6866 Main St., Wilmington, NC 28405
910-679-4257 or 484-885-3037

Monday – Saturday 10am – 7pm
Sunday 12 – 6pm
& By Appointment

Author Archive

Melissa Wilgis – Photographer

Pam Toll – Painter and Mixed Media

Pam Toll, an Associate Professor at UNC Wilmington, received a BA in Art and English Literature from UNC Chapel Hill and has been painting since childhood. Her studio is located at Acme Art Studios (Wilmington) which she co-founded in 1991, as a work and exhibition space for artists. She also co-founded No Boundaries International Art Colony (Bald Head Island, NC) in 1998, a residency program that in the last twenty years brought over 200 artists from around the world with the goal of creating a cross-exchange of cultures and artistic practices to share with our local community.

Pam Toll – Painter and Mixed Media

Traudi Thornton (1940-2023) – RAKU WARE

Traudi Thornton
(April 4, 1940- March 30, 2023)
Master Ceramicist

Traudi was born in Czechoslovakia in 1940. She first studied music at Creighton University before studying ceramics with Henry Soreco at Creighton, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and raku in a workshop with Paul Soldner at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1972. She returned to Germany and joined a cooperative art community in which she lived and worked on ceramics.

Love precipitated her move to Wilmington in 1983. She once again built a ceramic studio and began teaching ceramics at the Community Art Center where she influenced many budding ceramists.

Traudi said, “Working with clay validates my existence. During the plastic state, the relationship is that of master and a much beloved pet. I tell the clay to stay and push it, but often I have to listen. We have a rhythm. Clay needs heat to be transferred to a hard material. After the first fire everything turns from a state of grey to pink, and a slight estrangement takes place because they now look different than what they did before. Glazes also look pink or white or grey before they are fired. I imagine now how the optics will look in their final state, and after making choices the second fire takes over. Total surrender is demanded by heat and flame. After the firing is completed, the cooling period leaves my mood fluctuating between doubt and hope. And, then only after removing the pieces from the kiln, can I say they belong to me.”

Traudi showed and sold her work through Art in Bloom Gallery beginning in 2015.  She is survived by brother, Walt Bayer and his wife Tina, nephew Jurgen Wilde and the family she chose and loved here in Wilmington.

Traudi Thornton (1940-2023) – RAKU WARE

Tim Schwarz – Woodworker

Born in Buffalo, NY my family eventually moved outside of the city to a small town which had an antique shop. I remember at the young age of 12 going in one day and being amazed by the unique one of a kind items including some of the antique furniture in various styles made from varying species. At the age of 15 & now living in Eastern North Carolina I started working my 1st job cleaning floors. I remember being excited to work not only to make some $$ but to learn a skill. I was never one to sit around twiddling my thumbs. I like to blame this on my father who set a great example of how to provide for your family sometimes working 2 & 3 jobs at times to make sure we had a roof over us and food on the table.

Anyway after about 9 years or working in about 6 different fields of work that really didn’t suit me. I started working for my father-in-law’s auction company which I enjoyed since I got to learn so much more about antiques and furniture. I learned how to repair and refinish pieces that came in for the auction. I learned the various styles from throughout the last 200 years along with the species & techniques used to make them. I especially fell in love with Mid Century Modern designs by Knoll, Eames, Jacobsen, Nelson especially the naturalistic style of the famed George Nakashima.

Eventually with my ever growing family of 7 I needed to somehow make some supplemental income. So in 2015 I started buying well used and worn out furniture as well as some cool vintage & antique industrial pieces that I could repair, refinish, recycle or up-cycle into one of a kind pieces I would sell at various local consignment shops. Working on those pieces one day out of the week. One day someone who saw my work contacted me and asked me to make a 10’ long custom entryway table from scratch using new materials. Something I had never done before and had zero experience doing. But if you know me you know I’m always up for a challenge. And from the completion of that table I was hooked with making things with my hands from local sustainably sourced woods and recycled steel.

What started out as a 1 day a week way to make some extra money to help support my family 3 years later it became a full time job where I can work from home and be close to my family and each one of them has at one time or another come out to the garage and helped me work on projects among other things making it a full family affair. I get to work with my hands using natural materials I have always had a special place for in my heart. I always tell people I don’t make the gorgeous materials I use. I can only enhance and show off the beauty our Creator has given us. And I take something that could have eventually rotted and returned to the earth and make it into something that will last a lifetime or longer.

Tim Schwarz – Woodworker

Satava Art Glass

Satava Art Glass, located in Chico, CA, produces an array of stunning hand-blown and solid forms in glass. Their work is well known and appreciated throughout the world. Richard Satava’s hand-blown vases, depict beautiful natural landscapes, have made many a person melt.  Each handmade piece is engraved and signed by Satava Art Glass for proof of authenticity.

Satava Art Glass

Dick Roberts – Guest Painter

Virtual Tour created by Matterhorn Media.

Artist Statement

The paintings are about the act of painting. Although individually the paintings possess different intensities, opposing levels of complexity and abstraction, and perhaps a vague adherence to a narrative, the core of the process of painting remains consistent. The paintings are a reflection of the process of painting them. Every process is unique.

The magic of painting can never be totally explained. I find joy in discovering the emerging world of a new painting. Although harmony of the mind and the heart is important, the metabolic process of converting color, form and line into the forces that drive the painting is absolutely necessary.

Artist Bio

Education:
Brevard High School
Brevard, NC – 1965
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL,USA – Marine Biology, 1965-1968
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Charlotte, NC, USA – Creative Writing Program 1970-1972
Western Carolina University
 Cullowhee, NC, USA – BFA Ceramics and Painting 1979

Employment:
Science Museums of Charlotte
Charlotte, NC, USA –  Exhibits Tech 1979-1982
North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher
Kure Beach, NC, USA – Curator of Design and Exhibits 1982 – 2008
Artist
Acme Art Studios – Wilmington, NC, USA   1979 – present
Poet
1970 – present

Affiliations:
WHQR Public Radio – Local Advisory Board
Wilmington, NC, USA
1996-2004
North Carolina Museums Council
1979 – 2002
Southeastern Museums Conference
1979 – 1985
Wilmington Railroad Museum – Planning committee chairman
Wilmington. NC, USA 1995
Acme Art Studios – co-founder
Wilmington, NC, USA 1991 – present
No Boundaries International Artist Colony – co-founder
Wilmington, NC, USA 1997 – 2010
Art Point Gumno
Sloestica, Macedonia 2005 – present
African American Heritage Foundation
 Wilmington, NC 2009 – 2011

Publications:
Southern Poetry Review
Saint Andrews Review
Kostroma Poetry Project (Russian translation)
Between the Lines – Poetry festival chapbook
Poems for Macedonia
Various chapbooks

More of his works can be found on his website.

Dick Roberts – Guest Painter

Jessie Robertson – Painter and Sculptor

 

Artist Statement

Ever since I can remember, I have been filled with a great love for frogs and toads. Everything about them, from their bright eyes and wide grins to their powerful leaps and graceful strokes, amazes me. I try to capture the beauty I see in frogs in my artwork, and to express the love and joy I feel for them with those who see my pieces. More importantly, I hope to contribute to amphibian conservation efforts worldwide, and make a real difference in the lives of the thousands of frog species currently threatened with extinction. Frogs need us, and I believe we need them too.

While I have always enjoyed creating frog artwork, it became a true passion for me when I discovered SAVE THE FROGS!, an amphibian conservation organization, and the enormous threats that frog species face. Ever since, I have used my artwork as activism, including informative fact cards about species I depict and donating 10% of my sales to SAVE THE FROGS! I use a variety of mediums, including acrylic paintings, watercolors, sculpture, digital illustrations, and animation. My pieces tend to draw heavily from real life, both because I love animals as they truly appear and so that each species is distinctly recognizable. That said, I make my pieces lively by enhancing colors and giving all of my subjects a smile. Though frogs may be suffering dramatically in the world we live in, I want to live in a world where I can find them smiling everywhere. I work to help create that world in my art, and in real life.

 

Biography

Born in Memphis, TN, Jessie Robertson moved with her family to Wilmington in 2010. Since 2017, Jessie’s award-winning art has displayed in several group and solo art exhibits, including shows at Wilma Daniels Gallery, ACES Gallery, 216 N. Front Street, the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, and Art in Bloom Gallery. In 2019, Jessie graduated from Wilmington Early College High School as valedictorian and from Cape Fear Community College (CFCC). Today, she is majoring in both Studio Art and Digital Arts at UNCW and working as a part-time employee at Art in Bloom Gallery, where she edits their artist films. Jessie hopes that the more she learns and creates, the more successful she will be in achieving her goal of saving the frogs.

More of Jessie’s work can be found at: https://jessielrobertson.wixsite.com/portfolio

Jessie Robertson – Painter and Sculptor

David Norris – Illustrator

Wilmington artist, David A. Norris, has a BFA degree from the East Carolina University School of Art.  Long settled in the Port City, he finds the historic atmosphere of Wilmington and the natural beauty of the Cape Fear River and the coast provide limitless sources of artistic inspiration.

Most of David’s work reflects the landscapes of the places where he has lived or visited.  Through his interest in art history, his work has absorbed influences such as English watercolors, 19th century engravings, Japanese woodblock prints, Dutch Baroque landscapes, and Van Gogh’s reed pen drawings.

David recently has begun a series of monoprints that combine printing techniques with color pencils and lithograph crayons. They build on and compliment a long-standing series of regional cityscapes and landscapes done in watercolor and color pencil. He also works in other media ranging from black and white pen drawings to silverpoint, scrimshaw, linoleum block prints, and collage.

About the Monoprint Process

Monoprinting is a process by which the artist creates prints, but only as single, unique copies.

One variation, the “plexiglass print”, begins with a thin layer of block print ink rolled by a brayer onto a sheet of plexiglass or other firm, smooth material. The artist lightly places a sheet of paper face down on the glass. A guide sketch can be taped to the back of the sheet. Wherever the artist traces a line of the sketch — by pen, pencil, or even a fingertip — the pressure transfers a mark to the printing paper. When done, the paper is carefully pulled from the plexiglass and allowed to dry, leaving the new print.

The new monoprint can stay “as is”, or the artist can continue printing additional colors of ink onto the sheet. It is also possible to embellish the print by hand. The thick printmaking ink, when dried, makes a rich surface for color pencil or other drawing media.

David Norris – Illustrator

Constance Pappalardo – Painter & Guest Artist

Artist Statement

Whether I am working in black and white or color I’ve sought to suggest in my paintings – in addition to beauty -feelings of hope and peace.

Most of the black and white verticals started with music. They were born out of the genius of others such as Mozart and Bach. When I am listening to a piece of classical music and I close my eyes, what I see is the lines, the vibrations and explosions of the sounds, the notes, and the music. It always comes to me that way. And then black and white, never color, perhaps referencing the notes and sheet music I have seen throughout my life.

While the black and white pieces are inspired by music, the color pieces are about light and imagination. My color work is heavily influenced by nature and the magic of the ever-changing landscape.

I primarily work with watercolor on canvas, but my intention is never to follow the traditional path of watercolor. I am always experimenting, using the fluidity of the medium to my advantage. Sometimes I will use printing techniques to achieve patterns, sometimes spraying and rubbing and creating shadows by taking the paint off as quickly as I have applied it. It’s an exciting process because the outcome is always a surprise and that is what I look for, the happy accident when the very wet paint has a mind of its own and directs my next step.

About the Artist

Constance Pappalardo was born in Lima, Peru. She moved to New York City at the age of eight. The art and culture of the city inspired her to pursue her art studies. After high school, Ms. Pappalardo studied painting at The School of Visual Arts, in Manhattan.

Pappalardo now lives in Cary, North Carolina. Her contemporary abstract watercolors have been featured in numerous galleries in Cary, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and other cities in North Carolina.

She is a member of the Fine Arts League on Cary, The Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, Artspace and of The Durham Art Guild in Durham.

Ms. Pappalardo is the recipient of various art awards. Her works are included in local corporate collections as well as private collections in the states as well as England, Norway, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Mongolia, Moldova, and her native Peru.

She was chosen to be the signature artist for Cary’s 2007 Spring Daze Arts and Crafts Festival and is one of the original founders of The Cary Art Loop, Final Friday Art Walk.

Ms. Pappalardo is very involved in many charity art auctions, donating art throughout the years to such charitable events as VAE’s For the Love Art auction and gala, the Works of the HeArt/ action against AIDS auction and gala, North Carolina Museum of Art’s Art of the Auction, the Red Cross, the Boys and Girls Club of Wake County and Habitat for Humanity among others.

Constance Pappalardo – Painter & Guest Artist

Meg McGrew – Guest Photographer

From the time Meg McGrew first picked up a camera, she’s always been fascinated by shadows.  Meg loves the way our shadows elongate in late afternoon sun. She’s hypnotized by the crisp morning shadows that appear on her bathroom walls, outlining a piece of pottery or a cascading strand of leaves from a flowerpot on a shelf.

Lately Meg has been focused on how objects and shadows can be transformed into different and unique images. She’s taken the original photos and altered them digitally, playing with exposure, color, contrast and applications that add texture to the image. Time melts when she’s involved in this process.

