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

Tom Mullany: New Paintings in the Gallery

We just received three amazing new paintings in the r.h. ballard gallery from Rappahannock artist, Tom Mullany. The above work is entitled, "Colossus of the West". Several of his new works were inspired through recent travels across the United States and from local events.

For those who do not already know, Tom is my talented brother.  We've represented his work in our gallery for 12 years and he has been a favorite with art collectors nationwide for over 30 years.

Tom is a graduate of the Corcoran School of Art and has exhibited throughout the United States in many solo and group exhibitions.  He is represented in numerous private and corporate collections and his well-known murals can be viewed in many parts of the Washington, D.C. area, and in restaurants, banks, law offices, homes, and public spaces.

"Kansas Steer"

 "4th of July, 2012"

We will also be having a show of new Tom Mullany works, Nov. 17 - Dec. 9, 2012, so stay tuned!

More Big News: Tom and his wife Kerrie are starting an art school located in a former apple packing shed in nearby Flint Hill, Va.  It is called The Studio School, and they will be offering art classes and workshops for students and adults in painting and drawing.

They are hosting an Open House on Friday, Sept. 7, 2012, from 4-7pm. Click here to go to their website and to get directions. See you there!