Stokes Arts to host Exhibit of Artist Ellen Gamble and Julie Holmes in the Apple Gallery
500 N Main Street
- Danbury, NC 27016
- 1-336-593-8159
- www.stokesarts.org
The Stokes County Arts Council is pleased to announce the opening of an exhibit of original paintings, “Nature Series,” by Ellen Gamble and Julie Holmes in the Apple Gallery. A reception is scheduled for Friday, May 27 from 5:30pm-7:00pm in the Apple Gallery of the Stokes County Arts Council 500 Main Street Danbury, NC. This exhibit will be on display May 16th through June 30th. The viewing of this exhibit is free and open to the public.
The Stokes County Arts Council is pleased to announce the opening of an exhibit of original paintings, “Nature Series,” by Ellen Gamble and Julie Holmes in the Apple Gallery. A reception is scheduled for Friday, May 27 from 5:30pm-7:00pm in the Apple Gallery of the Stokes County Arts Council 500 Main Street Danbury, NC.
Gamble shared that her first inspiration came from the Abstract Expressionists. In the 1980’s, she used geometric forms to set up the initial compositions of her paintings and then filled the shapes with painterly brushstrokes and rich, textural surfaces.
In 2011, she began her Nature series where she used these same techniques with compositions of flowers, vines, dead leaves, sticks, and pods. “While painting nature, flowers take on abstract shapes; the leaves and pods follow.”
Texture is important to her. The surfaces are built up over time with many layers of oil paint. Gamble uses shapes that refer back to earlier compositions. At the same time, new shapes have emerged along with swirling patterns. Repeated shapes have become symbolic and allude to figures while remaining abstract. Her new paintings use this same process. After painting nature and flowers for the past twelve years, she is returning to her original roots as an abstract artist.
Gamble has a diverse educational background from her membership in the Art Student League of New York in 2008 to her time at UNC Chapel Hill from 1982-1983 studying with visiting NY artist, Doug Sanderson.
Gamble has participated in numerous solo and group shows and exhibits over a span of more than 40 years. Her work has been shown in numerous galleries throughout Winston-Salem, including downtown galleries as well as the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. She has been featured in other museums and galleries throughout New York including Palm Gallery in Brooklyn and Mokatov Gallery in New York, NY. Gamble has been a featured artist at Flanders Art Gallery in Raleigh, NC and exhibited in other areas across North Carolina.
Gamble’s work has also earned her honors and awards such as the Emerging Artist Grant, a Region Artist Project Grant, and an Arts Education Program, all in the Wake County/Raleigh area.
Holmes explained that her favorite medium is oil paint. She shared: “there’s a lusciousness and buttery feel to oil paint that is unlike any other medium.” She started oil painting many years ago in college in Wisconsin and recently returned to painting in 2012. Holmes completed a 4-year program, including a visual thesis in the advanced studies of oil painting, at Studio Incamminati, an art school based in Philadelphia, PA in 2018.
Previously, Holmes participated in the PopUp Artist Juried Exhibition with Golden Belt Studios in Durham, NC in December 2021. She has taught homeless people drawing skills at Studio Incamminati, Philadelphia, PA in 2019.
In this Exhibition, called “Nature Series,” Holmes said she is expressing her love and appreciation for the outdoors. Her inspiration comes from simply walking outside her front door and looking. She does this daily with her rescue dog named Chloe, who needs lots of exercise. She and her family live near woods, creeks and pine straw covered paths in an unlikely location: downtown Raleigh. Most of the paintings are from her imagination. Her dream is to create beautiful, original, affordable art for all to see and enjoy.
Holmes emphasized that painting is the best job she has ever had. She worked for years in marketing, then graphic design, and building websites. Her hobby was pottery, and she realized that she often painted on the pieces she created. She described herself as a late bloomer! She married in her early 40s. She trained and finished a marathon run in her late 40s. She attended art school in her late 50s.
This exhibit, “Nature Series,” will be on display May 16-June 30, 2022 in the Apple Gallery. The Stokes County Arts Council is open to the public Monday through Friday, 9:00am-6:00pm, Saturday, 10:00a.m.-6:00p.m. and Sunday 12:00pm-6:00pm. For additional information about the exhibit, please contact the Stokes County Arts Council at (336) 593-8159 or visit www.stokesarts.org.
