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When art dealers, paint suppliers, and framers call artist Ed Kerns’ studio, they generally end up talking to Marquis Scholar Janice Truszkowski ’03 (Phillipsburg, N.J).
Kerns, Eugene H. Clapp ’36 Professor of Art, moved his professional studio to Easton when Lafayette opened the Williams Visual Arts Building last year and Truszkowski, an art major, now works as his assistant, doing everything from ordering supplies to helping Kerns create his paintings.
As an EXCEL Scholar, Truszkowski researches images of “interesting patterns” taken from sources such as protein strands and solar and magnetic convection and manipulates them on a computer using Adobe Photoshop and Freehand.
“I change the color and size, and sometimes even distort the image,” she says. “Next, I print out the image on archival quality paper for Ed to paint on top of. The painted/printed image will go through the printer again for another layer. This process is often repeated several times before it is finished, framed, and sent to Ed’s dealer in New York City.”
Truszkowski spends about 10 hours a week making the prints on a high-end Epson 9500 printer and handling other duties in the studio.
“I am constantly searching for new images or new ways of presenting images to help stimulate Ed’s own creative processes as he experiments with these works,” she says. “As far as we know, not many, if any, other people are producing art using this unique method of layering printed images with expressive painting.”
Kerns, who says some of the work will be on display this summer at the Hunterdon County Museum in Clinton, N.J., is quick to praise Truszkowski.
“She’s a very hard worker, very precise, and highly intelligent,” he says. “She’s probably one of the more technologically advanced students around.”
Kerns adds that Truszkowski has also become skilled at all aspects of running his studio. “She orders paint and paper, keeps archival inks in stock, lets me know when dealers are calling for things, and works with the framers,” he says. “She’s going to be a highly desirable studio assistant.”
Truszkowski has plenty of other plans as well. As a Marquis Scholar, she’ll travel to Ireland in May to study Celtic art and culture. After she graduates next year, she plans to become certified as an elementary art teacher.
“During the summers, I hope to write and illustrate children’s books,” she says.
Truszkowski, who has her own studio space in the Visual Arts Building, says she frequently travels to New York City galleries and museums with fellow Lafayette students and attends shows and events at the Williams Center for the Arts.
“Lafayette is making great strides forward in the arts and in encouraging cultural awareness and appreciation,” she says.
Truszkowski has also worked part-time in the print studio and slide room. She is a teaching assistant for painting classes.