Our Instructors
Joel Tidey
Instructor - Drawing
Joel studied at The Art Institute of Philadelphia and continued his studies at The New York Art Students League in New York City. His work has been exhibited throughout the tri-state area and abroad.
Read about Joel Tidey
Mark Romanoski
Instructor - Illustration, Fantasy Arts and Comics
Mark is a graduate of Kean University with a B.F.A. in Illustration. He studied under Joe DeVito and ultimately enrolled in the Art Student League. Mark focused on illustration at the duCret School of Art, studying under Peter Caras. He began his illustration career in the studio of famed illustrators Tim and Greg Hildebrandt. His work in the fantasy arts includes such clientele as D.C. Comics, Marvel Comics, WWE and World of Warcraft. He is also an accomplished muralist.
Read more here – https://www.markromanoski.com//
Phil Laskowski
Instructor - Adobe InDesign
Phil Laskowski teaches graphic design thorough knowledge of the various aspects involved in the conception, design, production and management of print, video, multimedia and interactive promotions. He has done design work for Dow Jones, Business Information Services, Merrill Lynch, MetLife, Rapp Advertising, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Read more here – http://pldesigns.net/
Frank Falotico
Instructor - Anatomy. Pastel, Sculpture
Frank Falotico has a B.A. from Monmouth University and is a graduate of the duCret School of Art. He also studied at the Art Students League, N.Y. under famed anatomist, Robert Beverly Hale. Professional experience includes work in animation with both Adventure Cartoons for T.V. and Paramount Studios, N.Y. and design and illustration for the Point-of-Purchase publication display field. He has exhibited in numerous shows in New Jersey and New York.
Read more here – Frank Falotico
Michael A. Donato
Instructor - Drawing, Renaissance Oil Painting, Children's Book Illustration
Michael Donato graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1974 with a B.F.A. degree and has been working as a professional artist/illustrator since then. His illustrations have appeared in both editorial and children’s markets with commissioned paintings appearing in galleries and private collections.
Read more here – Michael Donato
Christine Myshka
Instructor - Life Drawing, Watercolor, Steampunk, Waterworks, Pen & Ink
Christine has been working professionally for over 30 years. In carving out a career in the visual arts, she has done illustration, logo designs, architectural portraits, fine art, murals, and painted furniture. Some of her clients include Davis Publishing, Ideal Graphics Inc., T`Leon Advertising, The Home New & Tribune, Suburban Golf Club, Arcola Country Club, Rockaway River Country Club, EJ`s Bar and Grille, Vitale General Contracting, John Kling Custom Homes as well as numerous commissions for private clients.
Read more here – Christine Myshka or here
Jo-El Lopez
Instructor - Acrylic Painting
Jo-El is a New Jersey native who uses the visual storytelling of traditional realism to convey complex commentary on the intersection of faith and modernity, the strength of family, and the multidimensional contemporary urban experience.
The decades the artist spent under the Pentecostal doctrine, a bold color palette informed by both abstract painting as well as the older traditions of icon-making, all meld to create Lopez’s kaleidoscopic worldview. His collection of artworks reveals a restless, deeply engaged spirit closely observing his immediate environment and the more significant historical trajectory of national news.
Read more here – Jo-El Lopez
James Crispo
Instructor - Oil Painting
Jim graduated from the School of Visual Arts in NYC, majoring in illustration. Early in his career, he sold several commissioned pieces privately and exhibited through the Dumont & Landis Art Gallery in New Brunswick. before deciding to pursue a full-time career in advertising, and ultimately starting his own advertising business. Currently, his work is being shown at M.T.Burton Gallery in Surf City, NJ.
His classical style has transitioned from acrylics in his early works to oils in recent years. Themes capture the natural beauty and essence of the subject, be it a personality, nature, or the effect of light on form within a broad spectrum of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, seascapes, animals, and still life.
Read more here – James Crispo
Larry Gove
Instructor - Jewelry Design
Larry has over 48 years of experience in the jewelry industry.
