Asheville Gallery of Art, September Artist of the Month Show: “Beckoning In”

Kate Thayer is the Asheville Gallery of Art’s featured painter for the month of September. Visitors to the gallery will have the entire month to view her outstanding oil-on-linen landscapes of nature. “Beckoning In” will run from September 1st to September 30th.
Thayer’s paintings focus on the beauty of nature. Her “Textural-Impressionist” style utilizes seasonal palettes and the movement and slowly-changing colors in the cycles of nature. “Nature is life-giving. It is what recharges our spirit and enriches our lives. The aim of my paintings is to share my encounters with the moods of nature using the unique palettes within each season. When viewers lose themselves within my paintings, they interpret the scene, creating their own personal connection with the place.”
Thayer began painting only after moving to North Carolina and exploring the forest. Walking with her eyes wide open gradually allowed her to experience the woods in a special way, and she began to paint the unique places that inspired her. “Painting is the freedom to create a place. My process is to apply many layers of paint over weeks. This stacking of colors evokes the textures I see that represent the rhythms of nature. Each time I return to an unfinished painting, I apply the next layer, and then another. Paintings are imperfect and incomplete and that is where the magic resides.”
One of Thayer’s paintings, “Water Colors”, focuses on the yellows and golds of fall, which are surrounded by the remaining greens of summer. With the sky colors reflected in the water, it makes for a colorful stream which one could put a toe into and feel the sweet coolness.
“Ridge Colors” beckons us in to look up toward the hillside, to walk among the highlighted oranges and golds of the forest, and into the light atop the ridge to see what calls from beyond.
Kate’s paintings have received multiple awards. They have also been displayed in printed material, galleries, and homes across the states. This “Painter of Places” continues to study and experiment with techniques to create her special places.
Visitors to the Asheville Gallery of Art will be able to view Kate’s show from September 1st through September 30th in downtown Asheville, NC. Kate will be present for a special event on First Friday, September 3rd, to meet the artist from 5pm-8pm.