Join the Jasper Project and Sound Bites Eatery in welcoming our artist for the month of October, Renea Eshleman, by making Sound Bites one of your first or last stops during First Thursday this week! And while you’re visiting us, why not grab a loaded grilled cheese, a twerky turkey sammy, or some delish spin dip with a glass of vino from the Sound Bites kitchen? It’s always a fun night at Sound Bites when you gather with friends, new and old, to celebrate an evening of art and good times!
About Our Featured Artist
Renea Eshleman writes, “I especially enjoy creating nature compositions from photographs I take while traveling around the beautiful state of South Carolina. I strive to lure the viewer into wanting to ‘be there’ in the painting to look for what is not obvious.
“My art includes representational, dream compositions, and some objective abstract. Having begun painting in traditional transparent watercolor, I mostly paint and create collage on non-traditional surfaces using liquid and tube watercolor, gouache, acrylics, and self-printed papers.
“The traditional approach to painting watercolor, acrylic, and mixed media is where I know what the composition will be before I begin the painting. It is predictable. However, many times the process begins with loosely pouring or rolling paint onto the paper or a polypropylene sheet (called Yupo), gently manipulating the paint to blend colors, and making interesting textures, allowing the paint to dry, and developing the composition based on what the first layer suggests.
“This process allows me to combine imagined or suggested flora, fauna, insects, animals, and figures. Sometimes pieces begin with the pouring method hang in my studio for weeks or months before they ‘speak’ for development of the composition.
“This approach to making art provides wonderful opportunities for happy accidents, flexibility to adjust the composition, and intrigue in the work.”
