Arts Center Fall Social and Celebration of Artists

We begin the autumn season with our Fall Social, honoring two very talented artists. The social will spotlight August Artist of the Month Leanne Sharp, who creates popular stained-glass treasures that incorporate vintage dishes, bowls, and other items, and potter Max Mitchell, our September Artist of the Month. The social will be Thursday, Sept. 18, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Chuck Sennett Center for the Arts. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be available. The event is free, and everyone is encouraged to join us.

September Artist of the Month

Max Mitchell is known for her ceramic bell and bird chimes.

Max Mitchell is known around the gallery for her ceramic bell chimes and bird chimes. Her creations have been a popular mainstay for more than two years. Mitchell, who calls Mentone home, started her career up North. She has art coursework and degrees from Ball State University (ceramics), Butler University (figure drawing), Chicago School of Art (drawing and intro painting), and School of Art Institute of Chicago (BFA – visual communications major, letterpress drawing).

“After 10 years working as in-house designer for Riverside Theatre & Productions Co., in Milwaukee as well as designing playbills, promotional print materials, show books, and other stage theater merchandising materials, during and after attending SAIC, my heart pulled me back to the fine arts,” Mitchell said. “Relocating from Chicago to Mentone, I focused on painting and drawing but still longed to revisit my interest in ceramics. After setting up studio space for working with stoneware, I was driven to tread outside the norm of the usual ceramic forms. I followed my love of chimes and bells and strove to create new designs and forms from the imagination and from the natural world around me.”

Upcoming Class

Artist and instructor Lucy Thomas creates beautiful florals.

Our next art class will be November 8-9. Visiting artist/instructor Lucy Thomas will lead a two-day floral acrylics class, “My Five Favorite Flowers: Florals in Negative Space.”

“In the class, I’ll show you how I paint florals in a loose, expressive style,” Thomas said. “We will paint some specific flowers that I like and also work from small fresh flower arrangements. We can also use our imaginations to add any finishing touches. I primarily use a technique called negative space painting. I’ll show you how to do this as we paint our florals. This is not a class on realistic painting, and drawing ability/experience is not necessary.”

The class, which will be at Moon Lake Campus, is limited to 10 students; tuition is $195.

A supply list will be sent to students upon registration. Thomas said she started painting at 47 after a discouraging medical diagnosis. Before long, art became her full-time job.

“Since then, my work has been in galleries across the Southeast. I teach at the Huntsville Museum of Art, Revelry Fine Arts in Nashville, and online through my website,” Thomas said.

She lives in the Nashville area with her husband, Garner, and their dogs, cats, and a tortoise named Steve.