Please join UUCP on Wednesday, June 13th at 7:00 PM for our “Artists On Their Art” Series. We are pleased to have two very accomplished artists for our series: Janet O’Neil and Paula Schiller. There will be time after for questions, discussion and some refreshments. We look forward to seeing you!

JANET O’NEIL BIO:

Janet O’Neil is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design and the Director of the Graphic Design Program in the Visual and Performing Arts Department, Fairleigh Dickinson University. She has worked with the Director of College Writing, Kathryn Douglas, to create and support a number of student-run exhibits that feature art and writing and include service learning.  Janet has employed her artistic skills as an art director, animator, graphic designer, web designer, and illustrator. She loves to design for the home decor market and is currently illustrating two books.  One is a book about bugs for children, and the other is an adult book about grief and loss.  Her primary medium is watercolor but loves to experiment with digital tools, pen and ink, and acrylics to create mixed media artwork. Janet has painted over 100 animal portraits for many rescues and shelters, bringing attention to animal welfare issues around the world. For more info, please visit: http://www.janetoneil.com

My artwork is for sale on http://www.etsy.com/shop/JanetONeil and I take commissions on animals, landscapes, florals, and portraits.

PAULA SHCILLER BIO:

I am a painter and printmaker involved in creating lyrical abstractions of the landscape which convey both conscious and unconscious responses to the natural environment.  In direct plein-air painting I try to communicate the feeling that attracted me to the site initially.  At other times I work in my studio without a point of reference, attempting to create a more abstract evocation of a locale.  Either way, the attempt is not so much to reproduce a recognizable scene as to evoke a sense of place.  Typically my paintings begin with a gestural response, seeking in an intuitive way to capture the essence of the landscape.  The work then changes and continues to reveal itself in the process of painting, and the final image is a creation of real, imagined, remembered, and felt response.  My particular concerns include personal calligraphy, rhythm, color, luminosity, and form.

While working as a teacher in public and private schools I began studies at the Brooklyn Museum Art school and continued them at the National Academy of Design, the School of Visual Arts, the Art Students League, and the Art Center of Northern NJ.  I also earned a Master’s degree in Art Therapy from Pratt Institute and certification in Art Education from Montclair State University.  My teachers have included Bruce Dorfman, Wolf Kahn, Miriam Beerman, and Michael Dillon.

My work has been shown in venues throughout the metropolitan area, including the Belskie Museum in Closer, NJ, the Kent Art Association in Kent, CT, the Walker-Kornbluth Gallery in Fair Lawn, NJ, and the Nexus and Westbeth Galleries in NYC.

I was a winner in the Art Center of Northern New Jersey’s first Emerging Artists competition, for which I was awarded my first solo show.  My painting “The Red Line” won first prize in the professional oil category of the 2013 Bergen County senior competition, second prize in the NJ statewide competition, and second prize in the 2014 Riverside Gallery invitational exhibition.  In 2015, I received the Clara Shainess Memorial Award for Innovative Artist at the National Association of Women Artists Annual Members’ Exhibition.

I am a member, National Association of Women Artists, Salute to Women in the Arts, and the Painting Affiliates of the Art Center of Northern NJ.

Poster by: Liandra Pires