New artist collaborative marks first anniversary with show at Exum Gallery

"Houses of the Holy," above, by Sandra Washburn, and "Partridge In a Pear Tree" by Amanda Farris, right.

Fifteen women representing a variety of occupations from retired teachers and nurses to a potter, silversmith and woodworker met in an art class. They bonded in their mutual enjoyment of learning to paint and in the classroom's camaraderie.

"They all met in my exploratory acrylics class at Art Creations," says Sandra Paynter Washburn, a retired art teacher who came out of retirement to teach classes at the Hamilton Place store.

"Over the course of the last three years, I've probably taught 100 people," estimates Washburn, who lives on Mowbray Mountain. "There is a core group that is always there - those women are that group. I started teaching a beginner class for new people so I could take those repeat students to a higher level of learning that covers art history and art movements to making their own paper, stencils and stamps so their work could be unique and original."

That core group organized into a collaborative and named themselves the Mixed Media Inspired Artists with the purpose of creating exhibition opportunities for their work. They mounted their first show in October 2014. To mark the first anniversary of their debut, they are presenting "Explorations" at the Exum Gallery in St. Paul's Episcopal Church this month.

MMIA's members come from as far north as Cleveland, Tenn., and south to Ringgold, Ga. In addition to Washburn, they are Janice Kindred, Caroline Berk, Lorraine Perkins, Janice Kennedy, Kathleen Pacenti, Jeannie Brice, Vicki Styons, Rhonda Rogers, Judy Wright, Amanda Farris, Peggy Jennings, Lee Glascock, Faye Wolfe and Jane Starner.

Washburn says the group paints in acrylics but incorporates other media such as watercolors, pastels or handmade collage paper.

"In our show, we demonstrate our use of artist-generated elements and found objects used in unusual ways to create pattern, line, layers and depth" says Kindred. "We allow the work's surface to evolve by layering, thus allowing each artist's expression and cumulative experiences to become the finished product. It's very much an exploration of each artist."

Berk, of Cleveland, says she had taken a few classes at Atlanta's High Museum but still considered herself an "intermediate beginner" in need of more instruction when she enrolled in one of Washburn's classes.

"I've been introduced to a lot of new techniques and to other artists who are willing to critique and encourage," she says of MMIA. Berk's work in the show is "Backyard Birch," which she says utilizes some of the new techniques she's learned in their classes.

For her piece, "Houses of the Holy," Washburn began by spreading a heavy gel layer on a canvas for texture. Once dried, she pressed money plants into the gel, then built up layers of gold leaf, copper leaf and silver leaf.

"I have an old copy of 'Pride and Prejudice,' my favorite novel, that was worn out. I tore those pages and used as collage elements," she explains. "It started out looking pretty random and highly textured. Then I started bringing in my layers of color - dark reds, orange, violet and gold. Then I looked at it for composition, what direction it belonged in."

Washburn says that, instead of starting their work with a predetermined subject or composition in mind, the MMIA painters put "elements onto the surface, and study to see where we can go with that.

"I think a piece is more authentic when it gets a voice in what's going to happen."

Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.