By Hannah Van Vlack
The Asheville Gallery of Art will showcase Summer Serenade: Colors and Warmth during the month of August, featuring the works of oil painter Bill George and pastel artist Andrea Stutesman. The gallery will host an opening reception on Friday, August 2, from 5–7:30 p.m.
Japanese Iris #2. Bill George, artist
George’s oil paintings focus on flowers, featuring detailed, colorful depictions that evoke warm summer days. “I define my work as realism, specifically naturalism, a style of art that attempts to portray the subject as it actually appears in real life but stops short of looking like a photograph,” he says. His technique involves placing several layers of paint, each enhancing the last, to build to the final image. George’s hyper-realistic blooms transport viewers to picturesque summer settings.
Stutesman crafts her scenes by making her own painting surfaces from pumice, primer or gesso, and by using alcohol and water to help build the underpainting. “My works represent the things we do during the summer, like going to the beach, a favorite activity of my family,” she says. “Some of my pieces are landscapes, while others are depictions of people doing things, particularly children, since they love summertime.”
Rowing Reflections. Andrea Stutesman, artist
Fitting for summer scenes, Stutesman is drawn to vibrant colors, which the texture and pigment of pastels especially allow for. “I hope viewers find a vibrancy in my work and can relate to it; I put things that remind people of their own experiences,” she says. “Things like beach scenes and a child pulling a Radio Flyer wagon may trigger people’s memories of their own summers.”
The stark differences between the two artists’ work help them complement each other. “Bill and I both tend towards realism,” Stutesman says. “He does light and shadow with oils, creating his flowers, and my works are a little different, sometimes softer, but both represent realistic scenes.” The artists and Asheville Gallery of Art invite people to come experience these two distinct, precise and vibrant takes on summer’s joy.
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. Hannah Van Vlack is a senior at Western Carolina University studying Writing and Editing in Professional Environments and Music.
