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.

Christoff backstage at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

Fashion Design alumna Genoveva Christoff (CCAD 2009) has proven herself as someone to watch—and recently she has spent a lot of time watching her designs go down a runway in front of fashion’s elites.

Christoff was selected as one of four designers to present in the Diet Pepsi Style Studio Show during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York City.

Each designer had to create three different looks for the fashion show. Simon Doonan, the fashion commentator for the show, chose fierce animal prints, avant-garde work wear, and metallic finishes inspired by the Diet Pepsi can for the designers to interpret.

Christoff created her three looks in less than two weeks. The first look was a leather and chiffon dress inspired by zebra prints. The second was a lavender-colored dress with an asymmetrical collar, and her final ensemble was a dress and vest in metallic leather and silk.

“There are so many things that were memorable during my stay in New York,” said Christoff. “First, meeting with Simon Doonan, then all the preparation for the actual show, especially the moment I saw so many famous people in the audience, like Mary-Kate Olsen, Debra Messing, Angela Simmons, Jay Manuel, Jay Alexander, Jonathan Adler, Kelly Rutherford, and others.”

“I was also able to meet Christian Cota and attend his fashion show; I was impressed to see his collection and to see the designs up close. I hope one day I will have a chance to show my full collection and have access to such beautiful fabrics and techniques,” she said.

Christoff was recently selected to be one of five finalists in the Adrianna Papell for E! Live from the Red Carpet design contest. The winning design will be worn to a Hollywood red carpet event by a celebrity, and its designer will receive a $2,500 cash prize and a trip to Hollywood. The winning dress will also be included in the Adrianna Papell Spring 2012 Collection for E! Live from the Red Carpet, which will be available at Lord & Taylor.

Christoff's dress design as constructed by Andrianna Papell

Alumna Genoveva Christoff (CCAD 2009) is a finalist in the E! Live from the Red Carpet Design Contest.

According to a recent Columbus Alive article, the Fashion Design alumna heard about the competition on Facebook and quickly put together a design for a floor-length chiffon gown for her entry. Christoff’s design was one of 670 entered; after a public voting process 25 designs were selected.

Adrianna Papell, a popular dress designer, then chose the top five designs as finalists and constructed one example of each.

The dresses are on display online where the public can vote for their favorite. The winning design will be worn to a Hollywood red carpet event by a celebrity, and its designer will receive a $2500 cash prize and a trip to Hollywood. The winning dress will also be included in the Adrianna Papell Spring 2012 Collection for E! Live from the Red Carpet, which will be available at Lord & Taylor.

The voting ends Jan. 22. To vote, click here. The winning dress will be revealed on E!’s Countdown to the Red Carpet Academy Awards special on Feb. 26, 2012.

To read the Columbus Alive article, click here.