First Fridays: Intertwining influences
By Casey Gillis on Feb. 03, 2010
(434) 385-5525
For Terry Arnold, painting is like telling a story before she knows the ending.
“It’s exciting,” says the Lynchburg artist. “It keeps you looking for the possibilities that are there. Sometimes, you’re surprised (with the outcome).”
Her work will be on display at the Light Wings Gallery (849 Belmont St.), alongside the paintings of Czech Republic native and current Appomattox resident Petr Litska, in February and March. A First Fridays opening reception is scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. this week.
Arnold started painting a few years ago after a life immersed in the arts as an actress, singer and musician.
“Music and the arts are really who I am,” says the Norfolk native, who moved here in 1995. “I always loved painting, but I think my music took up so much of my early childhood.”
She decided to pick up a paintbrush after her children went off to college.
“I found myself by myself,” she says. “I felt it was my time to try something else that I had had fears about before … (and) what was truly inside of me all these years.”
She works primarily with pastels, but also likes to play with acrylics, charcoals and watercolors. Nature is a big inspiration, and a lot of her paintings are of flowers, forests and other landscapes.
Most come from her own mind, and some of them, particularly the paintings of trees, reflect an interest in genealogy.
“It’s the roots and how they wrap around and how they entwine,” she says. “(It) shows that journey through life and how our lives are intertwined.”
She’s also influenced by her work in the other arts.
“There’s a lot of movement in my work, which I think has a lot to do with my music,” she says. “It’s like a journey. I think that everything that’s in my work now is what’s (also) in my acting and my music.”
Arnold doesn’t force herself to paint every day; instead, she waits until the right mood hits.
“It’s not inspiration exactly, but a voice that says, ‘It’s time,’” she says.
“I would say that even though my hand isn’t there (on the canvas), my mind is working on something that will get there.”
Here’s what other local galleries are up to this month (The Academy of Fine Arts will determine cancellation in the case of inclement weather; call (434) 528-3256 for more information):
The Academy of Fine Arts, 600 Main St.
The Academy Gallery will show the oils, monotypes and sculptures of Dymphna de Wild, while the Up Front Gallery shows “Rome 101,” a photographic series by Steve Coates and 10 Lynchburg College students. Coates and the students took the photos a few weeks ago during a study-abroad photography class in Rome. The Arts and Education building will also be open to preview the work that will be for sale at the Academy’s upcoming Art Raffle.
The First Fridays reception, featuring music by The Sophistokatz and catering by Cook’s Alley, is scheduled to run from 5 to 8 p.m.
Avenue Arts Studio Gallery, 1206 Rivermont Ave.
Owner Kelly Mattox will show her own monotypes, oil pastels and yupo designs in “Works on Paper,” with a reception from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Artifacts, 4327 Boonsboro Rd.
Donna S. Coleman is the featured artist, with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. The Lynchburg native has been painting for more than 30 years and has studied at the Lynchburg Art Club. She paints in a wide variety of mediums, including watercolors and acrylics, but also enjoys using oil paints in a palette knife style, which gives it a textured appearance. Her landscapes reflect local scenery, and her newest collection is a series of cow paintings.
Dancing Leaf Gallery, 409 Fifth St.
Virginia Commonwealth University design student Ali Ferguson is showing her work — repurposed, redesigned and wearable art garments that will be suspended from the ceiling — with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Code Blue will play light jazz tunes, and the James River Conference Center is catering with valentine appetizers.
Dance Theatre of Lynchburg, 722 Commerce St.
The newest organization to join the First Fridays line-up, Dance Theatre is hosting a performance by members of the Charlottesville Ballet from 5 to 8 p.m.
“They’ll be doing three different works during the evening, over and over again as people are dropping in,” says Dance Theatre Executive Director Keith Lee, adding that the dancers and pieces will change each month.
The Lodge of the Fisherman, 4415 Boonsboro Road
The contemporary paintings of Anne Ganong, owner of the Art Box, will be on display, with a reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Renee Ruth will provide the live music.
The Lynchburg Art Club, 1011 Rivermont Ave.
The club is hosting the 78th Annual Georgia Morgan Civic Art Show, with a First Fridays reception from 5 to 8 p.m. The show, named for the club’s founder, features 149 paintings, sculptures and photographs by exhibitors who live within a 35-mile radius of Lynchburg. Cash awards are given for Best in Show and People’s Choice.
The exhibit’s opening reception is scheduled to run from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday, with a snow date of Feb. 14. A critique and award presentation, conducted by Janly Jaggard, an artist and instructor at Staunton’s Beverley Street Studio, will be at 4 p.m.
Rivermont Studio, 1204 Rivermont Ave.
The gallery will display the work of three emerging artists: Chatham Monk’s contemporary landscapes, which are focused on pattern and color and were inspired by Depression-era American paintings and the quilts of Gees Bend; Justin Rice’s new graphic works on paper, drawings that illustrate youthful adventure through the objects of travel; and Sarah Masters’ found object sculptures and drawings inspired by nature.
“It’s really, really outstanding work,” says gallery owner John Morgan. “I wanted to bring in some young artists.”
The reception will run from 6 to 8 p.m., with a “Conversations with the Artists” gallery talk at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Riverviews Artspace, 901 Jefferson St.
Local band AmeliaJay will provide the tunes during the First Fridays reception, scheduled from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
The Craddock-Terry Gallery is continuing its January exhibit, “Emerging Sculptors,” a show featuring the work of four Virginia artists — Melody Gulick, Sarah Mizer, Jeff Vick and Stephanie Williams — who work with everything from glass to ceramic to textiles to mixed-media.
The Jefferson St. Gallery will open a new exhibition, “Reflections of Recovery,” a collection of work created by people using art as a cathartic outlet during their healing process. It’s being done in partnership with Central Virginia Community Services.
The Urban Art Bazaar will also be open on the lower level of Riverviews, and the Coop Gallery is presenting its new exhibit, “Love Is …”
Thomas A. Johnson Furniture Company/James River Furnishings
The company will display new items in their collection in the James River Furnishings Gallery, located inside the Parlor Lofts on Main Street, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
The GLTC “Art” Trolley will run between the Academy of Fine Arts, Riverviews Artspace, the Beeswax Candle Co., Avenue Arts Studio Gallery, Hardwick’s in the Galleria, Dance Theatre of Lynchburg, the Lynchburg Art Club, Light Wings Gallery, Rivermont Studio, The Dancing Leaf Gallery, the Lynchburg Museum at the Old Court House, James River Furnishings, Oxide Pottery and participating downtown restaurants from 5 to 8 p.m.
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