|
As most area residents know, the Green Movement is nothing
new.
Mountain people have been recycling, re-using and repairing
things for generations. D.C. Smith just takes it one step
further.
To his way of thinking, those cast off farm tools, car parts
and what-have-you are raw materials for his imagination. When
an odd shape catches his attention, he welds and fashions it
with other pieces to create whimsical sculptures that he calls
his “Varmints.” Smith is the type of person who never
has an idle moment. After retiring in 1992, he found a security
job with the Elk River Club to fill his time. When the
late shift proved to be too quiet, he learned to weave baskets
so he would have something productive to do during the evenings.
Now retired yet again, Smith remains on the go with his busy
lawn care service and a fine flock of goats that he and wife
Bonita enjoy watching cavort in the fields above their home.
Between chores, he creates his Varmints. Friends save discarded
tools for him to use, and Smith says that his granddaughter
serves as his “art critic.” Although they
are designed for an outdoor setting, Smith’s Varmints seem
quite at home with the warm-toned surfaces of Germaine Galjour’s
abstract paintings currently on display in the gallery.
Galjour, a self taught artist of French-Cajun descent, found
her way to Bakersville after leaving Louisiana in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. She has had no formal training, but
has spent years on applied theory and resourcefulness to arrive
at her various styles of painting in several art mediums. This
show features her abstracts in acrylic; in November, she will
return to the Cheese House Gallery with an exhibition of landscapes.
Galjour’s varied styles may also be seen at her Web site,
www.germainegaljour.com and at these galleries: The Design
Gallery, Burnsville; Guthrie Contemporary Fine Art, New
Orleans and Houston; Interiors and Extras, Metairie, La.; The
Nunnery Fine Art Gallery, Jackson, Miss.; and the Toe River
Arts Council Galleries, Burnsville and Spruce Pine.
The artwork of D.C. Smith and Germaine Galjour will be on
exhibit at the Cheese House Gallery through March 31. Gallery
hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays
by appointment. For more information, call the Avery Arts
Council at (828) 898-4292 or visit the Cheese House Gallery
at 630 Shawneehaw Ave. (N.C. 184) in Banner Elk.
The Avery County Arts Council is a non-profit organization
working to enrich the people of Avery County through meaningful
arts and cultural experiences. For more than 30 years, the council
has helped to support school arts programs and served as a resource
for artists and the community. Contact the Avery County
Arts Council at (828) 898-4292 or info@averycountyartscouncil.org
|
Get Firefox