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June Issue 2008
Artists' Guild of Spartanburg in Spartanburg,
SC, Presents Works by Julia Bowling Burnett, Melissa Earley and
Jean Souther Jones
The Artists' Guild of Spartanburg in Spartanburg, SC, will present the exhibit, Trio, featuring works by Julia Bowling Burnett, Melissa Earley and Jean Souther Jones, on view at the Guild Gallery in the Chapman Cultural Center from June 2 - 28, 2008.
"Jean and I are similar watercolor artists, though she is painting a lot in acrylics now. However, we do focus on our love of nature and beautiful flowers," Burnett says. She adds that though Earley works in a different medium than the other two artists do, she does "beautiful intricate bead work, quite unique. I think we are similar in the fact we all like intricate, detailed work."
Julia Bowling Burnett grew up on a small farm in Campobello, SC, where she developed an early love for nature and its beauty. She describes her paintings of flowers and birds as "a slice of a memory of your favorite garden, a view from a window or a glance into the edge of a wood - a time of day or the light of a certain hour for you to keep."
Burnett's most recent work is a series of "Natures Circles". In this work, she utilizes the transparency of watercolor to give light and softness of color, while using the dry brush technique to add crisp detail. Her depiction of flowers and birds is true-to-life in color and shape, with elements combined according to season and habitat.
Explaining her feeling of connectedness with nature, Burnett quotes a line that she found many years ago and has etched into a stone in her garden: "A garden is where the soul feels at home."
Melissa Earley, who currently lives in Spartanburg, grew up in Charleston, SC, where she studied drawing, printmaking, sculpture and philosophy at the College of Charleston. Her portraits consist of thousands of tiny glass beads that are woven together to form a "beadpainting". This Native American weaving technique results in works that resemble small pieces of stained glass or intricate mosaics.
"My hope is that these pieces are not as subjective as they at first seem - that each viewer will see something fundamental about themselves and our shared human experiences within them," Earley says of her beadwork and paintings that have won numerous awards and are in private and corporate collections throughout the United States and Europe.
Jean Souther Jones' paintings are a reflection
of rural Spartanburg County and include flowers, peaches, trees
and scenery of the area. The work in the exhibit will include
traditional transparent watercolors as well as new work in acrylic
on canvas. The newest pieces are flowers in vivid color, the images
simple and filling the canvas.
For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery
listings, call Laura Pinkley at 864/764-9568 or e-mail to (artistsguildofspartanburg@gmail.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2008 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© 2008 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.