Athens Reporter

What: Winter 2023 Exhibitions: Georgia Mountains to the Shore; A Brush with Murder: Novel Art by the Wonders of Watercolor Group; New Horizons: Mixed Media Work by ESP Students; and Fabric Storm by Bobbi Johnson

When: January 14 through February 10, 2023 Where: Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation, 34 School Street, Watkinsville, Georgia Opening reception for fall exhibitions: Friday, January 13, from 5 – 7 p.m.

WATKINSVILLE, GA – The Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation (OCAF) presents the winter exhibitions on view from January 14 through February 10, 2023.

The exhibition Georgia Mountains to the Shore, on view in the Main Gallery, will feature the work of six southern textile artists that have used the Georgia landscape as their inspiration. Their adventurous use of fabric, surface design, and quilting create exciting and innovative works that share their unique and individual experiences of Georgia with the viewer. Exhibiting artists are Evelyn Beck, Lynne Harrill, Sara Quattlebaum, Cynthia Steward, Denny Webster, and Kathryn Weston. The artists use a variety of techniques in their works, including sketching, couching, free-hand embroidery, applique, screen printing, painting, and dyeing.

The exhibition A Brush with Murder: Novel Art by the Wonders of Watercolor Group features work of the Wonders of Watercolor Group (WOW) that meets each week at OCAF to paint together. One of the members of the group, Gail Langer Karwoski, is a local author who is launching a new book in a very different genre. Entitled A Brush with Murder, this is the first book in her murder mystery series, “A Watercolor Mystery,” published by Black Rose Writing. The story was inspired by WOW. In honor of the launch of “their” book, the WOW group is exhibiting approximately 40 of their paintings. Exhibiting artists are Patricia Adams, Leslie Guo, Lori Hammer, Gail Karwoski, Paula Lansford, William Lum, Ann Nace, Diane Norman-Powelson, Janet Rodekohr, Barbara Schell, and Mia York. This exhibition is supported in part by Jan Miller Elkins.

The exhibition New Horizons: Mixed Media Work by ESP Students, on view in the Hall Gallery, features works by students in the “Get Crafty” class at Extra Special People (ESP) in Watkinsville. The students, led by art instructor Bobbi Johnson, used the works in the textile exhibition Georgia Mountains to the Shore as the inspiration to make their own works of art that comprise mixed media works made up of fabric scraps, yarn, beads, buttons, and paint. The workshop and exhibition are sponsored in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. Georgia Council for the Arts also receives support from its partner agency—the National Endowment for the Arts.

The exhibition Fabric Storm by Bobbi Johnson is a mixed-media installation on view in the Hall Gallery, created to simulate a storm. The effect is created using umbrellas, fabric, netting, ribbon, and other materials. The opening reception for the exhibitions will be on Friday, January 13, from 5 – 7 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public. At 5:30 p.m. Gail Karwoski will present a talk and a book signing for her new book A Brush with Murder, in the Members Gallery. At 6:30 p.m. the artists in the exhibition Georgia Mountains to the Shore will present an informal gallery talk in the Main Gallery. 

Artist Statements for Georgia Mountains to the Shore

 

 

Cynthia Steward

 

I am enthusiastic about using fiber as an artistic medium because it is open to myriad forms of manipulation to develop visual and tactile textures in the design. Additionally, I honor my mother, aunts, and grandmothers by utilizing handwork and quilting techniques in my art.

 

Working representationally and abstractly to create work inspired by natural and human designs and structures, I am fascinated by patterns and the relationship between line and shape. I find equal artistry in the random formation of windswept canyons or mountains and clean architectural lines created on a building facade. As my designs evolve, I explore ways to develop motifs, create texture and add rhythm to the composition.

 

In the non-representational series CHROMA, I focus on the impressions of color derived from an inspirational moment. Using a neutral grid as a generic structure allows the colors to develop with a sense of movement and light detached from the actual shapes of objects and natural formations. Strips of color and grid are pieced together without precision to enhance spontaneity in the design.

 

 

Denny Webster

 

My art quilts tend to be in series; each emphasizing different aspects of the creative process.

 

The current series (Mountains to Shore: Carolinas and Georgia) in collaboration with Upstate Fiber Artists, features layered translucent symbols and images created with screen printed, heat-transferred and/or hand-dyed techniques specific to different types of fibers (cotton/rayon and/or polyester). Often these are layered onto previously deconstructed screen-printed fabrics.  Symbols and images are specific to each region to reflect local history.

 

All approaches are completed with machine thread work to connect multiple layers of fabric and enhance design details.

 

 

Evelyn Beck

 

My inspiration almost always begins with a photograph I’ve taken, often of the natural world or of people interacting with it. Water and flowers feature prominently. I then manipulate the photo with image editing software, seeking to create an expressive, semi-abstract picture. The next step is to print out a pattern which I use as a guide for assembling cut pieces of fabric. These pieces are fused with heat and then embellished and secured with thread before the final piece is framed.

 

 

Kathryn Weston

 

My art is about creating and learning with a focus on the interplay of colors, and the creating of texture.  I have been working in three main areas concurrently.

 

The first area derives inspiration from nature.  Beauty in nature is found everywhere.  I love the ebb and flow of water as it moves through rivers, oceans, and marshes, the graceful movements of birds and the lush beauty of plants and foliage. Also appealing to me is the vast array of blues and greens in nature and how they interplay with other colors.  My camera is a constant companion to capture elements of nature that inspire me. Some of these images provide focal points or backgrounds that I interpret with cloth, thread and texture.

 

The second area is inspired by traditional geometric designs. I enjoy the interplay of color and line and its rhythmic repetition across my quilt.  I particularly like the process of choosing a large number of fabrics and colors.  The drafting and construction stages can present new challenges for myself.

 

The third body of work involves creating complex cloth through application of dye, paint and embellishment, such as fabric overlay or manipulation and the application of non-fiber material.  These pieces are often whole cloth and the images organic with a focus on the interplay of color and creating of texture.

 

 

Lynne Harrill

 

As an artist, I tend to express my ideas through color and shape in an abstract style. Inspiration comes from music, poetry, nature and human emotion.

 

For me the colors of nature are a constant and a never-ending source of inspiration. The familiar colors of landscapes are represented in many of the pieces.

 

All of the exhibited quilts are made using cotton that I hand-dyed with fiber reactive dye. This allows for a nuanced palette.

 

 

Sara Quattlebaum

 

I use predominantly abstract shapes to create my work, but almost always my pieces turn out with a look of nature about them.  I get inspiration from other artists, from a glimpse of something on the television screen, from taking a hike near my house, or from a photo.  I then get out my sketchbook and begin sketching my rendition of that inspiration.  When making an art piece, I begin with my background, whether hand dyed fabric or a beautiful store-bought piece, and back it with iron-on interfacing.  I then begin cutting my shapes to form improvisational motifs and audition them on the background to create the art piece. 

Recently I have begun to do improvisational piecing and not use a full background.  I feel something inside of me is coming out onto the piece I’m creating when I create like this. 

I love to layer my fabrics and to use thread play, thread sketching, couching and/or free-hand embroidery during my design of the art piece.   I never know what the end result of the art quilt may be.  I just love to see it slowly develop.

Original source can be found here.