“Good Luck (Panamanian Golden Frog)” Acrylic on canvas, 22” x 28” x .75” (Framed)
“Frogs & Friends” features multimedia artist Jessie Robertson‘s conservation art in her first solo exhibit – and has been extended through the 29th!
Beyond her role as an Art in Bloom gallery specialist and filmmaker, Jessie’s two lifelong passions are art and frogs. “Frogs & Friends” demonstrates how she fuses these interests – celebrating the diverse frog species she studies while spreading awareness for their conservation. To Jessie, “The tragedy of frogs’ dramatic declines is that every threat they face, from climate change to infectious disease, is human caused. But that’s exactly why I have so much hope that we can work together to save them. Frogs are our friends, and I hope we can learn to be better friends to them.”
Jessie enjoys the challenge of exploring art through different media. Building off her background with acrylic paints, which she enjoys for their vibrancy and control, “Frogs & Friends” also features her newer explorations into oil painting and ceramic slip-casting. Now that she’s graduated with degrees in Studio Art and Digital Arts from UNCW, Jessie hopes that the more she learns and creates, the more successful she will be in achieving her goal of saving the frogs.
10% of all of Jessie’s sales will be donated to the international amphibian conservation organization SAVE THE FROGS!.
Virginia Wright-Frierson “Bryce Canyon Late Afternoon” Oil on canvas, 49″ x 36″
Art in Bloom Gallery is collaborating with Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts to present the paintings of Virginia Wright-Frierson! Discover Virginia’s painted scenes across the 2nd Floor Lobby and Ruth & Bucky Stein Theatre, where her documentary feature, “Lived-In Bodies: Art by Virginia Wright-Frierson” will be screened!
The exhibit will be open daily from 12-5pm, January 10th – March 26th at 310 Chestnut St. Preview the works online at: https://aibgallery.com/product-category/thalian-hall/
Purchase tickets to the 5:30 “Lived-In Bodies” screening event at: https://www.thalianhall.org/aib-livinbod-25
About the Artist
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, a “pop up” exhibit of new oils and watercolors at 216 N. Front Street sponsored by Art in Bloom Gallery, and a Cameron Art Museum exhibit, “The Lived-In Body, Celebrating Women Over 65.”
Stoneware Pottery & Raku Ware by Traudi Thornton
Art in Bloom Gallery and the Estate of Traudi Thornton are pleased to continue to represent the work of late master ceramicist and artist Traudi Thornton (1940-2023). The gallery will offer works of Traudi’s functional stoneware pottery as well as her unique raku ware. Traudi continues her unique presence at Art in Bloom Gallery, where she has participated in exhibits and sales beginning in 2015.
Join us for an opening reception, which will be held on Sunday, April 28th from 2-5pm, with live music featuring Heather Heath and Justin Lacy!
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.
True Blue Butcher and Table Restaurant
1125 Military Cutoff Road, Wilmington, NC 28405