Women of WV Art Expo Is March 18

Fairmont State University Student Government is sponsoring the fourth annual Women of West Virginia Art Expo 2008 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, on the second floor of FSU's Falcon Center.

A wide range of art by Fairmont State students, alumni, staff and community members will be on display. Some artists will offer pieces for sale. As part of the event, there will be a lunch-time concert featuring Shannon Jones. Light refreshments will be served. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, call (304) 367-4643.

"The event will be filled with powerful female art and warm fellowship," said Laurie Johnston, Director of Student Activities.

Featured artists will be Chelsey Adams, FSU student, pottery and oil paintings; Sara Bean, FSU alumna, mixed media paintings; Kimberly Cook, FSU student, drawings; Judy Chrihfield Wilson, FSU alumna, paintings and photos; Tina Del Prete, jewelry; Morgan Ford, FSU student, charcoal drawings and abstracts; Carol Freeman, quilted wall hangings; Heather Gurash, FSU student, drawings and etchings; Patricia Hoffman, sculpture; Virginia Jocobin, stained glass; Jo Ann James, fabric art; Kadra Kramer, monotypes and oil paintings; Teresa Palmer, FSU staff, stained glass; Nancy Rice, wood carvings; Elizabeth Shroyer, FSU student, painting and photography; Natasha Turner, FSU student, painting and drawing; Valerian Wentzel, FSU student, paintings; Christy Wood, FSU student, photography and pottery; Jennifer Yerdon, FSU staff/faculty, drawing; Micah Zbach, FSU student, photography, painting and sculpture.

Following is biographical information submitted by the artists:

Chelsey Adams
Chelsey is a senior at Fairmont State University. She is majoring in French and minoring in Studio Art with concentrations in painting and ceramics. Her work has been published in the 2006 edition of Whetstone and was included in the 2006 FSU Student Juried Art Exhibition. She is the president of Café, which is FSU's French club, and a member of Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity.

Sara Bean
Sara is a 29 year old native of West Virginia and a 2003 Fairmont State graduate. She works with a variety of traditional media including oils, acrylics and watercolor. Lately she has been experimenting with sculpture. Her preferred genres are fantasy and the supernatural; her works are best described as dream-like and expressive.

Kimberly Cook
"I was born and raised in southern West Virginia, in a small town called Piney View, where living is easy and good times come often. My father passed when I was two and my brother was five, so much of my inspiration to draw came from my astonishing mother. She always encouraged me to be the best that I can be, so now I am 20-years-old and attending Fairmont State in order to be a Veterinary Technician. I had planned on being an art major, yet my love for animals and the thought of saving their lives invigorates me. So, I draw in my spare time in order to escape from everyday life. Most of my inspiration comes from the great outdoors, where God's work is at his finest. The freedom stimulates my senses, allowing me to imagine scenes outside of the box. Also, my art teachers always encouraged me to draw whatever I wanted. God, love, stress, nature, society-- so many things play a role in who I am, and how I live my life. Through my artwork, I try to let my imagination run wild, and my dreams come alive."

Judy Kay Crihfield Wilson
West Virginia has been a wonderful blessing for her as it is her inspiration to continue to create. Always willing to try something new led her in the path of various media, the strongest being watercolor. Pamala Williams instructed her as a child through high school at Hundred, W.Va. She studied under Fairmont State's finest professors. She was a full-time student at Fairmont State College from 1984-1987. Employment opportunities took her to Ohio, but she has continued with her education through the years. She has dabbled in writing, computers, photography and painting with all kinds of media. She has tutored privately and demonstrated to adults and children. She's done demonstrations for Mandy's Artworks and MAA gallery of Morgantown. She has also held watercolor seminars with course outlines. In 2004, while in the process of doing a mural for a personal client, she fell ill and was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that attacked her nervous system- Grave's disease. In 2006, she began to worsen and other deficiencies have followed. Through this time, she has worked out of her own studio and outdoors and with personal clients. Her passion, watercolors, offers her a sense of movement that spiritually awakens her. Watercolors let her be spontaneous and inventive. She is an experimental person and so are most of her works. Her goal is to keep inspiring her audience.

Tina Del Prete
Residing three decades among many artisans and musicians in Doddridge County, Tina Del Prete has many interests including but not limited to quilting, basket making, cross stitch, music, dance and organic gardening. Free in spirit and grounded in thought, her days are always filled with the celebrations of life's enjoyable gifts. In 1994, under the tutelage of Susan Kraft of Kraftworks Studio, she learned to assemble jewelry and Tina's Treasures was born. Using natural gemstones, glass seed beads, colored glass as well as various metals, Tina`s jewelry is sure to please. Living close to the earth has brought joy, achievement and artistry that her jewelry invokes.

