If you go
› What: Opening reception for “All-Member Show”› When: 5-8 p.m. Friday, May 3; exhibit on view through May 30› Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday› Where: In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave.› Phone: 423-267-9214› Online: www.intowngallery.com
As is their custom twice a year, the artists of In-Town Gallery will make a clean sweep of the space at the end of this month to mount the next month's "All-Member Show."
Spokesman Jim Tucker calls it "a hectic two days" when the walls "are completely rehung, the displays are restocked and all is made ready for the big first Friday in May." (The second such show happens every November.)
Tea set with tray by potter David Harris. / Photo from In-Town GalleryThe first Friday he references, May 3, will be the opening reception, when the 30-plus artists - painters, photographers, jewelers, potters, sculptors, woodworkers, fiber artists - gather en masse to greet visitors and show off their latest work, which will be on view throughout May.
May's "All-Member Show" will also welcome the gallery's newest members: potter David Harris and painter Jane Newman, whose work will be specially featured.
A history teacher until 2012, Harris has been working with pottery since 1994, when he took an introductory course and immediately fell in love with the potter's wheel. Creating in clay whenever he could, he began attending workshops and sought out experienced potters as he honed his technique.
Harris' creations are sturdy and functional but also possess an understated elegance that set his work apart. "My passion is utilitarian ware - things that people use every day - but I want these pieces to have beauty and character," he says.
Newman, a painter of still life, landscape and portraits, has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Memphis State University and enjoyed an award-winning career as a graphic designer and art director. Many of her paintings are inspired by nostalgic objects that bring to mind memories, such as old-fashioned milk bottles, jam jars, rotary dial phones and flowers.
Her works are commonly infused with an interplay of light and shadow. "My style has been evolving, and I've been working to create images that can be viewed as either abstract designs or hyperrealism, depending on the viewer's position," she says.
"Cup and Saucer" is from painter Jane Newman's Tea Party series. / Photo from In-Town Gallery
"Sugar and Spice" by painter Jane Newman. / Photo from In-Town Gallery