EDUCATION
2017 / 2018 The Art Students League of New York, NY
Studio Incaminati ,Philadelphia, PA
2004-2015 The Art League, Alexandria, VA - Study with Internationally renowned instructors.
2003 Corcoran School of Art, Academic Figure Drawing, Washington, DC
1996 / 2001 Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1995-1997 Graduate, University of Michigan. Graduate studies with select faculty abroad in Italy;
St. Andrews University, Scotland; Dublin, Ireland
1981-1984 BFA, Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Michigan School of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
1981 Center for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
1980 Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield, MI
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GALLERY REPRESENTATION
​2014 - present Principle Gallery, Old Town Alexandria, VA 22308
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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
​2019 - Present Adjunct Professor / Figure Drawing, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
2014 - present Fine Art Instructor of Painting, Drawing & Anatomy, The Art League School, Alexandria, VA
2025 Figure Painting Form (ACO) Guest Lecturer
2024 Visiting Faculty, Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association
2021 Artist Lecturer, Springfield Arts Guild
2020 Artist Lecture, Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association
2016 Visiting Faculty, McLean Project for the Arts
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WORKSHOPS
​2015 - present Instructor /Director for Local and Travel workshops in painting and drawing.
2025 Spain - Color and Light of the Costa Brava Region
2024 Viterbo, Italy - Created & developed international en Plein-air travel workshop.
2018 Bahamas - Led and taught en Plein-air painting workshop on Abacos Island.
2018 - present Stuart Street Atelier, The Plains, VA Designed and taught workshop courses for figure drawing and Plein-air watercolor painting: Gesture Drawing and Structural Understanding, Rhythmic Modeling of Form, Pen & Ink. Plein-Air Watercolor Painting, Anatomy and Rhythmic Modeling, Pen & Ink
2022 Franciscan Life Process Center, Figure Drawing Workshop, Lowell, MI
2017 National Gallery of Art - NGA Teachers Institute, Washington, DC Taught and demonstrated oil painting the portrait for the National Gallery of Arts Annual Teachers Institute.
1996 - 2000 Instructor, School of Painting, Yokosuka, Japan Private & Group Lessons in Plein-Air Watercolor painting on location in Yokosuka, Japan
1995 - present Private students and mentoring.
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JUROR
2023 Gallery Underground, Arlington, VA - Annual Member Exhibition
2022 Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association, Juror 35th Annual Juried Show
2021 Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association, Juror 35th Annual Juried Show
2019 Potomac Valley Watercolorist Annual Exhibition
2019 Springfield Arts Guild Annual Member’s Exhibition
2018 Annual Student Watercolor Exhibition, Host Gwenth Bragg
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AWARDS AND HONORS
2024 Award of Excellence, Artomatic, Washington DC - Best Artwork / Presentation Display
2023 Finalist, Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize exhibition
2022 Finalist, Strokes of Genius, The Artist’s Magazine 14th International Competition - Dec
Finalist, International ARC Salon
2020 Finalist, Strokes of Genius, The Artist’s Magazine, 12th International Competition - Fall Issue
2020 First Prize in the Drawing Competition of the Figure, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
2021 Honorable Mention, Annual Women in Watercolor International Juried Competition,
2019 Best In Show - Clemente Award for Contemporary Realism, Art League, Alexandria, VA
Finalist, International ARC Salon
Salmagundi Club Members Award, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
2018 Best Drawing and 3rd Place Overall - International Ivory and Lead Competition
Best In Show - Clemente Award for Contemporary Realism, Art League, Alexandria, VA
Best In Show - The Gilded Frame, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
Exceptional Merit, Portrait Society of America, International Portrait Conference, Wash DC
2017 50 Select Finalist - 19th Portrait Society of America International Competition
Winner, Strokes of Genius 10 Honorable Mention, International ARC Salon
2016 Finalist / Exceptional Merit Award - Portrait Society of America, 18th International Portrait Competition
2015 Certificate of Excellence, Portrait Society of America, 17th International Portrait Competition Finalist /Drawing, The Arc Renewal Center ARX, 11th International ARC Salon Competition
First Place Award - 2015 Art League Student Show, Alexandria, VA
2013 Second Place Award - Art League All Media Exhibit, Alexandria, VA
2012 Anne Banks Collage Award "Earth Exhibition," The Art League, Alexandria, VA
Best in Show - Alexandria Commission for the Arts Award of Merit, "Art in City Hall," Alexandria, VA
Honorable Mention, Alexandria Commission for the Arts, "Art in City Hall," Alexandria, VA Equal Merit Award " Student Show," The Art League, Alexandria, VA 2011
Second Place Award "All-Media Membership Exhibit,” Alexandria, VA
Honorable Mention Award "All-Media Membership Exhibit,”,Alexandria, VA
2004 National 2nd Place Award "Go Figure" Maryland Federation of Arts National Juried Exhibition, Annapolis, MD
