Doug and Debbie Sosebee, the owners of the gallery, met in 1969 at Paier College of Art in New Haven, Connecticut. They have been married for over 35 years, having honeymooned at Debbie’s family cottage in Sconset in 1972. Doug has always pursued his love of painting while also maintaining a successful career in custom home building and design. Debbie has had a career in graphic design, arts management, mural work and calligraphy, while continuing to study and refine her painting skills. They are blessed to spend some winters at their home and studio in the mountains of North Carolina as well as having summers here on Nantucket which has been home for so long. With their daughter Jessica returning here after completing her education in the Arts, much of their family is on island and they have spent many years capturing it’s beauty on canvas. Their work is in private collections in Europe, Canada and most of the United States. A very unusual aspect of their work is their collaboration on certain paintings. Doug will often start a piece, laying in the composition, values and color and Debbie will complete the detail work and multiple layers which go into the completed painting. The end result is a representational piece with a flair of impressionism.
Barbara Capizzo, a Nantucket resident for many years, employs a wide range of subject matter & mediums. Her style varies, but lies-within a realistic to impressionism approach. As she captures Nantucket's quaint streets, waterfronts, shanties and boats. Barbara received her Bachelors Degree in art from Georgia State University, she also attended Ringling College of Art & Design and received her Master's Degree from American International College. She has been involved with the Island's artistic growth as she has served as president of the Artist's Association, and Administrative Director and board member. Her affiliations include Charter Membership in the National Museum of Women in the Arts; the Sarasota Arts Council and Visual Arts Center. Barbara maintained her own gallery on Nantucket's Old South Wharf for many years in addition to her career in teaching. She now spends more of her time in the studio as well as teaching private lessons.
Jack Eastman Brown (1922-2000), was an Island visitor from the 1960’s and eventually became a resident of Nantucket in the 1970’s. He was educated under a full scholarship at the Kansas City Art Institute, studying under notable instructors such as Thomas Hart Benton and Fletcher Martin. Moving to California in the 1940’s, Jack continued his studies at the Chounard Art Institute with Nicholai Fetchin and Lorin Bartin, some of the most highly respected artists of their time. Jack has exhibited on Nantucket at the Barker Gallery, Easy Street Gallery and Robert Wilson Gallery. In addition to painting, he taught many classes and served as President of the Artist’s Association of Nantucket for several years. His work is in many collections both on-island and abroad. The father of Debbie Sosebee, his work now comes from the family’s private collection. A very limited number of originals will be released. In addition, there are several of the limited editions available in gicleé. They are embellished by Debbie and will be a signed and numbered edition of 100 only.
Barbara Peavey began her love for art as a young child and continues to pursue her passion. An accomplished self taught oil painter and member of the Copley Society, Barbara exhibits her oils on Nantucket as well as in select galleries in the Northeast. Her love of the beach and flowers is evident in her works, which invokes the peace and beauty of her surroundings.
Victoria Harvey is a landscape painter working in oils on canvas, painting mostly en plein air (in the landscape) and in the studio. She is known for her strong sensitivity to color and traditional painterly technique influenced by the American Impressionists. Victoria received her formal professional training at a small fine arts conservatory and has received numerous honors for her work, which is represented in many notable collections around the country. She is a member of the Oil Painters of America, Landscape Artists International and the Artist’s Association of Nantucket.
Tom Mielko was born in Boston, Massachusetts. A natural talent, he drew his first sketches at the age of six and went on to study art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School. Upon graduating from the prestigious Art Institute of Boston, Mielko was one of the few artists asked to teach painting there. Since 1968, he has lived his dream of painting as a profession. During his 30-year career as a painter, New England-born, California-based artist, Tom has refined his “Romantic Realism” style to include unusual perspective and emotion-filled colors in shore life paintings. Tom divides his time between his home on Nantucket and his home in Santa Barbara. His passion for both coasts are well represented in his art, as is his talent for adding a hint of mystery or fantasy to many of his works.
Rowenna Anderson was surrounded by a family of painters and craftsmen and developed a devotion to the arts which has dominated her life. As a child, she was generously supplied with paints and brushes by her father, a primitive painter in his own right. His influence encouraged her development as a painter and led her to earn a master of fine arts degree from Ball University. For five years, she lived in the midwest and studied with Ruthven Holmes Byrum. Impressionistic landscapes were her forte. A turning point in Rowenna’s painting career occurred during the decade of life in which her family lived on Nantucket. In these years, she developed a deep esteem for the Island and the many moods of its special personality. This aura of Nantucket has had a lasting influence on all of her work. She has shown her work on the island for over 30 years and her beautiful scenes of gardens, quaint cottages and harbor scenes are a reminder of the beauty of the island.
Jessica Sosebee is the daughter of Doug and Debbie Sosebee. Growing up on Nantucket with both parents and a grandfather in the arts left a stong impression on her future career. Jessica received a BFA in Fine Art from Clemson University in South Carolina and a Post-Baccalaureate Degree from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School through Tufts University where her emphasis was on photography, mixed media, and installation. It wasn't until she lived in London and enrolled at Central Saint Martins that Jessica connected to the possibilities of oil paint. Since then, she has studied in and around the museums of Italy, and most recently participated in two intense painting workshops in Brattleboro, VT under the instruction of "Alla Prima" painter, Clayton J. Beck III. For the past ten years, Jessica has focused most of her time on animal welfare, directing an adoption center in Mississippi, as well as at the local branch of the MSPCA and recently finished a graduate degree in Community Advocacy through George Washington University. Again a year-round resident and returning to her studio, this summer will be Jessica's first opportunity to exhibit her work. By using mainly oil paint mixed with resin, wax, and gold leaf, Jessica hopes to engage the viewer not only by means of subject matter, but also through the subtlety of dimension, harmonies of texture, and by evoking tranquility through selection of color all while capturing the splendor of Nantucket's wildlife.
Jeanne Rosier Smith grew up in Maryland, studied English at Georgetown University and spent a year abroad in Nice, France, a trip that was to have an enormous impact on her personal life and artistic sensibility. Jeanne went on to earn a Ph.D. in English at Tufts University, where she learned the skills of self-directed study and independent vision which have served her well as an artist. During her years of teaching college English and raising very young children, Jeanne was also continuing to paint, and discovered a love of portraiture as she began to paint her children. Several things coalesced in the late 1990s to inspire Jeanne to make a major shift from college professor to full time artist. in 1999, Jeanne's uncle, a Massachusetts high school art teacher, sent her a box of of Nupastels. Jeanne had been painting in watercolor and oil, and had never tried pastel. "They were a revelation. There is just nothing else like pastel - the velvety richness, the pure color, the dirct touch. I fell in love: I had found my medium." When requests starting coming in for commissioned portraits and pastel lessons, Jeanne began to think of shifting careers. Jeanne's mother's death from cancer at the age of 49 also helped to confirm that the move of spending her time doing what she was truly passionate about. She has been painting professionally full time starting six years ago. Since beginning her professional career Jeanne has achieved signature membership with the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod and had work published in Best of America: Pastels Vol II. She has exhibited nationally at the Pastel Society of America, the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Arts Club and American Artist League shows, among others. She has won numerous awards, including the 2009 Award of Excellence at the Frances Roddy Exibhibition in Concord, Massachusetts. "Afternoon Snack" was recently chosen as the publicity piece for this summer's Cape Cod Pastel Society For Pastels Only National Show. She is represented by Francesca Anderson/Portraits North of Lexington, Massachusetts, and her paintings are in collections from Seattle, Washington to Monte Carlo.