Hera Gallery

#MeetHerartistSonjaCzekalski   Tell us your artist story, some biographical info, when did you decide to be an artist? Why do you make art? Where did you study? Etc. In my kindergarten “All About Me” book I wrote “When I grow up… I want to be an art teacher.” 20 years later, I am doing just that! I earned my BS in Art Education with a concentration in painting and photography at Rhode Island College. I am now completing my MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at MassArt in Boston. I make art to express my thoughts and ideas, share stories, and to teach… and to make my house prettier.  What do you want people to walk away with after experiencing your work? I create work that reclaims and empowers the bodies, skin, crafts, and stories of women. I aim to provide the viewers with an empathetic glimpse into these lives and stories that are often looked over or looked down upon.  I want my work to confront viewers with their own biases towards these topics and...

#MeettheHeraArtistJasonSmith   Tell us your artist story, some biographical info, when did you decide to be an artist? Why do you make art? Where did you study? Etc.   I was always an artist it was a natural gift that was I was encouraged to pursue from a very young age. I decided to take art seriously after completing CCRI and committing to a Fine Art curriculum at URI. Printmaking, drawing and digital art were my concentrations. I make art because it is fulfilling a destiny and it’s a way to express what I read and the awareness of it in engaging art form.  What do you want people to walk away with after experiencing your work? I want them to have a profound experience absorbing the layers in the work literally and figuratively and to appreciate attention to detail, the mix of planning, research on topics and rare images for influence and spontaneity, the use of color and the mixing of ancient influences and knowledge with contemporary aesthetics. I ...

#MeetHeraArtistBarbaraPagh Tell us your artist story, some biographical info, when did you decide to be an artist? Why do you make art? Where did you study? Etc. I didn’t have much art background before college though I always liked to make things. I didn’t seriously consider art until my sophomore year at Mount Holyoke College. I took a sculpture class with Leonard DeLonga and his teaching was an inspiration and made me see the world in a new way. I also studied printmaking with JoEllen Knight, became hooked on the process and subsequently pursued printmaking in graduate school at NYU.  What do you want people to walk away with after experiencing your work? Most of my prints are nature based, though they are abstracted. I want people to look at the natural world more closely after seeing my work. I also have worked to create larger scale installations of handmade paper based on megalithic structures. With these installations I want the viewer to have an experien...

#MeetHeraartistJohnKotula  "I have been drawing continuously, at times obsessively, for more than fifty years."   Tell us your artist story, some biographical info, when did you decide to be an artist? Why do you make art? Where did you study? Etc.   I have thought of myself as an artist since third grade when my classmates started asking me to draw things for them.  For a while, maybe it was only a week, I spent every recess drawing pages of airplanes, aircraft carriers, and battleships.  My friends would then play war by covering the drawings all over with arching lines that indicated a shot had been fired and scribbles that showed a hit.  I missed getting to fight the battles myself, especially making the sound effects, but I loved being recognized for drawing the best armaments. I have been drawing continuously, at times obsessively, for more than fifty years.  My choice of materials comes and goes and c...