Guest Artists
Lancaster Art Vault represents a number of Guest and Gallery Wall Artists. These are artists who market and sell their work through Lancaster Art Vault but do not need studio space. Our Gallery Wall Artists rotate every 2 months so there is always something new to see at Lancaster Art Vault.
"Throughout my journey, I have learned that staying true to my spirit allows me to experience inner peace. It is from that place of peace that I am free to create." - Diann Cardello When Diann Cardello paints, she is in a space with no words. Similar to a meditative process, she is able to explore the depths of intuitive feeling and what comes forth is often the vibrant energy of life, beyond form, that is expressed through magnificent displays of color, texture, and light. Diann also utilizes Reiki and Sound Therapy to facilitate her "connection" and she experiences each painting as an intimate conversation with the divine. Painting is her way of journaling. Her gift is the opportunity to share her work with others.
Diann is a master of mixed media, an award-winning artist, teacher, author and Holistic Life Coach. She has exhibited her work in juried shows, art shows, galleries, Susquehanna Art Museum and the Pennsylvania State Capital. Some of her pieces are currently on display at Lancaster Art Vault in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Summer Studio in Avalon, New Jersey and Garth Gallery in Columbia, Pennsylvania, as well as in private collections.
Series Statement: A Quiet Grace
This body of work emerged alongside the writing of a deeply personal chapter written for a collaborative book titled Radiant Wisdom, one rooted in loss, memory, and transformation. What I expected to be painful instead became something unexpected, a doorway into healing, reflection, and quiet transformation. Each painting was created in a meditative, intuitive space, where words fell away and feelings took form through color, texture, and movement. In that quiet, I found that healing is not something we force, it is something that unfolds when we allow ourselves to be with what is true.
The use of raw linen as a substrate was intentional. Its unrefined surface holds a certain honesty, grittiness, and vulnerability. Mirroring the emotional landscape of this work, nothing is hidden or overly polished. Like loss, like healing, it is textured, imperfect, and real. There is a presence woven into these pieces, subtle, steady, and deeply felt. A reminder that love does not leave. It shifts, softens and becomes something we carry. The paintings invite the viewer into a space of reflection, offering a visual language for what cannot always be spoken…the enduring presence of love, the resilience of the human spirit, and the subtle return to wholeness. Thank you for honoring this work with your presence and sharing in this quiet space of healing and reflection.
DIANN CARDELLO
KEISHA FINNIE
Keisha Finnie is a multidisciplinary artist whose vibrant and expressive work reflects her deep connection to community, identity, and resilience. Inspired by her experiences as a Black woman, Keisha’s art tells stories of strength, growth, and trans-formation, offering viewers a window into her perspective and a celebration of the human spirit. Keisha’s creative journey began in childhood, growing from her first art class at Ross Elem School into a lifelong passion for making art that inspires connection and introspection. Her work spans various scales and mediums, from intricate canvases to large-scale murals that bring life to public spaces.
Through bold colors and layered imagery, Keisha’s work bridges personal narratives and universal themes, inviting viewers to engage with the beauty and complexity of life. Whether in an intimate piece or a community-centered mural, her art is a celebration of healing, expression, and the power of storytelling.
Artist Statement
I am a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Lancaster, PA, where my journey with art began as a child. My work explores themes of resilience, identity, and transformation, drawing inspiration from the beauty and complexity of the human experience—particularly through the lens of womanhood and Black identity. My art spans a variety of scales and mediums, from intimate canvases to large-scale murals that bring life to public spaces. I create vibrant, expressive works to inspire connection, healing, and self-reflection. Each piece is an extension of my perspective, a celebration of strength, and a dialogue with my community. For me, art is about reclaiming the narrative and inviting others to see the world through my eyes. Whether I’m painting murals that brighten neighborhoods or creating smaller works that evoke introspection, my goal is to share stories that empower and uplift.
I'm an analog collage artist based in Reading, Pennsylvania. I cut up magazines and picture books for images, patterns, and color, then arrange them into narratives that move me and I hope move others. I love the meticulous, meditative process of cutting paper by hand, the delight of surprise, and the chance to disrupt and reimagine what exists. I look for meaning in discards and nonsense, lifting images out of their context — a face in an advertisement, a leaf pattern in a nature guide, a wash of color from an old calendar — and building from them imaginary worlds that make some kind of sense. I might go through hundreds of iterations, moving pieces here and there, until the magic happens. Then we paste. And once pasted down, there is no digital undo. For me, collage is a way of moving through the world — using materials at hand, culling what resonates, discerning what is true, and working with grace. Cutting and pasting becomes a quiet act of reconstruction, a kind of mercy, a way to make meaning.
