Basil Tolos
BIO:
I’ve been a watercolorist for 15 years. I’ve taught watercolors for 10 years. I paint primarily landscape seascapes and still life. I’ve painted with various mediums, including oils, pastels, and acrylics.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Arts Community – 62 Academy Street – Fitchburg, MA
Caitlyn D’Amico
BIO:
Caitlyn D’Amico is an artist and educator living outside of Boston, MA. She received her BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY with a concentration in Painting and a minor in Fashion Design. She received her MFA from the Maine College of Art in Portland, ME.
Caitlyn has worked as an Elementary Art Teacher in NY, an Arts-Integrated Early Childhood Teacher in SF, and as an educator at the Children’s Creativity Museum in SF. Caitlyn studied Early Childhood Education and became an Early Childhood Certified Teacher. Currently, she works at a child-centered Montessori preschool as the Art Teacher and an Assistant Teacher. Caitlyn’s current work embodies a sense of wonder and freedom that is reflected in the children she works with. She is interested in merging the fields of art, education, and child development. Caitlyn uses painting and sculpture to bring imagination to life. Her work is characterized by bursts of bright color, twisting tubes, and life- sized structures that inhabit space.
She first exhibited her work at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Museum in Utica, NY, and has continued to exhibit work throughout New England.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Arts Community – 62 Academy Street – Fitchburg, MA
Clara Dennison
BIO:
Visitors are warmly welcomed into Clara Dennison’s Westminster art studio—a space where ideas, materials, and inspiration come together. She is delighted to share her artwork and invite guests into the place where her creative process begins.
Her work is inspired by the natural world—the forms, movement, and quiet transformations found in trees, water, sky, and the changing seasons. Through painting, printmaking, monotypes, and watercolor, she explores color, texture, and the connection between the seen and unseen.
Clara enjoys the balance between planning and discovery, allowing each piece to evolve through the creative process. Her hope is that her work inspires a sense of curiosity, connection, and appreciation for the beauty that surrounds us.
Clara lives in Westminster MA. She is a graduate of Framingham State College with a BA in fine arts. She has exhibited her drawings, paintings, watercolors, and monotypes in many locations around the United States including a solo exhibit at the Massachusetts State House where she received an Honorary Citation from the State Senate for “Recognition of Artistic Interpretation of the Scenic Beauty of the Blackstone River Valley and Purgatory Chasm State Reservation.” She has also exhibited in many national locations, including the; The Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA, The Mill Contemporary Art, Saxonville, MA, SUNY Art Museum in Plattsburgh, NY, the Frye Art Museum, Seattle WA, Zullo Gallery, Medfield, MA, New England College of NH, St. Claude Gallery, New Orleans, LA , Huntsville Gallery, AL, The Buena Vista University gallery, Storm Lake, IA, Oxbow Gallery, Easthampton, MA, Creative Connections Gift shop and Art Gallery, Ashburnham, MA, Jaffrey Civic Center, NH, Arts Worcester, MA.
A member of the; Boston Printmakers, The Monotype Guild of New England, The Women’s Caucus of Art, The Gardener Area League of Artist and Arts Worcester.
ADDRESS:
Paper Birch Art Studio – 193 Davis Road – Westminster, MA
Dena Hengst
BIO:
Dena Hengst is a central Massachusetts painter whose work explores the relationship between nature, emotion, and abstraction. Inspired by water and the ever-changing landscape, her paintings range from quiet observations of lakes, shorelines, and reflections to expressive abstract works that invite contemplation and personal interpretation.
A former public school art teacher for fifteen years, Dena holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Art from Anna Maria College. She has exhibited in solo and juried exhibitions throughout New England, including the Fitchburg Art Museum Regional Exhibition of Art, ArtsWorcester, the Petersham Art Center, and Women’s Caucus for the Arts Massachusetts exhibitions. Her work is held in private and corporate collections.
Through both representational and abstract painting, Dena invites viewers to pause, reflect, and find their own connection within the work.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Art Museum – 185 Elm Street – Fitchburg, MA
Diane Sicard
BIO:
I work with wool, creating unique appliqued wool items. I also make goats milk soap, beeswax and soy candles.
ADDRESS:
Ed Bray
BIO:
Ed Bray is an illustration graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. After graduation, he began his illustration career in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he worked for a company on pen and ink and
marker layouts. In addition to his commercial assignments, he focused on watercolor landscapes of the Midwest, which were exhibited at the Fuller Art Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts. Examples of his illustrations appear in Drawing: Structure and Vision by Fritz Drury and Joanne Stryker ©2008.
