“Pieces of Work”
by Uschi Jeffcoat, Minnemie Murphy, Betsey Olsen, Sherry Williams, and Dale Worsham
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
May 8 – August 9, 2012
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Thur
Uschi Jeffcoat
“I paint because it transfers an internal tension in times of stress as well as an internal ease in times of reflection. The creative process provides a harbor for chaos or embraces measured control. I can experience both a calm stillness and moments of intense focused energy. Watercolor is the medium in which I currently find the most delight. The medium reflects my personality in that it appreciates good planning echoing a work ethic of work before pleasure. Influenced by the people and spaces I encounter, I attempt to reflect that in a manner that is simple yet with hidden complexities and contradictions.”
Minnemie Murphy
“As a mother of 5 little boys, I find myself merely skimming the surface of life many a day, justifying it as survival. In contrast to the hurriedness, painting is a welcome occasion to slow down, regain sanity, be still and think (or not). Creativity makes me re-grow roots as lines, colors, and shapes join to make a whole; a spacious whole that orders the discombobulated and forges continuity between different aspects of life. It is a process that invites me to move more slowly, look more intently, appreciate more fully and be more alive than the surface alone allows.”
Betsey Olsen
“I’m not sure that I have developed enough as an artist to have a statement as an artist. My subjects are varied, my style is all over, my influences are from every direction. Do I really have anything to say? I do know I want art to be joyous to me. It can be riotous and happy but it can be quiet and peaceful, somber and serious or curious, weird and wonderful. It does reflect my life – all over the place. For now it is an exciting challenge to try something new, develop new skills and find new techniques. I am so left-brained I want to know the chemistry behind the paint and the physics behind the process. I think I’ll shake things up a bit next time. I’ll try throwing paint!”
Sherry Williams
“As a child I was able to attend art classes taught by Jane Jackson. I realized a few years ago that I really missed painting. I was able to start taking classes again and have enjoyed the process of learning different art techniques. Hopefully, one day I will be able to create on paper what I see in my mind.”
Dale Worsham
“As a child I loved to draw, color or do anything that was creative. I would buy markers or pens every time I was in a store. I always dreamed of being an artist but never pursued it seriously. I am now getting to the age where I realize that we truly will not be here forever and if you want your dreams to come true you had better go for it now!!”
“Vessels” by Jo and Hugh Jeffers
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
May 8 – August 9, 2012
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Thur
Jo Jeffers was born in Florence, South Carolina and attended Florence schools. She graduated from Agnes Scott College in 1967. She now lives and works on Pocket Road in Florence County.
“Drawn to clay during college, I was then fortunate to spend time at Pendland School of Crafts. I have been working with clay for 36 years and now maintain a studio in the Back Swamp community near Florence, where I grew up.
“I work with stoneware, fired to about 2300 degrees in a gas kiln. My aim is to make pieces, which hold up to everyday use, while also adding a sense of form, color and quiet joy to those who use them.”
Hugh Jeffers grew up on a farm near Florence, SC and graduated from USC. Founder and partner of JMO Woodworks, Inc., for 34 years he has been a professional woodworker in Charleston.
“A self taught woodturner, I am fascinated by the color and texture of wood. I have always sought graceful forms and fine detail with my work on the lathe.
“After years of exploring the bowl form, I am making more hollow vessels and sculptural pieces. Recently I have begun adding textures, carving and some colors to the finished surfaces. Pleasing shapes are always my priority.
“Woodpiles, tree service lots and storm-felled trees are sources for most of my material.”
“Layers and Passages: A Tribute to Seven Women of Courage and Compassion”
by Stephen Nevitt
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
August 21 – September 27, 2012
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Stephen Nevitt, a native of Charlotte, NC, the Art Program Coordinator at Columbia College and a former member of the faculty at the South Carolina Governor’s School of Arts and Humanities Summer Honors Program. He earned his BFA at the University of South Carolina and a master’s degree from the State University of New York, College at Oswego.
“My art works during recent years continue to be about family, but they have focused primarily on a handful of individuals, many of whom were women who quietly showed great courage and determination in the face of overwhelming difficulties. As I found additional information through research and conversations with elderly relatives, I became more and more impressed with these women’s responses to tragic circumstances.
“This exhibit consists of a collection of portraits in tribute to seven of my female ancestors with written feedback on each of them describing what I know of her life and the strength of her character and resolve. Most works for this exhibit are from recent years, and a handful of others are from the past.”
“Stacked” Sculptures by Tom Herzog
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
August 21 – September 27, 2012
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Tom Herzog received a Bachelors degree in Art from Montana State University-Billings. In addition to curating the gallery series at Francis Marion University, he continues to paint and sculpt in his studio. His watercolor paintings have won numerous awards in national and international juried competitions. His work may be found in corporate and private collections throughout the country.
