“There seems to be a vacuous spiritual sense in our society.” — Sabra Crockett

Artists have painted nature and animals since the cave paintings at Lascaux, France. Those early renderings are documents of time: season by season, lifetime by lifetime, they are the first recorded history; but over the ages of time artists moved away from sociology and began capturing the complex beauty of other species as a means of expressing a reverence for nature. Art was also used to recognize the divine, and the natural world was often where they found it.

These paintings by Sabra Crockett are well-observed studies of specific birds, but they are placed in specific, idiosyncratic visual context for the purpose of conjuring a spiritual connection. The artist explains:

*"Deception" by Sabra Crockett, 8x10in, acrylic and metal leaf on canvas (2017)*

“My goal is to be a mechanism for shifting people's awareness towards nature. I believe that we have become disassociated with nature, therefore becoming disassociated with ourselves. There seems to be a vacuous spiritual sense in our society. Religion has become a sense of identity, rather than a transcendent self-discovery, and tuning into the higher self. Personally, connecting with nature has always been my way of connecting to the divine. Now I feel that our beautiful parks, wildlife, and habitats are being threatened even more. It feels like an assault these days. So I focus on imagery for people to create a connection with our natural world in hopes there will be a connection within themselves.”

*"Exaltation" by Sabra Crockett, 12x12in, acrylic metal leaf venetian plaster on board (2017)*

In January 2017, Crockett was a recipient of a Great Meadows Foundation Professional Development Grant, and currently is a participant in Gridworks Revisited, Lexington, KY. She will open a solo show on March 31 at Downtown Pilates, Louisville, KY, and will be included in SALON International, in New York City April 12 -16. Summer will bring exhibits at Dragon King's Daughter in May, and at Evolving Gallery in June, both in Louisville.

Hometown: Rochester, New York
Age: 43
Education: BFA, Rochester Institute of Technology
Website: http://www.sabralynne.com

*"Judgement" by Sabra Crockett, 10x8in, acrylic and copper leaf on canvas (2016)*

*"Pride" by Sabra Crockett, 8x10in, acrylic and plaster on canvas (2016)*

*"Balance" by Sabra Crockett, 8x10in, acrylic and metal leaf on canvas (2017)*

Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more. — *Are you interested in being on Artebella?* *Click here* *to learn more.*

Painting

Vignette: Teresa McCarthy

Josh Jenkins · February 21, 2017

*"Geese Be With You" by Teresa McCarthy, 40x36in, acrylic on canvas (2016)*

Painter Teresa McCarthy has always painted landscapes and animal life, and in “Geese Be With You,” we see her developing even greater discipline in her composition and technique. The control in mark-making and balance between wildlife and environment place this work squarely in the Ray Harm school of nature paintings; seeking a pictorial harmony echoing spiritual that is expressed in the humorous play-on-words of the title.

McCarthy began by painting other people’s vacation homes in exchange for lodging - a happy merging of profession and inspiration. “I haven’t put the paintbrush down since that painting. I love painting with oil, acrylic and watercolor. Every painting I’m working on is my favorite. I know this is what I’m supposed to be doing. It is with such certainty of purpose that I paint; it is my vocation.”

McCarthy is currently represented by Kore Gallery in the Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center. She is a Member of the Kentucky Artist Guild of Artists and Craftsmen and the Louisville Visual Arts. She has participated in the Junior League Tulips for Juleps, Highview Arts and Craft Fair, the Regeneration Fair “Plein Air” Paint Out, and the LVA/Hite Institute Open Studio Weekends.

"Fall Together" by Teresa McCarthy, 60x40in (polyptch), oil on canvas (2016), $1400 | BUY NOW — *"Fall Together" by Teresa McCarthy, 60x40in (polyptch), oil on canvas (2016), $1400 | BUY NOW*

Her professional life has been in office management and real estate (she works as the Office Manager at Seiller Waterman, LLC.), but even with dual careers, McCarthy has always felt driven to make art and one of the ways she is able to share her passion is being the fine art instructor at Michael’s. Recently she was featured in the Born to Run exhibit at the Brown Hotel Gallery, along with Jamie Corum and Melanie Osborne.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Age: 56
Education: Attended St. Agnes and Durrett High School; obtained Broker’s License in 1986
Gallery Representation: Kore Gallery (Louisville)

