorilankford.com

Social Media: instagram.com/photography_lori/

Why you joined MAA: I moved to Maryland last fall and wanted to connect with a community of local artist. 

Something fun about you: I love to garden, and if not out doing photography, you can find me in my back garden. 

Artist Biography: Lori Lankford is an established nature photographer, digital artist and instructor. She comes from a long line of gardeners, artist and teachers.  

With photography she gets to be all three. Lori's artistic medium is photography - capturing the expected in unexpected ways, embracing the shadows and chasing the light. 

As a gardener, she takes her love of nature and transform it into art. Lori likes to find the beauty in every season, focusing on the details, colors and texture. Her tools are a mix of creative techniques with the camera as well as editing to enhance her work. 

Teaching is in her DNA- sharing her passions and helping other find their creative voice. She works one on one with students mentoring them in creative photography as well as teaching online and live classes throughout the year. 

Please enjoy several of Lori's photographs below: 

    

 

Vineyard View by Lou Ann Collins

Congratulations to the following artists who were juried into the spring tasting room exhibition at Windridge Vineyard in Darnestown, Maryland:

David Allen

Sushila Bloom

Carolyn Boccella Bagin

Holly Buehler

Sandra Cepaitis

Linda Daniels Cermak

Lou Ann Collins

Grace Dobrow

Rosemary Fallon

Rachael James

Elisabeth Lacayo

Barbara Mandel

Gale Marcus

Debbie Miller

Dora Patin

Nancy Randa

Pritha Srinivasan

Mary Vinograd

Rosemary Yue

Thirty-five members' works will  be on exhibit at the Benjamin Gaither Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30 am-4 pm.

Thank you to Holly Buehler and Therese Capal for serving as our show managers.

Participating artists:

Laura Aikman

Ken Bachman

Leonid Bendersky

Elissa Borzilleri

Holly Buehler

Kathleen Carroll

Karim Chaibi

Jennifer Crouch

Kellie D.

Linda Daniels Cermak

Amelia De Silva

Susan Friend

Tamah Graber

Jack Hammond

Christopher Hoppe

Monica Ingudam

Mary Jordan

Hiral Joshi

Anastasiya Kavalenka

Leslie Kraff

Mita Lazarte

Judith Levine

Sally O'Connell

Dora Patin

Terry Pellmar

Sandhya Sharma

Chitra Sharma

David Sommers

Diana Tato-Niktash

Alexandra Treadaway-Hoare

Lisa Zadravec

Michelle Zugrav

Lives in: Chevy Chase, Maryland

Website: www.judithbenderson.com

Media and subjects: acrylic painting; mythogenic/abstract

Why you joined MAA:  I joined MAA to join a community of artists.

Artist Biography:  I’ve been a painter my entire adult life, including before I went to law school.   Someone recently described my work as mythogenic, and I guess it does connect back to a childhood obsession with Greek mythology.  But my work is evolving and goes back and forth between these more representational fantasies and purely abstract.

I exhibit in the Washington, DC area, most recently at American University’s Katzen Arts Center in both the AU Museum and the Katzen Rotunda, at DC Arts Center, and at BlackRock Center for the Arts, and previously participated in public art projects including DC Party Animals and Color Field Remix.   I was the Cultural Property Law Enforcement Coordinator at the Justice Department with responsibility in area of law enforcement for art theft and artifact smuggling, as well as doing appraisals for the FBI Art Theft Program.  

I have a JD from American University, a BA and an MFA from George Washington University, and am certified in fine and decorative arts appraisal.   In 2018, I organized the Washington Women’s Arts Center  (WWAC)  retrospective, Latitude, at the American University Museum.   In the 1970s and 80s, I was a board member and Managing Director of WWAC.   And in 1986,  I was a founding board member of Rockville Arts Place, now VisArts, and later served as co-President. 

I also invite you to enjoy several of my other works.

Nearly 80 MAA members are exhibiting flora and fauna-themed artwork in "The Nature of Art" exhibition at the Brookside Gardens Visitors Center in Wheaton, Maryland. 

The botanical garden and conservatory is in the midst of a springtime explosion of color, with MAA's paintings, sculptures and drawings adding to the technicolor bounty.

The exhibit runs until April 25 and is open 9 am-5 pm daily. All works are available for sale, with a portion of proceeds supporting Brookside Garden.

The participating artists are:

Carolyn Avery

Ken Bachman

David Bagwell

Jennifer Barlow

Donna Baron

Nancy Blacker

Sushila Bloom

Regina Boston

Blandine M Broomfield

Sandra Cane

Maria-Victoria Checa

Jing-Jy Chen

Carol Cober

Lou Ann Collins

Shirley Crawley

Jennifer Crouch

Linda Daniels Cermak

Nancy Davis

Amelia De Silva

Janet DeWoskin

Jamie Downs

Jennifer Eidson

Rosemary Fallon

Susan Farrer

Gloria Tseng Fischer

Susan Friend

Jack Hammond

Shayna Heller

Christopher Hoppe

Joanna Horrar

Hiral Joshi

Jim Klumpner

Leslie Kraff

Elisabeth Lacayo

Joanne Lamm

Mita Lazarte

Robin Lazarus-Berlin

Margo Lehman

Carol Leo

Judith Levine

Jennifer Lubell

Barbara Mandel

Gale Marcus

Isabella Martire

Debbie Miller

Gloria Miotto

Sally O'Connell

Melissa Ou

Simin Parvaz

Dora Patin

Terry Pellmar

Yik Chek Phan

Jeanne Powell

Cindy Renteria

Alan Rich

Faye Ross

LeAnne Sawyers

Martina Sestakova

Chitra Sharma

Ruja Shemer

Reitsang Shiao

Diane Shipley

Patricia Spranger

Narissa Steel

Elizabeth Steel

Diana Tato-Niktash

Christena Turner

Kathleen Tynan

Anastasia Walsh

Frederica Weiner

Daniel Wilcox

Mary Wilhere Jordan

Jenny Wilson

Helen Wood

Rosemary Yue

Lisa Zadravec

Eva Zang

Vicky Zhou