Asheville watercolorist Kathryn Phillips grew up in an Arkansas farming community. She remembers spending languid afternoons with neighborhood children — listening to thunder, catching lightning bugs, and feeling the cool dirt under their bare feet. These formative experiences in the outdoors inspired Stepping Outside, an exhibit of nature-themed pieces running through May at Wedge Studios. According to Phillips, the show includes watercolors of orchids, begonias, and other flora as well as graphite sketches and more abstract works. “Nature inspires me,” says Phillips. “The patterns, the textures, the smells — they all inspire.” In a similar vein, licensed landscape architect-turned-contemporary visual artist Rachel Clegg will present Trees of the Blue Ridge come June. The solo showcase will include sketches of arboreal delights, such as the mighty Carolina hemlock. “I want to bring attention to the subjects that I paint,” Clegg tells Asheville Made. “I have an innate drive to paint certain pieces. Where that comes from is part of a great mystery.”
Stepping Outside: May 1-31
Trees of the Blue Ridge: June 1-30; Artist Reception: Saturday, June 8, 4-6pm
Spotlight Gallery at Wedge Studios / 129 Roberts St., River Arts District, Asheville