Toronto-based artist Sara Golish claims to have known, even as a toddler drawing with pencil on paper, that her career path would be in the visual arts. Since then she has branched out to figurative drawing, painting, sculpture, and designing and painting murals. She has a special flair for portraiture – but with a modern twist.
The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum is exhibiting a unique collection of her work in Sara Golish: Birds of Paradise, running through April 11.
The exhibition features women’s portraits in styles far different from traditional and historic ideas of women’s images, highlighting women of color through a lens of what she terms “eco-feminism.”
Her subjects are depicted in strong poses and bold colors and accompanied with exotic birds and plants that symbolize strength and fortitude of spirit. Golish’s portraits turn the classical standard of women’s portraits on its head.
Instead of depicting affluent, European women in unassertive poses with shallow expressionless faces, and adorned with the symbols of affluence and status, Golish gives her multiethnic women bold and dignified stances – as uncaged as tropical birds. By surrounding them with tropical flora and fauna, she represents women’s traditional connection to the earth while also alluding to the colonial history of oppression.
In addition to her painting and sculpture, Golish has done extensive decorative work including murals, bas relief, gilding and faux finishes in traditional and contemporary styles. She has worked on high-end residential, corporate and retail interior design projects for Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Sarasota and Barbados.
In recognition that 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women in America the right to vote, the Art Museum plans a full year of exhibitions by women artists, to highlight the wide range of contributions by women to the visual arts in America. Sara Golish is the first of these exhibitions, followed by Voice Lessons, a collection of works by four contemporary women artists which also runs through April 11.
Gallery hours for both exhibits are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.
Admission to the Art Museum is free at all times but donations are welcomed.
Throughout history, women have struggled to find their voice. In America, 100 years after the passage of the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, they still have not achieved full equality with men. And in many parts of the world, women are at best second-class citizens; at worst, they are brutally oppressed by authoritarian patriarchal regimes.
An exhibition titled Voice Lessons is open at the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum. The exhibit runs through April 11.
Four women artists – Eli Corbin (of Asheville, NC), Fran Gardner (Heath Springs, SC), Lisa Stroud (Cary, NC) and Beau Wild (Port Orange, FL) – give voice to women’s experiences through their artworks, in media from painting to stitchery. Voice Lessons offers a view of empowerment for women, yet focuses also on tolerance, empathy and compassion among women and men.
Regular gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.
Eli Corbin has worked extensively in various media, but mainly uses acrylics, collage and mixed media. She incorporates pattern and symbolism to evoke the strength and power available to women through connection with community, nature, spirituality and belief in self.
Eli Corbin Connected by the GreenIV 12×12 acrylic on canvas
Fran Gardner combines oil painting and stitchery – with occasional allusions to magic and conjuring – to create complex collages that reference ways in which women have always protected, healed and advised.
Lisa Stroud, a writer as well as a visual artist, works in an abstract language that incorporates calligraphy, scribbling, poetry, stories and recycled posters into her paintings. She often uses”the little black dress” as both a symbol and as a whimsical narrator. Beau Wild, educated as both a visual artist and an occupational therapist, uses the technique of masking to suggest the ways women reveal or obscure themselves as they deal with the world. Through her work, she ponders why people do what they do: “What motivates their actions and reactions and what make us all ‘tick?’ “
In recognition of the historic anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, the Art Museum plans a full year of exhibitions by women artists, to highlight the wide range of contributions by women to the visual arts in America. Sara Golish: Birds of Paradise runs concurrently with Voice Lessons.
Admission to the Art Museum is free at all times but donations are appreciated.
Two basic human needs have been universally expressed throughout human history: the need for connection and the need for expression. Two Georgetown-based artists offer their interpretations of these aspects of humanity in a pair of exhibitions opening later this month at the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B Chapin Art Museum. Betsy Havens | Congregate explores people’s need to gather in a variety of settings from cafes to street markets and in large congregations of faith, through a series of figurative paintings. James Calk | Rhythm & Hues offers abstract landscapes of brilliant colors in oils that offer a visual representation of the rhythms and tonalities of musical compositions.
Congregate opens Thursday, Sept. 19; Rhythm & Hues opens Sept. 26. Both exhibits run through Dec. 15. An opening reception for both exhibits will be from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26. Admission to the reception and to the Museum is free. Regular gallery hours are from 10 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 1 – 4 p.m. Sundays.
Havens and Calk, who are married to each other, live and paint in Georgetown; both artists work in oils. Havens’ exhibition includes 39 works plus 35 8” x 8” paintings from her Homo Sapiens series; Calk’s exhibition includes 34 works.
