Cover Artist: Alicia Armstrong

By Gina Malone

Alicia Anne Armstrong says that as a child she saw visual art as a place of serenity amidst her chaotic home full of creatives. “It was a quiet, self-focused activity,” she says, “and all of my art teachers were very patient and nurturing. It felt like a calm, safe place whenever I went to my art classes.”

Everyone in her family of six was musical, and evenings were spent with the four children playing various instruments accompanied by their classically trained father. “There was a creative spark in both my parents that was always coming out in music or things they created,” she says. “Both were pretty eccentric and I definitely noticed that more the older I got, but I also grew to appreciate it. They were lively, goofy, accepting, completely disorganized and totally brilliant at the same time.”

Her mother took her to art classes after school, where she first experimented with painting, printmaking and drawing. “I loved the repetition of printmaking, but later, in college, I fell in love with oil painting,” she says, “the color, luminosity and buttery quality of the medium.” She attended the University of South Carolina and then graduated from UNC Asheville with a BFA in painting. Two pieces from her senior exhibition are part of UNCA’s permanent collection.

A gallery in Columbia, SC, first represented her work, which gave her the impetus to begin showing at art fairs and festivals and, eventually, to find herself a working studio in Asheville’s River Arts District (RAD) in the early 2000s. By 2010, with young children at home, she gave up the stress of traveling with her art and settled into life as a gallery artist. By the time the pandemic hit, Armstrong was showing her work in 13 galleries, which brought a new level of stress. “I felt a lot of pressure from the galleries to not only produce,” she says, “but with specific guidelines in size and color. I was hitting a wall of sorts, so for me, the pandemic was freedom. I began painting a body of work just for myself—they were all ‘white paintings’ with very little color, all abstract. I absolutely loved the space and light, and I would say giving myself that freedom opened so many doors for me to explore lighter palettes.”

A little over two years ago, she and a college friend and fellow artist, Jeremy Russell, opened Russell and Armstrong Gallery in downtown Asheville. “After years in and out of the RAD, we had the opportunity to rent a space downtown that was large enough for a proper gallery space and separate studios in the back,” she says. “We totally went for it; we knew we were prolific and could keep up with inventory even though it may be a challenge. We both work on multiple pieces at the same time and enjoy making large work, so it was a perfect fit for us.”

Her work combines her ability to work in both abstract and representational imagery. “What at first glance may appear to be washes of color that conclude with expressive, tactile features that end in drippings or dramatic concentrations of color become suggestive of local and distant landscapes, dramatic horizon lines, fields of flowers or even the expanse of the sea,” she says.

“Alicia always astonishes us with her versatility, but her latest impressionistic paintings are a real tour de force,” says Chris Foley, owner of The Haen Gallery. “She manages to infuse a fresh and vibrant feeling into work that would enhance and enliven any living space.”

Armstrong describes Auroral, her newest body of work, as “abstract botanicals/florals that have an impressionistic vibe.” As a process-oriented artist, she lets the materials and the colors she uses to create guide her without a definite sense of where the painting should go.

“The pieces are inspired by the symphony of colors we see in nature, whether it be a field of buttercups or poppies, or a lush forest,” she says. “This particular collection is a celebration of color, texture and layers, capturing the intricacies and nuances of nature’s wonder. As in nature, there are endless color relationships to be found, and that has honestly been what has propelled this body of work.”

The years have seen her evolve, with her own art and art in general, into a less critical and more accepting artist, Armstrong says, with more emphasis on creativity’s relationship to joy rather than any competitive element. “One constant inspiration is the fact that there are infinite color combinations and textures to play with when making art,” she says. “I will never exhaust the possibilities.”

Find Alicia Armstrong’s work at Russell and Armstrong Gallery, 24 North Lexington Avenue, Asheville, and at AliciaAnneArmstrong.com. Follow her on Instagram @avlalicia. Among other galleries, her work may also be found at Art & Light Gallery in Greenville, SC.