“Creative Storm” by Tina Brunetti, Bill Capshaw, Tina Curry, LeJean Hardin, Carlos Jones, and Jamie Price Payne
June 7-28, 2019
“Creative Storm” by Tina Brunetti, Bill Capshaw, Tina Curry, LeJean Hardin, Carlos Jones, and Jamie Price Payne
Opening reception: Friday, June 7, 5:00-9:00 PM
Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
This diverse group of artists have worked together and/or been friends for many years, and each artist has a distinct style and approach to their work. The component that ties them all together is a shared vision of the beauty they see in the world, the environment, the resources around us, and the unique ways of creating a 2-D or 3-D form. They convey raw emotion in each stroke of the pen or brush, the curvature of the clay, and the image peeping through the lens of the camera. Creative Storm features a talented group of artists letting the viewer have insight into their dreams and imagination. The exhibition artists include:
Tina Brunetti
Artist Statement
While painting my animals, especially protected or endangered species, I am in a zone. I feel like I have been given the mission to remind people of their importance to the earth and the environment. They need to be respected, they need to be safe, they need to be loved, they need to be alive.
Bio
Intense love and respect for animals and nature drives Tina Brunetti to paint. Her goal is to communicate to the world the importance of ecological balance between humans and mother Earth through her artwork. Tina’s latest artistic exploration involves the application of alcohol ink to sheet metal. She uses a dremel tool and a grinder to add texture and shine that results in multi-patterned light refractions. The transparency of the ink lets the metal shine through and the process of layering pigments produces textures that make her favorite subjects, animals and Native Americans come to life. Her latest endeavor is creating art on copper and brass. For the background on copper, she and her husband patina the copper metal by using salt, ammonia, and mustard. They also use a flame torch. On brass, Tina likes to use a grinder to create sunray patterns. Most of her work are done on medium and large pieces, however she has been painting on 7×8 pieces as well. Even though Tina was born in St. Louis, Missouri, she knew that she would one day move to the Appalachian/Smoky Mountains area. When she visited the Smokies for the first time, over thirty years ago, she knew her heart belonged to this region. The areas’ beauty and wilderness inspire her love for nature and wildlife. Tina lives in Loudon, Tennessee with her husband and two dogs. Between them, they have three grown children and three grandsons. https://www.tinabrunettiart.com/
Bill Capshaw
Bill Capshaw earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics in 1971 and a Master of Fine Arts in Printing Processes in 1974 from East Tennessee State University. He worked for Bechtel Jacobs Company LLC from 1977-2007 as a Government Printing Office Specialist as well as served as an adjunct faculty member at Pellissippi State Technical Community College. For more than 30 years, he has served as Pottery Chair and Instructor of the Oak Ridge Art Center. Capshaw has volunteered with the Tennessee Arts Commission to review grant applications for At-Risk Youth and other grant programs. He has conducted workshops at the Appalachian Center for Craft, Arrowmont School, Vanderbilt University, Virginia Intermont College, Oak Ridge Art Center, Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, and various area middle and high schools. Capshaw’s works have been included in the Governor’s Inaugural Ball, countless fundraisers, private collections, and permanent collections such as ETSU Slocum Gallery, Tennessee Arts Commission, and Huntsville Fine Arts Museum. He has had solo and group shows with Blue Spiral 1 (Asheville), Rodman Townsend Gallery, Johnson City Arts Council, Kingsport Fine Arts Center, Smithsonian Institute, Tennessee State Museum, Vanderbilt University, Joe L. Evins Appalachian Center for Crafts, and many others. His work is displayed and sold with Highland Craft Shop in Gatlinburg, Norris Craft Center, and Folk Art Center in Asheville. He is a member of Foothills Craft Guild, Southern Highlands Craft Guild, Appalachian Arts and Craft Center, and Tennessee Association of Craft Artists, at whose fairs he has held numerous demonstrations.
Tina Curry
Knoxville, Tennessee
A clay sculpture artist for over twenty-five years. There is a fascination with trying to express nonverbal emotion through clay, especially with human portraits. Many of my animal sculptures take on more of a whimsical or humorous spirit, my equine and abstract nomadic forms present a more calm/fluid presence. My equine sculptures were born from memories of my lifelong love of horses, beginning with my very first pony at age 6 and throughout much of my adult life. And what better firing technique to use but actual horsehair to burn intricate patterns in the clay body. All of my sculptures are handbuilt, so each has its own personality and any imperfections just add character. I utilize alternative firing techniques like horsehair, saggar, naked raku, pit and barrel firing for finishing my pieces. I was honored to have a solo exhibition sponsored by the Tennessee Arts Commission in Nashville, October-November, 2018. Memberships include: Southern Highlands Craft Guild, Foothills Craft Guild, Terra Madre Women in Clay, Oak Ridge Art Center, and Arts and Culture Alliance of Knoxville.
Artist Statement
Being able to create a sculptural piece with my hands is truly a spiritual process. Part of me will always live in that piece no matter where it finds a home. That is why I continue to create and share my love of art.
LeJean Hardin
Native to East Tennessee and currently living in West Knoxville. Graphic artist as a profession since 1980. Retired in 2017. Caught the mud bug in high school after doing some stylized sculpture figures that turned out pretty well. Was taught to throw by Bill Capshaw in the late 1990’s, took a little time off and have been happily “creating” since 2010.
Carlos Jones
Photographer – Knoxville Native
Photography has been somewhat of a interesting, calling. I began in 1997, for documentation purposes. It was film. In 2002, I switched over to digital, This is when the fun began-Digital allowed us photographers to foster the ideas that we so desired. For me, it allowed me to deliver images that where refined, detailed, and competitive with industry standards. Today, I am currently hired full time with ORNL, where I am able to help communicate the goals of a government laboratory via photography. A few highlights are covers of: Science magazine July 2018, Smithsonian magazine June 2015, and the Review (distributed among government facilities). My Work consists of People-Pottery-Places. Please Enjoy All of our efforts to entertain and capture a moment that we as artists froze in time.
Jamie Price Payne
Jamie Price Payne was born and raised in Knoxville. Her artistic abilities emerged early in life, and always wanted to pursue a career in art. Jamie attended the University of Tennessee where she earned her degree in fine art. She worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 33 years as a graphic designer. Jamie is inspired by her emotions and feels a deep desire to create things she sees that stir her soul, good and sad. Her pieces are inspired by the different emotions and feelings that belong to women.