Miki Nagano

“Printmaking is a unique method to express an artist’s ideas and images on paper,” Miki Nagano came to the United States in 1978 from Tokyo, where she had studied Printmaking and Oil Painting. She has lived in Ridgewood since 1989. Miki Nagano is a multi-faceted artist. She has made etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, linocuts, callagraphs, celligraphs and monoprints. She will demonstrate some of those printmaking methods using her etching press. Mrs. Nagano has had her works exhibited worldwide over the last 30 years, and one of her prints was chosen for the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Collection at the Library of Congress, Washington D.C., in 2004. Miki Nagano also draws pen and pencil house drawings, and these will be on display as well. www.nycoo.com/tamabi/mikinagano.html

Dee DeBernardis

“Elusive Moments” was the name I chose for a recent one woman art show. It came to me when I promised to do a watercolor of a child’s first sneakers for a friend. The moment, the transition from babyhood to the beginning of independence, seemed to be symbolized by those tiny well-worn sneakers. These are the moments I try to capture when I begin a painting—particularly in watercolor”. Dee DeBernardis’s paintings have been exhibited in juried shows, are in many private collections, and the painting entitled “The View, Forever Changed”, is on permanent display at the Ridgewood Library.

Josephine Dvorken

Josephine Dvorken has been a fine art photographer for more than ten years and has lived in Ridgewood for the last seven years with her husband and two children. Building on her Fine Arts degree in photography, her photographs are influenced and inspired by the juxtaposition of shadow and light. She uses fabrics and textures to give her photographs a look of the old Masters paintings. “With each image I collect, I find a memory. Behind each memory is a friend, holding another piece of me. With the camera, I ask the question. Within the image, I find the answer”. www.josephinedvorken.com

Susan Zulauf

Susan Zulauf has pursued a career in art since second grade, eventually studying graphic design and illustration at the Rochester Institute of Technology. After working for Hallmark Cards in Kansas City as a line designer for stationery and calendars, she became the Creative Vice President and Licensing Director for a design firm in NJ that manufactured high end wrap, bags and accessories. There, she supervised a studio of 12, painted, researched trends in the marketplace, cost out new product, handled press approvals, designed the model line and negotiated licensing contracts. Thirteen years ago, Susan opened Zulauf Designs as a licensed artist, painting designs for more than 50 companies worldwide, that are on china, holiday collectibles, fine art prints, and on paper products. Susan lives in Ridgewood with her husband and business manager, and four children, all of who appear to be pursuing careers in design. www.zulaufdesigns.com

Kathleen Duxbury

Kathleen Duxbury is so prolific there is hardly an aspect of Ridgewood life that doesn’t include her photographs. Working as a Fine Art and documentary photographer, she is the official photographer for the Ridgewood High School New Players since 2003. For numerous years she has contributed to the Village of Ridgewood Calendar and photographed the Final Days of Hillcrest Farms, to name a few. Her images have been extensively exhibited in Texas, the mid-west and locally in New Jersey, winning numerous awards and some becoming part of museum, corporation and library permanent collections. www.kathleenduxbury.com

Amanda Steen

Looking for inspiration for a lemon tree mural, Amanda visited the Ridgewood Public Library and discovered a children’s book of flowering trees, illustrated with the delicate watercolors of Anne Ophelia Dowden, a contemporary botanical artist. This led her to a certificate program in Botanical Illustration at the New York Botanical Gardens… and the rest is history. Amanda Steen now creates botanical illustrations in watercolor, gouache and colored pencil, following in a long tradition that dates back to the earliest days of botanical classification through artists such as Redoute and Margaret Mee. She has exhibited in New York, and has upcoming exhibits in Paris and the Royal Horticultural Society in London. Amanda was born in Wales, and spent most of her life in Hampshire, England before moving to the United States in 1997 with her husband and three young daughters.

When you go on the Tour, please visit the kitchen at the Steen house to see the lemon tree mural and visit the “loo” to see Amanda’s mosaic work. There will also be a display of books from Amanda’s personal collection showing early and contemporary botanical illustration.

Kerry Lane

“Color holds enormous emotional weight for me.  I feel energy the moment I catch sight of the paint color upon the palette and am instantly mesmerized as the paint glides against the canvas.  I addictively select colors that delight my heart and impassion me--fuchsia, turquoise, cobalt, red, lavender, and bright greens dominate my work. I am inspired by the still life and interior paintings of Matisse and the playfulness in his depictions of the seemingly commonplace.  Children’s art is also of great interest to me because of the wonder and freshness of their approach, interpreting and exploring the world around them. There is magic in making art, a transformative quality that children understand intuitively.  My creative goal is to tap into my own feelings of astonishment at the miraculous spectacle of color and light and communicate this consciousness to my audience. “ Kerry Lane has lived in Ridgewood most of her life with her husband and two children. She is finishing a degree in Visual Arts with a concentration in painting and art education.