The Wells Gallery Presents “Simple Pleasures” by Earl B. Lewis, Curt Butler and Karen Larson Turner November 2

The Wells Gallery in historic Charleston will host an Artist’s Reception for Earl B. Lewis, Curt Butler and Karen Larson Turner on November 2nd from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m.

Earl B. Lewis, ‘Walking Crosstown’ 10×12

Earl B. Lewis is best known as the award-winning illustrator of more than fifty children’s books. After studying design and illustration at Temple University in Philadelphia, Lewis taught in public schools for a dozen years. As an educator, his paintings examine the lives of African Americans in evocative oils and watercolors. Portraits, landscapes and street scenes capture the simple beauty of men, women and children catching dinner, feeding pigeons, dancing and harvesting sweet grass. Lewis says children are an important part of his life and his recent watercolors reflect this deep understanding and appreciation of childhood innocence.

Curt Butler, ‘Beach Cherubs’ 48×60

After graduating from SCAD with a Masters in Fine Art, Curt Butler began teaching and eventually opened the Butler Studio where he conducts workshops and paints. Known for his tactile landscapes, Butler uses the ancient technique of Encaustic painting, which involves mixing oil paints with melted wax. “Encaustic painting with oil has given me the emotional response that I am currently seeking in my work. To be able to suggest a subject rather than illustrate it, to literally feel the surface of the paint and to be able to engage the viewer from a distance, and yet retain them when they are close are all reasons I choose to work the way I do.” Most of his work is based in landscape yet it is less about a particular place, and more about the mood or feeling experienced in the natural world.

Karen Larson Turner, ‘Dawning Gold’ 8×10

Karen Larsen Turner has grown up in front of a canvas. As a child she spent summers on Martha’s Vineyard painting and selling her watercolors to the neighbors. She went on to study at the School of Representational Art in Chicago and today works from her studio on James Island while her three children are at school. Using thin, painstaking layers of paint to reveal the reflective surface of silver, Turner creates luminous landscapes and still lifes that capture moments of dramatic light at the edges of the day. Renowned for golden marsh scenes, her more recent works explore the dark and stormy skies. In “Bracing for Impact,” the foreboding sky looms large, creating an emotionally rich landscape. Turner says she is having fun pushing her work in this new, more psychologically inspired direction.

The work of these three artists evokes the drama of simple pleasures. Images of the sun setting over the marsh, children digging in the sand at the edge of the ocean, and a woman throwing crumbs to the birds remind viewers of the joy that surrounds us.

Visitors are welcome to attend the November 2nd event from 5–8 pm. The artists will be on hand to answer questions, and the work will hang until November 17. It can be seen Monday-Saturday from 10-5 pm.

Located at 125 Meeting Street next to the Gibbes Museum of Art in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina, the Wells Gallery features fine regional art from a diversity of perspectives in various mediums, including oils, watercolor, acrylic, photography and hand-blown glass. A member of the Charleston Fine Art Dealers’ Association and the French Quarter Gallery Association, the Wells Gallery is open Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.  An additional gallery is located at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort on Kiawah Island.  To view work and learn more about the artists, please contact the Wells Gallery at 843-853-3233 or visit www.wellsgallery.com.

New Works by Shannon Smith, Betty Anglin Smith, Jennifer Smith Rogers at Smith Killian Fine Art November 2

On Friday, November 2 as part of the 14th Charleston Fine Art Annual, Smith Killian Fine Art will feature new works by Shannon Smith, Betty Anglin Smith and Jennifer Smith Rogers. The artist reception is from 5 to 8pm. Smith Killian Fine Art is located at 9 Queen Street in downtown Charleston, SC.

Shannon and Jennifer will also paint in Washington Park on Saturday, November 3 from 9am till noon. Their wet paintings will be up for bid at BUY ART Silent Auction that evening at the Gibbes. Tickets at http://www.cfada.com, the event is a benefit for art programs at local high schools.

