ArtsNow/uLearn
Summer 2009 Instructors
Juan Aguilera C413
Juan G. Aguilera is an Industrial Designer from the University Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City with a pre-press specialty. He has been involved in digital publishing since the darkroom days. A self proclaimed color nut, he believes color is an independent language, with a specific grammar, spelling and intonation.
Juan is a teacher at heart, having taught geometry and design with students ranging from middle school to adults, he currently teaches Photoshop, Color Correction, Camera Raw, Fine Art Printing and Digital Photography workflow in the Northwest. He is a member of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) and has attended several Photoshop World events.
Monica Baird C603
Katherine Billings C801
Katherine Billings is an award-winning director, actor, writer, producer, & Teaching Artist at the Broadway Center Conservatory, Eastern Washington University, Evergreen and South Puget Sound Colleges. Awards include the American Film Festival, U.S. Film Festival, International C.I.N.E., Stage Directing & Acting honors. A professional coach to actors for auditions and appearances on Wonder Years, Bull Durham, X-Files, Millenium, Stargate, DaVinci’s Inquest, Deadman’s Gun, Disturbing Behavior, Hot Rod, Nothing Too Good For A Cowboy and many commercials.
Lynne Compton C802, C617
Lynne Compton is fascinated with helping people transform as communicators, tap into their natural presence, and express themselves with ease. She has twenty-five years of performance and teaching experience and is an Alexander Technique International certified teacher. She has taught at Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program, the University of Washington, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle Pacific University, and Freehold Acting Studio/Lab
Dana Davis C604, C605, C606, C607
Dana Davis is an experienced Human Resource professional specializing in increasing personal and team effectiveness through: effective communication, self awareness and collaboration.
She is an accompplished facilitator and speaker and has designed and delivered programs for leading Northwest companies such as Norstsrom and Preemera Blue Cross.
Colleen Dunlap C406
You may have spent time at C K Dunlap's studio, looking at her watercolor paintings You may have seen her mosaics and tile for the garden at the Bellevue or Edmonds Art Festivals a few years back. You could have gotten your hands dirty trying to make a tile with her. Maybe you saw her quilt at the Snohomish Council for the Arts. In 35 years as an artist Colleen has worked in many mediums but specializes in watercolor and clay. "Color in nature" is the theme of her company Snohomish Arts.
Judith Forth C618, C620
Christina Fusch C610, C613
Christina Fusch has a BA in Near Eastern Studies: Biblical and Ancient and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Washington, and she has a M.A. in Religious Studies from Gonzaga University. She has taught language courses at Eastern Washington University and Whitworth University. In addition to teaching for uLearn, she teaches Arabic here at Edmonds Community College.
Christine Hanchett C601
Since 2001, Chris Hanchett has been teaching a variety of apparel related courses at Edmonds Community College. The decade prior was spent working in the field of Garment Manufacturing for local companies Nordstrom and Eddie Bauer. The subjects of clothing and the manufacturing of apparel have been at the core of her professional endeavors since graduating from Western Washington University in 1990 with a double major in Apparel Marketing and Design. Chris brings her enthusiasm and love of sewing to the Arts Now program and aspires to help students accomplish the basics of the craft.
Kathy Heffernan C608
Kathy Heffernan, MA, has been a Reiki Practitioner since 2000 and has provided reiki treatments within hospital settings as part of her professional work as a hospital spiritual counselor (chaplain). She established Tree of Life Reiki Training Institute in 2005 with a special focus of training reiki practitioners for hospital and hospice settings.
Lisa Snow Lady C400
Seattle artist Lisa Snow Lady has a BA in Fine Art/Art History and a BFA in painting from the UW. She has been creating mixed media monotypes for the last 15 years incorporating a variety of printmaking processes into her prints. Her love of botanical form and studies in horticulture are reflected in her work. She is represented by SAM Gallery Rentals and Sales, Baas Gallery, Museo on Whidbey Island and has work in the collections of the UW Medical Center, Evergreen Hospital, and Safeco Corporation. Lisa maintains a studio in Ballard.
Janet Lehwalder C407
Janet Lehwalder paints on silk using fiber reactive dyes. Her work includes framed silk paintings, done in a watercolor style, and quilted silk comforters. “I love watching the colors flow and blend naturally on the silk. And the way silk reflects light gives the paintings a special luminosity.”
