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September Issue 2006

Red Sky Gallery in Charlotte, NC, Features Works by Martha Sharp

The Red Sky Gallery in Charlotte, NC, invites art enthusiasts and collectors to a Classic Performance this fall. The performance show features oil paintings by regionally renowned artist, Martha Sharp. The curtain opens on Sept. 8 and runs through Oct. 4, 2006.

After more than 20 years in the computer industry, Sharp entered her second career as an artist more than a decade ago. "My paintings are my passion," she explains. "Each piece represents a significant moment or emotion that I have experienced, and is conveyed through my use of color and brushwork in an impressionistic style."

Classic Performance features figurative works, capturing moments from her travel experiences to Europe - café scenes, market scenes, as well as street scenes. The show also features some of Sharp's ballerina paintings, a genre of art that is close to her heart.

"Being behind the scenes of one of the Charleston Ballet Theatre's most celebrated shows, The Nutcracker, took me deeper inside the lives of ballerinas," she explains. "Watching these dancers in the wings in different positions and moods was mind blowing, strengthening my desire to paint them; I am moved by the dancers' passion for dance, the physical and emotional aspects of their art, and especially because they're so young and dedicated."

The show features some of Sharp's favorite pieces, such as Last Minute and Backstage View. The emotions combined with the physical endurance of these dancers are vivid in each of her paintings.

Red Sky owner, Kellie Scott says, "The subjects' movements in Martha's works are very fluid and lifelike. She does the best figurative work I've seen. Her paintings have been a source of constant praise in the gallery and we look forward to another successful event."

Sharp resides in Mount Pleasant, SC, located minutes away from the Charleston. She has studied under some of the most renowned artists, including Kevin MacPherson, Lois Griffel, Ken Auster, and Ron Hicks, and has a wealth of experience in museum and private study. She is a member of the Oil Painters of America and Charleston Artist Guild. She paints a variety of genres including landscape, figurative, and still life.

Red Sky Gallery showcases contemporary paintings and other two-dimensional art in oils, pastels, acrylics, mixed media, and watercolors. The gallery is known for an extensive inventory of exceptional fine crafts in glass, metal, ceramics, wood, and basketry. The gallery proudly represents over 420 local, regional and national artists, painstakingly selected through numerous buying trips to shows, exhibits and studios.

For more information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 704/552-5200 or at (www.redskygallery.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.