Havens grew up in Savannah, where at age 12 she began her study and love of art at the Telfair Museum of Art. Educated at the University of Georgia and the University of South Carolina, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Design and did post-graduate work in the History of Architecture and Southern Literature.
Havens’ love of the human figure in painting is expressed in her works, which feature street scenes and groups of figures from fishermen to dancers, as well as depictions of historical figures and contemporary Americans. She has received numerous awards for her works which are widely collected by individuals and corporations.
“Drawing and painting have always been my passion,” says Havens. “Always, the human form has mesmerized me, touched my heart. My figures frequently walk away, almost beckoning the viewer to go with them.”
Calk is a native of Saluda, SC, and studied at Newberry (SC) College. As well as a visual artist, he is a classically trained pianist, and music figures largely in his art. His paintings are composed of carefully orchestrated, vibrant bursts of color interspersed with soft, less saturated tones that together form sweeping “landscapes.” Calk says that for each note on the musical scale he has assigned a color; hence, his visual art compositions become symphonies for the eyes. Calk’s work is highly sought after, collected in many states by both private and corporate collectors.
“I paint the fields, rivers, creeks, swamps and the lush vegetation and flora of our region,” Calk says. “In my studio I add, subtract and enhance the abstraction of what I have observed. I try not to paint objects but rather the abbreviations of those objects.”
Sunset River Marketplace in Calabash, NC, has been selected to host the 2019 Watercolor Society of North Carolina Traveling Exhibition. The show will run from June 14 through August 14 with a public reception on Thursday evening, June 21 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Donny Luke, Montreal Street Scene, 18.25×9.75, watercolor
The
exhibition consists of 30 paintings, which were chosen from the Watercolor
Society of North Carolina annual show. There will also be three additional
works recently selected from the organization’s permanent collection. The
exhibition began its travels in Elizabeth City, NC; continuing to Williamston,
NC; and New Bern, NC before arriving at Sunset River Marketplace in Calabash.
Wine
and hors d’oeuvres will be offered at the reception on June 21. Music will be
provided by Celtic duo Gaelstorm. The local husband –and-wife act has been
entertaining the Carolinas for over 20 years.
Nancy Paden, The Sentinel, 14.75×29.5
About Sunset River
Marketplace
Sunset River Marketplace showcases
work by approximately 150 North and South Carolina artists, and houses some
10,000 square feet of oils, acrylics, watercolors, pastels, mixed media, art
glass, fabric art, pottery, sculpture, turned and carved wood and
artisan-created jewelry.
There are two onsite kilns and four
wheels used by students in the ongoing pottery classes offered by the gallery.
There are realistic and abstract art classes as well as workshops by nationally
and regionally known artists. During select months, the gallery hosts Coffee
With the Authors, a series of presentations by local and regional authors. This
Summer, the gallery will also be hosting a number of “demo days,” during which artists will demonstrate
how they work and answer questions. They will be posted on the Events tab on
the gallery website.
The gallery address is: 10283 Beach Drive SW,
Calabash, NC 28467. Hours are Monday –
Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information, call 910.575.5999 or visit the
website at www.sunsetrivermarketplace.com.
Daily updates are available on the gallery’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Jean Blackmer, The Rebirth of Ephesus, 20×14, watercolor
About Watercolor Society of
North Carolina
Formed in 1972, Watercolor Society of North Carolina, Inc. (WSNC) is a professional nonprofit art organization. The purpose of WSNC is to strengthen and promote watercolor throughout the state. The group strives to do this by: elevating the standards of excellence in this medium, educating artists by hosting workshops by nationally recognized artists, sponsoring juried exhibitions, and involving the people of North Carolina in the arts. Website: www.ncwatercolor.com.
About Gaelstorm
Comprised
of Tom and Liz Roberts, Gaelstorm is a foot-tapping fusion of Celtic, old time
grass roots music. This talented duo has been entertaining the Carolinas for
over 20 years. From beautiful vintage airs to high-energy reels, Gaelstorm
creates an authentic vibe for every occasion. Instruments include guitar,
mandolin, bass, violin, bouzouki, vocals, Irish whistle, hand drums and
percussion. This enjoyable acoustic experience takes you on a journey from old
Ireland to the Blue Ridge Mountains and many heartfelt places in between.
Sunset River Marketplace in Little River, SC, is set to showcase Elemental Visions: Fiber Art by Adair, Sharpe and Vasanto from Feb. 1 through March 9. The opening reception will be Feb. 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition features abstracts, wearable art, macramé, tapestries and more created by Sandy Adair, Susan Sharpe and Vasanto. The Blue Ridge Mountains with their ever-changing moods provide inspiration for these three western North Carolina artists. Color, texture and textile artifacts are combined expertly by the hands and hearts of these women.