*"Canoe On Golden Pond" by Teresa McCarthy, 30x40in, oil on canvas (2016)*

*"Winter Wolf with Full Moon" by Teresa McCarthy, 18x24in, oil on canvas (2016)*

*"Raccons" by Teresa McCarthy, 17x36in, acrylic on canvas in tree frame (2016)*

Painting

Vignette: Elsie Harris

Josh Jenkins · December 5, 2016

*Elsie Harris in her studio. Photo by Ayla Christman.*

People born and raised in Appalachia often speak of a connection with the land that sounds unique to that experience. Certainly they have no monopoly on such appreciation for nature, and the pastoral figures in the biographies of a wide variety of artists, but the eastern region that stretch from the Southern Tier of New York to northern Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia has a cultural identification with environment that sets it apart from other areas.

Elsie Harris is one such artist. Claiming a life-long connection to the land: “As a child I would wander into the woods and sit on a hilltop to innately be a part of it…mountains, rocks, creeks and hillside ridges. It is where I find both joy and serenity,” she sketches areas that attract her attention, and translates those studies onto canvas, using heightened color to capture the experience of being on the site. This emphasis on subjective emotion places her firmly in the expressionist camp, yet there remains some degree of attachment to the realism, and a sense of place.

"Radiance" by Elsie Harris, 32x40in, acrylic on canvas, $1100 | BUY NOW — *"Radiance" by Elsie Harris, 32x40in, acrylic on canvas, $1100 | BUY NOW*

“My intention then was to push the edges, processes and limits of realism with color, configuration and composition while still being faithful to an original image. For me it is a magical intimacy – a spiritual consciousness – one with nature – that is the message in my work.”

You can currently find Harris’s work in two Kentucky galleries: CRAFT(s) Gallery, 572 South Fourth Street, Louisville, and Art of Danville Gallery, 413 West Main Street, Danville.

Harris' work is seen in many corporate acquisitions and personal collections both here and abroad. Her paintings have also been included in various juried and invitational exhibits across the nation, and she has been commissioned to produce paintings and graphics for numerous organizations. She has worked as a graphic artist with Kentucky Educational Television, and has been involved in an administration capability with many arts organizations and agencies in Kentucky.

"Falling Tree" by Elsie Harris, 30x32in, acrylic on canvas, $760 | BUY NOW — *"Falling Tree" by Elsie Harris, 30x32in, acrylic on canvas, $760 | BUY NOW*

Exhibits - Invitational:
Hunt Morgan House: Art Connects, Lexington, KY, 2016
KY Crafted: Breeders Cup Exhibition, Lexington, KY, 2015
Coop; Sale: Group Exhibit and sale, 2015
Grid: Creativity by the Square Foot, New Editions Gallery, Lexington, KY, 2015
Gallery on Main, Richmond, KY, 2014
KY Guild of Artist/Craftsmen, Berea, KY, 2014
LexArts, ArtsPlace Gallery, Lexington, KY, 2014

Recent Exhibits:
At the Rivers Bend, Evansville Museum, 2016
OH + 5 2016, Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH, 2016
Visions at the Capital Fifty/50, 2016
2016 Horizon: Contemporary Landscape exhibition, 2016
Appalachian Artist Guild National Juried Show, Blue Ridge, GA, 2011, 2014
OH+5, Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH, 2013, 2015

Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Education: BA, Fine Art, University of Kentucky; AA, Fine Art, Sullins Junior College
Website: http://www.elsieharris.com

"Whispering Hills" by Elsie Harris, 30x32in, acrylic on canvas, $850 | BUY NOW — *"Whispering Hills" by Elsie Harris, 30x32in, acrylic on canvas, $850 | BUY NOW*

"Sunshine In" by Elsie Harris, 30x40in, acrylic on canvas, $1050 | BUY NOW — *"Sunshine In" by Elsie Harris, 30x40in, acrylic on canvas, $1050 | BUY NOW*

spiritual

Vignette: Sabra Crockett

“There seems to be a vacuous spiritual sense in our society.” — Sabra Crockett

Vignette: Teresa McCarthy

Vignette: Elsie Harris