The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE — An exciting new exhibit opened at the Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center on Tuesday, Jan. 15.
“Painting With ‘Miss Bossy Pants’” is a presentation of more than 40 works by 15 artists who “painted their hearts out” for a week this past June at a workshop at the Studio School in Roanoke with Colorado artist Joan Fullerton.
A bundle of energy, enthusiasm and encouragement, Fullerton came armed with a long list of techniques designed to help the artist-students find fresh and insightful solutions to their creative challenges. She was funny, full of vigor and a real taskmaster, often referring to herself as “Miss Bossy Pants.”
The nickname was both tongue in cheek and appropriate. Once introductions were over and the painting started, Fullerton’s “suggestions” began immediately and changed almost every five minutes, along with instructions to “keep turning that paper or canvas support often,” keeping everyone on their toes.
Fullerton maintains that people are open to learning and creativity when they are having fun.
Participants soon adapted to painting quickly, without deliberative judgements and worked more intuitively. They also spent plenty of time laughing and looking at their results, discovering more about their own unique styles as they began to resolve each day’s work.
Beginning students were encouraged to experiment and more advanced students benefitted from Fullerton’s thoughtful suggestions about ways to resolve the creative challenges.
During the week there was also time each day for the artists to look at and critique one another’s efforts, evaluating how the same techniques were used differently, how color choices affected the overall mood of a painting and investigate which suggestions and techniques they wanted to “keep in their artist’s tool kit,” and which ones might be tucked away for the moment.
More than once the remark was overheard, “Isn’t it funny how we all have the same ‘suggestions’ to follow and it comes out so differently!”
It was a highly charged week with lots of positive results — not only for the artists, but now also for viewers to explore color and form and all the other formal elements that make up a painting.
The resulting works offer viewers both familiar representational elements, such as Angela Shields’ “Belly Button Roulette” or Myrtle Hooker’s luscious “Magnolia.”
But there are plenty of colorful non-representational works such as Courtney Cronin’s “Explo-sion” or Judy Lochbrunner’s “Storm on the Mountain.”
Other works fall somewhere in between the identifiable and the suggestive. There is also a Joan Fullerton piece here for viewers and artists to examine and reflect upon. If nothing else, the artists have provided us all a color-filled experience perfect to jump start a new year.
Artists in the exhibit include Courtney Cronin, Jane Winders Frank, Julie Gale, Myrtle Hooker, Mary Anne Meador, Sally J. Randles, Martha Rhodes, Mark Shepheard, Nancy Stark, and Betty William-son, all from Roanoke; Vera Dickerson, Judy Lochbrunner and Angela Shields from Troutville, Ruth Lefko of Christiansburg and Nancy Newhard of Clifton Forge- and of course, “Miss Bossy Pants” herself, Joan Fullerton.
There will be a reception Saturday to meet many of the artists and enjoy the new work in the gallery and the AHACC. The public is invited to attend from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at 439 E. Ridgeway St.
There is no charge for admission.
The exhibit will continue through Friday, Feb. 22.
The Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.
For more information, contact the center at (540) 862-4447, visit their website: www.highlandsartsandcraft.org or email highlandsartsandcraft.org@gmail.com
You can also find the center on Facebook.
The Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center is supported by its members, contributors, volunteers, the town of Clifton Forge, the city of Covington, Alleghany?County, The Alleghany Foundation, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
