Your Art Gallery for Home & Business Artworks
this month’s Featured Art Exhibit:
Read about what the artists have to save about their show.
ARIANNA BARA: When a new piece begins to take shape in my mind, sometimes the idea drives before the stones. Other times I enter my studio with no plan whatsoever. These are the most exhilarating times. I pull out trays of stones and fossils acquired over the years at gem shows around the country, shaped by stone artisans from around the world. I lay them out on my design table and begin the process of mixing and matching colors, shapes, textures and sizes. I am invariably drawn towards figurative combinations. As the sunlight falls across them, flashes of color and movement spark my attention as I shift them around again and again.
In my mind’s eye heads and bodies come together in combinations that evoke an ancient primal female form. When the right stones find each other, it is as satisfying as fitting together pieces of a puzzle.
RYANN CAREY: I strive to paint the representational world converged with the emotional response that it elicits. I don’t seek out places to paint but instead I let my love of observation be my inspiration to capture a moment on camera. Photography was my first love in art. With my paintings, I then rely heavily on my sense memory to portray not only what the eye has seen but also the feeling that a space and time evoked. As humans, we are united by our common experiences and our emotional connection to our environment. My hope is to create work that conjures up this common thread among us.
I was introduced to watercolor (and painting in general) in 2018. I immediately fell in love with the challenge of the medium. In the last year I have been exploring watercolors transparent properties along with the use of a resist to explore my interests in negative space. Last November I had my first soloish (only 2D artist) at the Eno Mill Gallery in HIllsborough where I am a studio artist. My piece Cul–de-sac was selected for the WSNC ( Watercolor Society of North Carolina) permanent collection during their annual juried exhibition.
My most recent accomplishment was the selection of By the Seashore No. 4 for the upcoming Artfields 2023 (art competition and exhibition) This piece will also be at my upcoming HGA Featured show.
IAN HERDELL: As a woodworker, I am fascinated by the stories that trees can tell. Each piece of wood has a unique history, shaped by the natural world over its lifetime and then reoriented to a new purpose by the hands that work with it. Through my art, I strive to forge a connection between nature and human intention, making something new and beautiful to share.
Through my eyes, trees tell me of soil, wind and water – of storms, insects and fungus – of passing seasons – of time on a slow scale. My work is inspired by the organic shapes and textures of trees and the stories they hold within. Each piece is hand made and represents a conversation, a back and forth I have with the tree’s tale and our shared human story. Both are old sagas and I feel privileged to add a few lines of my own.