Maryland Statehouse

Through July 31, selected artists from Delaware are on exhibit:

Janice Itzel, fabric

About the Artists:

ROBERT BRUCE WESTON is a retired master cabinetmaker. His career in residential and commercial cabinetmaking included the luxury of working with and for some of the most respected architects and designers in the New York metropolitan area. Bob retired to Delaware to pursue his dream of creating a unique art form, wood veneer wall art.

His wife and partner, Suzanne Deitrich, is a retired teacher with impeccable taste and a unique design sense — making her the perfect partner for an artist.

“My love of wood comes from 30 years as a cabinetmaker,” states Mr. Weston. “During this time period, my affection for all wood species and the characteristics of their distinctive figure or grain prompted me to collect a prodigious inventory of exotic and domestic wood veneers. This process inspired a new love, a form of art, which I call wood veneer art. The patterns I find within the wood veneer grain drive all of my art.”

LARRY ANDERSON is a graduate of the American Academy of Arts in Chicago, Ill. where he studied commercial illustration and watercolor. A long term resident of Delaware, he enjoys focusing his attentions on the beauty of the Eastern Seaboard’s sights and events. Larry attempts to search out past and present nostalgia relating to “history in the making.” He likes to keep his art inviting and evoke the feeling of being able to “walk in and stay for a while” in his works.

While Larry enjoys capturing the local lore and events that are unique to this area, he also enjoys what he calls “participation painting” — incorporating other people’s ideas, memories and dreams into his art. He is dedicated to preserving the history of the region, actively supporting causes and efforts by both participation and fundraising events. Larry was cofounder and chairman of the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware’s Annual Artfest Fundraising Event for 15 years, and currently sits on the Board of Directors for Delaware Foundation for Visual Arts (DFVA). His works are in many private and commercial collections around the world.

JOHN SCHISLER was born in Baltimore in 1972. He began painting at the Conrad Miller Studio in Fells Point at the age of 17, where he studied the use of Maroger Mediums and the techniques of the Dutch Masters through the teaching of Nancy Lee Conrad and Melvin Miller — both of whom were students of Jacques Maroger. John learned to make and use ‘black oil,’ which is used as a basis for the mediums of such masters as Titian, Rubens, and Rembrandt. The advantage of this medium is the ability to obtain the qualities of color, shadow, and brilliance found only in their paintings.

Keeping with the tradition of the old masters, John makes this black oil that is then used to make medium as well as oil paint by mixing with powdered pigments. He also makes his own mastic varnish. His style is classical realism.

In early 2011, John began to pursue a full time career in art. Along with painting, he also teaches his traditional painting techniques at his home studio in Georgetown, Del.

JANICE ITZEL earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Connecticut with a major in painting. While pursuing her career as an elementary school teacher, she also enjoyed sewing and collecting fabric. After retiring, she began to seek a method of combining art and fabric in her creative work, and developed a way of using fabric to build scenery both imaginary and real.

After choosing the background colors, she cuts and sews strips of fabric together, often to give the appearance of quilting and representing scenes from the natural world. She may also build the midground and foreground with appliqued images. A fabric “mat” is sewn around the image, which is then attached to wooden stretcher bars to ready for hanging.

Janice participates in many artisan shows throughout Delaware and Maryland.

For more information, call Dorchester Center for the Arts at 410-228-7782, or visit online at www.dorchesterarts.org.

Editor’s note: Spectrum is the weekly column of the Dorchester Arts Center. Mickey Love, is the executive director.