Exhibit to show SJAFB club's talent
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on August 28, 2016 1:45 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Three members of the Seymour Johnson Painting Club who will have their artwork displayed in an exhibit beginning Sept. 1 are pictured, from left, Heather Reynolds, Dene Stephenson and Monica Hottle.
Members of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base's painting club will have a month-long exhibit at the Arts Council of Wayne County.
It came about after the Seymour Johnson Painting Club contacted the Arts Council about having some of the members' works on display to get more exposure for the club.
"I've been working with the club for about a year," said Heather Reynolds, Arts Council gallery director and member of the painting club. "I thought it would be pretty cool to have an exhibit of their artwork."
As their featured piece, club members are working on a collaborative painting that is bigger than normal.
"I did some random background on it based off a small piece I did for the Arts Council's Mystery Masterpieces fundraiser," Ms. Reynolds said. "Then we got the idea that we'd trade it from member to member. It's a surprise when the next person gets it."
Ms. Reynolds said the piece started out with a swamp theme.
"But now it's more sea life-themed," she said. "It's got a lot of weeds and reeds. I think we're going to each incorporate our own individually drawn sea creature, one like you'd find in the tide area."
Members will also submit individual paintings.
Ms. Reynolds is finishing up her "Teeth in the Grass" painting that was inspired by an Iron and Wine song of the same name.
"Three years ago, I drew my husband's feet," she said. "Something I always do is overstylize everything in my work. I ended up with these gnarly feet and nothing to do with them.
"I was listening to that song at the time and decided the feet are going to be outside jumping by a small stream. There's a hidden little snake in there so that's why it's called 'Teeth in the Grass.'"
Also in the painting is a stream, some grass, dead leaves and rocks.
Ms. Reynolds said painting is more of a meditative process for her.
Club member and president, Dene Stephenson, is entering her self-portrait painting into the exhibit.
"During our club's Picasso-theme painting night, I did a self-portrait, the first painting I did as a painting club member," she said.
She will also enter an abstract piece she did of a hand holding a sphere.
Ms. Stephenson did a little painting when she was in high school, doing random pieces on her own once or twice a year. And she went to wine and design classes as well.
"It wasn't until the painting club was established that I started painting a lot more and got more into it," she said. "I enjoy art and painting, and I want to expand my abilities and get back into doing it more often."
Ms. Stephenson said the exhibit is a good way to showcase the club members' work and show what they can do individually and as a club.
Monica Hottle will have a 2-by-4-foot painting of a wave in the exhibit.
"I'm a huge fan of the ocean," she said. "It was just on my mind. It was in my head, and I got it on the canvas. It's a breaking wave. You see all the foam when the water is crashing. You can see the blue water in the background and nothing else. It's like (a) zen place for me."
She, too, has been dabbling in the arts since she was a child, drawing in notebooks and things like that. She took a painting class in college.
"It's a stress relief," Ms. Hottle said. "It's my little escape from everything else that's going on."
Ms. Reynolds hopes that visitors to the exhibit will realize that anybody can foster their creativity through a group like the Seymour Johnson Painting Club.
"We're not all just individual painters by ourselves," she said. "We get together and help each other learn new techniques. It really helps you think on your toes as an artist and explore new things you wouldn't necessarily have done on your own when you are in a group like that."
The exhibit runs Sept. 1 through 28 in the T.A. Loving Gallery upstairs at the Arts Council at 102 N. John St.
Days and hours are Monday through Wednesday form 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 2 to 7 p.m.
The exhibit is free.
There will be an opening reception Sept. 1 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Arts Council.