Providing instruction, creation, presentation and appreciation
of the arts for and by the regional community

Our Teachers

Freshwater Arts is pleased to present the following art teachers, whose collective experience represents decades of teaching art to children and adults in all kinds of places, from villages in Thailand to studios and schools in Central Maine. Many have advanced degrees and all are practicing artists who enjoy sharing their knowledge and love of art with other artists and arts explorers of all ages and levels of experience.

Marcia Berkall, South China, owner of Whittlins ‘n Wood, has been designing carvings and sculptures, and teaching carving for nearly 20 years in her studio and at various venues both within and outside of Maine. Not only does Marcia teach basic carving skills with emphasis on safety, but she encourages individuality and experimentation in design, often incorporating “Right Brain Drawing” into her curriculum.   Recently Marcia's “Carving From the Heart” articles were featured in internationally circulated “Carving Magazine”.  

Patricia Binette, Fairfield, owns Earth Spirit Studio, where she has taught classes for over 20 years. She is also one of the founders of the Waterville Area Art Society. Many of her students have gone on to study art throughout the United States. She attended the University of Maine at Augusta, Auburn and Thomaston, and studied under many artists, among them, Skip Lawrence and Albert Handel. Pat is a member of Phi Theta Kappa. Her work is in collections throughout the United States and England, and has been accepted in many juried shows, including one international show. One of Pat's greatest joys in life is participating in her students' discovery of their artistic talent.

Kim Brennan, Manchester, grew up in the conservative suburbs of Bangor, Maine. She studied Early Childhood Education, Sociology and Psychology before switching majors and receiving her BA in Art from the University of Maine at Augusta with a concentration in ceramics and photography. She graduated with an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Art in February of 2005. Kim was recently awarded a grant from the Watershed Ceramics Art Center for a project that will highlight ceramic artists in Maine. Her work is also in the permanent collection of “Master Maine Craftsman” at the Community College in Bangor, Maine. She currently works at the Colby Museum of art and teaches at the Kennebec Valley Community College. Her current work involves clay slip, miniature sculpture, photography and installation. Her interests lie in the investigation of the "social disease of nostalgia", fantasy vs. reality, myth and narrative. She is also drawn to non-hierarchical ways of creating and showing her art that concentrates on showing art outside the gallery system to reach a wider venue of audience.

Amy K. Cyrway, Winslow, is an illustrator, working primarily in marker, ink and colored pencil, though sometimes dipping into pastels and watercolors. Amy has been seriously pursuing art since she was in high school and currently works at the Framemakers in Waterville. She graduated from Central Maine Technical College (now Central Maine Community College) with a B.S. in Graphic Arts and Printing Technology.

Kiri Guyaz, Oakland, graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington in 1994 with a B.F.A. in Creative Writing and a minor in Art. Although born in Montana, Kiri has lived in Maine for most of her life. Instilled with a deep love of wilderness by her naturalist-artist parents,Kiri enjoys traveling, hiking, camping, swimming and canoeing. She is currently an assistant librarian at Messalonskee High School, and her passions are the magic of nature, art and writing. Kiri loves to paint moods, feelings and dreams, whether in words, watercolors or photographs.

Caroline King, Madrid Township, received her BA in Creative Writing from Knox College in 1995, but she started writing about the same time that she figured out how to hold a pen.   She has been widely published in a variety of media and she owns Maine Word, a small business which offers business and creative writing services and instructional classes for youth and adults.  Her travels have taken her to forty-nine of the states, but she will always come home to the mountains of Maine.   For more information about Caroline, visit her web site at www.maineword.com.

Cathy Lacombe, Waterville, graduated from the University of Maine in 2003 with a BA in Art with a concentration of study in Ceramics and Landscape painting. She expresses her romance with nature through her pastel landscapes which have been shown through various venues. For the past year her focus of work has been Illustrative. Cathy has taught classes for adults and children in the community since 2002, through Waterville Adult Education, Alfond Center, and Freshwater Arts. She is currently teaching art to children ages 3-9 at Montessori schools.

