About the Artist

Born in 1957, Lenna Andrews is a mixed-media artist and instructor who lives in Connecticut with her husband Steven Deming, their 2 dogs Asia and Chloe, and their 2 cats, Star and Farfel.

Steven Deming and Lenna Andrews were happily married on June 11, 2005 when they were 49 and 48 years old! Their story is somewhat unique as they first met in 1972 through their very good friend Garth Gibson (shown at their wedding, below). 

Steve & Lenna were just 15 and 16 years old at their first meeting in 1972 and went on to be friends for many years.  In 1980, Steven, Garth, Lenna and her ex-husband John all shared a house together in CT. Now fast forward about twenty years later to the year 2004.  Steven and Lenna had not been in touch for about 5 years when Lenna decided to call Steven at work. She had recently learned from Garth that Steven was divorced. That was a surprise! She thought Steven might be able to offer support for her impending divorce. Steven and Lenna falling in love was not thought of when Lenna made that phone call on October 25th, 2004 -but it certainly seems like destiny now, looking back. Steve and Lenna's paths crossed once again at the right time when they both really needed each other. They were more of a match than they ever suspected, fell in love in a very short amount of time and surprised everyone! Today, they continue to thank their lucky stars (their wedding theme) that Lenna made that phone call. More here: our story.

In this new chapter of her life with her new husband, you'll find Lenna continuing to teach mixed-media art classes, participating in, or organizing various art exchanges and swaps, writing articles for publication, creating art for sale (or for her family & friends) and striving to appreciate the huge variety of things life presents us with. A favorite quote of Lenna's is:  "True wisdom lies in gathering the precious things out of each day as it goes by."  ~ unknown  

Photo taken in Avon, CT 2007 - our pets:  Asia, Chloe, Farfel & Star!

Lenna growing up:

As a child, Lenna was encouraged by her family to take art and dance classes. These activities were such a large part of her life that she feels they shaped her growth as an artist. Lenna found these creative outlets to be a needed expression of herself and she happily engaged in them. Lenna says that the modern dance classes she took and the performances she was in, plus all the art classes she took definitely helped her to learn how to think creatively. A huge thanks goes out to her Mom & Dad, shown here at our wedding in 2005, for all their love and support.

more about the artist:

Although never formally trained at the University level, for Lenna growing up, art and dance were part of her every week. She studied modern dance for more than thirty years and performed with two local dance troupes during that time:  Truda Kaschman Dance Ensemble and Footnotes Dance Theater. This environment nurtured and shaped someone who saw herself as a creative person and also someone who learned creative thinking skills. Lenna has continued to make things, to draw and paint, to sew, embroider, weave, create, and dance; she definitely sees this trend continuing!

Lenna was introduced to art rubberstamps in 1990 for the first time and she found a new connection to the visual arts. Lenna spent the 1980's with her first husband John -- starting their family, raising their two sons Decklin and Dallas (shown here at their Mom's wedding in 2005) and owning and operating a Jazzercise dance-fitness franchise for 7 years. In 1990, Lenna found she was ready to re-connect in a new way to her artistic side, and art rubber stamps were just the ticket.

Just four years later in 1994, Lenna began teaching fabric stamping classes at Impressive Impressions, an art rubber stamp store in Farmington, Connecticut that has since closed. Lenna had taught herself how to stamp on fabric after reading an article called The Stamper's New Dress, by Ricë Freemen-Zachary in the July/Aug 1993 issue of RubberStampMadness. After reading the article, Lenna rubber stamped a length of white cotton material and then cut and sewed it into a simple dress, combining her knowledge of sewing, fabric, and her new interest in rubber stamping. She received rave reviews for her stamped artwork on the dress and was immediately asked if she could teach her techniques locally. Lenna became known during the in the 1990's for her fabric stamping, and was featured in an article titled, It's a Fabric Thing! in the March/April 1997 issue of RubberStampMadness. Her first published piece of art was a stamped silk blouse that graced the back cover of the August/September 1995 issue of The Stamper's Sampler!

Since that time Lenna has gained experience and added a large variety of classes to her teaching repertoire. She is considered by her students to be talented, kind, generous, encouraging, sharing of her materials and her time, very organized . . . and most of all, a teacher who creates a fun and enjoyable class atmosphere! More about Lenna's classes here.

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student comments:

"I have so enjoyed, and learned so much from the nature stamping technique—all has been so naturally beautiful --so effortlessly available - I can't believe I have not taken advantage of something so 'there' for me. Lenna, I am really going to miss this class when all is over. I chose your class because you offered so many techniques in one session. It is rare a teacher takes on such a task : ) I thank you.

May all be well, Sarah"  10/18/07

"I wanted to thank you for you help and encouragement in this class. I really enjoyed reading and trying some of the suggestions. I have all the supplies I need to play and the instructions. I will continue creating fiber projects thanks to you . . .  %^) Take care, Kathleen"  2/13/07

". . . Back to the course - I'm so unbelievably sad that it is coming to an
end - and the fabric course only has 2 more lessons. I feel that you
have really opened my eyes creatively and have started a process that
won't end when the course does :-) . . . "  Claire from the UK 3/22/07

"Class was so much fun yesterday. I loved the three altered book techniques, and the (painted) purse class, although scary at first, was wonderful. You are so talented and I am so grateful to be one of your students. Love, Roma"  3/28/04

"I loved, loved the class and can't wait to finish my book and make more!  Everyone loved the classes Lenna, and you did a great job as a teacher, but more importantly as an inspiring force. That's always what I need and I am sure others feel the same.  It was a great day!" ~ Denise Morrison, owner of Kooka-licious, Cheshire, CT  8/8/05

"Thank you, Lenna, for a very informative, fun class. We'd love for you to teach here again!" Becky Sunderman, Dyehard Yahoo Group Classroom  2/13/07

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published:

Since 1995, Lenna has been published many times over for her art and  articles in both magazines and books. You'll find Lenna's art on the front cover of the May/June 2005 issue of Expression Magazine (House of Cards - Artist Trading Cards). Lenna's silk scarf made the front cover of the book: New Techniques for Wearable Art in 2004. Plus, one of Lenna's Fabric books landed on the back cover of the book: The Art of Fabric Books in 2005, with more examples of her work published on the inside. Wow! You can learn more by going to her Published Work page.

Thanks to her son Decklin, Lenna has been actively on-line since 1995. She feels very fortunate to have had the expertise of her oldest son when creating her first website way back in 1996. Decklin created this site for his mom at the young age of 14! Fortunately, he taught his mom enough HTML so that she herself could continue editing her website- which she still does. Decklin also introduced his mom to the internet and email, oh my! Lenna connected with so many people this way and made many new friends involved with art mainly through various yahoo groups. She grew as an artist and as a person through the sharing and the connections that were formed. Lenna has been blessed to have met in person and spent time with many artist friends whom she originally knew only via on-line correspondence! Thanks to Decklin for all his help in opening up this new resource for his Mom.  

william glackens:

Lenna's family was, and still is very supportive of her artwork, which could be in part attributed to the fact that there are accomplished artists in her own family. William Glackens (1870-1938) is Lenna's Great Uncle. He was an American Impressionist at the turn of the century and considered one the most influential artists in the history of American Art.  Lenna is named after William Glacken's daughter, Lenna Glackens. A separate website page is devoted to information about and the art of Lenna's Great Uncle - William Glackens.

a quote for you:

Lenna's most loved quotes also have their own separate page on this website because she has collected them for years.  Here's a favorite of hers:

"Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion."  

- Martha Graham                    

I hope you enjoy the creative lenna website! Please email me if you have any comments or questions :::  Lenna 05/19/08