AFTER CHRISTMAS SALE @ R.H. BALLARD

DEC. 26 - 31 ONLY

20% - 70% OFF

French Tablecloths, Holiday Decor, 

Select Art & Rugs, 

La Rochere Glassware, Calaisio, Italian Ceramics, European Scarves, All Purses, 

European Soaps & Lotions,

and much MORE!

Sale In-Store Only

Phone Orders Accepted

540-675-1411

HOURS:  10am - 6pm

307 Main Street

Washington, VA  22747 

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND SALE!

November 23 - 24 - 25

Yes, it's here again! 

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday promotions throughout the shop & gallery all weekend long!

Support Small Businesses this holiday season, 

start your shopping with us!

  

Thomas Mullany: "The Mobile American, Paintings from the Road"

"Flint Hill"

An exciting exhibition of new paintings by Thomas Mullany will open at R.H. Ballard Gallery, in Washington, VA, on November 17 and will run through December 9.

 

An opening reception for the artist will take place on November 17 from 4:30 - 7pm, the public is invited. Here are a few of the 29 new paintings.

"Beer, Liquor, Food"

"Colossus of the West"

 "Sunny Road"

 

 "Lost s Springs Coal Train, Wyoming"

 

 "Five X's, II"

 

 "Kansas Steer"

 

Thomas Mullany has lived as an artist in Rappahannock County for over 15 years. He has exhibited widely in Washington DC, New York, as well as having several one-person exhibitions at R. H. Ballard Gallery. He is also known for his extensive mural work in and around Washington, DC. A graduate of the Corcoran School of Art, Mullany and his wife Kerrie recently opened The Studio School in Flint Hill, VA, where they provide classes, workshops and seminars to all ages and skill levels. 

 

Mullany’s current show centers around a recent road trip taken by the artist and his family to Colorado. The artist states: “…in the vast space between everything, there is a beauty that may be peculiarly American. A sunset becomes something else altogether when fanned out between the blank walls and monoliths of a mid-western strip-mall. A great, lonely expanse in Wyoming becomes an exciting show as a two-mile-long coal train roars through a barely-holding-on town of Lost Springs, population 4. The engineer blows the horn and waves. There is a strange and alien beauty to be found in the modern world as it coexists with the land, the sky, and the water. It is this contrast of natural and man-made that I find most exciting. Remnants of past architecture and ruins of former times also catch my attention and I seek to memorialize them properly. All in all, there is a surreality out there across the nation, and I have sought to convey that in these paintings.” 

 

We are located at 307 Main St. in Washington, VA and is open 7 days a week from 10 am - 6 pm. For more information or appointments, please call Robert H. Ballard (540) 675-1411.

Nora Harrington: PRESENCE OF PLACEPaintings from The Farm at Sunnyside

Artist Nora Harrington

R. H. Ballard Gallery will be exhibiting new work by artist Nora Harrington, Presence of Place:Paintings from the Farm at Sunnyside, from October 20 – November 11, at 307 Main St. Washington, VA.  An opening reception, which features a gallery talk and live music, will be held from 4:30 – 7:00pm on Saturday, October 20^th.

As part of this special opening event, Nora Harrington and Nick Lapham will speak briefly about The Farm at Sunnyside, it's mission and how this exhibition of paintings, created at The Farm, relates to this mission. Live music with Lorraine Duisit will also be provided, and award-winning wine from Rappahannock Cellars will be served along with light fair from our new cafe in town, Tula's Off Main.

Nora Harrington was born in London, England in 1974. She graduated from an arts high school, Suitland Center for the Arts, and received a BFA with honors from the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. While in New York, Harrington taught painting to high school students and worked at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1998, led by her passion for painting outdoors, Harrington moved to rural Rappahannock County, Virginia. She resides in a restored cabin on the Farm at Sunnyside as an Artist in Residence, along with her husband and son. Her paintings are in private and corporate collections throughout the United States and in Germany, England, Spain, and Italy.

Nora says about this group of paintings: “I share with The Farm at Sunnyside a deep reverence for the natural world and a desire to find and create balance in our environment. As an artist I intuitively seek balance for aesthetic reasons- between man made and natural forms; between individual elements and their larger context; between what is evanescent and what is enduring. The Farm at Sunnyside is working with issues of balance in the landscapes they create as well; it is the fulcrum of their work within the worlds of agriculture and conservation...

The title of this body of paintings 'Presence of Place: Paintings from the Farm at Sunnyside' also plays on the phrase “presence of mind” because the landscapes on the farm both come from, and foster, an amplified awareness of these places. Paintings are monuments to what we admire and value as a society. I proffer that the places I have painted in this series should be honored for the character and sense of balance they exemplify.”

This exhibition is our second in our series of three Virginia Artist's this Fall. For more information visit the www.rhballard.com or call 540 675-1411.