Cloud Bank by Jennifer Smith Rogers

Bananas Foster by Shannon Smith

Waterway Sunset by Betty Anglin Smith

SOUTHERN SCENES Opens at Horton Hayes Fine Art November 2

Join Horton Hayes Fine Art for an opening reception of “Southern Scenes” featuring new works by Chris Groves, Shannon Runquist,  Mark Kelvin Horton, Nancy Hoerter and Elizabeth Pollie on Friday, November 2nd from 5 to 8pm. Horton Hayes Fine Art is located at 30 State Street in downtown Charleston, SC.

“Southern Scenes” is presented as part of the 14th Charleston Fine Art Annual, November 2-4. Chris Groves, Mark Horton, Shannon Runquist, Nancy Hoerter and Elizabeth Pollie will paint in Washington Park on Saturday, November 3 from 9am till noon during the CFADA’s Painting in the Park that annually features over 30 local and visiting artists. Wet paintings from the park will be up for bid at BUY ART Silent Auction and Patrons’ Receptions. Tickets are $55 and can be purchased at www.cfada.com.

Painting in the Park: Featuring Gary Grier

Gary Grier was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL, where he attended the art magnet high school Douglas Anderson. After graduating he ventured off to college at the School of Visual Arts in Savannah for 3 years. After taking a year off, because of tuition costs, he was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to finish his last yea of schooling at the New York City campus, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

He worked as a free-lance artist and commissioned jobs in New York, while still pursuing a career as a fine artist. He took advantage of his time in the city by regularly visiting the numerous museums and art galleries. While there he worked as a background painter for animator Bill Plympton, as an artist assistant to artist Jeff Koons, and also illustrated a children book, all while showing his work in exhibitions through out the city. In 2003 he decided to move back down south to Savannah, GA. where he lived and worked for the next year. He worked 2 to 3 jobs steadily there to make ends meet; he was an art handler, taught art to kids, and what ever else while staying true to passion of painting, The next year he moved to Charleston, SC. While in Charleston he had more time to devote on painting. In 2007 he was named the Low Country Artist of the year through the Donna and Michael Griffith grant. He was featured in Artist and Antiques as an Emerging Artist in the 2008 winter collectors’ edition. He has also had a solo exhibition at The Greenville County Museum of Art where three of his paintings purchased for their permanent collection.

Gary’s paintings are derived from personal experiences relating to family, friends and his own growth and struggles. The other part of his work is environment, what we see everyday, the people, the places, and things, what we would normally overlook. Focusing primarily on urban culture, he attempts to show the beauty, while also trying to a shed light on the social issues of those areas. Grier tries to look beneath the surface and to find the soul. His soft brush strokes and color palette soften the sometimes mundane scenes to highlight the simplistic beauty and allow the story to unfold. He continues to keep in line with the spirit of the naturalist painters that he admirers of 19th century.

Painting in the Park: Featuring Amy Lind

Amy Lind‘s status as an emerging figurative painter is becoming more and more evident. At the young age of 27, Lind’s work had already graced the cover of two nationally renowned magazines, Art Calendar (May 2010) and American Art Collector (December 2010), and in February (2011) she was named Southwest Art magazine‘s “Artist to Watch: the Editor’s Choice for Up-and-Coming Talent.” She was recently recognized with honorable mentions in the prestigious Art Renewal Center Salon and the Portrait Society of America’s Member’s Only competition.

Homecoming by Amy Lind

With a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design and additional instruction from the Florence Academy of Art and the Bay Area Classical Artist Atelier, Lind’s eclectic training is visible in both the traditional and contemporary qualities that her paintings possess. Compelled by the striking subjects around her, she poetically infuses captivating qualities of color and intriguing light into each of her paintings while attempting to convey a sense of life, beauty, and truth.

Lind’s work hangs around the world in both public and private collections. On top of gallery work, she is sought out by many for her uncanny ability to capture the likeness and essence of those she paints. Furthermore in addition to the fine art world, her paintings can now be found published in a Penguin children’s book titled “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On: Things About Me”.

Lind grew up in the Chicagoland area, recently had the opportunity to live in sunny California for three years, and now calls beautiful Savannah, Georgia her home where she lives with her husband in their quaint 1930 brick bungalow. She is represented by Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, SC.

