Feature Articles


June Issue 2000

Wickwire Art Gallery in Hendersonville, NC, to Show Works by Cynthia L. Wilson

Watercolorist Cynthia L. Wilson, a nationally recognized artist who lives in Hendersonville, NC, is having her first local show at the Wickwire fine art/folk art gallery. The show runs June 9 through July 8.

Design and pattern are vital to Wilson whose work is primarily watercolor, though one might also think of her as a colorist. Her vivid colors and extraordinarily patterned paintings of water, leaves and grasses express her inner vision, and reveal an intensity that intrigues. After viewing Wilson's paintings which elaborate on and speak passionately of nature, one wants to look anew at the array of nature before us, says gallery co-owner, Barbara Wickwire.

A Southerner, Wilson was raised in Birmingham, AL, and attended Auburn University from which she earned her BFA. She believes that spending her childhood on an isolated country road had great effect on her as an artist. "The hours I spent alone caused me to become an observer of the effects of light and shade, changing colors and patterns in nature. The tranquility of my surroundings provided comfort and endless opportunity for imaginative journeys."

Wilson became an Art Director after college, and works for several advertising agencies in Birmingham where she won several awards. She then worked for Southern Living magazine and the Civil Air Patrol as an illustrator.

Her husband's career moved them first to San Francisco where she freelanced, then back to Alabama where she continued in freelancing. However, when they moved to Louisiana, she said, "Enough!" She realized she needed a change and wanted to pursue her art.

Deciding to paint full-time, Wilson was soon on her way to success in regional and then national juried exhibitions. She was also involved with children and young people in art, and giving lessons in her home. Subsequent moves to Atlanta and Connecticut led Wilson into organizing traveling exhibitions, jurying a national exhibition, and more teaching which she loves to do.

Wilson said that in all of the travels, "art has been the suitcase in which I carry my heart. It has been my passion and my joy for as long as I can remember." She feels it is crucial to share with others what she has learned and as a result has continued to teach and show her work.

Wilson's art has been featured in Artists magazine and three books on painting. She is included in Who's Who in American Art and Who's Who in the East. Her work has been exhibited nationally with the National Academy of Design, American Watercolor Society, Allied Artist and others. Her work is in collections of the Housatonic Museum of Art, Fairfield University, Georgia Tech and well known corporations headquartered in the northeast where she formerly resided.

For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings or call the gallery at 828/692-6222.

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