HGA painter Lolette Guthrie Finds Inspiration at Ocracoke

Located at the southernmost tip of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, surrounded by water and filled with warmth, the tiny island of Ocracoke, NC is a special place. It is bounded on one side by the Pamlico Sound with its beautiful and vitally important marshes and on the other, the Atlantic Ocean, 13 miles of pristine beaches and all the magic of the ever-changing sea. It is a place to heal, to relax and to find one’s center. Paradoxically, it is also where I go to get re-energized, where I feel most alive and where I find inspiration or my work.

To quote Rachel Carson, “To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of the shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.”

Scapes Show Opens with Reception June 29th

Two Painters and a Potter Reveal Both Internal and External Landscapes in Hillsborough Gallery of Arts’ Scapes Show Opening June 25^th

Inspired by nature and the subconscious, three artists explore shape and color through new work in a show opening June 25^th at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts.

Hillsborough, NC – Potter Garry Childs, and painters Eduardo Lapetina and Pat Merriman each find their own interpretation of Scapes, a new show opening June 25^th at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts.

For Garry Childs, “scapes” refers to both the shapes and decorative elements of his pots, pitchers, bowls, and platters. “I use bold, high-gloss colors that contrast with the soft earthy tones and textures exposed when I carve through the glaze into the clay,” Childs says. “Pottery is usually made in a series of separate processes. A potter will form a shape, let it dry, fire it, come back later to glaze it, and then fire it again,” Childs explains. “I think this often results in disunity. The technique I’ve developed is to glaze the pots as soon as they have stiffened up a bit (leather hard) and then carve through the glazes into the clay. This is an attempt to bring form and surface together as one element both in my mind and in the finished result.”

Abstract painter Eduardo Lapetina says of his work: “My paintings are soul-scapes that are the product of working in complete solitude. They represent the discovery of mysteries of the subconscious mind, and they are part of my personal legend. These abstractions hold the promise of dreams, visions, fears, intangibles, and will. It is the magic of a private, secret, and confidential language.”

Pat Merriman says lately, she has been focusing on landscape painting, using oils, brushes, and a palette knife. “Basically, I’m a colorist with an impressionistic bent,” she says. “When I look over the past eight years of my paintings, I see scapes, or escapes, in my work – “skyscapes,” landscapes, and seascapes. Even the abstracts are inspired by juxtapositions I see in nature. The same goes for the colors, shapes, and forms I choose.”

An opening reception for Scapes will be held at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts on Friday, June 29^th, from 6-9 p.m. The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is located in the Mercantile Building at 121 North Churton Street, in Hillsborough, NC. For more information, visit the gallery Website at www.hillsboroughgallery.com.