When you first met, were you drawn to your partner due to the person’s art or was it something else?

Liz: When we first met, I was definitely drawn to his artistic abilities. But his personality is definitely what sealed the deal for me.

Dean: I was first drawn to Liz because I thought she was pretty, but her art ability definitely sparked my interest.

Did you meet at an art event?

Liz: Not exactly, we followed each other on Instagram for a long while. When I saw one of his pieces at Art All Night, I finally decided to send him a message. We met up about a week later and have been inseparable since.

Dean: Indirectly… She messaged me inquiring about a painting I had in Art All Night.

What was the most memorable art event in Greater Trenton area that you attended together?

Liz: I would have to say Book of RAS. This was Dean’s first solo show and was hosted at the Trenton Social. It was a wonderful night and we were surrounded by a ton of friends and family.

Dean: The most memorable moment was this past Art All Night. We were working on a painting together at the event outside, and Liz ended up getting a stomach ache and throwing up. It was also raining all night and we had to come back the next day to finish.

What is your opinion of your partner’s art?

Liz: I love his art! I think it’s incredible. He’s very talented with a spray can and definitely thinks, sometimes overly, through every aspect of every painting he does. He’s fantastic.

Dean: I love her art! She is amazing at drawing, but really works in a variety of mediums. Lately she has been into these crazy prints that are sick. She has picked up spray painting quickly, which is great because she can help me paint murals.

Does your art complement one another?

Liz: I’d like to think so. We both tend to lean towards doing more realistic work.

Dean: I’d say so. We have some our pieces up in the house and they definitely work well together.

Have you produced any collaborative art together?

Liz: We have collaborated on several projects. My favorite is “Wall for Drella”. This past fall, we did a series of three Andy Warhol portraits. The first image was a rendition of Basquiat’s “Dos Cabezas” which we painted together, the next image was a photo of Warhol Dean painted, and the last image was a rendition of a Warhol self-portrait (1967) that I painted. We had a blast with that project and are both thrilled with how it came out.

Dean: Yes, we painted a few walls together, most notably the Charlie Brown Halloween wall, and more recently “Wall for Drella”, which was a series of Andy Warhol portraits. We also painted together with Lank at art all day twice, and have posed for Mel Leipzig twice.

The couple’s collaborative Peanuts mural.

The couple’s collaborative Warhol portraits mural,Wall for Drella .

E.c. Bradley and Valeria Bradley at the Candlelight Lounge on Passaic Street. The lounge showcases top jazz performers from all over the East Coast on Saturdays.

Did you meet at an arts event?

We met at bar, not an art event, but it had some art ambiance, music playing in the background.

What is the most memorable art event you attended together?

Our most memorable was trip to New Mexico and the scenery.

What type of art do you both enjoy doing?

I play the saxophone and paint murals. Valerie’s art is her cooking. Her edible art dishes are truly her passion.

Have you produced any collaborative art together?

The art we produce is our weekly jazz event and other events such as comedy events and the work and renovation we do together on our investment.

Bruce Lindsay and Aylin Green. Lindsay’s studio, Integral Sculpture Works, is in Trenton. Green is the executive director of the West Windsor Arts Council. Both are members of the AbOminOg International Arts Collective.

1. When you first met were you drawn to your partner due to their art or was it something else?

We were drawn by a mutual love and appreciation of the arts and through the process of making cast metal sculpture.

2. Did you meet at an art event?

We met through our involvement in the sculpture community of Grounds For Sculpture and the Johnson Atelier.

3. What was the most memorable art event in Greater Trenton area that you attended together?

We both feel that the last AbOminOg Intl. Arts Collective iron pour at Art All Night was one we will never forget. The crowd was incredible, we had a great crew, and our creativity was off the charts.

4. What is your opinion of your partner’s art?

Aylin: Bruce’s art is elegant and well-crafted. He sees possibility and beauty of form in objects that others pass by. His compositions are thoughtful and often reveal more through their manipulation. Not one to “push” his art out there, he is a quietly inspiring artist.

Bruce: In my opinion Aylin’s creativity consistently demonstrates a wonderful sensitivity to composition and manipulation of materials, developed in both mixed media and sculpture. Domestic crafts are referenced and subtly exalted, and transformed by her hand into not only iron and bronze, but also a reminder of the power of the feminine divine.

