Becky Mayhew - "Pittsburgh's Best Kept Secret"
Becky Mayhew has been teaching art for over 40 years and has recently been accepted into the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, where she is able to show her work in regional and international art shows. Her work can be found displayed in shows at Arc of Washington County's Art Gallery in Canonsburg, PA. She teaches a weekly class at Arc for a mixture of students with disabilities and the general public. Becky attended The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, graduating with honors in Visual Communications. Although her degree is in Graphic Design, she found her "calling" as an art teacher a few years later. Becky began her teaching in a private K-12 school, where she taught classes in the arts for 20 years. Then, in 2004, she opened "The Art Shoppe" to offer art lessons to her community and share her passion with others.
She has all of the government clearances to work with children.
Becky loves and uses a variety of different mediums: oils, watercolors, and pen and ink -- all depending on the subject. Her work includes many different styles and types, but Becky mostly works in a realistic style.
One of Becky's favorite pastimes is gardening and many of her pieces are directly influenced by the time she has spent there admiring the designs and colors. Her favorite things to paint are flowers, landscapes and skies. She loves capturing what God has created in nature in her work.
As an art teacher, Becky says that her greatest reward is to see students accomplish something they never thought possible. She loves to draw in any medium, paint in oils and watercolor, do calligraphy, and draw caricatures and cartoons.
Most importantly though:
she loves to show others how to do it, too! Students appreciate her ability to communicate the thought process that an artist goes through to work on a piece of art and how best to use all the different mediums.
"Most people think they can't draw; perhaps it's because no one ever taught them how." I'd love to teach you how!
Becky Mayhew
Lisa Mayhew - Teacher of Drawing & Painting
Lisa draws on years of art teaching experience and shares it with her own homeschooled children. She has a Bachelors of Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University. Lisa taught several classes for adults and children at The Art Shoppe early in her career, then after moving to Maine, she continued teaching curricula developed in our studio. We are thrilled to have her back and look forward to all that she has to offer.
Lisa Mayhew is a watercolor artist with a naturalist style, dedicated to bringing awareness to the wonders of creation that sustain us. Drawing on a lifelong love of objects with a story, she frames her paintings in antique frames, deepening the narrative and elevating her subjects. With professional experience in merchandising and display, Lisa approaches her art and its presentation with a discerning eye, ensuring each piece invites reflection on the beauty and significance of the natural world.
Jane Curtis - Young Artists Teacher
Jane has been an elementary school teacher as well as an art teacher for over 30 years. She enjoys working with children and encouraging them to not only produce beautiful works of art but to enjoy the process while they do it. With her positive and enthusiastic approach to teaching, she not only helps her young students learn techniques and processes for creating art, but makes it fun and interesting to do so-- always encouraging their efforts and abilities.
Jane is current on all clearances required by the state to work with school-aged children.
our newest faculty member
Justin Egizio
Justin began as a student at The Art Shoppe when he was in middle school. His love of art developed into a passion for passing on to others what he had learned. He recently graduated from Indiana University of PA with a degree in Art Education. Justin has a dynamic personality that relates easily to children as well as adults. He is current on all government clearances to work with children.
Cartoons & More
Justin started his teaching career as an assistant to Becky Mayhew at the Cartoon Camp at Arc of Washington County during the summers. He demonstrated to the students that they could not only draw their characters on paper, but showed them how to produce them digitally as well.
OIls and different drawing mediums, clay and print-making are all favorites of Justin's. We look forward to seeing what he will bring to our curriculum.
From Assistant to Teacher
Our courses now include a Cartoon class, taught by Justin. It is held on Saturday mornings. The students learn how to bring to life inanimate objects and give personality to animals.
Justin has also learned the art of caricatures, which he shares at community and private events.
