At Sally Studio Art Center, we believe that young children communicate in many ways, and verbal language reveals only a small part of their inner world. Art provides a powerful window into their minds and emotions, sometimes offering a clearer understanding of their thoughts, feelings, and personalities than words ever could. We view art not only as a skill to be learned but also as another language, one that helps children express themselves in a deeper, more meaningful way in art.
Children naturally love to draw and create. Through art, they tell stories both real and imagined, and discover the joy of self-expression. However, this creativity blossoms best with thoughtful guidance, strong foundational techniques, and continuous encouragement. When children are supported in this way, their imaginations can soar, and their confidence grows along with their artistic ability.
We believe that every child has the potential to draw and create. Our teachers take time to understand each student’s unique personality, interests, and creative rhythm. We value individuality and never expect every child to follow the same path or produce the same kind of work. By nurturing each child’s personal voice and creative process, we help them experience the joy of artistic discovery, the discipline of practice, and the freedom of expression.
Our Teaching Team
Sally Feng graduated from the Tianjin Institute of Fine Arts in China, where she studied under and was influenced by many well-known artists and teachers. She later continued her studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Ms. Feng is an accomplished oil portraitist, sumi-e artist, and art educator. Her work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows both nationally and internationally.
Honors and Awards:
Over the years, Ms. Feng has presented in 11 solo and group exhibitions across the United States and China. She has received multiple awards from the Sumi-e Society of America’s National Juried Exhibitions, including the Best in Show award in 2017.
She was also honored with the Best in Show award at the Sumi-e Society of America’s Annual Juried Exhibition in Tallahassee, Florida.
Teaching:
In addition to her work as an artist, Ms. Feng has been a dedicated art teacher for many years. She has introduced the traditional sumi-e watercolor technique and its cultural heritage to numerous students across America. Teaching is her passion, and her enthusiasm has only grown over time. She has developed her own teaching philosophy: “I believe every child can draw and create art. The teacher must take the time to understand each child’s individual personality and allow that child to express art in their own way. Every child is different.” Ms. Feng nurtures her students’ creativity in every possible way. Under her guidance, her students have received numerous national awards and have helped place her school among the top-ranked art schools in the country. Many of her students have become national Gold Key and Silver Key winners in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards competition.In recognition of her contributions to art education, Ms. Feng herself has been honored twice with the Scholastic Educator Golden Key Award. Teaching is not just part of her work — it is an essential part of her life.
Vision:
Through her art and teaching, Ms. Feng continues to inspire students of all ages to discover their own voices and embrace creativity with confidence. She believes that art has the power to connect people, build community, and enrich lives. As the Director of Sally Studio Art Center, she is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of young artists, fostering a supportive and challenging environment where they can grow not only as skilled creators but also as thoughtful, curious individuals. Ms. Feng hopes that every student who walks through her studio doors will leave with a deeperlove for art, a stronger sense of self, and the courage to share their creativity with the world
Sandra Graf is an accomplished graphic artist with over 17 years of professional experience, including work for major publications such as Newsday. Throughout her career, she has honed her expertise in digital design and mastered industry-standard software including InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, iMovie, and Premiere Pro, earning several awards from FCPNY and AFCP.
Her art training began at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the School of Visual Arts, leading to a successful career in advertising and TV commercial production with agencies such as Doyle Dane Bernbach, KSW&G, and HT&S. Later, she founded her own business, Grafix Design Studio, managing creative projects for multiple clients before discovering her true calling—teaching art to children.
Teaching
For the past seven years at Sally Studio, Sandra has continued to grow her passion for teaching while sharing her creative expertise with young artists. She helps students build strong drawing foundations and explore imaginative projects in a variety of media, including clay, watercolor, oil pastels, and mixed media. She embraces the teaching philosophy and high standards of Sally Studio, encouraging students to think critically, observe deeply, and express their unique voices through art.
Sandra believes that with the right guidance and encouragement, every child can unlock their creative potential. Her warm and inspiring teaching style nurtures confidence and curiosity, making the art-making process both meaningful and fun.
Kezia Hatch graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz with a degree in visual arts. She pursued her education amongst her creative peers and influential professors. Kezia is an artist who has experience in oil painting, gouache painting, drawing, woodworking, jewelry making and ceramics. Kezia is also continuing to pursue her art and dream while teaching by studying the historical art form of permanent body art. Her multimedia background allows for her creativity to flow unbound by a single medium.
