Atelier Kondo Weigl

Biography: Jennifer Spencer

Jennifer Spencer grew up on Vancouver Island, the most western part of Canada, and now lives on the “mainland” in Vancouver.  After a career in law, she was at loose ends, looking for a new challenge.  Over 4,000 km (2,500 miles) from Oberlin, Jennifer came to FAVA with the ultimate in social distancing, on Zoom, in the early days of the pandemic.  Her journey started with The Artist’s Way (Julia Cameron) led by FAVA’s executive director, Kathleen Jackson.  With this rekindling of her artistic interests, Jennifer found her way to Jean Kondo Weigl’s on-line classes on colour theory and acrylic painting.  It started with the challenge to mix colours with a limited palette and moved on to the study of the different artists Jean brings to class along with the development of Jennifer’s own work and that of her classmates.  In the process of selecting pictures for this show, Jennifer was pleasantly startled to see an increasing intentionality and confidence in her mark making.

Artist Statement:

Jennifer’s work is strongly influenced by the landscapes of coastal British Columbia.  She finds inspiration in seascapes as well as the more formal landscapes of gardens along the Westcoast.  More recently, Jennifer finds herself looking at the intersection of nature and human-built structures, where imposing structure in the wild can create unintended consequences over time.

Jennifer is grateful to Jean and her fellow students for the wonderful artistic community we have built virtually with FAVA’s Atelier Kondo Weigl.

Leslie Bowen

I fell in love with art as a high school student at Cushing Academy, and went on to major in art history at McGill University. As a student at McGill, I interned in the registrar’s office of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. After I graduated, I worked at the Alpha Gallery on Newbury Street in Boston for a number of years, and it was there that I first immersed myself in the art world and began collecting paintings of artists I liked. 

Working in the gallery gave me a close up view of what it was like to be an artist and a chance to see works up close by some modern American masters, including Milton Avery and Fairfield Porter. I prefer representational painting in general and find the way they simplify form and color appealing. I also admire the work of more contemporary painters working in the same tradition, like Tim Tait. 

Eventually, what I admired in the works of others made me want to paint too! Over the years, I have studied with various teachers, taking courses locally at the DeCordova Museum, Mass Art, RISD, and with individual artists. When I retired in 2021, I began to paint more regularly and joined the Dedham Art Association. Most recently, I have been studying online in a small group workshop with Jean Kondo Weigl through the Firelands Association for the Visual Arts (FAVA) in Oberlin, Ohio, and with Shelby Dillon Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

My husband and I have a home on Achill Island in Ireland, and the landscapes there are a favorite subject of mine. Just gazing out the window of our cottage can make you want to get out and paint! The changing light and weather conditions are as much a subject as the scene itself. Many artists, including Paul Henry, Robert Henri, and Camille Souter, have found inspiration for their art on Achill Island. 

In my own work, I try to create a sense of believable light through the expressive use of color. I’m inspired by the beauty I see around me, whether an expansive view of sea and mountains or a simple bouquet of flowers in a vase. I like to paint loosely, and quickly, to create energy and movement in my painting. I love the physicality of paint and want my paint and brushstrokes to show my hand in making the painting.”

Deborah Campana

For as long as I can remember I have been absorbed with music and photography, but in 2007 I began watercolor study in earnest with Barbara Rowlands. Although as a child I had always loved drawing, painting was a whole new world! 

Around the same time I had met Jean Weigl in yoga classes, but we only began talking about painting during the Members Show reception in the fall of 2019, when she suggested I might be interested in a color theory class she was about to teach. The rest is history. Jean has been an inspirational teacher, who displays great insight into the practice of painting and the encouragement of our work. 

My personal interest in painting also relates to my interest in photography: landscapes. In the subjects of my work, one will find evidence of my family’s love of travel throughout the southwest as well as an abiding obsession with architecture. Although representation is important to me, just as significant is the role of color for color’s sake even if that suggests more abstraction than realism.

Inspired by the music of John Cage who espoused the acceptance of unexpected occurrences in performance, I am a fan of chance and seek the unexpected when taking photographs. A great deal can be anticipated in the process of making a photo — be it adjusting camera settings and lenses or planning specific settings — but one cannot control it all. Similarly with painting, one may begin on one path and end up moving through a different direction in the course of a work. Those chance offerings add to the sublimity of the moment.

Deborah Campana holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University as well as a Ph.D. from Northwestern University (both in music theory), and an arts masters in library science from the University of Chicago. Her librarianship career began at Northwestern University, but more recently she directed the Oberlin Conservatory Library. A former editor of the Music Library Association’s quarterly journal, Notes, she also edited two of their monograph series. Her own research on John Cage’s music, information flow, and library administration appears in articles and book chapters published by the University of Chicago, Bucknell University, Oxford University, and others. For years she performed as a member of the Chicago-based new music ensemble, Kapture, in addition to the Gamelan Ensemble of Chicago at the Chicago Field Museum. 

