John Jude Palencar’s illustration for the best-selling children’s novel “Eragon”

We do our best to get most of the news you submit to us onto the CCAD News Blog, but since there are more than 10,000 of you making news all over the world, not everything can make it into the blog. We’re glad to have another venue where we can share everything with you—this newsletter’s classnotes.

You can submit classnotes via the easy-to-use form on the alumni landing page. We only post career-related successes, awards, exhibitions, and publications, but we’d also love to know when you move, get married, or have children—just use that same form.

Now, without further ado, your classnotes from December 2011, January 2012, and February 2012.

Ron Miller ’70 created the illustrations for an iPad app Journey to the Exoplanets. Read more here.

Nicky Epstein ’74 has finished her 24^th book about knitting design. Read more here.

Tim Rietenbach ’77, Danielle Julian Norton ’99, Mariana Smith ’02, and Michael Litzau ’04 were among 10 CCAD-affiliated artists in a recent exhibition. Read more here.

Tim Rietenbach ’77 is a participating artist in FINDING TIME: Columbus Public Art 2012, a multi-artist public art project to celebrate the city of Columbus’ 200^th birthday. Read more here.

Kent Roberts ’77 had his work accepted in the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society’s Annual Show.

Wong Wo Bik ’77 was in the group exhibition Memory and Fiction at Blindspot Gallery in Hong Kong. Read more here.

John Jude Palencar ’80 illustrated the newest book in a best-selling children’s series, the Inheritance Cycle. Read more here.

Michael Neno ’84, Andy Bennett ’94, and Ryan Brinkerhoff ’08 all worked on the fourth issue of a Columbus based comic book. Read more here.

Kurt Fondriest ’85 was featured in the film Operation Rhino, which received a Midwest/Chicago Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Read more here.

Inka Essenhigh ’91 had a solo exhibition at Tomio Koyama Gallery in Kyoto, Japan. Read more here.

Anita Miller ’91–’99 continues to tour her exhibition The Eyes of Freedom: the Lima Company Memorial. Read more here.

Nathan Greno ’93–’96 co-directed Disney’s animated short Tangled Ever After. Read more here.

David Breaux ’94 is a senior animator on the FOX television series Terra Nova, produced by Steven Spielberg. Read more here.

Sandy Kessler Kaminski ’93 had her piece Around 65 featured in Studio Visit magazine, vol. 14.

Ron Stasko ’93 had his work Liquid Color displayed in Tsunami, a Baton Rouge restaurant.

Kathleen ’94 and David Hartman ’95 both worked on the film John Dies at the End, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Read more here.

Samantha Bennett ’95–’99 had a solo exhibition, Scars, Portraits and Beyond, at Hayley Gallery in New Albany, OH. Read more here.

Michael Newton ’96 and Jeremy Sorrell ’04, exhibited their work at Rivet Gallery in downtown Columbus, OH. Read more here.

Laine Bachman ’97 had a solo exhibition, Birds of a Feather, which was reviewed by The Columbus Dispatch. Read more here.

Nicole Bruckman ’00 was in a group exhibition at WWA Gallery in Culver City, California. Read more here.

Michael Guinane ’00 showed his work at the Cultural Arts Center in Columbus, OH.

Adam Brouillette ’02 and Boryana Rusenova Ina ’00 were on the Best Local Artists list of 2011 in Columbus Underground. Read more here.

Anne Holman ’02 is featured in The New Artisans: Handmade Designs for Contemporary Living. Read more here.

Carl Bork ’03 had a solo exhibition at Tointon Gallery in Greeley, CO. Read more here.

Kenneth Hall ’04 had a solo exhibition at Parkland College Art Gallery in Champaign, Ill. Read more here.

Manjari Sharma ’04 was featured in The New York Times discussing her photography project Darshan. Read more here.

Melissa Spencer ’06 displayed her photography in Cleveland, OH at Sunny Side Up Gallery.

Maris Turner ’07 and Sara Renner ’08 opened a boutique in Ann Arbor. Read more here.

Genoveva Christoff ’09 was a finalist in the E! Live from the Red Carpet Design Contest and presented her work at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

LCpl William Brett Wightman, LCpl Edward Schroeder II, and LCpl Grant Fraser painted in Miller's work

Eight life-size portraits painted by a CCAD alumna began touring in 2008 and soon will make their way to the Superdome in New Orleans in December 2011.

The Eyes of Freedom: the Lima Company Memorial honors those who have fallen in service. The paintings were completed by Anita Miller (CCAD 1991-1999) and they took her more than two years to complete.

Throughout the process of painting, Miller was visited by members of the families of the fallen men. Each helping her stretch canvas or mix colors, all creating their own way to grieve and be a part of the memorial’s process.

“My paintings were made for the men and their families to help them heal and now it is helping more people who have similar emotions and experiences,” Miller said.

The vision for the memorial began in an instant for Miller. She was awoken at 3 a.m. one night with the vision of the exhibition and the work she had to do.

She imagined canvases arranged in a circle, depicting the young men. Their boots and letters from loved ones would be laying on the ground within the Statehouse rotunda.The second part of Miller’s vision was seeing the entire exhibition picked up and moved, meaning she had to make it a traveling memorial.

“I had heard about the boys that were killed and it tore my heart,” Miller said. “I wanted to help and this dream came to me as my answer.”

Picture taken during the 2008 opening in the Ohio State Courthouse

After years of painting and research, Miller finished the memorial in May 2008. It was unveiled at the Ohio the Statehouse during memorial weekend. Miller worked up until the last days of the opening confessing the paint was barely dry by the time they were displayed.

Every painted soldier had their family and friends there as part of the unveiling. There were a few thousand people also in attendance throughout the day and it was broadcast overseas to the troops.

“Seeing the finished paintings in the statehouse was an intense experience for me. All the hard work was worth it to see everything completed and displayed just as I had imaged,” Miller said.

The memorial will continue touring with Mike Durant as the lead supervisor. Durant was a friend to the men depicted in the memorial and served with many of them in the Marines.

To find out more on the memorial including background and its scheduled dates for touring, visit their site, http://www.limacompanymemorial.org/index.html