Joanne was bitten by the shutterbug at the tender age of six when a camera was placed into her hands. At that moment a lifelong passion for photography was born. The little Irish girl acquired the big Italian last name when she married her high school sweetheart, Rick Bernardini.

In the last few years, through the encouragement of Master Artist James Penland, she has come to appreciate photography as a true art form. She strives to capture precious moments in time allowing the viewer to relive their peaceful beauty over and over again.

In the fall of 2007, Joanne received an invitation to accompany history scholar Dr. Lee J. Williames on an extended research trip to Ireland. The trip afforded her the dual opportunity to visit and photograph sites that are not on the usual tourist agenda and to indulge in another of her life's passions, genealogical research. Capturing the Ireland of her ancestors in award winning photographs and walking in their footsteps was a treasured experience that she now shares with you.

Visit Joanne's website at www.BestIrishPhotos.com where you can view and purchase her photographs.

Kathy's drawing and painting interests over the past several years are centered around natural objects and, in particular, organic forms which develop within the parameters of the Golden Section, resulting in the beautiful spirals that she is so attracted to. Natural objects also assist in her exploration of the narrative quality of the still life.

While Kathy is fascinated with nature's beauty, she began her career in health care, caring for another of nature's miracles: the human body. Her lifelong interest in life, factors that sustain life and growth, as well as death, contribute to her interest in painting shells as earthly reminders of former living creatures. The shells she draws and paints encompass all of these interests.

Kathy lives in Ocean City, an environment that provides her much fodder for her current artistic interests. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Jodi Burghen is a local artist inspired by her environment, especially the beautiful coastline of the Jersey shore. She states, "Painting has become my way of touching my innermost feelings. I express this through different mediums and subjects."

Jodi studied in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and with New York artist Wade Schuman. She volunteers for the community at The Center for Neurology and Neurodevelopmental Health, where she works with an art therapist helping students achieve their goals. Jodi says, "Working with the students to help them achieve their creative expression has been a rewarding privilege."

Jodi's current projects include a mural for the City of Vineland under the direction of Philadelphia artist Carlos Viveros.

Mary Alice began painting at the age of 12. She studied art at Haverford High School in suburban Philadelphia and received the Art Award her senior year. As a high school student she won a scholarship to attend Moore Institute of Art in Philadelphia on Saturday mornings. This program was the beginning of her formal education in art, exploring different mediums and techniques. After a 25-year career as a kindergarten teacher she began to explore oil painting in evening classes at Neumann College in Aston, PA. She also studied watercolor techniques under Jean Ryan at Neumann.

The artist has taken classes at the Ocean City Arts Center with Bill Hopkins, Marie Natale and Kim Weiland. Marie encouraged her to enter shows. In June 2006, Mary Alice won First Place and Best in Show at the Cape May County Senior Art Show for her watercolor Ocean's Wave. This painting was also entered in the New Jersey State Show in Flemington, New Jersey and won third place in the watercolor division. In the Fall of 2006, Ocean's Wave was selected to hang in the juried exhibit at the Ocean City Art Center. Mary Alice received an honorable mention for her watercolor 5th Street Jetty in the 2007 Cape May Senior Art Show. In addition, the watercolor Surfer's Wave was chosen to hang in the juried exhibit at the Ocean City Art Center in the Fall of 2007 and Stormy Sea was chosen to hang at the Art Center in the Fall of 2008.

Mary Alice is happily retired and living in Ocean City year round. She looks forward to creating more watercolors of the ocean and the seashore in addition to capturing some of the memories of her travels. Visit her website at www.MaryAliceCreations.com.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Lauren studied Studio Art and Romance Languages at the University of Georgia where she acquired her book making skills during a semester abroad in Cortona, Italy. She ended up staying in Italy for eleven months, coming back to the states for a few months and then turning around and heading back overseas to work in Spain for 8 months. Through all her migrations, she took her love for bookmaking on the road, incorporating the materials and artifacts she gathered along the way: sea glass from the Amalfi coast, sun-bleached bones of a goat found in the mountains of Southern Spain, buttons from her grandmother's days of working in a garment factory, pages form old song books, and letters sent from a convent nearly a century ago...

