Fall for Art Open Studio Tour

Some artists’ studios are neat and tidy — every pencil, palette knife, and paintbrush in its rightful place. But then there’s painter Eleanor Palmer’s workspace. “My studio is a nest — a collection of what captures my attention,” she tells Asheville Made. Inside, you may find pebbles collected from a lakeshore, bits of tattered linen, and shingles of pine bark that smell like warm vanilla. Though seemingly random, the “collection process reveals an aesthetic pattern” that guides Palmer as she fills a canvas with bold, gestural marks. The painter talked more about this process last autumn during the Fall for Art Open Studio Tour — a free, self-guided driving tour organized by the Art League of Henderson County. The 2023 iteration featured more than 50 creatives across a range of mediums. There was glass artist Cat Martin in Horse Shoe, quilter Laura Jones on Fourth Avenue West, and painter Beverly Kies in Etowah. Diane Dean, president of the League, expects this year’s event to be just as engaging. “This year’s tour promises to be exciting and filled with a variety of fine art and fine craft artists,” she says. Guidebooks will be available at Art Place Gallery starting Monday, Oct. 7.