Ed is skilled in presentation artwork, such as storyboards and comps, as well as finished illustrations, but his real passion is fine art and plein air painting. His work has been featured in American Showcase, the Directory of Illustration, Behance & The Workbook. Ed lives and freelances out of a historic, former middle school in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, nestled behind and affiliated with the Fitchburg Art Museum. He is also a member of the Arts League of Lowell and was featured in a November edition (2009) and a Web Edition (2015) of The Lowell Sun and the Brockton Enterprise (2018) Ed is able to work quickly to meet tight deadlines and is available at any time for an assignment.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Arts Community – 62 Academy Street – Fitchburg, MA
Iphigenia Gossios Burg
BIO:
Iphigenia Gossios Burg has lived all over the world and absorbed many artistic traditions. Born in Greece in 1957, she moved to Germany with her family at age 9, lived in one of the great European capitals, Vienna, Austria, as a teenager, came to the US in her 20s.
In early childhood, she expressed and delivered her artistic giftings. Growing up, she refined her art abilities, while always busy at it. In her 20ies Iphigenia studied art at UMass Boston and developed more into her own styles in many mediums. She developed her own freedom with acrylics, oil-pastel, oil, charcoal, watercolor, with collages and other mixed media. Here resent adventure is alcohol inks, since 2022.
After college she end up in Pasadena CA, where she worked (1991-2000) at U.S. Center for World Mission as a full-time artist, had won Artist of the Year award there. She also taught art to middle school and high school students. Iphigenia did some art for magazines and newspapers, big tapestries and murals when she was on Pasadena Campus.
Coming back to MA, 2000, Iphigenia was more occupied with raising her children and around 2010 got back to her art. At that time, she got involved with local artists at the Leominster Art Center & Gallery and became the Board of Directors there (2011-2015). She became the monthly host for the Firsts Friday events. She organized together the FF events in curating The Artist of the Month, bringing live musicians from the area, and establishing a curriculum for children’s activities in the events. This brought the community together through the arts.
In addition to all that, she was very active in making art and exhibited many art shows in the area and beyond. Her art displayed and sold in various places in the world such as Greece, Germany and even Australia but most of her work has been sold and displayed in the New England area.
Iphigenia is also a photographer, and her passion has expanded in making art jewelry as well as other art forms of expression with mixed media. She always thrives on new ideas and is involved in Art Festivals and Art shows in Massachusetts and New Hampshire area.
Besides being an artist Iphigenia also has a passion for helping other artists in her community to become known and be successful, so she established The Village Art Show, active since 2016. VAS brings all artists together, local visual artists, musicians and poets.
Iphigenia also has developed through the years her own brand that is called IphigeniART and is the name of her own business.
Iphigenia is known in her area as an art activist and a deep spiritual individual. She believes art is the source of a healthy life, naturally given by our Creator —a passion we all have as humans, to create and follow our destiny in every aspect that brings joy, beauty, hope and purpose in people’s life journeys.
Iphigenia Gossios Burg is based in Fitchburg, MA since 2005. She participates in many art exhibitions in her area and works with different art associations throughout Massachusetts. She is the president in Greater Gardner Art Association in since 2024. She is the founder, the coordinator and curator of the Village Art Show which exhibits bimonthly in The Boulder Art Gallery in Fitchburg MA. She teaches various classes and unique techniques of her own, and demonstrates her skills to many places.
In 2022 She painted a mural for the Mayor of Leominster MA that is visual in downtown Main St. Café’s alley.
ADDRESS:
Boulder Art Gallery – 960 Main Street – Fitchburg, MA
Jacqueline Pelnar
BIO:
Jackie Pelnar is a Multidisciplinary Crafter/Visual Arts Hobbyist who makes art for the pure joy of it. She fell in love with art in kindergarten … her first memory of creating art was a snowman, using Ivory Flakes soap on a dark piece of colored construction paper. Mostly self-taught, but has attended various classes, including acrylic, ceramic, watercolor, flower, arranging, sewing, etc., with a short stint at Massachusetts College of Art, taking night classes in graphic design. Currently she is most focused on the art of watercolor.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Arts Community – 62 Academy Street – Fitchburg, MA
Jan Puccelli
BIO:
Art has been an integral part of Jan Puccelli’s life for as long as she can remember. There is an inner drive to create with whatever media is available, whether it is with food, fiber, ink, pastels, pencils, paint, or camera.
