The Tanagers. Kate Coleman, artist
Through Saturday, April 30, Asheville Gallery of Art (AGA) presents Avian Skies, an exhibition of acrylic-on-wood paintings by Kate Coleman. For this show, the artist has chosen works that feature the birds and skies of spring. “I was excited to embrace the colors of spring,” she says. “With this body of work I was inspired to change my colors and my palette from the ones I usually use. The results are a lot of oranges, yellows and golds. I also was interested in depicting birds that are often seen in the spring, further celebrating the season.”
The Peacock. Kate Coleman, artist
Coleman has been immersed in art all of her life, from childhood, to earning a degree in Fine Art, to creating a studio pottery line with her husband, to her current creative project: a love of painting that she shares with her daughter and a multi-media style that looks at birds and nature through a unique lens. “I love studying birds in nature,” she says. “I love to witness them take to flight—the beauty of that moment of the transition to the skies, or the graceful landing of a Great Blue Heron.”
Coleman’s works also feature an educational component, as she uses paper pages from informational books about the bird in her portraits of them. “At first sight, they are a visual experience, and then as the viewer moves closer, they are an educational one,” she says. “They might learn something new about a bird. Also, a lot of my landscapes include topographical maps of this area. It’s always fun to find Asheville or your town included in the painting.”
Asheville Gallery of Art is located at 82 Patton Avenue in Asheville, across from Pritchard Park. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. To learn more, call 828.251.5796, visit AshevilleGallery-of-Art.com or follow the gallery’s Facebook page.