Adair
says, “Like many families searching for a simpler, closer to the earth life,
our family of four with two kids, an aquarium full of fish and five cats arrived
in Boone, NC in 1974 in an old VW van. That was the beginning of a wondrous
adventure.”
She
started creating macramé plant items and abstract landscape wall hangings.
Soon, after a tapestry course with Susan Sharpe, she was creating abstract
tapestry landscapes. After receiving scholarships to Penland Craft School, she
was juried into Southern Highlands Craft Guild in 1986.
She
has received numerous awards including Featured Tapestry Artist of the Year for
the Year of the Tapestry and the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. Her piece
titled “Appalachian Sunset” was featured in the movie 28 Hours. Her work has
also been included in several books and publications, including Fiber Arts
Design Book V, Better Homes and Gardens, Making Amazing Art, 1000 Artisan
Images, The Romance of Country Inns, Southern Aviator magazine and Wilma
magazine. Today, Adair is still inspired by her love of the earth and nature.
Vasanto
(her public art name) learned to knit as a child, and then began spinning,
dyeing, crocheting, weaving and felting with wool fiber. She says, “Soft, rich
and extremely versatile, wool is a natural fiber that yields beautiful dyed
colors and sculptural forms.”
Her
wearable art includes felted wool hats in a variety of shapes and forms that
convey unique personalities and vibrant energies. She creates nuno felted
scarves in silk and wool by layering color and texture. Nuno felting is a
fabric felting technique developed by Australian Polly Stirling in the 90s. The
name is derived from the Japanese word “nuno” meaning cloth. The technique
bonds loose fiber into a gauzy lightweight fabric.
Vasanto
explains, “I often start with a single color or combination that I want to play
with. Colors inspire me and stimulate ideas and imagery both from my past and
the present. Lately I have been making felt fabric collages, some abstract,
others more pictorial or landscapes.”
Vasanto
studied with a number of respected fiber artists, including Beth Beede, Inge Evers,
Chad Hagen, Jean Hicks and Polly Stirling. She went on to teach her own
workshops at SAFF (Southeast Animal Fiber Fair), Tryon arts and Craft center,
Northwood Farms, and the John C. Campbell Folk school. She is also a member of
Local Cloth, a nonprofit organization in Asheville that brings awareness to the
world of plant and animal fiber.
According
to Susan Sharpe, she chooses to work with fiber and fabric media because it
forms the common thread in diverse human cultures across time and around the world.
She says, “Using traditional
hand-forming processes such as paper-making, spinning, dyeing, weaving, and
sewing, I imbue my visual images with the spirit of nature. Adding found
objects and textile artifacts into my work engages me in the narrative process,
and a story forms slowly. I want the
viewer to find their own story within my work, and perhaps to find many stories
there.”
To
that end, Sharpe dyes and creates her own fabrics. With wool, alpaca mohair and
silk fiber, she creates non-woven tapestries with wet felting processes. She
uses natural indigo to dye fleece and yarn for woven tapestries. She also
creates her own papers using milkweed, hops, yucca and iris fiber that she
harvests from her garden. For Sharpe fiber art is her own creative journey. Her
work ranges from realistic to abstract and includes weaving handmade paper,
quilting and surface design.
Sharpe
has lived in western North Carolina since 1970. With graduate degrees from Appalachian
State University and East Tennessee State University as well as study at
Penland School, the artist has exhibited in regional and national competitions,
earning numerous awards. Workshops in drawing, design, paper making, dyeing and
screen printing are available at her Redwing Studio.
On
March 10, Sharpe and Vasanto will conduct a Nuno Felt Scarf workshop at Sunset
River Marketplace. The cost is $95 per person and includes materials. Space is
limited, so anyone interested should contact the gallery as soon as possible.
More information can be found on the gallery website.
Kate Hooray Osmond, Departures, oil and gold leaf on canvas, 60 x 40 inches.
Painter Kate Hooray Osmond admits she likes sparkly things. “I use gold leaf in my work because if I didn’t, I would probably cover my paintings in glitter. I’m only partly kidding about that,” the artist said in an interview with the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.
Light Shine Down, an exhibition of Osmond’s oil and gold-leaf paintings accompanied by some installation work, will be displayed at the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach, SC, from Jan. 10 – April 28. An opening wine and hors d’oeuvres reception featuring an artist-led gallery talk will be held from 1 – 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13. The reception is free for Museum Members and $20 per person for non-members.
