Our Featured Artists
Rob Travis
Photographer
Blue Moon Gallery
In 2000 Rob Travis was a project manager for a Fortune 500 company. “After years of having two cell phones, two pagers, and one stomach ulcer, I decided it was time to eliminate some stress,” he says. Travis’ father owned a fused glass business in Cedar Mountain, so he decided to leave the hectic world of corporate demands, join his father and focus on creating art.
“I made kiln-fired fused glass pieces for 15 years and along the way decided to experiment with photography. In 2007, I bought my first DSLR and became involved in Land of Waterfalls Camera Club in Brevard, where I received a lot of encouragement.” Rob began exhibiting his photographs at his father’s shop and inviting others to show there as well. In 2015 when the number of exhibitors outgrew the space, Travis opened Blue Moon Gallery and Frame.
In July of 2018, he was able to open a space in downtown Brevard and brought his artists with him. There are now almost 30 artists, representing a wide variety of different mediums.
Although he stays very engaged and busy running the business, he still finds time to go out and create. “I explore nature’s beauty constantly – up a mountain, down to a waterfall and out to my own backyard. I photograph the majestic and the minute, all focused on capturing the spirit within. At the end of the day, I want to my photography to take my viewers out there with me, on their own journey, though my art”.
Blue Moon Gallery is located at 24 East Main Street in Brevard. To learn more, visit BlueMoonGalleryandFrame.com and RobTravis.com
Alicia Kelemen
K4 GlassArt Sculptor
"I focus my sculptures on abstract geometrical forms, texture and pure lines, highly influenced by my architectural background."
Venezuelan glass artist Alicia Kelemen brings out the desired optic effects, forms, textures and a wide array of structures and color in her contemporary multi-media layered collaged mosaic murals, decorative art for the wall, mirrors, home accent floral vases and Judaic Art influenced by her colorful and exotic tropical towery Tepees landscapes and majestic natural wonders cascades like "Angel Falls". Her abstract designs depict the deep tones of jungles and transparent beaches.
Kelemen creates her art by drafting manually each piece to scale to combine the mosaic technique, using travertine stone with Kiln-Formed glass. Her technique is created by incorporating multi-layers collages of fused glass, flat glass, color mirror accents and copper gold wiring and cut stone.
Alicia Kelemen is a second generation Architect and glass maker since 1983. She grew up in Venezuela surrounded by glass projects within her home and her father's constant creativity and inspiration. She furthers her knowledge in the USA under the master professor Ludwig Schaffrath in USA and Germany.
Selected Exhibitions & Awards
Art in Bloom, Flat Rock, NC USA 2019
Transcendence, Tryon, NC USA 2018
The Western North Carolina Studio Glass exhibition, Morganton, USA, 2016
Western NC Glass Exhibition, North Carolina, USA, 2014
Carolinas’s got Art Salon, Elder Art Gallery, North Carolina, USA, 2013
Mosaic Art International, Washington, USA, 2010
American Craft Council, Baltimore, USA, 2009
The Smithsonian Craft show International Exhibit, Washington DC, USA, 1997
XV-XXIII National Exhibition of Fire Arts, Valencia, Venezuela 1996
Bolivar Hall, London, England, 1995
International Exhibition Glass Museum, Ebeltoff, Denmark, 1991
The International Exhibition of Glass, Kanazawa, Japan, 1990
Collections
Mission Hospital, Asheville, NC, USA 2019
Temple Beth El, Charlotte, NC USA 2005
The White House, Washington DC, USA 1999
VIP Avensa Airlines International Venezuela Airport, Venezuela 1998
Bolivar Hall Embassy, London, England 1995
University of Carabobo, Valencia,Venezuela 1996
Glass Museum- permanent Collection, Ebeltoff, Denmark 1991Glass Museum- permanent Collection, Ebeltoff, Denmark 1991
April Johnson
Professional Photographer
April is a professional photographer based in Hendersonville, NC. Her connection to four legged animals is undeniable. Her joy is to share uplifting photography. April has dual degrees, a BFA in Fine Arts from Kent State University and a BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. She has exhibited at Lincoln Center in NYC. Her photography has appeared in marketing materials for Apple Computer, Minolta Camera, Citicorp, Caterpillar, Inc., AmSouth Bank, and many others.
Visit www.ashevillepetphotography.com for details.
Bob Moore
Wood Worker
Bob was born in 1945 in Cashier, NC. At a very early age I began carving on the wood provided by the forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I started carving with my dads pocket knife. I whittled on sticks, stumps, boards, roots and even my grandmother's apple trees. After high school, I studied sculpting in Cincinnati, OH. There I received the world recognized Delaine Beaver Award for my work. I have won numerous carving competitions all over America and I have taught carving and wood sculpting at schools throughout the eastern US.
I have lived in Greenville, SC since 1965 and spent most of those years specializing in wood work. My favorite basic style of wood carving is of American wildlife. My recent work has centered on stylized burls made from local wood including rhododendron burls. I personally collect the wood from North and South Carolina. Each piece is made by hand and each is unique. I have many different sizes.
Hanes Hoffman
Copper Sculptor
Creations from Bluewater Copper Works are individually hand-crafted from solid copper by R. Hanes Hoffman Jr. I use a variety of hand tools to achieve authentic detail of species. Works are then painted with flame to produce beautiful markings and iridescent colors. Each piece is then finished with a clear coating to deter oxidation. This work is three-dimensional, one-sided, bas-relief sculpture. Each piece is fitted with a hanger on the reverse, ready to hang on a hook. This art is functional for outdoor as well as indoor use. Please view my Process and Videos page to see some of the techniques I employ.
