Galleries Visual Arts

Trackside Studios: Mountain Moments

Grove Park Morning View. Sandra Moore, artist

Three artists have captured the splendor and beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in a show titled Mountain Moments at Trackside Studios in Asheville’s River Arts District. The show opens with a reception on Friday, June 9, from 4–7 p.m., and runs through July 7.

Cindy Chenard, Sandra Moore and Lynn Stanley share appreciation for the landscapes that inspire their artwork, yet each has her own individual style.

A North Carolina native, Chenard has lived in WNC’s mountains for most of her life. Hiking to find the “dynamic views and colors of the mountain ranges” provides a wealth of material for her boldly colored, clean-lined art. “I wanted to bring another dimension to my mountainscapes,” she says, “so I cut shapes out of thin pieces of plywood, apply color and texture, and then layer them, resulting in a multidimensional piece.”

Moore works in watercolors, acrylics and pen and ink, often painting en plein air, which she finds “challenging and vital to understanding the landscape in all its wonderful moods.” Many years of experimentation have helped her find her own process of layering paint and mixing colors. “When I paint, “ she says, “I want to instill a sense of peace in my work. I do not just copy what is before me. I move trees and mountains to achieve the design that pleases me and gives me that sense of peace.”

Mountain Sunrise. Cindy Lou Chenard, artist.

Stanley, who lives in a “house perched on the side of a mountain in Fairview,” has drawn and painted for as long as she can remember. Watercolors were her medium for many years before she discovered the Asian style of painting with its traditional rice paper, brushes, watercolors and inks. “Asian Brush painting (Sumi-e in Japanese),” she says, “aspires to express the essence of its subject rather than the details, which I find liberating and challenging at the same time.”

Though the show’s three artists work in different styles and mediums, Stanley says that, when she looks at the works together, “I feel the majesty and serenity of our Blue Ridge Mountains in all of them and I hope that’s something our viewers feel as well.”

Moore agrees. “I think those viewing our show will see a shared love of these mountains shown in three different mediums. I feel we each express a certain peacefulness the mountains give to us.”

Trackside Studios is located at 375 Depot Street in the River Arts District. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. To learn more, visit tracksidestudios375.com.

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