Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea
Exhibition Reception – "Flower Works: Created by Kentucky Artisans" at Kentucky Artisan Center

An exhibition reception will be held on Saturday, July 14 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm to celebrate artisans included in the Center’s new exhibition titled Flower Works: Created by Kentucky Artisans. The public is invited to this event, to meet with the artists, enjoy light refreshments, and view this exhibition that focuses on floral themes and includes works created by 28 artists in a wide range of media.

Exceptional works in many media abound – including Jim Sam’s masterfully wood carved rendering of a “Bleeding Heart,” vivid wall quilts by Mary Craik, a ‘fool the eye’ sculpted low- fired clay rendering of a Lobster Clay plant titled, “Heliconia” by Kathryn Wise, and fused diachronic glass platters by Dan Barnes and Jana Kappeler. Beautiful floral imagery is also depicted on porcelain wall tiles and platters by Wayne Bates.

Two dimensional works in this exhibit are rendered in watercolor, acrylic and oil and have a wide variety of subjects – from pink daylilies realistically rendered in watercolor by John W. Quinn, to Theresa Shelton’s formal oil portrait of roses in a vase titled “Dark Lady,” to the lively acrylic painting of spring flowers on the forest floor at Raven Run by John P. Lackey. A close up perspective is offered with Beverly Morfeld’s watercolor, “Magnolia” and Peggy Sherry has painted a rich, larger than life “Fuchsia.”

Photographs in the exhibit capture their subjects in formal, abstract and elegant ways using both digital and archival methods. Larry Blair has created archival close-up photos of garden flowers while Bruce Robert Frank digitally captures the exotic feel of a lotus and falling petals by layering digital colors and images.

Included in this exhibition are works by the following Kentucky artists: Pat Banks, Richmond; Dan Barnes, Lexington; Wayne Bates, Murray; Berni Glass, Louisville; Larry Blair, Berea; Teresa Cole, Berea; Mary Craik, Louisville; Kathleen Esser, Lexington; Bruce Robert Frank, Georgetown; Sharon Haines, Park City; Darlene Hellard, McKee; Jana Kappeler, Richmond; Jane Ward Kehrt, Glasgow; John P. Lackey, Lexington; Twyla Martins-Mclaughlin, Lexington; Barbara Medford, Crestwood; Larry Miller, Louisville; Beverly Morfeld, Louisville; Kathleen O’Brien, Harrodsburg; John W. Quinn, Lexington; Jim Sams, London; Theresa Shelton, Elizabethtown; Peggy Sherry, Somerset; Dinah Smiley Louisville; Donna and Donnie Smith, Waco; Christa Smith, Elizabethtown; Robert Craig Thompson, Berea; and Kathryn Wise, Georgetown. The exhibit runs through September 17, 2007 at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea.

Also on display at the Center through September 9, 2007 is the Kentucky Arts Council’s exhibition Made to be Played: Traditional Art of Kentucky Luthiers, dedicated to the late Homer Ledford and showcasing the work of 16 Kentucky artists who are masters at making and repairing guitars, fiddles, banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, and other original stringed instruments.

The Kentucky Artisan Center is located just off Interstate 75 at exit 77 (Berea). The Center’s exhibits, shopping, and travel information areas are all open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the café from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. The Center currently features works by more than 650 artisans from 90 counties across the Commonwealth. For more information call 859-985-5448 or visit the Center’s web site at www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov  

The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is an agency in the Commerce Cabinet.

High resolution images available – Contact Gwen Heffner –  gwen.heffner@ky.gov