Carolina Arts
PGA Artist Alissa Van Atta artwork is on the cover
Carolina Arts’ October 2021 Issue is out with a story on Pittsboro Gallery of Arts and features the art of member Alissa Van Atta on the cover.
The article starts on page 41 in the full issue.
Art Flourishes This Fall at Pittsboro Gallery of Arts in Pittsboro, NC
Work by Tamara Buettner
The Pittsboro Gallery of Arts (PGA) in Pittsboro, NC is a cooperative that provides Chatham county and surrounding area with high-quality fine art and fine craft - created by almost 30 regional artists and craftspeople. PGA doors opened for the first time last November and continues to successfully rotate works on a quarterly basis. The newest exhibit will be on display from Oct. 1 through Jan. 31, 2022.
Visitors comment that this new gallery has a sense of space and beauty in every direction - painting, photography, collage and tapestry on the wall, as well as other works on display complementing each other - including a mix of sculptured clay, wood and glass works, even jewelry. Prints, cards, books and journals make nice gifts.
Here is an introduction to our artists with short descriptions of the various mediums in which they work:
Painters include the following artists: Rita Baldwin works in bold palette knife strokes, and loose brush strokes that create a dreamlike softness. Alissa Van Atta paints organic, textural abstracts with acrylic and mixed media elements. Barbara Steinacker works with pastels, capturing the play of light, shadow and reflection. Beth Bale paints nature and animals on watercolor and enjoys watching the flow of colors onto white paper or clapboard. Cat Mahin works with watercolor on Aquabord, a clay-covered substrate that enhances the intensity of the colors. Emily Eve Weinstein’s oil painting is done live, often on repurposed wood; layers of texture give her subjects a unique vitality. Shirley Galbrecht enjoys working in oils and pastels to inspire greater awareness of our natural surroundings and foster appreciation for life in all its forms. Works by Jake Brower are bold in color and shape and he believes that an artist must find the “right” lines to communicate. Lani Chaves creates vibrant watercolor paintings of landscapes near and far, still lives, and people/animals employing a variety of styles. Rebecca Dotterer is a natural science artist who creates stylized detailed imagery in watercolor and ink. Jim Aiken paints subjects that allow him to exaggerate a sense of motion, sound, or touch by amplifying reflections, shadows and colors. Karen West works in oil, all prima as well as verdaccio underpaintings with multiple layers of glaze; her subjects are diverse including people, places, animals and still life. Sally Gregoire creates detailed pen and ink illustrations of rural buildings and scenery and has a personal connection with each design invoked by an area’s rich history.
The work by the photographer Barry Udis includes landscapes, cityscapes, abstracts and portraiture; he is most mindful of light and water as he hunts for places that enable him to compose images that are provocative, emotionally or intellectually.
Fiber artists include: Angela Hilliard, who is a collage artist and constructs her artwork from paper, fibers, and locally sourced materials from her surrounding communities, enabling her to use her design skills in many different ways. Trudy Thomson’s works explore cross-currents of color, the pulsing of fibers, and shifts in hue as she positions variegated dyed fibers for tapestries or hydroprints acrylics to silk or rice paper. Dawn Hummer weaves both on and off-loom, using traditional Wester and Eastern techniques and patterns showcased in hand-woven basketry, sculpture, and loom-woven wearable art.
Ceramic artists include: Debbie England creates both ceramic sculpture and functional pottery, which results in work that is organic in form and often references botanicals.
Work by Trudy Thomson
Lee Kazanas is a professional studio potter who works in functional high-fired stoneware and porcelain ex;oring techniques in clay and glaze. Cely Chicurel hand-builds pottery, her wild imagination is expressed in various creations, castles, dragons, wizards and other fantasy creatures. Judith Maier brings her narratives to life in clay works that are influenced by the ballet, fairy tales, puppetry, the circus and the theater. DeDe Richardson is a huge fan of texture in pottery which she creates using customized clay stamps that she designed and hand-carved herself.
Other more unusual works: Theresa Arico creates mixed media mosaics (stained-glass, tiles, beads, smelt, crockery) and loves to create beauty and tell an archetypal story through her work. Her primary focus is creating and contributing to an environment that is nourishing and healing. Daniel Stevenson works with wood, usually hardwood, pairing woods with strongly contrasting natural color which typically takes the form of segmented inlays. His designs are inspired by abstract mathematical forms, but also patterns found in nature.
Jewelers include: Tamara Buettner creates unique sterling silver jewelry that is inspired by nature and created to highlight the beauty of natural stones. Darcy Szeremi has a passion for metalwork that draws inspiration from all aspects of life…. joy, sorrow, nature, beauty, and people and then she translates this into features of her designs. Nadine Zenobi works with stones that suggest placement within geometric and organic forms. She creates jewelry that combines these with mixed metals of silver, white, rose and yellow gold to enhance the beauty of each piece.
The Gallery is located on Hillsboro Street in downtown Pittsboro.
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 919/704-8552 or visit www.pittsboroarts.org