{"id":24677,"date":"2019-01-26T08:03:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T13:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=24677"},"modified":"2019-01-31T08:42:41","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T13:42:41","slug":"cover-artist-simone-wood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/cover-artist-simone-wood\/","title":{"rendered":"Cover Artist: Simone Wood"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Cardinal Love<\/p><\/div>\n

Story By Gina Malone | Photos By Paula Illingworth<\/p>\n

Although no one in Simone Wood\u2019s family encouraged her to be an artist, nor did she have any formal training, other experiences in her life have combined to allow her to teach herself to paint and to find inspiration for the watercolors that she creates. She remembers the serenity of art class in high school. \u201cI was at my most comfortable there,\u201d she says, \u201cthe smell of paints, the organized mess of paintbrushes and pallet knives, and the art that hung willy-nilly on the walls. When class was over, I would linger around the classroom and look at all the amazing styles of art that the other students had created.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon graduation, however, she settled upon a business degree, discovering later that she was not cut out for the office environment. \u201cI would often draw on those frustrating pink \u2018While You Were Out\u2019 pads,\u201d she says. \u201cTo this day, I get the chills when I see them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She took a job with a greenhouse\/garden center in her native New York. The flower shop there had in- house florists and was filled with silk and fresh flowers. \u201cHaving no floral experience to speak of, I was put in charge of making silk tea cup arrangements,\u201d Wood says. \u201cThat was the kickoff to my falling in love with the world of floral design.\u201d After a disappointing end to another job with a small floral shop in downtown Syracuse, she became serious about learning the floral industry, studying in California and New York and judging and competing in flower shows in the northeast. \u201cI ended my floral career with having been a member of Biltmore\u2019s esteemed floral department,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her love of nature and flowers, in particular, dates back to her childhood days when an elderly neighbor put together a garden show with the children in her neighborhood who planted seeds for flowers of all kinds. Wood chose marigolds, still a favorite flower to this day. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I even won a prize,\u201d she says, \u201cbut it didn\u2019t matter. That\u2019s when I really fell in love with nature and gardening and flowers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Goldfinch<\/p><\/div>\n

Seeing birds with her father at a wildlife refuge set off a love of birds of all kinds\u2014geese, crows, egrets, Red-winged Blackbirds. That early admiration for winged creatures still shows up in her art today. \u201cMy subjects are seldom detailed and I try to use artistic license when it comes to the undertones of the birds\u2019 natural colors,\u201d she says. \u201cI really want to achieve a bird that\u2019s perched on a branch in such a way that it makes you wonder if he is ready to take off or if he just landed. I love to paint birds with their heads looking back over their shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n

She finds an innate connection between the natural world and her desire to create. \u201cI am inspired by nature,\u201d she says, \u201cespecially when the sun is setting and the sky is on fire. I often sit and look at things and figure out in my mind how I would sketch and paint them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watercolor is the medium of choice for her these days. \u201cI create my paintings a few different ways,\u201d Wood says. \u201cAt times I will start with a splatter of paint on the paper, let it dry and go back to it and see what the position of the bird will be in relationship to the splatter. At other times, I\u2019ll start out with a sketch of a bird that I saw perched on a branch, fence post or feeder, then start the painting process.\u201d With the composition of her paintings, she seeks to create movement with the birds.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Flying Through<\/p><\/div>\n

Wood and her husband moved to WNC from the Syracuse area in 2008. \u201cKnowing that Hendersonville was an up-and-coming artists\u2019 community, I chose to show my works at Art MoB Studios when I was approached by the owner Michele Sparks, who saw my paintings at my first Art on Main event in Hendersonville,\u201d Wood says. She was supported at that first showing of her work by her husband who still gives her the space and encouragement she needs to create and by her sister Diane who was \u201cthe one who inspired me to begin creating, and to continue creating, my works of art.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more, visit SimoneWood.app<\/a> or find her on Instagram. Wood\u2019s working studio is at Art MoB Studios and Marketplace at 124 4th Avenue East in Hendersonville and her work is also available at Heart of the Matter Gallery in Brevard. An artist reception for her work, open to the public, will be held Saturday, February 16, from 5\u20137 p.m. at Art MoB.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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