Mica, in downtown Bakersville, opened for its tenth year on April 1. In celebration, the cooperative gallery will highlight each of its member-artists monthly with special exhibits. Terry Gess and Carmen Grier share the spotlight in May.
Gess presents a selection of Mother’s Day gift-worthy pottery. Old favorite forms including flower bricks and tall, thin vases, will be on offer along with new work featuring smooth glazes juxtaposed with textured surfaces.
Gay Smith, artist
“I’ve long been engaged with making pots to bring flowers indoors,” says Gess. “There is something particularly fine about making a form that can stand on its own with shape, color and texture, but that can also be enhanced and in service to a handful of flowers placed inside of it.”
Grier will present a new series of small oil and cold wax paintings inspired by the landscapes of western Ireland and WNC. Transfixed by the ever-changing sky, water and dramatic land formations of the Irish coast, she was propelled to respond to the natural world back home in WNC, particularly the qualities of ethereal light and color.
“Several years ago, I began painting using oil and cold wax medium and oil paint sticks, drawing on my years of working with color through dyeing and piecing in textiles,” says Grier. “I love the sense of discovery I experience every day in the studio using this medium.”
In June, the work of Sondra Dorn and Gay Smith will be featured. Dorn experiments with alternative techniques in watercolor painting, beginning with loose pouring, using resists and building up layers to play with color and abstract composition.
Dusk. Carmen Grier, artist
“The pouring technique requires the artist to give up control, at least initially, and let water and pigment take over,” she says. “There is joy and freedom in letting process and materials take the lead.”
Smith presents works of porcelain. Turned on the pottery wheel, her forms and surfaces are altered while freshly thrown. She cites strong form, exciting surfaces and cheerful color as major concerns in creating her pieces. Though they are made of clay, Smith refers to her new work as baskets. With handles over the top, they can serve as vases or be purely decorative.
“I find fascination in stretching the boundary between functional and decorative, and these pieces straddle that line,” says Smith. “For me, they are a playful study in form.”
Visitors to Mica are asked to wear masks, maintain social distancing and help Mica artists do their part in stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Mica is located at 37 Mitchell Avenue, Bakersville. Mica is open daily, Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 12–5 p.m. For more information, call 828.688.6422 or visit MicaGalleryNC.com. Follow the gallery on Facebook at Mica Gallery NC, or on Instagram at micagallerync.
