Learn About Our Experienced Teachers
Anne Browne
Co-founder and owner
Anne Browne is a painter and teacher. She loves painting a variety of subject matter — portraits, landscapes and animals in a variety of styles. Her portraits are more classical and her other work is brightly colored and expressive. Primarily she works in oil but she also uses a variety of media — wool, wire, wood in sculptural pieces. Anne received her MFA in Painting and Sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute and her BA in studio art from the University of Virginia. She loves teaching to both adults and children. She wants Art House 7 to be a welcoming and creative space for people to learn, develop skills and express themselves in their art.
Website: annebrowneart.com
Email: anne@arthouseseven.com
Anne Arnett
After teaching art for 40ish years, including my last 18 in Arlington public schools, I am very happily retired. I have more time now to continue immersing myself in my life-long love of art, enjoying painting in my home studio, visiting museums, and participating in virtual and in-person art classes. When I put my paintbrush down, some of my other interests include training my Goldendoodle to be a therapy dog, practicing Pilates, and laughing with friends and family.
Email: annearnett@arthouseseven.com
Bettina Brunner
Bettina Brunner is an abstract artist from Reston, Va., who loves leading art workshops and exploring different mediums. She works in acrylics, crayon, marker and pencil on paper, canvas and wood. She particularly enjoys teaching collage and abstract painting. Her works are regularly shown at Art4Us Cooperative and the League of Reston Artists gallery events.
Email: bettina@bettinabrunner.com
Website: bettinabrunner.com
Jane Coonce
Jane McElvany Coonce has been in the art field for over 30 years. She works primarily in oil, pastel, and terra cotta. Her favorite subjects are children, seascapes, and bridge scenes. Her works are held by private and corporate collectors, including the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and the International Country Club, Fairfax. She has won numerous awards for both her paintings and her sculptures.
Website: jmcelvany.com
Email: jane.coonce@gmail.com
Janice Cronin
Janice I. Cronin was raised in Western Massachusetts, where she was immersed in all forms of the arts and culture. She received her bachelor’s degree from nearby Mount Holyoke College, an all-women’s college. Her major was studio art with a concentration in printmaking.
Following college, Janice pursued a path in art conservation and restoration. She worked for high-tech businesses, got her MBA degree, and assisted in the startup of a $30 million business. Starting in 1998, Janice studied at the Art League School of Alexandria, Va. She completed the MFA-Painting degree program at the Academy of Art University (AAU) in San Francisco in May 2022.
Recent recognitions: Best in Show (see painting below at left); the Art League’s Open Exhibit April 2023; Director’s Choice Award in the AAU 2020 Spring Show; acceptance into AAU’s 2021 and 2022 Spring Show; and the Honorable Mention award at the 2017 Art League Student Show of Alexandria. Janice is also a member of the Art League of Alexandria, the Portrait Society of America, and Oil Painters of America.
Website: jicroninfineart.com/
Email: jicronin@me.com
Elaine Escobar
Elaine is a Brazilian artist who loves to teach. She combines her expertise in both embroidery and printmaking to create unique, beautiful artworks. Her pieces appear in local galleries.
Email: elainevianaescobar@gmail.com
Paige Secrest Finger
Paige Secrest Finger is our marketing and events coordinator. She has a background in magazine marketing, promotion and copywriting. She has worked at Vogue, Gourmet, Rolling Stone and House Beautiful, among other publications.
Email: paige@arthouseseven
Mark Giaimo
Mark Giaimo is a fine artist, illustrator and art instructor based in Arlington, Va. His award-winning oil paintings mix the mundane with the sacred, kitsch with classical realism, posing questions on the meaning and value of humanist art and its role in contemporary society. He has participated in numerous group and solo shows throughout the greater D.C. area and New York City.
Email: mark@markgiaimo.com
Website: https://www.markgiaimo.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/markgiaimoart/
Facebook: facebook.com/giaimoart
Miki Goerdt
Miki is an artist and a board-certified art therapist who grew up in Japan. She loves painting, printmaking, and mixed media. Her artworks often capture her personal experiences and memories, which serve as the invitations for the viewers to start feeling more intimate connections with larger societal concerns and cultural concepts. The main themes she explores in her artworks include psychological concepts such as the inner child and the process of emotional healing, social and psychological impacts of oppression, and how societal contexts influence one’s identity. She is interested in exploring the use of art and the creative process to facilitate self-awareness and mental health healing.
Miki earned her Bachelor of Art degree in studio art from Wartburg College in Iowa and Master of Social Work degree along with the advanced graduate certification in Art Therapy from Marywood University in Pennsylvania. Her artworks have been selected for juried exhibitions throughout the United States. She is a member of Falls Church Art Gallery. She teaches as an adjunct professor at George Washington University’s Art Therapy graduate program.
