Artworks Studio Instructors

Leah K. Tomaino received her BFA from the Cooper Union, NY, and her MA from William Paterson University, New Jersey both with concentrations in painting. She has also studied abroad at the Studio Art School of the Aegean, Samos, Greece. Leah teaches mixed media painting classes to adults and children at Artworks Studio, Randolph, NJ, and is a professor at the County College of Morris. Leah has taught workshops for the Children's Museum, SoHo, NY, and has been a grant recipient from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, NY. Her work has been widely exhibited throughout the country, has won national awards, and is in many private and public collections. Leah is a member of the National Association of Women Artists and is represented by New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA.

Debbie Sasaki graduated from TCNJ with a BA in advertising design and a minor in visual arts. In college, as a work study, she taught art principles and sculpture to inmates at Essex County Jail as well as art therapy to patients at Rockland Psychiatric Hospital in NY. After graduating, Deb freelanced in advertising art departments specializing in layout and design. For the past 14 years, Deb has worked both residentially and commercially as a mural artist while not teaching at Artworks Studio.

Laurel Clark studied at Arts Students League, NYC Craft Institute, Philadelphia College of Art, Peters Valley Craft School, William Paterson College, and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, focusing on drawing, metalwork, and early childhood education. She also obtained apprenticeships with internationally recognized metalsmiths, Hiroko Yamauchi and Olaff Skoogfers. Laurel has created after-school and summer art programs, and worked as assistant art director and director of art and recreational services for various businesses and organizations. Her work has been shown nationally and she currently is working on studies of nature.

Karen Brown graduated with a BFA in visual communications from Hood College and furthered her fine arts education at Pratt Institute, School of Visual Arts NYC, Center for Visual Arts of NJ, and Center of Contemporary Arts. Her early career was spent art directing and managing package design for Mattel Toys, Kraft Foods, Nestle, and Disney for over 10 years. Since 2014 she has taught Artworks Studio art classes for all ages but especially enjoys working with young kids. Her artistic interests extend to watercolor, drawing, photography, and pastel. She is a member of the Pastel Society of NJ.

Anne Marie Tatkow pursued fine art in college and secured her teaching degree from The National College of Art and Design, in Dublin, Ireland. Figure drawing and printmaking were her areas of expertise. She won the Derek Hill Award for her academic and artistic accomplishments. She taught high school art for six years in Ireland and worked in summer camp programs before moving to America. Teaching opportunities arose in private schools in Ringwood, Wayne, NJ, and in the Dallas International School in Texas. When she moved to Randolph 18 years ago, she became a member of the Newcomers Association and was vice president for 2 years. She has worked in the Randolph school system and has taught art enrichment after school privately. While her children were in school, she decorated the environmental center and did face painting for all the fundraising and social events, as well as teaching mini-courses during the winter months to the students. Currently working in the Dover school system and attending seminars/workshops that pertain to the overall health and education of the child. 

Stacy Mazzarino Currie is a mixed media and watercolor artist. She took major art in high school and studied graphic design and toy design at The School of Visual Arts in NYC, as well as classes in watercolor and journaling at the Visual Art Center of New Jersey. Stacy worked as a freelance textile designer in the 90s and early 2000, selling her designs to major labels. Stacy has illustrated a folk tale series of three books. Stacy is currently the director of children’s ministries at BRPC and has 20-plus years of experience as an early childhood educator. She has implemented her own art program and written curriculum for both vacation bible school and art camps for students ages 3 to 10. Stacy also teaches art workshops for adults in watercolor. Featured in the NYT and Where Women Create you can find Stacy at instagram.com/stacycakes13. Explore her Etsy shop here.

Lauren Rudisill received her BFA in interior design from Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida. She received two teaching certifications from William Paterson College. Lauren worked as a corporate interior designer for the architectural firm Gensler. During her years as a corporate interior designer, she worked on many large projects in New York, New Jersey, Boston, and Washington DC. Additionally, she worked as a residential designer in Tampa, Florida. In 2001, she became a full-time art educator with the Hanover Township Public Schools in Whippany, NJ. It is here where she honed her skills as an art educator for students ages 3 to 18. She has also worked in Morristown and Morris Plains teaching watercolor to adults. As a Morristown, NJ native who came from an artistic family, Lauren takes pride that her mother was an accomplished painter and her father is a potter and sculptor who is still working and teaching today. Alongside teaching in public schools, Lauren also produces portrait commissions for private clients. She continues to work in her studio in Randolph NJ on commission for private clients creating portraits of homes, people, and pets. Additionally, she teaches watercolor and acrylic painting to adults and children. 

Jenna Bentley is a certified K-12 art teacher who earned her B.A. in Visual Art at the Pennsylvania State University’s college of Arts and Architecture; her focus was life drawing and oil painting until discovering ceramics, which Jenna still practices today. She continued her education at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where she earned an M.A.T. in Art Education in 2015. Jenna has experience teaching elementary art in New York City public schools as well as New Jersey, where she worked as a full-time visual arts teacher for eight years. Beginning her career in Bayonne, N.J, Jenna taught high school art for two years before accepting another high school teaching position in Essex County. Jenna has experience teaching a range of visual art courses, from ceramics, AP drawing and painting, printmaking and illustration. Jenna has also taught elementary art at the Montclair Art Museum’s Yard School of Arts' summer program.