Who is Stephanie?

Stephanie created SGK Fine Arts LLC in 2015 to share the restorative power of art.  She began exhibiting art publicly in November 2016.  Recent exhibit highlights include her feature in the Vermont Art Guide volume 7 and the cover artwork for the 2018 Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival program.

Stephanie is in love with Monotype Printmaking and Painting.  She nurtures it like a mature romance.  The mutual discovery is appreciative, intense, and flowing.  She judiciously combines etching ink (sticky like hot marshmallow) and oil paint (greasy like buttery fingers) using brayers, pallet knives, rags, squeegees, and found objects.  The materials allow her to create subtle, powerful, atmospheric images and to express complex emotional themes. 

Stephanie loves life and her family-by-choice. She lives with her spouse, a geriatric cat named Slinky, and a variety of homestead critters in northwestern, Vermont.  She enjoys wearing leopard print and All-Stars and  lets a mop of wavy brown and grey hair do whatever it wants. 

Stephanie experienced significant emotional and sexual trauma as a child and adolescent and consequently manages the symptoms of Complex PTSD on a daily basis.

Trauma can change the brain’s structure and disrupt stress-hormone balances, preventing the integration and processing of memory.   For those like Stephanie, traumatic memories remain in the nonverbal region of the brain where they persist as current threats.  Without intervention, patience, and hard work, many sufferers continue to relive their trauma in both overt and subtle ways. 

Artwork gives substance to emotions that are often difficult to express through spoken or written language.  It is a powerful tool for release and growth. Stephanie is honored to support those learning how to thrive and experiment with radical self expression,  acceptance, and compassion. 

​Please visit the 3:30 project page to see how you can experience the restorative power of art.

Portrait of the Artist in Blue © 2017 Stephanie Gwen Kossmann

CV

Education
Mercy Connections Women’s Small Business Program
Champlain College, Graduate Certificate, Positive Organizational Development (enrolled)
Boston University, Bachelor’s Degree, Geography, magna cum laude
Hartwick College, Studio Art, Dean’s List
 
Grants and Awards 
2015 Vermont Arts Council
 
Media
May 2018                          2018 Artist to Watch                           Vermont Art Guide, #7
 
April – August 2018          Program Cover Art                             Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival         
 
April 2018                         Sexual Violence Survivors Exhibit
                                         Artwork of Healing                             Seven Days

Fall 2017                           Frailty                                                 The Remembered Arts Journal
 
January 2017                   Taking Steps to End 
                                          Domestic Violence with Art                WCAX TV        
 
Affiliations
Monotype Guild of New England (MGNE)
Vermont Hand Crafters
Burlington City Arts - Art Sales and Leasing
 
Group Exhibits 
June 28-Sept 3, 2018      The Sky’s the Limit                                Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville VT
 
May 6-Sept 2, 2018         MGNE Fifth National
                                         Monotype/Monoprint Juried Show     The Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA  
 
April 16-18, 2018               Sexual Violence Awareness Month       The Hive, Burlington, VT
 
April-August 2018            Maltex Building                                       Burlington City Arts, Burlington VT
 
March 6-April 27, 2018    Vermont Art Guide, Artist to Watch      Spotlight Gallery, Montpelier, VT
 
February–August 2018    Courthouse Gallery Invitational            Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville VT
 
Nov-Dec 2017                  Fantastical Landscapes                         Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville VT
 
Nov-Dec 2017                  Gems                                                       Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville VT
 
November 2017               Craft Vermont                                        Vermont Hand Crafters, Burlington VT
 
Oct–Nov 2017                  Off the Wall                                            Frog Hollow, Burlington VT
 
Sept–Nov 2017                Land and Light and Water and Air       Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville VT
 
September 2017              Vermont Hand Crafters                        Eastern States Exposition, Springfield MA
 
August 2017                     Visual arts at the festival                      Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival
 
June-July 2017               Defining Ourselves through Nature      4th Corner Foundation, Windham VT
 
June 2017                        The Color of Light                                  Edgewater Gallery, Middlebury VT
 
June 2017                        Festival of Fine Arts                               SEABA, Burlington VT
 
May-June 2017                Cyto Expressions                                  Biotek, Winooski VT
 
May 2017                          Art Wall                                                 Northwestern Medical Center, St. Albans, VT
 
May 2017                          Salon de Refusés                                  Kimball Jenkins Estate, Concord NH
 
January 2017                   A World Free of Violence                     Art’s Alive, Burlington VT

 Sept 2016-Feb 2017         Local Inspiration                                   US Attorney’s Office, Burlington VT 
 
November 2016                Craft Vermont                                      Vermont Hand Crafters, Burlington VT