McGuffey Art Centre and Skyline Drive … Wednesday 22 May 2013
We figured out this morning that we didn't have far to drive to reach our destination in Shenandoah National Park so we decided to spend the morning doing something quite different and visit the McGuffey Art Center. This is an old building in the historic downtown section of Charlottesville that is being used as a location where artists can rent studio space and display their work. We spent a couple of hours wandering around looking at the display areas and talking to a number of artists whose studios were open. The top floor had an exhibition of regional high school work that was very impressive. We also thought that the quality of the work being done in some of the studios was really good. Two artists in particular caught our attention. Jeannine Barton Regan does "encaustic" work using bees wax colored with pigments and worked onto a panel or paper - very interesting. unfortunately we didn't meet her. We then got talking to a lovely lady called Jane Paul Angelhart who for many years has worked as a portrait artist, firstly using watercolors and subsequently using oils. More recently she is trying to move away from the fine detail of her previous work and create abstract paintings using only a palette knife. These may not be her exact words, but she claimed that anyone can do the portrait work if they practice hard enough. I'm no art expert but I've seen enough bad paintings to know this isn't true and Jane's portraits are beautiful.
www.jeanninebartonregan.com
www.Angelhart-Portraits.com
After leaving the gallery we had a quick sandwich lunch in the heart of downtown Charlottesville and then jumped in the car and headed west to the Sheandoah. We entered the National Park at the the southern most point and drove north along Skyline Drive for 60 miles. There are many pull-outs and it's a lovely drive. We arrived at the Skyland resort at about 4pm and checked into our rooms. The accommodation is somewhat rustic but very comfortable. Ali and my mum have a view from the balcony of their room that is quite astonishing. The hills drop away to the west and from their room you can see directly to the Shenandoah valley 3000ft below. Gloria and my room also has a balcony and a pleasant view, but not quite so stunning. This evening we "enjoyed" a lively thunder storm that had been threatening all afternoon. I found out today for the first time that my mum is really scared of thunder and lightening and has been since she was a little girl been. I had no idea. She says she always tried to hide it from us kids because she knew it was irrational. Tonight It took some persuasion to get her to hold on to the iron railing going town the steps to her room. I told her she'd be fine ... well I was holding her other arm so I had a vested interest!
Mike
Street Artist - downtown Charlottesville
Hazy view from Skyline Drive, Shenandoah - hopefully following the storm tonight the views will be clearer tomorrow
No comments:
Post a Comment