COMPASS ART CENTER's dynamic studios offer a vibrant space where creativity flourishes, providing artists of all levels with the tools and environment to explore their craft. With a gorgeous building teeming with activity and a supportive community, our studios inspire artistic growth and innovation.
Kara Lin
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
DEREK Symer
studio 2
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Derek’s story:
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MAtt Mccarthy
studio 3
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Matt’s story:
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Gloria Capron
studio 4
Medium:
Gloria's story:
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Bridget Kuzma
studio 5
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
Sam Guindon
Studio 6
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
daniel whitstock
studio 6
Medium: oil painter, various subjects
Daniel's story:
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Karash Payne
Studio 7
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