Sandy Webster on exhibit
By PAT AUBÉ GRAY Article submitted

Brasstown, N.C., artist Sandy Webster is the featured artist in the current "Nature's Bounty" exhibition at Carriage House Framing and Gallery in Blairsville. Included in this extraordinary array of incredibly creative and primarily narrative works are skillfully rendered graphite drawings, watercolors, mixed media and egg tempera pieces.

Sandy's paintings can trace their beginnings to her background in basketry and fiber arts, her primary media before paint. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Norwich University at Vermont College and her works have been exhibited throughout the United States and published, along with her writings, in numerous fiber-arts publications. The artist has taught, lectured and juried throughout the United States, Canada and Australia.

Sandy best explains the underlying inspiration and motivation for the mixed media work she is currently producing in her Artists's Statement: "My art is… a story retold with paints, pencil, collage and collections. Each work is a personal expression of time, place and thought… (an) 'evidence of experience' garnered from my writings, sketchbooks and the things I gather that have meaning beyond their intended purpose. Materials… are collected for their references to past and present. Soils that are ground into pigments for paint,,, fix 'place' onto the works. My writings, have more recently become part of the artwork… as much for their calligraphic style as reference to the subject. Combined with detailed drawings, text, collage elements and colors invite the viewer to reinterpret their meanings."

Sandy's series of mixed media pieces, large and dominated, literally, by earth tones which are comprised of clay pigments, contain paintings of birds combined with stalks of grass, buttons, hooks and eyes, reeds, and handwritten graphite or charcoal cursive text, arranged in splendid compositions that do, indeed, cause the viewer to stand before them and interpret for themselves what they see. These inspired and imaginative works invite and draw you in to wonder at their conception.

Egg tempera, the medium brought into the awareness and adulation of the twentieth century primarily by Andrew Wyeth, is a relatively new medium for this ever-reaching artist. Very small scale works, intimate encapsulations of sea shells, a bird's nest, autumn leaves, command your attention not only for the precise detail of the objects themselves but also for the vibrant luminous quality of the paint that only egg tempera can produce. A larger piece, a panel covered with iridescent leaves, apparently lying on the ground in nature's own inimitable composition, is interrupted by a painted window, displaying the view from the artist's studio! Sandy Webster's muse has surely taken permanent residence on her shoulder.

Sandy lives with her husband, Lee, in Brasstown, NC and continues to paint, teach and jury. She will be teaching upcoming workshops in Australia and New Zealand. Her work will be on exhibit at Carriage House Framing and Gallery, 29 Highway 515, Blairsville, GA through June 30, 2007. Call 706-745-9735 for further information.