CHARLES WILDBANK
Photorealist

". . . the inner world for me is one vast camera obscura with all its images of light and ever-changing color. Then I seek outside for models to reflect that vision from within."
-Charles Wildbank

Charles Bourke Wildbank, native New York artist delved into photorealism while at Pratt Institute, created a sensation on Fifth Avenue with a giant sparkling rendering of the famed Cartier diamond, and has painted portraits of David Hockney and the late Luciano Pavarotti. He is well known for his versatility of a wide range of figurative themes including florals, still life, portraits and seascapes.

His latest achievements include two 18-foot-high murals commissioned by the Cunard Line for the new luxury ocean liner, the Queen Mary 2. Wildbank is listed with some of his works in Deaf Artists in America: Colonial to Contemporary book by Deborah Sonnenstrahl . He has conducted workshops at Poppi in Italy during fall of 2002 and Giverny in France during spring of 2006.

Up to present day, observable form and vivid color have long been attributed to Wildbank's art. His recent works appear to flirt with the abstract and the surreal christened as his HADO series. His studio in Jamesport is now open to the public by appointment. The artist can be contacted at: wildbank@wildbank.com

UNIVERSAL SIGNS
ASL Major Motion Picture

"The sign language is a true testimony to my American Sign Language (ASL) consultant and coach, Robert DeMayo. We worked closely for a year while he transliterated the written English script into ASL. What impressed and touched me the most was his dedication to the meaning behind every line. He would not select the signs to express a line of dialogue until he was clear of the deeper significance of that line. Similar to the many dialects in spoken English, Robert took into consideration the backgrounds of the Deaf characters making sure that the sign language was appropriate for a son of two hearing parents versus a Deaf man from a Deaf family. Robert also sat with me at the monitor every day of the shoot to make sure the sign language was accurate and visible. It was very important to me that all of the sign language could be understood without the use of captions. Robert was even intimately involved in the captioning of the film. The result is visual poetry! I hope this extra dedication to the language and detail results in an unmatched cinematic experience for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing audience. We are very lucky to have Robert in Philadelphia. He is an amazing teacher, actor, and person who was instrumental is making this film possible. I feel honored and blessed to have worked so closely with him. – Ann Calamia"

To learn more about Universal Signs please visit their website: http://hnhinc.com/us/
For more info about the actors in the movie, visit our cast page: http://hnhinc.com/us/cast.html
View Universal Signs Feature.

ROSA LEE TIMM
One-Woman Show

Rosa Lee is a performance artist and instructor who has been involved with a variety of theater arts projects since 1993.
Such projects include dancing for Deafywood and Dangerous Signs, directing for Northwest Theater of the Deaf and Dangerous Signs, and performing her solo one-woman show as well as several play productions as well as a sign model for various DVD and video productions.
Currently, she is an Art Director of KISSFIST Magazine, living in New England.
To read the current Issue of KISSFIST Magazine please click here:
http://kiss-fist.com/issue/6
Also please visit Rosa Lee’s website: http://rosaleeshow.com/
Purchase her DVD: http://rosaleeshow.com/shop/
View Rosa's Work.

SIGNMARK
Recording Artist

Despite Signmark was born deaf into a world where music is for the hearing, he pursued his childhood dream and became the first deaf hip-hop artist. He started spreading his message over strong beats where hard, low frequencies and bass play a crucial part in his performance. These elements help him adapt the rhythm as he proves, music is more than what you can hear. With the help of his friends and a large group of volunteers.
Signmark released the world’s first sing language hip hop DVD in 2006. The album “Signmark” takes a stand for equality and aims to bring people together. The debut broke prejudices and awakened people - music can also be visual.
Signmark broke away form the marginal and was introduced to the mainstream audience and media when he was asked to join the national Eurovision song contest. The Finnish people voted Signmark’s song "Speakerbox" second. The group was very pleased leaving eleven Finnish best selling artists behind them. A record deal with Warner Music Finland followed. He was the first Deaf ever to be signed on an international major label.
Signmark's performance is supported by hip hop artist Brandon, thus his shows and records are naturally bilingual. (American Sign Language/English) Signmark has reached an international level by touring in multiple countries, including Japan, U.S.A. Iceland, Spain, Ethiopia and Namibia. He's cultural break through has been noticed by several contemporary cultural organizations and he won The Outstanding Young Persons of the World 2009 prize.
In august, 2009 Signmark released his first single "Smells Like Victory" from his second album, which will be out in early 2010. It contains 10 tracks including videos from each song. Stay tuned!
View Signmark's Work.