Morgan Ford
Morgan Ford is a Fairmont State University student. She is currently majoring in Art Education and this is the first showing of her work. Morgan began art at a very young age and progressed without any formal art classes until this past semester. Her works deal with her interests and are usually experimental and accidental. She pulls her inspiration from what she has seen and what she has learned from important lessons, whether they be academic or life. After starting out with just pencil and paper, she is now experimenting with new media such as acrylic paint, pastels and charcoals. She invites you to share in her life's lessons and relate to the mood and feel that each piece portrays.

Carol Freeman
Carol Freeman has recently established a home and studio in Clarksburg. In addition to designing and constructing hand-dyed garments for Shibori West, she focuses on combining color and pattern in the creation of art quilts. One of her creations won Best Original Design in the 2001 Vandalia Gathering Quilt and Wall Hanging competition sponsored by the WV Division of Culture and History. Carol also enjoys collaborating with nature in the garden, and she loves to dance.

Heather Nichole Gurash
"I am a freshman at Fairmont State University, majoring in business. I grew up here in Fairmont with my parents, Dan and Jani and brother Eli. I have always had an interest in art and have enjoyed doing artist activities. My two pieces have a distinctive theme. The larger, pencil art piece is a collage of different objects and patterns. It focuses on shadows and shading. The second piece is a metamorphosis of a tennis ball in a box to a tennis ball and racquet. My inspiration came from the game of tennis and other appealing patterns. I love constructing artwork, but I can definitely be a perfectionist sometimes, which may not be such a bad thing."

Patty Hoffman
"I first enrolled at Fairmont State in the fall of 1975. After a semester, I decided to join the Marine Corps. Eight years later, I came back home to rise my two daughters after a failed marriage. I enrolled in accounting with a minor in art. I graduated in the spring of 1985 and married my husband the next day. Six years ago, I stopped in to see an old art instructor, and he gave me a bag of clay. I have done over 25 sculptures since then. They are all made from terra cotta and about 12 inches tall. Most of them were given to friends as presents, although I have done several commissioned pieces. I get the inspiration for these sculptures from praying and asking God for direction. I get incredible joy out of working with my hands. To be able to touch someone, to move them, means a lot to me."

Virginia Jacobin
Virginia is the mother of another Women of WV artist, Teresa Palmer. Virginia has been doing stained glass for many years. She has taught stained glass classes at the vocational technical school here in Fairmont. Virginia shared the love of art and the joy of teaching stained glass to students with her husband of many years before he passed on. She has continued to teach the classes in the fall and spring terms.

JoAnn D. James
JoAnn is from Bridgeport, WV, retired from Hope Gas (Dominion) in 2000, from Allegheny Power in 2003. She is currently employed as a substitute teacher for Harrison County and is the sole proprietor of J's Stitchery, a small sewing business operated out of her home. JoAnn has always had a passion for sewing and now enjoys creating various craft items, quilts, specialty clothing, monogramming and doing alterations. J's Stitchery specializes in a variety of unique gift items and special order items. JoAnn studied Home Economics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Howard University and earned a B.S. in Home Economics and Social Science from Seton Hill College, Greensburg, Pa. She also earned a Masters in Public Management from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Kadra Kramer
Kadra Kramer is a native of Elkins, W.Va., and graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College. Along with creating oil paintings, monotypes and intaglio prints, Kadra has been teaching various art workshops and classes in Randolph and Upshur counties for the past five years. She currently instructs at the Randolph County Community Arts Center as well as The Mountain Institute's Outdoor Education Program for Randolph County elementary students. Kadra was one of the few recipients of the Mollohan Foundation's Mary Olive Eddy Jones Scholarship for excellence in art and has exhibited at the Mollohan Innovation Center in Fairmont; Sleeth Gallery in Buckhannon, W.Va.; and the Randolph County Community Arts Center in Elkins, W.Va. Specializing in creating oil monotypes, Kadra focuses on creating images of historical architecture and landscape. Monotype printmaking is a unique way of transferring an image painted on Plexiglas to paper creating a single one-of-a-kind piece of artwork and is often described as the perfect marriage of painting and printmaking. She recently opened The Blue Door Studio in downtown Elkins, which houses a Conrad C-25 printing press - available to area artists and students during open studio times, classes, and workshops- as well as Kadra's latest painting and printing projects. She also displays her work at Artists at Work and Mainline Books on Davis Avenue in Elkins.

