Student Artist Gains World Experience In Rome

When asked where in the family line their son Andy got his artistic gene from, Andy’s Mom replied, "We’re not sure but we believe he got his love of art from his grandfather, who studied at an art school in Newark NJ, way back when." Back a few decades, specialized art schools were indeed respected icons of society and passionate students of art launched pivotal careers that helped to carve many famous institutions and galleries that citizens today now enjoy.

In Andy’s senior year, knowing that his son had a bent for art and only art, Andy’s Dad began to casually look around for vocational opportunities. "Andy didn’t want to go to a traditional college where he’d have to spend another two or three years studying the required non-art subjects first, before he actually got to learn art," his Dad reflected. "An artist just wants to learn and do his craft! But we didn’t know exactly where or how to start him on that path."

Andy had been drawing since around the age of six and over the years his art teachers repeatedly commented on his ‘gift’ so much so, that his parents began to finally pay attention. What parent doesn’t want the best for their child?

How was Andy as a child? "Oh, he was a handful, of course!" his Mom instantly laughed. "He did pretty well in school. But we’d never seen him light up with so much enthusiasm until he arrived here at duCret," she said. Both parents were dumbstruck when they learned that Andy was one of the most active students in the duCret Student Council. "At duCret, he just shines," his Mom beamed.

So this spring, when an opportunity to go to Rome was offered by Andy’s art school, he signed up. In March, tour guide and duCret Instructor Mark Romanoski led over 40 duCret students, family and friends on an all-encompassing trip to Rome, Florence and Italy. There, Andy and his fellow students were able to experience first-hand, the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s famous statue, the  ‘David’ and the Mona Lisa.

duCret, known mainly to those who travel within NJ’s exclusive artist communities, has long held a reputation for being one of NJ’s best kept secrets. It’s the state’s oldest non-profit visual art school and its alumni history is stocked full of legendary artists. That history includes some pretty interesting past events and world coverage that has occurred there as well. Not many are even aware that duCret offers trips of a lifetime, such as this.

When queried how they found out about duCret, Andy’s dad replied, "I’d never heard of the school before. Last year I just happened to pick up the Courier News and read an article on a teacher who was having a comic book art event at this ‘duCret School of Art’.  Since Andy’s dream was always to work for Marvel Comics, a bell just clicked in my head. So we contacted duCret and here we are!"

Ironically, the teacher featured in the comic book article one year prior turned out to be Andy's trip leader. Mark Romanoski, a long time local artist was recently publically recognized yet again for his commissioned painting for St. Joseph's Church in North Plainfield.

For more information on duCret's 3 Yr Career Courses, visit duCret School of Art. duCret also offers a SUMMER WORKSHOP PROGRAM with over 40 workshops for both children and adults.

Cedarbrook & duCret Students Connect Via Love of Art

Amidst the many choices our children have these days, given such easy access to social media networks and internet programming, it’s rare to see anyone connecting on a one-to-one basis, as in days of  old.  Yet it is direct human to human contact that carries an essence of life that no computer, no matter how many gigs it has, can offer a growing soul. The life-force value of ‘nurturing’ can only be shared by initiating one-to-one human contact.

Recently, the duCret School of Art Student Council rallied at the opportunity to walk across the street to Cedarbrook School. There, in front of a rapt crowd of 8th graders, they shared their own artistic dreams and unique stories as budding young artists.  duCret students Chris Peel, Megan Cocho, Taylor Ficke, Sean Smith  and Kristen Karwan  each spoke about how they discovered their love of art in childhood and what it was that brought them to make their choices to be ‘career  artists’ in life. Each now attends duCret School of Art, a 3-yr visual arts school that prepares gifted artists for the business of their art.

“Just close your eyes for a moment and what you see in that moment is a world without art,” said Dean Field, an attending duCret art teacher. ‘Everything in this world is art. Whether it is a chair that someone has created or a visual ad campaign an artist designed to sell products that other artists have crafted; every aspect of life is connected to art. That answers the question – is there a career in art? Just look all around you and you’ll find jobs for artists everywhere.”