Here are few of Nora's beautiful new paintings from her upcoming show. You can also visit her website: www.noraharrington.com

Pond-Side Plants, Summer Evening, oil on canvas, 12x16

Goldenrod, oil on canvas, 12x16

Harris Hollow Loop from Skyline Drive, Summer Morning, oil on canvas, 12x24

Orchard View, oil on panel, 12x24

The Peak and Harris Hollow from Skyline Drive, Early Spring, oil on canvas, 12x16

Meg Walsh: Landscapes & Light Sept. 22 - Oct. 14, 2012

"Clearing Skies"

The first of three gallery openings this fall, new paintings by Meg Walsh will be exhibited in our gallery in Washington, VA, Sept. 22 - Oct. 14.  The public is invited to an opening reception for the artist which will take place on Saturday, September 22, 4:30 - 7:00pm. 

Gray Ghost Vineyards will be pouring selections of their award-winning wines and delicious catering will be provided by Little Washington's new cafe & wine bar, Tula’s Off Main.

I've loved Meg Walsh's work since the first time it arrived in our gallery.  Her paintings have joy, beauty and light. I particularly like her painterly style and impressionistic technique.

"Country Road"

Meg is a Virginia artist, an award winning painter, and has exhibited widely on the east coast. Her work is in numerous collections including the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD, the National Institutes of Health, Georgetown University Hospital, and Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, VA.

Walsh’s concentration is on Plein Air painting, taking her easel into the open to capture nature at its best.  She also creates studio paintings as well, both with a deft and lively brush using light as her defining inspiration.  Her work is exuberant catching the essence of each subject with clarity and a feeling of the subject without overwrought detail.

She states about her work: “My goal is to translate the landscape, emphasizing what interests me most about a specific place at a moment in time. Values are more important to me than color in creating a believable reality within the confines of my canvas, and I often simplify to make a more forceful statement.”

R. H. Ballard Gallery has exhibited Meg Walsh’s work for some time and this has been a highly anticipated one-person exhibition. I think you will love it too.

Our gallery is located in the lower level of R.H.Ballard Art, Rug & Home at 307 Main St. in Washington, VA, open 7 days a week from 10 am - 6pm. Hope to see you there!

Here are several paintings from the current exhibit of over 20 new paintings. Please go to R.H. Ballard website to purchase and to view, or call us at 540-675-1411.

 "Georgetown"

 

 "Snow on the Towpath"

 

"Winter Light, Potomac"

More Mullany Paintings

Three new paintings from Tom Mullany are now available--they are so new they are not yet on our website. Here is a sneak peek!

If you are interested, please call Robert Ballard at 866-503-3349, or stop in the gallery on Main Street, 10am-6pm, we are open every day.

Overpass Overnothing

Badlands Bull

Five Exes

New Works by Kelly Thiel at R.H. Ballard

Kelly Thiel is an amazing ceramic and bronze artist from North Carolina. We have carried her work for over a year now and just recently received some exciting new pieces.

Born in Georgia, Kelly lived on a small farm for the first few years of her life. With nothing much to do, she learned how to entertain herself by making mud pies in the dirt.  Her mother taught her about plants and gardening and art, while her father taught her and her brother how to ride a horse. At the age of 11, she moved to Virginia Beach and stayed in Virginia until the age of 24. Kelly went to Viriginia Tech and got a degree in Interior Design. She continued in that field until she moved to Charleston, SC in 1998.

Still interested in design, but tired of the corporate world, she decided to take a break from working and explore other options. Kelly and her mother enrolled in an introductory pottery course at the Gibbes Museum and that was when Kelly realized that clay was the perfect medium for her.

After spending the first ten years focusing on wheel-thrown and slab-built pottery, and only making sculpture on the side, Kelly changed her focus to only work on figurative sculpture.  After the death of her mother, she felt a huge creative shift in her clay, and  thus began her commitment to her sculpture.

2012 has already been a great year for Kelly - she exhibited at the American Craft Council show in Atlanta in March with her clay works, and is exhibiting a bronze sculpture at The Bascom in Highlands, NC with a group show that will run from August 18 - October 14, 2012. Here are some images of new works by Kelly now our shop & gallery.

 

 

Ceramic "Wall Nest", $150.

"Journal Birds", $75.

"Reclining FLY", $185.

 

"Wall Nest", $150.

"Secrets", $800.

 

 "Family", $350.

Close-up of "Wall Birdies", $60.

Selected Shows and Exhibitions:

"Couples", The Bascom, Highlands, NC

August-October 2012

www.thebascom.org

American Craft Council Retail Show, Atlanta, GA

March 2012

www.craftcouncil.org

"House & Home" Group Invitational

Mudfire, Decatur, GA

March-April, 2012

Jersey Shore Clay National

m.t. burton gallery

June-July, 2011

American Craft Council Retail Show, Atlanta, GA

March, 2011

www.craftcouncil.org

"Word Processing", Group Invitational for the Cabarrus Arts Council, Concord, NC

January-March, 2011

www.cabarrusartscouncil.org

American Craft Council Retail Show, Atlanta, GA

March, 2010

www.craftcouncil.org

American Craft Council Retail Show, Charlotte, NC

October - November, 2008

www.craftcouncil.orgrd Annual National Juried Exhibition, Group Exhibition at the Katharine Butler Gallery, Sarasota, FL

