_______________________________________________________________________

Night of Dreams Participates in First Friday Art Walk

              Downtown Raleigh May 4, 2007

Location: Long View Center Concert

                                    Down Town Raleigh, NC 

                              Performances start at 8pm

                              Ticket Donations $12 collected at the door

                              Get Directions 

                              First Friday Art Walk Participant

Visual Art Displays by:

Ann Etheridge

Artist Statement:

Working with acrylic paints for twenty years has been my hidden passion.  Since 2006 I’ve dedicated all of my time to making art. The movement, color and texture energizes and stimulates me. The vibrancy that emerges and the process of exploration is the magic of painting for me.  Working in series allows me to explore a creative idea and build on it.  I’m currently working on a body of abstract works.  I began exploring the energy of light and dark with the vibrant boldness of reds, and  I love the stimulation the color red evokes in me.  My work is developing to include a wider palette of warm colors and a style of blending.  Making art for me is an inward exploration of my heart and my soul expressed on the canvas through the connections of movement, color, shape, and texture.  Painting is my voice and a process of discovery.  My intention is to create works of art that evoke vibrant and stimulating feelings for the viewer. 

North Carolina has been my home since 1985 and live in Cary.  I’m a healthy gourmet cook, drummer and fitness enthusiast.  I spend most of my leisure time exploring the waters of the NC coast by boat with my husband Don, a commercial architect.

Cheryl Smith Harrison 

 When I was very young, I used to watch my father paint, and I was enchanted by the colors and textures of the paints and the intoxicating smell of the oils and solvents.  I painted my first oil painting with my father by my side when I was a young teenager.  He showed me some basic techniques of mixing and blending that I still use today. 

However, as a young person in school, I was encouraged by my family to pursue practical courses of study.  I earned a degree in Zoology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree from North Carolina State University.  Although I love animals very much, I was poorly suited to the practice of Veterinary Medicine and the life of a veterinarian left me dissatisfied.  However, I was drawn to art, and found myself blissfully happy while creating.  Over the years, as I have taught college biology and then raised a beautiful son, art has been my constant passion and pursuit.

When my son was born and I stopped working full time, I gave myself license for the first time to pursue my interest in art.  I studied books on technique and theory and practiced by making many pieces of art that I hope no one will ever see.  Gradually, I began to allow my dream of making art to come to the forefront of my life.  Today, I paint colorful, graphic images using a variety of media including oil, acrylic, and collaged materials, but, like my father, oil is my true love.  Many of my paintings are narrative, and encourage the viewer to fill in the details of the story told by the painting.

When I began painting, I was content to try to capture a beautiful landscape in oils, or to paint a portrait of an animal for a client.  For the last few years, however, I have had a strong desire for my work to be more socially relevant; to say something meaningful about the world we live in and the struggle to live in it.  In the future, I hope to continue to grow in my art; to continue reaching into subjects and techniques that are new to me, and to become more active in the local art community.