“I am here on this earth to create. Not only create, but express the beauty I see around me. I feel responsible to render it. I cannot help it. I see the beauty. I am compelled to show it, to interpret what I see and how I see it; to express the warm light from a lamp that enthralls me, the coziness and clutter of a room with all that one person has accumulated over the years, the glint on the edge of a cup, the distortion that only age can render on a rooftop that is now that way because of centuries of wear and tear. What does it matter? It matters not to many… But somehow it matters to me.
This is what obsesses me, what I dwell on, what excites me, what I lay awake thinking of, it’s what I find beautiful. Not the fact that something is perfect, straight; but that it endures with personality and uniqueness. Nature is much more expressive, random, unique, than anything man can construct. The lines of a horse running her heart out, the repeating and exquisite glint of the sun setting on the water, the colors of a room warmed by the glow of a lamp or a fire, how sunlight touches and enhances, the eyes of a cheetah, so steady and concentrated. And the individuality: the difference age has made, how it has created the crookedness of a European rooftop sagging with age. It interests me not the perfection man has made, but the imperfections time and age have wrought on the human touch. I am obsessed."
~ Alice Williams
Award Winning Plein Air Painter
"Beauty Is Truth, Truth Beauty"
John Keats wrote that “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” and I certainly agree. I paint to share with others my excitement about the beauty and truth of the visual world.
Mostly in oils and sometimes watercolor, I paint landscapes en plein air. Small studies from life are often a gratifying step toward larger landscapes, created back in the studio. An everyday scene, a lingering sunset, a misty mountain, rocks glistening in a stream—any of these may inspire a piece. I am arrested and fascinated by God's magnificence as reflected in this ever-changing world.
Working from life, I delight in the way seasons, atmospheres and changing light alter and enrich scenes and views. Light and weather bring dramatic changes. Once, in a single afternoon at Black Balsam, I completed four different visions of the same scene in a near-trance state.
Human interaction with urban environments intrigues me, too. With cityscapes, I explore this theme, in which buildings, vehicles, people, streets, sidewalks, trees and plants combine to reflect the city's mood. Urban lights can impart a carnival feel at night, while rain and figures with umbrellas may add a note either somber or joyful. Wet pavements are inspiring. The myriad aspects of a city scene can stop me dead.
My paintings invite an emotional response in viewers. I want to spark memories. I want to stimulate the viewer's imagination. In fantasy, I participate in the viewer’s joy.
BS, Art Education, Jacksonville State University
MA, Art History, The University of Alabama, Birmingham
Graduate Painting, Virginia Commonwealth University
Artist, Elizabeth Foley is an advocate for creativity. She is a painter, poet, and creativity coach. She is passionate about helping women discover their inner creative spirit. Elizabeth believes through creativity everyone can experience joy, fulfilment and inspiration in life. She strives to help women bring creativity into their lives and develop a consistent practice.
After suffering from a 10-year creative block, Elizabeth has gained an array of tools the can help anyone overcome even the deepest creative block. Elizabeth helps busy, blocked and uninspired women create works of art to be proud of.
If you have ever questioned whether you are creative or don’t believe you can draw – PERFECT! After a lifetime of identifying as an artist, Elizabeth is still questioning her ability to draw. Luckily, no drawing skills are required. Elizabeth knows creativity lives within all of us and she can guide you to finding your inner creative being.
Elizabeth loves to get her hands dirty – whether it’s clay, paint, tending her garden or a fire. If she isn’t in her studio you will find her climbing a mountain, relaxing in a hammock or on an adventure around the world. Elizabeth loves her son, nature, ecstatic dancing, challenging herself and helping women find their confidence and joy through creativity.
Jennet was born in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan in 1987. From 1999 to 2003 she studied at the Nurali Art School for Children. After finishing school she worked in retail and did not pursue a career in art. Then in 2011 she experienced an artistic “reawakening” after a trip to the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation. She was so struck by the visual beauty of the region, that she decided to take up painting seriously again and make her mark in the world. Her paintings are now in demand world-wide. In addition to doing customized paintings on a by-order basis, Jennet also participates in art exhibitions. In her work Jennet uses various styles and genres of painting to express her attitude towards life. Her current artistic endeavors are heavily influenced by romanticism.
Jennet Norman is a master color. Regardless of the motif, her unchanging admiration of the richness of natural color is palpable in her work. She conveys a sense of spontaneity and immediacy across a wide spectrum of genres in her painting. As an incurable romantic, Jennet strives to comprehend and reflect these eternal aesthetic categories.
Jenny Bishop Heaton (aka Virginia Heaton) is an active and proficient artist in Metro Atlanta, and earned a BFA from Auburn University studying graphic and fine arts with a concentration in figure drawing. She continues her studies, and most recently has attended workshops taught by California artist Robert Burridge, and Georgia artists Gena Brodie Robbins, Helen DeRamus and Leslie Newman.
In addition to creating artwork in many media Jenny has taught art classes
to all ages, sharing her expertise in drawing and painting, and in silkscreen and woodblock printing. She has been in a number of one person and group shows, including a One Person Show in the main gallery of Dalton Creative Arts Guild.
She occasionally takes part in competitive art shows. In October 2016 The Hudgens Center for the Arts selected Jenny’s piece for their Purchase Award. Other works have received recognition, including awards from Quinlan Visual Arts Center, The Tannery Row Artist Colony, Dalton Creative Arts Guild and Cobb Arts Alliance.
