We would like to present the artists we have had the good fortune of working with on our last eight covers. We look forward to presenting many CT artists and their work!
WINTER 2015-16
Leanne Peters
The Door Opener Magazine has been a great strengthener and guide in my life. I very much appreciate all that Dory Dzinski and Jon Roe have shared – many, many thanks. All the best for a wonderful, exciting new year! I am joyful to have The Beginning as the last printed cover art. We close this chapter with an open door image – an archway in the garden to a new experience. This is only a portion of the full oil painting, which will be available next year as an archival print from my website below. Thank you all for your participation through the years. What a wonderful community that can continue to thrive online and especially through the fantastic expos! www.leannepeters.com
FALL 2015
Trisha Leigh Shufelt
Trisha Leigh Shufelt is an artist, sculptor, Reiki Master, and recent breast cancer survivor. She works in a variety of mediums, which include acrylic, ink, watercolor, and watercolor pencil. Her artwork continues to sell around the world and has been featured in publications both in the United States and Europe. Trisha’s art focuses on nature elements, feminine themes, and esoteric subject matter. Her latest endeavor, the Art in Soul Mantra, is a deck of 62 cards with two distinctive styles, which feature her artwork, mantras, and inspirational text. Her piece, Earth Ammonite, featured on the cover, was created in 2014 in acrylic. The subject of the painting was seeing the self as part of the sacred spiral of creation and our connection to the collective consciousness of the Universe. All of Trisha Leigh Shufelt’s artwork can be found at www.artinsoul.org.
SUMMER 2015
Charlie Siegel
Charlie Siegel is an avid nature photographer and poet, combining his love for nature with his desire to help & inspire others. Charlie was raised in a spiritual environment, with his mother Jane establishing Wisdom of the Ages in Simsbury, CT when he was 3. Since early childhood, he has loved photographing nature to honor and share its beauty. In fall of 2013, he began to sell his work professionally through his business, Photography by SC (SC stands for Sensei Charlie, his title as a professional martial arts instructor.) His work has expanded since then, creating a line of greeting cards, bookmarks, framed art, photos on canvas, laminated poetry pieces & more. Charlie sees nature as an extension of the God Energy in the Universe, and that through honoring the intricacies and expounding beauty of things such as a bright autumn leaf or a budding tree branch, we see the truth and the beauty within ourselves. In connecting his love for inspirational poetry with his photography, he has created many unique pieces in which he pairs and prints his own original written works with his photography, “helping the pictures to be heard,” as he says. “Nature has a voice that is meant for all to hear. I hope that through my work, I can help others to become in touch with that voice, and to then find that same universal voice of nature speaking within their own hearts.” Charlie sells his work on Etsy.com/shop/PhotobySC. This issue’s cover art is available there as prints & greeting cards. New items are continually added to the site as they are created. He has also begun a line called Chakra Healing Images, available at Etsy.com/shop/ ChakraHealingImages, in which he combines color therapy with affirmations to assist in the energy flow of your chakras. Or stop into Wisdom of the Ages to see a wide variety of his work available there.
SPRING 2015
Rose-Ann C. Chrzanowski
Rose-Ann Chrzanowski is on a spiritual path of self discovery. The journey began with her husband Raymond’s sudden passing, resulting in her book Irises and Butterflies, Reflections of Grief. The cover of the book is a sand mandala symbolic of her journey through the grieving process. Rose-Ann found hope and tranquility in creating mandalas and continued making them. She uses a variety of art materials. Some are made from colored sand, some are white pencil on black paper, others are collages of torn paper. She also uses watercolor paints on handmade paper. This art gave birth to note cards and greeting cards, as well as original pieces and prints. As an art teacher for many years, Rose-Ann had the opportunity to discover art from many cultures. Mandalas were a success with different age groups with which she worked. She says, “I am so grateful for what my students taught me through their unique creative endeavors. They had a way of putting their hearts into their work and making it come alive.” She taught kindergarten through 12th grade and is presently a part time professor at Quinnipiac University. Rose-Ann is a Reiki Master, an ordained minister, and a justice of the peace. “As a Reiki master, I have been on a spiritual journey for the past few years. I find creating the mandalas has been a meditative experience for me. Often I will sit at my drawing table to start a design and find that five or six hours have passed when I emerge from that peaceful place of working with a finished piece before me.” She finds great joy in her healing work, passing Reiki attunements, and in officiating at weddings. Note cards and the originals are for sale. Contact below: rosiechild313@gmail.com
WINTER 2014-15
Dorothy Drobney
Dorothy “Dot” Drobney finds constant fascination in studying the smallest details of nature up close and personal. For her, macro photography is the perfect genre to round out her interest in the natural world. Dot began taking photos at a very young age, but it has been the advent of digital photography that has allowed her to turn photos into art. While using very little postprocessing, she finds a way to see things just a bit differently and from many different angles…including from the ground up! Dot uses a metallic printing process to best highlight the subtle details in flora and fauna. An early childhood literacy specialist by profession, Dot freely admits that photography is her passion and obsession. She looks forward to retirement, which will allow her more hours to be outdoors shooting flowers, birds, and daddylong-legs – her most willing subjects. Dot has received numerous awards in Audubon photo contests, and her work has been exhibited in many local galleries and artisan shops, including Silver Circle Gallery in Putnam and The Lily Pad in Willimantic. Her photo greeting cards are also available at The Lily Pad and The Windowbox in Stafford Springs. When time allows, Dot also enjoys doing portrait sessions in her studio in Mansfield, CT, and on-location all over the state. Her work can be accessed through her website at www.ddrobneyphotography.com and on her Facebook page. Dot resides in Willington with her husband, Mark, and their two dogs, Finley and Lexi. She has also been attuned in Reiki through the Masters’ Level.
