RYH Home   |  Reservations   |  Venue   |  Honorary Chair   |  Signature Piece   |   Gallery   |  Contact   |  WNCAP

The 2011 Signature Piece                                     | "Blue Ridge Now" article |
"Hope Rising" by Constance Vlahoulis        

Poppies Are The Flower of Remembrance
I did not know that until I read this blog post:
"Poppy Day, this Sunday....In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is the 2nd Sunday of November, the Sunday nearest to 11 November (Remembrance Day), which is the anniversary of the end of the hostilities of the First World War at 11:00 a.m. in 1918. Besides being a, “Remembrance” it also signifies the end of a war."   How perfect to think that perhaps we are nearing the end of the war - with a victory - nearing a cure for AIDS. What I did know - is that it was important to me that my message be positive. I wanted to create a loving work that celebrated the family. The work needed to have strong colors and a strong design element.

I was thunderstruck by his photo of poppies in a field in Westonzoyland, Somerset and about the flower’s meaning. Night after night, before falling asleep, I thought about how to tie it all up together. Back in the studio - I sketched in a “family” in silhouette. I wanted people to see themselves in that family regardless of color or gender. Then I started to add paint, ...the hill, and several large flowers in the sky, on a canvas.

Then I anchored the hill... a concave hill that would literally hug the family together, with a piece of wallpaper that an artist friend had saved. Her name was Barbara Enders. She had passed away and I saw a pile of papers none of her friends had wanted. (Barb, an art teacher, and restoration expert restored priceless paintings, Rembrandts included!) Serendipity struck again when I mentioned my project to a collage artist. I asked where she purchased her paper. She encouraged me to, “paint my own paper.” And so I did, for the first time. I painted paper and coffee filters with joy! Splashing the paper with paint- letting it dry and then I ripped and cut them up to form texture for the poppies. I got very excited when my “stems” (the poppy balloon strings;-) - came together with pearlized paints-- and the golds “popped” the reds here and there.

C e l e b r a t i o n , F a m i l y , R e m e m b e r i n g , & L o v e .
That is my message I hope is conveyed in, “Hope Rising.”

Michelle Alexander, Alexander & Lehnert Fine Jewelry, Asheville

Julie Armbruster, River Arts District Artist

Marsha Balbier, Asheville

Philip DeAngelo, Broken Road Studio, River Arts District Artist

Barbara Frohmader, River Arts District Artist

Jonas Gerard, River Arts District Artist

Nathanial Galka, Gallery Minerva, Asheville

Marsha Hammel, Blackbird Frame and Art, Asheville

Manfred Hecht, Leicester

Moni Hill, River Arts District Artist

Ruth Ilg, Ruth Ilg Fine Art, Biltmore Lake

Nancy Livingston, Black Mountain
 

Scott Lowrey, Barnardsville

Daniel McClendon, River Arts District Artist

Fleta Monaghan, 310 Art Gallery and River’s Edge Studio, River Arts District Artist

Gayle Paul, Weaverville

Joey Sheehan, Melting Mountain Pottery, River Arts District Artist

Stephen St. Claire, River Arts District Artist

Joyce Thornburg, River Arts District Artist

Cheyenne Trunnell, River Arts District Artist

Greg Vineyard, River Arts District Artist

Constance Vlahoulis, Conn-Art Studios, Hendersonville
Cindy T. Walton, Asheville

Benjamin Wedel, Blue Rain Fine Art