For Immediate Release
May 19, 2008 |
Contact: Terry Payne,
Public Information Officer
City of Hot Springs
(501) 321-6806
tpayne@cityhs.net |
The public is invited to an opening reception featuring the works of Traditional Art Guild members Nan Turner Merchant and Sydne Smith from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 21 in the terminal building at Hot Springs Memorial Field, 525 Airport Road. The collection will remain on display until July 13.
Merchant relocated to her hometown of Hot Springs after living many years in Houston, Texas. The area’s charm and her interest in history provide the inspiration for her paintings of local scenes. Many of her works of buildings no longer standing are painted from memory and old photographs.
Merchant’s primary medium is oil paint, but she also works in pastel, charcoal, watercolor and pen and ink. She studied art at the University of Central Arkansas, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and National Park Community College. Her paintings are placed in private and corporate collections across the United States, including the permanent collection of the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
A Montana native, Smith retired from the U.S. Forest Service and relocated with her husband to Hot Springs. As a child, she enjoyed copying the pictures in Burgess animal books and glamour pictures from movie magazines. Most of her life was spent in northwest Montana, where she became deeply attached to the rugged mountains, icy lakes and streams, wildlife and wildflowers. Through a local art club, she took workshops on drawing and painting plein-air scenery, still life and portraits. She studied calligraphy under Denys Taipol, a student of European master calligraphers, and sometimes incorporates this art into her paintings.
After a twenty-year Forest Service career, she opened a bed and breakfast and returned to her art. Other creative pursuits include sewing, flower arranging, cooking, and creating notecards from her work.
Both artists are members of The Artists’ Workshop and Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs as well as the Traditional Art Guild. Smith is also a member of Midsouthern Watercolorists.
The airport is partnering with the Traditional Art Guild to offer a year-long schedule of rotating exhibits, with an opening reception on the third Saturday of each month. For more information on the airport exhibit, contact Nina Louton, Traditional Art Guild president, 622-3100.
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