The WSA board of directors recently voted to award Joan Griswold and Suzanne Lingeman with Honorary Lifetime Memberships. Joan and Sue were nominated in recognition of their contributions that have helped to make the WSA what it is today, as well as their commitment to creating fine art.
About Joan Griswold…
Joan studied art at the University of Wooster in Ohio. Before moving to Wellesley, she taught art in the Philadelphia area, then managed a gallery in Chatham NJ, where she continued to study art, concentrating exclusively in watercolor. Joan and her husband Peter spent 8 years living in Latin America, where she managed an art gallery, taught painting classes, and at the same time, entered and won awards in many National and regional shows.
Upon her return to the Boston area, Joan exhibited with the Copley Society, New England Watercolor Society (where she is a Signature Member), Concord Art Association and galleries in Maine and on the Cape. Joan studied with Nicholas Reale, Tom Hill, Ruth Wynn and George Shedd, among others.
She joined the Wellesley Society of Artists in 1980, and continued to exhibit her award-winning watercolors. From the moment she joined the WSA, she also devoted her time to serving on the board, taking on any job that needed filling, from hospitality to new jury, to President. She was our treasurer for many years, keeping the WSA on the straight and narrow. She gave selflessly of her time and always fought for what was in the best interests of our organization. Joan and Peter now spend most of their time in Maine now, but her years of devotion to the WSA are immensely appreciated. Although Joan is no longer an active member of the WSA, her legacy remains.
About Suzanne Lingeman…
Sue has been a member of the WSA since 1977, and continues to exhibit her work with the WSA. Over the years, she has won numerous awards. She also has been on the board for many of those years, doing various jobs, and always has been the one working behind the scenes, ready to jump in to help with a show or act as an advisor. Sue’s spirit of generosity has been central to the WSA’s endurance and continued growth.
Sue studied at the Museum of fine Arts. She also studied with Irmgard Arvan, of Nantucket, George Dergalis, and Maris Platais, among others. She has exhibited with the WSA, Concord Art Association, Copley Society of Artists, and the Artists Association of Nantucket, where she is an Artist Life Member, having been active there for over 50 years.
Sue works in a variety of mediums, experimenting with techniques and subject matter. Sue says, “I enjoy experimenting with color and form to create a particular mood. By using complimentary color, light against dark and warm against cool, I try to create contrast and excitement. My subjects, medium and techniques vary widely as I find stimulation in exploring new directions”.
Artist Nancy Present-VanBroekhoven has been making dreams come true for a very long time and for many people. For over 40 years she was a social worker helping populations with special challenges. At the Jewish Community Center of Greater Boston, she worked with children, teens and adults to develop programs where they could come together for enriching activities: Music and Movement for Parents and their children, Karate for Children with Developmental Challenges were a few. “The parents might come up with ideas or I would see a need and I would make it happen.” When she decided to retire, she wanted to find another way to bring meaning to her days. “What gave me permission to pursue painting was that one of the boys with whom I had worked for many years started exhibiting his art and I would go to all of his shows. I saw not only what he put into his art, but also what he got out of sharing his work.”
From the time she was a young girl, Michals was exposed to the arts. She grew up with her family in North Cambridge, Massachusetts in a neighborhood built with culture, an inspiration for a budding artist. She lived amongst a calligrapher, photographer, sculptor, writer and an entertainment lawyer. On Sundays one of her neighbors would open his windows and play piano for everyone to hear. Bob Slate Stationer, where her older brother worked, was at the top of the street; for Michals this was the equivalent of a candy shop where she could buy her art supplies. Whenever she was tasked with sitting still, she used her new purchases with excitement.
Michals and her husband began their family and, during this period of her life, she still had the passion to learn creatively so took photography courses at New England Photography School. She used her photography and graphic design skills for the family hockey business. As she used social media to promote the business, she decided to start her own social media page on Instagram and created Small Cup Designs intended as a fun way to share Interior Design photos while decorating their new home. She had two very unexpected experiences. Gail Davis, an Interior Designer in New Jersey reached out to Michals to do a house portrait of Grace’s House for a Charitable Show to raise money for St. Jude’s Children’s Foundation in honor of Grace, a brain cancer survivor. She was featured in the article “How 21 Interior Designers Rallied Around a Young Girl with Cancer” in House Beautiful Magazine in April 2019. Next, Interior Designer Ana Vera of Newton contacted Michals to donate her paintings to the “One Room Challenge” featured in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.
As far as her brilliant watercolor painting, Michals has developed her own style of painting and listens to her heart when she paints. She is inspired by animals, nature, architecture and her surroundings to create pieces that will bring a smile to the viewer’s face. “I don’t always follow the rules-I think they can sometimes restrict our creativity. I practice every day and I do what brings me joy….I love when this brings joy to others as well. When I create art, that little girl in me comes out. I have always wanted to create art and connect with people and I am able to do both.”
Artist Yvonne Posa grew up in New England and attained her BA in Art History at Brown University. Interested in art and architecture, she took a few of the necessary studio art courses during college, but did not begin her own studio art journey for many years. She received her MBA in marketing from the Wharton School and then worked as Commercial Real Estate Loan Officer. She and her husband spent some time working in the Midwest and then returned to New England while raising their three children.
For the past decade, Posa has studied with Andrew Kusmin (AWS, NWS) of Plymouth, MA. Kusmin currently teaches classes on zoom. Kusmin encourages his students to discover their own style or “brush stroke”, and he provides invaluable instruction, especially in improving composition. Posa finds the group critiques in his classes to be the best way to grow. Posa has tried Encaustic Painting and Chinese Brush Painting but her first love has remained watercolor. Her subject matter comes from her photographs taken during travels with her husband, at their home in Maine and of their beloved grandchildren. She admires the work of American artist Mary Whyte and Spanish artist Joaquin Sorolla. “When I do portraiture I really try to capture personalities more than anything else…My philosophy is to suggest only as much as is needed and leave the details up to the imagination. I like to convey an emotion that I feel toward the subject.” She also admires less conventional artists such as the late Jean-Michel Basquiat and Ai Wei Wei.
The highlights of her artistic adventures are artist’s workshops, open studios and membership in the WSA. Her teaching job in the Needham Public Schools gave her the summers free to totally immerse herself in the painting process for several days at a time, including attending artist workshops. “To learn and paint with professional artists, the likes of Peter Fiori, John MacDonald, Kathy Anderson, Joe McGurl and Mark Boedges, all had an immense impact” on her artistic ability. Participating in open studios in the area suburbs gave her the experience and opportunity to show her work. As a longtime member of the WSA, she has served as a board member, treasurer and president. Her contributions to this group are immeasurable and she values “being part of an organization that supports artists and the community” as well as the lasting friendships she has made.