Jane Palmer is an analog collage artist in Reading who works in abstract realism, with recognizable images reimagined in ways both disturbing and delightful. It was something to do after rewarding careers in communications and community organizing, and turned into true love. Her collage work is held in the Kanyer Art Collection, and has been exhibited at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, the Philadelphia Athenaeum, Lancaster Art Vault, the Limner Gallery in Hudson, New York, and the Meyerhoff Gallery in Baltimore, where she was a National Collage Society award winner.
JANE PALMER
ERICK J. GONZALEZ
My creative process has always been instinctual, learning new techniques as my imagination calls for it. My first teacher was my grandmother. We would sit at the kitchen table, and she would teach me to draw cubes and beach balls from different perspectives, imparting a simple lesson in shapes and forms. I would spend every Saturday morning painting along with Bob Ross learning the magic of intentional paint strokes and composition. The joy of learning these basic skills set me off on a journey of expression and experimentation.
Collaboration has been one of the most fruitful aspects of my creative practice, working with other artists to produce murals, community engagement projects, and gallery exhibitions. The exchange of ideas, techniques, and inspiration has kept me progressing in my practice. My work is and ode to language of imagination - that free flowing play that all of us experienced on the playgrounds of our childhoods, in the conversations that build worlds out of thin air. Each piece I produce is an invitation to imagine, interpret, and be inspired.
I create to expose the harmony in the dissonance, within myself and throughout our world.
Series Statement:
This series invites the audience to recognize their participation in the aesthetic dialogue. The exploitation of color relationships and subtle optical trickery, create a sense of movement that involves the viewer in a game of balance and focus.
Rae Ann Ross lives a creative life, alternating between Long Island, the Bahamas, and Lancaster County, Pa. where she works in her home studios. With a background as a gemstone artisan, Rae Ann possesses a strong foundation in color and design, which allows her to seamlessly transition into painting using various types of media.
Her art brings a lively spirit and distinctive style to modern interiors. With a deep passion for abstract expressionism, she explores a wide range of subjects, allowing color, movement, and imagination to guide each composition. She thrives on using vibrant color palettes, embracing bold hues that energize the interplay of shape, color, and texture. Through ongoing workshops and creative exploration, she continues to evolve as an artist, experimenting freely and transforming inspiration into expressive works of art. Her paintings invite viewers into a world of whimsy, warmth and visual discovery.
In November of 2023, Rae Ann’s piece “Nature’s Tropical Whimsical Garden” was awarded Best of Show at the 52nd Annual Open Juried Art Exhibition held by the York Art Association in York, Pennsylvania.
RAE ANN ROSS
JOHN LASONIO
Art is my happy place — it gives me a way to get out of my own head. I’m drawn to light, color, and water, and how the three of them work together to create a certain mood or feeling. That’s really what my paintings are about. The way light falls on things changes how we see color, and it makes water look alive and always moving. I try to catch those split-second moments and share what I see with the people looking at my work — a world full of shifting reflections and color.
I paint with acrylic art markers, which let me be bold and precise at the same time. I can build up layers of color to create depth and that glowing quality you get when light hits water just right. Every mark I make is a mix of planning and going with the flow Making art is how I tune out the noise of everyday life and just create. I hope my work helps people slow down and notice the beauty in small, easy-to-miss moments - and feel some-thing when they do.
Mark is a native of Northumberland County, PA. A lifetime interest in art became the foundation for his education that enhanced his skills, his teaching, and his career as a professional artist. A graduate of Mount Carmel Area High School, he studied art at Mansfield University. He returned to his hometown to teach art at Mount Carmel where he guided thousands of students in exploring their artistic interests. Through this mentoring role he was exposed to a broad variety of media and forms of expression, becoming a more well-rounded artist himself.
In his professional career, while he worked in a wide range of drawing and painting media, he also honed his skills in art restoration. During his years as a student, and throughout his professional career Mark has earned numerous awards for his work. His fine art expression consists mainly of colorful landscapes of east-central and northern-tier Pennsylvania. Play of light, color, compositional movement, balance and beauty are essential to his art.
Along with his easel work he has completed a large number of commissioned works and art restorations for churches, private corporations and individuals.