Teaching
Kezia joined Sally’s Studio in March of 2023 being trained for 3 months by Sally Feng to learn the methods and standards of the studio. After 3 months training Kezia began by teaching classes over the summer on her own. With a new found passion for teaching Ms. H, as many students may know her, has begun as a primary teacher in the fall 2023 school year. With this passion for teaching Kezia has found that each student can create wonderful art with proper instruction and room to use their imagination and creativity. She says that “Seeing each child create something totally unique from the same prompt gives me so much joy as a teacher.”
Kezia is deeply inspired by the students she teaches being able to see their creativity bloom as they create beautiful works of art. She hopes that by teaching and sharing her love of art that the students will be inspired and continue to pursue art further into their life.
Crystal Liu is an arts enthusiast. She majored in Fine Art from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Her major in the university allowed Liu to be adept in various types of art fields. This is in consideration that she initially focused on drawings. However, the Fashion Institute of Technology honed her artistry in various fields beyond drawing. She practiced art for around ten years. Her experience in art has made her artistry homed in different fields where she focuses on drawing, painting, sculpture, and digital art.
Particularly, her drawings are dedicated towards portraits and animal portraits. As for her paintings, she focuses on abstract paintings, portraits, and landscape. She is also adept in human sculpture, clay, plaster and wood sculptures. Aside from tradition art, she is also knowledgeable on digital art. Her expertise and knowledge in art made her want to teach children about art-in hopes that she can also bring out and inspire children to become artists.
Teaching
Liu’s passion for art has transcended to her another passion of teaching children art. She believes that children have the capacity to express their artistry in various ways through art. With that, she wants to unleash the children’s creativity through teaching them art. Children have so much potential in translating how they perceive the world through art. This potential can be heightened through proper training and guidance-which Liu aims to give to children.
John Cheng graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he majored in illustration. Those years were transformative, providing him with a solid educational foundation and honing his skills across various artistic mediums. Digital art, pen and ink, pencil, oil pastels, and color pencils are just a few of the tools in his creative arsenal, each offering a unique way to convey his artistic vision.
While his academic journey was invaluable, it was his four years of teaching that truly kindled his dedication to art education. Thanks to the comprehensive training by Sally Studio, the moment he stepped into the role of an instructor, he realized the profound joy and fulfillment it brought him.
His commitment to the transformative power of art and his belief in the symbiotic relationship between teaching and learning continue to drive him. This reciprocal journey of learning and teaching is at the core of what he does, and he is excited to continue this adventure with his students at our art studio.
Teaching
John has been specially trained through Sally Studio’s comprehensive instructor program, which emphasizes both structure and creativity. His sessions follow our studio’s step-by-step method: building technical foundations, guiding students in observation and technique, and then encouraging them to explore their own ideas. This approach not only ensures steady artistic growth but also nurtures confidence and imagination. By blending his academic expertise with Sally Studio’s teaching philosophy, John creates a warm, engaging environment where students thrive.
Ján C. Porinchak is a Long Island, New York artist whose detailed works in a variety of media illustrate the exquisite intricacy of natural history subjects. His great appreciation for the outdoors is reflected in his award winning artwork. Mr. Porinchak graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA, concentration in Illustration. His teaching certification was achieved at New York Institute of Technology, and he earned his Masters in Fine Art at C.W. Post. For nearly 10 years Ján worked in commercial illustration and graphics as an artist and manager. Porinchak is in his 28th year of teaching middle school and high school art at the Jericho Schools. His natural history themed illustration work has been commissioned by numerous agencies and organizations such as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies, Towns of Brookhaven and Riverhead, NY SeaGrant and others.
Teaching
In addition to teaching art at Jericho UFSD he has had the pleasure of instructing students at Sally Studio for 3 years. At Sally Studio Ján brings his love of nature and detail oriented style into the curriculum, while also encouraging students to infuse their own artistic vision into their personal artwork. He emphasizes quality, craftmanship, creativity and a sense of pride in his students artistic achievements. In addition to his classroom teaching, he has been a wonderful team member, always willing to collaborate, share ideas, and support other teachers. His professionalism, reliability, and positive attitude make him a joy to work with.
Jillian Lewis is a graduate of Parsons School of
Design, where she received a CFDA scholarship. She has spent two decades in the fashion industry, most notably as Concept Design Director at Ralph Lauren and Senior Design Contributor at Anthropologie. Jillian first gained national attention on Bravo TV’s Project Runway (Season 4), where she was a finalist and presented her collection at Bryant Park. Following the show, she launched the Jillian Lewis collection and went on to showcase her line at New York Fashion Week for multiple seasons with the support of corporate sponsors. Her designs were worn by several celebrities and received notable press coverage.
