Water Source 2 is featured work in Asheville Museum of Art exhibit of significant color
driven works past and present

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Noted abstraction fine artist Cindy Walton’s work, Water Source 2, is a featured work in the exhibit, Color Study, which showcases important regional and national Colorists past and present at Asheville Art Museum July 9 – Nov. 6, with the Opening on Friday, July 15, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Color Study originates with mid-20^th century gestural painters and color field artists, such as Kenneth Noland, Helen
Frankenthaler, George Bireline, Hans Hoffman, Sam Gilliam, Helen Frankenthaler, Pat Pasloff, and Frank Stella, then goes on to explore later trajectories using color as the primary means of expression.

Though most of the work in Color Study is drawn from the museum’s permanent collection, Cole Hendrix, curator, felt “we had a great opportunity with this exhibit to showcase the extraordinary talent of some of the artists living and working in our region.”

Walton’s work joins that of ten other highly regarded Western North Carolina artists in the exhibit.

Her Water Source 2 depicts the sweeping beauty of Beaver Lake, a well-known Asheville haven for walking, canoeing, and nature watching. It provides a compelling window on what it means to be a Colorist, or to create color-driven paintings.

“Water Source 2 is a real tour-de-force of a painting – complicated, nuanced and rich,” Hendrix says. “I have long admired it. It is such an evocative work.”

Characterized by bold, emotive impressions and sweeping, color-carved landscapes, Walton’s work is noteworthy, says Hendrix.

“Cindy’s work is absolutely color-driven,” says Hendrix. “I am especially interested in what it means to be color-driven now, and what lessons our younger artists have learned from their predecessors.”

Recently accepted to the juried National Association of Women Artists, Walton enjoys emerging prestige as an artist with increasing significance in the national arena.

Hendrix notes she particularly admires Walton’s “willingness to challenge herself. She is never content to just continue down a single path; she is constantly evolving and setting new problems to solve.”

A case in point, her recent works feature elegantly, subtle palettes layered to create intricate jewel-like canvas treasures. In fact, her versatility in medium and mood captured the attention of Western North Carolina art enthusiasts last fall with her introduction of the cold wax medium – consisting of a beeswax paste mixed with oil paints for a matte, layered texture – into her repertoire. The result has generated a furor of interest among discerning collectors and experts.

With her growing reputation as a significant artist to watch, and an awe-inspiring mastery of technique and style, the demand for Walton’s works has increased, and her workshops for professional artists have sold out repeatedly.

For Walton, being an artist isn’t something she does, it’s who she is: bright, decisive, present, emotive, evocative, intelligent and saturated with complexity.

“I’m simply happy to be able to do something I love, and share it with others who find beauty and meaning in the work,” she says.

“Fine art is meant to be enjoyed,” she believes. “For someone to choose to live with one of my paintings is the highest praise of all.”

The exhibit, Color Study, including Water Source 2, is July 9 – Nov. 11, 2011, in the Appleby Foundation Gallery of the Asheville Art Museum. For more information on Cindy Walton, fine artist, see her web site at http://www.cindywalton.com.

Sherri L. McLendon is a publicist and communications strategist in Western North Carolina. She may be reached at http://www. sherrimclendon.com.