June Issue 2000
Hand in Hand Gallery in Flat Rock, NC Offers Art for Living Exhibit
Hand in Hand Gallery in Flat Rock, NC, will open with a new show entitled Art for Living featuring regional woodworkers, Alan Dillman, Jim Beau Dowling, Robert Garrett, Tom McCartney, Art Willey, and nationally renowned painter Mildred Voorhees. The show will open on June 20 and continue through Aug. 5.
Alan Dillman, a woodworker for over 30 years, describes designing and building furniture as "looking for the beauty in an individual piece of wood, anticipating the figure the next cut will yield, and considering how it will look here or there on a piece." He defines his efforts as lines that please the eye, thoughtful construction and practical function.
Jim Beau Dowling has been fascinated with wood since his childhood. After thirty years of constructing houses, he found himself wanting to spend more time with the creative side of his trade. His benches and tables are not the usual fare. He makes the wood "flow" using curves, roundovers and natural shaping.
Robert Garrett, whose home and shop is on 32 acres on Duff Mountain, SC, first worked with wood on his grandfather's farm in the early 1960s. His designs reflect his desire to allow the beauty of the wood to make a statement which is not overcome by the lines of the furniture itself. "A marriage of the wood with simple elegance of design allows this furniture to blend comfortably with more highly adorned pieces." Garrett's tables will be on display, including a two drawer cherry chest.
Years ago, Tom McCartney's job took him through national forests where he happened upon old logging camps which were probably abandoned at the turn of the century. The lumber made from those trees helped build towns, factories, bridges, and homes. Today forest resources are valued much differently so in Tom's furniture designs, he tries to bring out some of our hard-working heritage by using antique salvaged lumber. The pieces in this exhibit include mirrors made from cypress salvaged from old flumes, and a redwood column.
In 1982, Art Willey studied for four semesters with Master Builder, Don Lippincott, in Rockford, IL. He continued to be a hobbyist up until two years ago when he became serious about his craft and purchased tools and equipment to set up a sophisticated workshop in his home. Willey's goal is to showcase wood in its natural variations. He designs Shaker derivative hall, sofa and lamp tables in various woods.
Mildred Voorhees, the mother of local potter and Hand in Hand Gallery co-owner, David Voorhees, is a member of the North Carolina Watercolor Society and the Southern Watercolor Society. Her beautiful watercolors, pastels and oils hang in the permanent collections of many corporations, institutions, and private homes throughout this country and Great Britain. Her paintings have often received top awards in art competitions. Recently Voorhees has been combining her superior drawing skills with watercolors using a bold and exciting palate.
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings or call the gallery at 828/697-7719.
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