Over the years, Meg has expressed herself creatively through photography, pottery, painting and drawing. But taking photos has been the most integral part of her creative life. Catching the play of light on an object or person, combined with a cast shadow, is Meg’s ongoing point of focus. Meg’s intention with her current series of photos is to illustrate how things change in time and in our imaginations, moment to moment.

 

“Out of the Shadows” Artist Statement

It was a bright sunny morning in early August 2016. I was on highway I-40 headed to Maryland. My Mom was getting hospice care at home, and I had planned to take over the caregiving from my brother Kevin for a while.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a car came careening across and over the median, and spinning toward me as I was going 70mph.The crash was loud and hard. I had many broken and shattered bones, some of which could not be fixed. After months of numbness, the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder set in.

I was grateful to be alive though, and still cannot fully express my gratitude to the many people who supported me after the crash. You know who you are.

It took a long while for me to make any kind of artwork again. But one day I was sitting in my wheelchair and had my camera nearby. I picked it up and started to photograph my shadows on the wall across from me. Now I see it as my first attempt to creatively deal with the trauma. I took pictures of the shadow of the heavy boot on my right leg and my hand reaching out in a helpless sort of gesture.

Years have gone by now, and the title of this show Out of the Shadows, reflects my coming through the darker, shadowy world of trauma to the more colorful creative life I have today. It also relates to a lifelong fascination I have had with shadows.

The images in this show started with photos either totally made up of shadows or where a shadow is a primary focus in the piece. I have then used an online photo editing program to digitally alter them in some way. I was so excited when I first got into this process. I was amazed at what I could create by changing the color, texture or shape of the original images.

In the beginning, some of the wonderful results came about by chance, as I explored the digital possibilities. Then I became more purposeful in how I transformed them,  while still being open to what I might stumble upon.

Light and dark. Day and night. One complements the other. I now have a deeper appreciation of the way shadows can accentuate the light in the image and in my life.

 

“Even in darkness it is possible to create light…” -Elie Weisel

“Life is an endless journey of self-discovery, a dance between the shadows and the light…” -Rumi

“Life only unfolds in moments. The healing power of mindfulness lies in living each of those moments as fully as we can, accepting it as it is as we open to what comes next–in the next moment of now.” -Jon Kabat-Zinn

Meg McGrew – Guest Photographer

Clarence Mayo – Guest Artist

Clarence is an artist based in Durham, NC, who specializes in cold wax, oil, and acrylic mediums. His artistic creations are a result of his deep inspiration from a diverse range of tribal icons and symbols originating from different cultures across the globe. Mayo’s artistic vision is notably shaped by the artistic and cultural intricacies of both Africa and Central America.

Clarence comes to Art in Bloom Gallery through an artist exchange project with the Durham Art Guild.

About the Durham Art Guild

The Durham Art Guild is a nonprofit member-driven visual arts organization established in 1948. The Guild’s mission is to enrich and connect our communities by creating opportunities and providing leadership for current and future visual artists and art enthusiasts. The Guild programs over 40 exhibitions annually across multiple NC community partnership venues featuring over 400 regional artists. In addition to the Creative Mentorship Program and the Artist in Residence Program, the Guild also produces over 20 arts related events each year including receptions, lectures, community building events and professional development workshops. For more information about the Durham Art Guild please visit www.durhamartguild.org or follow us @durhamartguild

Clarence Mayo – Guest Artist

Curtis Krueger – Photographer

Some of the Curtis Krueger’s earliest memories are of his father and him drawing at the dining room table. He was told our television broke down when he was in kindergarten, and his parents, although they could afford to repair it decided not to.  Curtis places much of his fascination with the art-world with their encouragement and direct participation. The lack of television as entertainment is another. Curtis studied art at Eastern Michigan University, earning a BFA, along with two teaching certificates. It was in school where he took a darkroom class and got the incurable photo bug.  For the last 25 years he has earned a living selling my photos at various art festivals and galleries across America. Traveling is a big part of his schedule. Half the year is taken up with either shows or photo gathering trips. On an average year, Curtis travels 30,000 miles and shoots 50,000 images.

Curtis Krueger – Photographer

Doug Haas – Wood Turner

Doug Haas is a wood turner who creates exquisite, original works of art often from wood found on local streets.  He is a volunteer woodturning instructor and mentor at Topsail High School and an active member of the Wilmington Area Woodturners Association and the American Association of Woodturners.  Doug’s wood turning builds upon his previous experience and exploration in painting and design.

Doug graduated from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC with a BFA in Art with a studio major in painting and a minor in wood design. He also studied art at the Universidad de las Americas in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico.

In addition to his work in the arts, Doug has a 30+ year career including 20+ years as an area coordinator for the NC Division of Emergency Management and as an emergency management specialist for the US Marine Corps, in addition to other positions in training and development.

One of his favorite quotes is “Why not go out on a limb?  That’s where the fruit is.” Mark Twain

Doug Haas – Wood Turner

Jeri Greenberg – Pastel Artist

After many years as a fashion illustrator and sportswear designer, Jeri turned her love of graphic design towards advertising next. Having time to devote herself to painting again, and falling in love with the pastel medium, has led to a new and interesting “next act”, as a full time painter and teacher.

Feeling that “Pastels are an immediate tool to express feelings” and the perfect vehicle in which to “Make the Ordinary, Extraordinary” and tell stories in her paintings, Jeri works to constantly get a deeper understanding of this wonderful medium. With her background in illustration, Jeri helps her students get a strongly drawn foundation down behind their color work.

Jeri loves painting still lifes, urban interiors, figures and fabrics, and the occasional landscape as well.Recently relocated, Jeri teaches weekly classes at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington NC, and holds demos and workshops around the country, as well as jurying national and international pastel exhibits.

Jeri is currently hosting a Holiday Sale until the end of the year with many more works available.  Please visit her site to view more!

Jeri Greenberg – Pastel Artist

Dorothy Gillespie (1920-2012) – Sculptor

“I love color, it goes back to the things I saw as a child – a Christmas tree, a ball bouncing, a kite.”
—Dorothy Gillespie

Dorothy Gillespie was well known as a painter, sculptor, and installation artist whose work encompassed many significant 20th-century trends in art, including abstract expressionism, decorative abstraction, site-specific installations, the women’s movement, and art in public spaces. She pioneered joyful new directions for metal sculpture and is best known for large-scale, colorfully painted arrangements of cut aluminum strips that radiate, undulate, or curl like giant arrangements of ribbon, enchanted towers, or bursting fireworks.

Dorothy Gillespie’s illustrious career in art spanned over 70 years during which time she created, exhibited and sold her art work nationally and internationally.

Gillespie, born in Roanoke, VA, declared early her intention to become an artist. She studied art at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD then moved to New York City where she studied at the Art Student’s League of New York and the Stanley William Hayter’s Atelier 17.

Among her many honors, Gillespie received The Alice Baber Art Fund, Inc. Grant Award; a Doctor of Pedagogy, Niagara University, Niagara Falls, NY 1990; a Doctor of Fine Arts (Honoris Causa) Caldwell College, Caldwell, NY 1976; an Allied Professions Award,Virginia Society; The American Institute of Architects, Richmond, VA 1986; Distinguished Alumni Award, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD 1983; Outstanding Services Award, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, AR 1983; and, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art in 2001. The Gala 8  ” Distinguished Woman” Award at Birmingham Southern College in 1987 honoring women who have made lasting contributions to our society in the fields of endeavor ranging from the arts, medicine, philanthropy, journalism, government, sports, entertainment and business”.

In addition to her demanding studio work, Gillespie served as a Distinguished Professor of Art, Radford University, Radford, VA 1997-99; on the Board of Trustees, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD 1996-99; on the Board of Trustees, Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL 1996-99; and on the Art in Public Places Committee, Broward Cultural Affairs Council, June 1993-June 1994; and as Visiting Artist, Radford University, Radford, VA 1981-83 where she initiated the University’s permanent art collection through a gift of her own work and where her work is now archived. Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow from 1985-1993. During that period she made week-long visits to small private colleges throughout the country and gave public lectures, coached and taught young artists.

Early in her career, Gillespie contributed to the women’s art movement through her work at Artist in Residence, Women’s Interart Center, New York, NY 1972 and her lecture series at the New School for Social Research, New York, NY 1977. Gillespie is the subject of numerous reviews, critical essays, film and radio interviews and a book Dorothy Gillespie published by the Radford University Foundation Press.

Click here to download our DG Interactive Brochure featuring Dorothy Gillespie’s work around Wilmington!

Dorothy Gillespie (1920-2012) – Sculptor

Wm. Fridrich – Photographer

Wm. Fridrich: Photographs

Robert Hughes, referring to the DADA move­ment (and Marcel Duchamp in particular), said that “like his Bottle Rack, Bicycle Wheel and other ‘ready­mades’…the world is so full of interesting objects that the artist need not add to them. Instead he could just pick one, and this ironic act of choice was equivalent to creation.”

The camera is the definitive instrument for making these ironic acts of choice. Then the function of this device — to record what already exists — in the DADA belief, is equivalent to the act of creation.

Wm. Fridrich studied art, sculpture and photography at UCLA, motorcycle magazines and in the U.S. Army, as a combat illustrator. He then launched a successful graphic design career in the early 1970s.

Introduced to the Dada and Surrealist movements by his wife, art historian Marsha McKee, William became clinically obsessed with Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and Joseph Cornell: he has not yet recovered.

More of his work can be found on his WEBSITE.

Wm. Fridrich – Photographer

Elizabeth Darrow – Painter (OTHER ART)

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Elizabeth Darrow has made Wilmington her home since 1977. Born in Hartford, Conn. Darrow is a 1967 graduate of Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), where she majored in painting. She has been working in oil and collage throughout her career, usually in the manner of Abstract Expressionism.

She works in a variety of styles depending on her medium, but never works “from life” in the traditional sense. Most of the imagery that comes to her seems to hatch of its own accord, emerging from the process. Darrow enjoys working with color, repeating patterns and embedding humor (and angst) into her work. Each piece takes her on a journey of discovery where she hopes to lose herself to the process.

Darrow’s works are held in many private collections locally and abroad. Additionally, her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Cameron Art Museum here in Wilmington, N.C., Duke University Medical Center, R.J. Reynolds, Lowes, Wells Fargo, BB&T Bank, SAS Institute, Sara Lee Inc., The Holiday Inn and Nations Bank.

Additionally, many of Darrow’s works can be found backstage at the Wilson Center, Cape Fear Community College’s center for performing arts. This group of work was donated to the Wilson Center in celebration of original art by anonymous donors.  Click here to view a slideshow of her work located at the Wilson Center.

Click here to view a slideshow of past and present art by Elizabeth Darrow.

Look deeper into the many phases and processes of Elizabeth Darrow’s art work in this documentary titled Elizabeth Darrow: Believing in the Process. the documentary was created by: Jessie Robertson, Robby Carl and Christina Capra 2019.

“Start With The Eyes” documents a new process for Elizabeth Darrow.  Once again she allows the process to lead her to the outcome, rather than working from a preconceived idea.  Elizabeth Darrow: Start with the Eyes, The documentary was created by: Jessie Robertson, and Christina Capra August 2021.

Elizabeth Darrow – Painter (OTHER ART)

Elizabeth Darrow – Painter (ABSTRACT ART)

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Elizabeth Darrow has made Wilmington her home since 1977. Born in Hartford, Conn. Darrow is a 1967 graduate of Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), where she majored in painting. She has been working in oil and collage throughout her career, usually in the manner of Abstract Expressionism.

She works in a variety of styles depending on her medium, but never works “from life” in the traditional sense. Most of the imagery that comes to her seems to hatch of its own accord, emerging from the process. Darrow enjoys working with color, repeating patterns and embedding humor (and angst) into her work. Each piece takes her on a journey of discovery where she hopes to lose herself to the process.

Darrow’s works are held in many private collections locally and abroad. Additionally, her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Cameron Art Museum here in Wilmington, N.C., Duke University Medical Center, R.J. Reynolds, Lowes, Wells Fargo, BB&T Bank, SAS Institute, Sara Lee Inc., The Holiday Inn and Nations Bank.

Additionally, many of Darrow’s works can be found backstage at the Wilson Center, Cape Fear Community College’s center for performing arts. This group of work was donated to the Wilson Center in celebration of original art by anonymous donors.  Click here to view a slideshow of her work located at the Wilson Center.

Click here to view a slideshow of past and present art by Elizabeth Darrow.

Look deeper into the many phases and processes of Elizabeth Darrow’s art work in this documentary titled Elizabeth Darrow: Believing in the Process. the documentary was created by: Jessie Robertson, Robby Carl and Christina Capra 2019.

“Start With The Eyes” documents a new process for Elizabeth Darrow.  Once again she allows the process to lead her to the outcome, rather than working from a preconceived idea.  Elizabeth Darrow: Start with the Eyes, The documentary was created by: Jessie Robertson, and Christina Capra August 2021.

Elizabeth Darrow – Painter (ABSTRACT ART)

Fine Art From $125-500

Fine Art From $125-500

Fine Art Under $125

Fine Art Under $125

Gift Cards

Fine Art Gift Cards
Give a gift that will last forever!