NANCY ROURKE
Full-time Artist

Hi, my name is Nancy Rourke. I am a full-time artist living in Loveland, Colorado. I was born deaf not knowing until I was six years old. I grew up in San Diego. My mother and sisters learned sign language when I was in middle school. I have been to a mainstreamed program in different schools all my life.
I first started painting when I was about six or seven years old. Growing up doing so many paintings from rocks to canvases I became much more involved in the art world. I decided to study art at National Technical Institute of the Deaf and have cross-registered to Rochester Institute of Technology. I received three degrees in graphic design, painting and computer graphics. I have been in the corporate world for the past sixteen years as a graphic designer for Xerox and IBM, a palette designer for classic black and white films including Casablanca and King Kong and more classic films in San Diego, for 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles. I then moved to Seattle, WA and became a graphic designer at Microsoft Corporation until in 1994 I got laid off. I decided to become a full time painter and moved to Denver, Colorado.
During my art career, I took the invitation to be interviewed with Herb Larson’s Off Hand with Los Angeles KHJ-TV Channel 9 in 1986. The interview was about my being a computer graphic designer. A few weeks later, I was one of the twelve deaf artists to be invited at the Ankrum Art Gallery in Beverly Hills, CA, to display six of my computer graphic paintings.
In 2002, I was a recipient to be honored for the Edmund Lyon Memorial Lectureship Award at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, discussing my being a deaf artist.
Currently, I am studying Deaf History and Deafhood, and doing oil paintings on deaf-related issues. I use vibrant colors and making new primitive elements. It is what I see. I tend to do risk-taking of what I paint. The artists I admire the most are — Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and Willem de Kooning.
I am currently working full time in painting and doing exhibits across the country and in the galleries at the Denver’s most popular Santa Fe Art District.
View Nancy's Work.
To see more of Rourke's artwork, please visit: www.nancyrourke.com

AMY EDWARDS
CG Artist

Amy Edwards was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. When she was 5 years old, she fell in love with Walt Disney Animation, and Cinderella in particular. Seeing the singing mice and birds create Cinderella's lovely pink dress was enough to convince her to pursue a career in art. Her parents supported that decision and provided as many art supplies as she needed. They even entered her in a drawing contest at the age of 6 (and she didn't do too shabby -- winning third place among 40 kids). Over the years, as she immigrated from Indonesia to Canada, and eventually to California, she remained focused on her dream.
In 1994, she enrolled at Alhambra High School. As a student at AHS, she enjoyed art classes and became a cartoonist for the school newspaper. Each summer, she would work on her own projects, one of them a 36-page fully illustrated children's book, titled Giselle, inspired by the world famous ballet. For college, she attended California State University, Northridge, due to the school's excellent reputation for serving deaf and hard of hearing students. It was during her junior year where she won a summer internship at the company of her dreams: Walt Disney Feature Animation. She competed with 400 other applicants for one of the 15 coveted spots.
The internship was an incredibly experience for Edwards, and when she graduated, Disney asked her to return as a full-time employee. She worked on two of their feature films: Atlantis and Home on the Range. Gradually, her supervisors began to notice her ambition and determination. When some of these supervisors left Disney, they asked Edwards to join the artistic team developing Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. This was the first film where she established herself as a CG artist.
Edwards designed shots for Sky Captain for two years, and after the show wrapped, she went on to help create many more feature films, including : Fantastic Four, Eight Below, Underworld: Evolutions, Constantine, Sky High, Fever Pitch, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Monster House, Open Season, Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Beowulf, Speed Racer, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Recently, Edwards returned to Disney to work on their CG-animated feature, Bolt.
Currently Edwards is working on Cats and Dogs 2 at Sony Imageworks studios. She lives in the West Los Angeles with her husband, Chris Edwards. In her free time, she loves to draw and take vacations to Brazil. Now that she's realized her childhood dream, Edwards has set a new goal for herself; to having one of her graphic novels published.
View Amy's Work.
To see more of Edwards's artwork, please visit: www.amy-edwards.com

