The Opening

The Show

The Artists

Aaron Yamada-Hanff, Colin Campbell and I crossed paths while living in Baltimore, Maryland a few years ago. We attended the Maryland Institute College of Art, where Colin received his BFA, and Aaron and I received our Post Baccalaureate Certificates. Each of us have a background in working from direct observation and all participated in a group exhibition at Still Life Gallery in Ellicot City in December, 2008. Since then Aaron and Colin have spent time working in the video game industry while I am currently attending the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of New Hampshire.
-Mark Soderling

Mark Soderling


Aaron Yamada-Hanff


Colin Campbell

The Artists

Jason Colvin, Trevor Amery, and Dustin O’Hara studied together at the Maryland Institute College of Art. In 2005 they finished their senior year of college in the same thesis class, taught by Phyllis Plattner. Spending an average of six days a week together in and out of school, they inevitably influenced each other in their painting beliefs, theoretical and practical. Pursuing realism with a strong background in observational painting, they each came to painting from the same direction but arrived at different subjects. Jason found his voice mostly in figurative painting, juxtaposing multiple painted images to create metaphor in their unity. Trevor's paintings also create metaphors but more often rely on one or two images to support the idea, at the same time emphasizing the physicality of the paint. Dustin paints from the landscape, always striving to portray the land in a way that captures the feeling of a place. Using brush and palette knife, he transports the viewer into the painted world. All three artists paint in a way that expresses ideas and feelings as well as displaying the skill and craftsmanship of the artist's hand.
-Dustin O'Hara

Trevor Wallack Amery


Dustin O'Hara


Jason Alan Colvin

The Artists

I first met Marjory Ridler when I was a child. She was my elementary art teacher. We reconnected when I reached high school when I chose art as my concentration. Marjory worked at Cambridge Central School located in Cambridge, New York as an art educator until her retirement in 2009. I have always admired her landscapes for their vibrant colors and sense of immediacy. Marjory’s landscapes of Cambridge, New York are of personal interest to me because that is where I grew up. She has influenced me greatly for the past ten years of my life, and I am pleased that she is participating in this show. - Nicole Weber

Nicole Weber


Marjory Ridler

The Artists

It is a pleasure to have Helena Wurzel and Emily Trenholm participate in “The Smile Without the Cat.” Helena’s paintings with multiple figures interacting around tables in domestic spaces bear some resemblance to my own interests in painting. My body of work typically revolves around interpersonal exchanges in interior spaces. As an offshoot of this work, I’ve recently been making paintings from the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, overlooking a construction site. I enjoy the interplay of moving machinery against vacillating reflections of the water behind. In this stead, it is wonderful to see Emily’s interpretations of the landscape, and the interesting shapes and colors that arise.

Suzie Dittenber

Suzanne Dittenber


Emily Trenholm


Helena Wurzel

The Artists

Jenna Weiss, Sarah Lubin and I met while going through the post-baccalaureate program in studio art at Brandeis University. Since then we have all moved on to different graduate programs, Jenna Weiss is a 2nd year MFA student at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and Sarah Lubin is also a 2nd year MFA student at Mass Art in Boston now. I am in my 1st year of the MFA program in painting at the University of New Hampshire. Although our interest in subject matter may seem very different, our mutual experience at Brandeis has given us all an appreciation for dynamic composition and unique color combinations in the paintings we create. We all use a specific pictorial language through a negotiation between collecting and organizing visual information in Jenna's painting, or trying to depict loneliness and waiting using close value relationships or strong complementary color combinations in Sarah and my paintings. These were all things stressed in our studies at Brandeis, and have stayed with us as we move on to different schools.
-Youngsheen Jhe

Youngsheen Jhe


Jenna Weiss


Sarah Lubin