8 Members in Spartanburg Juried Show

The Spartanburg Artists Collective’s 2021 Juried Show opened on Sept 14 and runs through Oct. 23. Awards were presented on Oct. 2.

Eight Anderson Artists Guild members are in the show: Evelyn Beck, Matthew Brophy, Michael England, Hamed Mahmoodi, Mary Cooper McDonough, Yvonne Park, Lori Solymosi, and Beverly Walker. Theirs were among the 70 pieces selected from about 500 entries by jurors Mary Erickson and Denise Woodward-Detrich.

England and McDonough each won a merit award. See their comments below.

The entire show is online at https://appliedarts.artistscollectivespartanburg.org/gallery-of-selected-entries/?_ga=2.35708640.1191197393.1629554005-1288769361.1629554005&_gac=1.216139170.1629554005.EAIaIQobChMI3NTD16HC8gIV1cqGCh2YLAWhEAAYASAAEgITc_D_BwE.

Blue Tin (watercolor) by Michael England

“This is the second of three watercolors from a farm close to where I lived in Jonesboro many years ago. The family that worked the farm was named Turnipseed and I was introduced to the patriarch of the family through a friend of mine. When I visited with Mr. Turnipseed, he was gracious to me and allowed me to walk around the farm with him, and my memories of visiting with him are still very vivid.

“The first watercolor I did was called Early Morning Riser, an image of one of the farm horses that always warmed himself by standing in front of one of the barns while the sun rose on really cold mornings. Blue Tin is a painting of one Mr. Turnipseed's dogs he kept in a large pen attached to another pen. The image stuck with me when I visited on a really chilly day, and I finally painted it within the past years. I have one other image from that time I want to paint and its actually one of Mr. Turnipseed. He was a kind man and looked to be as old as Job. I remember him well.

“At the moment I'm working with gouache and a new paper, and it’s slow going for me as I've not had any experience with either of the new things I'm working with. My first gouache is in the Anderson show (it’s called Sea Wall), and I am now working on two separate figure pieces to help me work out the gouache technique and the new paper before I consider doing my final piece from Mr. Turnipseed's place.”

Hanging Out the Wash (mixed media) by Mary Cooper McDonough

“I created this piece and others in a series about my family, the people who shaped me as a person, entitled They Had Good Habits. This one in particular is a tribute to my grandmother, Dutchie. She would wash sheets and clothes and hang them on the line to dry. I would hold clothes pins for her as she put items on the line.

“This piece started out as another collage, but when that one didn't work out after months of staring at me, I decided to start over. Last May I attended some life drawing studio sessions at BRAC and was inspired by the model. This piece came together very quickly. I used doilies from Dutchie's cake baking supplies, lots of rice paper, painted papers and tons of acrylic medium. I finished the piece with self-leveling gel and cold wax applications. While I usually do landscapes, I have recently begun figural works, and this is one of them.”