Today Campana is immersed in taking and editing photos, and her work appears in many private collections. She also enjoys painting and serves on the FAVA Board of Directors. Campana lives in her home town, Amherst, Ohio.

Invited solo photography shows include "Oberlin Moments, A Calendar Retrospective," FAVA, Oberlin, OH (28 October–10 December 2023); “Sighting and Resighting,” Kendal at Oberlin, OH (2018–19); and “Road Trip West,” Grafton–Midview Public Library, Grafton, OH (2019).

Selections for juried exhibitions: Firelands Association for the Visual Arts’ Juried Biennial Photography Shows (Oberlin, Ohio; 2021, 2019, 2017, 2013); and Cleveland Photo Fest 2021

Colleen Lavelle

Professional Background

I live in Amherst, Ohio with my husband and two cats, Frankie and Wiley. My professional career spanned 35 years, including 25 years working for a Northeast Ohio not-for-profit aging services provider where I designed and developed new services and programs to advance innovative care models for older adults and caregivers. In 2017, I received LeadingAge Ohio’s Outstanding Executive Award for my contributions to the field of aging. I have a BA in Administration from Antioch College (1983) and an MA in Management from Antioch University (1993). 

Artistic Background

I loved art class in grade school. I remember drawing large murals on poster board with crayons using very vivid colors. One was a Halloween scene with a a cat on a fence, bright orange pumpkins, and a full yellow moon in a dark blue sky.  Over my lifetime, I have made cards for people using colored pencils. Making cards for people on birthdays and holidays was a reason to draw and I always felt good about giving these cards to people I cared about.

I like the way you can layer colors over and over again with colored pencils to get a variety of intense colors and textures. My colored pencil drawings had been quite small -  usually 5 x 7 card size. My first colored pencil drawings were what might be considered “folk art” or stylized pictures I would draw from my imagination or from scenes looking out my window. After my husband commented that he really liked a more “realistic” colored pencil card I had made for him, I began to draw realistic colored pencil drawings. I liked the pictures I was drawing, but I felt I wanted to increase my picture size and felt that painting would allow me to cover a larger area much quicker and more efficiently that using colored pencils.

Artist Statement

Many of my paintings are of nature scenes. I grew up in nature and often went down to the Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River “Valley” exploring and hiking with friends and family. My mother taught me and my siblings at a young age about the beauty of nature and I respect and love it deeply to this day. I think my paintings convey a spirit that comes alive as I paint them - often inspiring the same sense of peace I experienced when I first witnessed the scene and took a picture of it. My nature scenes are also connected to places I shared with people I have loved in my life. I like feeling close to them in these scenes.

Experience of FAVA Acrylis Class

I had always assumed that acrylic painting wouldn’t give me the rich colors and density that I got with colored pencils, but in April 2024, I decided to try acrylic painting after being urged by one of Jean Kondo Weigl’s students to try out her class. To my delight, I discovered that acrylic painting is a very color-rich medium and provides a good foundation for experimenting. Taking Jean’s class has been a freeing experience and has given me a platform to create my own art with guidance from her about color theory, composition, balance and unity.

It is also very enjoyable when Jean shares each student’s work for the week. She takes her time in viewing and providing constructive feedback on my and my classmates work. It’s also fun for us students to offer our feedback on classmates’ paintings and to be exposed to famous artists’ work which Jean shares with us weekly. I am enjoying the process of trying out different styles of painting (impressionism, modernism, abstract, realism, etc.) and trying to experiment with them in my paintings. I am looking forward to discovering my own painting style and expression as I continue in this class.  

Carrie Schwimmer

Carrie Schwimmer received her BFA from the University of Michigan, and BA in Graphic Design from SUNY at Buffalo. She has studied with Jean Weigl since 2021. Schwimmer is retired and live in Oberlin, OH.

Artist Statement:

Having been introduced to color theory through the use of acrylic paint, I am on an ongoing journey of discovering how color influences my perception of reality. I am excited by my continual progress of learning about this dynamic field of possibilities.

Cornelia Maude Spelman

Cornelia Maude Spelman is a former therapist. She has authored children’s books, memoirs, and diaries. Valuing personal stories and emotion, she seeks to paint interior, intimate scenes of beloved objects and people, and to express emotion, playfulness, and authenticity.

Jean Kondo Weigl’s classes have given her an appreciation of the elements of art that have been studied and used by others, a wider view of artists’ styles, and a clear vision of her own visual world. The camaraderie of students and Jean’s deep knowledge of art have been of lasting value.