Email: mikigoerdt@emeraldleafcc.com
Website: mikigoerdt.com
Instagram: instagram.com/mikigoerdt
Lauren Guiffre
Lauren Guiffre is an art teacher at Discovery Elementary School in Arlington and loves sharing her passion for the arts with young artists! She received her BFA in Art and Visual Technology from George Mason University and has been teaching elementary art for six years. In addition to being a mother, teaching in school and private lessons, and coaching basketball, she enjoys painting, printmaking and collaging with unexpected materials.
Email: lauren.guiffre@arthouseseven.com
Twitter: twitter.com/MsGuiffre_Art
Judie Gray
Judie likes to travel and needed an art medium that was portable. In 2008 she found watercolor to be that perfect medium. Photos taken on her trips are used as references for her paintings. Still life, architecture, landscapes and animals are favorites.
Judie was our Teacher of the Month for February 2023. See a video of her at work with her students.
Email: judiesbulldog5500@verizon.net
Ashley Hendrix
Ashley is an art teacher at Taylor Elementary School in Arlington and loves helping kids explore, experiment, and learn through art! She is originally from Philadelphia, but has been teaching in Arlington for three years. In her own artistic practice, she enjoys figurative oil painting and drawing with graphite and charcoal.
Email: ashley.hendrix@apsva.us
Megan Hollerbach
After receiving her degree in Integrative Arts from Penn State, Megan continued her ceramics studies through a post-baccalaureate program at her alma mater, and residencies in New York and Philadelphia.She loves the physicality of working with clay, its diverse applications and the way the challenging medium fosters community within the studio setting. When not in the ceramics studio, you can find her designing residential spaces in the DC area.
Email: megan.hollerbach@gmail.com
Tayabuzzaman Khan (Topu)
Tayabuzzaman Khan (Topu) graduated from the Ceramic Department, Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University. He established a full-service studio in Bangladesh in 1990, called Burnt Clay, where people can work with various art media. It also functions as a center for research on and preservation of traditional forms of art of Bangladesh. He also tries to bring the old form of traditional art into a modern form to make it more relevant for today’s taste. He has a gallery for exhibitions and training center called “Shilpo Chorcha.” He conducted clay workshops for a number of international groups in Bangladesh and has offered other short courses, including film animation. His terra-cotta work has been shown internationally. He was the first to offer Clay Art Therapy (CAT) designed to improve mental health conditions for people in Bangladesh.
Mr. Khan also has a branch of Burnt Clay at Shilper-Shikore in Kaliganj, Gazipur (Bangladesh), an open space where people can work and attend training/workshops amid nature. Mr. Khan is also the Chairman of Shishu Aangina, a Women and Child Development Center in Mirpur. He is eager to offer his expertise to those interested in learning more about clay modeling and enjoying the pleasure and relaxation it can provide.
Facebook: facebook.com/burntclay
Email: burntclay.topu899@gmail.com
Alison Landry
Alison Landry is a contemporary figurative and portrait artist known for the sensitivity of her drawings and the rich sense of color and bold brushwork of her oil paintings. Whenever possible, Alison works from life and enjoys capturing the likeness of her subject as well as the expressive nature and spirit of the pose.
Alison has developed a strong sense of form and technique through years of dedicated training in the classical realist tradition. She has studied extensively at the Art League of Alexandria, Va., with the modern master Robert Liberace, and seeks out instruction and inspiration from the best painters and draftsmen working today. She currently lives in Arlington, Virginia with her family.
Instagram: instagram.com/alisonlandryart Facebook: facebook.com/alisonlandryart
Email: alison.landry@gmail.com
Website: alisonlandry.com
Susan Lobachyov
Susan is a graphic designer with a focus on designing book covers. She has a BFA in Graphic Design and is passionate about typography as well as using found objects in her art projects.
Email: smlobachyov@gmail.com
Andrew Monborne
Andrew is an artist born and raised in Arlington. A recent graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, he has a strong foundation in analog photography and experience in sculpture and fabrication. His materially diverse art practice has given him an appreciation of all mediums and a desire to develop and share skills. A believer in hands on exploration, Andrew enjoys helping others transform their ideas into tangible creations.
Email: amonborne@gmail.com
Caroline Mountcastle-Carlson
Caroline Mountcastle-Carlson (Mrs. Caroline to kids) has worked in the fine and decorative arts space for over 15 years. She has a BA in art history and history and a post-grad degree in the fine and decorative arts. She’s been teaching Sunday school (kindergarten, first and second grade) for 8 years and subbing at a preschool. Caroline has 4 kids of her own. She enjoys painting, drawing, horseback riding, tennis, playing piano, skiing, river sports, reading, doing puzzles.
Teaching kids about history and world famous places through art has been a longtime dream for Caroline. She is excited about this opportunity to teach at Art House 7.
Email: carolinemcarlson@yahoo.com
Anna Nachmanoff
Anna Nachmanoff, our event coordinator and teen and young adult staff manager, is an artist born and raised in Arlington, Va. She graduated from Tufts University in 2023 with a major in Child Study & Human Development and a minor in Studio Art. Her work with children and the arts happily combines these two passions. She primarily paints in oil and acrylic, but also enjoys drawing and is always open to exploring new media. Outside of art, she loves volleyball and currently coaches at Yorktown High School.