Lauren's works include, but are not limited to, photo albums, wedding guest books, hard back and soft cover journals. She also works on commission to create custom made books to suit an individual's preference in size, materials, colors and content, of course incorporating special artifacts that the patron may want to include. To commission a custom book, contact Lauren at dom405@gmail.com.

Vincent Filippelli was born in Elizabeth, N.J. and has been oil painting since the late 1970's. His compositions are the result of a pursuit he calls inclusionism, because they include you the viewer.

Vincent received artistic training at the duCret School of Art in North Plainfield, N.J., but his education continues as he pursues his new-found approach to compositions. Vincent's painting Girl Watch won honorable mention in the Ocean City Art Center's Autumn 2007 show. This painting requires viewer participation and creates a forced perspective.

You can see many of Vincent's paintings on his website www.sportpainter.com

Jamie resides in Somers Point NJ and is very involved with the local surf scene as a surfer and as an artist. He prides himself on his high quality custom surf sculptures, abstract sufboard fin paintings, surfboard tables, and original watercolors and giclee prints. He has designed trophies, t-shirts and event posters for Surfrider Foundation, Christian Surfers, and the Offshore Longboard Club's annual Surf for a Cure event.

Co-Inventor of the now classic dashboard rider, Jamie has taken his wood and wire surf sculptures to a new level. The boards are shaped from a collection of exotic woods from around the world and are replicas of classic board designs. Designing, shaping and glassing his own boards has definetly added a touch of realism to his sculptures.

Jamie's fin paintings are all painted in acrylic and represent years of fin collecting and templating. He has always been interested in fins and their variety of designs and function in this essential part of every surfboard. He created his first fin revolution painting in 1997 and has been experimenting with fin designs ever since.

You can see many samples of Jamie's art on his website www.JKSurfArt.com.

Mike Mann is a resident in the quaint town of Stockton, New Jersey. Born in Germantown, he grew up in the Philadelphia area.

A history education major in college, he did not come to art until the age of 23 while living by Lake Tahoe. There, entranced by the beauty of the mountain lake, he took up watercolor painting at the suggestion of an artist friend and soon immersed himself in drawing and painting.

Mike studied for 6 years at the Art Students' League in New York City, mostly under the great American Illustrator, Steven R. (Joe) Kidd. Kidd remained his mentor and friend until his death in 1987. Joe introduced him to acrylics, but Mike always remained true to his roots as a watercolor painter. Working primarily with watercolors and acrylics, Mike is a plein air artist who uses an impressionistic-realism style, capturing the colors and beauty of life.

Mike enjoys painting the local scenery. While most of his artwork is done within a few miles of his home in Stockton, he and his wife Sandy have a shore home in Ocean City, NJ. They also travel to Florida and Argentina in the winter to do his work. Mike gets his inspiration from all those surroundings, and it shows in his artwork. He loves painting outdoors.

Visiting the New Jersey and Pennsylvania areas, you will see Mike's artwork on display in several venues and exhibits. Last spring Mike opened his own gallery in Stockton, which may be visited by appointment only. Mike also has a website you can visit.

Steve is a professional photographer who started taking pictures in 1969 while serving in the US Navy. After completing his service, he earned a degree in business administration, and then enrolled in the prestigious Antonelli Institute of Art and Photography in Philadelphia. Upon graduation, he was invited to teach there and was soon promoted to Head of the Color Department. After eight great years, the challenge to open his own studio was too strong to ignore.

Steve has won a bunch of awards for his work and had many gallery exhibitions. His personal work is now focused on capturing the surfing scene in New Jersey, but his interests and photographic challenges are as broad as his client base, which ranges from Mattel Toys and Modern Bride to casinos, major financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and the Armed Forces. He's created solutions to shoot from helicopters, underwater, and jumping out of perfectly good airplanes at 13,000 feet.

For advertising and editorial work, Steve casts talent, scouts locations, coordinates support, and generally takes care of all the details necessary to produce outstanding photos for his clients. He embraces weddings and portraits with the same degree of enthusiasm.

Bottom line is ... Steve loves what he does and he has fun doing it. Contact Steve at (609) 517-425 or at mullenphoto@comcast.net or visit his website at www.SteveMullenPhoto.com.

