Landscape & Wildlife Photography by Jeffrey Stoner

Images of Natural Beauty at F.W. Gallery in November

Photographer Jeffrey Stoner will share his love of place in an exhibit titled Appalachian Discoveries at the F.W. Gallery at Woolworth Walk through November 29. An opening reception will be held on Friday, November 4, from 5–7 p.m.

Stoner recalls being drawn to making pictures with a camera at the early age of five. “I was eight years old,” he says, “when I first saw an image I wanted to make. I went outside after an ice storm and there was a tree just outside the door covered with ice. It was both the beauty of the scene and the joy I felt that I wanted to capture.” He received his own camera at age ten, and began teaching himself the art of photography. When he moved to Kingsport, TN, in 2007, it was because of its proximity to the Great Smoky Mountains as well as Western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia. “I want to share the discoveries,” Stoner says, “of the beauty found in the southern Appalachian Mountains—what I have seen and what others can experience.”

His discoveries include angora goats on the Roan Mountain Highlands and ponies at Grayson Highlands, VA. They are the basis for two of his most popular series: The Goats of Roan and Wild Ponies of Grayson. Stoner says that when he heard about Virginia’s herds, he thought a friend was pulling his leg. “I discovered there actually are wild ponies up there, about 140 that roam in small herds in an approximately ten-square-mile area. And, believe it or not, Texas longhorns too.”

Among the landscapes in the exhibit are images from the Craggy Mountains, Unaka Mountain (on the North Carolina– Tennessee border), and the Great Smoky Mountains. Stoner’s images of landscapes and wildlife have been featured in international, national and regional publications. He has published two books—The Meaning in Trees and Current: Essays on the Passing of Time in the Woods. His photographs will also illustrate a book of poetry, Natural History, scheduled to be released this month by Shanti Art Publishing.

F.W. Gallery at Woolworth Walk, located at 25 Haywood Street in downtown Asheville, is open seven days a week (11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday). For more information, call 828.254.9234 or visit woolworthwalk.com.