Most of her inspiration comes from nature. The woods, birds, flowers, trees, bodies of water. The sounds. The colors. The flow of the seasons, the wind in the trees, the texture of the earth, the insects that inhabit those spaces and the energy that surrounds all of it. The grounding and healing effect of being in that energy. Using that inspiration, she tries to connect to that energy and transport it through her art work and photography.
The release that art and nature has on the soul is very important to her.
Much of her art training has been through the Worcester Art Museum with some wonderful teachers. In 2015, she attended The Hallmark Institute of Photography to fulfill a lifelong dream of immersing herself in the art of photography.
Currently, she is a member of the Women’s Caucus of Art and Fitcburg Open Studios, where being part of those groups has provided inspiration and connection through art and other artists.
ADDRESS:
Paper Birch Art Studio – 193 Davis Road – Westminster, MA
Jessica Clarke
BIO:
My name is Jessica Clarke, Im a third generation artist, I learned the language of visual art from a very young age, I believe art is all encompassing, it is an extension of and an expression of our spirit, a necessary human activity, something that can heal and inspire, both in its viewing and its creation.
In my art I try to create positive and beautiful relationships whether I am working figuratively or abstractly. I am learning to create from energy (my own and that of others) and to allow that energy to guide what I am doing.
I want my work to be intuitive and to express something that is uniquely my own. This is a life long journey.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Arts Community – 62 Academy Street – Fitchburg, MA
Joanne Stowell
BIO:
Joanne Stowell is a professional artist and art instructor from Central Massachusetts. A mother, dog lover, and small-scale farmer, her contemporary realistic oil paintings are deeply inspired by her daily life and every piece tells a story. While oil painting is her primary medium, she also has experience in drawing, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, and installation art. Joanne has an MFA in Visual Arts from Lesley University College of Art and Design and has exhibited her work in numerous exhibitions nationwide. She currently serves as President of the Massachusetts Women’s Caucus for Art.
ADDRESS:
Creative Connections – 56 Main Street – Ashburnham, MA
Kae Lyons
BIO:
Selvage Rift Art is created by Kae Lyons. Resident artist at the Fitchburg Artist Community, originating from Providence, Rhode Island. Their art style consist of mixed media, with inspiration being drawn from their deep love of fantasy, and nature. The collection for Fitchburg Open Studios consists of polymer clay and felt sculpture, acrylic paint, and pencil sketches. This collection tells the tale of an adventurer returning from their journey to tell their stories of dragons, mystical creatures, and fantastical treasures beyond any townsfolk wildest dreams.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Arts Community – 62 Academy Street – Fitchburg, MA
Kelsey Engvik
BIO:
Based in Lowell, Massachusetts, Kelsey Engvik (Dali of the Dogs Embroidery) is a self-taught embroidery artist. She discovered her passion for the medium in mid-2024, channeling a period of personal adversity into a rapidly thriving artistic career marked by multiple gallery exhibitions, artisan fairs, and a solo show of 60 pieces at Western Avenue Studios. Her hand-stitched creations heavily feature whimsical details, botanical subjects, and pop art. Deeply committed to community engagement and artistic accessibility, Engvik balances technical execution with a lively, colorful charm.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Arts Community – 62 Academy Street – Fitchburg, MA
Linda Williams
BIO:
I have been weaving for over 50 years, having been taught by my grandmother. I weave mostly scarves, shawls, and fabric from mainly natural fibers, especially wool.
ADDRESS:
New Dawn Arts Center – 84 Main Street – Ashburnham, MA
Mark Lore
BIO:
My career as a professional artist and fine arts educator has been the primary focus of my life for the last five decades.
As a contemporary painter, my landscape-inspired works explore the emotional resonance of color, texture, and light. Blending elements of abstraction and realism, my practice reflects a deep engagement with the natural world and its ability to stir memory and perception. Working primarily in oil and acrylic, I build layered compositions through expressive brushwork and palette knife techniques, creating surfaces that are both bold and contemplative. The use of rich contrasts and tactile textures evokes the shifting moods of land and sky, transforming familiar scenery into immersive fields of energy and atmosphere. Each painting becomes a reflection of inner and outer landscapes, capturing the subtle tension between observation and interpretation. With a focus on the sensory experience of place, my work invites viewers to connect emotionally with the environment and to experience color not only as a visual sensation but as a force that shapes space, movement, and memory.