Kit Munroe-Myers, Waterville, has taught painting, drawing, and other art classes for over 20 years to adults and children in Maine. She has studied art at The Maine College of Art, and also through adult education programs. She has shown and sold work on both commission and speculation in both juried and non-juried shows. She also owns Waterstone Studio, with her husband, George Myers Jr., at their home in Waterville, where she also teaches.

Ami Newell, Albion, has been exploring the use of different art mediums for 15 years, having taken lessons from fellow Freshwater Arts instructor Pat Binette. Ami received her B.A. in Creative Arts Therapy from Endicott College and now works part-time at a rehab facility for adults with brain injuries facilitating groups in Expressive Arts, Drawing Groups, and Craft Groups. Ami's passion is exploring mixed media and collage and experimenting with materials that may not be seen as "art mediums." She sees art as a means of expression, developing self-confidence, and sharing ideas with others.

Dave Peloquin, Windsor, is a lifetime artist who studied at Swain School of Design and drawing with Gene Tonoff. Peloquin teaches drawing based on the ideas of Kimon Nicolaides and Betty Edwards who taught that learning to draw is really a matter of learning to see. Peloquin has worked professionally in art instruction, illustration, television, commercial design, and four color lithography. His studio, Water's Edge Arts, is in Windsor Maine.

Heidi Pomerleau, Smithfield, is an artist and art teacher who works for the Messalonskee School District teaching grades K-5 at the James H. Bean School and grade 6 at the Messalonskee Middle School. Heidi graduated from the University of Maine at Augusta with an Associate of Arts Degree and from the University of Southern Maine with a B.S. in Art Education. With a focus on clay work, she creates ceramic sculptures, some in vessel form, with nature as her general theme. Heidi also works in tile form, carving and sculpting in various shapes and sizes.

Laurie Proctor, Fairfield, started drawing when she was in the Peace Corps in Thailand in the late 1980's. She would draw animals and scenery to make puzzles and games for the village children. She continued her education by attending graduate school for her Master's degree in Social Work. Laurie is President of the Waterville Area Art Society, and member of the Kennebec Valley Art Society and UpCountry Artists. She shows her work locally in a number of venues. Check out Laurie's work online!  

Ann Rhinehardt, Vassalboro, received a B.A. in Art and Biology from Colby College and an M.S. in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Connecticut . Throughout her career as a cancer researcher/chemist, Ann continued to create art and study with a variety of artists. Now a full-time artist, Ann works in pastel, watercolor and mixed media and is a woodcarver as well. She has been teaching art at the Adult Day Program at Spectrum Generations for the past 15 years. Ann's work has been accepted in both local and national juried shows and she exhibits at a number of local venues. Ann is the vice-president of the Waterville Area Art Society and is also a member of the Kennebec Valley Art Association, the Pastel Painters of Maine, the Oil Pastel Society of Maine and the Boothbay Region Art Foundation.

Sandra Stewart, Winslow, has been involved in the arts for many years. A retired art teacher with B.S. and M.S. degrees in Art Education, she is an enameler, working with glass on metal. She is a member of the Enamel Guild North East, and the Enamellist Society, an international organization. She teaches enameling at the Round Top Center for the Arts in Damariscotta, Maine, and shows her work at the Colby Craft Show each year. Sandra is active in theatre as an actor and singer and also as a designer, building and painting many sets over the years for local productions. She sings in her church choir and with the Colby-Kennebec Choral Society.

Malley Weber, Hallowell, fell in love with clay the moment she touched it in 1985 at S.U.N.Y. Oswego. She took every ceramics course she could with Richard Zakin, who taught her hand-building and opened a door for her to find her voice. Malley now works full-time at Hallowell Clay Works teaching and creating her own line of work. She continues to develop her skills and is currently enrolled at Goddard College MFA Interdisciplinary Arts Program. Part of her process is developing a Maine clay body that is suitable for her functional and sculptural work.