| For more information about this article or gallery, please call the gallery phone number listed in the last line of the article, "For more info..." |
November Issue 2006
WICKWIRE Gallery in Hendersonville, NC, Features Works by Beverly Kies and Holds Book Signing for Sarah Sneeden
WICKWIRE
fine art/folk art in Hendersonville, NC, will present the exhibit,
Animal Attraction, featuring original pastel paintings
by Beverly Kies. The exhibition will be on view from Nov. 5 -
30, 2006.
Kies works in both the immediacy of pastels and the layering of
colors. Almost exclusively she uses photographs she has taken
either in her everyday activities or during her travels across
the country and her colors explode off the paper. Kies' most recent
contemporary and traditional representations emphasize the animal
world primarily horses, dogs, cats and cattle.
Kies is a regionally recognized pastel artist residing in Hendersonville. "My love for animals started at the same time as my love of art, as a child so young I cannot remember a time without these elements in my life," says Kies. "I marvel continuously at the joy animals bring into people's lives, revitalizing the human spirit and I find my career in art continuously heading into new directions and dimensions and this excitement, this adventure, brings me great personal satisfaction. As I begin the painting of any animal, I try to discover their personalities and then pull that life into my work. I enjoy a certain playfulness in my renditions of these wonderful creatures, using vivid colors and expressive strokes. I like to believe that I paint the animals as they see themselves."
Kies has served as Chairman of the Hendersonville Art League evening association, and is a member of the Southeastern Pastel Society. Her interest in art began at the age of five, when her mother, a watercolor and oil painter, sent her to the Atlanta School of Art. This early passion eventually led to a degree in fine arts from Ohio State University. Following graduation, the next few years found her in Colorado and Arizona, where she was inspired by the colors and character of the American Southwest.
Returning to her native Atlanta, Kies pursued a far more serious and focused pursuit of her painting. She attended Callanwolde Fine Arts Center under the direction of Kate Fetteroff, concentrating her studies on the human figure. She spent the next five years studying at the Gwinnett Fine Arts Center under pastel artist Mikki Dillon, who encouraged Kies to branch out in new directions. "Studying the human figure for so many years gave me a good foundation in drawing and painting," adds Kies.
Although Kies has worked in both oil and acrylic,
pastels are what she loves. The immediacy of pastels and the layering
of colors works well for her.
Kies' paintings have been in numerous juried shows and hang in
private art collections and business and professional offices.
Customer comments praise Kies' work as bringing enjoyment through
her innate talent for inspired use of strong color and for capturing
equine movement and personality in stylized forms.
Kies is available for commission work and is represented by WICKWIRE fine art/folk art.
Over at WICKWIRE's 329 North Main Street location on Nov. 4, 2006, from noon-5pm, Sarah Sneeden will be signing copies of her new book, Treasures of the Forest. The book is a collection of original paintings of DuPont State Forest's beautiful waterfalls, trails, and towering pines. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each book is being donated by WICKWIRE to Friends of the DuPont Forest.
Sneeden has been a North Carolina resident since 1967 and is a native of Pennsylvania. She began her career in art 40 years ago. She graduated from Centenary College in New Jersey, the Famous Artists School, the New York Institute of Photography, and the Portrait Institute of New York. Sneeden is an associate member of Oil Painters of America. Locally she has won numerous Best of Show awards, with paintings in private and corporate collections nationally. She is a well-known art workshop instructor. Sneeden was awarded the Grumbacher Gold Medallion for excellence in the '99 Pen Women Show.
In 2004, the project (Treasures of the Forest) opened a month-long show at WICKWIRE and created a collection of original paintings of DuPont State Forest's beautiful waterfalls, trails, and towering pines. "It began without warning on my first hike to the forest, newly opened to the public and, it took many attempts, many sketches on location, many hours, and many photos for the painting titled Treasures of the Forest a painting of High Falls to just happen one day. People always ask 'How long did it take to paint that?' I really want to reply 60 years! Painting is my life!" says Sneeden.
Sneeden's 40 years of experience, distinctive style and versatility are evident in her original and innumerable works of art as seen in Treasures of the Forest. The book of original paintings exemplifies her favorite way of working which is en plein air working out-of-doors on location in sunny spots, for instance, where she can study firsthand the play of light on her subject.
For further information check our NC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 828/692-6222 or visit (www.wickwireartgallery.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing
Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2006 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts
from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts
Online, Copyright© 2006 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved
by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use
without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina
Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.