[Coweta Arts Tidbits] Jane Whitehurst and Claudia Wood Exhibiting "Recycled" Art and Senoia's "Art Of Green"

Coweta Arts Tidbits   The Successor To Newnan-Coweta Arts Council News Releases Composed By: Forrest W. Schultz 770-583-3258   April 14, 2009     Whitehurst and Wood Exhibiting "Recycled" Art at Senoia's "Art of Green"         Almost everyone by now has heard of Senoia's "Art of Green" Exhibition.  Now Carla C. Smith has announced the identities of two of the participating artists:  Jane Whitehurst and Claudia Wood.  Here is her announcements first about Whitehurst, second about Wood:              Abstract Artist Jane Whitehurst Exhibits Recycled Work in Senoia        Artist Jane Whitehurst likens the inner dialog in abstract painting to movie scores. She says, "You can hear a movie soundtrack and know the movie genre. . .suspense, comedy, love story, etc. An abstract expressionist painter expresses emotions through color, line and texture. This can be felt visually just as emotions can be felt through sound." Through her studios in Los Angeles and Senoia, Jane has created a large body of work. Locally, Jane's original work is exhibited at the Dogwood Gallery in Tyrone and most recently at the House of Colors on Miami Circle in Atlanta. Giclees of the artist's work are available at Beyond the Door in Senoia. The House of Colors exhibit, "New Works, New State of Mine" continues through Friday, June 19th with a closing reception from 6 – 9 p.m.        An active member of her local community, Jane serves on the Arts Council for Senoia and will be a participating artist in the upcoming "Art of Green" art show to be held in celebration of Earth Day on April 25th in historic downtown Senoia. Ms. Whitehurst, along with other artists will be exhibiting works made of recycled materials. Jane routinely uses recycled materials within her work.        The "Art of Green" sidewalk art show will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.   A New Look at "Trash to Treasure" By Claudia B. Wood   If you think of trash as nothing more than the stuff you take to the curb once a week, some local artists hope to change your mind and help you see it in a different light. For those participating in "The Art of Green" sidewalk art show and sale in Historic Senoia on April 25th, the things that most people throw away hold infinite possibilities.   My medium is textiles, and "recycled art" is one of my greatest interests. I gravitated toward recycling as a child, when I began to wonder where all the garbage went "when the men took it away." My mother, Clara Boykin, was a charter member of the Alabama Conservancy, and my children and I went door-to-door in our Birmingham community to help establish a curbside recycling program in the 1980s.   I have sewn and made clothes, curtains and everything else I could think of since I was ten years old. My mother, an artist raised in the Depression, taught me to conserve fabric and to save all sorts of odds and ends to use in making art. I began to design and make quilts for a national magazine in the early 90s, but it wasn't until 2002 that I really began to concentrate on combining quilts and recycling.   As you probably know, patchwork quilts were originally made from a family's worn-out clothing. Although beautiful new fabric is easy to find now, many quiltmakers are going back to the old ways. With our new awareness of the importance of recycling, it seems perfectly appropriate.   I find wonderful material for my quilts in my own closet or in local thrift stores. And other friends who sew often give me their "throwaway" scraps. The additional twist I like to put on my work is to create and embellish with bits of what many would call trash and throw away.   Of course, fibers are first on the list. When I wash fabric before sewing it, I save the threads that ravel at the cut edges. These go into quilts, bags, jewelry, fiber vessels and crosses. Assorted bits of plastic and used wrapping paper join the raveled thread. So do sticks from the yard, slices of wine corks, egg cartons and other packaging, found wires and bottle caps, plastic vegetable netting, metal washers, old silk flowers and just about anything I can manage to sew to a surface. With so many possibilities, I have to be careful not to keep everything!   The process of saving these "gems" from the trash and finding new ways to use them in my artwork is one of the most enjoyable things I do. I hope you'll come and see the results of artistic recycling by my fellow artists and me in the "Art of Green" show. It's a great way to celebrate Earth Day and maybe get some fun ideas for creating your own "green art".