Cheese House Gallery features Watercolors and
Pottery throughout September

Banner Elk – Norma Suddreth and Patti Connor-Greene did not know each other before sharing space for the September exhibition at the Cheese House Gallery, but they quickly found common ground.  Suddreth, a watercolorist and fresco painter who also makes her own paper, and Greene, a potter, realized that their vastly different art forms share a significant trait – they are ancient crafts, capable of surviving for millennia.  Their show entitled “Four Hands, Two Studios:  Paper, Paint, and Clay,” is a harmonious blend of handmade and handcrafted works of art.

Patti Connor-Greene recently retired from a career in psychology, much of it spent at Clemson University.  Her relationship with pottery goes back to her childhood, as she explains:  “When I was six years old, I watched a potter make a bowl on his kickwheel, and I was lost to the magic of clay. I got my first chance to work on the wheel in a ceramics class at Wells College, and continued taking clay classes at the University of South Carolina, Arrowmont, and Penland.”  Connor-Greene came to know and love Avery County through her husband, Dan, and the two of them would frequently visit, staying in a cabin built by Dan’s parents.  In 2001, they bought an old house in Pineola, renovated it into a studio, Linville River Pottery, and built a gas-fired soda kiln.  They now live here full time.  Connor-Greene says, “After 35 years of working with clay, I feel like I’m still just beginning to explore some of its possibilities, and I can’t wait to get to my studio every morning.”

Norma Suddreth is a native of the North Carolina foothills, and the Blue Ridge Mountains that towered above her small rural community have been a major influence in her art.  Well known locally as a watercolorist and teacher, Suddreth has also attained mastery of two ancient art forms, papermaking and fresco painting.  Some of the work on exhibit features a technique of painting with paper pulp using her hands as her brush, while others showcase her skill at watercolors on handmade paper.  Her work in fresco has a spiritual focus.  Suddreth’s life long devotion to art has involved studies at Penland, Arrowmont, and St. Michael’s Institute of Sacred Art in Connecticut.  In her artist statement she explains: “Observation, preservation of history, acts of goodness and honesty are elements I incorporate into my art.  I take satisfaction in each creative process.”

“Four Hands, Two Studios” is on exhibit at the Avery Arts Council’s Cheese House Gallery, 630 Shawneehaw Avenue (Hwy 184), throughout September.  Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10AM to 4PM.  The show can be seen on Saturday, September 26, noon to 5 PM, when the Cheese House participates in the county wide Avery Tour de Art open house.