A Gem of a Find on an Art Day Trip!!!

Weaverville, North Carolina                     A Little Gem of a Small Town  

Miya Gallery(click)

There is nothing better than an open sign on a gallery door!

There is something one of my favorite art writers talks about in motivation one to do art and it is called the art date.  Julia Cameron (click)writes wonderful books on motivation for doing art and writing and how to move past the blocks that we all suffer in our quest to make our art.  One of the things she insists on is the art day trips.  She recommends you go alone mostly, but sometimes things done with friends can be very beneficial also.  On this day my friends wanted to check out Weaverville(click), a small community near Asheville.  It is a charming little down, of only a small bank of stores on the main street, but a friendly warm feel prevails in the community.  There is a wonderful baker and restaurant called Well Bread, the Magnum Pottery (click)and the Miya Gallery.  There is also a bank and library and stop light or two.  I highly recommend a trip there as there are many more places to visit on the outskirts of town and a wonderful nursery where one can by Japanese Maple Trees and Blueberry bushes!

Sondra Dorn discusses her intricate mixed media process

Stitching on silk, layers of Japanese thin papers, printing, and painting all lend to an almost encaustic look for this art work.  I absolutely loved it.

Sondra Dorn(click) explains her amazing mixed media process that she creates with stitching, sewing, printing, painting and layers and layer of Japanese thin translucent papers.  Sondra has taken courses and done residency work at Penland and Arrowmont Schools of art.  She has studied art in Washington D. C. and other areas.  Her passion for her art and process is wonderful, as she explains her work to you it is almost mesmerizing.  There is absolutely no way one could guess on their own how she achieved the results she had without an discussion of her process.  

Laying out pieces ready for hanging...I apologize for the poor photo work here. The pieces are much
more colorful and exquisite than they look in this photo

The overall feel is one of textural visualness, but tactile smoothness...stunning she can achieve this!

Friends in Art.  These are my art day trip buddies, Annie B., Ann, and Maureen.

I am the tall one on the left in the back. Great view of the rest of the

gallery.