Pamlico Life: New work, old materials

Published 6:48 pm Saturday, November 16, 2013

FAT TUESDAY:  A peacock mask including real peacock feathers brings the flavor of New Orleans to the Inner Banks Artisans’ Center.

FAT TUESDAY: A peacock mask including real peacock feathers brings the flavor of New Orleans to the Inner Banks Artisans’ Center.

The final Art Walk of the year brought out shoppers and art lovers to downtown Washington. The event, held four times a year, is an open-invitation to receptions held throughout downtown galleries and shops.

Art walkers crowded into the small shop on the corner of Main and Market streets for Lone Leaf Gallery & Custom Framing’s opening reception of the work of photographer Julie Mixon. The show — which features images as evidence of how the artist experiences nearby environments, particularly the home, family and the objects connected to them — will run until Feb. 8.

“We’ve had a great turnout tonight,” said gallery owner Neil Loughlin on Thursday night.

At River Walk Gallery and Arts Center, the featured artist was Destry Sparks, whose paintings on burlap become three-dimensional with the incorporation of discarded objects. Sparks pointed out there are few galleries in eastern North Carolina where contemporary artists can show their work and that Washington, in River Walk and Lone Leaf, has two of them.

River Walk also featured the work of new member Dr. Jennifer Calfee, of Washington Women’s Care. Calfee’s hummingbird prints are created though a unique printmaking technique using inked linoleum sheets that have been cut with chisels or gauges.

Beaufort County Traditional Music Association members and friends provided music at the Inner Banks Artisans’ Center, as gallery-goers toured artist studios.

While Art Walk won’t be revived again until spring, many downtown Washington shops will continue to stay open until 8 p.m. Thursdays through the Christmas season to encourage holiday shoppers to support small businesses.