In addition to her work in fashion, Jillian has designed costumes for world-renowned companies including American Ballet Theater, The Royal pera House, The Washington Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Holland America Line Cruises. She also created a full lineup of men’s and women’s staff uniforms for Holland America Line.
Teaching
Jillian has taught pre-college fashion design courses at the Parsons School of Design Space Program and has mentored student interns throughout her career.
At Sally Studio, Jillian brings her professional design background and deep love of storytelling and visual expression into the classroom. Her teaching style reflects the Studio’s values of curiosity, creative freedom, and technical discipline. She encourages students to explore their unique voice through material experimentation, conceptual thinking, and high-level craftsmanship- all within a supportive and inspiring learning environment.
Nicholas Frizalone is an American born and raised fine artist who lives and works on Long Island, NY. He studied figure drawing and image making under master illustrator/draftsman Jeffrey K. Fisher from 2008 – 2014 at the Drawing Studio LI and traditional portrait painting with Brandon Soloff and Rick Piloco at Chelsea Classical Studio from 2016 – 2019. He received his BFA from Stony Brook University and both his MFA and M.S. in Art Education from Long Island University in Brookville, NY. He currently exhibits his work throughout the world.
Nicholas’ artwork bridges the gaps between religion, metaphysics and field theory physics. He was interested in all facets of spirituality and truth at an early age, and this interest went hand in hand with his studies of traditional art and art theory. Nicholas is one of the few artists today to continue the tradition of drawing and painting metaphysical and religious artwork in a contemporary aesthetic context.
Teaching
Nicholas has eleven years of teaching students of all ages and grade levels. In the past he has taught elementary, middle school, high school, college students and professionals. He previously ran his own art studio, but now is a high school art teacher at Patchogue Medford High School and has taught at Sally Studio for over a year now. Nicholas’ approach of teaching each student to harness their own creative strengths while maintaining traditional artistic foundations and approaches seamlessly meshed with Sally Studio’s teaching philosophy.
Jay Stuart is a professional illustrator, cartoonist, and educator with over six years of teaching experience at Sally Studio. From a young age, Jay was captivated by the power of imagination and spent countless hours drawing characters and scenes from his own mind. His passion for visual storytelling led him to study at Hofstra’s youth art program and later at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he specialized in illustration and cartooning.
Over the years, Jay has worked in a wide range of creative industries, from comics and character design to fashion illustration and concept art. His preferred medium is India ink and brush, which he uses to capture bold lines, expressive motion, and the unique tone of his ideas. He also creates with acrylics and mixed media, developing vivid and layered compositions that highlight his distinctive artistic vision and imagination.
Teaching
At Sally Studio, Jay teaches children’s art, cartooning, and creative painting classes. He brings humor, energy, and storytelling into every lesson—encouraging his students to explore freely, take creative risks, and infuse their art with personality. His sense of humor and approachable teaching style inspire students to see art as a joyful, imaginative process where mistakes become opportunities and ideas come to life. Jay’s goal is to help each student build confidence, curiosity, and a lifelong love of art.
In addition to teaching, Jay is the founder of Poppycock Productions.
Erika Porinchak is a fourth-generation illustrator and educator from a family deeply rooted in the arts. Drawing has been part of her life for as long as she can remember, and her work reflects a love for storytelling, imagination, and the natural world. Her illustrations often feature whimsical characters and detailed narratives, blending elements of fantasy with the beauty of everyday life.
Since 2018, Erika has worked in education, developing and teaching creative programs that connect art and science for children across Long Island.
Erika earned her Associate’s Degree in Visual Arts from Suffolk County Community College in 2020, where she served as Art Club President and helped organize virtual art projects during the pandemic. That experience inspired her to pursue teaching, and she went on to complete her Bachelor’s Degree in Childhood Education at SUNY Old Westbury, graduating magna cum laude in 2023.
Teaching
Since joining Sally Studio in 2024, Erika has brought her passion for illustration and teaching into the children’s drawing program. She enjoys guiding young artists as they build strong foundations in drawing while experimenting with watercolor, pastels, colored pencils, and other traditional media. For Erika, teaching is about more than technical skill—it’s about connecting with each student, understanding their interests, and helping them find joy and confidence in their creativity. She hopes to inspire her students to carry that love for art with them throughout their lives.