Currently, I am represented by The Boulder Gallery in Fitchburg, MA as a featured artist, Teravana Art Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, Artsy, Artnet platforms and a Member Artist of The Copley Society of Art in Boston, MA.
Published works are in several editions of Studio Visit Magazine, which is a juried selection of international artists, published by The Open Studio Press, and four publications, as a featured artist in Spotlight Contemporary Art Magazine, published by The Circle Foundation for the Arts in Lyons, France.
I continue my local connections to the area with annual submissions to ArtsWorcester, Gardner Area League of Artists, Greater Gardner Art Association, Princeton Arts Society, and Newburyport Art Association.
After nearly 30 years as a Fine Arts Educator, I retired in 2019 and now work from my studio/gallery at School Street Art Studios, located at 205 School Street, in Gardner, MA.
ADDRESS:
School Street Art Studios – 205 School Street – Gardner, MA
Mike Amadeo
BIO:
I am a mixed media artisan enjoying life in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Growing up in a household of painters, woodworkers, potters, and jewelers gave me an exposure to a variety of materials, techniques, and styles. I enjoy making useful things like mirror frames, chess sets, and jewelry. I love designing something new, something that combines in new ways the wonderful world of colors and textures around us.
The creative process for me is one of discovery as much as invention. Challenges along the way typically result in something resembling my original vision, but usually offering pleasant surprises as well. The fulfillment that comes from completing a piece is matched by bringing a bit of beauty to someone else’s life.
ADDRESS:
Main Street Studios – 569 Main Street – Fitchburg, MA
Nancy French
BIO:
I have been working with wood since 1980 when I started my journey in the Cabinet and Furniture Making Program at North Bennet Street School. Over the years I have strayed from traditional furniture making. My recent work is a mix of both sculptural and practical. I use fallen branches, tree bark, firewood, hardwood scraps from other projects and wood that has been discarded by others. Nature often defines the outcome of my work. Inspiration is never far away when you look around the natural world. A walk around the backyard woods or the firewood stack can be the beginning of a project. I love the contrast between tree bark and finished wood. There are so many opportunities for artists to re-purpose discarded, damaged or worn out materials. Finding a use for something that is no longer useful is an adventure in creativity.
More of my work can be seen on my website www.nancyafrench.com
Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/TreesToArt/
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Art Museum – 185 Elm Street – Fitchburg, MA
Sherry Hughes
BIO:
I started painting as a way to quiet my mind in the midst of a lot of chaos in my life. I had no idea how life changing it would be. It turns out that painting is my best form of meditation
I paint bright flowers and free-form leaves and vines on vibrant backgrounds. My hope is that my work will be met with smiles and show viewers my joyful expression of nature.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Art Museum – 185 Elm Street – Fitchburg, MA
Susan McQuade
BIO:
My studies in art began at an early age, starting at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver, Colorado. Classes at the Worcester Art Museum followed over the years. Soft pastels have been the main focus, though water-soluble oils and polymer clay have more recently entered the mix. A move into the Fitchburg Arts Community now offers more time to pursue this work.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Arts Community – 62 Academy Street – Fitchburg, MA
Suzan Wentworth
BIO:
I often laughingly say “what haven’t I done”
Sewing, painting, weaving ( at one time I had a 60” Macomber loom as well as a 24” Harrisville ) , ceramics, glassblowing , quilting and then a vacation to PEI and I rediscover Rug Hooking.
A traditional make do craft .
Recently entered the Fitchburg Art Museum Regional Arts & Crafts and was delightfully surprised to not only be accepted to the Juried show but to win a prize as well, gave me the impetus to enter the Open Studios .
Thank you for the opportunity to demonstrate the craft.
ADDRESS:
New Dawn Arts Center – 84 Main Street – Ashburnham, MA
Tracy Knight
BIO:
I am an animal activist and environmentalist and these passions have inspired me as an artist. I use plastic, trash, recyclable and non-recyclable materials, acrylics and mod podge. My style is forming and I hope to soon have developed techniques which utilize only what I have and make, without having to acquire paints or adhesives. Every piece expresses a new world with the ghosts of human damage. There is release, the innocence of peaceful souls ready to move forward and live in freedom.
ADDRESS:
Fitchburg Art Museum – 185 Elm Street – Fitchburg, MA