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October Issue 2005
Wilkes Art Gallery in North Wilkesboro, NC, Offers Several New Exhibitions
The Wilkes Art Gallery in North Wilkesboro, NC, is presenting several exhibitions including: 26th Annual Blue Ridge Overview Juried Photographic Competition and Exhibit, Original Works in Oil, featuring works by Ward Nichols; and Clay Works, featuring works by Clarence Hates. All three exhibitions will be on view through Nov. 12, 2005.
Ward Nichols is a self taught artist who has been a full time professional painter for 36 years. He depicts rural landscapes and structures of a passing lifestyle in his own minutely detailed and realistic style. Of this show Ward comments, "I find different subjects, treated differently is important for change of pace, challenge and renewing enthusiasm." Works presented in this show represent works of a mechanical nature along with works of symbolism and trompe l'oeil.
Ward's work has been presented in over 200 exhibitions in 22 states, and also in 167 national and international shows. His work is part of the permanent collections of five museums in the US and Europe. Ward has been given over 30 major awards including the Grumbacher Award of Merit presented by the El Paso Museum of Art.
Though born in West Virginia, Ward has been a resident of Wilkes County for over 25 years. The Gallery is very excited to feature his new works this fall.
Clarence Hayes is a native of Wilkes County and attended Berea College where he studied art, sculpture, printmaking and became involved with the handcraft program. He spent years involved in traditional crafts: woodworking, blacksmithing, historic reconstruction and the wildcrafting of medicinal plants before returning to Berea to complete a degree in ceramics. Hayes is currently a studio potter in the Brushy Mountains of Wilkes County.
Hayes describes ceramics as, "A process that begins with the weathering of granite into clay and ends with handmade object. Pottery is elemental. Like iron, pottery is touched by fire, but unlike iron formed in the clay allows the slightest human touch to be recorded." He claims that much of his current work began through observing Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim flasks, cocoon bottles from Cyprus and China. About this show, Hayes comments, "To a large degree these pieces are about the dynamic between interior and exterior space, even if the interior space is unavailable to the viewer."
The 26th Annual Blue Ridge Overview Juried Photographic Competition and Exhibit, is open to all photographers whose primary source of income is not photography. Over $1,000 is awards will be given in four categories including: Landscape/Nature, Architecture/Design, People, and Photographer's Choice/Open. A People's Choice award will also be voted on by visitors to the exhibit.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the gallery at 336/667-2841 or at (www.wilkesartgallery.org).
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