Artists of the month:
Maria Nemchuk and Sandy Dukeshire

Maria Nemchuk

Artist Statement

I’m a contemporary realist artist. While I paint a wide variety of subjects, I find portraits and figurative work to be most inspiring, challenging and enjoyable. I’m a true believer in working from life — direct observation is the key to accurately capturing and conveying nuanced feelings, beauty and inner character of your subject, let it be an apple, a pond or a person.

Biography

Born in a family that appreciated the arts as long as they were intended as hobbies, Maria Nemchuk was drawing her first portraits at the age of two, handling (and chewing on) coloring pencils like any other two-year old pro-artist. Later in life, around the age of seven, she moved on to watercolors, the medium that provided her with the greatest disappointment, as no matter how hard she tried, the paintings would not come close to the works of the old masters. After briefly sidetracking to get a must-have technical degree, she continued her artistic pursuits and finally discovered the magical world of oil painting, which almost instantly brought her art closer to what she was after - paintings that are based on classical, centuries-proven traditions, executed in the modern world and reflecting modern day sensibilities. Ever since, Maria has been tirelessly working at becoming a better artist, learning from the masters — both contemporary and long gone.

Art Education

Private study: Tom Ouellette (2004-2009), Mark Hayden (2000-2005) , Don Karr (1998-2000), Nikolai G Tereshchenko (1985-1988)

Workshops: Donald Demers, Dennis Cheaney, William Whitaker

Member of Andovers Artist Guild, Boston Figurative Art Center, Haverhill Art Association

Contact Information

Website: http://art.nemchuk.com
Email: maria@nemchuk.com

Creations from Sandy's Glass Shack

Sandy Dukeshire has been a glass artist for over 18 years. Her love for glass started with a community stained glass class in her native Andover. A short time later, she enrolled in an advanced stained glass class at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She continued her studies in a glass blowing class at Massachusetts College of Art.

A good friend gave her a large used kiln, and there was no turning back. She took another glass blowing class at Mass Art and realized she needed more furnace experience. This led to an apprenticeship at Hurstin Glass and Metal, where she honed her glass blowing skills and transformed from student to studio assistant.

Sandy has taught stained glass classes for the Tewksbury Senior Center and The Essex Art Center in Lawrence. In addition, she’s led hundreds of workshops on creating stepping stones, jewelry, and glass fusing. She has amassed a large inventory of glass pieces, many of which can be found in several local stores. She also takes commissions to create large custom items.

Creations from Sandy's Glass Shack are on display in the cabinets on Level 2 through the end of June.