Hi, my name is Jerry Stuart, living and painting in Maggie Valley. My work is created with acrylics on canvas and other materials, like wood panels. I am a member of the Haywood County Arts Council and also display my work in Cedar Hill Gallery Waynesville NC. A year ago I joined The Stecoah Valley Art Center near Robbinsville.
Jerry loves his surroundings which gives him the inspiration to paint the beauty around him. The cows in the pasture to the mist rolling over the hills through the woods. He has a wonderful artistic eye in nature.
My passion to paint began at the early age of 5. Brushes, canvas, and paint given to me by my late grandmother and Bob Ross’s humorous and joyful instruction through the rabbit ear television. Creativity flourished as I encountered a rare bone disease in my leg that kept me from school and activities during my childhood, yet provided the quiet solstice and focus to feed my artistic mind. Age 9 I had my first solo exhibit at a local library. After numerous brakes, surgeries, stitches, I was mended up, healed, and hit the ground running. Now I hike up mountains, kayak to islands, and drive in my convertible to painting destinations to capture the beauty of this world that never ceases to take my breath away.
How blessed I have been to experience a life on the coast of Florida, the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Painting excursions to the Hudson River, at Frederic Church’s Olana Estate, rolling hills of Vermont, coastline of Maine and Cape Cod, down South to the Appalachian Trail, Emerald Coast of Florida all the way to the beaches of Aruba.
I am a 4th generation Frank Vincent DuMond student thanks to a group of 3rd generation painters that took me under their wing in New Hampshire. Utilizing that palette and some of my personal “tweaks” to create depth, distant landscapes and a subtle yet defining light effect are my strong points and passion. Now back in North Carolina, I am exercising my experience and eye en plein air and in the studio to capture the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I strive to learn and seek inspiration from the great masters of the past. I have a respect for their commitment to excellence and attention to detail. Within every painting, I desire to capture a pristine moment in time, as the great masters did, so that the viewer can experience the same beauty of a location that captured me as I stood in awe and led me to paint it.
I prefer to paint “en plein air” so that I can experience the beauty of my subject first hand. I feel an excitement when it has taken some effort to get to the subject. The seclusion gives me the ability to digest my surroundings and experience the landscape more intimately. My greatest days are when I can pack a lunch, take a hike, paddle my kayak, and find a place to be still and paint. I love to be surrounded by the flurry of activity that nature provides. I listen intently to the shared communication between wildlife, feel the warmth of the sun, how the soft breeze felt on my skin, see how the sun danced on the water and illuminated the trees. I hope to capture and record all these things from that day in the painting I am creating.
Often, I search for a natural light effect to spotlight an element of my subject so that it draws the viewer’s attention into the depths of the painting. I continually strive to create distance and dimension in my paintings and I find that everyday I learn something new. God has blessed me with the desire to capture the beauty He has created and I must continue to paint so that I am fulfilling God's will for my life.
Phyllis Shipley has been producing fine art paintings for the past thirty (30) years and has been a successful gallery owner, a successful art show participant and award winner, and a continual student in the details of watercolor and acrylics. Phyllis Shipley began painting in the early 1980's. Always loving the arts, following years of playing and teaching music with the organ and piano, raising children, and a successful career as a purchasing executive with a major chemical corporation, the time was right to pursue her new found passion of painting.
Artist Shipley, a native of Johnson City, Tennessee, opened her first gallery in 1984 in a gift shop in Kingsport, Tennessee, where she painted a large 12’x28’ mural in the Tea Room. Later, becoming a full time artist, she opened her gallery in October of 1992 in Johnson City. Nestled amongst some major chain stores the simple white building with the maroon awning was often described as a "hidden jewel" by customers. Stepping inside, the gallery showed the artist’s vivid imagination in using the vivacious colors of her palette. Her inclusion of nationally known bronze and glass sculptures, jewelers, carvings and raku pottery artists completed the essence of her gallery vision.
Shipley often describes her childhood with the house being full of music and the garden full of flowers. Her mother, grandmother and aunts all had large flower gardens. This instilled in her a feeling of love of color and rhythm. “Flowers are a symbol of strength as well as delicacy and beauty. The rains come, beat them down but then the sun shines and they perk back up again, showing their strength”. Phyllis applies her "Inner Vision"to create juicy and loose paintings with a musical fluidity of expressions. Her “inner vision” subjects may be referred to as “figurative abstracts”. She “delights” in working with her collectors, personal and corporate, along with interior designers and decorators to create specific needs enhancing the home or business of their clients.
Besides being a successful gallery owner, Phyllis has participated in many art shows in the Eastern U.S., averaging 18 to 20 shows annually. She also participated in the Wholesale Art Marts in Atlanta, New York City, Dallas, Orlando, St. Louis and Charlotte. Closing her gallery, after a family loss, and then moving to Florida in 2003, her attention has been focused more on using the acrylic medium. “Using the variety of textures and the wonderful action and reaction of acrylic is nothing but fascinating and fun. I lose all sense of time when I paint, being totally intrigued with the process. The freedom is indescribable. Having met and made so many wonderful friends who also enjoy the accessibility of wonderful music and musicians in the Cocoa Beach area, I am excited to express that joy in my paintings.”
Phyllis states “my desire in painting is to express the zest, the energy, and the joy of life that is all around us and be thankful for that beautiful gift”.
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3 Swan St, Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 505-0628
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