River Arts District Studio Stroll
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Jonas Gerard paints live to music by the River Guerguerian Project during the River Arts District Studio Stroll. PAGE 21 Interview with Steven Lloyd, Executive Encaustic Artist Director for Haywood CONSTANCE Arts Regional Theatre. WILLLIAMS PAGE 34 Heats up the River District Arts Scene. PAGE 4 The Enso Quartet performs during the annual Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival. PAGE 8 PLUS: Interview with Pattiy Torno, Asheville Area Riverfront Redevelopment Commissioner. PAGE 3 NC Stage Company presents The Glass Menagerie. PAGE 6 Works by River Arts District Artists Stephen Janton, Jeff Pittman, and Sandee Shaffer Johnson. PAGES 22-23 Walk through Kenilworth with Peter Loewer. PAGE 28 Interview with pastel artist Artists open their studios Nancy Clausen. PAGE 36 June 11 & 12 for two days of festivities during the bi-annual Studio Stroll. Map on PAGE 20 PG. 39 H Asheville, NC VISIT Artist Studios 240 26 19 ve. /2 n A 3 Pat to DOWNTOWN n a ASHEVILLE m g B 240 n i l i C l t River Arts District m o RIVER ARTS r yw o o DISTRICT e a d R d. A H v e more than 150 studios . sEvery Dayn#HECKOURCALENDARONLINE 240 26 d. w R do Mea sSecond Fridaysn%VENINGS!PRILn.OVEMBER 828.280.7709 sStudio StrollnJune 11-12! 10AM to 6PM RiverArtsDistrict.com 40 2 June 2011 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 14, No. 10 PRINTS COLOR RAPID RIVER ARTS river arts INTERVIEW WITH INTERVIEWED BY DENNIS RAY P iy Trn attiy Torno is one of the founding members of the River Arts District and currently serves as an Asheville Area Riverfront Redevelopment PCommissioner. Rapid River Magazine: What new business- es are now open in the River Arts District? Pattiy Torno: There has been a lot of growth in this area over the past couple years. * The Magnetic Field Café & Performance House, (lunch, dinner, bar, plus all original productions in a black box theatre. Pattiy Torno, one of the founding members * The Glen Rock Depot – 60 new affordable of the River Arts District. housing units. * Pink Dog Creative – home to 15 new stu- RRM: Does the River Arts District offer any dios as well as the Artery, the Asheville Area programs for students (K-12) this summer? Arts Council, and the Junction restaurant PT: Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts does and bar. Kids Clay Camps all summer long. Phil Me- * Nourish & Flourish – juice bar, Nia & chanic Studios does a kids art camp as well. I Network Care Studio. believe that Roots & Wings out of Pink Dog * Hatchery Studios – 5 new studios will Creative may also offer some programs. You open June 1 with White Duck Taco Shop, can find all these on www.ashevilleRAD. which is already open. com. Under business, please scroll down to * Roots Foods bought what was Railside teaching facilities. Studios and changed the name to Roots RRM: How did the River Arts District first Studios. Roots Foods is a company that come about? wholesales organic hummus and other PT: I recognized through my work on the products, as well as running Roots Café in COA River District Design Review Com- the Grey Eagle. mittee that the “River District” is a zoning * The Old Wood Company is a new furni- code designation. So, in order to locate the ture manufacturer at 99 Riverside Drive. area artists were calling home on the 14 mile * Wendy Whitson just purchased 357 Depot stretch of riverfront, we needed to name our Street, now called Northlight Studios. Ashe- geographic location. “River Arts District” ville Greenworks remains on the first floor, just seemed a natural, so in 2005 we started with 3 new artist studios upstairs. a push to get that set of words to mean to everyone else what it meant to us — a really RRM: The studio stroll, which happens great enclave/community of artists making twice each year, is of course always a huge amazing work, sandwiched between the rail- event, but what else is going on during the road tracks and the French Broad River. rest of the year? RRM: Are there any plans for summer week- PT: The Asheville RAD is open everyday to end mini-strolls? visitors. There are performances, theatre, PT: Not that I know of. classes and workshops, lectures, movies and music, as well as a full gamut of any type RRM: Where can we learn more about the of fine art or fine craft being created every River Arts District? day. In addition, you can now eat breakfast, PT: Visit www.ashevilleRAD.com or www. lunch and dinner here, as well as drink great riverartsdistrict.com for more information. beer, or get really yummy mixed