Our customers can now purchase a Gift Card as a special gift for that special person on their shopping list…whatever the occasion!
Art in Bloom Gallery will mail the Gift Card directly to the recipient or have it ready for pick up in the gallery.

This unique gift can be used toward the purchase of any item sold at Art in Bloom Gallery, and may be redeemed in store or online.

Click here to purchase Physical Gift Cards online or visit us at the gallery!

Art in Bloom Gallery also offers eGift Cards as an electronic option.  For this option, please click the link to purchase.

 

Please call and speak to a gallery staff member with any questions or concerns at 910-679-4257.
*Gift cards are not redeemable for cash and have no time limit for use.

Gift Cards

Fine Art on Sale

Fine Art on Sale
-->
The 2024 Gallery Show Schedule

Friday, February 2nd, 2024
Exhibits, Upcoming Exhibits
“Two Minds, One Artist: Paintings by Constance Pappalardo” Exhibit

“Blue Landscape”
Water media on linen canvas

Art in Bloom Gallery is pleased to present Cary artist and painter, Constance Pappalardo. Whether she is working in black and white or in color Constance’s contemporary abstract watercolors evoke feelings of hope and peace, in addition to beauty. Her black and white works are inspired by music where her paintings in color are about light and imagination. Constance’s color work is heavily influenced by nature and the magic of the ever-changing landscape.

Constance was born in Lima, Peru. She moved to New York City at the age of eight. The art and culture of the city inspired her to pursue her art studies. After high school, Ms. Pappalardo studied painting at The School of Visual Arts, in Manhattan. Pappalardo now lives in Cary, North Carolina. Her contemporary abstract watercolors have been featured in numerous galleries in Cary, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and other cities in North Carolina.

Join us in the gallery on Sunday, March 3rd from 2-5pm. Enjoy special refreshments, meet our artists and enjoy live music by violinist, Shirley Lebo!

Click here to preview the work that will be available during her show.

Thursday, February 1st, 2024
Current Exhibits, Exhibits
“Traudi Thornton (1940-2023): Pottery, Pantry & Seconds Sale”

Functional Pottery by Traudi Thornton (1940-2023)

Art in Bloom Gallery is pleased to continue our collaboration with the estate of master ceramicist, Traudi Thornton (1940-2023).

Traudi continues her unique presence at Art in Bloom Gallery, where she participated in exhibits and sales beginning in 2015. The gallery is pleased to present “Pottery, Pantry & ‘Seconds Sale’” featuring unique works of pottery by the artist along with a selection of “Seconds”. A second in pottery means that the work has slight imperfections such as flaws or pitting on the glazed surface, blemishes, stress cracks or glaze drips. For Traudi, most of these pieces ended up in her pantry where she used them daily. Art in Bloom Gallery is honored to be able to release this special selection of her work to honor her memory.

Join us for an opening reception, which will be held on Sunday, March 3rd from 2-5pm, with live music featuring violinist, Shirley Lebo!

Stay tuned for works that will be on sale soon!

Thursday, February 1st, 2024
Current Exhibits, Exhibits
“Clarence Mayo & the Durham Art Guild Exchange”

Art in Bloom Gallery is pleased to partner with the Durham Art Guild to present artist and painter, Clarence Mayo.

Clarence is an artist based in Durham, NC, who specializes in cold wax, oil, and acrylic mediums. His artistic creations are a result of his deep inspiration from a diverse range of tribal icons and symbols originating from different cultures across the globe. Mayo’s artistic vision is notably shaped by the artistic and cultural intricacies of both Africa and Central America.

Click here to preview the works that will be on view and for sale!

Join us in the gallery on Sunday, April 28th, from 2-5pm. Enjoy special refreshments, meet our artists, and enjoy live music by Heather Heath and Justin Lacey!  On view along with this exhibit will be a new show featuring the photographic work of Leland artist, (Joe) P. Wiegmann.  In addition, we feature continuously rotating art featuring 30+ of Art in Bloom Gallery’s Artists!

About the Durham Art Guild

The Durham Art Guild is a nonprofit member-driven visual arts organization established in 1948. The Guild’s mission is to enrich and connect our communities by creating opportunities and providing leadership for current and future visual artists and art enthusiasts. The Guild programs over 40 exhibitions annually across multiple NC community partnership venues featuring over 400 regional artists. In addition to the Creative Mentorship Program and the Artist in Residence Program, the Guild also produces over 20 arts related events each year including receptions, lectures, community building events and professional development workshops. For more information about the Durham Art Guild please visit www.durhamartguild.org or follow us @durhamartguild

Thursday, February 1st, 2024
Exhibits, Upcoming Exhibits
“OBSERVATIONS: Photography by (Joe) P. Wiegmann” Exhibit

“Pea Island Trees” Photography by Joe Wiegmann

“OBSERVATIONS” will be our newest show featuring the photographic work of Leland artist, (Joe) P. Wiegmann.  Joe states that: “As far back as I can remember, I have been engaged in various creative endeavors such as drawing and painting. Two years of Civil Engineering at the University of Maryland did not provide me with the means to express my creativity and so, I changed my major to Fine Art. After more than 43 years in the graphic, printing, and creative design field, I retired from my Creative Director and Department Head position to move to the Wilmington, NC area. The beauty and natural energy of the environment and artist community here has rekindled my creative energy.”

“While photography is my current creative medium, I have noticed that my art and graphic background plays heavily with my images. I begin by observing my surroundings before even taking my first photo. I look for lines, shapes, layers, colors, and textures. I consider taking photos from various angles and heights to best capture the image. I mainly use a Fujifilm X-T3 camera and occasionally, my iPhone Pro 12 in RAW mode, to be able to employ various lighting effects. I bracket my shots and take full image as well as tightly cropped images, so I have plenty of information going into post-production. I select the image that best captures my observation and the emotion I felt when I saw the image. I want to communicate the same visual excitement to the viewer through a printed piece.”

Click Here to preview the work that will be on view and for sale!

Join us in the gallery on Sunday, April 28th, from 2-5pm. Enjoy special refreshments, meet our artists, and enjoy live music by Heather Heath and Justin Lacey!  On view along with this exhibit will be a very special exhibit by guest artist, Clarence Mayo from the Durham Art Guild, whose artistic creations are a result of his deep inspiration from a diverse range of tribal icons and symbols originating from different cultures across the globe.  In addition, we feature continuously rotating art featuring 30+ of Art in Bloom Gallery’s Artists!

 

Thursday, February 1st, 2024
Exhibits, Upcoming Exhibits
“Out of the Shadows” Photography by Meg McGrew

“Evening Glow” by Meg McGrew

The gallery is pleased to present new work by photographer, Meg McGrew, in the upcoming exhibit “Out of the Shadows”. 

From the time Meg McGrew first picked up a camera, she’s always been fascinated by shadows. Yet her show “Out of the Shadows” relates to more than Meg’s lifelong appreciation for them. It also reflects Meg coming through the darker, shadowy world of trauma to the more colorful creative life she has today. After a severe car accident in August 2016, it took Meg a long while to make any kind of artwork again. But one day, sitting in her wheelchair with her camera nearby, Meg picked it up and started to photograph her shadows on the wall across from her. The images in this show started with photos either totally made up of shadows or where a shadow is a primary focus in the piece. Meg then used an online photo editing program to digitally alter them in some way.

“Light and dark. Day and night… I now have a deeper appreciation of the way shadows can accentuate the light in the image and in my life.”

Artist, Meg McGrew, has been focused on how objects and shadows can be transformed into different and unique images. She’s taken the original photos and altered them digitally, playing with exposure, color, contrast and applications that add texture to the image. Time melts when she’s involved in this process.

Click here to view the work that is available during her show.

 

Saturday, January 27th, 2024
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
Debra Bucci Paintings at True Blue Butcher & Table Restaurant

Join us in celebrating our partnership between True Blue Butcher & Table Restaurant, Debra Bucci Fine Art and Art in Bloom Gallery!

True Blue, a local restaurant in Wilmington, NC, invited Debra to create and display a collection of her large abstract art in their dining room. The paintings are for sale and can viewed in the restaurant and online.

View the work here!

True Blue Butcher and Table Restaurant
1125 Military Cutoff Road, Wilmington, NC 28405

Monday, January 15th, 2024
Current Exhibits, Exhibits, Satellite Venues
Art at The Green House Restaurant

Join us in celebrating a partnership between The Green House Restaurant and Art in Bloom Gallery,.

The Green House, a local restaurant specializing in plant-based, farm to table dining experience in Wilmington, NC, invited Art in Bloom Gallery to display  a small collection of art in their dining room. The art is for sale and can viewed in the restaurant and online.

View the work here!

 

 

The Green House Restaurant
4127 Military Cutoff Road, Suite #106
Wilmington, NC 28405

Monday, January 15th, 2024
Current Exhibits, Exhibits, Satellite Venues
“Traudi Thornton Studio Ceramics & Pottery Sale”

Photo by: Chris Brehmer Photography

Art in Bloom Gallery is pleased to announce a very special event in collaboration with the estate of master ceramicist, Traudi Thornton (1940-2023).

Traudi was a staple artist at the gallery and participated in exhibits and sales beginning in 2015.  Throughout the weekend of November 17-19th, the gallery will present a Studio Ceramics & Pottery Sale along with a small retrospective exhibit of work by the late ceramic artist.  Art in Bloom Gallery is honored to be able to release a special selection of her work to the public.

Click here to view and purchase her work online!

Traudi’s true calling was nature and gardening. Her study of the medium was a product of the strong connection she had to it. From the process of how she worked with clay, studying the chemical compounds she used for her glazing to her intricate and scientific firing techniques, her relationship to each of the pieces she created was primal.  Traudi’s special interests include hand-building, surface texture, ceramic sculpture, raku and terre sigillata. Her work ranged from sculptural wall pieces, raku vessels to functional pieces.

Tuesday, October 31st, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“The Holiday Art Exhibit + Sale” Featuring Art in Bloom Gallery Artists

The 2023 Holiday Season and Art in Bloom Gallery will celebrate with a rotating exhibit featuring over 30 of Art in Bloom Gallery’s Artists!  Feast your eyes on new work directly out of the artists’ studios. Shop for unique works of art that come with an abundance of creativity, which will bring smiles all year round!  All of our artists are offering fine art under $250.

Along with this exhibit we will feature  “UNUS MUNDUS: Photography by Jon Ann Tomaselli”. Artist, Jo Ann Tomaselli finds that defining herself as a particular type of photographer is impossible. She believes that every moment behind the lens offers an opportunity to see the world from a different point of view. Her photographic goal is simplicity, be that in her landscape, nature, or portrait work.

Featured artists include:  Robert Beauchene (photograher), Bradley Carter (painting), Debra Bucci (painting), Richard Bunting (blown glass), Judy Hintz Cox (abstract painter), Karen Paden Crouch (sculpture), Elizabeth Darrow (painting), Brian Evans (ceramics), Dianne Evans (ceramics), Susan Francy (photographer), Mark Gansor (painter), Joanne Geisel (painting), Jeri Greenberg (pastel painter), Curtis Krueger (photographer), Dave Klinger (photography),  Joan McLoughlin (painting), David Norris (printmaker),  Jameka Purdie (jewelry), Jessie Robertson (painter), Tim Schwarz (woodworker) Gale Smith (painter), Traudi Thornton (ceramics), Pam Toll (painter), Gayle Tustin (ceramics), Angela Rowe (painter), Kirah Van Sickle (painter), Roberto Vengoechea (jewelry), Melissa Wilgis (photographer) and Rebecca Yeomans (fiber artist), among others! 

Tuesday, October 31st, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“UNUS MUNDUS: Photography by Jo Ann Tomaselli”

The gallery is excited to show new work by photographer, Jo Ann Tomaselli, in the upcoming exhibit “UNUS MUNDUS”.  Unus Mundus, the Latin phrase for “One World”, encapsulates the idea of a domain located outside of time and space, from which everything emerges and to which everything returns. This intriguing body of work was initiated during the height of the pandemic. It was created in honor of the millions of souls who transcended their earthly bodies during this time.

Artist, Jo Ann Tomaselli finds that defining herself as a particular type of photographer is impossible. She believes that every moment behind the lens offers an opportunity to see the world from a different point of view. Her photographic goal is simplicity, be that in her landscape, nature, or portrait work. Her inspiration? Color, shape, design, and the most delightful factor of all ~ fun!

Click here to preview the work that was  available during this show. 

On view along with this exhibit will be our annual “Holiday Art Exhibit & Sale” featuring over 30 of Art in Bloom Gallery’s Artists!  These new shows by our featured artists will be on view starting on Black Friday, November 24, 2023 – January 7, 2024 with an opening reception on Sunday, December 10th, from 2-5pm featuring live music by guitarist, Miles Moore!

About the Artist

After obtaining her Liberal Arts degree in Photography & Creative Writing at Stockton University, Pomona, NJ, Jo Ann Tomaselli moved to coastal NC in 1995. Since 2004, she has migrated from 35mm format darkroom photography to digital photography processed in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Today Jo Ann shoots her fine art photography with a Galaxy S23 Ultra and Sony A7Riii with a variety of pro lenses, while running a small B&B and blending wonderful potions.