After a short presentation by the duCret Student Council, the 8th grade students were then divided into small groups and guided through a portraiture exercise that develops eye-hand coordination. This gave the 8th graders an opportunity to experience one-to-one personal assistance and an artist’s perspective regarding the discovery of their own potentials of artistic talent.

“I didn’t even know I could draw until I was 9 years old,” Kristen Karwan shared with the group. She’d discovered her own ability quite by surprise. Many students don’t even know that they have a talent for art, for if a household in which they grow up does not expose them to the many forms of art that exist, too often one’s special gifts will remain undiscovered. Art is not just about drawing or painting. It is a way of life that touches every aspect of the human soul.

A sudden accident that caused an eye injury shifted the artistic career focus of painter Taylor Ficke, for instance, who then began working in ceramics and sculpture. Rather than succumbing to the injury, Taylor took positive action and discovered yet another element of her artistic gifting.  None of us know what challenges life will to deliver us, but hearing the stories of the duCret students enabled Cedarbrook 8th graders to open their minds to the many ways that art can serve them in their lives.

Most importantly, they learned that art is a healing agent of life. The expression of it is a positive way to address and manage any emotional and physical circumstances life may bring. To do art, one does not need a lot of money. One only needs a pencil or pastel set, a blank pad of paper and a dream to begin a lifetime journey through the wonderfully vibrant world of art.

duCret School of Art offers a Summer Program for both Children and Adults aside from it's 3-yr Art Career Curriculum and OPEN STUDIO'S for the adult community. More info can be found at duCret School of Art.

duCret Celebrates 32nd High School Art Show

The auditorium was packed wall to wall as 74 awards from 471 art submissions were formally presented to NJ’s participating high school artists by the duCret School of Art Director, Frank Falotico.  Friday, February 25th marked duCret’s 32nd High School Art Show and submissions from participating high schools across the state amassed an enormous array of talent as submitted pieces ranged from oil, pastel, acrylic, collage, pen and ink, watercolor, mixed media and charcoal to photography and digital manipulation.

duCret, NJ’s oldest non-profit visual art school, has been launching talented individuals into a wide array of successful art careers for 85 years, including; nationally acclaimed portrait artists, illustrators and graphic designers. The annual high school show enables gifted students seeking career opportunities in the art field to not only have their work reviewed and exhibited formally, they can meet and mingle with public art supporters, students and duCret faculty at the awards presentation ceremony as well.

Acrylic by MingZhu Hai

Each year students are notified mainly through their high school art departments and are called to submit one entry in any one of several mediums offered.  This year, duCret received art entries from not only local towns such as Watchung, New Providence, Bernardsville, Plainfield, South Plainfield and Summit, but also from Livingston, Bayonne, Randolph, Freehold and Bergenfield.

First Place Awards: Sam Wasserman of Watchung Hills H.S. in Acrylic, Jenelle Ramdeen of Bayonne H.S. in B & W Photography, Andrew Richard Ward of Piscataway H.S. in Chalk Pastel, Tyler Ruperto of Bridgewater-Raritan H.S. in Charcoal, Melissa Olsakowski of Randolph H.S. in Collage, Stephanie Wademan of Piscataway H.S. in Color Pencil, Meldrick Umahon of Livingston H.S. in Color Photography, Elisa Chaudet of  Somerville H.S. in Digital Manipulation, Patrick Hall of Watchung H.S. in Graphics, Jessica Chu of Bridgewater-Raritan H.S. in Graphite, Phoebe Feng of Livingston H.S. in Ink, Kaixi Wu of Bridgewater-Raritan H.S. in Mixed Media, Austin Harry Peer of Watchung Hills H.S. in Oil, Nick Fellezolla of New Providence H.S. in Printmaking and Carolyn Thornton of Watchung Hills H.S. in Watercolor.

