Art:304

Mary Sanders is a Charleston-area painter who is best known for her portraits of people.  Her unique portraits include drips, smudges, and under-painting, giving them a sort of extemporaneous, abstract-art look – although they are at the same time detailed and full of personality.

Early Life
Sanders was born in Princeton, WV, in October of 1949.  She first witnessed the “power of art,” as she calls it, when she broke her mother’s 78 RPM recording of an opera and her mother cried.  While she received encouragement from her family to pursue her artistic talent, she decided to explore other talents because her sister was also interested in art and showed a lot

 of talent.  “It was my sister who was the artist,” explains Sanders.  “No two children could be the same thing.”

Her first formal training was much later, at Oregon State University in the early 1970’s.  She was an art major, with emphasis on pottery.  She enjoyed the tactile experience, but slowly moved toward drawing and painting later in life.  She is mostly self-taught.

Inspiration/ Admiration
Sanders is mostly inspired by art that she sees around her.  She currently works in her Charleston studio, which is in a basement equipped with “extremely bright lights.”  She is currently setting up a second studio, in Bath County, above a garage, with a beautiful view of two fields and a river. 

Sanders says her biggest challenge is finding time to work on her art.  As a “morning person,” she enjoys working in her studio first thing every day, but is usually driving to work at that time.   Instead, she tries to spend as much time as possible every weekend working in her studio when there are no distractions.  Her favorite piece of her own work is a self-portrait in watercolor.

Current/ Future Work
Sanders is currently between projects, and is very busy with her work as a Charleston lawyer.  She has exhibited her work at the Bath County Art Show for years.  She also juried into the 280 exhibit at the Huntington Museum in 2007, and the WV Artist Guild show in 2006.  She has participated in shows titled “The Little Known,” and “Artistic Stimulus” in Charleston, WV.

Paula Clendenin is a Charleston area painter who is best known for her innovative abstract works.  Her work can be seen in many local locations, including Taylor Books, the Avampato Museum (Clay Center), and the Art Store on Bridge Road.  She is best known for her series of paintings that incorporated a language of symbols, including mountains, throught the entire series of paintings, but is moving toward a new body of work that includes pieces incoroporating coal dust, rust, and other environmental elements into her paintings.

Early Life
Paula Clendenin was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and lived there until her parents divorced six months after her birth.  After their divorce, she moved to Cedar Grove with her mother.  As a child, she enjoyed coloring books, paint by number sets, and Walt Disney.   As she grew up and started seriously considering majoring in art, her parents began to grow more nervous about her choice, but encouraged her to do her best.  She graduated from West Virginia University and received her MFA in 1975.

Since then, Paula’s artistic training continued.  She has had seven jobs in art throughout the U.S., collections in seventeen different places including the Clay Center for the Arts in downtown Charleston, West Virginia, and more than fifteen exhibits, about half of them taking place in West Virginia.  Her most recent show was at Frances Naumann Gallery in New York last spring, and her last local show was at the Huntington Museum of Art a few years ago.  She is currently working on a project for a one-person show in May for The Art Store Show in Charleston, West Virginia.  If she is not at an art show, however, you can find her in her studio, painting in her attic, drawing in her dining room, printing in her spare bedroom, or building things in her basement. 

Current Work
When it comes to painting, the words that describe Paula’s works best are “bold,” “textural,” and “symbolic.”  She says that she gets her ideas for paintings from just about anywhere.  Although she enjoys using symbols, her more recent artwork has become less dependent on them.  She also says that people do not need to understand her in order to get her art work.  “I hope that the work speaks to them directly without my interrupting it for them,” she quotes.  Her artistic goal is to develop her art to the best of her ability using all of her creativity to its highest. 

Paula uses a variety of tools when working, but her most commonly used one is her iPod, because she likes listening to music while working. She also enjoys the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas.

Gary Stewart is a Charleston area painter and photographer.  Together, he and his partner Chad Miller are In Your Space Studio.  They collaborate on many projects, but sometimes work alone, as well.

Early Life
Gary Stewart, born in Charleston on October 25, 1962, is a unique artist that likes to create many different types of art. Receiving his artistic training both formally and informally, he spent 24 years in the West Virginia Air National Guard traveling and seeing a lot of the world and being exposed to many different cultures. These world travels and other personal interactions with the people he has met have influenced his art work greatly. Another influence Gary attributes to his artwork is religion, particularly Christianity. In short, much of his inspiration for art comes from the appreciation and sheer enjoyment from all aspects of life. “If you take a little time each day to just sit back and observe, there is beauty and inspiration all around you.”