Tuesday, October 31st, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Ceramic Vessel Sculpture & Mixed Media Art by Gayle Tustin”

Gayle Tustin’s upcoming exhibit “Ceramic Vessel Sculpture & Mixed Media Art” features her most recent red earthenware vessel sculptures using terra sigillata with oxide patinas, along with mixed media on painter’s canvases. “Tustin finds inspiration from her environment, long walks, dreams, and sketches from traveling. Books, conversations, trash treasures picked up from the street, gesture sketches, antique stores, and swimming are other sources. Sometimes her ideas are planned out in the sketchbook, but more often her process represents a spontaneous flow.”

Gayle works out of her home studio and has been a fixture in the Wilmington arts scene for 30 years. She is one of the original founders of No Boundaries International Art Colony that happens annually on Bald Head Island.

Click here to preview the work that was available during her show.

About the Artist

Gayle Tustin was born in New Castle and grew up in Sharpsville, PA. She has been fascinated with art since early childhood, cutting up old wallpaper books and magazines for pasting into collage assemblages, to making mud pies in the backyard.

Penn State University laid the foundation for her ceramic work as well as Alfred University in NY, after initially completing an Associate Degree in business from Robert Morris University, PA. Tustin is the first person to graduate with honors in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 1996.

She has participated in numerous artist colonies including Northern Macedonia, Spain, Germany, Brazil, and South Africa. She is responsible for helping to create the No Boundaries International Art Colony, a gathering of local and international artists that meet annually on Bald Head Island to make art.

Tustin has been commissioned for donor tile memorial projects in Wilmington by the Lower Cape Fear Hospice including “Celebration of Life I, II & III” and “Safe Passages”, as well as “Bountiful Life I – VI” in Whiteville. Her ceramic relief commissioned works can be seen in Raleigh at the NC State Bar Foundation, “ We are the People of North Carolina” and Novant Health in Winston-Salem, “With Compassionate Care” and “Landscapes from Memory”.

For more information about Gayle’s extraordinary art, read “Freedom, Fluidity, and Flow: The Life and Work of Gayle Tustin” by Fritts Causby in Wrightsville Beach Magazine, September 2023.

On view along with this exhibit will be “Poet’s Garden: New Paintings by Helen Mirkil” and “Intentional Camera Movement (ICM): Photography by Robert Beauchene”. These new shows by our featured artists will be on view from October 5 – November 19, 2023, with an opening reception on Sunday, October 8th, from 2-5pm featuring live music by solo jazz guitar, Roger Davis!

 

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Poet’s Garden: New Paintings by Helen Mirkil”

Helen Mirkil’s upcoming exhibit “Poet’s Garden”features her newest paintings inspired by the artwork of her sons and grandchildren. Helen’s ‘conversations with art’ honor the works they adapt while visualizing her relationships with her family. Helen sees her creativity as a gift and an outlet, and uses art and poetry to express what inspires or weighs on her soul. Helen Mirkil moved from the Philadelphia suburbs to Wilmington in 2019. Along with their spacious studios at the ArtWorks, she and her husband have established roots in NC and enjoy being near her children and their families.

About the Artist

Helen Mirkil moved from the Philadelphia suburbs to Wilmington in 2019. Along with their spacious studios at theArtWorks she and her husband are sinking down roots in North Carolina and enjoying being near her children and their families. Helen is a Certificate/BFA recipient from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Pafa) and the University of Pennsylvania. At Pafa she also completed an MFA.

Helen was awarded a British American Travel Grant from the Wales/Philadelphia Exchange for a two-month residency. Her Penllyn Series landscapes were exhibited at Walter Wickiser Gallery in NYC. Landscape painting also earned her the Valerie Lamb Smith Painting Residency as well as being twice awarded first prize in the Scenes of the Schuylkill Exhibition.

Works by Helen can be seen at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in NYC, Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art, Bryn Mawr College Library Collection, James A. Michener Art Museum, Villanova University Art Collection, University of Mary Washington Galleries, Monmouth Comprehensive School in Wales, U.K., Teaching Collection of PAFA, and Woodmere Art Museum.

 

 

Thursday, September 7th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Intentional Camera Movement (ICM): Photography by Robert Beauchene”

“The Idea” Photography by Robert Beauchene

The gallery is excited to show new work by photographer, Robert Beauchene, in the upcoming exhibit “Intentional Camera Movement (ICM)”

Unlike many ICM photographers who choose to retain the recognizable forms and subjects of their photos – simply “blurring” fairly traditional subjects (like landscapes, wildlife, portraits and street scenes), Robert Beauchene centers his attention on light – it’s shape, tone, texture and intensity. The results of this approach are images that are often absent of any recognizable form but are full of interesting lines, colors and patterns. Think abstract expressionist painting – but with a camera.  As with any photographic technique, Beauchene utilizes light, location, camera settings, etc. to intentionally arrive at a pre-conceived “vision”. In other words, these photos are not “accidents” – they are the result of careful planning and the precise use of the tools at hand. All of his images are created in camera with very little, if any, post processing or digital manipulation of any kind.

On view along with this exhibit will be “Poet’s Garden: New Paintings by Helen Mirkil” and “Ceramic Vessel Sculpture & Mixed Media Art by Gayle Tustin”.   These new shows by our featured artists will be on view from October 5 – November 19, 2023, with an opening reception on Sunday, October 8th, from 2-5pm featuring live music by solo jazz guitar, Roger Davis!

Click here to preview the work that was available during his show. 

About the Artist

Robert Beauchene is a lifelong photographer and musician originally from Poughkeepsie, NY. His black & white work can be seen throughout the area under the brand CAPE FEAR NOIR and his abstract work has received international recognition. He also builds custom furniture! He lives in Wilmington with his wife, Polly. 

 

 

 

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“On the Road to Find Out” New Art by Elizabeth Darrow Exhibit

“On the Road to Find Out” Oil and oil pastel on canvas, 36″ x 48″

Join us for a look at the new work of Wilmington’s own, Elizabeth Darrow. “On the Road to Find Out” will feature a selection of work fresh out of the artist’s studio.  The art includes Elizabeth’s figurative work and abstract expressionist works.

Elizabeth Darrow has made Wilmington her home since 1977. She works in a variety of styles depending on her medium, but usually does not work “from life” in the traditional sense. Most of the imagery that comes to her seems to hatch of its own accord, emerging from the process. Darrow enjoys working with color, repeating patterns and embedding humor (and angst) into her work. Each piece takes her on a journey of discovery where she hopes to lose herself to the process.

Click here to view the brand new work in this exhibit! 

 

 

Monday, April 17th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Cape Fear’s Ocean Dwellers: Photography by Allison Bowman” Exhibit

“Themes: Tube, 1/1″ by Allison Bowman 16″ x 24”

“Cape Fear’s Ocean Dwellers” is a showcase of impactful photography by, Allison Bowman, whose work tells the stories of some of the ocean dwelling creatures in the waters around Cape Fear.  From sleeping loggerhead turtles wintering in ship wrecks to the local art of sunrise wave chasing, Allison presents a body of photography printed on metal depicting the habits of “Cape Fear’s Ocean Dwellers”.

 

 

Sunday, April 16th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Revisiting: Photography by Jennifer Mace”

“Dugout” Silver Gelatin Print

“Revisiting” by guest photographer,  Jennifer Mace, is a brand new body of silver gelatin prints reflecting on the artist’s past.  This collection of images serves as symbols of Jennifer’ life. They represent locations, events and experiences from her world that have been embedded in her mind. They are reminders of  happy times. Working on this collection of work allowed Jennifer to separate the stress of her daily life and find a new path for her artwork.

About the Photographer
Jennifer received her BFA in Photography from Colorado State University in 1994 and my MFA in Photography from James Madison University in 2003. She moved to Wilmington in the summer of 2008 where she’s been teaching photography at Cape Fear Community College. Over the years  Jennifer has created several different bodies of work. She work with the film process and digital photography just as often. In the last decade as there are advances with technology, she find herself turning away from that progress. This collection of images was shot with medium format black and white film.

Saturday, April 15th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Hearts & Souls: New Pastels by Jeri Greenberg”

“Queen of Hearts” Pastel on paper by Jeri Greenberg

Hearts & Souls is Jeri Greenberg’s newest body of work featuring her amazing pastel paintings.

Click here to preview  some of the work that was on view and for sale.

About the Artist

After many years as a fashion illustrator and sportswear designer, Jeri Greenberg turned her love of graphic design and color into a new and exciting “next act”, working as a full-time painter and teacher.

Feeling that “Pastels are an immediate tool to express feelings” and the perfect medium in which to “Make the Ordinary, Extraordinary”,  Jeri works to tell stories in her work enabling her to draw the viewer in . With her background in illustration, Jeri helps her students get a strongly drawn foundation down behind their color work.

Jeri loves painting still lifes, urban interiors, figures and fabrics, and the occasional landscape as well. Recently relocated, Jeri teaches weekly classes at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington NC, and holds demos and workshops around the country, as well as jurying national and international pastel exhibits.

Friday, April 14th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Debra Bucci: New Paintings from the Studio”

Debra Bucci is known for her vibrant and engaging floral and abstract paintings.

Dynamic color palettes, moving compositions and translucency from layering oils all work together to enhance the depth and bring Debra’s art to life. Her inspiration comes from the high’s and low’s of the human experience and believes this tension makes the art connectable. Her style is rooted in realism and woven with abstract elements.

Debra is a published illustrator and has achieved success as a licensed fine artist. Her art has been featured in Plow & Hearth magazine and can be found on ArtNeedlepoint.com. She has public and private collectors throughout the US including Savorez Restaurant and Wilmington Magazine. She is an anchor artist at Art in Bloom Gallery and has showing work at The Cameron Art Museum. She currently has paintings on sale at True Blue Butcher & Table Restaurant and has exhibited at the Wilmington International Airport.

Debra has a BFA in Design from Drexel University where she studied oil painting and enjoyed a corporate career in Package Design. She has recently moved to Wilmington, NC with her husband “Art” and dog “T-Bone”.

Wednesday, April 5th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Ceramic Creations: Featuring Brian Evans & Dianne Evans”

Ceramic Works by Brian Evans and Dianne Evans

This new exhibit celebrates the 3 dimensional ceramic work art of Brian Evans and Dianne Evans.

Click here to view the work that was on view and available.

About the Artists

Brian Evans‘ work conveys inspiration that he finds in his surroundings. Sometimes something as simple as the blade of a saw or a bellows used to blow on a fire can inspire an entire series of work. This body of work conveys simple found objects that inspire minimal or complex linear forms. Brian Evans was born in Beaufort, SC, but was raised in Western Pennsylvania.  He graduated in 1993 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Studio Art.  He moved to Wilmington, North Carolina in 1995.  He studied ceramics through the Continuing Education program at Cape Fear Community College while searching for an outlet for artistic expression. Brian studied under a Japanese-American Potter,  Hiroshi Sueyoshi. Brian is currently serving as President of the Coastal Carolina Clay Guild.

Local artist and potter, Dianne Evans, has had a passion for art since childhood. She was born and raised in scenic Indiana, Pennsylvania. Dianne developed an interest in art while studying under an inspirational high school art teacher. This experience also inspired her to want to become a teacher. Dianne earned a BS in Elementary Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1994. In 1995 she moved to Wilmington, North Carolina where she began teaching in several private schools. Although she is no longer teaching, she works at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Continuing her love of art, she took art classes at UNC Wilmington in 2009-2010 where she focused on sculpture and ceramics. A field trip to Penland School of Crafts sparked an interest in pursuing ceramics as an art form.  Dianne is an active member of the Coastal Carolina Clay Guild and participates in local art shows. She predominately works in the medium of clay focusing on hand-built pottery.

Tuesday, March 28th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
David Norris – Photography Feature

“Ibis Two-Step” Photograph on paper

David Norris has been a long time Art in Bloom Gallery artist whose work continuously evolves.  From his earlier monoprints, engravings, drawings, watercolors to his most recently painted oil on canvas.  David loves to experiment with multiple processes but has almost always worked from the photographs he has taken of landscapes and place, which serve as his muse.

About the Artist

Wilmington artist, David A. Norris, has a BFA degree from the East Carolina University School of Art.  Long settled in the Port City, he finds the historic atmosphere of Wilmington and the natural beauty of the Cape Fear River and the coast provide limitless sources of artistic inspiration.

Most of David’s work reflects the landscapes of the places where he has lived or visited.  Through his interest in art history, his work has absorbed influences such as English watercolors, 19th century engravings, Japanese woodblock prints, Dutch Baroque landscapes, and Van Gogh’s reed pen drawings.

 

Monday, March 27th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Dorothy Gillespie Art – A Celebration” Special Exhibit

Dorothy Gillespie Photo Courtesy of The Dorothy M. Gillespie Foundation

In collaboration with The Dorothy M. Gillespie Foundation, Art in Bloom Gallery is pleased to present the work of, painter, sculptor and installation artist, Dorothy M. Gillespie (1920-2012), in a special exhibit of her work.