Painting in the Park: Featuring Charles E. Williams

Charles E. Williams II represented by Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, SC, grew up in historic Georgetown, South Carolina. From an early age, he felt a strong connection to the area’s many waterways. Their inspirational beauty proved to be his first love, and also, the muse for his art.

Charles Williams

Williams combined his love for nature and painting as a landscape artist working in oils. He is a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design and has exhibited with galleries in the southeast including: Pei Lang Gallery, Lagerquist Gallery, Michael Murphy Gallery and also with the Robert Lange Studios. In 2009, Williams was awarded the Hudson River Fellowship to study with elite artists, Jacob Collins, Edward Minoff, and Travis Schlaht and others founded by the Grand Central Academy in New York. Williams was one of the many artists that showcased in the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America exhibition in New York. He paints as a full-time artist and works on commissioned paintings throughout the year, as well as featured pieces in corporate and many private collections.

His signature drip style of contemporary landscapes fused with traditional practices has led him to many collectors. Recent exhibitions in South Carolina include Southern Exposure, Capture, What We Choose, and Fortune. He was selected for the 2011 Southwest Art Magazine issue of 21 Emerging Artists under 31, as well as a semi-finalist for the landscape category in Artist Magazine.

Painting in the Park: Featuring Fred Jamar

Fred Jamar represented by Robert Lange Studios has brought a new infusion of intellect and energy to Charleston’s art scene. Born in the village of Stembert in Southern Belgium, near the site of the Battle of the Bulge, he has been a world traveller through most of his adult life. After graduating with honors from the Belgian Maritime College – he was valedictorian – and three years at sea, he studied finance. With an MA-equivalent degree, he joined J.P. Morgan & Co, where he helped to found a clearing house for Eurobonds in 1967. That organization has grown from its initial cadre of five to become a European bank with over 2,500 employees. Staying with Morgan, Fred worked in a sector focused on global credit exposure – a crystal-ball activity analyzing nation-by-nation and industry-by-industry credit risks. He covered the globe. He has lived in Brussels, Paris, London, Frankfurt and New York. There are no continents and very few countries he has not seen.

In the early 1980′s Fred was based in the United States, and chose Kiawah as a favorite family vacation spot. That led to a solid acquaintance with Charleston. When the time came to take early retirement in 1997, he chose to settle here “in the most European of American cities.”

Central among Fred’s many interests is a lifelong love of painting. When he was a small boy, his mother would sometimes paint little floral scenes and give them to her children. he also had a neighbor who created backdrops for theaters. Stimulated by these and other examples, he developed a great zest for artistic creation. As a child, he would paint on bed sheets, on cardboard, anything flat. In the Merchant Marine, he used discarded tarps from the engine room. To this day, he enjoys process more then product. The smell of the oils and turpentine, the texture of the canvas, sensuality of brushes and paint are more important to him than any result.

Crisscrossing by Fred Jamar

His favorite medium by far is oil. He likes to experiment with new textures and techniques, sometimes putting brushes aside in favor of a knife or trowel. He typically composes as he applies the paint, with perhaps just one or two lines penciled on the canvas to guide him.

Influences include Van Gogh, Modigliani, Utrillo. Bernard Buffet (seen in his portraits, especially his clown series) and Suzanne Valadon.

He is enormously prolific, with over 90 works completed in the past year alone. He is also successful. Fred has had several solo exhibitions at local galleries, and has been selected as an exhibiting artist with the Charleston Artist’s Guild. In 2002 he won the Cooper River Bridge Run Design Competition, which greatly expended his regional exposure, and was juried into his first Piccolo Spoleto exhibition.

His recent work has been dominated by Charleston cityscapes – not seen, however, with the traditional eye. The sky is generally very dark, inky “Prussian” blue, and starless. The trees are assembled color masses, balloon-like in appearance, and the buildings are intensely vivid in form and color, an impression heightened by the overhanging darkness. The paintings are bright – but also lonely. The mood is stock still. Most have no human or animal figures. It is as if Edward Hopper painted an abandoned carnival at 3:00 A.M. They are brilliant.

Written by Dennis Style for The Gallery Guide

Olivia Pool of Art Mag interviews artist Fred Jamar at Robert Lange Studios