On Friday night, July 1st, as part of the Downtown Boone Art Crawl the Watauga Arts Council located in the Jones House at 604 W. King Street will have new exhibits and an opening reception from 6:30pm until 8:00pm with refreshments and this is open to the public. Please join us in welcoming these new exhibitors to our galleries and meet these interesting artists.

In the Mazie Jones Gallery we will feature the work of husband and wife photographers, Dennis & Carole Usdan.
Carole Usdan is a self taught photographer who has exhibited her work throughout the United States. She divides her time between Boone, NC and Palm Beach, Florida and studied at the Boca Raton Museum School.  Her photographic career has been influenced by her lifetime interest in literature, film and two dimensional art.

It is through photography that she attempts to comprehend and order her thoughts and to establish connectivity. Her images contain a cohesive visual sensibility and emotional perspective. There is a sense of mystery and a fascination with visual links between life, identity, misunderstanding and culture.

She has appeared in B&W Magazine (a high quality journal for collectors of fine photography) 3 times. Also, her image “Face (Distorted)” was selected from over 10,000 images for the cover of the August 2010 issue. In the current issue of B&W, several pieces from her Fractured Female series (many on display currently at the Turchin Center)  are featured.  Additionally, she has been published in COLOR Magazine.

Dennis Usdan is a fine art photographer and recovering lawyer. He was born and raised on Long Island, New York. He graduated from the University Of Vermont and Boston University School of Law. He has received instruction in photography at Appalachian State University Craft Enrichment center. He is forever thankful to Jack Wild for his inspiration and instruction at Boca Raton Museum School and Delray Beach Florida Old School Square Art and photography.

His photos have been winning selections in various media juried competitions. His photography was a winning selection by the Watauga Arts Council and was displayed at the Jones House in 2009; and now in July 2011; Boca Raton Museum of Art as part of the juried All Florida competition 2009 and 2011; cover of the All Florida competition invitation to artists 2010; a winning selection for B&W and Color Magazine 2011 photography competition. His photography is often described as extracts, abstracts, and fragments with significance placed on design, lines, forms, shadows and colors.

The Open Door Gallery is pleased to have the artwork of painter, Jonathan Ryan.  Jonathan grew up moving around the world because his father was in the Navy.  He moved to Boone to attend Appalachian State University and graduated in December of 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in fine art. He says that he has always been a drawer and a painter and that art was his biggest interest.

He has been a member of the Nth Gallery and Studios in downtown Boone since June of 2008, and had his first solo show there in 2009. The show titled, “The Drums are Like the Lettuce” featured over 100 small paintings. Jonathan has also exhibited at the Turchin Center, in Charlotte & Eden, NC, and has work hanging in several local businesses here. There was a second exhibit at the Nth Gallery in May of this year which featured 28 collaborative works with artist, Ryan Batten.

His paintings are nonobjective abstract works, however, the compositions read realistically. He states that  “Using techniques from representational painting, he has rendered a “real” world in the imaginary space of the picture plane”.  Visually, he is inspired by graffiti, landscapes, and pigment itself. Jonathan says, “The act of painting has become a conversation between the paint and myself. The paint paints the picture—I am only holding the brush”.

Jonathan is excited to be exhibiting here at the Arts Council because he wants to further his involvement with and develop an even deeper connection with the arts community here in Boone.

We would also like to welcome the featured artist this month in the Serendipity Gallery. Her name is Sue Lindgren and she joined Marsha Holmes’ art class at the Eunice Harrill Center about three years ago. She is inspired both by this beautiful area and her instructor.  She feels that this high country community is rich with creative and inspiring artists and she is honored to be one among them and have the opportunity to grow as an artist.