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July Issue 2008
Fountainside Gallery in Wilmington,
NC, Offers Works by Paula Holtzclaw
A
new exhibit of marine and marsh landscapes by Waxhaw, NC, artist
Paula Holtzclaw, will be on view from July 12 - 31, 2008, at Fountainside
Gallery in Wilmington, NC. This is the third solo show for Holtzclaw
whose exhibit last summer sold out. The title Horizons
was derived from the vastness, scale and horizon lines of the
artist's favorite subject, the wetlands of the coastal low country.
Her depictions of its beauty untouched by man show her inspired and studied approach and her concern that these last wild places may soon vanish. While seeking out the uncompromised land, Holtzclaw has spent the last decade carefully developing her distinct style of realism.
Holtzclaw's love of art began at an early age; that love was passed on to her by her grandmothers, both of whom were artists. After time spent raising her twin sons, the artist returned to her original passion for painting. After her over twenty year career in the medical field ended, she once again had the creative time necessary to become the professional painter she had dreamed of being. As she says, "The desire and need to paint is a deep inner calling and cannot be denied."
Holtzclaw's compositions are large in scale and format, monumental even when the physical size is reduced, thus allowing her to visually record her uniquely detailed observations of nature. These highly personal renderings pay homage to nature's duality of beauty and power, yet depict the natural world's vulnerability to human intervention. When that human presence is allowed into the painting, it is in the form of only a reminder, such as a boat or piling, a footnote that has come and gone while nature remains.
Far horizons and infinite skies are the hallmark of Holtzclaw's art. Poetry of place is a vital element in the artist's choice of subjects and as she describes her work, "My goal as an artist is to create paintings which allow me to share with the viewer the special feeling of peace and tranquility I experience when painting, a place perhaps that they have visited and made memories of their own."
Holtzclaw's paintings are included in private and corporate collections throughout the country. Her work has been displayed in museum and national juried exhibitions, including the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society's Best of America 2007, the AAWA and ASMA exhibitions. She recently received an Award of Merit at the American Women Artists 8th Annual National Juried Exhibition and was a semifinalist in the American Artists Magazine's 70th Anniversary Competition. Her work has been featured in publications including Southwest Art, American Artist Online, The Charlotte Observer and Charlotte Place Magazine.
For further info check our NC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 910/256-9956 or visit (www.fountainsidegallery.com).
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