We're thrilled to partner with Lawrence Community Works for a third year to welcome a new cohort of artists to our Matched Savings Program! This year we have an audio engineer, a maker of environmentally-friendly skin and hair products, a multi-talented videographer, and a whole studio of highly skilled realist painters all helping the artist community in Lawrence continue to grow.

Many years of vigorous classical training has allowed Margaret Carrier to master the art of oil painting. Working mostly in oil on linen but also as a muralist, she paints realistic still life, portraits, figures, and landscapes. Ranging in mood and subject matter, her paintings are meant to uplift the viewer with whimsical delight or inspire a more somber and poetic experience. Since lighting and the value contrast are essential to her work, Margaret chooses to paint from natural light, using north facing windows so the light is more consistent all day. By painting from life rather than a photograph, she is able to create rich atmosphere and unity, capturing the way the blue sky casts light on her subjects and warm colors emerge when objects are in shadow. Margaret is relocating to Lawrence with the Ingbretson Studio.

Margaret Carrier, The Foyer — Margaret Carrier, *The Foyer*

Rafaela Gonzalez is the founder of GLORYSCENT, an environmentally friendly handmade skin and hair product company. She makes it her mission to provide environmentally friendly products to her communities and in doing so, bring joy and excitement to the experience of self-care. Her handmade soaps are made with plant botanicals, coconut, olive, sustainable palm, and avocado oil as well as other quality ingredients and scented with essential oils for an extra therapeutic and relaxing touch. Rafela began making homemade recipes to take care of her own hair after finally rejecting the pressure she felt growing up as a woman of color, to have straight soft hair. Instead she embraced a “TWA” (Teeny Weeny Afro) and started her own company.

Greg Abate started playing music at the age of nine. Teaching himself to play a wide range of instruments over the years lead him towards a fascination with recording and mixing sound. Greg has a decade of experience in audio engineering, working in a range of setups, from world class studios designed by famous acousticians to bedrooms with only a laptop and a microphone. He believes that the modern realities of music production allow for great work can be done anywhere, provided one understands the limitations of the environment. Greg is the owner and operator of Neon Audio in Lawrence, offering recording services and consultation at any and all stages of the music production process.

John Folley is a New England-based independent artist and illustrator. He is currently under instruction in the Boston School of Painting with the master artist Paul Ingbretson. He embraces a wide range of subject matter for his paintings including still life, portraiture, landscape, imaginative work, and even abstract design. John is always excited to find new and beautiful color schemes and compose them in unexpected ways. Each painting as an opportunity for him to improve his ability to see and share beauty with those who see my work. He also operates a small gallery project called Rat Scullery Art Gallery on Etsy. He is relocating to Lawrence with the Ingbretson Studio.

Jose A. Rodriguez works in photography, graphic design and video production. He travels the world for his work whether it’s shooting fashion or lifestyle product photography, making music videos, creating branding and logo designs for companies or working on personal projects. Jose is a long term resident of Lawrence where he maintains a studio and enjoys learning new skills.

Adidas. BTS Photography. Shanghai, China.

John Petersen, Mountain Vista Through Trees, 10"x14", Oil paint on Canvas Panel — John Petersen, *Mountain Vista Through Trees*, 10"x14", Oil paint on Canvas Panel

John Petersen is a Boston School painter with 25 years of experience specializing in impressionist landscapes and beautiful realist still life painting. He often paints directly from nature in the plein air tradition. When working in the studio, he paints still life or uses his smaller landscape work as a basis for developing larger paintings. An impressionist at heart, light effects and color are what excite him the most. John is relocating to Lawrence with the Ingbretson Studio.

Mandy Theis is a classically trained painter who works from life and natural light in order to translate visual ideas to canvas. She is relocating to Lawrence with the Ingbretson Studios, where she acquired her training. This style of classical painting fell out of favor more than 100 years ago, but Mandy and her studio mates aspire to bring the skills back from the brink of extinction. In order to do this she also runs the Da Vinci Initiative, a non-profit education foundation that supports skill-based learning in K-12 art classrooms. The Da Vinci Initiative believes that the most creative children are those with the most tools at their disposal for making artwork. They provide atelier training and resources to art teachers to help them incorporate skill-based methods into their classroom practices.

Our 2018 Lawrence programming is made possible by our generous partners and funders, specifically the Barr Foundation, Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation, Surdna Foundation, and the United States Department of Agriculture.