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The Blue Ridge ArtSpace Hosts the Monthly Second Saturday Studio and Gallery Hop Saturday, Nov. 9

Nov. 8, 2013. Before you come to the Blue Ridge ArtSpace you’ll want to start your day off with a visit to our participating studios in the Second Saturday Studio and Gallery Hop!   A map and more information on the participating studios will be on the Watauga County Arts Council’s website at www.watauga-arts.org or you can pick one up at the Blue Ridge ArtSpace at 377 Shadowline Drive. 

Featured Gallery Exhibits

Main Gallery – This month we feature the works of Willie Baucom and Keith Lambert.  Keith and Willie were selected by a local panel to become the creators of the bas relief mural that is located inside the Appalcart Facility on the 105 By-Pass (which is how the Arts Council first became acquainted with them).   Both artists are known nationally and internationally for work in a variety of media including marble, stoneware, pottery, and paint.

Keith and Willie have works featured in public and private collections both here and abroad and have received numerous awards and recognitions for their work. In Coastal Carolina, their work is the centerpiece of the Morehead City waterfront where they have 12 featured bas relief sculptures in the Morehead City Fish Walk.  They have an active studio in Beaufort, North Carolina.   They also have a studio in the Meat Camp community and for much of the year alternate studios, spending two weeks at their mountain studio and then two weeks at their coastal studio every month. 

Recognized internationally for his work in marble, paint and clay, Keith has received numerous awards for his work. He is the only American ever to have won the International Painting Competition in Beaufort-en-Valle, France and has taught in both the U.S. and Europe. Keith also produces pottery in a large range of styles and sizes available at shows and directly through the studio.  He has donated the door prize for the Arts Council’s Studio Hop twice, to the delight of winners. 

Willie’s lifelong passion for art has led to recognition as both an artist and teacher in the field. She is best known for her large clay figures and relief sculptures. Willie’s works are featured in collections in France, Italy and the United States, including works in the permanent collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art. She has also completed numerous public and private commissions for works around the country.

Open Door Gallery – The Rug Hooking Class of the Western Watauga Center in Sugar Grove is once again featured by the Arts Council.  They were the final exhibition in the West King Street location, where the Arts Council had donated space for ten months courtesy of John Winkler, Kenneth Wilcox, and Roger Wright.  Just before the Arts Council moved from that building to make way for a new coffee shop and to move into the Blue Ridge ArtSpace, the Rug Hooking Class put together a charming exhibition of their hooked works of art.   They have brought some of these back for a slightly longer visit and supplemented the exhibition with several additional pieces. 

The craft of rug hooking is believed to have been developed in Europe and brought to America and Canada where settlers hooked rugs on burlap backing with rag scraps or hand dyed burlap threads.  There are various forms of rug hooking that have been developed over the years.  The participants learning the craft at the Western Watauga Center are engaged in hooking with various materials including wool strips, recycled t-shirts and yarn. Various backings are now used for the rugs, including burlap, monk’s cloth, cotton warp cloth or linen, with designs drawn or traced onto the backing.  Colors are decided upon and some rug hookers dye their own wool from commercial or plant dyes.

This show’s participating artists are Alice Andrews, Martha Deal, Shirley Frierson, Linda Hurd, and Cheryl Roberts.  On the night of the opening reception, some of the artists plan to bring works in progress to share the process with interested patrons. 

Serendipity Gallery – Ten of the Serendipitous Artists in Marsha Holmes’ classes at the Lois Harrell Senior Center and the Western Watauga Community Center are already thinking about the upcoming season….as they present an eclectic showing of seasonal arts.   Paintings and drawings featuring holiday or wintery subjects fill the walls of the Serendipity Gallery for the month of November.  Featured artists are:  Mary Foreman, Cherry Burns, Barbara Quatrano, Judy Clarke, Mahala Porth, Linda Lielbriedis, William Bass, Kathy Copeley, Kit Fisher, and Jo Ann Pippin. 

The Tarheel Footprints Children’s Gallery is featuring works of art created by the students of Parkway Elementary School.  Their art teacher is Rae Filsinger.    

All of the galleries are sponsored by Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff.  

Classroom Demonstrations:

Our six colorful classrooms are once again going to be filled with creative energy!   Each of the six classrooms will feature a new arts adventure.  Ineke Thomas will be sharing creative ways to dress up thrift store fashions to make them both cool and unique, Betty Womack       will be demonstrating weaving, Joyce Watson will be demonstrating wire-wrap jewelry techniques, Judith Geary (author of Getorix, a story of Celtic adventures in ancient Rome),  Birgitta McGaillard (author of Lives Divided), and Tammy Sanabria will be telling stories for young and old.  

There will also be live music, shopping in the Gift Shop, and light refreshments.