By Julie Ann Bell
Welcome! This amazing word can be an exclamation, a noun, verb or adjective. With such a diverse range of use, we’ve chosen “Welcome” as our theme at Trackside Studios for the first quarter. Our studio’s mission already embraces this concept: We welcome all to a vibrant, fun, friendly, imaginative space for local artists to create, teach and market art.
Offering a variety of subject matter, mediums and styles is one of our cornerstones. Today, we introduce you to three artists whose approaches to art are uniquely different from one another.
Golden Ratio: Pink. Charlotte Bell, artist
The “spark to create art” for Charlotte Bell was a class in Experimental Art in 2018 which she says freed her “from my previously formed notion that ‘good art’ needed to subscribe to certain notions of perfection or be the result of intentional social commentary. I just played and I kept playing, experimenting with new techniques and media,” she says. She describes her style as “abstract, intuitive and spontaneous.” Working with paint, ink, charcoal, pencil and found, printed and painted papers, she “dives in without preconceived ideas or goals.” While writing a memoir for her children she realized themes from her life story and art crossed over. “These themes,” she says, “have coalesced around the notion of edge–tensions inherent in contrast between light and shadow, upheaval and regeneration, texture and form, past and present.”
Sculptor Ashley Guevara acknowledges that all art is subjective, but he hopes his mixed media work invites viewers to “feel challenged by what they are viewing, to make them think and get lost in a different world and absorb as much as they can find in every piece.” He most enjoys creating moody worlds which may include moving parts, glowing lights or mysteries behind curtains. He works with metals, wood, epoxy, clay, paint, fabric and moss and is now exploring concrete. New works start in his head while he is working on other pieces where the ideas, he says, “play like a movie on a loop until I can make them.”
Chachapoyan Demon. Ashley Guevara, artist
When working as the “Doodle Dude,” Mitch Capps invites viewers to give him requests on the spot that he transforms with “weird, wiggly lines or funky strokes” onto hats, shoes, paper or whatever surface they bring. Capps creates at live events and in the studio using alcohol ink, watercolor and acrylic markers in a style he describes as “abstract impressionism with a focus on emotions, music and the city of Asheville.” Although his art is lighthearted in appearance, Capps undertakes it with deeper meaning, sharing that he believes “it is the role of an artist to record a true history of events. History books tend to be written by oppressors, but music and art tend to hold the ideas of the people and of the lovers of the world,” he says. “To me, it’s incredibly important to inspire a sense of whimsy and play. I want to express tougher emotions or ideas in a way that feels fun and playful, making the ideas digestible and downloadable rather than repulsive or difficult.”
We hope the diverse work of these three artists inspires you to stop by someday soon to learn about more of our artists, see their creations and ponder the myriad ways art speaks to each of us.
Trackside Studios is located at 375 Depot Street, in the River Arts District. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, and by appointment. Learn more at TracksideStudios.com.
