Sunset River Marketplace in Calabash, NC will present The Awakeners: Teachers, Mentors, Friends, an exhibition of the gallery’s art class and workshop instructors, which runs from Wednesday, August 5 through Saturday, Sept. 12. A Meet & Greet for the exhibition, which will provide the opportunity to meet several of the instructors, is set for Saturday, August 15 from 1 – 5 p.m. The public is invited and there is no charge. Reservations are not required.
Participating in the show are Ruth Cox, oil; Jane Staszak, pastel; Terry Sellers Harrison, watercolor; Pat Smelkoff, batik; Jane Truesdale, pottery; Jamie Futera, pottery; Ginny Lassiter, acrylic; Sterling Edwards, acrylic; Joe DiGiulio, acrylic; and Freeman Beard, watercolor.
Gallery owner Ginny Lassiter says, “We are so fortunate to have accomplished artists who are also extraordinary teachers. That’s not always the case. Sterling Edwards is known internationally for his abstract landscapes and his workshop students come back year after year.”
Edwards, who lives in Hendersonville, NC, was recently selected as the juror for the 2016 Western Federation of Watercolor Societies. His works are mostly interpretive statements that personify his intuitive sense of color and design, ranging from abstract expressionism to traditional.
Also a popular workshop instructor, Joe DiGiulio from Raleigh, NC, is the executive artist for Jerry’s Artarama. His abstract works hang in SAS Institute, Raleigh Duke Hospital and the new PNC Plaza Building in downtown Raleigh.
Watercolor workshop instructor Freeman Beard is best known for his exquisite traditional transparent watercolor landscapes of rural Carolina scenes. He is a signature member of the Watercolor Society of North Carolina.
Pat Smelkoff, who offers wax resistant watercolor batik workshops through Sunset River Marketplace, is an artist, designer, and travel teacher. She has studied Zhostovo stroke work under master artist Boris Grafov in Russia and has designed projects for Paint Works, Painting and the Decorative Painter, which is the official publication of the Society of Decorative Painters.
Clay artist Jane Truesdale, who has been with Sunset River Marketplace since the gallery opened, teaches pottery and is well known for her hand-built pieces. A native of the Adirondacks in upstate NY, Jane is driven by nature and it shows in her work.
Jamie Futura teaches both hand-building and throwing pottery on the wheel. She has worked in various media including bronze casting, woodcarving, welding and silversmithing. She is known for her whimsical pieces that come to life with expression and color. Jamie was featured on Cecil Chandler’s Carolina & Company Live on WPDE NewsChannel 15.
Oil painter Ruth Cox is renowned throughout northeastern South Carolina for her large residential trompe l’oeil images and large scale public murals. She is a member of Waccamaw Arts & Craft Guild and Seacoast Artist Guild of South Carolina. The prolific artist is also the founder of Plein Air Landscape Society (PALS), a local plein air painting group. She is a signature member of International Plein Air Painters group and has earned numerous prestigious honors and awards.
Lassiter, who instructs the gallery’s evening Paint & Party classes, graduated from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC with a major in art with an emphasis in Interior Design. A workshop with Sterling Edwards several years ago provided the impetus she needed to switch to painting abstracts. “It really opened my eyes to shapes and textures,” she says. “I love the whole process of painting abstracts.”
Jane Staszak studied at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Upon moving to the Carolinas, she opened Side Doors Studio on Main Street in North Myrtle Beach, SC, where she taught drawing, pastels, watercolor and portraiture. She is a leading force in the Art Matters painting group at the gallery.
Terry Sellers Harrison has had a long fascination with the human figure, which lead to her 2003 commission by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington to paint the portrait of Vice Chancellor Dr. Robert Tyndall, the former Dean of Education. Her watercolors contain color harmonies and a luminosity rarely seen in contemporary art. She is a member of Portrait Society of America and in 2012 was selected to paint the official image for Wilmington’s 2012 NC Azalea Festival.
About Sunset River Marketplace
Since opening in 2002, Sunset River Marketplace has been an active supporter of performing, literary and visual arts in the area. The 10,000 square-foot gallery features work by over 200 North and South Carolina artists. Its on-site pottery studio has two kilns and three wheels for use by students. Ongoing oil, pastel and watercolor classes are also provided, in addition to workshops by nationally known artists. The gallery’s complimentary Coffee With the Authors programs feature presentations by local and regional authors. A Paint & Party series provides a fun after-work experience for those with no previous art background. The gallery’s framing department offers full-service, on-site custom frame design for artwork, family heirlooms and other memorabilia.
Sunset River Marketplace is located at 10283 Beach Drive (Hwy. 179) in the historic fishing village of Calabash, N.C. just north of the S.C. state line. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information about the exhibition, art classes, onsite framing or any other gallery events, call 910-575-5999 or visit the website: www.sunsetrivermarketplace.com.
Sunset River Marketplace pottery instructor Jamie Futera on the pottery wheel.
Jane Staszak teaches the ongoing Primarily Pastels class at Sunset River Marketplace.