On any given day, you can see Art Leaguers at work in their Torpedo Factory studios, since many members and instructors are also artists in the building.
This summer, you have a chance to see a few more! The artists below are subletting studios right now, either as Associate Artists or part of the Visiting Artist Program.
Suzanne Vigil
- media
colored pencil and acrylic - dates
through July - location
studio 331
Suzanne will be here until the end of July, working on her photo-realistic colored pencil pieces, with a new twist: inspired by studiomate and painter Pauline Siple, she’s starting to combine acrylic paint with her colored pencil drawings on acetate. She says she’s intrigued by the idea of covering some areas with a layer flat acrylic while other parts remain detailed drawings.
Suzanne said she loves seeing people respond to the portraits. A lot of visitors “refuse to believe” that they’re colored pencil, she said. The best, she said, are the school-age kids. “They have the most direct, uncensored questions.”
Steve Prince
- media
linoleum prints & drawings - dates
through July - location
studio 7
Steve Prince has the summer off from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania, where he was recently named Assistant Professor of Drawing and Printmaking. This month, he’s teaching Art Camp in the mornings and working on his series of linoleum prints and drawings, “The Old Testament,” in the afternoons. Steve is drawing from the 39 books of the Old Testament as subtext for the “love series.” (The two below are inspired by the Psalms.)
He says he’s going for a “hot off the press” look in the studio, hanging freshly printed work unframed on the walls, so repeat visitors can see what’s new.
Susan Sherwin
- medium
oil - dates
through September 15 - location
studio 3
A relatively new transplant from Wisconsin, Susan said she found her community here by taking classes with Lisa Semerad and Danni Dawson at The Art League. As a newly juried Torpedo Factory artist, she’s expanding that community by running into artists and visitors of all stripes.
This summer, she’s working on portraits, including a new project doing double portraits of Alexandria dogs and their owners. Since she doesn’t have a dog to bring to the studio, she painted cut-out portraits of her three cats, and she’s now taking commissions for the oil on masonite portraits from other cat owners. You can say hello to Susan, along with Zeus, Eleanore, and Lancelot, through September 15 in Studio 3 at the northeast corner of the first floor. (She will be back for a period this Winter, too.)
David Alfuth
- medium
3-D collage - dates
through the end of August - location
studio 301
A few years after retiring as a teacher, David’s first thought after starting as an associate artist was that he was back at work. He had to remind himself, “You’re still retired; this is just for fun.” But now that he’s done with the preparations for his exhibit downstairs at The Art League, things are calmer.
David’s process involves photocopying from thousands of Dover books to create 3-D collages, both freestanding and in relief. He finds pages at home each night and photocopies them on the way in the next morning, so studio time is for selecting, cutting, and collaging. This summer, he’s working on two freestanding sculptures and chatting to visitors who come upstairs after checking out his exhibit.
Ellen Delaney
- medium
acrylic - dates
through July - location
studio 4
Ellen is an associate artist at the Torpedo Factory. Since quitting her job in May, she’s also taking the plunge into being a full-time artist. You can find her working on her landscapes during the week, and mostly talking to visitors on the weekends.