| For more information about this article or gallery, please call the gallery phone number listed in the last line of the article, "For more info..." |
March Issue 2008
Art League of Hilton Head on Hilton Head Island, SC, Features Works by Alexandra Sharma and Kym Welton
The Art League of Hilton Head on Hilton Head
Island, SC, will present the exhibits: Water Works, featuring
watercolors by Alexandra Sharma, and Island Treasures,
featuring one-of-a-kind jewelry by Kym Welton. Both exhibits will
be on view at the Art League Gallery in Pineland Station from
Mar. 10 through Apr. 12, 2008.
Alexandra Sharma
Water Works reveals glimpses into an artist's watercolor world. Sharma chooses to look at the interaction of man and nature together, recording how each impacts the other and capturing that moment of inspiration for the viewer to see. The process of creating goes on every minute that we are alive and Sharma invites the viewer to enter her world where man-made things are changed by nature, and nature is altered by man's presence within it.
Sharma delights in finding her scenes in the hidden-away things, the private moments, fragments of buildings, and ordinary objects viewed from an unusual point of view. She finds her inspiration on Hilton Head Island and the Lowcountry, as well as in her travels to India and Canada. Her recent trip to India is reflected in several paintings of interiors and views from the family home.
Born into a family of celebrated artists - Sharma's grandfather was an internationally acclaimed etcher and her father, a sculptor - gave her a unique awareness of form and space that is manifest in her work. A painter, printmaker, sculptor, and art professor, Sharma has a Master of Fine Arts and has studied at the Sorbonne and Oxford in Europe. Her work spans over twenty years and she has taught art in Toronto, in Beaufort and Hilton Head. She exhibits regularly at the Art League Gallery, Mars - the Real Estate Store on Hilton Head, and at the Charles Street Gallery in Beaufort, SC.
A lifetime member of the American art honorary, Delta Phi Delta, Sharma is also a founding member of the Multi Media Arts Guild, Kingston, Canada, long time member of Ontario Woodcarvers Association, and active member of the Beaufort Art Association, the Art League of Hilton Head, and the Apple Pie Painters.
Kym Welton
Island Treasures showcases a selection of Kym Welton's unique jewelry. She chooses from a wide variety of materials. She makes lariats and chokers with crystals and stones wired to leather; delicate necklaces, or multi-strand, chunky necklaces with larger stones and beads lending a western flair that goes well with jeans and a white blouse. She laughs, "there's that ancient Indian spirit emerging in me." Lately she has diversified into smaller, more refined pieces using pearls of all shapes and colors, and crystals from Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, and, of course, the Swarowsky kind.
Welton's bracelets are made with sterling silver and silver wire and display an eye-catching stone as a centerpiece. She prefers her materials have a natural look to them. She chooses fresh water pearls that have slight variations in color and texture, which give the pieces individuality and character. Welton's turquoise comes in numerous shapes and shades. She loves to mix the colors of turquoise with other natural materials like sea glass, jasper, malachite, howlite, or coral for their unique effect.
Welton's creative process begins with finding one stone or a pearl that stands out, then choosing crystals or other stones to complement it. Once she can visualize the whole piece, only then she buys the materials and rushes home to create it.
Before settling on Hilton Head Island in 2002 Welton led an active vagabond life in different parts of the continent, moving between her native Mississauga, Ontario, to Vail, CO, then to Saskatchewan, Canada and back to Hilton Head. She treasured her stay in Colorado, "out west where the 'Cowboys and Indians' lived" and wonders, if she hasn't been part Indian in a previous life. Early on she attended creative arts courses at SCAD, took a silver jewelry making class and managed two retail silver jewelry stores. Welton also modeled, became a pilot, a realtor, and a certified fitness trainer. She continues to learn new techniques by attending classes, and the ideas for new pieces are bubbling forth.
For further information check our SC Institutional
Gallery listings, call the League at 843/681-5060 or visit (www.artleaguehhi.org).
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.