April 2011

Camellia Art on Hilton Head Island, SC, Features Works by Laurie McIntosh & Lynn Parrott

Camellia Art on Hilton Head Island, SC, will present An Exhibition of New Work, featuring works by Laurie McIntosh and Lynn Parrott, on view from Apr. 1 - 22, 2011. A reception will be held on Apr. 1, from 5-9pm.

Laurie McIntosh and Lynn Parrott are sisters. Raised in Greenville, SC, they are separated by a handful of years and the miles between Columbia, SC, and Hilton Head Island; yet, there is one thing, beyond sisterly love, that keeps them tethered to each other: art.

These sisters came by art honestly. Their mother, Agnes Brownell, is a highly educated and trained chemist; but at age 95, she still paints, as she has for all of her life. As McIntosh and Parrott will both say, being raised in a family that supported and encouraged the creative process opened the doors for them to enjoy a life-long journey in art.

Looking at their collective work, one cannot imagine that the work is born of the same gene pool. These sisters are two very different artists who approach place and the everyday things of life with very different eyes, interpreted through diverse strokes, medium and palettes. But, this is not an exhibition of sisters in art. It is one of new work by two accomplished and authentic artists. According to McIntosh, “This is the first exhibit we have done with just the two of us, but this is more like two solo shows - together but separate. Each of us is showing a new body of work that deals with a particular series we have been working on.”

Parrott’s work is born of place and speaks of a true understanding of what makes a place special, unique and beautiful. She works in oil, watercolor, oil pastel, and printmaking. Her interpretations of the landscape and the sky challenge us to see mountains, marshes and trees with new eyes. As Parrott shares, “The landscapes of the South Carolina Lowcountry and the North Carolina mountains provide the inspiration for my work. The magic of the tides, moon, marshes and mountains reflect my feeling of my place in the landscape.”

Pinkney Herbert, a renowned painter, praises Parrott’s work. “Lynn’s paintings are influenced by a sense of place. She has staked out her territory by responding visually to the world, transporting paint into a new realm of mark making, glazes, and color, arriving at the essence of the particular land, sea, or mountainscape.”

McIntosh’s work, Unspoken Communication Series, will intrigue others to consider what their body’s movements say. These oil pastels on paper are about body language and the idea of expressing and capturing an idea of a particular communication in a single image. “Albert H. Mehrabian experimented in the late 60’s and early 70’s and came up with this calculation in terms of how important the non-verbal movements, signals and gestures are when it comes to the overall effectiveness of our communication in relaying our message to others: Words account for only 7%, Tone of voice accounts for 38%, and Body language accounts for 55%.

In McIntosh’s images, gender is not relevant, but it was very difficult for her to avoid. “As the series progressed, an occasional anomaly would appear in some of the pieces - a mask, a box, a clock - usually in front of the face. Is this artistic license or just a progression? I did not question. Are any of these self-portraits? I recently heard Alex Powers say that most of the art we create is a self-portrait or a piece of the artist in some way. Perhaps.”

But they are sisters, and this is an influence that cannot be denied. They share the interest of creating art, talking about art history, current art, supplies, mediums, events, and tools, and are passionate advocates and fellow board members for the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts Foundation.

“I have so much fun sharing life with my sister, Laurie... our love of making art, talking about art, playing with art, and showing our work to anyone who will come to see it. It is a treasure to have Laurie in my now life as a fellow artist,” claims Parrott.

McIntosh agrees. “Having shows is part of the experience of being an artist. Having someone to share your passion and interest in creating art is critical in the development of your craft. Having someone with whom you can have an open and honest dialog... if this someone is also a friend, then you are very lucky. If this someone is your friend and also your sister, whom you love and have experienced and shared much of the same life... it’s a winner. You can’t beat that. What we gain is an honest and open dialog about our work. This is very hard to come by.”

“What can’t be overlooked is that Lynn has been creating fine art longer than me,” says McIntosh. “Watching and learning how much painting meant to Lynn was a huge influence in bringing me around to fine art after working in design for so long. I can’t remember Lynn ever living anywhere where she did not have an easel set up... even if it was in the middle of the kitchen.”

One always hopes that, one day, relationships with siblings will move beyond the brother and/or sister thing into rich relationships of common interests and mutual delight in the other’s company. Most of us are blessed with this maturity. Few of us, however, enjoy the generosity and richness of sharing more than genes and parents... sharing a passion for a vocation that celebrates each sister’s unique talents and interpretations of the world around them while finding common ground in the absolute necessity of creativity and hard work.

Through An Exhibition of New Work, Parrott and McIntosh share their most recent, individual journeys in art while enticing us to journey to a new place and consider our own unspoken languages.

McIntosh is a member of Vista Studios in Columbia, SC, and is represented by Camellia Art Gallery.

Parrott is a member of the Hilton Head Art, South Carolina Watermedia Society, Beaufort Art Association and the Low Country Artists. Her work can be seen at the Hilton Head Art League Gallery and Camellia Art Gallery, on Hilton Head Island, and Chandler Gallery, Jupiter Island, FL.

For further info check our SC Commercial Gallery listings or call the gallery at 843/785-3535.

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