“For the majority of my life I have expressed myself creatively through watercolor painting, but in recent years I have become fascinated with the making of sculptures that consist of the aesthetic arrangements of found natural materials. I began playing with form, texture, light and shadow, color and balance using only those materials I could find in nature. . . The sculptures themselves were usually ephemeral, and photographs were the only record of their brief existence and a way to remember the discoveries that have been revealed. The sculptures ‘in the wild’ are quite mystical and are very rooted to place. . . More recently I’ve thought that it would be profound to experience that wild magic and mystery indoors, so I began cementing the stacked stone pieces together so that they could be portable and more permanent.”
2012 Alumni Invitational Show
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
October 2 – November 8, 2012
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Closing Reception 5:00-7:00 pm Thursday, November 8
The Alumni Invitational gives FMU graduates an opportunity to socialize and showcase recent artwork, and affords the University and community with an opportunity to view their work and learn of their achievements following graduation. Alumni exhibitions help the Department of Fine Arts stay current with former students, assessing success in preparing students for graduate study and professions within the field. In conjunction with alumni surveys, the alumni invitational is a collegial means of soliciting recommendations for improvements to the curriculum and providing current art and art education majors with a pool of successful mentors to assist with placement “in the business” upon graduation.
“As Chairman of the Department of Fine Arts, I wish to thank all the alumni that contributed work for the Alumni Invitational. Alumni exhibits help continue a dialogue with past students we have prepared. This kind of contact is nostalgic, educational, and exciting for all involved. Faculty are provided evidence of progress their students have made, and current students are reinforced by the creative endeavors they view. Even though there is a variety of artistic approach, execution, and media, these artists and their works are bound to Francis Marion University and the Department of Fine Arts by shared experiences and commitment to excellence. These artists and educators continue to be a great source of pride for the department and the Visual Art and Art Education programs. The entire university community will benefit from this exhibit and I congratulate the participants. I would like to also thank the faculty and staff who helped make this exhibit a success.” – Lawrence P. Anderson
Senior Shows by Graduating FMU Visual Arts Majors
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
November 13 – December 15, 2012
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Senior shows are required of all students majoring in Visual Arts. These shows give students hands-on experience in selection and installation of artworks, publicity of exhibition, and external review by the University community and the general public.
Works by Ceramic Sculpture and 3D Design Classes
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
December 3-15, 2012
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
A showcase of new works created during the current semester by students learning skills in visual arts classes.
“Expansion” by Colleen A. Critcher
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
January 8 – February 14, 2013
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Artist Colleen A. Critcher was born in Newton, New Jersey in 1980. She began her childhood in Sussex, New Jersey and later relocated to Florence, South Carolina with her family. She attended college at Francis Marion University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2002. In 2012 Critcher received her Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. She currently lives and works in Florence with her husband Bradford Critcher.
Throughout her career the artist has explored both objective and non-objective imagery. The common thread of Critcher’s work is based on personal concerns regarding the significance of images within contemporary life. In one of her recent artistic investigations, The Gnome Project, she employed the image of the humble garden gnome in an attempt to better understand the popular culture’s fascination with plastic kitsch objects. In a separate body of work titled Expansion, Critcher has focused on the creation of intuitive abstract works influenced by her immersion in the intense visual language of popular culture. Expansion is an intuitive and non-objective series that seeks to invent space. The artist focuses her concerns on expressing a visceral and universal visual experience explained through the vehicle of color. These works utilize a visual language that is referential of the colors and objectification of popular culture, while at the same time seeking to expose a concealed layer of beauty, contemplation or spirituality.
New Drawings by Alex Powers
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
February 19 – March 28, 2013
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Alex Powers has been a painter and self-employed art teacher since 1970. He exhibits in galleries in six states, and among his many national juried exhibition awards is the Gold Metal at the 1997 American Watercolor Society Annual Exhibition. He travels and teaches 8 or 10 workshops per year. Alex has juried dozens of national exhibitions. He is the author of Painting People in Watercolor, A Design Approach, which is a Watson-Guptill publication.
Alex’s painting style has recently evolved from a personal content-dominated imagery.
“For a couple of decades prior to 2011, I was doing social and political paintings. I made a change of style that is due to me needing a break from the social and political paintings. You can probably relate to this change if you get tired of watching the evening news every once in a while and need a break from it – especially the politics.
“The changes that I made are:
1. drawing instead of painting (in doing most of these, I never opened my palette)
2. sketchbook design (the most casual of designs; almost a non-design)
3. purposely, no specific expression/ content was pre-chosen (there is an expression to any markings).”