Email: annarose@arthouseseven.com
Zachary Norrbom
Zachary Norrbom is an elementary art teacher at Barcroft ES. He has taught art for 3 years, since graduating from the University of Mary Washington in 2018. He graduated undergrad in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Art, focusing in ceramics. He completed his masters in education in 2018 and has taught since.
During the pandemic Zach built a home ceramic studio and has been producing work there for about a year.
Email: znorrbom@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/norrbom_ceramics/
Morgan Norwood
Morgan Norwood teaches art at Campbell Elementary School. She grew up in Atlanta, and has been living and working in the DC area since 2003, and Arlington since 2013. She holds a BFA in studio art and art education from the University of Georgia, a MAT in museum education from the George Washington University, and is a national board-certified teacher. She has two teenagers at home, both involved in theatre, music, and visual art. Morgan works abstractly in oils in her personal artmaking, with themes concerning the connection between nature and the human condition. She opens her studio at the Columbia Pike Artist Studios to the public 2-3 times per year and by appointment.
Email: morgan.norwood@apsva.us
Instagram: instagram.com/norrbom_ceramics/
Facebook: facebook.com/morganjnorwoodart/
Visiting Artist: Teresa Oaxaca
Teresa Oaxaca is an American born artist based in Washington, D.C. She is a full time painter whose works can be seen in collections and galleries throughout the U.S. and internationally. Among the institutions that have recognized her works: the American Museum of the Cowboy, the former Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Portrait Society of America and the Museu Europeu D’Art Modern in Barcelona.
Her training includes a four-year diploma from the Angel Academy of Art (Florence Italy), graduate studies at the Florence Academy, and many other courses. Currently she teaches workshops around the U.S. and in Europe. Teresa also takes a variety of portrait commissions and founded a fashion company called “House Of Oaxaca,” selling wares online at houseofoaxaca.com
She is a member of the Young Partners Circle of The National Museum of Women in the Arts; the National Art Education Association (NAEA); the Arts Club of Washington; the California Arts Club. She is also an ambassador for the Da Vinci Initiative, which designs skills-based learning for U.S. K-12 public school educators.
Email: art@teresaoaxaca.com
Instagram: instagram.com/teresaoaxaca
Website: teresaoaxaca.com
Lore Potoker
Lore is an educator & ceramic artist with a BFA from Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH. She has also studied in England, Australia, New York, Ohio and Virginia.
Lore was 10 years old when she first tried the potters wheel and has been hooked on clay ever since. For over 20 years, she has been teaching beginning through advanced levels of ceramics for adults, teens and elementary age children. Her curriculum techniques include hand-building, glazing and throwing on the potter’s wheel.
“I get a thrill from helping students create in clay and transform their ideas into reality”.
Facebook: PotokerPottery
Email: potokerpottery@gmail.com
Samantha Van Heest
Samantha Van Heest is an artist and art educator who grew up in Vienna, Va., and currently lives in Arlington. She has exhibited her work across the United States and in France. Her debut solo exhibition, DEEP/CLEAN, opens February 2023 at HOMME Gallery in Washington, DC. She was featured in New American Paintings South #148 and has worked for the contemporary painter Amy Sherald. She loves teaching art in the Greater Washington DC area with a focus in drawing, painting, and portfolio development. In addition to painting and drawing, Samantha loves textiles & fiber arts, bookmaking, printmaking, collaging, and experimenting with new materials. She earned a BA in Studio Art from the University of Mary Washington in 2020, and studied at the Marchutz School for Painting & Drawing in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Website: samanthavanheest.com
Instagram: samanthavanheest
Email: samanthavanheest@gmail.com
Amy West
Amy has been teaching in the D.C. area for over a decade. She is passionate about crafting artful and dynamic learning experiences full of stories and laughter, music and color.
She has a BA from Sweetbriar College; a “diplome” from the University Paris IV – la Sorbonne; studied at the University of Heidelberg. Amy is now a doctoral candidate in Italian studies at Middlebury College.
Email: agwest_leschamps@mac.com
Jessica Yeo
Jessica enjoys knitting because it is a calm and relaxing craft that can be done almost anywhere. It is also satisfying to see the final creation at the end. Other than knitting, she also enjoys graphic design, oil painting and hiking with her family.
Instagram: neatknits88
Email: jessica@arthouseseven.com
Jamie Baylis
Jamie is the webmaster for Art House 7. She is an experienced designer with a background in journalism, now doing freelance work. She works in print and digital: charts, layouts, book covers, logos, banners and web sites, including WordPress sites. Career highlights: manager of the art and graphics departments at CQ Roll Call and the Chronicle of Higher Education, and graphics reporter for The Washington Post business section. Earlier in her career, she was a copy editor and and occasional writer. She designed the cover and interior for the book “Embracing Elderhood.” She also designed the website for Aim High Driving School in Roanoke, Va, and her own website.
Website: jamiebaylisdesigns.com
Email: jamie@arthouseseven.com