Wilmington celebrates the legacy of artist & activist, Dorothy Gillespie, in collaboration with The Dorothy M. Gillespie Foundation. Gillespie had close ties in Wilmington through a long-time friendship with Thalian Hall’s, Tony Rivenbark, who worked as her studio assistant in the 1970s. Rivenbark brought Gillespie and her art to the Cape Fear Region. Gillespie’s legacy lives on in Wilmington and the additional public venues showcasing Gillespie’s art, including the Cameron Art Museum, the New Hanover County Arboretum, Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts, Cape Fear Community College’s Wilma W. Daniels Gallery and the Wilson Center, and UNCW’s CAB Gallery.

The Foundation proudly presents the works and history of the 20th century American Artist, Dorothy Gillespie, which included abstract expressionism, decorative abstraction, site-specific installations, the women’s movement and art in public spaces. She was a pioneer in the new directions of metal sculpture and best known for large-scale, highly colorful painted arrangements of cut aluminum with enamel strips radiating, undulating, or curling in giant arrangements of ribbon, enchanted towers, and even the burst of fireworks piece. Dorothy Gillespie is well known as a painter, sculptor and installation artist whose work incorporated many significant 20th-century trends in art.

Click here to preview the work on view at Art in Bloom Gallery from July 6 – August 13.

Click here to view our DG Interactive Brochure featuring Dorothy Gillespie’s permanent art in public places around Wilmington!

Click here to download our List of Current, Temporary Exhibits featuring Dorothy Gillespie’s art in public places around Wilmington!

About the Artist

Dorothy Gillespie (1920-2012, American) was a painter and sculptor born in Roanoke, VA. She enjoyed an artistic career that spanned over 70 years before her death at 92. She studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art, MD then moved to New York City in 1943 where she studied at the Art Students League of New York and Stanley William Hayter’s Atelier 17.

Gillespie was also an important player in the women’s art movement. Known for her tremendous output of colorful, joyful sculptural art, she was among those who helped blaze a path for women artists during the feminist art movement in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Always experimenting and trying new materials and techniques, Gillespie mastered many mediums, including painting, paper, sculpture, printmaking, environment and happenings, ceramics, jewelry and set designs.

As a painter, sculptor and installation artist, Gillespie’s art encompasses many significant 20th Century trends in art, including abstract expressionism, decorative abstraction, site-specific installation, the women’s movement, and art in public spaces.

Education was always very important to Dorothy Gillespie, and during her life she visited over 50 colleges and universities where she gave public lectures, coached and taught young artists. She was a Distinguished Professor of Art, Radford University, and a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellow for many years. In 1990 she was recognized for her commitment to education when she received a Doctor of Pedagogy, Niagara University.

Dorothy Gillespie is the subject of numerous reviews, scholarly articles, television and radio interviews and the book Dorothy Gillespie.

This selection on view, and for sale, is organized and sponsored by The Dorothy M. Gillespie Foundation. The work is directly from the late artist’s studio located in Narrowsburg, NY.  The Dorothy M. Gillespie Foundation fosters the legacy of Dorothy Gillespie’s life and work. The Foundation supports artists, initiatives, and institutions that embody the same innovative, inclusive multidisciplinary approach that Dorothy Gillespie exemplified in both her art and philanthropic endeavors.

Visit The Foundation’s website for more in depth information on the artist and her larger than life works of art.

 

Friday, February 10th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Landscapes Reimagined: A Themed Group Exhibit”
“Landscapes Reimagined” is our newest, themed, group exhibit celebrating landscapes both real and imagined. Each of our artists has been invited to offer their individual take on the concept of a landscape.  This show will refresh the soul while filling your eyes with the colors and tranquility of real or imagined landscapes of all kinds.
Featured artists include Bradley Carter, Judy Hintz Cox, Joanne Geisel, David Klinger, Joan McLoughlin, David A. Norris, H.M. Saffer, Kirah Van Sickle, and Virginia Wright Frierson among others.

On view along with this exhibit is our photography guest Michael Mosure.  These new shows will be on view from March 2 until April 9, 2023, with an opening reception on Thursday, March 2nd from 5-8pm.

Click here for a preview of the work that will appear in this exhibit! 

Thursday, February 9th, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Interconnected: New Work by Barbara Snyder”

Barbara Snyder “Untitled 2”

In April, we welcome a new photography show “Interconnected” with new work by Barbara Snyder.

Barbara states that “There is often a commonality in what we think of as our individual past.  As a lens- based artist, I seek to reposition my past as an operative with a broader context. In exploring its impact, both active and benign, memory becomes metaphorical and ritualistic. I strive for my images and assemblages to provoke, engage, and inform a universal memory with influences of contemporary life, reinventing the narrative of the stories and rituals which continue to live on with a deeper, broader, context than the obvious. These new works referencing strength are being influenced by the interconnectedness of the natural world.”

Barbara Snyder is a self-educated lens-based artist, working with digital, film and alternative processes. She has shown nationally and internationally and was a recipient of the 2014 and 2017 North Carolina Regional Artists Grant. Snyder lives and works in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Wednesday, February 1st, 2023
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Bold and Bright: New Work by Mark Gansor & Gale Smith” Exhibit

“Sunday Afternoon” by Mark Gansor

“Bold and Bright” is our newest exhibit with fresh new works by long-time gallery artists, Mark Gansor and Gale Smith.  Mark is a landscape painter using impasto surfaces to capture fleeting moments caught in the light. His works are playful and full of color!  Complimenting Mark’s paintings are the sculptural metal works by, mixed media artist, Gale Smith. Gale’s work in this exhibit is about the transformation of sheets of copper into complex assemblages that create a distinctive visual impact while allowing the intrinsic beauty of the metal to shine through.  Vibrant colours dance across the copper pieces and create abstract geometrical shapes.  These intricate works contain rich textures and reveal extraordinary manifestations of colour and formations.

About the Artists

Mark Gansor is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Out of several decades of work as a decorative finisher and classical musician, Mark Gansor’s career as a painter was born. Entirely self- taught he is now secure enough to tell people that he is an artist. He works in acrylics thickly applied to the

“Here Comes the Sun” by Gale Smith

canvas with knives, fingers, and occasionally brushes.  Since moving to Wilmington five years ago he has been caught up in the artistic vibe of the city, and the historical structures, nature, and the downtown all figure in his work. He has painted or restored original work in several structures on the National Registry which have added to his love of all things old or unusual. The beautiful old churches speak to him, bringing his love of sacred music and the pipe organ back time and time again.  For several years he has been painting works on canvas and hopes that this can be his career in retirement. His work is available at Art in Bloom Gallery. He has also recently become Director of Music Ministries at St Andrews Covenant Presbyterian Church in downtown Wilmington.  Mark Gansor is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Having studied at UNC Chapel Hill, Gale Smith considers painting as an ongoing study.  She has found a new interest in working with copper.  As a plein air painter, she began using copper panels as her canvas and loved how the copper made her colors warm and vibrant. She experimented with different gauges of copper and mediums and discovered that inks and oils on copper made colors radiate vibrantly. Never quite sure where the colors and copper will take her, Gale paints, cuts and weaves two abstract paintings together to create a dimensional piece of art.  The soft gentle curves that she cuts into the copper, allows her to form the piece into soothing and thought provoking structural designs.  It is her desire that the viewer will experience a personal interaction with her art. Often, she writes small quotes, prayers or poems that relate to the piece of work on the back of the copper strips and weaves them into the design.  Gale donates a portion of the proceeds from her sales to various organizations and charities. Gale is an award winning artist with her works exhibited in galleries, private collections and corporate installations.

Tuesday, December 20th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Monochrome Moments: A Photographic Glimpse into Nature by Tim Smith”

“Monochrome Moments: A Photographic Glimpse into Nature” is a new exhibit by photographer, Tim Smith.  Tim’s images, shown here in black/white, illustrate a keen interest in light and composition. His visual voice is often one of quiet reflection and introspection. He is skilled enough to give the viewer those same emotions.  His talents have convinced local and regional photo editors as well as the movie industry to use his photographs on their magazine covers, TV shows and movies, often as light-hearted and beautiful scenes. ~Jerry Blow, AIAP, Raleigh, NC

On view along with this exhibit is Bold and Bright: New Work by Mark Gansor & Gale Smith. These new shows will be on view from January 12 – February 26, 2023, with an opening reception on Thursday, January 12th from 5-8pm.

About the Artist

Tim Smith, a native North Carolinian, is one of those rare people who has known his direction in life from childhood.  As the provocative writer, Henry Miller, said: “The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.”  Tim’s personal photographic direction in life has been to give close attention to and to photograph his world. His interest began around the age of 8 after becoming fascinated with his uncle’s Polaroid camera.  He completed his first formal photography course during high school in Asheboro, NC where he contributed many photographs for his yearbook.  After that came a photography degree from Randolph Community College and then six years with the NC National Guard as a photographer. He has continued his photographic journey as a fine art photographer while living in the Wilmington area over the past four decades.

Monday, December 19th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Moments: Photography by Carlos Flores” Exhibit

“Moments: Photography by Carlos Flores” on view in the gallery from December 4th until January 8, 2023. Carlos states that “Life is nothing but an infinite number of moments that are in constant motion. Unfortunately, it’s quite impossible to remember it all. My camera is my greatest tool because with it I’m able to collect and store passing moments that become memories to later reminisce. It gives me great honor to share those with you. Moments.”

Carlos Flores is a contemporary photographer and filmmaker who was born in El Salvador and immigrated to the United States at the early age of two. In 2017, he discovered his passion for film photography. Ever since then, Carlos has been passionate about capturing moments to show the world what he sees through his lens.

His photography has been displayed at The ArtWorks Gallery Verrazzano, Gravity Records, Leland Cultural Arts Center, Leland Town Hall, Arts on Fire, and Art in Bloom Gallery.

Gallery events are always free and open to the public. On view along with these exhibits, Art in Bloom Gallery showcases a plethora of fine art of over local 30 artists.  The gallery is open Monday – Saturday 10am – 6pm and Sunday 12-6pm and is now located in Mayfaire Town Center at 6866 Main Street in Wilmington, NC.

 

Wednesday, November 30th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Collaborating with Nature: Fiber Art with Rebecca Yeomans” Exhibit

“Natural Beauty Pageant” Fiber Art with Eco Printing and stitching, 40″H x 46.25″W

Collaborating with Nature investigates the intricate fiber art pieces created by Rebecca Yeomans. Rebecca’s current work combines botanical printing, knitting, and stitching with a painterly feel. She is a full-time artist residing with her family in Wilmington, N.C.

Rebecca Yeomans has lived her entire life centered around making. She learned to knit at eight years old and was considered the “class artist” in school. She studied studio art at UNC-Chapel Hill, receiving a BFA in 1974. After earning an MFA from Auburn University in 1979 she taught there for several years. Rebecca and her husband Tom moved to Wilmington, NC in 1984 and she worked as a scenic artist in the film industry. She was a founding board member for DREAMS of Wilmington and later taught classes. Her fiber jewelry can be seen at the CAM gift shop. After she and Tom raised two artsy daughters, Rebecca quickly moved into full time artist mode. Her current work combines botanical printing, knitting, and stitching with a painterly feel.

About the Process

The botanical printmaking process is almost always the inspiration and starting point for my work. Eco or botanical printing is the art of transferring color from natural plant material on to fabric or paper using pressure, moisture, and heat. Beautiful contact plant portraits are captured by bundling vegetation and fabric, either by rolling around a pipe or stacking in layers and binding tightly. The bundle is then steamed or immersed in simmering natural dye coaxing the pigment out of the leaves and on to the cloth. Results depend on many variables: type of fabric, water source, plant species, season, climate, and type of vessel used to name a few. Thus each piece is unique and always a surprise. The process involves many steps: scouring, mordanting, pre dyeing, printing with plant material, post dyeing, rinsing, and perhaps printing again. I enjoy the relationship with the natural world inherent in the process: foraging walks, growing my own dye plants, the aroma of cooking eucalyptus, and the opening of a bundle to reveal what gift Mother Nature has given. When a piece of printed paper or cloth excites me, I begin the slow process of embellishing. This involves tearing fabric, arranging and rearranging, pinning, basting, and deciding on a place to start. I approach this process intuitively, reacting playfully, exploring this or that, asking what if? The piece evolves and its story unfolds. Hopefully a lovely whole is created by the intricate details. In a nutshell, the beauty of the materials and the process of making are what my artwork is about. I am co-creating with Mother Nature and collaborating with the fabric, yarn, and thread.

Tuesday, October 4th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Art Made with Light: Photograms by Melissa Wilgis” Exhibit

“Mushroom Coral” Cyanotype on paper

Art Made with Light is a new collection of cyanotypes by photographer, Melissa Wilgis. Melissa is a fine art photographer specializing in photograms. Her cyanotypes on silver gelatin are a three-step process that requires thoughtful planning and time spent both in a traditional darkroom and outside under the sun. For this body of work, sea whips gathered from local beaches are combined with seashell x-rays and other collected items to create images that are eye-catching and unique.

