There’s one more week to catch the art of Judy Bolton Jarrett at Sound Bites Eatery, 1425 Sumter Street, though the good folks at Sound Bites will be sorry to see Jarrett’s beautiful work leave their walls.
A household name in the greater Chapin area, Jarrett opened her own gallery space in 1990 and, on June 1, 2025, the artist celebrated the 35th anniversary of Art Can Studio at 108 Beaufort Street in downtown Chapin. Having served as a high school English teacher for 21 years prior to becoming a professional artist, Jarrett sees the title as her second chapter of life. “My training came from workshops, mostly in watercolor, with local and national instructors,” Jarrett says. “But the experience of picking up a brush and practicing consistently generated a style that was recognizable as mine. As I progressed in confidence, I eventually turned from watercolor into water media, gradually using acrylics and mixed media as my mediums.”
A graduate of Presbyterian College, Jarrett went on to become a juried signature member of the South Carolina Watermedia Society and the Georgia National Watercolor Society. While the artist has abbreviated studio hours of late—Art Can Studio is open on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and all other times by appointment only—she still participates in the occasional juried art exhibitions in SC, Georgia, and Tennessee.
Jarrett’s current show at Sound Bites, “Small Works with Large Impact,” is a collection of acrylic and mixed media paintings that the artist says, “represent my love of spontaneity in both color and style, from impressionism to contemporary interpretations. Texture and color are significant elements in every painting. Mixed media works incorporate violin, clock parts, piano hammers, and words.”
Jarrett’s Sound Bites exhibition will be up until the morning of Saturday August 2nd, but if you miss the show, find Jarrett and her work at Art Can Studio in downtown Chapin and visit her website 24/7 to keep up with all this active and still-getting-it-done octogenarian artist is up to!
And mark your calendars for August - October 2026 when Jarrett celebrates her 85th birthday with a solo show at the Botanical Garden at UGA!