Meet Our Instructors
Art Works! Studio offers art classes and workshops in downtown Walled Lake, Michigan, as well as online, where teaching artists share a commitment to skill-based instruction, material integrity, and thoughtful pacing. Whether you are joining us in person or online, our classes are designed to support both learning and creative exploration.
Each teaching artist brings their own strengths, lived experience, and creative voice, while working within a shared approach to teaching. Students develop clarity, care, and high-quality instruction across different learning languages, guided by educators who are attentive to both process and growth.
Our educators teach with attentiveness, respect for materials, and a deep belief in each learner’s capacity to grow. Here, process is honored, skills are built with intention, and each student is supported in developing their own way of seeing and making.
Sasha Roberts-Levi, founder & resident artist
Sasha Roberts-Levi is an artist, educator, and the founder of Art Works! Studio in Walled Lake, Michigan. Her teaching bridges strong technical foundations—drawing, color, composition, and material fluency—with a thoughtful, process-centered approach. She often describes her role as a kind of midwifery: structured, attentive, and responsive. For many students, learning begins with imitation, practice, or careful observation, and gradually opens into a more personal way of seeing, choosing, and making.
Sasha holds a BFA from Eastern Michigan University, an M.Ed. from Marygrove College, and an Ed.S. from Wayne State University. Her background includes experience as a certified reading teacher, fine arts educator, special education teacher, ESL-certified instructor, university instructor, and educational leader. She is also trained as an expressive arts facilitator, which continues to shape how she designs learning environments that support both skill development and personal engagement.
Over time, her focus has expanded from what people learn to how they learn. She created Art Works! Studio as a place where students of all ages and abilities can explore creativity with attention, confidence, and meaningful growth.
Sasha teaches drawing, watercolor painting, and mixed media, along with seasonal weaving potholders, felting studios, and needle felting. She also offers expressive arts workshops, including SoulCollage®. Her classes emphasize skill-building, close observation, and a supportive studio environment where both technical ability and personal voice are given time and space to grow.
This way of working at Art Works! Studio is shaped both by the people in the studio—those who show up, try, hesitate, risk, and discover—and by a broader lineage of artists, educators, and thinkers. Read more about the specific people who have inspired her and her Land Acknowledgment HERE.
Meet Our Teaching Artists
Julie Woodard
Julie Woodard is an artist and educator who values creating in a supportive, welcoming environment. Her work has developed through years of study in watercolor, drawing, acrylic, and pastel, along with ongoing classes and workshops.
She was a member of the Lakes Region Watercolor Guild in Illinois, where she learned from visiting artists, and taught for 15 years at a community art center, gaining experience across a wide range of media. Through regular travel in Europe, she has continued to study watercolor, drawing, and charcoal with master artists.
Her teaching supports exploration, confidence, and skill-building, offering students both practical techniques and encouragement. Julie believes that anyone can learn to make art and experience the joy of creating.
Michele Jacobson
Michele Jacobson is an artist and educator who brings creativity, connection, and joy into her work with students. With a background in early childhood education, she creates engaging, welcoming experiences for young learners and workshops that invite participation across ages.
Her teaching supports imagination, confidence, and a sense of ease in the creative process, offering a space where creativity can unfold in a joyful and supportive way. She is also the creator of MJ Joyful Expressions, her fine art card business.
Michele teaches early childhood art classes, Crafternoon workshops, and seasonal specialty projects for children, families, and multi-age groups, with a focus on playful exploration and engaging materials.
Trish Fletcher
Trish Fletcher is an educator with experience in public schools, support roles, and early childhood education. She brings a warm, attentive presence to the studio and enjoys working with both children and mixed-age groups.
Her creative practice includes mixed media and watercolor, and she shares her work through handmade greeting cards and bookmarks at local markets and craft fairs.
At Art Works! Studio, Trish leads seasonal workshops including Crafternoon, FriYay, Summer & Break Camps, and Artist Trading Cards. Her classes invite participants to explore a variety of materials in a supportive, engaging environment where creativity and making are accessible to all.
Bev Webb
Bev Web is an artist and teacher … to be continued
Bev is the founder of Eye Candy Mosaic and teaches a variety of mosaic classes that emphasize thoughtful design, material exploration, and the satisfaction of building something piece by piece.
Pat Gibson
Patrick Gibson is a poet, writer, and instructor of poetry, art-inspired creative writing, and memoir. A graduate of Wayne State University, he also studied at the New York Writers Studio and holds a certificate in fiction writing from UCLA Extension. His work has been published in the Poetry Society of Michigan, Detroit Voices, Medusa’s Laugh, Yellow Arrow, Fiction Attic, Bear River Review, Potato Soup Journal, EKL, and others. In his creative life, Pat also enjoys drawing, playing guitar, reading, and spending time with his family.
Pat teaches Micro-Memoir and Art-Inspired Creative Writing workshops, weaving together elements of poetry, flash fiction, and personal essay to support both new and experienced writers.
All teaching artists at Art Works! Studio work within our shared philosophy of skill-based instruction, inclusive practice, and respect for the creative process.
We are committed to building a studio culture that is steady, rigorous, and welcoming.
Our teaching artists are here to support your learning—whether you’re just beginning or returning to art after some time away.
“Sasha is dedicated to helping people to learn how they learn and practice simple ways to improve their lives by spending more time enjoying their creative projects, passions, and pursuits.”
Dr. C. Lopez, former Director of Bilingual Education, Detroit Public Schools, Assistant Superintendent, Ypsilanti Community Schools