4 Artists Working in Different Media Unite in Hillsborough Gallery of Arts’ Visions Revealed Show

April 11, 2012 - PRLog -- Hillsborough, NC – Jeweler Arianna Bara, fiber artist Ali Givens, wood turner Pat Lloyd, and painter Kim Wheaton find unique ways to express their inner lives in a new show titled Visions Revealed, which opens April 23rd at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts.

“As a metalsmith, creating jewelry primarily in silver and copper, I have always looked to the natural world for rich and meaningful imagery,” says Arianna Bara.  “For this show, however, I have gone a step further, exploring inner states rather than just outward manifestations.  My inspiration comes from practicing ‘wordlessness,’ a state of awareness that happens when I silence the thoughts in my head and become open to the sensations of the present moment.”  Bara adds, “wordlessness brings me to a state of communion with nature and oneness with the universe.  In this show I have attempted to reflect that inner state of peace and to tap into the depth of knowing that requires no words.”

Ali Givens, who works with hand-dyed fabrics, finds that the process of stitching her framed fabric collages evokes cherished childhood memories of growing up on a tropical island.  Both island life and a young adulthood spent in New York City inspire her images, she says.

Pat Lloyd works primarily with locally obtained, native species of trees that have been felled by storms or old age. “Hillsborough’s grand old trees offer special opportunities to turn new lives for these witnesses to history,” she says, adding, “turning the wood reveals the beauty of the grain, the heart and soul of the tree.”  Her turnings include functional and decorative bowls, hollow forms, natural edge vessels, Ikebanas, and ornaments.

The new show prompted Kim Wheaton to paint thoughts, ideas, and snippets of poetry.  “The ‘visions revealed’ are these ideas as image,” Wheaton explains.  As an example, her painting, "If My Boots Had Wings," was inspired by an excerpt from Mary Oliver’s Poem, Starlings in Winter:
I feel my boots
trying to leave the ground,
I feel my heart
pumping hard. I want
to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbably beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.

Another painting, ‘A Girl Takes Aim,’ was inspired by watching girls at slingshot target practice. “I wanted to express what might be a girl's state of mind at the moment just before she releases the slingshot: focus, determination, calm,” says Wheaton. “Of course this is also a metaphor for how a girl finds focus and drive in her life.

“All of my new and recent paintings use a mix of media including decorative paper, acrylic paint in underlying or collaged layers, oil paint, and cold wax,” Wheaton explains. “I use a combination of paint brushes, palette knives, and sometimes odd elements like chicken wire, window screening or toothbrushes, to enhance textural effects.”

An opening reception for Visions Revealed will be held at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts on Friday, April 27th 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.  

About The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts
An art gallery 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, mosaics, photography, fiber, jewelry, glass, metal, encaustic, enamel, watercolor, turned wood and handcrafted furniture.

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Artist owned. Featuring fine arts and crafts, including paintings, sculpture, photography, pottery, turned wood, glass art, fiber arts and jewelry. The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is located at 121 N. Churton Street, Hillsborough. Open 11-6 M-Th, 11-8 Fri & Sat, 1-4 Sun