drinks. Pattiy Torno, Hedy Fischer, and Constance RRM: From an economic perspective, are Williams are embarking on a project to broaden you seeing a rise in tourism again? support for the arts – visit their new website PT: The funny part is that we never saw www.collectARTasheville.com for details. a dip in tourism. The past two years have been abundant down this way. It has been At Pattiy Torno @ CURVE you’ll find suggested that our visitors were perhaps extraordinary quilts, eclectic clothing, and staying closer to home by coming to Ashe- her line of Fun Fleece hats, scarves, and ville. Honestly, we have stayed quite busy blankets. CURVE studios & garden is open — so the answer is no, it has been good all everyday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. along and continues to be so. www.ashevilleRAD.com Vol. 14, No. 10 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — June 2011 3 PRINTS COLOR RAPID RIVER ARTS river arts INTERVIEW WITH INTERVIEWED BY DENNIS RAY Ctnc Wis apid River Magazine: When you first started your career as an artist, what were your goals and how have they changed, or grown, over the R years? Constance Williams: The creative process has been fluid throughout my life. As with many artists, I too, found professions along the way to financially survive and use my artistic skills. I do believe that all the things that I have done makes me appreciate what I do currently, with a sense of urgency and Constance working on a commission. passionate force that flows through me 24/7. RRM: Can you describe for us the process the surface of her under glazed clay surfaces. involved in creating one of your pieces? I just knew I needed to paint with it. CW: I paint thin translucent hues of a RRM: What does the encaustic medium molten paint medium of damar tree resin, mean to you and what do you love most beeswax and pigment, heated in a multitude about it? of electric skillets with a brush and fuse each CW: The clarity, depth and transparency of layer with a blow torch, which I wield with color, and the sculptural and dimensional precision to create all the effects through all effects that I can achieve are like no paint the layers I build and sculpt. medium. RRM: Do you plan your pieces before you start? CW: I always have a plan, this is an ex- pensive paint medium and the process is fluid and complex. I need to build up the 25-75+ translucent layers one at a time so it is important to know where you want to go, for the most part these days, I have already worked it out in my head, so the painting effortlessly flows out on to my surface. RRM: Tell us a bit about your studio and the atmosphere when you create. PSeries, encaustic painting by Constance Williams, Do you have a ritual or something you private collection. do before you begin or while you are creating? I paint full color encaustic; for the most part, most encaustic work done today CW: I have a spacious daylight filled studio is as mixed-media. Even the famous Jasper and gallery of my work, open to the public Johns did mixed-media encaustic, which seven days a week, in Asheville’s River Arts enables the artist to incorporate using District, where you will find me painting Take Your Craft to mediums they already know how to use most days. I am surrounded by steel tables, without the long learning curve of manipu- piles of electric skillets, sculpting tools, and Another Level lating a molten paint medium, which acts blow-torches. My only ritual is to only start Workshops and Core Programs more like molten glass. a painting that is complete in my head. The fluid nature of this paint medium never fails for Adults and Youth RRM: How did you begin working in en- to amaze me, even though I have a plan, the caustics? beauty is in the nuances of the layers and CW: This is an ancient paint medium devel- complexity of depth that mean I can never oped by the Greeks about 3000 years ago, truly duplicate a painting. The Only Professional is mostly a forgotten medium, more than RRM: In a world saturated by images and Acting Studio in WNC likely because there are easier ways to paint with the speed of communications now, is a painting. I knew the art history story, but two dimensional painting still relevant? fell in love with the way it felt on the sculp- CW: This is a sculptural, dimensional paint www.stellaadler-asheville.com tures of my friend and fellow artist Jenny medium than can be touched, I know that I Mastin, who was applying clear encaustic to (828) 254-1320 Continued on next page 4 June 2011 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol.