Andrew Hollander

by Grace Lucarelli | Sep 2, 2010 | Instructors

Andrew has been taking photos for over 30 years and has become serious about his photography in the last 2 years. He has completed 3 photography courses:

On Assignment: Santa Fe through National Geographic

The Zen of Photography through Santa Fe Workshops

The Color of Mexico through Santa Fe Workshops

Andrew has exhibited his work in a Port Washington coffee house, won Best in Show – Black & White in the Long Island Center for Photography’s first juried photo contest and he was a finalist in an annual Citibank art contest.

Barbara Silbert

by Grace Lucarelli | Sep 2, 2010 | Instructors

My love of drawing people started early. As a child, I’d go to the movies and come home and draw the great actresses in their beautiful costumes. My mother always encouraged my artwork, and I eventually went on to win the top art award in high school. After a long career in commercial art, I found myself drawn (so to speak) to realism, and faces & figures still fascinate me. The eyes, in particular, tell a lot about a person, and to me, the bones and curves of the facial planes are almost like a landscape. I enjoy portraying people’s loved ones, and get great satisfaction when they are pleased with the results.

I feel I’ve been very lucky to have nurtured a talent & hobby that takes me into another world, and one that always relaxes me.

Now that I have been teaching, passing along what I have learned gives me the greatest pleasure of all.

Education & Background

Advertising Art and Design Major, State University at Farmingdale, N.Y. Retired Advertising Designer/Art Director/Illustrator with many years experience at ad agencies and corporate art departments. Studied portraiture at the Art Student’s League, with Paul Leveille at the Hudson River School of Fine Art Workshops, with Jack Hoffman of East Meadow; and with master portraitist John Howard Sanden. Have been teaching pastel portraiture using a live model at the Nassau County Museum of Fine Art since April 2007. Teaching children, teens, & adults locally for the past 6 years, and have won over 15 awards.

Shelli Robiner-Ardizzone

by Grace Lucarelli | Sep 2, 2010 | Instructors

Shelli has been doing art since her childhood in Detroit, Michigan. She attended the Univiversity of Michigan and Wayne State Univiversity, where she earned her B.S.in Education. Shelli taught inner-city Art , K – 12, for 10 years. She was also exhibiting and selling her work.

Relocating to NYC in 1971, she worked as a Textile Designer, owned a snakeskin accessories company, received NYFA funding for “The Quilting Project” at PS 87, taught for non-profit Arts Organizations in NY and NJ area, established Art Zone Decorative Painting Company, which has served the tri state area for 25 years.

Presently Shelli is painting full time, as she has been awarded scholarships from the Art Students League of NY, and the National Academy School. A residency at the Vermont Studio Center moved her work forward, and was followed by a solo show in New York, and a two person show at River Winds Gallery in Beacon, New York. Recently awarded an Honorable Mention in the “Portraits”show, and First Place in the NAL Members Show. Shelli teaches Pastel at Cumberland, Great Neck, the National Art League in Douglaston, and the Newark Museum. Her popular “Flower Power” Workshops have been held for 8 years.