Team Category: Instructors

Shirley began her professional art career in 2001 in the Washington, DC area.

Proficient in numerous art mediums her favorite subjects include landscapes, brilliant sunsets, nautical scenes and wildlife that express her enjoyment of nature and passion for artistic realism. She recently discovered the challenge of watercolor painting on black paper for a dramatic non-traditional approach to watercolor painting.

Her art has won many awards and has been featured in major publications, exhibitions, and galleries from New Jersey to Florida. Commission work includes illustrations for a world-wide public relations firm, local businesses, and individual collectors.

Shirley is the Founder of Harbour View Gallery, Cape Coral, FL, a member of COCO Gallery (Estero, FL), the Working Artists Forum (Easton, MD), and The Artists’ Gallery and the Chestertown River Arts both in Chestertown, MD and the Annapolis Watercolor Club, Annapolis, MD.

She is a three-time juried artist for the prestigious Plein Air Easton Local Color exhibition in Easton, Maryland.

Shirley teaches at the Alliance for the Arts, Fort Myers, FL and for Women of Watercolor, Naples, FL.

In 2010 she was nominated for the Southwest Florida annual Angels of the Arts, Arts Organization Leader of the Year Award for creating Harbour View Gallery and spearheading the first annual 2010 “Paint the Cape” plein air competition and exhibition.  She was one of seven Cape Coral artists selected for the 2013 Alliance of the Arts Annual Art Studio Tour.

Shirley and her husband David maintain residences in Cape Coral, Florida and the eastern shore of Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay.

[email protected]                                          www.huesbyshirley.com

Marliss Brockington has been performing Polynesian dance for the past 25 years. She’s been honored to perform at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, HAwaii, the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and at the Makahiki Lu’au at SeaWorld in Orlando. She has been teaching all styles of Polynesian dance to all ages for five years in Southwest Florida and loves sharing the culture and spirit of the islands here.

My name is Pat Smelkoff, and I love to introduce students to the JOY of PAINTING!

I am an artist, designer, travel teacher and also author of “Juicy Fruits and Fragrant Flowers” published by Plaid Enterprises. I design painting projects for magazines such as Paint Works, Painting and the Decorative Painter, the official publication of the Society of Decorative Painting.

I have taught at many conventions, namely Artist Expo-Houston Texas, HOOT, Heart of Ohio Tole in Columbus Ohio, New England Traditions, Marlborough, MA, as well as Decorative Painting Chapters in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

I had the opportunity to study Russian stroke painting in Zhostovo, Russia with Master Artist Boris Grafov.

I am a Plaid Ambassador, and a certified Priscilla Hauser and Heather Redick instructor, as well as being certified in Bob Ross Florals.

Ellie Peterson, creator of Meditative Movements™, is passionate about exploring with you how you can care for your own mind, body and being needs. She teaches individuals how to transform unhealthy habits into nurturing ones.

In 1992, she graduated from the College of St. Catherine where she studied fitness and psychology.  She has overcome addictions, emotional upheavals like depression, and illnesses.  Because of her own personal life experiences, Ellie believes that everyone can be healthy, happy and feel whole.

Ellie has 30+ years of teaching experience and is the author of “Meditative Movements” and “Empowering Energy,” books as well as the creator of the “Power of Positive Aerobics DVD.”

Visit Ellie’s website at ppworkouts.com.

Painter, Sculptor, Writer, Filmmaker, Peace Activist, Designer of furniture, interiors, landscapes and now add instructor for Golden Artist Colors to the list. K.D. looks forward to bringing his enthusiasm for all things creative to this latest adventure. Born in Connecticut and painting for more than thirty years in acrylics and mixed media, he has spent ten years painting and exhibiting in the Los Angeles area before relocating to Sarasota, Florida. He has spent time painting in Paris, France and the Tuscany region of Italy. K.D. works snippets of newspaper text and headlines from around the world into each painting. These pieces of newsprint act as time-coding elements to root the individual piece to the period in which it was created, and while subtle, this process also helps contribute to the rich surface texture imparted upon every work. Vivid colors and primitive forms spread across often outsized canvases, are hallmarks of his work.

His work hangs in many private and corporate collections throughout the United States and Europe. He is currently represented by Art Dimensions, Inc. in Los Angeles, and in Europe by Paul Arellano of International Artists’ Agency, Munich.

Visit Kevin’s website at kdtobinart.com.