From The Mind’s Eye

Botanical oil paintings by Chris Graebner, vibrant landscape paintings by Marcy Lansman, distinctive blown glass by Pringle Teetor. In the gallery August 22nd through September 24th. Opening reception during Hillsborough’s Last Friday Art Walk, August 25th, 6-9pm. The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is owned by 21 local artists featuring painting, sculpture, photography, glass, jewelry, handcrafted furniture, pottery, and mixed media. 121 N. Churton Street, Hillsborough NC. Hours: Monday through Saturday 10-6, Sunday 12 – 4. For more information about the show visit www.HillsboroughGallery.com

From the Mind’s Eye, highlights the work of Chris Graebner, Marcy Lansman and Pringle Teetor, on display at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts from August 22 through September 24, with a reception in the gallery on Friday, August 25th from 6-9pm.

Oil painter Chris Graebner, has continued her botanical series this year. These paintings are oil on cradled panel – a smooth flat surface that is perfect for detailed work and which allows the painting to extend right to the edge without the intervention of a frame. In the process of making them Graebner rediscovered her “magic brush.” “Back in the late 1990s, I was taking a class in watercolors, when I discovered a Raphael Kolinsky sable brush in the bargain bin of a Kansas City art supply store. These brushes are usually quite expensive, but this one was on deep discount, so I bought it. I couldn’t believe how much more control I had with a really good brush. It felt like magic! Fast forward 20 years: I’d stopped using watercolors and returned to oils. My magic brush was made for watercolors, so I’d put it away. Last year I got it out again and decided to see how it would work with oils. Most brushes for oil paints are stiffer with much coarser bristles. But for the detailed work that I do, my little sable brushes are perfect!”

Many of Marcy Lansman’s paintings have been inspired by what she sees on walks in the woods near her home in Chapel Hill. “On summer mornings I go straight from the woods into my studio, where I recreate some of what I experienced on my walk. I put down an underpainting of patches of bright colors. Then, using a palette knife, I fill the painting with random strokes that work together to create the illusion of light hitting trees.”
Although it’s impossible to control the palette knife as precisely as a brush, it’s easier to create random, organic shapes. Speckles of color from the underpainting show through the random shapes created by the palette knife. The effect of those speckles is to liven up the painting, mimicking splashes of light we see in nature. This technique is especially suited to paintings of trees since, from a distance, the leaves on a tree look like random patches that vary not only in brightness, but in color.
“I want the paintings to take the viewers out of their busy world into the peace and quiet of the woods.”

For glass blower Pringle Teetor these past 2 years have felt like an out-of-control freight train with too many major transitions. “I really wanted to get back to working with cane but felt that my head wasn’t where I needed it to be for complicated work. So, a couple of weeks before shutting the glass furnace down for the summer, I decided not to worry about the final product and just practice canework. After just one piece, I suddenly felt like I was back in the saddle! I have had a few designs in my head for a long time that I had wanted to try. One is called a “switched axis”: after the cane is rolled up on the pipe, a hole is made in the side and a pipe is attached there. Then the original pipe is removed from the gather. This changes the direction of whatever was on the first pipe. It is a complicated procedure, but the results are stunning.”

About the Gallery:
The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is owned and operated by 21 local artists exhibiting contemporary fine art and fine craft. The Gallery’s offerings include oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings, metal sculpture, figurative sculpture, ceramics, photography, montage, digital art, mixed media, jewelry, glass, and handcrafted furniture. 121 N. Churton Street, Hillsborough, NC 27278. Phone: (919) 732-5001. The gallery’s hours are 10am-6pm Monday–Saturday, 12-4pm Sunday. More information can be found at HillsboroughGallery.com