5. Does your art complement one another?

In 2015 we had the opportunity to exhibit our work together at the Project Rooms in Lambertville. We share an attention to detail and composition, process and material, and we both explore universal themes and subjects.

6. Have you produced any collaborative art together?

We have collaborated on two major public art proposals for the city of Trenton that we hope to realize when the time is right. One is a Trenton Art Puzzle that would bring together community members of all ages to paint wooden cut-outs of the outline of the city. The other is a light sculpture inspired by the form of Roebling wire rope suspension bridges to help illuminate the D&R Canal trail.

Artists Wills Kins and Lori Johansson. Kins is a cycling aficionado who turns bikes into art and teaches teens how to repair bikes at the Trenton Bike Exchange. He works at Z Signs. Johansson is the bass player for Molly Rhythm and is the manager of the Greenwood Avenue Farmers Market. She hosts Arts Chill Night at the Championship Bar.

When you first met were you drawn to your partner due to their art or was it something else?

Performing music was what initially drew us to each other.

Did you meet at an art event?

We first met at Leon Rainbow’s art opening at Gallery 219 and then at a Molly Rhythm show at the Mill Hill Basement.

What was the most memorable art event in Greater Trenton area that you attended together?

The Jersey Fresh Jam at Terracycle

What is your opinion of your partner’s art?

Wills: It is inspiring because it covers multiple genres and mediums and it’s interesting to see how somehow applies their style to new challenges.

Lori: I am constantly intrigued by how his work transforms its environment.

Does your art complement one another?

During the artistic process, we find ways to engage each other’s work.

Have you produced any collaborative art together?

We created two separate pieces for Windows of Soul on Walnut Avenue that were integrated into a site-specific work.

You can find Lori and Wills at Art Chill Night at the Championship Bar from 8 p.m. to midnight Mondays. The Championship Bar is located at 931 Chambers Street.

For the next two weeks, our series “CounterpARTs in Trenton’s Arts” will feature short profiles of Trenton artist couples in honor of Valentine’s Day.

Komunyakaa

Yusef Komunyakaa has been named the 11th State Poet of New York by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The author of more than a dozen books of poetry, Komunyakaa received both the Pulitzer Prize and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for “Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems.” In 2001 he was awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for extraordinary lifetime accomplishments, and in 2011 he received the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets.

Komunyakaa has taught at many universities, including the University of New Orleans, Indiana University, and Princeton University.

Born and raised in Bogalusa, Louisiana, he served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and earned a Bronze Star for his work as editor and correspondent for the military newspaper Southern Cross. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado in 1975, a master’s degree from Colorado State University in 1978, and a master’s of fine arts in creative writing from the University of California, Irvine in 1980.

His books “Thieves of Paradise” and “Talking Dirty to the Gods” both were finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His 2011 collection, “The Chameleon Couch,” was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and was shortlisted for the 2012 International Griffin Poetry Prize.

Komunyakaa is a distinguished faculty member and honorary director of Cave Canem, a foundation headquartered in Brooklyn that is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets. Komunyakaa owns a house in Trenton and splits his time between Trenton and New York City, where he is the distinguished senior poet in the creative writing program at New York University.

The State Poet is selected for two-year terms by the New York State Writers Institute, which is located at the State University of New York at Albany. The choice is based on a substantial body of work of notable literary merit. The institute was established as a permanent state-sponsored organization for creative exchange through legislation in 1984.

Komunyakaa said he is honored to serve as the New York State poet.

“I embrace this historical support of artists and I shall endeavor to cultivate this atmosphere where poetry and the lives of working people intersect,” he said.

Throughout the two-year term, the state poet laureate promotes and encourages poetry throughout New York by giving public readings and talks within the state. The award carries an honorarium of ten thousand dollars.

“Seldom, if ever, have I found an American poet with such an amazing trajectory of talent and sense of subject regarding culture and morality: from Viet Nam to jazz, from Black experience to surreal lyricism. Yusef Komunyakaa is surely among our very best,” said Donald Faulkner, director of the New York State Writers Institute.

Other New York State Poets and their terms of service:

· Marie Howe, 2012-2014
· Jean Valentine, 2008-2010
· Billy Collins, 2004-2006
· John Ashbery, 2001-2003
· Sharon Olds, 1998-2000
· Jane Cooper, 1995-1997
· Richard Howard, 1993-1995
· Audre Lorde, 1991-1993
· Robert Creeley, 1989-1991
· Stanley Kunitz, 1986-1988