Barb and Lauren are co-owners of Space to Create. They started this project last August and have seen their vision implemented July 2007 when Space to Create opened for business.
The idea for the business came from a quick conversation during our daughters soccer practice. From that conversation many more meetings took place and the idea took shape. The vision was to have a place for people to come both kids and adults to take classes in arts and crafts. We also wanted a space where people can come to work on their own projects using the space, tools and tables. The hope was to offer a place for teachers from the community to find an outlet to teach their skills without opening their own business.
Both Lauren and Barb have taken many classes in the community to meet their own interests in arts and crafts. Lauren and Barb both have Masters in Social Work that has prepared them fully to run an arts and crafts studio.
Instructor Bios:
Susan Peterson
Sue lives and creates in Ballard, just blocks from our studio. Her current passion is jewelry, working mainly with sterling silver wire, semiprecious stones and freshwater pearls. She also loves working with seed beads and several stitching techniques. She has taught locally at Salmon Bay School and several small private groups over the past six years. In addition to making jewelry, Sue has been an avid knitter, stamper and quilter. She also currently works as an Interior Designer. Sue is very excited to join the Space to Create team and looks forward to sharing her knowledge and love of creating with the community.
Mara Lim
Mara is a domestic engineer with an artistic flair - otherwise known as an artist at heart and mom of two kids. Love of things sparkly, all fabric and dollar stores. Mara likes to teach classes on things that may not be deemed as necessary, but always fun.
Jeanne Dodds
Jeanne Dodds is a teaching artist with 12 years of experience working with adults and youth in a range of art disciplines, including illustration, assemblage, printmaking, and more. Currently on the Washington State Arts Commission Teaching Artist Roster, Jeanne has instructed classes for institutions including the Frye Museum, the Portland Art Museum, the Boise Art Museum, the Nature Consortium, and Experience Music Project. She earned a BFA with honors in Photography and a Certificate in Scientific Illustration. As a practicing artist, Jeanne enjoys working with students to bring out their personal creative vision.
Tracey Pierce
Tracey has been teaching art for over 5 years, in her studio or as artist-in-residence at local elementary schools. She has taught over 500 students at more than five schools. She is active in art education advocacy. After graduating from New York University, she moved around the country studying art under local artists in Florida, California, Boston and Seattle. Her portraits and figure studies show the range of human character throughout the nation.
David McGranaghan
David is an accomplished artist residing in Seattle. He has a Master of Fine Arts from the UW. He has displayed his works in a number of galleries throughout Seattle and around the country. David has experience teaching children and adults. “I am dedicated to furthering art appreciation through participation in it, not just as spectator.”
Michelle Mazurek
Michelle is an artist and designer, and focuses mainly on painting and sculpture in her creative work. Michelle has had a lifelong passion for all things artistic and loves to experiment with different materials. She has a MFA in fine art studio and has taught drawing, printmaking and sculpture and various other artistic pursuits to a variety of ages. She has a passion for helping others along in their artistic journeys and looks forward to being a part of the Space to Create team.
LeAnne Brown
LeAnne is a crafter extraordinaire. She makes beautiful jewelry through beading and metal work. Look for LeAnne’s classes on stamping, jewelry, mosaics and gift making. LeAnne enjoys working and teaching with children and adults. She has been an art docent and a Girl Scout leader for many years.
Jeffrey M. Mazurek
Jeffrey M. Mazurek is a lecturer in the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington where he teaches courses in design and design drawing. Jeff received his B. Arch degree from the University of Notre Dame and a post-professional M.Arch degree from the University of Washington with a focus on ecological design. He has worked on a variety of residential, commercial, and institutional projects and is a licensed architect in both Washington and New York.
Jeffrey is a member of the Northwest Ecobuilding Guild where he is actively involved in research/experimentation with planted roof technologies.
Helene Fuhrman
Helene has been accessory-obsessed since first discovering her mother’s pop-it beads. Helene had a long and wonderful career as the director of a federally funded program, but it wasn’t until she discovered beading nine years ago that she discovered her passion.
The road between avid hobbyist and artist converged four years ago when a friend and gallery owner asked Helene to design some bracelets using 1000 year old Chinese beads. They sold immediately and Helene had her first taste of success in the jewelry business.
Helene now sells her creations under the business name Bella Beads. Her jewelry has been in numerous shops in the Seattle area and she has had successful trunk shows at Bellevue Square, U-Village and Belltown. Helene’s work has also been shown at First Thursday Art Walks in Downtown Seattle.
Helene has studied at Pratt Art Center, Danaca Design studio and with numerous jewelry instructors in the Puget Sound area and the Southwest.
Cameron Mason
Cameron has taught Surface Design techniques at Pratt Fine Art Center and for the Fremont Arts council. Her festival work has been seen at Teatro Zin Zanni, Bumbershoot and the Fremont Solstice Parade. Her fine art has been exhibited locally in the Greenwood Art Walk and in group shows of the Comtempory Quilt Art Association.
Julie Hiers
After graduating with a visual arts degree from the University of Kansas, Julie worked as a graphic designer in St. Louis and Seattle. Currently she works as an artist, showing her mixed media works at local competitions. Julie also loves to knit, designing and selling her work at Rising Stars. Drawing, papermaking and raising two boys are among her other creative outlets.