She teaches a variety of silk classes all around the Pacific Northwest. Home is five acres east of Bellingham, WA. View her work and learn more about classes on her website, www.moonlightsilks.com.
Wendy Lee Lynds C408
Believing that creativity is our birthright, but realizing that fear can paralyze the creative soul, Wendy Lee Lynds seeks to bring the joy of creating into everything she does. For as long as she can remember, Wendy wanted to be a visual artist but let fear and choosing a more traditional life-path, keep her away from her heart's desire. For a million reasons, and one motorcycle man from Utah, she radically changed her life, and has been living her dream on beautiful Whidbey Island since 2005, creating multi-layered, textural works in collage, encaustics and now, printmaking. Happily, she recently 'caught' the teaching bug and loves sharing her joy of art-making!
Susana Martinez C612
Susan Martinez, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, moved to the United States in 1984 after living in Spain for 13 years. She has traveled extensively throughout all of South and Central America. She has a degree in Architecture from the University of Buenos Aires and a masters degree from the University of Seville in Spain. She, also, continues to read and write poetry. Her rich background allows her to follow the interests of her students as she works with them to improve their Spanish speaking skills while having a great deal of fun.
Daniel Neish C411
Dan Neish, is an Edmonds Community College art instructor. Dan graduated from the University of Washington with a Master’s of Fine Arts. His area of expertise is ceramics. He has had many solo exhibits in Seattle and been in invitational exhibits across the country.
Ray Pfortner C300, C302
Ray has worked in photography for over 20 years – as a stock agent, an editor, a consultant, a photographer, and an educator. He teaches and consults on the business of art and on photography across the US. Ray received Bellevue Community College’s 2008 Margin of Excellence Award and the North American Nature Photography Association’s 2006 Recognition Award for making a difference with his photography and its 2003 Fellow Award for career contributions in nature photography. His photography is widely published. His primary interest is in coaching new talent and in having art and especially photography seen and sold. Ray holds a Masters from Duke and a BS from Yale.
Jennifer McCord C701
Jennifer McCord currently owns her own publishing consultant business in Seattle, and has over 20 years of experience in the publishing business, including writing, producing, marketing, selling, speaking, teaching and publishing. She has been a national spokesperson for Waldenbooks on the romance industry, which included writing columns, giving speeches and granting media interviews. She received an industry award in 1991 from the Romance Writers of America; an Affair d’Couer award in 1993 for promoting the women’s fiction, romance genre and authors in the genre; and a Melinda Hefler Award in 2002 from the Romantic Times for promoting and writing about women’s fiction and romance. She is a member of the National Romance Writer’s Conference, and is on the Advisory Committee for Writer’s Program at the University of Washington, as well as the Program Committee for the Northwest Book Festival and Oregon Writers Colony.
Patricia Ridenour C403
Patricia Ridenour is an award winning, internationally published, fine art and commercial photographer. She has won multiple awards in The International Photography Awards, done the series posters for The Seattle Opera, a book by Random House, and been published in Vogue, Mirabella, Conde Nast, and Travel Leisure magazines. She is on the faculty of The Photographic Center Northwest in Seattle, along with teaching travel photography for Rick Steves Europe Through the Backdoor.
Rebecca Ross C600
An architect for 20 years, Rebecca Ross became involved in helping people tackle their clutter problems as a prior step to introducing feng shui applications or energy clearing in a space. Her blend of practical organizing skills, personal warmth and humor supports her clients in creating balanced nurturing environments in which to live and work. In her career as an architect and network administrator Rebecca developed pragmatic skills in both spatial and informational organization. As a practitioner of meditation and T’ai Chi she is experienced in balancing energy and cultivating stillness in body, mind and surroundings. Rebecca’s ability to clear environmental energies provides a more subtle level of assistance in creating a "composed domain". With her assistance each client is empowered to create meaningful and lasting change.
Cynthia J. Smidt C405, C409
Cynthia Smidt is a practicing artist and art educator. She hails from the ethnically diverse community of Washington D.C., where she developed a passion for the visual arts, particularly their power to describe the world and its many cultures. She earned twin Bachelor of Art degrees in Art History and Art Education from the University of Maryland. Cynthia has explored many art forms through which she strives to depict subjects that resonate with her. Her most recent body of work focuses on the importance of the environment in everyday life. Cynthia currently teaches and creates in Seattle, Washington.