Osmond’s paintings, many of them large-scale, are architectural, even industrial in style. Often they feature aerial views of cities or landscapes she experienced flying in a helicopter, which she has done for more than a decade.
“We go through life each day and drive on streets that are familiar,” the artist says. “When we get to view a bigger picture of that daily experience, things shift inside of us.”
These images may be familiar – as in a representation of Charleston’s Ravenel Bridge – or bordering on abstract, such as an urban cityscape where residential neighborhoods commingle with oil storage tanks.
While acknowledging that her works rarely contain a human figure, she feels each of her landscapes or aerial views depict a human story.
Osmond was named the State Fellow for South Carolina in 2018 by the South Carolina Arts Commission and was named 2017 Griffith-Reyburn Lowcountry Artist of the Year. She is an MFA candidate at Maryland Institute College of Art, and her work is found in both private and public collections, among them the College of Charleston and HBO Productions.
Light Shine Down appears concurrently with Elizabeth Bradford: Time + Terrain, and Collection Connections: A Visual Exploration of Southern Heritage and The Scape of Water: Works from the Art Museum’s Permanent Collection.
Admission to the Art Museum is free at all times but donations are welcome.
Elizabeth Bradford, Wisteria Vines, 2014, Acrylic on canvas, 60″ x 48″
Artist Elizabeth Bradford, a descendant of generations of North Carolina farmers, weaves her Southern heritage into works of stunning color, texture and realism.
“My father and grandfather rode a tractor over our acres,” she writes in her artist statement, “and in my own way, I continue that tradition as a contemporary painter – working that same land with my eyes and my brush.”
Her brilliantly hued images of the land – as she remembers it – and of her native rural community are featured in an exhibition titled Elizabeth Bradford | Time + Terrain, opening Jan. 2 at the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach, SC. An opening reception, featuring an artist-led gallery talk, will be held from 1 – 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 6 and is free for Art Museum members and is $20 per person for non-members.
Regular gallery hours will be from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Sunday, through April 28.
During much of her adult life, Bradford has watched the loss of open spaces, the harvesting of old growth forests and the construction of new subdivisions-what she calls “the final harvest.” She sees her paintings as “an elegy for the land as I remember it and as it can still be found-in hidden pockets of the forests.”
The 27 paintings of various scale included in the exhibition are an attempt by the artist to capture the look and feel of these wild places before they are forever changed, and to perhaps cause the viewer to consider the cost of those changes.
Bradford studied art at Randolph Macon Woman’s College, the University of North Carolina and at Davidson College. She recently completed a residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and VCCA’s outpost in France, Moulin à Nef. Her work has been included in the US State Department’s Art in Embassies Program, which places work by American artists in embassies around the world. She was chosen in 2006 as the featured artist for North Carolina’s first statewide Women’s Conference. She has had many solo exhibitions, including shows at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Davidson College, Davidson NC and Hood College, Frederick, MD.
Elizabeth Bradford | Time + Terrain is curated by Carla Hanzal and organized by the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, Blowing Rock, NC.
Admission to the Art Museum is free at all times but donations are welcome.
The Ocean Isle Museum Foundation’s annual Wine Fest fundraiser will be on April 27, 2019, at the Museum of Coastal Carolina. Proceeds from the fundraiser benefit the Museum of Coastal Carolina in Ocean Isle Beach and Ingram Planetarium in Sunset Beach. The theme for the event is “Wine on the Island.”
Local artists are encouraged to submit their island-themed original artwork to the 2019 Wine Fest Art Contest. The winning artwork will be used in the Wine Fest promotional materials and auctioned off during Wine Fest’s live auction on April 27.
Artwork may be dropped off at the Museum of Coastal Carolina anytime befpre November 1, 2018. There is no restriction on size or medium. Each piece of artwork should be accompanied by a biography and contact information of the artist and the estimated value of the artwork. The winning artwork will become the property of OIMF. Other artists submitting artwork may choose to have their art donated for the silent auction to support the event or picked up by the artist.
The Museum of Coastal Carolina is located at 21 East Second Street, Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Admission to the museum is free for members. Non-member all-day admission is $9.50 for adults, $8.50 for seniors, $7.50 for children (3-12), and free for age 2 and under. A 7-day summer vacation pass is just $75 for two adults and up to four children. Admission is free for active duty military and disabled veterans plus one guest; must include military ID cardholder. For more information about the Museum of Coastal Carolina, call 910-579-1016 or visit www.MuseumPlanetarium.org.