Digital by Melissa Martini

Second Place Awards: Catherine Shiau of Livingston H.S. in Acrylic, Trevor Rand of Hillsborough H.S. in B & W Photography, Sara May of Bergenfield H.S. in Charcoal, Rachael Laurilliard of Randolph H.S. in Collage, Bari Blanga of Livingston H.S. in Color Photography, Danielle Stecki of Livingston H.S. in Pastel, Raymond Diaz of Bayonne H.S. in Digital Manipulation, Maclain Riccardi of Oak Knoll H.S. in Graphite, Martin Demcale of Bridgewater-Raritan H.S. in Ink, Rais Ahmed of Hillsborough H.S. in Mixed Media, Zoe Ambinder of Watchung Hills H.S. in Oil, Lauren Gallagher of Watchung Hills H.S. in Pastel, Luke Heisinger of New Providence H.S. in Printmaking and Hilary Cornick of Bridgewater Raritan H.S. in Watercolor.

Third Place Awards: Arturo Hernandez of Bound Brook H.S. in Acrylic, Emily Pettitt of Randolph H.S. in B & W Photography, Abigail Bianga of Oak Knoll H.S. in Color Photography, Elizabeth Ibrahim of Bayonne H.S. in Digital Manipulation, Sonya Han of New Providence H.S. in Graphite, Anna-Maria Sen of Bridgewater-Raritan H.S. in Ink, Erica Ramos of Hillsborough H.S. in Mixed Media, Nicole Chesek of Piscataway H.S. in Pastel, Alexis Paredes of Livingston H.S. in Pastel/Charcoal and Erin Caffrey of Watchung Hills H.S. in Watercolor.

Acrylic by Catherine Shiau

35 other high school students from participating high schools received Honorable Mention Awards, including: Kimberly Radwanski of Bridgewater-Raritan H.S., Shaila Hug of Freehold Borough H.S., Kimberly Tsai of Watchung Hills H.S., Renylin Bacani of Bayonne H.S., Kristy Chan of Livingston H.S., Sonja Podesta of Oak Knoll H.S., Scarlet Hernandez of Piscataway H.S., Madeline Jones of Hillsborough H.S., Peter Chang of Hillsborough H.S., Allison Scalera of Watching Hills H.S.,  Alex Blitt of New Providence H.S., Allison Bradley of New Providence H.S., Dakota Santiago of Bayonne H.S., Brianna Peipert of Livingston H.S., Megan Harrop of Livingston H.S., Rebecca Niccolai of Oak Knoll H.S., Lauren Merrill of Watchung Hills H.S., Sofia Lizza of Watchung Hills H.S., Amanda Unger of Bayonne H.S., Kelly Zindel of Randolph H.S., Melissa Martini of Union H.S., Joanne Horng of Livingston H.S., Bryanne Brock of Piscataway H.S., Rachel Farber of Randolph H.S., Trenton White of Bridgewater-Raritan H.S., Jannel Varona of Bayonne H.S., Sara Neiss of Watchung Hills H.S., Paolo Martinez of Bround Brook H.S., Jon Wojcik of Bridgewater-Raritan H.S., John Cherichello of Livingston H.S., Rebecca Gruber of Freehold Borough H.S., Megan Martinez of John F. Kennedy Memorial H.S., Katie Zabel of New Providence H.S.,  Noelle Verrusio of New Providence H.S., and Shiwoo Yu of Wardlaw-Hartridge School.

 ‘Despite where one may live in NJ, location is not an issue when an artist has a dream’ says Frank Falotico, Director. This is a proven fact, as students enrolled at duCret School of Art hail from all across the state. Not only does the Annual High School Art Show allow high school teens to view works from their peers in different counties, they and their parents together can tour NJ’s oldest art school and actually see where some of NJ’s legendary alumni first learned their craft and launched their careers.