Brass Menagerie: Sculptural Works by Jim Gleason
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
February 19 – March 28, 2013
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
“My pieces are fabricated from the parts of many different musical instruments…the majority of which have served for many years in the South Carolina school systems until they were no longer cost effective to service.
“The techniques used to create them are similar to those I have used for over 30 years repairing and customizing instruments for military bands, public schools, museums and private collections.
“The urge to create combines with a reverence for musical instruments, and the desire to preserve whatever life remains in the parts and pieces of an instrument. As a professional musician and a master technician in the repair of brass and woodwind instruments, I have spent much of my life devoted to extending their lives. Now, when the parts and pieces or whole instruments are no longer in a state that makes sense to repair them, I find myself giving them new life in a form that celebrates their previous existence, saving them from being discarded completely.”
Jim Gleason has lived and studied in many states and been on active military duty in four countries prior to retiring from the Marine Corp in 1994 to live in South Carolina. While stationed with the 3rd Marine Division Band in Okinawa, Japan, he found himself stranded in his instrument repair shop during a typhoon without anything to read. Jim began to see what he could piece together out of scrap and excess parts, and this avocation has evolved over the years thanks to the encouragement of fellow musicians and public response to his work. Jim remains active as a musician, in the repair of brass and woodwind instruments, and consulting in this field.
You may contact Jim Gleason at jgoldworld@hotmaiI.com or call at 843-665-6115.
Spotlight on Pee Dee Art: Documentary Film and Lecture
A Man Named Pearl
Cauthen Educational Media Center Auditorium
March 14, 2013
5:00 pm Thursday
Francis Marion University is sponsoring a special event on March 14, 2013 entitled “Spotlight on Pee Dee Art.” As part of the event, three of the area’s most distinguished artists — topiary sculptor, Pearl Fryar (Bishopville), and painters Jack Cayton (Aynor) and Mary Ellen Johnson (Hartsville) — will visit the University. After critiquing student artwork, Cayton and Johnson will take part in a panel discussion for students where they will discuss professional artistic and business practices.
At 5 pm, the public is invited to a free viewing of the documentary film on Pearl Fryar entitled “A Man Named Pearl” which will be shown in the University’s Lowrimore Auditorium in the Cauthen Educational Media Center. At the completion of the film, there will be a talk given by Pearl Fryar, scheduled for 6:20 pm.
Funding for the event has been provided through a grant from the FMU Quality Enhancement Program along with funds from the FMU Artist and Lecture Series and the FMU Department of Fine Arts.
Senior Shows by Graduating FMU Visual Arts Majors
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
April 2 – May 4, 2013
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Gallery Openings 6:00 pm April 2 and 16.
Senior shows are required of all students majoring in Visual Arts. These shows give students hands-on experience in selection and installation of artworks, publicity of exhibition, and external review by the University community and the general public.
Works by Ceramics and 3D Design Classes
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
April 22 – May 4, 2013
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
A showcase of new works created during the current semester by students learning skills in visual arts classes.
Metamorphosis: New Works by Sasha Federer
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
May 7 – August 8, 2013
8:30 am – 5:00 pm Mon-Thur
Sasha was born in Prague, Czech Republic. He came to the United States in 1972. For the last 40 years he has worked as a Psychologist, which is his profession, and for the last 38 years, worked as a potter, which is his passion. He studied ceramic art in the state of Washington and Wisconsin. He worked as professional studio potter for three years in New Hampshire and served as Artist in Residence with the National Endowment for the Arts.
Sasha and his wife, Tari Federer, built a ceramic art studio and the Running Horse Gallery in Florence, SC. Sasha has exhibited in galleries throughout the east coast. He had the opportunity to have two solo shows in addition to many group shows in Florence, SC. He collaborates, on many of his pieces with Tari, his wife, also an artist, and their shared pieces are signed Satari, which is a combination of both of their names.
Even though he works in all temperature firing ranges, his greatest enjoyment comes from working with high-fired porcelain, which brings out the beauty of colors. He creates all of his own glazes and enjoys the constant search for new colors, combinations, and textures for his surface decoration.
“For the last 38 years, clay has been my friend, my teacher, and my companion. It has been a way to create and connect with all the potters that came before me.
Working with clay has been like stepping in the river of tradition, creating objects with a sense of purpose, and a touch of beauty that gives them life.
“We all share the timeless desire to combine objects of use with something that transforms them, creating unique from ordinary, and to experience beauty in every day moments.
“After all of these years, giving shape to a shapeless lump of clay, is still magical. The excitement of unloading a kiln, looking for treasures and gifts of fire, still makes me feel alive.”
