I’m often captivated by the trajectory of an artist’s career.
After graduating from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, Collingswood artist Christine Cathers Donohue spent five years as a staff artist at a greeting card company in the city. “I loved this job!” she says. She designed and, once her concepts were approved, illustrated greeting cards. Her role also included corresponding with museums to license artwork for reproduction, developing brochures and flyers for special projects, participating in photo shoots, traveling to approve color at the printer, and eventually art directing freelance artists.
Today, Cathers Donohue is an artist, framer, and fine arts teacher at Repenning Fine Arts in Audubon, and her work is available at Haddon Hall in Haddonfield.
Artisan jeweler Margie Cedrone studied at the Gemological Institute of America before opening her own jewelry shop on Philadelphia’s Sansom Street in 1988. (She relocated to Westmont in 2017.) Nearly four decades later, she remains inspired by her clients’ individual stories and personal style. One client, Marissa Fortuna, says, “Every piece she creates has emotion and meaning behind it.” Cedrone notes that layering jewelry and wearing personalized pieces continue to grow in popularity.
More than a century ago, the first meeting of the Haddonfield Garden Club was held to exchange ideas about flowers and gardens while preserving the area’s natural beauty. That mission remains remarkably consistent today. Co-vice president Angela Toledo says that members are increasingly aware of where their food comes from and are committed to supporting the local ecosystem. Beautification, however, has always been central to the club’s work. Since 1972, members have designed, planted, watered, and maintained two dozen concrete urns along Kings Highway, in addition to numerous other community projects.
For MaryClare Malady, who served as co-vice president from 2024 to 2026, creating a garden display is like beginning with a blank canvas. Club members also recognize that gardening comes with a learning curve. As Toledo jokes to Jennifer Amato in our feature story, “You’re not really a gardener until you’ve killed at least 10 plants.”
In this issue, we also explore the creative motivations of artist Joe Mooney, whose work was deeply influenced by mythology and storytelling. He created a series inspired by the Muse, including “Muse,” which stands in front of Haddonfield’s Markheim Arts Center. Although Mooney and his wife, artist Diane Pepe, were not formal collaborators, the writer Christine Barcia learns that they exchanged ideas and encouraged one another’s work. Reflecting on her late husband, who died in 2024, Pepe says, “We constantly discussed our ideas and research that drove us, and we supported each other during the times of great joys and disappointments.”
What I find so compelling about these stories is not just the finished work, but the process behind it — the years of learning, experimenting, adapting, and continuing to create.
Enjoy!
