Classes

Melanie Gillis is an artist and art teacher. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Boston University and a Master of Arts in Teaching Visual Art from Bridgewater State University. She enjoys teaching a variety of mediums that include drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media, and clay. She has taught at The Danforth Art Museum at Framingham State University and currently teaches in public school and at the Cape Cod Museum of Art. Melanie loves to teach students of all ages and to encourage them to explore, take chances and develop their creative voice. When Melanie is not teaching art she is engaged in making artworks in a variety of mediums; photography, printmaking, clay, and fiber art.

Jessie Nickerson’s love of art began at age 4, when she decided to embellish her family’s walls with crayon “murals” and has been a life-long pursuit ever since. She received her BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and went on to Parsons School of Design to earn her MFA. She has studied at the Museum School in Boston and at the Reitweld Academy in Amsterdam. Her illustrations and surreal images are inspired by fairy tales, elements of nature, and daydreams. She exhibits her work throughout the Cape, the South Coast and the Greater Boston area.  She resides on Cape Cod where the sea continues to provide her with inspiration.

I’m a retired educator and business owner and have been painting Fantastic Furniture for 20 years. It all started with a class given by my mentor, Ginny Boylan, at the Marblehead Arts Association. Prior to moving to the Cape, I was the co-owner of Yellow Dog Designs. We created custom work for clients on the Northshore of Boston including painted furniture and floorcloths. Currently I paint for pleasure and for a wonderful non-profit called Painting for a Purpose. They hold an annual auction to benefit the Portland Public Schools. One of my chairs was featured on poster promoting the event. Each year I paint dozens of pieces for the auction.

After decades of teaching drawing and painting to children and adults it is her conviction that thinking you have no ability or so-called “talent” can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Creativity can be learned and this is one of the premises of her classes, to dispel all the misconceptions about art. Her focus is to relax, inspire confidence, encourage and minimize inhibitions while enjoying the journey of creating.

Before moving to Cape Cod she taught painting in her home studio in Millis, Ma. Conducted workshops and classes at Boston Public Library, Copley Society of Boston, art guilds, schools and libraries on Cape Cod, in Rhode Island, the North Shore and New Hampshire.

She was the founder/director of the Stoney Brook Arts Guild at the Stoney Brook Nature Center in Norfolk, Ma. Since moving to the Cape she has taught at Falmouth Arts Guild, Sandwich Arts Alliance, Cape Cod Arts Assoc. Upper Cape Tech. H.S. and Cotuit Center for the Arts where she loves being a part of for the past several years.

Katama Murray (she/her) is an artist, educator, naturalist, and small business owner from the Blue Hill peninsula now residing in Deer Isle, Maine. Her mixed media work and company, Teach Peace Prints, are inspired by place-based making and our interconnectedness to the environment. While living and studying throughout regions of New England and the Midwest, she has always been influenced by the outdoors and the ways in which we coexist with the natural world. Utilizing locally foraged natural materials, she layers print and fiber processes to visually communicate ideas, observations, and perpetual experimentation. Through hands-on techniques, Katama teaches regional workshops focused on versatile methods that encourage exploration and foster life-long learning. Katama also teaches at the Blue Hill Harbor School as their Visual Arts Educator. With a passion for multidisciplinary making, she enjoys inspiring others to become more connected to the earth through the power of art and community.

Award-winning Cape Cod artist Joe Gallant has been a full-time painter and instructor on Cape Cod for 25 years. He has conducted his popular Big Brush painting workshops for beginners and more advanced students at Cotuit Center for the Arts for a number of years. In 2019 and 2021, Joe also conducted all-day painting workshops sponsored by Cape Cod Collaborative for Cape and Islands public and private school arts teachers. He employs a casual and fun approach to painting instruction that his students enjoy.

Joe has an in-home gallery in Sandwich that is open by appointment. His original art, prints, boxed note cards and boxed Christmas cards are also sold in retail stores and on his website at www.capecodwatercolors.com.

Melanie Gillis is an artist and art teacher. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Boston University and a Master of Arts in Teaching Visual Art from Bridgewater State University. She enjoys teaching a variety of mediums that include drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media, and clay. She has taught at The Danforth Art Museum at Framingham State University and currently teaches in public school and at the Cape Cod Museum of Art. Melanie loves to teach students of all ages and to encourage them to explore, take chances and develop their creative voice. When Melanie is not teaching art she is engaged in making artworks in a variety of mediums; photography, printmaking, clay, and fiber art.

I’m a retired educator and business owner and have been painting Fantastic Furniture for 20 years. It all started with a class given by my mentor, Ginny Boylan, at the Marblehead Arts Association. Prior to moving to the Cape, I was the co-owner of Yellow Dog Designs. We created custom work for clients on the Northshore of Boston including painted furniture and floorcloths. Currently I paint for pleasure and for a wonderful non-profit called Painting for a Purpose. They hold an annual auction to benefit the Portland Public Schools. One of my chairs was featured on poster promoting the event. Each year I paint dozens of pieces for the auction.

Award-winning Cape Cod artist Joe Gallant has been a full-time painter and instructor on Cape Cod for 25 years. He has conducted his popular Big Brush painting workshops for beginners and more advanced students at Cotuit Center for the Arts for a number of years. In 2019 and 2021, Joe also conducted all-day painting workshops sponsored by Cape Cod Collaborative for Cape and Islands public and private school arts teachers. He employs a casual and fun approach to painting instruction that his students enjoy.

Joe has an in-home gallery in Sandwich that is open by appointment. His original art, prints, boxed note cards and boxed Christmas cards are also sold in retail stores and on his website at www.capecodwatercolors.com.