Teresa Palmer
"I have dabbled with stained glass at my parents' house in their basement for some time now. They taught stained glass classes at the vocational technical school here in town and I would go help sometimes. When I would see what the students were making, I would say to my dad, "I want to make that too," so they would help me with my projects also. I have a lot of glass in my house from windows in my bedroom and an entry door to cabinet doors in my kitchen; I also enclosed my fireplace with a large window. This is very time consuming and I try to make a little something for friends at Christmas as gifts and they just love it."

Nancy Rice
"I am a wood carver specializing in wildlife of West Virginia. My carvings are from native West Virginia hardwoods, such as red or white oak, cherry, ash, walnut, beech, birch. Pieces are in private collections and public areas such as lodges and state parks throughout West Virginia and the U.S. Products have included: pictures, mirrors, window valances, fireplace mantles, cabinet doors, front doors, headboards and complete beds. I use wood as a medium for my art because it brings the forests and wildlife into the everyday world of people."

Elizabeth Shroyer
"I am a senior at FSU graduating in May with a bachelor's degree in history. I have been interested in art since I was in high school. I started out doing paintings, such as cubism and hard edge, but more recently I have been aiming my focus toward photography. I like to take pictures at weird angles and of things that most people wouldn't think to take pictures of. Some of the ugliest things can turn out beautiful through the eye of a camera."

Natasha Turner
Natasha is currently a senior at Elkins High School. Art has always been a passion for Natasha. In the past few years she has progressed from pencil drawing to a wide array of painting and printmaking. Natasha most enjoys landscape painting, however, she has recently been experimenting with portraits. Natasha Turner is considering art education as a career in the future.

Valerian K. A. Wentzel
"I'm an FSU student; my major is undeclared although I am leaning toward biology. I like to get my art inspiration from nature to bring awareness to the problems with endangered species. I have two dogs and I love animals. I'd have a zoo in my house if I had the room."

Christy Ann Wood
"My name is Christy Ann Wood. I was born April 10 1985. I grew up in Las Vegas, with my parents and three sisters. I was sick as a child and hadn't many friends, so I took comfort in drawing. Everything seemed to inspire me, especially architectural design, much that I noticed in Las Vegas casinos, and other parts of the city, urban art in the flesh. Graffiti inspired me as well. I never made it but drew much inspiration from the simplistic complexity. My artistic interest and skill only broadened as I progressed through life. I now enjoy ceramics, jewelry making and craft arts such as sewing, crocheting and minor fashion design. I currently attend Fairmont State University where I am majoring in commercial graphic design, and plan to further my education in the fine arts program. I chose to take pottery this semester which as seemed to unlock much of my artistic energy. Pottery seems to have the ability to stop the hands of time for me as I often find myself at the wheel while others are gone. Many late nights and weekends of my free time have been spent joyously in the studio. My only hope is that my artistic energy and skill continue to grow as I do."

Jennifer Yerdon
Jennifer Yerdon received her B.F.A. in 2001 from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y. While studying in Albany, her concentration was oil painting but she also spent significant time drawing, silk screen printing and studying art history. After graduating from The College of Saint Rose, Jennifer attended West Virginia University and earned her M.F.A. in 2005 and a Pre-K-Adult Art Education Certification in 2006. Her artwork has been shown in New York, Kansas, West Virginia and Minnesota. Yerdon recently joined the faculty of Fairmont State University as a Temporary Instructor of Art. In the classroom she focuses on visual literacy, art appreciation, and art education curriculum development with education students. Jennifer is also the Director of the Young People's Saturday Art Studio art program where primary (ages 5-8) and intermediate (ages 9-12) students are exposed to a variety of art concepts and materials.

Micah Zbach
"The foundation in which I construct my art is pioneered by my poetry. Writing is my way of releasing my infinite thoughts of life and the obstacles it throws me through. Writing is the start from which I create a great deal of my art and photography. Visualizing the emotion invoked from the poem, I then piece together corresponding words, feelings, textures and colors to convey them. Creating art has always been the focus of my life, and I feel like it completes me as a person. My mother is my greatest inspiration, and has always been an amazing artist. My latest passion is digital photography of West Virginia. I intensely backpack the mountains, and may hike twenty miles to reach that picturesque scene. West Virginia has endless opportunities for photographers; however, getting these beautiful pictures is only achieved through hiking over unpredictable terrain. Every mile that I hike and every picture that I take drives this internal force to go farther. Nature has taken over my art and transformed it into something more powerful and meaningful than I ever imagined."