Guild Board Members Present Exhibit

Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg is presenting artwork from various members of its Board of Directors Dec. 2-29, and an opening reception will be held on Thursday, Dec. 17, 6-8 p.m. in the Guild Gallery at Chapman Cultural Center. The exhibit is free to the public, and all are invited to attend the reception, which will be held during the community’s monthly ArtWalk.

Exhibiting artists are Ann Wenz, Claire Louka, Roy Smith, Tina Gwata, Dwight Rose, Jim Shaver, Richard Orr, and Tom Rickis. A variety of artistic styles are exhibited in this month’s show. Mediums include painting and mixed media. All of the artists will be at the reception and able to speak about their artistic process.

Wenz is originally from Michigan and has called Spartanburg home since 1975. She is retired from Spartanburg Methodist College as Professor of Art. Wenz said, “[Her] response to design takes concrete form through weaving.  The manipulation of a variety of fibers and the final product are often influenced by the textiles of earlier times and cultures but presented in an abstract contemporary manner.” Wenz has served as both the President and Vice President for the Guild.

Louka received a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Clemson University, followed by a master’s degree in Art Education from Lander University. She has been a visual arts educator in public schools since 2006 and became a Trustee for the Guild in 2013. Louka hopes her experience and knowledge of art education will prove beneficial to the Guild’s efforts to support area artists and provide opportunities for the arts to grow in her community. A professional artist, Louka’s narrative paintings can be found in public and private art collections throughout the United States. Many of her themes spring from transient social interactions and distorted memories of her travels. Her stylized figures are placed within a dreamlike scene and rendered with detached gestures and pensive facial expressions. Even in the absence of human forms, a human presence is implied.

Smith has spent more than half his life in Upstate South Carolina.  He is a resident of and artist in Spartanburg, and works at Spartanburg Community College as the Information Technology Operations Manager.  Smith is an active board member of the Guild and continues to promote works both locally and throughout the southeastern United States.  Having grown up in a family of artists, he began drawing at a very young age and has continued to make the creation and study of art an integral part of his life. Smith formally studied 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional arts in college, regularly attends workshops and has continued to collaborate with and learn from other artists. Many of his works are impressionistic, but he continues to study light and darkness, space, and dimension through the use of different painting techniques. Smith’s current works include portraits, architectural, southern scenes, murals, and semi-abstracts. He continues to work on his techniques and explore different themes and hopes to provide a unique perspective on 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional arts. “I have explored many of the natural wonders within the southeastern United States and continue to pin point the special features and moments that the three regions within South Carolina provide.  From the oceans to the highest mountains, this one-of-a-kind region within this great continent produces art almost automatically,” Smith said,

Rose is a graduate of the Ringling College of Art and Design, earning a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art (painting). He went on to teach both in Ringling’s community art programs and at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar.  Rose’s works are based on the principles of good graphics, which comprises the use of line and the modeling of light and experimentation with color. Through experimentation with color shifts he creates contrasts. Through observation he implements the transient nature of light and in conjunction with other elements create the idea of a landscape, architecture, or a still life. Collectors included Motte & Sons Bootlegging Co. (Spartanburg, SC), University of North Carolina Greensboro, Shelton Group of Companies (Charlotte, NC), Sarasota YMCA, Peoples Employment Exchange (Sarasota, FL), Sarasota Wellness Center, Kybele Hotel, (Istanbul, Turkey) and Wake Forest University. Most recent shows were November 2014 with a one-man show at Gallery East and a group showing of area artists at the Carolina Gallery both located in Spartanburg. Juried 2014 shows at the Pickens County Museum 35th annual for South Carolina artist and the South Carolina Water Media Society show were also venues for Rose’s work. The Union County Artist Annual show of 2014 saw Rose receiving the Arthur State Bank award. Rose also had two one-man shows in 2013, one again at Gallery East and at The Painters and Sculptures Gallery in Tryon, NC. Rose is a current member of the South Carolina Water Media Society and the Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg, where he is a board member. Rose currently conducts watercolor workshops and teaches watercolor painting at the Chapman Cultural Center.

Gwata, originally from Zimbabwe, has been interested in all things art since she was about 14. Gwata received her bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from Lander University and graduated in 2008, followed her master’s degree in Art Education in 2009. She has been a teacher with Spartanburg School District 7 for seven years and is currently serving as the art teacher for the Spartanburg High School Freshman Academy. During her early teaching years, it was very hard to find time to be an artist as well as a teacher. Now that she has some experience and plenty of lesson plans in her back pocket, Gwata is better able to balance the two. Gwata works primarily with mixed media and loves the creating dynamic compositions that are surreal and yet still so unified. She also enjoys painting and bookmaking.

Like a lot of wood turners, Shaver had his first turning experience in high school in 1965.  While working in his wood shop class he learned to turn plates. Upon graduation from high school woodturning was put on hold while he served his country during the Vietnam Era and made his contribution to the work force. In 2009 he found his love of wood again after having heart surgery. In search of some much needed therapy while recovering from surgery he bought a lathe, and decided to try and turn some pens. He first began by buying the wood that he would turn but given the age in which he grew up decided that recycling what was already available would bring him more joy. He began to look for wood that represented a life that once was, discarded pieces of wood, wood left behind by the “Ruach” of God and even wood that has been rejected by foresters clearing the land with reckless expansion and no regard for the cycle of life. He creates something that can be appreciated by others because these trees still have something of beauty to offer. Shaver found and joined the Guild and now serves on the board. In 2013 the experience led him to the Tryon Arts and Crafts Center, where he taught woodturning to youth. He has had a show of his work at the Artist Guild Gallery in 2013. Since then, Shaver has bought a much bigger lathe and looks forward to what this experience will bring him. Oh, and he has learned a little and turned a few things along the way.

Rickis considers himself an impressionist landscape painter working in watercolors, oils, and mixed media and also an abstract painter. He’s a minimalist and does not like to overload his paintings with excessive details, but just enough to give the viewer a sense of peacefulness, mood, and an intimate realism. When he is painting landscapes, his subjects are usually representational or traditional in nature working with a limited color palette. In his snow scenes he likes to contrast the warm colors of weathered barn siding with the cool color variations of snow. Several years ago he experimented with watercolor/collagraph (a form intaglio printing) and is now exploring watercolor collage and oil collage. He is using collage to transform the traditional 2-dimensional painting medium into a 3-dimensional visual surface while continuing to paint on flat surfaces. His abstract paintings are geometric design collages using complimentary colors, textures, and shapes. Rickis initially started out as a self-taught artist and later earned his bachelor’s of arts degree as a Special Studies Major from Central Connecticut State University. He also attended the University of Connecticut and the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford. His work has been accepted in several juried art shows and is in collections throughout the United States.

The Guild Gallery is open Monday–Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Exhibits are always free to the public. For further information, please contact Caitlin Boice, [email protected], or call 864.764.9568.