Excited to share the charm and beauty of southern New Jersey, Marie uses her exciting palette of color to give new life to Victorian homes, rustic boating shacks, seashore scenes, and local venues quickly vanishing, lost to new construction or decay and neglect. A Signature Artist of the Noyes Museum, Marie recently captured Best in Show in their Pleine Air competition. Currently her work has been accepted in the 2009/10 National Watercolor Society Show in California and the show travels for the year throughout the country.

Marie currently teaches watercolor privately at her home studio as well as at the Ocean City Art Center in Ocean City, Gloucester County College, and at community centers and art guilds throughout the East Coast, sharing knowledge of art theory and design as well as techniques in this exciting medium brings Marie full circle to her early training with a Masters Degree in Art Education.

An elected member and newly appointed Board member of the New Jersey Water Color Society, Marie is an award winning and highly recognized artist who says her goal in life is to use her talents to make the world a brighter place while she continues to share with others the joy that art has brought into her life.

Marie works in her studio at home. Contact her at (609) 214-9905 or send email to mariedezines@comcast.net or visit her website at www.MarieNatale.com.

Carol's love of art started in grade school when she discovered she could draw. At 10, she received an oil painting set, and an amateur artist was born. Aspiring to design clothes, she received a full scholarship to NYU in the art department, but her parents deemed it inappropriate for her to live and study in Greenwich Village. So she placed her art career on hold... for 40 years. She married and raised three children, relocating many times as her husband pursued his career in the Nuclear Industry and she pursued hers as an Independent Sr. Director for Mary Kay Cosmetics. Carol's Mary Kay work, making women look and feel better about themselves, helped satisfied her creative instincts.

Six years ago the Brigantine CER offered a watercolor class with well known artist Maggie Ott. It took a while, but Carol eventually fell in love with the medium. She loves the challenge -- every day is different -- every painting unique unto itself. She also loves the luminosity of the watercolors and how the light reflects in landscapes, on the water and on the petals of flowers. Her joy is painting what she loves most -- the beach and its dunes and snow fences, the ocean, and flowers, odd combinations but all God's work.

Presently, Carol is studying with Kim Weiland, Signature Member ASMA, in Ocean City, and she's a member of the Cape May County Art League. A new journey has begun. With great anticipation, Carol looks forward to the adventure in each new day and in each new painting. Visit her website at www.CRothArt.com.

Colleen Smith is a local artist who began her creative journey as a child in the Upper Township school system. She pursued her interest in art as she moved through the district, taking AP Art as a senior at Ocean City High School. In 2011, she graduated from Saint Joseph's University with two Bachelor's degrees, one in Fine Arts and one in English

Throughout her life, Colleen has always been an avid recorder of the visual world, combining what she sees with what she feels, using acrylics to turn her ideas into brightly colored renditions of her reality on canvas. She draws much of her inspiration from the natural world, turning to humans, animals, plants, sky, and sea for the subjects of her paintings. Born in an area surrounded by water, she has developed a close relationship to the ocean, and its influence is seen in many of her works.

In addition to showing her work at St. Joseph's University, she has also been a featured artist for Philadelphia's January 2011 First Friday, where she showed her work at the Drink Philly gallery. Colleen lives in Seaville, New Jersey, where she does most of her paintings. You can contact Colleen at collsmi@yahoo.com.

Frank Smith takes his artistic inspiration from Shibui, a Japanese word for an aesthetic of simple, subtle and unobtrusive beauty. He has won numerous awards for his photographs, which have been published in Rangefinder Magazine and were recently selected by New Mexico Magazine. He was one of four artists whose work was chosen for the Himmelfarb Gallery of the Tai Sophia Institute in 2009. Frank is represented by the William Ris Gallery, Stone Harbor NJ, and the Accent Gallery, Ocean City NJ.

Frank Smith was born in Philadelphia and holds undergraduate and master's degrees from Drexel University. He also received an MBA from New York University, the Stern School. He and his wife spent two years in Cali, Colombia as Peace Corps Volunteers.

Folowing a successful career in international business, Frank began this new venture by taking intensive photography courses at the Santa Fe Workshops in New Mexico. He has also studied with renowned photographers Jay Maisel, Eddie Soloway, John Weiss, Arthur Myerson, David Scheinbaum, and Janet Russek. Visit Frank's website at www.FSmithImageMaker.com.