By Joel Frady

Artists across seven counties were issued a simple challenge: create a work of art, using any media, but limit the work to the size of a postcard. The exhibit, Postcards from the Edge, is sponsored by the Western Art

Agencies of North Carolina (WAANC), a non-profit group that aims to strengthen the arts in Western North Carolina.

The exhibit premiered in April at the Cultural Arts Council of Wilkes County in North Wilkesboro and will stand in the gallery of the Ashe Arts Center in West Jefferson until Saturday, May 30. It will travel to Boone, Hendersonville, Lenoir, Morganton and Shelby before the exhibit ends in mid-November.

Jane Lonon, executive director of the Ashe County Arts Council and secretary for WAANC, said that this in the second time they have participated in the Postcards project.

She said they first held it a couple years ago and that "it proved so successful in challenging artists to think about a different size and to create new, original works of art."

The traveling exhibit is comprised of 10 works from each of the seven counties represented, but each county gallery was encouraged to invite 20 artists, according to Lonon. The West Jefferson exhibit will display 26 works of art since a handful of artists submitted multiple "postcards."

Lonon noted that the exhibit was set up in this manner because "you want to feature and showcase the artists in your community, but it's also important to be able to bring in the same level of high quality art from the other counties here for people to see."

Despite being the same size, artists submitted works in a variety of methods to create the works, ranging from watercolor and oil painting to clay pottery, photography and rug hooking.

The size isn't the only common factor of the art, however, as each work is framed in the exact same manner - centered in a 10-inch black shadow box frame.

For local artists, the level of challenge varied. Linda Bruce, an artist from the Baldwin community, said that "finding a subject that was easy to do on a small scale" presented a challenge, and that it was a "little bit harder" to paint.

"The smaller it is, the harder it is to do the details," she said. Joan Bell, owner of Originals Only gallery in West Jefferson, said that it is harder to paint a small piece because she is used to working with a bigger canvas.

But artist Sharon Kasel said it was "less daunting" to tackle such a small project.

"You can take bits and pieces to come up with a postcard," said Kasel. "I don't feel threatened by a huge piece of canvas that I may not be able to fill."

She noted that she prefers to work on small pieces, so "the challenge [would be] going larger."

Lonon noted that the exhibit also serves as a fundraiser for the seven counties, and that the art is intended to be easier on the wallet than most gallery works.

"We wanted to be able to make it affordable for basically everybody, so all of the pieces are $70," she said.

Buying a purchase won't get customers a painting immediately; all work will stand in the exhibit until it ends, and anyone who buys one of the traveling pieces will have to wait until November.

A reception for Postcards from the Edge will be held at the Ashe Arts Center on Thursday, May 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. To find out more about the exhibit, contact the arts council at (336) 846-2787 or click to www.ashecountyarts.org or www.waanc.org to find out more about the Western Art Agencies of North Carolina.