Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 2 - 8, 2022 UCW 13 COVER STORY Art Specialist-Ederle Art Cen- ter, Vicenza Italy, presently lives in Alexandria, Virginia: "Visual imagery provides a sort of universal language by which viewers can interpret individually. Creating art is a source of catharsis. I am most myself when I am making art." Angela Stout : Painting Instructor, Cape Fear Studios, and FTCC Continuing Education lives in Broadway, NC: "The process of creating is what my heart desires. The act of making helps me express what I struggle to express in words." Amanda Stephens: Lead Sculptor, Kerns Studio Mardi Gras World, New Or- leans, LA: "Art is inseparable from life. It is the most fulfilling en- deavor both in the creation and the continued learning of skills and self." Jean Newton Unser (Dieter): Art teacher in NC schools lives in SanAntonio, Texas: "As an artist, I am a collector, a maker, a participant, and sup- port other artists be an artist." Aaron Wallace: Self Employed Professional Artist, Willow Spring, North Carolina: "I see my entire living space as a studio and canvas. I am lucky to have a life where I can work at my own pace and have plenty of space to create." Neysa Wellington: Master of Fine Arts in Photog- raphy graduate student, Tyler School of Art & Architecture at Temple University, Phila- delphia, PA: "Being an artist is embracing my ancestral call- ing of being a visual griot. Art saved my life, but photography changed my life." Lastly, a reason for the exhibit is to share the diverse talent and styles of 20 artists. Jean Newton Unser (Dieter) from San Antonio, Texas, exhibits her refreshing approach to water- colors in a soothing painting titled Landscape. Unser's paint- erly work is in stark contrast to Ebony Morlte-Oates' digital work titled Layered Purging. Similar in color, Morlte-Oates' portrait is a flattened contem- porary portrait evoking a psy- chological state of being. Two artists have explored the portrait genre. Shantel Scott is exhibiting a female reduced to line, black and white. In her digital vector drawing titled Fruits of Self Trust, Scott has presented us with a stylized contour drawing - an encounter with a female cosmic oracle. Scott's minimalist approach is the exact opposite of Angela Stout's. Stout is the only real- istic painter in the exhibit and exhibits a meticulously painted portrait titled His Story. Stout uses light in her painting to reveal meaning about the male subject ; a crackled back- ground texture compli- ments the subject's strength and permanence, and gaze. Visitors to Being an Artist : A Way of Life should plan on spending time with the exhibit. A variety of styles and mediums to enjoy, but it will take some time to read the artist's profile text panel. The panel has an image of the artist, their art jobs, statements about attend- ing an HBCU for their educa- tion, statements about art as a lifestyle, and links to the artists' website or instructional You- Tube videos. The exhibit opens at Gallery 208, Feb. 8 at 208 Rowan Street from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The public is invited to the opening. The exhibit will remain in the gallery until late March. The gallery is open Monday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. For information on the show, call 910-484-6200. SONI MARTIN, Gallery 208 Curator. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Ebony Morlte-Oates' artwork featured in the Being an Artist : A Way of Life exhibit is a digital work titled "Layered Purging." Morlte-Oates' portrait is a flattened contemporary portrait evoking a psychological state of being. (Photo courtesy of Soni Marin.) Angela Stout is the only realistic painter featured in the Being an Artist : A Way of Life show and exhibits a meticulously painted portrait titled "His Story." Stout uses light in her painting to reveal meaning about the male subject ; a crackled background texture compliments the subject's strength and permanence, and gaze. (Photo courtesy of Soni Marin.)