Painted Mushroom Silent Auction

2011 Painted Mushrooms

The top three bids in the 2011 Painted Mushrooms Silent Auction are:

Natalie Fay is a local graphic and web designer that works at DesignDesign in Kennett Square. She enjoys going to the Mushroom Festival every year, and in 2009 her t-shirt design was selected as the festival t-shirt. In addition to design, she enjoys spending time with her three pugs and working in her vegetable garden.

Emily Colburn is a graphic and web designer who previously worked at DesignDesign in Kennett Square where she was introduced to the Mushroom Capital of the World. She is currently earning her masters of fine arts in graphic and interactive design at Temple University.

Cindy Schroder is a resident of London Grove Township and a mother to a wonderful daughter.  She has worked in the area for 16 years as an Emergency Medical Technician.  “I really enjoy drawing and painting as a hobby so, this year I decided to paint a mushroom for the Mushroom Festival,” she says. “Since this year’s Mushroom Festival falls on the weekend of the 10th anniversary of September 11th 2001, I wanted to paint the mushroom in a way that it would symbolize and help everyone to remember and to never forget the great loses that occurred that day.”

Lindsay Schmittle has been a resident of Landenberg, Pennsylvania since she was born in 1990.  She is currently a junior at the University of Delaware.  She studies Honors Visual Communications in hopes to some day become a graphic designer or illustrator. She also has a minor in Spanish while working towards attaining fluency in the language. Lindsay attended Wilmington Friends School for her elementary, middle, and high school education.

Rebecca Tiano is a Hockessin, Delaware resident. She graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2004. Rebecca specializes in pet and animal portraiture. She has painted many pet portraits for Delaware and Pennsylvania residents, and has painted several portraits of animals that live in the Brandywine Zoo. In addition, Rebecca has sold prints of her work on merchandise at local art and craft events. For more information and samples of her work, you can visit www.RebeccaTianoOnline.com

After finishing high school in near by Avon Grove School District, Casey Gleason attended Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A year since receiving her BFA in Metals, Jewelry, and CAD-CAM design, she is currently working at Handler Studio assisting in the completion of custom furniture. Primarily a 3D sculpture and craft artist, Casey also enjoys playing with the paint medium as a way to experience the entire art making process more intuitively.

Denise Spence is a 5 year resident of Kennett Square and the mother of two daughters.  She is a trustee on the board of the Delaware Museum of Natural History. She is also a trustee/secretary at Roberto Clemente Charter School and a member of the Advisory Board at the Children’s Home of Easton.

Lois Steindl is a 29 year resident of Kennett Square and the mother of three sons.  She is a paraprofessional at Unionville Elementary School.

Hal Lewis, of Kennett Square returns with a new Painted Mushroom for 2011. He has no formal art training and he says he paints things that inspire him. This year his theme is Breast Cancer Awareness.

#9: Tina Pragoff: Seeds of Hope

Tina Pragoff grew up in the area, and now enjoys living in Kennett Square with her husband, son and daughter. An avid admirer of the Festival’s painted mushrooms for years; she decided she’d give it a go this year, even getting her children and neighbors involved.  Thinking about this year’s theme, Hope, this artwork celebrates the idea that a tiny, beautiful seed can blossom into something amazing. Dedicated to all those lost in 9/11 and to the spirit of Hope in America.

This day and night themed mushroom was painted by an artistic and enthusiastic group of eight Penn State plant pathology graduate students. Since fungi are so important in plant pathology and in our own research projects, we jumped at the chance to paint a giant mushroom!

Painting the mushroom was a fun outreach project for our graduate student group, the Penn State Plant Pathology Association (PPA). The mission of PPA is to provide members with a platform to develop and discuss topics related to plant pathology, and to explore and promote plant pathology within the Penn State community.

The Penn State Plant Pathology department has strong ties to the Pennsylvania mushroom industry and we were delighted to have the opportunity to represent our department in the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival’s Painted Mushroom Silent Auction.

Guadalupe resides in Oxford, Pennsylvania and works as customer service representative at Temple Inland in Toughkenamon.
Painting is just one of her hobbies. Guadalupe has participated in the Painted Mushroom Silent Auction the last two years. She really enjoys painting for this event.