One thing Gary liked to do in his spare time when he was younger was to sketch. His friends liked to ask Gary to draw pictures and scenes around Halloween that incorporated themes from that holiday such as witches and black cats. “Flip art” and “paint-by-number” sets are some of his favorite pastimes. He said that “paint-by-number” sets taught him how to blend colors to achieve realism.  He got his formal training through elementary, junior high, and high school along with two ceramics courses in college and, in his early 20’s, began to try other forms of art such as clay, pastels, and acrylics. His college art instructor, Bob Simile, has even kept some of his own works as an example for other future art students.

Inspiration/Admiration
Gary’s earliest source of inspiration comes from religious art work. He still uses this today and is especially inspired by the works of “the masters” such as Van Gogh. His family also encouraged him artistically when he was younger, especially his father, who liked to support Gary by bringing home sketch pads, paints, and even creating wire puzzles from his own memory for Gary to figure out. Other sources of inspiration include the places he has visited around the world such as Thailand, Korea, Japan, and Hawaii.

Current and Future Work
Gary is currently working on many projects including preparation for CAMC Foundation Gala Art Auction and FestivALL 2009. He is also participating in a major live, multi-media art performance in conjunction with the WV Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences. His main goal is to simply enjoy his position in the Art world. He enjoys producing work for other people to appreciate and hopes to be a positive role model while making a contribution to society.  Gary and his partner, Chad Miller are In Your Space Studio, and collaborate on many projects.  They operate the website inyourspacestudio.com and sell a lot of their work through Eggplant, Art Emporium, the Clay Center’s gift shop, and through their “window gallery” at 817 Quarrier Street, Charleston.  They are also creating a line of greeting cards, called “Not-So-Everyday Greeting Cards” that they are marketing to local retailers, as well as some chain retailers.

Stewart’s biggest motivation to create art is the enjoyment that others get from looking at his work.  During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Stewart would pass long hours by sketching on the porch of his tent.  People would stop to admire his work and often request pieces for him to make.  Looking at Stewart’s art, it is easy to understand why — his jazzy, colorful artwork is easy to enjoy, and thought-provoking enough to make you come back for a closer look.

Mark Wolfe is a local West Virginia artist.  He specializes in graphic design, but also works in photography, paints, and pastels.   His works include many different elements and primarily focuses on the contrasts of light and the dark in the world.

Early Life
Mark Wolfe made his entrance into this world one dark and stormy night in Charleston, West Virginia in 1966.   Later that very same year, infant Wolfe was moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.  Four years later, Mark discovered art by drawing cartoons from the local newspaper.  In  his middle school years, he drew cartoons for his school news paper.   His family, being supportive of his gift, sent him off to West Virginia State College to work on photography and painting.   Wolfe had a great educational background, but trained even further through experimentation with various artistic media on his own.

Inspirations/Admirations
Mark draws the most inspiration from creative atmospheres, and often uses art as a way to channel frustration or relieve stress.   He draws upon his love of religious art often in his work, sometimes juxtaposing these images unexpected characters or landscapes.  He enjoys listening to music while working in his studio. 

He began his career as graphic designer and illustrator at West Virginia State College’s Graphic Design Resource Center, worked successively, 1987-94, for Charleston’s Perry Productions Advertising and Charles Ryan Associates. He was Art Director and Illustrator for Willard & Associates until shortly before its dissolution in late summer, 1995.

From that time to the present, he has supported himself, his cats and his hobbies as a graphic designer/photographer/ illustrator, offering his skills and experience in design, display, multimedia advertising and publication through Mark Wolfe Design, his home-based studio and office.

His clients have included The Grand Ole Opry of Nashville, Tennessee and the K-Mart chain, as well as a variety of local and statewide businesses and organizations.

In 1999 Mark jumped into the fine arts field with his one-man show titled, “Graven Images”. These works were the artist’s first foray into the fine arts since his student days, and the one-man show was his first public exhibition outside the graphic arts field. “Graven Images” was comprised of a selection of pastel drawings and black-and-white photographs, some hand-tinted. -All of his photographs, which include landscapes as well as still life and macro studies, were taken in natural light and are not digitally retouched or manipulated in any way.