Specializing in custom design, bench repair and lapidary techniques. Expert in wax modeling, casting, fabrication, diamond setting and polishing.
He has been teaching at DuCret school of art for the past 18 years.
Richard Lear
Instructor - Scene Study
Richard Lear is a Plainfield, NJ resident and excited to be teaching at duCret. He has been coaching professional actors for auditions for years. He directed Egg Salad for Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center, The Sunshine Boys for AOD – Pat Golden, and was the assistant musical director for Day In Hollywood,
He is the author of 3 screenplays, 2 short plays and 1 novel and will be producing his latest screenplay this coming summer. Richard is a graduate of Amy Poehler’s Improv School, Upright Citizens Brigade, a member of the New Jersey Repertory Company and Theater Breaking Through Barriers in New York City.
Read more here – RIchard Lear
Kathy Morris
Instructor - Interior Decorating
KATHY MORRIS is a business owner, creative director, product designer, brand developer, and entrepreneur. She owns Morris Design Creative, a Design Studio based in New Jersey.
After receiving her degree, she founded Morris Design, a full-service design and advertising studio in Charlotte, NC. A few of Kathy’s past clients included Homelite Textron, First Union, Cablevision, Berstorf Corporation, Carolina Pad, York Wallpaper, Springs Industries, and Carolina Cotton Company.
Read more here Kathy Morris
Billy Seccombe
Oil Painting
Kevin Sadler
Instructor - Illustration, Digital Painting
Kevin Sadler graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA in Illustration. He has done design and prep of commercial print pieces including posters, pocket folders, mailers, invitations, books for clients like Seton Hall University, Drew University, O.Berk Company, Boy Scouts of America, and Village Supermarkets.
Read more here Kevin Sadler
Simon B. Keller
Instructor - Ceramics
Read more here – Simon B. Keller
Alexandria Lewis
Instructor - Crochet
Meet Alexandria Lewis, a self-taught crochet artist who has spent years honing her craft and perfecting her unique style. Alexandria fell in love with crochet after the birth of her daughter.
“I remember sharing the news of my pregnancy with someone who wanted to make my baby a blanket. I appreciated such a kind gesture but couldn’t help feeling like I should create something for my baby with my hands.” She recalls and has been hooked ever since.
Read about Alexandria Lewis
Eva Sienkiewicz
Instructor - Ceramics, Stained Glass
Like many other artists, Eva Sienkiewicz arrived at her current profession by a convoluted route with a built-in compass that knew “my heart was always with art”. She obtained a Master of Science Degree in Biology at Silesian University in Katowice, Poland and received training in ceramics, stained glass and art therapy with the Polish Ministry of Culture. She subsequently wrote magazine articles and worked as an art therapist and manager for the Polish Society of the Mentally Disabled.
After immigrating to the United States in 1999, Eva studied at the Craft Student League, Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, PA., from 2000-2003 and at the duCret School of Art in Plainfield, NJ from 2003-2006 and graduated cum laude. She has also attended classes at the Art Students League of New York.
Read more here Eva Sienkiewicz
Grace LaForge
Instructor - Ceramics: On and Off the Wheel, Chidren's Camp, Open Studio
Grace has taught Art most of her adult life, to children from grades K through 12 as well as adult classes. The past 20 years have been spent at Bonnie Brae in Liberty Corner, teaching Art and Ceramics to youth in a Special Ed setting. While there, she especially loved spearheading annual pottery-making events which involved all students and staff in raising funds for worthy causes: Soup Bowls for Hunger, Pies and Plates for Puerto Rico, Smile Train Tiles, to name a few. She especially loves collaborative efforts like the group sculpture done by the Friday morning Open Studio Ceramics group for the Evanescent show at duCret.
Read about Grace LaForge
Mike Stark
Instructor - Printmaking
Mike graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a B.F.A. in Printmedia. He is currently the studio director at Frontline Arts, formerly the Printmaking Center of N.J. Mike is also the owner and collaborative printer at Pink Line Press and co-owner of Stark Press Company in Kenilworth, NJ, with his brother Tom. The brothers are much sought after up and down the eastern seaboard to repair, restore, and relocate printing presses. Along with working closely with other artists to guide them through the printmaking process to realize their vision, he continues to create prints, experiments with techniques, and further explore his passion for all things printmaking.