About the Artist

I’m a fine art photographer specializing in photograms.  I made my first photogram in 1986 in Mr. Fecik’s photography class at Boardman High School.  I don’t recall the specifics, but I’m fairly certain a clear cassette tape was involved.  At the time, making photograms was simply a way to learn my way around the darkroom.  It taught me how to use an enlarger and what the various chemicals do.  Leaving photograms behind, I pursued photojournalism throughout high school and college.  After graduating with a BA in English from NC State University, I started working for a branch of Eastman Kodak called Qualex.  I was in tech support, helping one-hour-photo lab operators fix their problems via telephone.  Over the next several years, I moved further away from photography and became further entrenched in corporate America.  I finally came to my senses and left that world.  I found some film photography classes at the local community college and took a few to get back into the swing of things. Soon I started working there as the darkroom assistant.  Four years later I became pregnant with my daughter and left my job at the community college to focus on being a mom.  When my daughter was about a year old, my husband completed the darkroom in our garage.  The baby-monitor picked-up a signal out there, so I was able to go into the darkroom during naptime, in addition to occasional evenings and weekends.  Making photograms gained traction for me during this time because it was photography I could do without wandering too far from my young daughter.  She was and still is my regular, full-time job.

I initially began making photograms using what I refer to as my “critters”; seahorses, crabs, butterflies, dragonflies, sea whips, wildflowers and other found curiosities.  My husband works in marine biology and helps me gather specimens.  No animals are ever harmed—they’re gathered after they’ve passed.  One day my husband came home with a deceased baby stingray.  He had been out in the field and noticed some fishermen getting ready to toss it back.  He asked if he could have the ray and they agreed.  So, the joke now is that it’s all fine and good if your husband brings you flowers.  But it’s exciting if he brings you a dead baby stingray.  Eventually, I knew I needed to expand my photogram creations beyond critters.  I’m a thrift store junky and made it a priority to search out photogrammable objects at the charity shops.  I’m drawn to antique garments, lace, and glass baubles.  My photogram compositions are simple.  This simplicity allows the viewer to find their own story, be it politics, feminism, gender, sexuality, body-image, materialism, culture, economy, history, family or simply nostalgia.  To me, they’re first and foremost, a reminder to always try to see things in a different light.

Tuesday, October 4th, 2022
Exhibits, Melissa Wilgis, Past Exhibits
“Pursuit of Joy: Paintings by Debra Bucci + Bradley Carter” Exhibit

“Pursuit of Joy: Paintings by Debra Bucci + Bradley Carter” is an exhibit featuring two artist’s individual search for creative freedom through brush, canvas, and paint. This exhibit will be the first featured artist show to enliven the walls of the new gallery space, located in Mayfaire Town Center.

About the Artists 

Debra Bucci is known for her vibrant and engaging floral paintings. Dynamic color palettes, moving compositions and translucency from layering oils all work together to enhance the depth and bring Debra’s art to life. Her inspiration comes from the high’s and low’s of the human experience and believes this tension makes the art connectable. Her style is rooted in realism and woven with abstract elements.

American Artist, Bradley Carter, is an award winning, international selling artist who grew up pursuing his passion for art in Virginia before moving to the North Carolina in 2007, where he currently resides in Wilmington, NC. He predominately works in the medium of painting with his passion in Abstract Expressionism.

 

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Restaurants + Art 2022:  Celebrating Wilmington’s Restaurant Scene” with Jeri Greenberg
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Making A Move: New Art Featuring Art in Bloom Gallery Artists”
Tuesday, July 5th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Primordial Lines: Brian Evans & Kirah Van Sickle”
Monday, May 9th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Visual INTROspection” Photography by WAZgriffin
Monday, May 9th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Intimate Interiors: Pastels by Jeri Greenberg & Ceramics by Traudi Thornton”
Monday, April 18th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“The Water of Life: Photography by Allison Bowman”
Monday, April 18th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Sibs 2: Brooks Koff & Michael Van Hout” Exhibit
Tuesday, February 8th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“The Holiday Art Exhibit + Sale” Featuring Art in Bloom Gallery Artists
Tuesday, January 4th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Jeff Chase: Night” Photography Feature
Tuesday, January 4th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Unique & Precious: Our Coast’s Irreplaceable Landscapes by Joanne Geisel”
Tuesday, January 4th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Seeing Art Through the Camera: (Joe) P. Wiegmann”
Tuesday, January 4th, 2022
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“What We Keep: Karen Paden Crouch & Angela Rowe”
Tuesday, May 11th, 2021
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Harmonious Relationships: Art Inspired by Music” Exhibit & Fundraiser
Thursday, February 11th, 2021
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Springtime Celebration with New Elements Gallery”
Thursday, February 11th, 2021
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Canvas and Clay: Creating Art with Expression by Debra Bucci, Brian Evans & Dianne Evans”
Thursday, February 11th, 2021
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Birdsong: Helen Mirkil”
Thursday, February 11th, 2021
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Full Circle: Photography by Kelly Starbuck”
Thursday, February 11th, 2021
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“The Holiday Art Exhibit + Sale” Virtual Shop

“The Holiday Art Exhibit + Sale” Featuring Art in Bloom Gallery Artists & 
“Artistic Photography: Frank Fierstein”
December 11, 2020 – January 24, 2021
View more about this exhibit.
Virtual Tour created by Matterhorn Media.

Thursday, January 21st, 2021
Virtual Shopping
“Elements: Bob Bryden”
Tuesday, January 19th, 2021
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Wm. Fridrich: Cyanotype Print Collection”
Tuesday, January 19th, 2021
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“Manifestations of Colour and Form with Gale Smith & Photographer Melissa Wilgis”
Wednesday, October 28th, 2020
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
“The Holiday Art Exhibit + Sale” Featuring Art in Bloom Gallery Artists
Tuesday, October 27th, 2020
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
Rebecca Yeomans – Fiber Artist

Rebecca Yeomans has lived her entire life centered around making. She learned to knit at eight years old and was considered the “class artist” in school. She studied studio art at UNC-Chapel Hill, receiving a BFA in 1974. After earning an MFA from Auburn University in 1979 she taught there for several years. Rebecca and her husband Tom moved to Wilmington, NC in 1984 and she worked as a scenic artist in the film industry. She was a founding board member for DREAMS of Wilmington and later taught classes. Her fiber jewelry can be seen at the CAM gift shop. After she and Tom raised two artsy daughters, Rebecca quickly moved into full time artist mode. Her current work combines botanical printing, knitting, and stitching with a painterly feel.

Artist Statement

The botanical printmaking process is almost always the inspiration and starting point for my work. Eco or botanical printing is the art of transferring color from natural plant material on to fabric or paper using pressure, moisture, and heat. Beautiful contact plant portraits are captured by bundling vegetation and fabric, either by rolling around a pipe or stacking in layers and binding tightly. The bundle is then steamed or immersed in simmering natural dye coaxing the pigment out of the leaves and on to the cloth. Results depend on many variables: type of fabric, water source, plant species, season, climate, and type of vessel used to name a few. Thus each piece is unique and always a surprise. The process involves many steps: scouring, mordanting, pre dyeing, printing with plant material, post dyeing, rinsing, and perhaps printing again. I enjoy the relationship with the natural world inherent in the process: foraging walks, growing my own dye plants, the aroma of cooking eucalyptus, and the opening of a bundle to reveal what gift Mother Nature has given. When a piece of printed paper or cloth excites me, I begin the slow process of embellishing. This involves tearing fabric, arranging and rearranging, pinning, basting, and deciding on a place to start. I approach this process intuitively, reacting playfully, exploring this or that, asking what if? The piece evolves and its story unfolds. Hopefully a lovely whole is created by the intricate details. In a nutshell, the beauty of the materials and the process of making are what my artwork is about. I am co-creating with Mother Nature and collaborating with the fabric, yarn, and thread.

Thursday, September 3rd, 2020
Artist, Collage, Fabric Art, Featured Artist
“Summer Reprise: Art by Pam Toll (2007 – 2020)” at Acme Art Studios
Wednesday, July 29th, 2020
Exhibits, Past Exhibits, Past Satellite Venues
“Visions of Inspiration Photography Features: Susan Francy & Barbara Snyder”
Tuesday, May 26th, 2020
Exhibits, Past Exhibits
Virginia Wright-Frierson – Painter

Virginia Wright-Frierson has made Wilmington, North Carolina, her home for over 40 years.  She travels extensively for inspiration for her painting and frequent visits with family across the United States.

She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, with additional training at the Arts Students’ League in New York City and the University of Georgia Studies Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy.  Virginia has lectured and taught many workshops and classes in painting and drawing and on illustrating children’s books.

She is widely known for her design and construction of the Minnie Evans Bottle Chapel and Sculpture Garden at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, a structure built with mortar and thousands of glass bottles, inspired by the art of the visionary artist who worked in the garden for many years as a gatekeeper.

In 2000, Virginia donated the sweeping mural which is permanently installed on the ceiling of the new atrium at Columbine High School after the tragic shootings there.  It is comprised of twenty painted panels which lift the eyes to a perspective of a Colorado forest of evergreens, aspen and sunlight.

She has written and illustrated many children’s books, including three John Burroughs Nature Book Award winners:  A Desert Scrapbook, An Island Scrapbook, and A North American Rain Forest Scrapbook.

Her most recent work has included a one-person exhibition of 120 road trip oil paintings at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, and a “pop up” exhibit of new oils and watercolors at 216 N. Front Street sponsored by Art in Bloom Gallery.

At Art in Bloom Gallery, Virginia exhibits a variety of oil and watercolor paintings and lino prints inspired by nature, the figure, landscape, color and light.

Virginia’s website can be found at:  virginiawright-frierson.com

Thursday, February 14th, 2019
Artist, Featured Artist
Melissa Wilgis – Photographer

Art Made with Light, Artist Statement

I made my first photogram in 1986 in Mr. Fecik’s photography class in high school.  At the time, making silver gelatin photograms was simply a way to learn my way around the darkroom.  It taught me how to use an enlarger and what the various chemicals do.  Leaving photograms behind, I pursued photojournalism throughout high school and college.  After graduating with a BA in English from NC State University, I started working for a branch of Eastman Kodak called Qualex.  I was in tech support, helping one-hour-photo lab operators fix their problems via telephone.  Over the next several years, I moved further away from photography and became further entrenched in corporate America.  I eventually realized that wasn’t where I was meant to be, and left the corporate world to pursue more creative endeavors.  I took some film photography classes at Cape Fear Community College to get back into the swing of things. Soon I started working there as the darkroom assistant.  Four years later I became pregnant with my daughter and left my job at the community college to focus on being a mom.  When my daughter was about a year old, my husband completed the darkroom in our garage.  The baby-monitor picked-up a signal out there, so I was able to go into the darkroom during naptime, in addition to occasional evenings and weekends.  Making photograms gained traction for me during this time because it was photography I could do without wandering too far from my young daughter.  She was and still is my regular, full-time job.

I initially began making photograms using what I refer to as my “critters”; seahorses, crabs, butterflies, dragonflies, sea whips, wildflowers and other found curiosities.  My husband works in coastal science and helps me gather specimens.  No animals are ever harmed—they’re gathered after they’ve passed.  One day my husband came home with a deceased baby stingray.  He had noticed some fishermen getting ready to toss it back.  He asked if he could have the ray and they agreed.  So the joke now is that it’s all fine and good if your husband brings you flowers.  But it’s really exciting if he brings you a dead baby stingray.

When Hurricane Florence dumped nearly 30 inches of rain on us, a good bit of that went into my darkroom. Sadly, I wasn’t able to work in there for close to eight months.  Being in the darkroom is like therapy, so I had to find a substitute.  I started making cyanotype photograms in the yard, using UV light from the sun.  As my mind wandered while I was working, I wondered if I could combine cyanotype photograms and silver gelatin photograms.  I did a small test with some old silver gelatin photograms I had.  The results weren’t great, but they were good enough to convince me to pursue the process further.  In 2019, I received recognition in the Denis Roussel Awards for an outstanding body of work for a series done in the cyanotype on silver gelatin process. Juror Jessica Ferguson said, “This photographer invented/developed a technique involving cyanotype printed onto black and white gelatin silver paper. The statement reveals great resourcefulness in working without a darkroom in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence.”

Art Made with Light is a new collection of cyanotype on silver gelatin photograms. The three-step process requires thoughtful planning and time spent both in a traditional darkroom and outside under the sun. For this body of work, sea whips gathered from local beaches are combined with seashell x-rays and other collected items to create images that are eye-catching and unique.  Framed photograms in the series also include the original, found sea whip that was used for the B&W portion of the photogram. Add the sea whip to an existing collection, display it as an object of décor or return it to nature for it’s next, yet unknown purpose.

As with all my photograms, this series is a reminder to always try to see things in a different light.

Watch a short video about Melissa’s Photogram Process

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist
Pam Toll – Painter and Mixed Media

Pam Toll, an Associate Professor at UNC Wilmington, received a BA in Art and English Literature from UNC Chapel Hill and has been painting since childhood. Her studio is located at Acme Art Studios (Wilmington) which she co-founded in 1991, as a work and exhibition space for artists. She also co-founded No Boundaries International Art Colony (Bald Head Island, NC) in 1998, a residency program that in the last twenty years brought over 200 artists from around the world with the goal of creating a cross-exchange of cultures and artistic practices to share with our local community.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist, Mixed Media, Painting
Traudi Thornton (1940-2023) – RAKU WARE

Traudi Thornton
(April 4, 1940- March 30, 2023)
Master Ceramicist

Traudi was born in Czechoslovakia in 1940. She first studied music at Creighton University before studying ceramics with Henry Soreco at Creighton, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and raku in a workshop with Paul Soldner at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1972. She returned to Germany and joined a cooperative art community in which she lived and worked on ceramics.