Current and Future Work
His current works are the “Stations of the Cross”, random scratchboard pieces and, some other works for his new exhibit “Dog Days of Summer”.   Wolfe is also working on a piece for the Stations of the Cross exhibit at Christ Church United Methodist, an installation for FestivALL, and an interactive photography exhibit that will be part of a touring musical performance by the rock band Cordis.  Mark and his girlfriend, Amy Williams have also launched a line of cloth dolls called “Kreeture Comforts,” which can be bought at the Annex Gallery at Taylor Books.

Mark Tobin Moore is a Charleston, West Virginia artist who specializes in Rauschenberg-like mixed media paintings full of pop culture references and thought-provoking social statements.

Early Life
As a young man growing up in Washington D.C., professor Moore loved to draw. As a teenager he would spend hours in his room listening to the Beatles and painting dioramas, model ships, WWII planes, and other military related crafts. “My first art experience was drawing Civil War battles with little ant-like figures, maybe hundreds per scene. My brother would tape a few sheets of paper together so I could depict really big battles. Some of these took days to complete.” After realizing his potential and love for art, Mark first began developing his craft by receiving mild training from his older brother. From age 10 to age 12 he received further instruction during his stay at Scotus Academy, a boys private school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Upon returning to the states, Mark enrolled in Morris Harvey (Now known as the University of Charleston) as well as Marshall and later West Virginia University. After attending all three of these schools professor Moore received his BA, MA, and MFA in art.

Inspiration and Admiration
“My favorite work by someone else should probably be answered in two ways. Art-history-wise, I really love Robert Rauschenberg’s combines from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Locally, a few of the up-and-comers interest me, but I have to say the collage-painters Hank Keeling, Dick Allowatt, and Eric Pardue usually inspire me the most. Of course, I must also mention Robert Villamagna in Wheeling. He’s an assemblage and collage genius, that guy.” Mark’s inspiration comes from music, and some art works, mostly Abstract Expressionist, or Pop. He also finds that discarded objects, photography and other pieces of “scrap” truly speak to him.

Current and Future WorkToday Mark Moore is a professor at Concord University. He owns his own studio called the Blue Door Art Studio and is highly regarded in the art community for his many works which include: works for museum shows, a large installation piece, a six-panel traveling history exhibit and much more. One could find Mark’s work anywhere from The Washington Street Gallery in Lewisburg as well as regional museums and university galleries and was recently featured in the Clay Center invitational, Autobiographies: Six West Virginia Artists. He has done shows in Paris, France as well as a number of places in Germany.

Mark’s future plans include a number of goals. Continuing to be able to afford his art studio is first on the list. Two is continuing to create art that is real to him. Art that is authentic and reflects his desire to really feel what is happening to him. “Goal three, then, is being able to filter myself-to be able to discern the difference between my inner-noise, and meaningful insights…at least about my own experiences. These seem to come less often as I age, since the more I live the less I know. That’s for sure.”

Sharon Stackpole is mixed media artist.  Her works contain bright colors and different layers adding texture and depth.  Her creations have a theme of happiness and joy that are very abstract.  Stackpole’s art is an exploration of joy and should be enjoyed by all.

Early Life
Stackpole is originally from Kittanning, Pennsylvania, but grew up in West Virginia and considers it her hometown.  She received her artistic training at Fairmont State and West Virginia University.  Although she is done with school, she loves to read and study as much as possible.  Stackpole stated, “I am never finished learning, and the Internet is wonderful for providing an ever-improving pool of resources, techniques and information.”

As a child Sharon’s family was incredibly supportive of her artistic talents.  Her earliest artistic experience was of her gluing her wooden alphabet blocks together at age four.  Her whole family was baffled that she was ruining her blocks, but all she wanted to do was make a sculpture for her grandmother who was coming to visit.  She also used to collect old Cool Whip containers with water and paint and set them around her bedroom.  She has always been fascinated by colors and is still mixing and creating wonderful varieties of color in her art today.

Inspiration/Admiration
Stackpole’s art is welcoming and expresses joy.  She exclaimed, “The best part of art is how we can retool the imperfections in life and turn them into beauty.”  Ever since she was an art student at WVU Stackpole has loved Charles Jupiter Hamilton.  This love for Hamilton is very obvious because she loves color and whimsical designs.   Her pieces range from simple watercolors and oil paints, to crazy mixed media creations.  Basically art is Stackpole’s love and anything and everything can become her next creation.

