(Above) Love Letter to the Mountains. Jaana Mattson, artist
Opening with a reception on September 2 from 2–5 p.m., The Wool and The Wood, presented by Grovewood Gallery, is an exhibition of needle-felted wool landscapes by Jaana Mattson and fine furniture by Scott Kestel. While the artists work in very different media, their work is complementary in that it is handmade and uses natural materials. The exhibition is on display through October 29.
Nesting tables. Scott Kestel, artist
Kestel creates his furniture with lumber from carefully harvested, native trees found near his workshop in High Point. “Each piece is absolutely one-of-a-kind and is of heirloom quality,” he says. “Each tree is unique and I am able to translate those characteristics into the finished piece of furniture itself. For example, I select materials for table tops from the most figured and beautiful pieces of wood. The bases are structured from the strong, stable portions of the same log.”
Based in Marshall, Mattson completed her MFA with a focus on fibers at the University of Washington in 1999. “Using delicate layers of dyed roving, my needle-felted textiles are meditations on nature as the vibrancy of wool reflects the energy of the landscape,” she says. “Each scene is created by anchoring one wisp of wool at a time until the image becomes fabric which is then set in wooden objects or slabs of wood I’ve gathered from local sawmills. The organic textures of wool and wood energize each other and the sculpture takes on a resonance greater than the sum of its parts. In that sense, these mixed media works have a dialogue and harmony with Scott’s woodwork.”
Grovewood Gallery is located in Grovewood Village at 111 Grovewood Road, adjacent to and below the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville. Gallery hours are Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free parking is available onsite. To learn more, visit Grovewood.com or call 828.214.7768.