A life’s fascination with the beauty of fish and other wildlife helped lead me to choose copper as the material best suited for sculpting my creations. I feel that the “friendliness” of this metal is so attractive to work with and it lends its qualities to realism. I work in a variety of scale and proportion, from small wall-mounted sculptures to large scenic wall installations. I also make several standard designs of beautiful fish trophies for tournaments. Or I can create a unique piece to commemorate that special catch.
I use my fishing time not only as rest and relaxation, but also as research and development. I am constantly examining and photographing each species I encounter. In my work I strive to depict each species realistically, but with an artist’s eye for detail and attention towards creativity. My work is both interpretive and realistic.
R. Hanes Hoffman Jr. is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who lives and works in Western, North Carolina. An avid fisherman, mountain biker, naturalist and world traveler, I take pride in capturing the essence of each species of wildlife depicted in my sculptures. My sculptures can be seen in fine gift shops and galleries in many parts of the country and are included in private collections worldwide
Sally Lordeon
Painter
Sally Lordeon says, “Abstract art feeds the imagination!” Her artwork invites viewers to set their minds free and to tap into their own creative imagery. Sally’s powerful yet serene landscape paintings have the suggestion of a horizon line to mimic nature’s vistas, and her flair is juxtaposing rich textures with soft blended colors. Sally studied fine arts at Chatham University in Pennsylvania and, after a successful career in Asheville as a technical writer and college textbook author, she now devotes herself full time to her first passion: the divine pleasure of painting. Take a look at Sally's versatile collection of subjects including figurative and still-life works, here and in the Blue Moon Gallery.
Website: LordeonArt.com
Facebook: LordeonArt
Walter Arnold
Fine Art Photographer
Walter Arnold is a self-taught fine art photographer born in Tallahassee, Florida in 1981. Walter grew up in a creative and artistic family and spent most of his childhood in Elmira, New York. After living for years in Florida he settled in Hendersonville, North Carolina and now calls the mountains home. After picking up his first digital SLR camera in 2006, Walter used the beauty of Western North Carolina to help train his creative eye and hone his photographic skills. In 2009, he stumbled on an abandoned airplane graveyard in St. Augustine, Florida. Shooting the abandoned planes, he discovered his passion for abandonment photography. Since then he has focused on developing his own personal style of photography that he calls “The Art of Abandonment”.
Walter’s vision draws him to capture unusual and artistic scenes in places that others often pass by. He employs an artistic technique called High Dynamic Range photography with many of his images. By capturing multiple exposures ranging from dark to bright, his technique reveals a greater range of light and detail in a scene than could be captured with a single image. This, coupled with Walter’s creative interpretation of a scene, allows him to create non-traditional and sometimes surreal images, that bring to life the forgotten locations that he explores.Walter’s photography has received national and international recognition. Most notably, Hollywood movie director Ron Howard selected one of his images to inspire a short film “When You Find Me”. Howard chose the photograph out of almost 100,000 other entries as part of Canon’s Project Imagin8ion. Walter’s award-winning work has been featured on MSNBC, CBS This Morning, HGTV, Yahoo News, PBS, Business Insider, Conde Nast, Lonely Planet, and many more. Walter has also worked with camera manufacturer Sigma, creating images used in numerous AD campaigns published in over 30 magazines.
Artist’s Statement:
“I strive to create nontraditional images and scenes in locations that most people will never have the pleasure to see. I explore locations that have been abandoned and create collections of images that tell a story to the viewer, both as singular pictures and as a whole experience. These abandoned buildings and locations speak volumes when you enter them, even in their abandoned and decaying state. Every room you look into tells a story and every artifact from a bygone era holds years of meaning and lost purpose. I enjoy searching for beauty in uncommon places and by doing so, help to preserve the history, memory and spirit that still shines ever so faintly in the dust and decay of these modern ruins.”
Metal Prints:
Metal prints represent a new art medium for preserving photos by infusing dyes directly into specially coated aluminum sheets. Because the image is infused into the surface and not on it, images take on an almost three-dimensional luminescence. The clarity of the picture is striking, and the colors seem to jump right off the surface. Some people compare it to looking at an HDTV screen. The process, called dye sublimation, produces a depth and dimensional quality that cannot be achieved otherwise. Images are printed onto a special transfer paper and laid on a sheet of 100% recycled aluminum, which has been coated with a white polymer that is receptive to the dyes. It is then heat pressed into the surface at 450 degrees. The dyes from the transfer paper go through a process called sublimation and change from a solid into a gas without forming a liquid. The gas form of the dye transfers into the polymer on the metal effectively sealing it into the surface. The final result is a modern looking, lightweight print that you can touch, and clean. It comes ready to hang so that it will float off the wall, creating a very pleasing drop shadow behind the print. You may clean the prints with a microfiber cloth and water, or other non-abrasive glass cleaner. As with all photographic prints, you should avoid prolonged direct sunlight.
MAIN LINKS:
Website: http://www.TheDigitalMirage.com
Art of Abandonment Blog: http://www.ArtOfAbandonment.com
Art of Abandonment Photo-Book VOL I + VOL II: http://www.AoABook.com
Phone: 828-335-3503
Email: Walter@TheDigitalMirage.com
Social Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/walterarnoldphotography/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waphotog/
Also on, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest
Joe Waldroup
Wood Worker/Waldroup Woodworks
I grew up in the mountains of Western North Carolina in the ‘50 and ‘60s. Roaming the woods with a pocket knife and hatchet in hand, taught me a lot about wood and the way trees grow. As the years have passed, I spent many hours carving, turning and sculpting trees that grew in my home town area. My current body of work is usually made from gnarly, burly trees with natural features that can be shaped into abstract or interpretive art. Spiky natural texture often have an aquatic look, while sculpted lines and spirals inspire movement like water current or the flight of a bird. My hope is for viewers to see this movement in their own way.