Love precipitated her move to Wilmington in 1983. She once again built a ceramic studio and began teaching ceramics at the Community Art Center where she influenced many budding ceramists.

Traudi said, “Working with clay validates my existence. During the plastic state, the relationship is that of master and a much beloved pet. I tell the clay to stay and push it, but often I have to listen. We have a rhythm. Clay needs heat to be transferred to a hard material. After the first fire everything turns from a state of grey to pink, and a slight estrangement takes place because they now look different than what they did before. Glazes also look pink or white or grey before they are fired. I imagine now how the optics will look in their final state, and after making choices the second fire takes over. Total surrender is demanded by heat and flame. After the firing is completed, the cooling period leaves my mood fluctuating between doubt and hope. And, then only after removing the pieces from the kiln, can I say they belong to me.”

Traudi showed and sold her work through Art in Bloom Gallery beginning in 2015.  She is survived by brother, Walt Bayer and his wife Tina, nephew Jurgen Wilde and the family she chose and loved here in Wilmington.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist
Photo by Sherm Hayes
Tim Schwarz – Woodworker

Born in Buffalo, NY my family eventually moved outside of the city to a small town which had an antique shop. I remember at the young age of 12 going in one day and being amazed by the unique one of a kind items including some of the antique furniture in various styles made from varying species. At the age of 15 & now living in Eastern North Carolina I started working my 1st job cleaning floors. I remember being excited to work not only to make some $$ but to learn a skill. I was never one to sit around twiddling my thumbs. I like to blame this on my father who set a great example of how to provide for your family sometimes working 2 & 3 jobs at times to make sure we had a roof over us and food on the table.

Anyway after about 9 years or working in about 6 different fields of work that really didn’t suit me. I started working for my father-in-law’s auction company which I enjoyed since I got to learn so much more about antiques and furniture. I learned how to repair and refinish pieces that came in for the auction. I learned the various styles from throughout the last 200 years along with the species & techniques used to make them. I especially fell in love with Mid Century Modern designs by Knoll, Eames, Jacobsen, Nelson especially the naturalistic style of the famed George Nakashima.

Eventually with my ever growing family of 7 I needed to somehow make some supplemental income. So in 2015 I started buying well used and worn out furniture as well as some cool vintage & antique industrial pieces that I could repair, refinish, recycle or up-cycle into one of a kind pieces I would sell at various local consignment shops. Working on those pieces one day out of the week. One day someone who saw my work contacted me and asked me to make a 10’ long custom entryway table from scratch using new materials. Something I had never done before and had zero experience doing. But if you know me you know I’m always up for a challenge. And from the completion of that table I was hooked with making things with my hands from local sustainably sourced woods and recycled steel.

What started out as a 1 day a week way to make some extra money to help support my family 3 years later it became a full time job where I can work from home and be close to my family and each one of them has at one time or another come out to the garage and helped me work on projects among other things making it a full family affair. I get to work with my hands using natural materials I have always had a special place for in my heart. I always tell people I don’t make the gorgeous materials I use. I can only enhance and show off the beauty our Creator has given us. And I take something that could have eventually rotted and returned to the earth and make it into something that will last a lifetime or longer.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist, Wood
Satava Art Glass

Satava Art Glass, located in Chico, CA, produces an array of stunning hand-blown and solid forms in glass. Their work is well known and appreciated throughout the world. Richard Satava’s hand-blown vases, depict beautiful natural landscapes, have made many a person melt.  Each handmade piece is engraved and signed by Satava Art Glass for proof of authenticity.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist
Dick Roberts – Guest Painter

Virtual Tour created by Matterhorn Media.

Artist Statement

The paintings are about the act of painting. Although individually the paintings possess different intensities, opposing levels of complexity and abstraction, and perhaps a vague adherence to a narrative, the core of the process of painting remains consistent. The paintings are a reflection of the process of painting them. Every process is unique.

The magic of painting can never be totally explained. I find joy in discovering the emerging world of a new painting. Although harmony of the mind and the heart is important, the metabolic process of converting color, form and line into the forces that drive the painting is absolutely necessary.

Artist Bio

Education:
Brevard High School
Brevard, NC – 1965
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL,USA – Marine Biology, 1965-1968
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Charlotte, NC, USA – Creative Writing Program 1970-1972
Western Carolina University
 Cullowhee, NC, USA – BFA Ceramics and Painting 1979

Employment:
Science Museums of Charlotte
Charlotte, NC, USA –  Exhibits Tech 1979-1982
North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher
Kure Beach, NC, USA – Curator of Design and Exhibits 1982 – 2008
Artist
Acme Art Studios – Wilmington, NC, USA   1979 – present
Poet
1970 – present

Affiliations:
WHQR Public Radio – Local Advisory Board
Wilmington, NC, USA
1996-2004
North Carolina Museums Council
1979 – 2002
Southeastern Museums Conference
1979 – 1985
Wilmington Railroad Museum – Planning committee chairman
Wilmington. NC, USA 1995
Acme Art Studios – co-founder
Wilmington, NC, USA 1991 – present
No Boundaries International Artist Colony – co-founder
Wilmington, NC, USA 1997 – 2010
Art Point Gumno
Sloestica, Macedonia 2005 – present
African American Heritage Foundation
 Wilmington, NC 2009 – 2011

Publications:
Southern Poetry Review
Saint Andrews Review
Kostroma Poetry Project (Russian translation)
Between the Lines – Poetry festival chapbook
Poems for Macedonia
Various chapbooks

More of his works can be found on his website.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Online Artist, Painting
Dick RobertsPhotography by William Fridrich
Jessie Robertson – Painter and Sculptor

 

Artist Statement

Ever since I can remember, I have been filled with a great love for frogs and toads. Everything about them, from their bright eyes and wide grins to their powerful leaps and graceful strokes, amazes me. I try to capture the beauty I see in frogs in my artwork, and to express the love and joy I feel for them with those who see my pieces. More importantly, I hope to contribute to amphibian conservation efforts worldwide, and make a real difference in the lives of the thousands of frog species currently threatened with extinction. Frogs need us, and I believe we need them too.

While I have always enjoyed creating frog artwork, it became a true passion for me when I discovered SAVE THE FROGS!, an amphibian conservation organization, and the enormous threats that frog species face. Ever since, I have used my artwork as activism, including informative fact cards about species I depict and donating 10% of my sales to SAVE THE FROGS! I use a variety of mediums, including acrylic paintings, watercolors, sculpture, digital illustrations, and animation. My pieces tend to draw heavily from real life, both because I love animals as they truly appear and so that each species is distinctly recognizable. That said, I make my pieces lively by enhancing colors and giving all of my subjects a smile. Though frogs may be suffering dramatically in the world we live in, I want to live in a world where I can find them smiling everywhere. I work to help create that world in my art, and in real life.

 

Biography

Born in Memphis, TN, Jessie Robertson moved with her family to Wilmington in 2010. Since 2017, Jessie’s award-winning art has displayed in several group and solo art exhibits, including shows at Wilma Daniels Gallery, ACES Gallery, 216 N. Front Street, the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, and Art in Bloom Gallery. In 2019, Jessie graduated from Wilmington Early College High School as valedictorian and from Cape Fear Community College (CFCC). Today, she is majoring in both Studio Art and Digital Arts at UNCW and working as a part-time employee at Art in Bloom Gallery, where she edits their artist films. Jessie hopes that the more she learns and creates, the more successful she will be in achieving her goal of saving the frogs.

More of Jessie’s work can be found at: https://jessielrobertson.wixsite.com/portfolio

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Acrylic Painting, Artist, Featured Artist, Painting
David Norris – Illustrator

Wilmington artist, David A. Norris, has a BFA degree from the East Carolina University School of Art.  Long settled in the Port City, he finds the historic atmosphere of Wilmington and the natural beauty of the Cape Fear River and the coast provide limitless sources of artistic inspiration.

Most of David’s work reflects the landscapes of the places where he has lived or visited.  Through his interest in art history, his work has absorbed influences such as English watercolors, 19th century engravings, Japanese woodblock prints, Dutch Baroque landscapes, and Van Gogh’s reed pen drawings.

David recently has begun a series of monoprints that combine printing techniques with color pencils and lithograph crayons. They build on and compliment a long-standing series of regional cityscapes and landscapes done in watercolor and color pencil. He also works in other media ranging from black and white pen drawings to silverpoint, scrimshaw, linoleum block prints, and collage.

About the Monoprint Process

Monoprinting is a process by which the artist creates prints, but only as single, unique copies.

One variation, the “plexiglass print”, begins with a thin layer of block print ink rolled by a brayer onto a sheet of plexiglass or other firm, smooth material. The artist lightly places a sheet of paper face down on the glass. A guide sketch can be taped to the back of the sheet. Wherever the artist traces a line of the sketch — by pen, pencil, or even a fingertip — the pressure transfers a mark to the printing paper. When done, the paper is carefully pulled from the plexiglass and allowed to dry, leaving the new print.

The new monoprint can stay “as is”, or the artist can continue printing additional colors of ink onto the sheet. It is also possible to embellish the print by hand. The thick printmaking ink, when dried, makes a rich surface for color pencil or other drawing media.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist
Constance Pappalardo – Painter & Guest Artist

Artist Statement

Whether I am working in black and white or color I’ve sought to suggest in my paintings – in addition to beauty -feelings of hope and peace.

Most of the black and white verticals started with music. They were born out of the genius of others such as Mozart and Bach. When I am listening to a piece of classical music and I close my eyes, what I see is the lines, the vibrations and explosions of the sounds, the notes, and the music. It always comes to me that way. And then black and white, never color, perhaps referencing the notes and sheet music I have seen throughout my life.

While the black and white pieces are inspired by music, the color pieces are about light and imagination. My color work is heavily influenced by nature and the magic of the ever-changing landscape.

I primarily work with watercolor on canvas, but my intention is never to follow the traditional path of watercolor. I am always experimenting, using the fluidity of the medium to my advantage. Sometimes I will use printing techniques to achieve patterns, sometimes spraying and rubbing and creating shadows by taking the paint off as quickly as I have applied it. It’s an exciting process because the outcome is always a surprise and that is what I look for, the happy accident when the very wet paint has a mind of its own and directs my next step.

About the Artist

Constance Pappalardo was born in Lima, Peru. She moved to New York City at the age of eight. The art and culture of the city inspired her to pursue her art studies. After high school, Ms. Pappalardo studied painting at The School of Visual Arts, in Manhattan.

Pappalardo now lives in Cary, North Carolina. Her contemporary abstract watercolors have been featured in numerous galleries in Cary, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and other cities in North Carolina.

She is a member of the Fine Arts League on Cary, The Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, Artspace and of The Durham Art Guild in Durham.

Ms. Pappalardo is the recipient of various art awards. Her works are included in local corporate collections as well as private collections in the states as well as England, Norway, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Mongolia, Moldova, and her native Peru.

She was chosen to be the signature artist for Cary’s 2007 Spring Daze Arts and Crafts Festival and is one of the original founders of The Cary Art Loop, Final Friday Art Walk.

Ms. Pappalardo is very involved in many charity art auctions, donating art throughout the years to such charitable events as VAE’s For the Love Art auction and gala, the Works of the HeArt/ action against AIDS auction and gala, North Carolina Museum of Art’s Art of the Auction, the Red Cross, the Boys and Girls Club of Wake County and Habitat for Humanity among others.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Online Artist
Meg McGrew – Guest Photographer

From the time Meg McGrew first picked up a camera, she’s always been fascinated by shadows.  Meg loves the way our shadows elongate in late afternoon sun. She’s hypnotized by the crisp morning shadows that appear on her bathroom walls, outlining a piece of pottery or a cascading strand of leaves from a flowerpot on a shelf.

Lately Meg has been focused on how objects and shadows can be transformed into different and unique images. She’s taken the original photos and altered them digitally, playing with exposure, color, contrast and applications that add texture to the image. Time melts when she’s involved in this process.

Over the years, Meg has expressed herself creatively through photography, pottery, painting and drawing. But taking photos has been the most integral part of her creative life. Catching the play of light on an object or person, combined with a cast shadow, is Meg’s ongoing point of focus. Meg’s intention with her current series of photos is to illustrate how things change in time and in our imaginations, moment to moment.

 

“Out of the Shadows” Artist Statement

It was a bright sunny morning in early August 2016. I was on highway I-40 headed to Maryland. My Mom was getting hospice care at home, and I had planned to take over the caregiving from my brother Kevin for a while.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a car came careening across and over the median, and spinning toward me as I was going 70mph.The crash was loud and hard. I had many broken and shattered bones, some of which could not be fixed. After months of numbness, the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder set in.

I was grateful to be alive though, and still cannot fully express my gratitude to the many people who supported me after the crash. You know who you are.

It took a long while for me to make any kind of artwork again. But one day I was sitting in my wheelchair and had my camera nearby. I picked it up and started to photograph my shadows on the wall across from me. Now I see it as my first attempt to creatively deal with the trauma. I took pictures of the shadow of the heavy boot on my right leg and my hand reaching out in a helpless sort of gesture.