FALL 2014
G.P. Allaire
Greg Allaire has always been interested in painting images that are not completely self-explanatory. He prefers that the subconscious mind does the “thinking.” The simplicity of his paintings has complexity within. An image captures and holds the inner mind’s interest, yet still allows the aware mind to have a focus. Useful as a meditation tool, these moons can help create grounding, a place to start from, a means but not an ending. Each unique moon is an original painting. The moons seem to draw one’s eyes to them and possess a mesmerizing effect. Greg uses a combination of iridescent and interference paints on paper or canvas to create his works. At an early age, Greg developed an interest in photography. As a teenager, his photographs were published in several newspapers in Connecticut, including the Hartford Courant. He continued using his photographic talents for the two weekly newspapers he published in Rochester, New York. Upon his return to Connecticut, he became interested in graphic arts. Now, for more than a decade, Greg has been painting and creating metal sculptures in his art studio. His works have been on display in various shows throughout the state. Greg resides with his wife, Fleming, in Connecticut.
SUMMER 2014
Sophia Shultz
Born and raised in suburban Philadelphia, Sophia Kelly Shultz has been working professionally as an artist for 29 years, at first specializing in “fantasy” portraits in which customers could order portraits as, for example, centaurs or fairies, etc. – and more recently in the spiritual and mythological paintings for which she is now widely known. Formally trained in Egyptology at the University of Pennsylvania, she spent some years in museum work, primarily working in the University Museum’s basement with objects that rarely saw the light of day. Unfortunately, the ephemeral nature of museum funding clashed wildly with her need to eat and pay rent, so she struck out into the world to “get a life”–which eventually came to include a husband, a daughter, moves to Minnesota and Chicago and back to Pennsylvania, and a variety of retail jobs. Through it all she continued developing her artwork. In 2005, she took up watercolor painting and produced “Hollie’s Green Man,” arguably her most recognizable work. Sophia currently lives with her family in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, though during the summers she can likely be found at Four Quarters Farm (www.4qf.org), where she is now a junior member of the Board of Directors. She collects minerals and rocks, is a self-described fabric fiend, and has done award-winning needlework. She has been published in NewWitch and Pangaia magazines; most recently her paintings, I Rise Up, Not Without Help, and Badger Knows Everything That Goes On in the Earth; Hawk Knows Everything That Goes On in the Air, have been featured in the We’Moon Pagan Women’s Calendar.
SPRING 2014
Meg DiPietro Peterson
When I get this urge of inspiration to write and paint, I feel an inner peace. A connection to a special place. Voices and images appear in my mind and I have to allow my hands to flow. I’m amazed at what comes out. This entire journey that I have been on has intensified since my mom, my best friend, has gone home. The very rare animals that show up on my path amaze me. I feel as though they are messages sent by mom to keep me in constant contact with her. It just feels so great. After I receive the messages, I love to share my stories and the paintings that go with them to heal people struggling and in pain. I know we are all universally connected. We all share a common ground and have similar experiences, and if you are open and aware of the gifts you have, you will see the magic unfold in your life. Love is the strongest force in the universe!
Meg (owner of Meg’s, Manchester, CT)