Current/Future Work
Currently, Sharon Stackpole is working on a series of glass panels that where taken from a deconstructed home.  She is building a mosaic from these pieces, but she is still not sure what they will turn into.  She stated, ” I’m not entirely sure what they will evolve into, but then again, I never am — the pieces take on lives of their own as I work.”

Today Stackpole has reached her life goal and is now showing her art in Charleston, West Virginia.  She would also like her work to be shown in the state museum, which has been her dream since age nine.  Most importantly, she is a strong advocate for having art education in elementary schools. She believes that kids are taught that drawing a straight line, copying an image perfectly, or staying “between the lines” are the only path to art and would love to influence a change in this.

Currently, Stackpoles favorite piece is a glass panel that she has just finished. She wanted to experiment with color theory and was quite happy with the end result. This piece is not hanging in a gallery yet, but many of her works are.  Her pieces are currently hanging in the Purple Moon on 906 Quarrier Street, Charleston West Virginia, which every one should come and enjoy.

Dick Allowatt, was born in Fairmont, West Virginia who lived in a small coal-mining town in Marion County before moving to Charleston when he was five years old.

Mr. Allowatt is an outstanding artist who specializes in mixed media and collages.  Devoting over thirty years making art, it is quite clear that Mr. Allowatt has a profound love and appreciation of art.

Allowatt is a graduate of Charleston Catholic High School, and encourages all CCHS art students to take advantage of every opportunity to enjoy local art and to get involved in the local art scene.

Early Life
Mr. Allowatt grew up creating art in his early years.  He remembers drawing popular cartoon characters for his grade and school classmates.  When I asked him about how he learned art, he remarked, “I was basically self-taught, grabbing a class here and there throughout my life.”  He also said that his family always encouraged him growing up, but art wasn’t something that was taken seriously as a livelihood.  He was very self-motivated and enjoyed creating art.  Mr. Allowatt said if he could have changed one thing, he would have grown up in a more artistic environment where he would have pursued art more aggressively.  In a nutshell, Mr. Allowatt is very satisfied with his support on the home front and has been inspired by everyone around him.

Inspiration/Admiration
Allowatt is inspired by works of other artists.  He says he learns from their techniques and experiences and uses what he learns to create new art.  He is also inspired by overlooked found elements that can be the catalyst for new works of art.  He enjoys shopping at flea markets, traveling and attending art events, which are all great places for new inspiration.  He also says, “Whenever I feel I’m having artist block, I may skim through my collection of books on artists I admire including Fred Otnes, Joseph Cornell, Robert Rauschenberg, Nick Bantock and others.”

Current/Future Work
Mr. Allowatt plans on continuing his mixed media and collage art in the present and near future.  In his spare time, he enjoys traveling to new places and discovering local art and artifacts and also playing guitar.  Mr. Allowatt has high hopes for the future and is striving to create the best art he possibly can.  He truly is a talented man.

Allowatt has exhibited his art all over the Charleston area, and his work is currently part of the West Virginia Art and Craft Guild Juried Exhibition which has been traveling around the state.  Allowatt has exhibited at Taylor Books Gallery in downtown Charleston several times, the Huntington Galleries and recently won the top award in the National Collage Society Annual Juried Show which was held in Longmont, Colorado in November 2008.

photo by Sarah R. Lavigne

Dane Klingaman is twenty-four year old abstract painter and mixed media artist who loves taking digital pictures.  All of his digital work consists of bold, layering designs that are similar to comic books.  The mixed media art is very bold and consists of everyday items. 

Early Life
He was born on September 3, 1985 in San Francisco, California.  His father is a musician and his mother used to work for Macintosh Publication.  His first art experience came when he was five years old.  He was being babysat by an artist named, Missy Hamilton.  She owned a studio and had several paints and canvases laid out for him and his sister, Lenne, to draw on.  Dane and his sister had tons of caffeine that day and drew very creative art that is still hanging in his dad’s music studio.  He has always gotten training from looking at art.  Everything is in front of us, from nature to our imaginations.

Inspiration/Admiration
When Klingaman got to college he was able to realize how creative the atmosphere was that he grew up in.  Dane received training from two fabulous high school teachers, Jodi Hanson and Cecily Spano at the International Baccalaureate program in Minneapolis.  These teachers kept Klingaman focused on art.  When he came to school at the University of Charleston he was able to receive training from Mark Tobin Moore and P. Joseph Mullins.  Both gentlemen are local artists in the Charleston area.

Dane is inspired by people who are authentic and create rules for themselves as well as the people that do not allow society to repress their individualities.  He is inspired by the artists who make art regardless of comfort or money.