Equal wards (2 Awards), "All Membership Show - July,” Art League, Alexandria, VA
Honorable Mention "Clashes of Color," Capitol Hill Art League, Washington, DC
Equal Award "All Membership Show - January," The Art League, Alexandra, VA 1995
Best In Show Award, "Navy Newport Artists & Art Annual Juried Show," Newport, RI
1995 Honorable Mention "Navy Newport Artists & Art Annual Juried Show," Newport, RI
1986 Richard Wilt Memorial Scholarship, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
1981 National Scholastic Art Scholarship, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 "Color of Light" - Nation UMC, Washington DC
2020 "Rhythmic Expressions" Solo Virtual Watercolor, March
2014 "Figural Fine Lines" Art League, Alexandria, VA
2004 "Nostalgia" Tunni Cliffs, Washington, DC
2003 "Watercolors of Japan" Sapporo Archives Museum, Sapporo, Japan
2002 “Meanderings” Gekkoso Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2000 "Pieces of Japan" Tika Gallery, Kamakura, Japan
1999 "Watercolors of Japan" Gallery Yu, Kamakura, Japan
1998 "Colors of Japan" Zushi City Hall, Zushi, Japan
1998 "Winter Show" Kellogg Gallery, Yokosuka, Japan
1997 "Oak Leaf Bazaar" Yokosuka, Japan
GROUP & JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2024 Small Works, Principle Gallery, Alexandria, VA
2011 - present Patrons Show, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
Annual Faculty & Student Exhibition, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
2011 - present All Media & Themed Exhibitions - Various months, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
2020 Figuratively Speaking Exhibition, International Juried Exhibition, New York, NY
2019 Figuratively Speaking Exhibition, International Juried Exhibition, New York, NY
2018 Invitational Show, North End Gallery, Leonardtown, MD
The Gilded Frame, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
Mid-Atlantic Invitational Silverpoint Exhibition, Gaithersburg, MD
Annual Faculty & Student Exhibition, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
2017 Strokes of Genius 10 Winner
2016 The Artistic Frame: An Inquiry into the Enhancement of Paintings, Art League Gallery
2014 Anatomy Drawing Exhibition, Howard University, Washington, DC
Sketches from Life, Dorchester Center for the Arts, Cambridge, MD
2012 Earth Exhibition - Juried, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
Art in City Hall Juried Exhibition, Alexandria, VA
2011 / 2012 Faculty & Student Show, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
2011 All-Media Membership Juried Exhibit - Various Juried Exhibitions, The Art League, Alexandria, VA 2009 Figurative Works - Juried Show, Chesapeake, VA
2008 TAA Miniature Show - Juried Exhibition, Hermitage Museum, Norfolk, VA
2004 American & International Landscapes Exhibition - The Art League, Alexandria, VA
Go Figure / National Juried Exhibition, Maryland Federation of Art, Circle Gallery, Annapolis, MD
Results Gallery, Washington, DC
The Fine Art of Fun & Leisure - July, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
Food & Still Life - May, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
The Artist's Garden - April, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
Untitled II, Capitol Hill Art League, Washington, DC
Basic Black & White, Capitol Hill Art League, Washington, DC
Capitol Art Network National Juried Human Figure Show, Bethesda, MD 4
Textures, Capitol Hill Art League, Washington, DC
Clashes of Color, Capitol Hill Art League, Washington, DC
2003 / 2004 All Membership Show - January & September, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
2003 Small Works Show - November, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
2003 You & You, O-Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2001 14th Annual Members Juried Exhibition, Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI
Expressions in Encaustic, Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI
2000 Artists of Yokosuka, Yokosuka, Japan
1995 Navy Newport Artists & Art Annual Juried Show, Naval War College Museum, Newport, RI Spring Exhibition, Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey, California
1993 Seaside Summer Show, Seaside, CA
1992 Group Show, Villa Corsi Salviati, Florence, Italy
1985 Graduate Show
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PUBLICATIONS AND PRESS ​
2025 ACO Figure Painters Forum
https://www.jjbruns.com/aco-figure-painters-forum/
2024 International Artist, Portrait Society of America Magazine
2023 International Artist, Portrait Society of America Magazine
2022 The Artist’s Magazine, 14th Annual International Completion, Finalist, Dec
2020 The Artist’s Magazine, 12th Annual International Completion, Finalist, Fall
2018 The Artist’s Magazine, 10th Annual International Completion, Nov
PORTRAIT SOCIETY OF AMERICA - International Competition - Finalist
2017 PORTRAIT SOCIETY OF AMERICA - International Competition - 50-Select
2016 PORTRAIT SOCIETY OF AMERICA - International Competition - Finalist /
Certificate of Excellence
2018 Ivory and Lead Online Art Competition, May/June
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ARTS ORGANIZATIONS, PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES, GALLERIES​
2024 Women in Watercolor
2020 Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, Member
2019 - present PORTRAIT SOCIETY OF AMERICA, Member
2017 / 2019 THE ART RENEWAL CENTER, ARC Annual Salon
2014 - present THE ART LEAGUE, Alexandria, VA
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