Flights of Fancy are Rarely Ever So Direct
byCleaster Cotton explains that her first name rhymes with “fiesta,” and her Winged Narratives paintings have an animated folk-art quality about them that clinches…
Painting
This Former Model Knows How to Dress Up a Painting
byAsya Zahia Colie is a figurative, portrait, and abstract artist who divides her time between Asheville and her native home of Provence, in the…
A Realistic Impressionist Knows How to Color All the Bases
byHe was only nine when he saw the original Star Wars, back in 1977. But instead of being mesmerized by the aliens, creatures, and…
Making Mandalas Means Spiraling into Control
byWendy Barnes grew up in Montauk, a small fishing village at the tip of Long Island, where her father was a charter-boat captain and…
If You Cut Your Own Hair to Make Paintbrushes, Nothing will Get in Your Way
byOlga Dorenko was born in Uzbekistan. “My father was in the military, so we moved around a lot, from one end of the country…
They Want a Better Shot at Saving the Planet
byEric Baden, a local photographer and professor of photography at Warren Wilson College, is the founding director of the interdisciplinary endeavor photoplus. His work…
When You Grow Up in Paris but Discover Art in the American South …
byFrederic Payet is a self-taught painter whose palette-knife works are impressionistic with a signature, secret vibrancy. Born on the island of Madagascar, Payet was…
He Wants His Art to Talk to Itself While You Listen
by“I’m not an artist who is comfortable with pigeonholing myself,” says oil painter Peter Roux. “When I work with representational art I get itchy…
Her Main Inspiration is, in Fact, Not Being Inspired
byWhen Cindy Walton enters her painting studio, she leaves everyday concerns at the door. She moves swiftly, “attacking” the canvas. “My main thing is…
Love Hurts and Prompts Fascinating Conceptual Art
byNine years ago, artist Gwen Bigham moved from Charlotte to Asheville. Psychologists note that moving is one of the most stressful events a person…