Arts Visual Arts

Cover Artist: Dale McEntire

The Gathering. Dale McEntire, artist

By Gina Malone

Painter and sculptor Dale McEntire credits, among other things, his Appalachian ancestry and the richness of art traditions in Western North Carolina for the work he creates. “These mountains feel very familiar and like home to me in many ways,” he says. “It’s been a wonderful place to be as an artist who is interested in landscape and nature.”

The Cut Through. Dale McEntire, artist

McEntire grew up in Polk County, where he still lives today. Although his upbringing as one of five children in a rural area did not provide access to a range of cultural events or art classes, he had an interest in drawing and in creating while at play outdoors as a child. That early interest in nature remains a strong influence in his work to this day. “When I was able to go to college and have some professional training,” he says, “it opened up a new world for me and I have been learning ever since.” Careers include work in advertising and display with J. C. Penney and operating his own frame shop. “For the past 30 years, I have had the privilege to make my way as an artist with the assistance of my wife Wendy,” says McEntire. To further his arts education, he has worked with mentors and studied at Penland School of Craft and in Europe. “The community, galleries and art organizations in the region have been supportive and have provided me with a sustainable lifestyle over the years,” McEntire says.

A Cradle For Our Mother. Dale McEntire, artist

After college he found himself drawn to Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Fauvism. He was particularly influenced early on by Camille Pissarro and Van Gogh and, later when his own work became more personal and abstract, by Charles Burchfield, Arthur Dove, Will Henry Stevens, Arshile Gorky and Wassily Kandinsky. “As the years have gone by and after hundreds of paintings, I have developed my own style and refer to it as Nature Symbolism,” McEntire says. “I also began working in 3D and have made sculpture in stone, cast glass and steel, many times combining these materials in my work.” These days, he estimates that three-fourths of his creative time is spent on painting and the remainder on sculpting. “I find they inform one another in many ways,” he says.

He works on location with both oils and pastels. “Many times because I am hiking into places that are not easily accessible with a lot of art supplies, I make pastels on location and then they may become larger oils in the studio,” he says. “Oftentimes the work will take more of an abstract journey during this process.”

Emerging. African Blackwood, Cast Glass and Limestone. Dale McEntire, artist.

Much of his sculptural work is informed by geometry and forms found in nature. At present, he is producing two or three outdoor or indoor sculpture pieces per year. “Early on, I did larger outdoor projects and currently continue to explore sculpture on a smaller scale,” McEntire says.

He considers art to be—and always to have been—a friend and a teacher to him. “It has always been there no matter the life circumstances, and is a place of solace,” he says. “As an artist, you spend a lot of time alone and I think that is where you can learn to question and explore intuition. It allows space to reflect on one’s place in the world.” He recalls a time spent alone camping and painting in New Mexico. “I woke up to a time when nature was as pristine and perfect as anything I could ever imagine,” McEntire says. “I spent the day painting there and will always keep that time in my heart.”

His current series addresses climate crises and interconnected relationships. As a student of Buddhism, he sometimes finds material that inspires him to be more philosophical with his work. “The way Dale’s artwork is informed by his inner spiritual life to reflect his love of the earth’s beauty creates phenomenal results,” says Suzanne Camarata, owner of The Gallery at Flat Rock. “He has a particular ease with the language of color and symbols, which he uses to express his vision of the multilayered depths of a landscape scene. Viewers are immediately drawn to the fascinating complexity in his paintings and also in his multimedia sculptural pieces.”

McEntire says that he believes there are various paths to wisdom in life, and art is a way of connecting with nature, with other people and with himself. While open to beauty, nature, creativity and communication with others, however, he remains focused. “I am disciplined with my working schedule,” he says. “I never am bored or lack the desire to be in the making mode. It’s certainly not always the easy thing to do and I have disappointments, but the opportunity is a gift.”

Dale McEntire’s Saluda studio is open by appointment. Call 828.899.0440 or visit DaleMcEntireArt.com. Follow him on Instagram @mcentiredale. Among the regional galleries representing his work is The Gallery at Flat Rock, 2702A Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, and Grovewood Gallery, 111 Grovewood Road, adjacent to and below the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville.

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