19 AAG Members in Belton Juried Show

The 2024 juried show at the Belton Center for the Arts opened Sept 28 and closed on Nov. 2. The opening reception, postponed because of Hurricane Helene, was held instead as a closing reception.

The Anderson Artists Guild members in the show included Evelyn Beck, Matt Brophy, Dale Cochran, Wendy Converse, George Crown, Melody Davis, Nathan DePue, Barbara Ervin, Kathy Moore, Rosemary Moore, Wesa Neely, Donna O’Hara, Kate Salley Palmer, Karen Powell, Diann Simms, Lori Solymosi, David Wentzell, Leslie Wentzell, and Sue West.

Four members won merit awards. Here are their reflections about their award-winning pieces:

George Crown’s Shore Line Peggy’s Cove (watercolor):

“It is a transparent watercolor of a scene in Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. I love the effects of rocks, water and sunlight. The challenge of preserving the white of the paper and creating the movement of water was my goal.”

Kathy Moore’s Experiences (recycled high school yearbooks):

“The full title is Experiences—’All our firsts, and our lasts, and everything in between. They swirl and dance on the invisible currents, and then one by one, they disappear to a place they will always be a part of’ from Jessi Kirby. I recycled old high school yearbooks to convey the narrative of our first and last experiences, high school being rich in these experiences.”

Matt Brophy’s Table Blossom (stoneware ceramics):

“One of the problems I face with any bowl I throw is how far can I open it? My canvas is pretty much the inside of the bowl so I can easily collapse them during the throwing process. This one was opened about as far as possible without calling it a plate. It was around 17 inches after firing so I had lots of room to work with. This was made from speckled brownstone clay from highwater clay in Asheville. This facility was completely lost during the storm so there won’t be much around for a while.

“I had a nice pencil drawing that I made and, as usual, started from the bottom first. That takes the longest, and from there I can also change the rest of the design if it doesn’t fit. Everything came out as expected which is rarer than not lol. The next thing was naming it. It had a somewhat floral design which resembled a fully open flower, kind of like a blossom but what kind? A table blossom which ended up being the name.”

Leslie Wentzell’s Rumors Gather Like Crows (ceramic, yarn):

“I read the phrase ‘rumors gather like crows’ in a book and was struck with a vision of a ‘murder’ of crows landing en masse on a figure—loudly chattering and spreading their rumors from one to another. As I worked on the piece, the idea came to me to use yarn or string as a visual reference to the viral nature of rumor and how it enmeshes both the target and the participants. I like to use animals and specifically birds in my sculptures, allowing them to tell a story or convey meaning similar to the way animals are used to teach lessons in fables. I also frequently add elements in relief on the surfaces of my work and have done that with the three crows on the back side of the piece, but I felt that three-dimensional crows lend a more potent presence. The challenge became how to securely mount the birds in dynamic positions—but then clay is always a challenge! And finding the perfect yarn was surprisingly more difficult than I had imagined.”