April - May 2008

www.kbutlergallery.com

National Ceramics Juried Exhibition & Symposium, Juried Group Exhibition at the Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, Kansas. October - November, 2007

www.lawrenceartscenter.com

"Naked Clay" Juried Group Exhibition at the Artisan Gallery of the Woman Made Gallery. 685 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, Il 60622

September - November, 2007

www.womanmade.org

Juried Artist, Seawall Art Festival, August 2007

Juried Artist, Piccolo Spoleto Fine Craft Show, May, 2007Juried Artist, Tybee Island Art Festival, October, 2006

Juried Artist, Piccolo Spoleto Juried Art Exhibition, May - June, 2006

Juried Artist, South Carolina Palmetto Hands Fine Craft Exhibition, May 2006

Juried Artist, Telfair Art Fair, November 2005

Juried Artist, Atalaya Art Festival, September 2005

Exhibting Artist, Piccolo Spoleto Craft Show, May 2005

Juried Artist, South Carolina Palmetto Hands Fine Craft Exhibition, May 2005

Juried Artist, South Carolina State Fair Fine Art Exhibit, October 2004Juried Artist, Piccolo Spoleto Craft Show, May 28-30, 2004

Juried Artist, South Carolina Palmetto Hands Fine Craft Exhibition, May 2004

Exhibiting Artist, South Wind Gallery, Festival of Music and Art,

Pawley's Island, September 2003

Publications:

Art Buzz, Collection 2011

The Humours of Folly, by Braden/Davis, 2009

Art Buzz, 2008 Collection

Skirt Magazine, Charleston, SC 2006wards & Recognition:

SC State Museum Traveling Exhibition Program, June 2009-May 2010

Seawall Art Festival, Fourth Place Award, August 2007

Piccolo Spoleto Fine Craft Show, Honorable Mention, May 2007

Tybee Island Festival of the Arts, Honorable Mention, October 2006

SC Palmetto Hands Fine Craft Exhibition, Honorable Mention, May 2006

SC Palmetto Hands Fine Craft Exhibition, Honorable Mention, May 2005

SC State Museum Traveling Exhibtion Program, June 2005-May 2006

Piccolo Spoleto Craft Show, Merit Award, May 2004

SC State Museum Traveling Exhibition Program, June 2004-May 2005

Residencies:

South Carolina State Park Artist in Residency, April 2007

 

Glorious Lori Gabbehs

If rugs could be called friends then Lori Gabbeh rugs would be among my best friends. I love being around them, they are always positive and uplifting, and they always make a home warm and inviting.

I never knew very much about rugs until I married Robert, who has a superb eye for extraordinary rugs. We've been selling Gabbehs for over 15 years in our shop & gallery and they have been quiet popular.  Many customers buy one and then return and purchase a few more as years go by. It's a lovely "good thing."

The Lori's are different from regular Gabbehs as they have tighter knots, are more refined, and have more personal design references about tribes and home. Many of our rug clients say they look Tibetan and/or contemporary, and they are surprised to discover they are actually hand made in Iran. I think of these rugs as art forms, and thus creations of peace by communities that have been creating them for a hundreds of years.

Here are a few we have on our website. Enjoy, and please let me know which ones appeal to you. I love the rugs with tiny square scenes of animals, nature, leaves. Are there any designs that speak to you? What draws you to these lovely designs?

2012 Fall Color Trends: Le Jacquard Francais Table Linens & Towels

Sumptuous magenta, teal, cobalt, agate, and sophisticated combinations of ivory and slate -- these are the reigning colorways this year from the 2012 Fall Collection of Le Jacquard Francais Tablecloths and Tea Towels.

Now in the shop and online, what glorious designs they are. Each year, Le Jacquard Francais produces a number of suprising and intricate combinations of colors and textures, and this collection is definitely one of their best.

This lovely line of French jacquard textiles are truly works of art in their own right, and besides being useful and a joy to behold they also make beautiful hostess and bridal gifts.

Here are many of the new, inspiring pieces which are infused with both traditional and modern elements and motifs. To purchase, go to the R.H. Ballard Shop & Gallery website, or stop in our two-level Main Street store in Little Washington, Va.

Souvenir de Paris Tea Towel

Anatolie, in Blue Cedar

Souvenir de New York Tea Towel

A la Francaise, in Burgundy

Souvenir de Moscow Tea Towel

A la Francaise, in Ivory

Argenterie, Agate Tea Towel

Anatolie Table Runner and Napkins, in Blue Cedar

Argenterie, Ruby Tea Towel

Argeterie, Emeraude Tea Towel

Ceremonie, Agate Tea Towel

Ceremonie, Emeraude Tea Towel

A La Francaise Table Runner, in Burgundy

Ceremonie, Ruby Tea Towel

Grand Diner, Agate Tea Towel

Grand Diner, Emeraude Tea Towel

Grand Diner, Ruby Tea Towel