Artist Recognition

Our 3D Artists of the Month for January are Nancy and Bill Giffin, Nantucket Basket and Shaker Box Artists.  Nancy and Bill love the simplicity, beauty, and creativity of traditional Nantucket and Shaker crafts, and create authentic reproductions of these items using the time honored techniques they acquired in their native Massachusetts.   They consider it their artistic mission to preserve and pass on these uniquely American fine craft traditions.  Nancy and Bill work as a team in their Cape Coral studio to create their award-winning boxes and baskets, which are both beautiful and functional. Click here to see the artist's work.

Our 2D Artist of the Month for January is watercolor artist Joanne Stramara.  Joanne's interest in art began at an early age and was influenced by her grandmother's flower garden and by art trips throughout the United States and abroad.  Her style ranges from realistic to abstract and her subject matter is varied.  All of her work is characterized by vibrant color.  Joanne also enjoys teaching watercolor and experimenting with various methods and materials. Click here to see the artist's work.

AnneTuttle won Third Place in the Charlotte County Visual Arts Center's October, 2020 Falling for Art Exhibit with her colored pencil painting, "Summer Reading."

Jim Beech won a Merit Award in the Charlotte County Visual Arts Center's October, 2020 Falling for Art exhibit with his watercolor "Fence Line."

Barb Albin's acrylic abstract, "All My Friends" won Second Place in the Charlotte County Visual Arts Center's September, 2020 "Color" exhibit.  The various colors in the painting represent Barb's many friends weaving in and out of her life.  

Bev Yankwitt won a Merit Award in the September, 2020 "Color" Exhibit at the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda with her mixed media abstract, "Conspiracy Theory."

Nancy Giffin's beautiful beaded sculpture of a lotus flower, "Beauty in the Swamp," won the Rubicond Honorable Mention Award in the Cape Coral Art Center's July/August, 2020 exhibit, "In Spite of the Swamp."

Bev Yankwitt's abstract painting "Lunar Light" has been juried into the 49th annual Florida Watercolor Society's Member Show, which will be held online starting September 19th at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art.  As an added plus, Bev has been notified that her painting has also won a prize!

Jan Pronko's "Phineas Fish" clay wall sculpture won Third Place in the Visual Arts Center's June, 2020 exhibit, Water,Water, Everywhere.

Nancy & Bill Giffin's woven pedestal covered basket, "A Day at the Beach," has been accepted into the National Basketry Organization's  Online show "Members in Print 2, Patterns and Textures" on view Summer, 2020.  The entries are also featured in a special summer edition of the Organization's magazine, Basketry+.