March 2011

Hillsborough Gallery of Arts in Hillsborough, NC, Offers New Exhibits

The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts in Hillsborough, NC, will present two exhibits in March, including: Ebb & Flow, featuring works by the gallery’s artists inspired by the ebb and flow of nature and the creative process, and Primaeval, featuring works by Ellie Reinhold, Eric Saunders, and Lynn Wartski, on view from Mar. 26 through Apr. 22, 2012. A reception will be held for Primaeval on Mar. 30, from 6-9pm.

For her contributions to Ebb & Flow, Michelle Yellin painted a series of small watercolors based on time spent on Tybee Island, GA, last fall. “I took a series of photographs as the tide was going out,” Yellin explains. “Each painting is based on a singular moment as the light faded from the sky, and the water ebbed away from the shore. The water, ebbing and flowing, felt like a breath moving in and out, both unique and infinite.”

Glass artist Susan Hope has been experimenting with multiple layers of glass, building an image one layer at a time. Her piece for Ebb & Flow, she says, “is a multi-layered piece of glass with the simple image of a little sailboat on a rolling sea.” But the image is not as simple as it might appear. For Hope, it represents both creative inspiration and experimentation.

“Inspiration is elusive,” Hope says. “The ebb and flow of ideas is much like the movement of the sea. It is both here and there - a delicate balance,” she explains, adding “experimentation is the practical application of inspiration, and it too seems to ebb and flow with the success or failure of the process. Sometimes the ideas are too big for the current moment and are just below the surface, as are the fish swimming below the tiny boat, symbols of ideas eager to be born.”

Lynn Wartski, who works with copper and found objects, has stretched her imagination and use of materials with a mobile that represents a school of jellyfish made of recycled soft drink bottles. Says Wartski, “finding inspiration for Ebb & Flow came easily, as I often turn to nature for inspiration, and sea life has figured into that inspiration from time to time.”

For Kim Wheaton, the theme of the group show inspired her to work on an abstract piece, something new for her. “My piece for this show is a triptych of creams, aquas, and blues that evoke a shoreline or waves,” she says. “Rather than thinking literally about waves, I concentrated on the process and the idea of movement.  I used fluid acrylics on top of textured paper and let the paints actually ebb, flow, drip and merge across the canvas. So the “ebb and flow” is the natural process of the paints, rather than trying to make a preconceived image,” Wheaton explains, adding, “I like this process so much that I am going to continue experimenting with fluid acrylics.”

Painter Ellie Reinhold, photographer Eric Saunders, and metal sculptor Lynn Wartski each interpret their relationship to the timeless and elemental at a new show titled Primaeval, which opens Mar. 26, 2012, at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts.

Reinhold says the show’s theme clicked with her immediately, because her images are metaphors for what is primaeval in the psyche. “Each piece in this show is a visual riff on a number of concerns,” Reinhold explains, “including the brevity of our lives, our lives in the context of our human ancestry, how we deal with the losses we all face in life, the burden that our emotions can be - especially when they are new to us - and many other things that I can’t put into words.”

Reinhold works both figuratively and with landscape. Those who admire her work often refer to it as “soul work,” “art you can feel in your gut,” and “dreamscapes.”

Reinhold says she takes her inspiration from her own emotions and paraphrases a quote from writer Alice Walker: “If you delve deeply enough into yourself, you are bound to rise up in other people.”

“The creative process is like meditation for me,” Reinhold says. “If I stay away from it too long, I lose my center. Painting gives me a place to work through the emotional experiences in my life.”

“When I’m photographing the landscape, I look for scenes that are primaeval and spiritual,” says Eric Saunders. “Abstract nature scenes or scenes combining human artifact and nature always interest me.”

A pianist, Saunders says he’s inspired by classical music and the visual arts. A recurring theme in his photography is light being reflected on water, the source of life. “Taking pride in what I do and the desire to create something unique continually motivates me,” Saunders adds.

In thinking about the primaeval theme, Lynn Wartski reflected on the origins of her own art. “I have always been intrigued by human faces and forms,” she says. “Two- and three- dimensional representations were among my earliest artistic expressions and are something I return to, and challenge myself with, time and again.”

Wartski says she loves to experiment with different media. “Copper has been my primary medium, but I have incorporated glass, other metals, concrete, and found objects into my work,” she explains. “Stylistically my work has become more Steampunk in flavor.”

Wartski says she may follow a theme or idea for a period of time and let it run its course. “This may yield one piece, a series, or an entire year’s worth of exploration,” she adds.

Owned and operated by 22 local artists, the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts represents established artists exhibiting contemporary fine art and fine craft. The gallery’s offerings include painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, fiber, jewelry, glass, metal, mosaics, encaustic, enamel, watercolor and wood.

For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 919/732-5001 or visit (www.hillsboroughgallery.com).

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