Artist Bio Information: Stephanie Przybylek

Exploring animals and nature is Stephanie's passion. Her art is colorful and patterned but also a carefully observed take on the natural world. One of her goals is to encourage appreciation of coastal flora and fauna, certainly a rich topic for Delaware.

So, get down on the ground, step in the creek, wade in the ocean. In other words, go outside and play!

Stephanie also love introducing learners of all ages to the wide world of art materials and methods -- it's never too late to pick up a new way to be creative. 

Artist Background:

Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, Stephanie and her twin sister Leslie were exposed to many art materials and techniques. Stephanie comes from an artistic family; her paternal grandfather was an independent glass designer in Pittsburgh and her father spent a career in graphic arts and advertising. As children, Stephanie and her sister thought modeling clay and Prismacolors were as common as Play Doh and crayons.

Obsessed with animals as a child because of many trips to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Stephanie spent endless amounts of time wandering in woods and wading in streams. These forays fostered an enduring animal obsession. Taxidermy correspondence courses in high school led to appreciation of creature anatomy, as did time drawing small mammals and rodent skulls as a volunteer with the Mammals Division at the Carnegie Museum--it was also more fulfilling than her paying job at the time, working in the museum’s telemarking department!

Stephanie has a BA in Art from Gettysburg College and MA in Art History from University of Delaware. While in graduate school, Stephanie took elective classes in painting reconstruction from the Art Conservation Department. This experience cultivated a deeper appreciation of the craft of painting and the use of materials and techniques from different time periods.

Diverse travel to many places, from the swamps of Atchafalaya Basin and the Florida Keys to the glaciers of Iceland and Greenland and fjords of Norway has also fueled this interest.

Professional Background:

Stephanie's professional experience has been in the museum field as a curator, writer, exhibit designer/fabricator, educator and administrator. Throughout her career, she has continued to create images and objects. Stephanie has extensive experience working with graphic designers and taking projects from the conceptual stage through execution and completion.  She is a published author with established writing and editing skills. Ironically, it was a need for fish drawings to be reproduced on pillows for a children’s interactive display as part of an exhibit that led into a rekindling of full pursuit of her own art. 

Now, Stephanie works full-time as an artist, creating and exhibiting her own work and teaching classes in varied media throughout the region.

Arts Services:

Because of her diverse background, Stephanie can offer a wide ranges of services, from giving lectures and programs to hands-on art lessons for students of all ages and abilities.  She also advises on grant writing, program planning, and other elements essential to the life of those pursuing a career in the nonprofit world and the arts.

Favored Mediums:  

Colored pencil, watercolor, gouache, acrylics, ink, mixed media on paper, board, wood; computer graphics with a Wacom Intuos 4; experience with Adobe Illustrator CS5, Adobe InDesign CS5, and Aperture 3.3. Digital photography with Canon products. She even has experience with seashells, driftwood, authentic used Mardi Gras beads, beer caps, and other assorted and sundry found objects!

Creative Aging Projects:

Stephanie especially enjoys working with adult learners and those trying something new. She offers classes for Creative Aging on a variety of subjects, including:  Introduction to Watercolors, Introduction to Acrylics, and Mix It Up! Beginning Mixed Media.