Dean James Laabs is a multi-faceted artist, bringing a unique balance of compositional craft and improvisational spontaneity to both music and visual arts. His creations are borne out of many steps and layers resulting in creations of extraordinary depth and resonance. He is an accomplished printmaker, stained glass artisan and woodworker with a MM in Third Stream Studies (improvised music drawing on various traditions, including both classical and jazz) from the New England Conservatory of Music. For more than 20 years, Dean has combined a life in art and music, using the energy and creative possibility within each to dramatically inform the other. His experience in visual art and his musical training offer something quite unique to students when discussing concepts - rhythm, contrast, line and composition. Dean encourages his students to immerse themselves in the process and learn by doing, reminding them that their eyes may teach them something about a new idea, but their hands will surely teach them something more.