Chia chia Wang C611
Chia-Chia Wang (王家嘉) is an aspiring Chinese Language Teacher who loves to teach and guide students at all ages to learn the beauty of Chinese language, as well as its people and rich culture. She was born and grew up in Taiwan. She came to the US to study and received a MA in Education from University of Colorado in 1999. Currently, Ms. Wang teaches at elementary and middle schools in Seattle metro. She is also experienced in teaching formal and private adult class for many years.
Before becoming a language teacher, Ms. Wang has worked as a Chinese newspaper journalist and magazine editor for many years both in Taiwan and America. Her Chinese language class is creative and rich in culture. It is her wish that her class would help to link the West to Chinese people and culture. The following quote would best reflect the message that she try to pass to her students:
"Through learning language, we learn about culture.
Through learning about culture, we learn respect for others.
Through learning respect for others, we can hope for peace."
Michael Wewer C412
Michael Wewer has taught photography at Edmonds CC for over a decade. His photographic images radiates out in all four directions from his home in Seattle. They take you as far south as Mono Lake and the Sierra Nevada Range in California; East to the Grand Tetons of Wyoming and the Sawtooth Range in Idaho; West to the rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula and as far North as Vancouver Island. Michael's work represents pristine areas with the hope of giving a person a sense of place and gratitude for still having such a vast number of places to escape. The intent is to capture these wild spaces with the idea of protecting them. The overall positive and negative footprint people leave behind are exemplified in his work as well. These footprints can range from recreation and preservation to clearing the land without thought.
Michael Whitmarsh C404
Candace Wilson C702
Candace Wilson is an engaging and experienced teacher who has taught classes in topics such as journaling, memoirs writing, writing as a tool for self-care, and conflict resolution. She has also led weekend retreats and workshops. As a memoirs consultant, Ms. Wilson works with clients to complete the memoir or autobiography they envision. She also works as a commercial freelance writer, helping business clients with all of their writing needs.
John Willson C602, C603
John Willson is the head gardener and founder of Swede Hill Dahlia and Sunflower Farm, a popular Whidbey Island nursery, specializing in field grown and greenhouse dahlias and sunflowers. Starting with just a five gallon bucket of tubers ten years ago, the family run farm now digs and divides about 3,000 tubers, roots 800 greenhouse cuttings and harvests well over 10,000 stems for the fresh flower market.
A former elementary school principal and award-winning photographer with Boeing Museum of Flight, John and his wife Kathy have been widely published. Their images have appeared on many greeting cards and in books and magazines- most recently on the cover on Nikon World International Calendar. Currently, John and Kathy Willson are working on a couple of gardening books and exploring ways to utilize photography as another "gardening tool."
The Willson's are active members with The American Dahlia Society, The Northwest Federation of Dahlia Growers and The Puget Sound Dahlia Association, where john serves a Program Chairman and Trustee.
Kristi Zevenbergen C410
Kristi Zevenbergen teaches beading, wirecraft and metalsmithing in the Seattle Area, designing projects that enable students to learn technique. “I enjoy watching the process of discovery as students begin to imagine and discuss new possibilities. Teaching gives me a chance to impart the joy of creating and to give others the permission to create just for the sake of creating. ”. In her own work she uses the process of “responding” to what she sees before her, choosing from a variety of techniques to accomplish a finished piece. “ I’m happiest when I am able to make art freely without the boundaries of marketplace aesthetics”. Inspiration for her pieces comes from old things and things in nature.
Ya ming Zhou C616
Ya Ming holds a B.A. from Shanghai Foreign Trade Institute, a Graduate Study of Economics Freiburg University, a Diploma of Marketing British Columbia Institute of Technology and is a Licensed Banker and Mutual Fund Representative. She currently is a Financial Advisor for Edward Jones. Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the United States and, through its affiliates, in Canada and the United Kingdom. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the types of investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which they work and live. The firm's 10,000 plus financial advisors work directly with over 7 million clients to understand their personal goals -- from college savings to retirement -- and create long-term strategies for their investments which emphasize a well-balanced portfolio and a buy-and hold-strategy. Edward Jones embraces the importance of building long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients, helping them to understand and make sense of the investment options available.