The duCret School of Art has been a major contributor to art education in central NJ since its founding in 1926. The school maintains a computer lab, library, ceramics lab, photography and fine art studios and offers fine art, illustration and computer-graphics programs, including OPEN STUDIO'S for local artists, SPECIALTY WORKSHOPS and the duCRET SUMMER ART PROGRAM for adults and children. Individuals interested in a career in art are encouraged to CALL 908-757-7171 & SCHEDULE A TOUR. More info about the school can be found at duCret School of Art.  

Local Artist Paints Altarpiece For N. Plainfield Church

Mark Romanski has been a professional artist for over 12 years, but his ties to Saint Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church of North Plainfield go back his whole life. Mark is a lifelong North Plainfield resident and as a child he attended St. Joseph’s grammar school and briefly was an altar boy for the Church. Throughout his life, every major religious event has been celebrated at the church. But a recent trip to Europe inspired a painting. In Summer 2008, Mark spent two weeks traveling throughout Italy and Greece, where he saw gorgeous churches with immaculate artwork. Shortly upon return, Romanoski approached Father George, the Pastor of St. Joseph’s to see if there were anything he could do artistically for the Church. Father informed Mark of the recent closing of the grammar school, and explained how the church’s offices were moved to the Convent on Westervelt Avenue. The building housed a small chapel where daily masses were now being held. Romanoski was honored for the opportunity to paint the chapel’s altarpiece. Originally sketches of the crucifixion were drawn, but after much discussion, it was decided that the Chapel’s alter should emulate the main church’s death of Saint Joseph.

The Story of Joseph’s Passing

There is no biblical writing of Joseph’s death, however, tradition states that Saint Joseph died a peaceful death with Mary and Jesus at his side. They briefly left the room and Joseph was visited by God the Father whom asked him to inform the souls in purgatory that His Son Jesus is on Earth and the Gates of Heaven will soon be open. Joseph agreed and God ascended to Heaven, and the Holy Spirit came to Saint Joseph and relieved him of all pain. Jesus and Mary returned to the room and upon seeing peace in Joseph’s face, Mary cried tears of joy.

In Catholic tradition, Joseph is the patron saint to pray to for a peaceful death. Although the painting has spiritual elements, artistically Romanoski wanted to focus on the family unit – Mother and Son, Husband and Wife. “I wanted people to be able to relate to the painting. I used friends and family members as subjects for Mary, Jesus and Joseph. I tried to refrain from using the golden-brown earthly colors that are traditionally associated with religious imagery. I added color to make the painting more contemporary.” Romanoski tried to stay as close to the essence of the story as possible. If you look closely, Mary’s eye begins to moisten, forming a tear.

Tradition Passed On - Mark Romanoski is first to admit that he has been fortunate in his career. He graduated Kean University in 1992 with a BFA in Illustration. Shortly after graduation, he met Tim and Greg Hildebrandt. The Brothers Hildebrandt, a fantasy art duo known the world over for such illustrations as the original Star Wars poster and the 1976-78 J.R.R. Tolkien calendars. Tim taught him two of his most important lessons: “One – That I had a lot to learn. And two – that the only God-given talent was a matter of perseverance. Skill was achieved through hard work and dedication.” Shortly after meeting Tim, Romanoski was introduced to illustrator Joe DeVito, best known as the creator of “Kong: King of Skull Island.” Joe and Mark developed an apprentice-style relationship. He taught Mark an academic approach to drawing, painting and picture making. Joe encouraged Mark to enroll in the Art Student’s League, where Mark studied the drawing and painting techniques of Frank Reilly, the man credited with formalizing academic philosophies of illustration. When he had absorbed all he could from the ASL, he moved on to the duCret School of Art where he was introduced to Peter Caras, a well-known artist in his own right and a protégé of the legendary Norman Rockwell and Jim Bama. Caras started out as a mentor but became a better friend. They still remain friends today, with Romanoski constantly learning from Caras.