MARK SASSANI
DIANE JORDAN BJORNSTAD
My art is a vibrant and bold emotional statement, an expressed reaction to my life experiences both past and present. I work primarily in acrylic and oil, I also occasionally work with mixed media, ceramics, and sculpture to explore different dimensions of creativity. As a painter, I favor vivid colors, compelling shapes, and rich textures. Much of my work features figures and portraits or flowers drawn from my imagination, each carrying its own story. While my paintings are inspired by my life, they remain ultimately imaginary. I find inspiration in the natural world by creating landscapes, florals, or still life pieces. I have a deep love for paint itself and am not afraid to use it generously in a colorful and/or “painterly” way. My creative process begins by covering the canvas with a single color, gradually layering marks until a theme or story reveals itself. From there, I employ the techniques I have learned to help to convey that story to the viewer. My work leans toward emotional expression and often inhabits a space between abstraction and recognizable figures.
I am drawn to modern and contemporary approaches to composition, favoring the use of color and shape to create space rather than adhering strictly to traditional realistic perspectives. While I respect and understand classic compositional techniques, I allow intuition and emotion to guide my arrangement. Inspiration comes to me from many sources. I find motivation by looking at the work of other artists across all styles. Music, particularly jazz, resonates deeply with me and influences my pace and mood while working. Nature’s beauty and the profound connections found in deep friendships also ignite my creative spirit and sense of aliveness. My technique is rooted in improvisation. Often, I start a painting without a fixed plan, allowing the idea to emerge naturally as I work. While this approach is not unique, I value the evolution that takes place throughout the painting process, trusting my first instincts even when revisions are necessary. Additionally, poetry—both writing and reading it-helps me delve into the mysteries of art. Prayer and meditation inform my practice and foster a spiritual connection with God that prevents me from overthinking and keeps my expression authentic.
Series Statement
My floral paintings are my perception of a flower garden. They unfold as a dynamic celebration of vitality, where bold bursts of color invite the viewer into an immersive visual experience. In the piece “Sunlit Garden” large flowers command attention with petals in striking shades of blue, white, and yellow. The centers of the flowers have rich with warm tones that provide contrast and depth. Around the large flowers, smaller blooms are in varied hues—from bright purples to soft blues and vivid reds— they create a layered interplay that is spontaneous and intentional. I use textured brushwork to show a sense of movement and presence that reinforces the artwork’s expressive and contemporary character. My still life painting is all about bold colors always with something unexpected involved. They often tell a story such as the painting “Still life with a dog”. In “Still Life with Mask”, a mysterious white mask remains on the table because why not add a surprise to a still life? Playing with contrasts between natural shapes and playful objects is really fun. Sometimes a really large still life keeps me challenged for sure! I hope to inspire energy and curiosity with each piece. Playing with contrasts between natural shapes and playful objects is really fun for me. I hope it brings a little energy and spontaneity to your day.
Within my work, I am navigating the paradox of femininity. Women are often encouraged to embrace feminine qualities, and even fetishized at times, but still aren’t taken seriously when they appear to be “too girly.” I use stereotypical images that are associated with women, such as flowers, bows, and hearts. More importantly, I use a material that has been historically associated with women for tens of thousands of years: textiles. Even today, textile work is often defined as “craft” or “hobby” rather than a serious art practice — mirroring how feminine qualities tend to be devalued.
My work is made out of recycled fabrics, which I cut up into smaller pieces and then rearrange into figurative portraits. This process of deconstructing and reconstructing is a direct representation of how so many women have to reshape themselves to try to fit a shapeless mold. Behind all the bright pinks and reds, the isolated figures are meant to feel reflective and emotionally dense. The layers of fabric act as a statement for the layers of complex feelings when it comes to femininity.
My work speaks to a multitude of women who experience the paradox. Some women may feel they are too feminine or they aren’t feminine enough for society to digest. I implore the viewer to analyze their reactions to the work, prompting them to consider the point at which these qualities begin to alter their perception of the work.
FAITH ANN
ALSO FEATURING THE WORK OF
25+ CALL SELECTED ARTISTS
Alana Beall, Angela Lapioli, Ann Benton Yeager, Burton Aulisio, SOOP, Cynthia Courtney, Darren Ingram, Frank Nolan, Gabrielle Shelley, Jason Reid, Jason Ward, Jeff Grabert, Jenn S., Jona Minotto, Jordan Hughes, Josiah Stoltzfus, Justin Lyons, Kelby Weaver, Lexus Alize Schack, Lisa Ruch, Mark Vogel, Mimi Shapiro, Nick DiBernardo Photography, Nina Yocom, Sarah Gersbach, Sheri Hansen, Sherry Barnosky Bowman, Svetlana Koval, AND Veronica Rose Snead.