Artist and South Carolina native Sherry Strickland Martin spent much of her career creating images for commercial products such as housewares, notecards, fabric designs and sports artwork. But a bout with breast cancer led her to relocate from Hilton Head Island to Myrtle Beach to be near family, to teach and to return to the traditional watercolors and mixed media work with which she began her career as an artist.
Sherry Strickland Martin, Royal Doulton Garden, 2010, watercolor, 32″ x 39.5″
An exhibition of these works, titled Roots Run Deep, will be on display from October 4 – December 16 at the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum. An opening reception featuring a talk by the artist will be held from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 11. The reception is free and open to the public. Regular gallery hours for the exhibit are 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Sundays.
Sherry Strickland Martin, Time Between Rivers, 2017, oil, 13.5″ x 21″
Martin’s highly representational watercolor and mixed media works range from richly detailed landscapes to intimate portraits of people who might be found anywhere in the Lowcountry.
“Roots Run Deep . . . speaks to a return in doing what nurtures your soul,” the artist writes in her artist statement. “Second, it’s that salt air, plough mud, and the sweet smell of oyster beds that never leave you, but bring you and family home again, where roots run deep.”
Martin, who grew up in the South Carolina upstate, received her BA in Studio Art at Limestone College in Gaffney, SC (1982). She began her art career by producing work for galleries and juried museum exhibitions as well as teaching workshops and doing commissioned work throughout the Carolinas. That led to her commercial work in licensed images marketed through a wide range of retail outlets as well as professional sports organizations; a career that was sidelined by her illness.
As well as dealing with her personal health, Martin’s art career faced a further obstacle. In April 2009, she lost her home and most her art, over 300 works, in a wildfire. “I’ve had a lot of catching up to do to begin showing my work in Myrtle Beach,” says Martin. “I have been working on that diligently with a refocus on producing work that speaks to me and challenges my skill level.”
It wasn’t until 2014 that Martin started exhibiting her paintings again. That year, the South Carolina Watermedia Society awarded her “Signature Member in Excellence” in their annual juried exhibition.
In addition to teaching visual arts at St. James High School in Murrells Inlet, Martin continues to paint professionally and regularly shares her work with her students as a teaching aid and for inspiration.
Admission to the Art Museum is free at all times but donations are welcomed.
Artist Rachel Rourke Sunnell, Anchor Watch, acrylic
Sunset River Marketplace, the eclectic art gallery in Calabash, NC, will present works by Rachel Rourke Sunnell in a show titled Skies of Coastal Carolina, which is set to run from Sept. 5 through Oct. 6. Viewers will have an opportunity to meet the artist at the gallery’s Saturday Open House on Sept. 8 from 2 – 5 p.m.
Artist Rachel Rourke Sunnell, Darthia’s Barn, acrylic
Sunnell is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Landscape Architecture. She furthered her painting studies with Maine artist Mary Brooking and attended painting retreats on Monhegan Island and at other Maine locations. After moving to Ocean Isle Beach, she joined Studio 12, a painting group that meets weekly at Sunset River Marketplace.
She says, “As an acrylic painter, I use loose brush strokes and color that evoke the idea of subjective realism. This refers to the reality inside your mind, perhaps a memory or a feeling. I strive to capture something that just feels good, past or present. My goal is to share my observations of nature with visual clues of light, movements and color.”
Artist Rachel Rourke Sunnell, Sea Oats, acrylic
Sunnelle’s work recently earned her a First Place award at the 2018 Waterway Art Association Annual Show.
Rachel Rourke Sunnell is a member of Brunswick Arts Council, Waterway Art Association and Associated Artists of Southport. She is also a licensed landscape architect in North Carolina and Maine.
Sunset River Marketplace showcases work by approximately 150 North and South Carolina artists, and houses some 10,000 square feet of oils, acrylics, watercolors, pastels, mixed media, art glass, fabric art, pottery, sculpture, turned and carved wood and artisan-created jewelry.
There are two onsite kilns and four wheels used by students in the ongoing pottery classes offered by the gallery. A custom on-site framing department is available. There are realistic and abstract art classes as well as workshops by nationally and regionally known artists. During select months, the gallery hosts Coffee With the Authors, a series of presentations by local and regional authors. The gallery address is: 10283 Beach Drive SW, Calabash, NC 28467. For more information, call 910.575.5999 or visit the website at www.sunsetrivermarketplace.com. Daily updates are available on the gallery’s Facebook page.
Upcoming Events
Ruth Cox Student Art Show
Sept. 1 – 22, 2018
Meet the Artists Open House, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 3-5 p.m.