Current/Future Work
Right now he is working on creating a body of his finest work as well as applying to graduate school in the fall.  He also wants to get a program going with friends called Urban Trees.  This is a tree-drive to revamp the ratty-looking part of the East End of Charleston.  His goals are to continue to find time to work hard and think right about his paintings, whether in school, a gallery, or in his own studio with his cats.

In the past his art has been exhibited at the Clay Center, Cultural Center, Annex Gallery, Callen McJunkin Gallery, and the Frankenberger Gallery at the University of Charleston, and his own living and working spaces.  All of these galleries are in Charleston.  Dane is hoping to soon find a new, inventive space to show his new paintings. 

Dane’s favorite piece of his own art is something that he did not even intend to do.  His studio table is filled with notes, drawings, phones numbers, and collages scattered throughout the table top.  Is favorite work of someone else’s is Paul Klee’s watercolor studies he did from when he was in Tunisia. 

Dane Klingaman’s studio is a large room inside of his house that he gutted and turned into an artists’ studio.  He has even said that his work area is “too official”. Pieces of art are strewn everywhere, some pieces are not even his.  There is also a bookcase with old magazines, art and cooking books, and speakers inside.  Then, he has a desk with his computer and track lighting next a table.   

In order for other people to understand Klingaman and to better appreciate his work is not a lot of effort.  He thinks it is impossible to make art that is not a little bit autobiographical.  But, art should be objective and vague so that people can easily relate to them, even if they cannot relate to the artist as a person.  He also thinks that his art goes great with rap music which can attract different people.

Rebecca Recco Burch is a mixed media artist in the Charleston Valley.   She is also an Art teacher at Charleston Catholic High School.   She recognized her artistic ability at a young age and has continued her artwork throughout her life.   Ever since she was little she has had a strong passion for art and what it has to offer.   She views art as a universal language, something everyone can understand.   Anyone can create or understand art, and it is for this reason she feels so connected to it.   Rebecca Burch is a life-inspired artist.

Early Life
Rebecca Burch was born in Charleston, West Virginia.   Since she was a little girl she has always loved art.   Her mother took her to plays, museums, concerts, and other cultural events, which inspired her to enjoy all kinds of art. From then on she knew she wanted to be an artist.   Although her family was a little worried that she would not be able to support herself with only an art degree, they supported her and encouraged her to do what she loves.   She then became more involved with art in high school, where she had an amazing teacher named Mrs. Mary Helen Moynahan.   A few years later, she attended Marshall University, where she studied under Stan Sporny, Peter Massing, Mary Grassell, Earlene Allen, and Michael Cornfeld.   She learned a lot from all of them and has continued her artistic career since her graduation.

Inspiration/Admiration
Rebecca Burch gets a lot of inspiration from other artists, but her biggest inspiration comes from the world itself.   A sun shining on a building in a summer day or the sound of traffic on a busy Saturday afternoon, she enjoys creating works that celebrate life.  Really random things make her start thinking, and sometimes they lead to a big-time project.  She also loves viewing art from other artists.  As a child, she enjoyed visiting exhibits of works by Charles Jupiter Hamiton, a well-known local artist. Charles’s colorful, wild works have had a positive effect on her art.   Although she is a fan of many local artists, she can not pick a favorite, but she will admit that her favorite art is the variety of art she finds in Charleston.  She enjoys attending art exhibits whenever she can, even making quick detours through local galleries during her lunch break.

Current and Future Work
Rebecca Burch is currently working on a few projects.  She is participating in the Stations of the Cross exhibit at Christ Church United Methodist, which she is very excited about.  This is a very unusual exhibit in which different artists take on each of the 14 Stations of the Cross, and the exhibit is displayed at Easter time. She also has a few more exhibits coming up,  a large street installation during FestivALL, and is participating in the East End Banner Project.  She also has a few artistic goals for the future, but since she has young children it has been a challenge to find time to work on her art.   As her children grew older she plans to spend more time in her studio creating more unified body of work, rather than a lot of unrelated pieces created at different times.  

Her present studio, which was a gift from her husband, is a room in her basement.   It is a good size room and a perfect place to get away and to focus on only art.   She also tries to keep a project going in her classroom at Charleston Catholic High school, so her students can watch her progress.

Rebecca Burch is a very talented artist with many accomplishments and many future goals.   She  has inspired many people with her work in the classroom and in her studio.