Fountain City Art Center Teacher Bios

Penny Berridge, Fused Diachronic Glass Jewelry
Penny is a Glass Artist specializing in fused glass, both jewelry and art glass. She also loves stained glass, and does commissions for stained glass panels and windows. She teaches regular classes and special classes by arrangement of two or more students.

Aurora Harrison-Bull, Oil Painting
Aurora Harrison-Bull works exclusively in oil and was recently featured in North Light artist’s magazine. She uses a very limited palette consisting of only the three primary colors and combines opaque tones of soft colors with layers of transparent glaze to achieve an authentic three-dimensional quality tempered with subtle overtones. Mostly a self-taught artist, she has also received training in a variety of media through workshops. Her paintings hang in numerous corporate and private collections throughout the United States and have brought Harrison-Bull many awards and honors from juried exhibitions.

B. J. Clark, Beginner to Intermediate Watercolor Class
B. J. Clark has been teaching watercolor at the Fountain City Art Center for the past two years. She is a former Middle School librarian who majored in Watercolor having studied at both the Louisville School of Art and the University of Tennessee. She also studied with eight renowned watercolor teachers.

During the past 10 years she has been the recipient of over 12 Best of Show and many First Place awards in National, Regional, and Local Art Exhibitions. She is active in local, state, and national Art Organizations, and has served as President of The Tennessee Watercolor Society, Knoxville Watercolor Society, Tennessee Artists Association, The Art Market Gallery, and served on the Florence Crittenton Board of Directors for eight years. More than 80 Corporations display B. J.'s paintings in the US and 8 Countries Abroad.

Her work has been published and reviewed in American Artist, Leading Contemporaries, It's All About Children and Artist of Tennessee as well as local and other Southern newspapers. In 1998 she was inducted into lifetime membership in Who' s Who In America.

"I want my students to be proficient working in the magical world of Watercolor and enjoy the wonders of the medium. I share everything I know from my 28 years of painting with my students. Each painting represents not only the hand of the artist, but also God's hand in providing the talent inspiration."

Jon Houglum, "Portrait (or Landscape or Seascape) Painting in Oils" & "Pastels"
Jon started teaching Oil Painting Workshops at the art center in February 2007. He received a B.S. Degree in Art Education from Moorhead State University, in Moorhead Minnesota in 1972. From 1976 to 1980 he studied privately under Anonias Raemaechers, a Dutch Master Artist in Martinsville, Indiana. He also took two years of portraits and figures at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis.

Jon established Houglum Fine Art Studio and Gallery August of 1980 in Safety Harbor, Florida. He taught in the public school system as a high school art teacher for eleven years. Jon and his wife moved to Franklin, North Carolina June 1996 re-establishing Houglum Fine Art Studio and Gallery. He is currently doing commission paintings, free lance art work and teaching art lessons. Some of Jon’s juried exhibitions include the Hoosier Salon, Indianapolis, Indiana, Chautauqua National Exhibition of American Art, and numerous Exhibits in the Greater Tampa Bay Area, Florida.

Louise S. Farley, Drawing Techniques & Mixed Media
Louise is currently teaching drawing classes at FCAC. She is a native Knoxvillian who lived in Isle of Palms, SC for many years before moving back in 2002. Her background includes a BFA at UT, as well as teaching drawing in Charleston and now here in Knoxville. Her great loves are painting and drawing the figure. Her painting, Kiss on a Train, won Best of Show in the 2007 FCAC Members' show. She is happy to be a member of such a dynamic group as the FCAC.

Edna Harvey, Handbuilding with Clay
Edna has been creating pottery since 1977 and teaching pottery classes at Ftn. City Art Center for 3 years. She teaches classes with a very personalized approach which encourages creativity. Her classes are for students of all ages and is especially provides encouragement to our younger artisans.

Robert E McDonald III, son of Dr. Rob McDonald Jr and Karen McDonald, has grown up in and around the Fountain City area for most of his life. He attended both Gresham Middle and Central High School. Growing up as a member of Central Baptist Church of Fountain City he has participated in several of their dramatic interpretations. He studied the craft of performing arts both here in Knoxville at Pellissippi State Technical Community College and the University of Tennessee. His love of the performing arts took him from coast to coast; first to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC and then on to an independent study in LA.. Robert has acted in several plays including Li’l Abner at Central, The Diary of Anne Frank at the Academy, and recently A Flea in Her Ear at the local Theatre Knoxville Downtown. Robert has also competed on the national level at the International Model and Talent Association where he was a winner in both best actor and best headshot competitions.

Robert currently resides in Fountain City with his wife, Jennifer. He has been waiting for the opportunity to put together a community theatre and is excited to work with the Fountain City Art Center.

“I look forward to reaching out to other theatre enthusiasts, actors, directors, writers, and audience members alike. With some talent, luck, and a lot of hard work, we can really make this something the whole community can participate in and enjoy.”

"Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work." – Stephen King

Bob Meadows, the fascinating realm of handmade books
Bob has been seriously making books since 2004 and for the past 2 years has been teaching bookmaking at FCAC and John C. Campbell Folk School. Books are the perfect medium for combining his love of words, calligraphy, watercolor, photography, graphic design and general crafting.

Mary F. Secrist, Watercolors
As an active member of the Fountain City Art Guild and the Knoxville Watercolor Society, Secrist’s watercolors hang in the city’s Social Security offices as well as the John Duncan building. She has won numerous awards while showing with the Fountain City Watercolor Guild and has donated many paintings to the Fantasy of Trees as well as to the Central High Hall of Fame, Powell High School and the Union County Auction for Animal Welfare. She studied under Joyce Ford, TWS, for five years and has also studied with Roland Raycraft, TWS; Terry Chandler and Gary Manson.

Sandra Van Winkle, Enjoy your Creative Side
Sandra Van Winkle enjoys life as an illustrator, graphic designer and teacher. She received her BFA from the University of Tennessee. Creating with a variety of media her work has appeared on theatre stages, restaurants, book jackets, posters, greeting cards and once upon a time, her sons’ bedroom walls.

David Williams, Guitar
David holds a degree in Music Education from Tennessee Tech. He was a public school marching band and choral director for 12 years and has been the choir director for Bells Campground Methodist Church for the past 10 years.

Dave has been giving guitar lessons for dozens of years and can be heard entertaining guests at weddings, receptions at the Art Center, and accompanying play productions. He is equally at home with classical guitar, blues, Latin American, 40's dance band, Southern gospel, and contemporary styles."

Other talented instructors include

Maureen Lucas, Roger Bench, & Paul DeMarrais