Cabarrus Art Guild meetings will now be held on the second Sunday of every month, in the evening, at Jennie Tomline's Home/Gallery. The art guild is supported in part by a grant from the Grassroots Arts Program of North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency, and the Cabarrus Arts Council, Inc.

Our next meeting will be August 8th at 2 p.m. at Jennie Tomlin’s gallery/studio in Harrisburg. This meeting will be a show and tell, so please bring your latest creations to share with the group.

The July meeting will be our annual picnic at Tomlin’s. The date is July 11th. The picnic will follow our meeting and guest speaker. Don’t miss this meeting as Leigh Williams will be our guest speaker. We are having hot dogs so please bring a dish to fit in! If you are bringing buns, drinks, or slaw, please contact Jennie Tomlin.

Leigh’s Artist Statement and biography:
My initial training was as an oil painter, however I have been working exclusively in acrylics for the past 15 years. I enjoy the versatility of acrylics and have been using textural mediums and collage techniques to create both abstract and representational images on canvas. I particularly enjoy experimenting with the juxtaposition of organic forms with geometric shapes. My latest series incorporates the shapes and textures of the architectural forms that I photographed while in Italy, France and the Czech Republic.

Leigh Williams specializes in acrylic paintings and mixed media work. She has a BFA from the College of William and Mary. She has exhibited and sells her work primarily in the Southeast. She has been a member of the Cabarrus Art Guild for more than ten years and has been an art instructor for over 20 years. She has taught all grade levels, from first grade through Advanced Placement high school art, in both private and public schools. She was named the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year in 1997. Her students have won both Regional and National awards through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Program and she was sited as an outstanding educator through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Program in 2007. She also enjoys conducting art workshops for both educators and adult artists, as she delights in passing on her passion for the arts to others. Leigh and her husband Dean are residents of Charlotte, NC and have three grown children.

Post-Meeting Update [July 11th - Leigh Williams]:
"Our CAG meeting on 7/11 was very interesting. Leigh Williams, who is a former arts teacher, demonstrated the different textures she uses with her acrylic paintings. Leigh brought several of her beautiful pictures to the meeting. With the different additives she attains a look that is almost three dimensional, the walls of the buildings on her paintings look like real stone or stucco and even feel like it. I am so glad that we had such a great turnout and be a part of a wonderful presentation.

The picnic following the art talk and demo, was a total success. Thanks to our wonderful hostess, we had the perfect place in the shade with much too much food. Everybody brought something delicious and I know that I ate WAY TOO MUCH!! Thank you Jennie for opening your home and Gallery to us AGAIN and for making it such a great day." - Jutta

Walter Stanford was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting on Thursday. We had a wonderful evening, Walter is a great speaker and made the hour go by much too fast. Walter, who paints in pastels and acrylics, received a grant from the Cabarrus Arts Council and used the money to study and photograph some of the many "CENTURY FARMS" we have in NC. These are family owned farms that have been in the family for over 100 years.

He explained to us how he manipulates his photos by using "PHOTOSHOP", to get more vibrant colors or to combine several photos to make it one composition. He said that he had taken more than 1200 photos and is working his way through all of them to get inspirations for his next painting.

Susannah Ravenswing sees herself as a storyteller who tells stories with precious metals, rare gems, fossils and bones. With skill that comes from thirty years at her craft, she fabricates richly detailed and profoundly personal jewelry drawn from myth and legend and inspired by the beauty of nature. As a metalsmith, she is always challenged to manipulate rigid but malleable materials in to a form and surface that is tactilely satisfying and invites the viewer in to her story. Each piece is unique, often designed around an exceptional stone or fossil. Figurative works derive personality from faces she carves from bone and fossil ivories, then stains to enliven. Careful attention to craftsmanship and a subtle range of surface textures, colors and play of light are her goals as an artist.

Susannah has been a member of Piedmont Craftsmen since 1974. Her work is currently displayed in ELEMENTary – the Basics: Air, Earth, Fire, Water exhibition at the Arts Council Galleries.

The Guild will have its annual picnic on Saturday, July 18th at the Tomlin's place in Harrisburg.

This is designed to be a whole day of fellowship, beginning with a "Paint In," or paint out if you prefer; there is both indoor and outdoor space. The painting sessions will begin at 10am and last all day or as long as anyone wishes. If you do not paint, come and watch, or visit! This is not a workshop but rather an opportunity for every one to get together and share thoughts, ideas, art, jokes, reminiscences and for the new folks to get to know the "old" ( as opposed to new) folks and vice versa! So bring your paint supplies, your lunch (if you will be around during lunch time), and a chair and come join us for a day of fun and relaxing.

The picnic starts at 5pm and Chef Keith will be preparing hotdogs and hamburgers for everyone, so bring a dish to go with that, or a dessert! Water and soft drinks for the picnic will also be provided by the guild. Water and lemonade will be provided by the Tomlins during the day. The paintings finished during the day will be displayed during the picnic - weather permitting. Mark your calendars for this one. We had a lot of fun last year even with the threatening weather!

Charles Farrar: Turned Wooden Vessels

Archie Smith: Dulcimers

Kathy Cooper: Floorcloth Artist

Kathy is a nationally recognized floorcloth artist, producing original, hand-painted rugs in custom designs. She is the author of two best-selling books on floorcloths, and has been a frequent guest on television, appearing on Home Matters, Decorating with Style, and Interior Motives. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers including Southern Accents, House Beautiful, Metropolitan Home, and the cover of Where: Atlanta. Cooper has produced work for many homes across the United States and abroad. Some of her more famous clients include, Mrs. FW Woolworth, Joanne Woodward/Paul Newman, Carrie Fischer, Michael Keaton, Jim Palmer, and Henry Winkler.

Robert Brown: Oil Painter

Bob was born in Anderson, SC and began taking private art lessons when he was 7 years old. As an adult he received formal training at Pennsylvania Academy in Philadelphia. He also studied landscape painting with Lou Sloan, a former teacher at the Academy who passed away this year.

Bob painted part-time most of his life until his avocation got the better of him in 2002, when he left his last job and began painting full-time. Since then he has produced work for numerous solo and group shows in galleries in North and South Carolina.

All of his work is painted from life on location, and his subject matter consists mostly of rural and urban scenes in the Carolinas and Virginia. Most everything he does is in oil but he also occasionally does ink wash.

Bob is one of the featured artists at The Galleries of the Cabarrus Arts Council's new show "Structurally Sound".

Charlotte artist Sharon Dowell will present a free gallery talk about her architectural paintings at 7pm

Dowell's talk will be at 7 p.m. in the Arts Council Galleries at 65 Union Street South, Concord. It is co-sponsored by the Arts Council Galleries and the Cabarrus Art Guild. Her work will be included in the Arts Council Galleries' exhibition, Structurally Sound: Foundations in Architecture, which will be on display January 20-March 26.

Dowell's colorful paintings look at architecture from a worm's eye view. She calls the paintings, many of which focus on detailed areas such as windows or fire escapes, "cityscapes" and says that she "strives to find beauty in often overlooked structures and spaces."

A BFA graduate of UNC Charlotte, Creative Loafing magazine named her "Best Local Artist" for 2008. Her work has been shown in numerous exhibitions in North Carolina, New York, California, South Carolina and Florida.

For information about Sharon Dowell, visit www.sharondowell.com.