Read about Mike Stark
Irit Malinsky
Instructor: Photography
Irit E. Malinsky is a New Jersey certified art educator. She has instructed all grades, levels, and developmental stages. Irit, born in Jerusalem, is a painter, filmmaker, and photographer. In 2012 she received the London Museum of Art Awards International Artist of the Year. In 2010 her art was featured as part of the Dura Europos Project at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art; other exhibits include the Hebrew Zodiac Group Show at the Painting Exhibit Center for Jewish Art (Florida; 2010). In Israel, a series of Irit’s paintings were featured at the Museum of Israeli Art in Ramat-Gan. In 1992 Irit was awarded first place by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Her show about creative expression was featured in the Westfield Leader in 2008. Irit has written, directed, and edited short films that have appeared in several Israeli film festivals. She worked as a supervisor at the seventieth Independent Feature Film Festival in Manhattan and as director of photography for an international cable television magazine show for Israel Sunday, Inc. In addition, Irit served as a cinematographer for a documentary project on Holocaust survivors produced by the Spielberg Foundation.
Greg Gilchrist
Instructor: Pottery Wheel Intermediate and Intro
After an almost three-decade hiatus from working in clay, Greg started attending the Open Ceramics Studio at duCret, honoring a promise he made to himself during Covid to reintroduce back into his life things that used to give him joy. He was soon asked to become an instructor at duCret and started teaching evening pottery wheel classes. Greg’s days are spent seeing Art’s therapeutic and transformative power while teaching creative courses at the Plainfield Senior Citizens Center. His goal is for all his students and himself to have fun while exploring personal creativity.
His favorite quote is by Kurt Vonnegut:
“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.”
Read about Greg and see his work: Greg Gilchrist
Nancy Plominski
Instructor: Sewing
Nancy fell in love with sewing at a young age and never stopped. She’s been teaching sewing for the past seventeen years to students of all ages. With her extensive experience in fashion design, millinery, and tailoring from attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, Nancy is passionate about sharing her love of sewing, fabrics, and design with her students. She is a maker who loves all the needle & fiber arts including embroidery, hand sewing, quilting, weaving, and knitting. Before she began teaching, Nancy worked freelance designing and constructing custom-made clothing and costumes for individuals, film, theater, and dance productions.
Read about Nancy and see her work: Nancy Plominski
Gale Bautista-Domingues
Instructor: Weaving
Gale is a Filipino-American artist who currently works in creating textural wall tapestries on a weaving loom using mostly natural fibers. She remembers starting a friendship bracelet-making business in the 4th grade with her cousin, selling each bracelet for twenty-five cents at lunchtime. Gale found joy in working with embroidery threads, putting colors together and knotting them into patterns, creating wearable art to share. That experience planted a seed, bringing her back to fiber arts many years later. She now works in a variety of fiber art forms such as knitting, crocheting, sewing, yarn dyeing, macrame and of course, weaving. She continues to hone her skills within the fiber arts as her passion for it grows.
Read about Gale and see her work: Gale Bautista-Domingues
Vicki Lederman
Instructor: Ceramics
Vicki studied ceramics at Betsalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem and earned her MFA in Ceramics from Antioch University. She was awarded a Fellowship by the NJ State Council on the Arts for her ceramic work and maintains a studio in her home in Summit NJ, where she teaches individuals and small groups of students. She’s developed a methodical, step-by-step approach to throwing with clear, simple techniques that can help almost anyone learn to throw and improve their skills. Vicki also enjoys guiding more advanced students in exploring their individual artistic expression and finding their own signature style, melding form and decoration so they work harmoniously together. Her own work is influenced by the quiet beauty of the natural world and expressive movement: organic, lyrical shapes; calm, soothing colors; and free-form brushwork
Read about Nancy and see her work: Vicki Lederman