Compass studios

COMPASS ART CENTER is home to a dozen artists' studios. Our artists work in a variety of media, styles, and subject matter. You can find them in their studios creating round the clock and visit them at Open Studio events. Check them out below, visit their websites, & follow them on social.

Bridget Kuzma - studio 3

Medium: oil painter, landscape & figurative

Bridget's story: 

Bridget is an artist and creative psychotherapist. She provides holistic expressive, sensory-based, and talk psychotherapy services. Her art engages elements of inner and outer landscapes. Her primary medium is oil paint. She also works with found objects, building materials, and clay. Bridget uses the creative process to explore emotional and natural terrains through line, texture, color, and form. 

Bridget's background includes 20 years of work at non-profits and hospitals in MD, DC and NY with people facing serious illnesses and the end of life. She studied studio art and psychology at The University of Dallas then completed her masters in art therapy and creativity development at the Pratt Institute. Bridget has shown her work in Austin, Brooklyn, DC and Maryland and has lived in Italy, Ireland, and Ecuador.]

Website: kensingtonarttherapy.com

Phone: 301-785-1720

Email: kensingtonarttherapy@gmail.com

    

Cynthia Johnson - studio 6

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Daniel Whitstock - studio 4

Medium: oil painter, various subjects

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Gloria Capron - studio 2

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Kara Allen - studio 1

Medium: oil painter, figurative

Kara's story: 

Playing dress up usually means silly clothing and pretending you are someone or something you are not. I still like to play dress up though its meaning for me has changed as i've grown. Throughout my life my everyday clothing, body modifications and makeup were a way for me to express myself. Dressing up was my way of hiding from myself. By painting myself in costume, dressing up would become my way to feel my most authentic self. I was able to see that no matter what I wore I still have the same eyes, same face, and the same bones underneath it all. 

Through my use of subject, a high contrast palette and mix of large loose brushstrokes with moments of controlled detail I call back to the macabre and theatrical elements of the pre raphaelite and Baroque eras. Being a bit dark and dramatic myself, this is further emphasized by the method in which I paint.

Website: https://karalinart.com/

Socials: @karalinart

    

Karash Payne - studio 5

Medium: oil painter, figurative

Karash's story: 

My journey as an artist kicked off when I found myself amid a major life shift-going from full time parent to empty nester.  I decided to dive headfirst into painting, an interest I always felt but never made time to explore. 

My first series focuses on figures immersed in water. The process of planning, photographing, and painting my kids has helped me explore my complex feelings that include pride, joy, fear and anxiety over their adventures away from home. 

I’m eager to dig deeper into the themes of introspection and connection, to play with different techniques, and to develop more bonds within the artistic community in the Washington D.C. area.

Website: https://karash.net/

Socials: @karashpayne

    

Kerry Richardson - studio 11

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Leslie Hunsley - studio 6

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Margery Thomas Meuller - studio 9

Medium: Many mediums, particularly ink and watercolor ,on Yupo paper have been her exclusive manner of work 

Margery's story: 

Graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a BFA in painting , her practice was only part-time until 12 years ago. She had an interior design company in NY until 2011 which  she closed  and started full time as a practicing artist. 

She has shown her work nationally and been awarded several juried certificates. 

Website: MargeryThomasMeuller.net

Instagram: Margery_Thomas_Mueller

     

Mary Vinograd - studio 7

Medium: acrylic and oil painter

Mary's story: 

After raising a family and nurturing several other life-roles, Mary is humbled to have the opportunity to paint full time. “This is my bucket list dream, my around-the-world cruise!”

Mary finds that working and selling her paintings in the local community, brings purpose and meaning to her work. Mary paints as a resident artist every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in her shop at the Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market in Bethesda, as well as in her studio at Compass Art Center. Her work values everyday living as both a treasured moment and a mark of history, reflecting humanity where she finds it, locally, in landscape, still life and portraiture.

Socials: @MaryVinogradFineArt

    

Rachael Rice - studio 12

Medium: acrylic painter, fluid pouring

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Rebecca Ravenal - studio 10

Medium: oil painter, figurative

Rebecca's story: 

I have been a studio artist for more than 30 years, making pottery, mosaics, and mixed media sculpture. Recently I began incorporating painting into my work.

My pieces are inspired by tradition but updated with the use of non-traditional techniques and materials.  Often featuring animals and floral designs, my work is bold, colorful, and fun.

My artwork has been juried into numerous shows and sold in stores and galleries. I studied locally at The Corcoran College of Art and Design and at crafts schools across the country. I teach classes for adults and children at area schools and art centers.

    

Sam Guindon - studio 4

Medium: oil painter, plein air, alla prima

Sam's story:

Sam is a current Master Artist Program student at the Compass Atelier. He has been drawing since he was 2 years old and oil painting since age 19. Over the years he has taken classes at The Compass Atelier, as well as at CalArts, RISD, the Art Students League, and the Glasgow School of Art. In 2021 he received the J Barney Moore prize in art from Hamilton College, which is awarded to one to two students each year who excel in studio art. Since then he has exhibited and sold work in a number of group shows, and in 2023 sold out his first solo exhibition.

"Through the meditative lens of painting I have found great appreciation for the beauty of everyday life. I hope to impart that reverence to others through my work and teaching."

Website:

Socials: @samguindon.art

   

Samantha Kreindler - studio 9

Medium: photography, digital media, ink, watercolor, acrylic and thread

Samantha's story:

Samantha is an artist, designer and soon to be clinical social worker who is a curious observer of life’s dichotomies - the simple beauties to deep complexities and pain, the lightness and darkness. Samantha’s first medium was digital photography because it allows an observer to freeze individual moments of life. “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still” Dorothea Lange. Using these images as a starting point, Samantha works with ink, watercolor or digital media, to tell a story through simple, abstract images - often with a bit of whimsy - in the hopes of conveying the essence of a situation, person, animal or object rather than a direct representation.

Samantha’s most recent work has been focused around the idea of rebuilding - the art of stitching our lives back together following a personal or collective loss, tragedy, or recovering from the mounting pressures of our modern society. Samantha is working with large canvases, acrylic paint and thread to create abstract representations of the impact of grief, loss and trauma on our individual worlds and the work we do as humans to incorporate these experiences into our new, whole selves. 

Website: SamanthaKreindler.com

Instagram: skreindler