Art After Dark

Wanda Ann Kinnaman’s creative process begins and ends in the woods. First, she laces up her hiking boots and goes searching for “open spaces and quiet places” with her camera, sketchbook, and two pups. As they walk, Kinnaman may notice a patch of crimson-red trillium or a crystal-clear brook framed by mossy boulders. After taking note, she’ll return to her Western North Carolina studio overlooking the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It’s from this vantage point that she immortalizes the flora and fauna of Southern Appalachia. “In the studio, I reimagine my observations, sketches, and collections into hand-rendered digital composites that develop into paintings that dance a finely tuned balance of ancient media of encaustic (beeswax) and traditional media,” Kinnaman writes in her artist’s statement. This December, the mountain creative will bring a selection of her nature-centric pieces to Twigs & Leaves Gallery during Art After Dark, a studio stroll event held on first Fridays in downtown Waynesville.