 Parsons-Bruce Art Association |
Bob Cage Betty Caldwell Major Holt Sally H. Lambrecht Philip William Ramsey Karen Stanford Shelton Robert Edward Wooding Carol Ray Krista Skelton |
 |
|
Special to the News and Record and the Gazette-Virginian By Heather Yates, Monday, September 29, 2003 Karen Stanford Shelton How does one describe the work of the vivacious Karen Stanford Shelton? She has exhibited for years, spanning 1978 to this year's Prizery Art Show. Shelton is a master when working with watercolor. If you were to ask her what she would say regarding her work, it would be along these lines: "I am not trying to make a statement with my art other than to appreciate the everyday world around me ... the beauty of the fruits of the earth and the love of family and those that came before me." In her work you see boldness, life, exhilaration. Shelton loves a challenge and even admits to jumping often into a new project without realizing just how much of a challenge it will be. However, she will complete it. You will get to experience this inspiration and incredible skill at The Prizery art show this year. She is one who loves for her subjects to be of the everyday and of the human experience. It is something that everyone can benefit from and even have his outlook changed by. That kind of humility in her work reaches many and has for over 30 years. Shelton loves to tell a story of how, as a youngster, a book from her father taught her how to paint trees. Once started, there was no stopping her. She has come far from just painting trees. http://www.karensheltonfineart.com/ Betty Caldwell 
If you heard the name Betty Caldwell, what comes to your mind? There are so many things this woman has accomplished in her lifetime. Most recently, Caldwell has taught art in the local Halifax County Public Schools, encouraging children to see the essence and importance of art in their lives, to see beyond the everyday to the spiritual and soul-uplifting that just a simple brushstroke can make. Since 1984, Caldwell has continually assisted the Halifax County Little theater by doing commissioned work in background paintings and poster designs. She attended Radford University for her Bachelor of Science degree, Longwood College, James Madison University, Mary Baldwin College, and attended workshops at the Virginia Museum. You may have seen her work at various places in South Boston and Halifax County, including South Boston Public Library, Crestar Bank, Central Fidelity Bank, and the Halifax County Festival of the Arts.She says, "Children's art work is so beautiful and special to me. My love for teaching comes before my painting much of the time, but I still try to paint when the mood strikes. For the last 20 years, I have painted mostly in watercolor and just in the last year started to paint in acrylics. I love the Impressionists and their wonderful form of expression through painting. My work lies somewhere between Realism and Impressionism. I enjoy expressing how I feel about subjects like landscapes and still life through the spontaneity of the colors on the canvas. Watercolor allows no mistakes but acrylics are very giving and I find this extremely important in adding lights and shadows in a work." This wonderful artist and her inspiring work will be shown this year at The Prizery art show. Major Holt The Prizery art show wouldn't be complete without the locally known and hard-to-find Major Holt. He is a man of few words and yet his work speaks volumes. Holt was born in South Boston in 1972 and started drawing at the age of 5 and painting at the age of 12. His childhood education was an experience of exhibitions and competitions where he "won mostly first place." After high school, he went to a two-year art school in Silver Springs, Md., The Maryland College of Art and Design. After graduating in 1993, he returned to South Boston. While working a part-time job, he continued to hone his art skills on canvas using his favorite medium, acrylics. From 1998 to 2001, he has shown his work in various places, mainly at The Prizery and the South Boston-Halifax County Historical Museum. His most recent accomplishment was to display his work in the Danville Museum in May. He is currently attending Danville Community College, majoring in digital design and advanced graphics. You can experience the artwork of this local artist at the Prizery and, I know, you will stand in awe. Holt has kept his heritage alive! Bob Cage How does one keep Bob Cage's work and comments to a short few paragraphs? Bob Cage is known all over South Boston and Halifax County as well as throughout this region, and even throughout this country in different museums as a sculptor and painter. Locals would know him as one of the best tobacco auctioneers this county has seen. He has been termed "Halifax County's Renaissance Man." If you were to ask him how he felt about exhibitions and the attention it brings, he would tell you this: "They aren't fun for the artist, but they inspire and motivate and if that is what happens, then it's worth it. Art is a way to expand a child's world. They need to come to this show and to see the work done. Art is necessary in today's society and it is so rarely appreciated. My art breaks ground. It's not every everyone's cup of tea.It begins as an urge and can become a spiritual thing. Some might appreciate it, and some may not. It doesn't matter. Art is a calling." Cage continued to stress that it is important that the children get to this show; that they get to museums and see art on a regular basis. "Too many don't know what art is and it's important to show art to them ... to inspire them! They need to know the importance of art and to see how it enlightens a person. They need art and unless they see it, they won't know. I don't create art to sell it. I do it to because I have to. There is something inside of me that urges me to do it and that is why I create." In interviewing him, I quoted to him something he once said, "For me, art is a trip, a passion, an addiction, and always experimental. Once in a great while during the process, and I'm lucky, a happy accident will occur and I might like my work enough to sign it. Not often." He told me to repeat this quote and then I shared a short comment with him that he wanted me to close with. I, the journalist, am 25 today, but when I was a little girl, I would beg mom to drive Cage Road so I could see the scuptures in his pasture. I would just look and for those moments I would lose myself in what I saw. I wanted to be like that, to create something out of nothing....and it was the work of Bob Cage that eventually motivated me to move into graphic design. I am motivated by artists who ride the edge, break ground, and make statements. This is what Bob Cage does. The Prizery Art Show is honored to bring these local artists along with many others, both regional and local. Come support these local artists. Remember, this is a great buying opportunity and a chance to meet and greet the artists and revel in the inspiration of the art itself. Apart of the proceeds will go to continued restoration of The Prizery. These artists consider this important, what about you? The Prizery art show, "An Affair of the Arts," opens to the public on Sunday, October 12, with free reception from 1 - 5 p.m. Art will be for sale that afternoon and throughout the week. |
| Home | Events | History | The Prizery | Contact |