DARCY SWOPE: I often think of Pablo Picasso's words, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one once he grows up." Perhaps the secret to my success as an artist, art teacher/therapist draws in part from the fact that I feel the same way. As a youth I embraced every opportunity to use my hands and mind in creative ways, teaching myself art processes that I did not get in school. Wanting to share my innate love for the creative process, I began teaching art classes when I was 12, and never stopped!  While earning a Master's degree in Art Education, the professors recognized my own, personal art-making as "a gift." My world centered on seeing, teaching and living creatively. A recipient of the National Art Education Association's award for "most creative art teacher in the United States" in 1997, I was recognized ten years later upon earning National Board Certification in Art. Now retired from a 31-year art-teaching career in schools, I join Mr. Carbaugh as we develop our own studio classes.

TRENT CARBAUGH is a man of many and varied talents. He has always been fascinated by "seeing what is and isn't there," and bringing into visual form his dream world, fantasies, realities, and life's lessons. He enjoys spending a great deal of time reading, figuring out how and why things work, and using his hands to build, create and make new things possible. His artistic, creative strengths are evidenced in the fireplaces he designed and built across the Northeast. Carbaugh is a master carpenter, brick and stone mason, whose most recent major renovation was of the art studio. Having researched the era in which it was built, he lovingly brought new life to the building which had been untouched for many decades. His adventurous spirit meant travel worldwide, and images like Mount Fuji became a common drawing and painting theme later in his life. He is a master of Japanese martial arts, attributing in large part to his disciplined and thoughtful nature. Carbaugh's whimsical drawings of monsters, dragons, and superheroes reflect his good humor and childlike qualities. Also a historical expert, he spent time as an 18th century interpreter and produces authentic replicas of tools, swords, clothes and weapons from centuries past. Considered by some a "Renaissance Man," Trent shares with Darcy a passion for Art, Nature and Life, as they collaborate side-by-side on canvases to create memorable and meaningful works of art. He often weaves "living history" into the art classes he offers at the studio, and together they teach children with special needs, veterans, senior citizens and after school/summer art camps.