In 1998, Romanoski’s education came full-circle when he was hired by The Brothers Hildebrandt to work in their studio as their first-ever art assistant. Shortly after, with the help of his former business manager, Jean Scrocco, Mark launched his own career. He states proudly “Joe DeVito taught me almost everything I know about painting and drawing; Peter Caras taught me how to make sense of it all; and Tim and Greg taught me how to apply it as a professional.” Professionally, Mark’s clients include Harry Potter, Warner Bros. Studios, Universal Studios, World of Warcraft, D.C. Comics, Magic the Gathering and Moonstone Books to name a few. In 2001, he painted an illustration for the World Wrestling Federation that was blown up to a 4 1/2 story banner and hung in the middle of Times Square for the New Year’s Eve celebration. He is also an accomplished muralist, painting commercial and residential murals throughout New York and New Jersey, most recently completing two 8-foot murals in the Federal Court building in Newark. Mark is also passing on his education as an instructor at the duCret School of Art in Plainfield and as an adjunct professor at Kean University.

On March 6, 2011, at the 11 am. mass at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, there was a ceremony to bless the painting, which was followed by a reception in the Church Hall. St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church is located on the corner of Watchung Avenue and Jackson Avenue, North Plainfield, NJ.

To view Mark’s illustrations visit his personal website Mark-Romanoski.com and his mural work at artisticalternatives.com. To learn more about duCret's upcoming SUMMER ARTS PROGRAM for children and adults or FALL COURSE INFORMATION visit duCret School of Art.  

The Plainfield Symphony Hosts NYC-Style ‘duCabaret’ At duCret!

This year The Plainfield Symphony presented an unusually exciting dinner-theatre fund raiser ‘duCABARET’ at the duCret School of Art in Plainfield, NJ on Saturday evening, February 12th. The house was packed as music and art lovers came together on the floor for an evening of art and entertainment. True to the spirit of a NYC Cabaret style show, Plainfield Symphony President James Rowland brought in NYC talent that thrilled the crowd with their performances. The award winning cabaret performer John DeMarco also a well known local realtor, was joined by singers Greg Myers, Kim Grogg and The Del Angels a trio who rocked the house with beautiful harmonic blends. duCret faculty member Dean Field, then performed on the very special Petrof, a state-of-the-art piano, which was specially brought in for the event.

duCret School of Art invited music and art lovers alike to converge for an evening of classic tunes, great food and fun. Hosting the event was NYC’s very popular cabaret singer Jim Speake. The open bar began at 7:00PM and the dinner show started at 8:00PM.  Included in the evening’s event was a Silent Auction, a Raffle and a silent duCret Faculty Art Show, featuring the very special works of several published duCret artists who have achieved world recognition. This included two wildlife artists, Douglas Allen and Leslie Delgyer both of whom are duCret board members. Leslie was also most generous in her donation of a $300.00 limited edition Jaguar print as a door prize giveaway.

Plainfield Symphony is New Jersey’s oldest community symphony. It is well known for its community outreach programs which include; holding an annual free children’s concert, instituting music education programs in central NJ schools, orchestrating canned food drives and also managing the Plainfield Symphony Junior Board of Directors, which enables students to take active part in community programs, marketing, operations and fund raising.

Similarly, the duCret School of Art is NJ’s oldest non-profit visual arts school and is celebrating it’s 85th year. duCret holds a legendary cast of accomplished artists, which includes; nationally acclaimed painters, portrait artists and illustrators, as well as graphic designers who are now affiliated with some of the nation’s most prestigious advertising agencies.

The collaboration of both institutions made this event a most special one indeed! Featured: Top Image - Jim Speake, Middle Image - Dean Field, Bottom Image - John DeMarco, Kim Grogg and Greg Myers. For more information on Ducret School of Art, visit Events and Workshops.