Years have gone by now, and the title of this show Out of the Shadows, reflects my coming through the darker, shadowy world of trauma to the more colorful creative life I have today. It also relates to a lifelong fascination I have had with shadows.

The images in this show started with photos either totally made up of shadows or where a shadow is a primary focus in the piece. I have then used an online photo editing program to digitally alter them in some way. I was so excited when I first got into this process. I was amazed at what I could create by changing the color, texture or shape of the original images.

In the beginning, some of the wonderful results came about by chance, as I explored the digital possibilities. Then I became more purposeful in how I transformed them,  while still being open to what I might stumble upon.

Light and dark. Day and night. One complements the other. I now have a deeper appreciation of the way shadows can accentuate the light in the image and in my life.

 

“Even in darkness it is possible to create light…” -Elie Weisel

“Life is an endless journey of self-discovery, a dance between the shadows and the light…” -Rumi

“Life only unfolds in moments. The healing power of mindfulness lies in living each of those moments as fully as we can, accepting it as it is as we open to what comes next–in the next moment of now.” -Jon Kabat-Zinn

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Online Artist
Clarence Mayo – Guest Artist

Clarence is an artist based in Durham, NC, who specializes in cold wax, oil, and acrylic mediums. His artistic creations are a result of his deep inspiration from a diverse range of tribal icons and symbols originating from different cultures across the globe. Mayo’s artistic vision is notably shaped by the artistic and cultural intricacies of both Africa and Central America.

Clarence comes to Art in Bloom Gallery through an artist exchange project with the Durham Art Guild.

About the Durham Art Guild

The Durham Art Guild is a nonprofit member-driven visual arts organization established in 1948. The Guild’s mission is to enrich and connect our communities by creating opportunities and providing leadership for current and future visual artists and art enthusiasts. The Guild programs over 40 exhibitions annually across multiple NC community partnership venues featuring over 400 regional artists. In addition to the Creative Mentorship Program and the Artist in Residence Program, the Guild also produces over 20 arts related events each year including receptions, lectures, community building events and professional development workshops. For more information about the Durham Art Guild please visit www.durhamartguild.org or follow us @durhamartguild

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Online Artist
Curtis Krueger – Photographer

Some of the Curtis Krueger’s earliest memories are of his father and him drawing at the dining room table. He was told our television broke down when he was in kindergarten, and his parents, although they could afford to repair it decided not to.  Curtis places much of his fascination with the art-world with their encouragement and direct participation. The lack of television as entertainment is another. Curtis studied art at Eastern Michigan University, earning a BFA, along with two teaching certificates. It was in school where he took a darkroom class and got the incurable photo bug.  For the last 25 years he has earned a living selling my photos at various art festivals and galleries across America. Traveling is a big part of his schedule. Half the year is taken up with either shows or photo gathering trips. On an average year, Curtis travels 30,000 miles and shoots 50,000 images.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist, Photography
Doug Haas – Wood Turner

Doug Haas is a wood turner who creates exquisite, original works of art often from wood found on local streets.  He is a volunteer woodturning instructor and mentor at Topsail High School and an active member of the Wilmington Area Woodturners Association and the American Association of Woodturners.  Doug’s wood turning builds upon his previous experience and exploration in painting and design.

Doug graduated from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC with a BFA in Art with a studio major in painting and a minor in wood design. He also studied art at the Universidad de las Americas in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico.

In addition to his work in the arts, Doug has a 30+ year career including 20+ years as an area coordinator for the NC Division of Emergency Management and as an emergency management specialist for the US Marine Corps, in addition to other positions in training and development.

One of his favorite quotes is “Why not go out on a limb?  That’s where the fruit is.” Mark Twain

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Doug Haas, Featured Artist, Wood
Jeri Greenberg – Pastel Artist

After many years as a fashion illustrator and sportswear designer, Jeri turned her love of graphic design towards advertising next. Having time to devote herself to painting again, and falling in love with the pastel medium, has led to a new and interesting “next act”, as a full time painter and teacher.

Feeling that “Pastels are an immediate tool to express feelings” and the perfect vehicle in which to “Make the Ordinary, Extraordinary” and tell stories in her paintings, Jeri works to constantly get a deeper understanding of this wonderful medium. With her background in illustration, Jeri helps her students get a strongly drawn foundation down behind their color work.

Jeri loves painting still lifes, urban interiors, figures and fabrics, and the occasional landscape as well.Recently relocated, Jeri teaches weekly classes at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington NC, and holds demos and workshops around the country, as well as jurying national and international pastel exhibits.

Jeri is currently hosting a Holiday Sale until the end of the year with many more works available.  Please visit her site to view more!

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist
Dorothy Gillespie (1920-2012) – Sculptor

“I love color, it goes back to the things I saw as a child – a Christmas tree, a ball bouncing, a kite.”
—Dorothy Gillespie

Dorothy Gillespie was well known as a painter, sculptor, and installation artist whose work encompassed many significant 20th-century trends in art, including abstract expressionism, decorative abstraction, site-specific installations, the women’s movement, and art in public spaces. She pioneered joyful new directions for metal sculpture and is best known for large-scale, colorfully painted arrangements of cut aluminum strips that radiate, undulate, or curl like giant arrangements of ribbon, enchanted towers, or bursting fireworks.

Dorothy Gillespie’s illustrious career in art spanned over 70 years during which time she created, exhibited and sold her art work nationally and internationally.

Gillespie, born in Roanoke, VA, declared early her intention to become an artist. She studied art at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD then moved to New York City where she studied at the Art Student’s League of New York and the Stanley William Hayter’s Atelier 17.

Among her many honors, Gillespie received The Alice Baber Art Fund, Inc. Grant Award; a Doctor of Pedagogy, Niagara University, Niagara Falls, NY 1990; a Doctor of Fine Arts (Honoris Causa) Caldwell College, Caldwell, NY 1976; an Allied Professions Award,Virginia Society; The American Institute of Architects, Richmond, VA 1986; Distinguished Alumni Award, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD 1983; Outstanding Services Award, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, AR 1983; and, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art in 2001. The Gala 8  ” Distinguished Woman” Award at Birmingham Southern College in 1987 honoring women who have made lasting contributions to our society in the fields of endeavor ranging from the arts, medicine, philanthropy, journalism, government, sports, entertainment and business”.

In addition to her demanding studio work, Gillespie served as a Distinguished Professor of Art, Radford University, Radford, VA 1997-99; on the Board of Trustees, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD 1996-99; on the Board of Trustees, Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL 1996-99; and on the Art in Public Places Committee, Broward Cultural Affairs Council, June 1993-June 1994; and as Visiting Artist, Radford University, Radford, VA 1981-83 where she initiated the University’s permanent art collection through a gift of her own work and where her work is now archived. Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow from 1985-1993. During that period she made week-long visits to small private colleges throughout the country and gave public lectures, coached and taught young artists.

Early in her career, Gillespie contributed to the women’s art movement through her work at Artist in Residence, Women’s Interart Center, New York, NY 1972 and her lecture series at the New School for Social Research, New York, NY 1977. Gillespie is the subject of numerous reviews, critical essays, film and radio interviews and a book Dorothy Gillespie published by the Radford University Foundation Press.

Click here to download our DG Interactive Brochure featuring Dorothy Gillespie’s work around Wilmington!

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist
Wm. Fridrich – Photographer

Wm. Fridrich: Photographs

Robert Hughes, referring to the DADA move­ment (and Marcel Duchamp in particular), said that “like his Bottle Rack, Bicycle Wheel and other ‘ready­mades’…the world is so full of interesting objects that the artist need not add to them. Instead he could just pick one, and this ironic act of choice was equivalent to creation.”

The camera is the definitive instrument for making these ironic acts of choice. Then the function of this device — to record what already exists — in the DADA belief, is equivalent to the act of creation.

Wm. Fridrich studied art, sculpture and photography at UCLA, motorcycle magazines and in the U.S. Army, as a combat illustrator. He then launched a successful graphic design career in the early 1970s.

Introduced to the Dada and Surrealist movements by his wife, art historian Marsha McKee, William became clinically obsessed with Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and Joseph Cornell: he has not yet recovered.

More of his work can be found on his WEBSITE.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist, Medium, Photography
Elizabeth Darrow – Painter (OTHER ART)

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Elizabeth Darrow has made Wilmington her home since 1977. Born in Hartford, Conn. Darrow is a 1967 graduate of Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), where she majored in painting. She has been working in oil and collage throughout her career, usually in the manner of Abstract Expressionism.

She works in a variety of styles depending on her medium, but never works “from life” in the traditional sense. Most of the imagery that comes to her seems to hatch of its own accord, emerging from the process. Darrow enjoys working with color, repeating patterns and embedding humor (and angst) into her work. Each piece takes her on a journey of discovery where she hopes to lose herself to the process.

Darrow’s works are held in many private collections locally and abroad. Additionally, her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Cameron Art Museum here in Wilmington, N.C., Duke University Medical Center, R.J. Reynolds, Lowes, Wells Fargo, BB&T Bank, SAS Institute, Sara Lee Inc., The Holiday Inn and Nations Bank.

Additionally, many of Darrow’s works can be found backstage at the Wilson Center, Cape Fear Community College’s center for performing arts. This group of work was donated to the Wilson Center in celebration of original art by anonymous donors.  Click here to view a slideshow of her work located at the Wilson Center.

Click here to view a slideshow of past and present art by Elizabeth Darrow.

Look deeper into the many phases and processes of Elizabeth Darrow’s art work in this documentary titled Elizabeth Darrow: Believing in the Process. the documentary was created by: Jessie Robertson, Robby Carl and Christina Capra 2019.

“Start With The Eyes” documents a new process for Elizabeth Darrow.  Once again she allows the process to lead her to the outcome, rather than working from a preconceived idea.  Elizabeth Darrow: Start with the Eyes, The documentary was created by: Jessie Robertson, and Christina Capra August 2021.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist
Elizabeth Darrow – Painter (ABSTRACT ART)

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Elizabeth Darrow has made Wilmington her home since 1977. Born in Hartford, Conn. Darrow is a 1967 graduate of Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), where she majored in painting. She has been working in oil and collage throughout her career, usually in the manner of Abstract Expressionism.

She works in a variety of styles depending on her medium, but never works “from life” in the traditional sense. Most of the imagery that comes to her seems to hatch of its own accord, emerging from the process. Darrow enjoys working with color, repeating patterns and embedding humor (and angst) into her work. Each piece takes her on a journey of discovery where she hopes to lose herself to the process.

Darrow’s works are held in many private collections locally and abroad. Additionally, her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Cameron Art Museum here in Wilmington, N.C., Duke University Medical Center, R.J. Reynolds, Lowes, Wells Fargo, BB&T Bank, SAS Institute, Sara Lee Inc., The Holiday Inn and Nations Bank.

Additionally, many of Darrow’s works can be found backstage at the Wilson Center, Cape Fear Community College’s center for performing arts. This group of work was donated to the Wilson Center in celebration of original art by anonymous donors.  Click here to view a slideshow of her work located at the Wilson Center.

Click here to view a slideshow of past and present art by Elizabeth Darrow.

Look deeper into the many phases and processes of Elizabeth Darrow’s art work in this documentary titled Elizabeth Darrow: Believing in the Process. the documentary was created by: Jessie Robertson, Robby Carl and Christina Capra 2019.

“Start With The Eyes” documents a new process for Elizabeth Darrow.  Once again she allows the process to lead her to the outcome, rather than working from a preconceived idea.  Elizabeth Darrow: Start with the Eyes, The documentary was created by: Jessie Robertson, and Christina Capra August 2021.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017
Artist, Featured Artist
Fine Art From $125-500
Saturday, December 31st, 2016
Artist, Featured Artist
Fine Art Under $125
Saturday, December 31st, 2016
Artist, Featured Artist, Fine Art Under $125, Medium
Gift Cards

Fine Art Gift Cards
Give a gift that will last forever!

Our customers can now purchase a Gift Card as a special gift for that special person on their shopping list…whatever the occasion!
Art in Bloom Gallery will mail the Gift Card directly to the recipient or have it ready for pick up in the gallery.

This unique gift can be used toward the purchase of any item sold at Art in Bloom Gallery, and may be redeemed in store or online.

Click here to purchase Physical Gift Cards online or visit us at the gallery!

Art in Bloom Gallery also offers eGift Cards as an electronic option.  For this option, please click the link to purchase.

 

Please call and speak to a gallery staff member with any questions or concerns at 910-679-4257.
*Gift cards are not redeemable for cash and have no time limit for use.

Saturday, December 31st, 2016
Artist, Featured Artist
Fine Art on Sale
Monday, December 12th, 2016
Artist, Featured Artist, Fine Art on Sale, Medium

Shop Art

Explore

My Account

Contact

Art in Bloom Gallery
6866 Main Street | Wilmington, NC 28405
Phone: 910-679-4257 or 484-885-3037

Monday – Saturday 10am – 7pm
Sunday 12 – 6pm

Copyright 2015-2021 Art in Bloom Gallery | Web Design and Management: ProjectBox Media