Demo Reel Link http://www.amy-edwards.com/demo_reel.htm

MARK WOOD/ASL FILMS
Filmmaker

ASL Films is an independent deaf owned and operated production company for all feature film media. Founded in 2006 by partners Mark Wood and Mindy Moore, ASL Films is committed to creating sophisticated entertainment which appeals to, inspires and rewards sponsors and audiences alike. At its inception the company made its first markproducing a feature length film, Forget Me Not, a huge success which earned many raves and encores throughout the country. ASL Films subsequently produced two more feature length films, Wrong Game and The Legend of The Mountain Man which gave ASL Films a reputation for producing cutting edge films in ASL specifically tailored for audiences sharing this common language.
ASL Films completed its lastest production, Gerald, last summer. This film is a journey of Corey, a young man yearning for kinship until one day discovering that he has a Deaf autistic grandfather he has never known. Corey is determined to make a connection regardless. Family ties and secrets formerly unbeknownst to the young man have surfaced, and all the events suddenly unfold. Soon afterwards, the discovery leads to a chain of events that entwines the young man to the unknown. A powerful, emotional and continual twisting of events leads to a shocking truth.
View Mark's Work.

STEFROSE
Jeweler & Textile Artist

Stefrose is a deaf female artist born and raised in rural North Dakota. She creates art which emerges from the passion of narratives: the pieces speak of tradition passing down through generations of women in her family. She holds firmly to crocheting skills taught by her great grandmother.  The art of sewing within the family is one of several inspirations Stefrose uses to design textiles that articulate the combination of tradition and various forms of communication significant in making Stefrose the artist in this modern day America where the sole purpose is to find a way of standing apart from the other artists in her community.  During her bachelor program at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, she chiefly worked in jewelry making, but this was where she rediscovered the forgotten love of crocheting in working with silver wire. As she moved on to pursue a Masters of Fine Arts at Montana State University in Bozeman, she incorporated sewing and crocheting into new techniques for textile pieces. This rejuvenated the infatuation between tradition and an innovation in creating a middle area or rather a gray area in which Stefrose’s story becomes another textile in time and history. Her life as a deaf woman struggling to find her own place in this country and her own history is the story shown.
Stefrose continue to work on her art to get out there to represent her life and reach out to people who can relate to her based on their own experiences.  She enjoys drawing the audience into her works being able to relate based on different struggling experiences in life. She applies what she has learned through traditional way of making art along with her family traditions and presents it into professional arts of narrative life stories where everyone can relate to. She have had shows in Rochester, NY and Bozeman, MT and won awards for academic Juried Student Exhibition while attending for her degrees. She continues to do commissions and shows to get her name out there to be heard through her works.
View Stefrose's work.

JESSE MALEH
Interactive & Graphic Design

Jesse Maleh is a 26 year old graphic designer/dogwalker currently living life in Washington DC, balancing his own business, an amazing relationship, and a fantastic social life that only a diverse city such as DC can offer.
He attended Rochester Institute of Technology on a presidential scholarship, having had lifelong plans to become a cardiologist. A year into his Biomedical major, however, he grew restless and bored. It was then that he decided to listen to the inner voice that lived in his hands, a voice which had led him to spend the majority of his academic life doodling art in notebooks. Four years later, he graduated with honors with a B.A. in Graphic Design in 2006, moving to Washington DC in 2007 to pursue a career in advertising or publishing design. Unfortunately, the economic downturn had hit America hard and finding a job became difficult — made much more so by virtue of the fact that his hearing loss trimmed down possible job offers. To earn a living, he began to do freelance contracting online; along the way, he found a stable position as a dog walker and immediately fell in love with it.
Now, a year and half later, he is still actively doing freelance design and has applied his design and advertising skills to the formation of his own dog walking business, One&Two, which launched in the month of September 2009.
View Jesse's work.