It's By Nature - Forrest December 12, 2010

Sylva Herald & Ruralite, The (NC)

December 2, 2010
Section: News and Sports

Forrest’s new work to be part of Sylva After Dark

Lynn Hotaling

New watercolors by Cullowhee artist Craig Forrest will take center stage during this Friday’s final “Sylva After Dark” as It’s By Nature gallery hosts an exhibition titled “Downtown Sylva in Detail – Urban Subjects, A New Direction.” A monthly event that takes place on the first Friday of each month from May to December, Sylva After Dark is an evening when stores stay open late and offer refreshments and live music to encourage downtown visitors. The year’s final event will be Dec. 3 from 6 until 9 p.m.

According to It’s By Nature owner Sandi Cooper, Forrest was interested in tackling some new subject matter for this show, and the work represents a departure from his usual rural landscapes, still-lifes and portraits. “We expect that viewers of the work will enjoy trying to guess the locations of the subjects as the titles will purposely not provide easy identification,” Cooper said. “Some works will be almost immediately recognized while others will possibly be more obscure.

The show will also feature Forrest’s recent painting “Snowfall at Full Spectrum Farms,” a watercolor depicting the hay barn at Full Spectrum Farms earlier this year. All proceeds from the sale of the original painting will go to Full Spectrum Farms, which serves adults with autism in Western North Carolina and intends to provide a farm community where affected individuals can live and work. Limited edition prints will be available as well with a
portion of the proceeds also going to Full Spectrum Farms.

“Craig first approached me regarding the idea of mini works of downtown Sylva more than a year ago,” Cooper said. “He has succeeded in capturing the everyday images that we see in our daily travels through Sylva but take for granted or may no longer notice. We are very excited and proud to host Craig’s most recent works depicting his perspective on Sylva and trust that it will be warmly received by the community and his many collectors.”

A native North Carolinian, Forrest has been painting for more than 33 years. While he’s typically described himself as a “rural realist,” he said he turned his attention to downtown Sylva to create the paintings for his upcoming show. On Sunday morning visits to town – a time when streets were relatively empty and cars didn’t block his views – he found a lot of subjects to first photograph and later paint.

“The downtown architecture is really interesting when you get to looking at it,” Forrest said. “There’s a lot about downtown that’s very interesting from an artist’s point of view – it has a lot of character. The downtown area is really nice since town officials and the Downtown Sylva Association have made so many improvements.”

The 15 paintings that will comprise his upcoming show are smaller than his previous paintings, Forrest said. While he included some “have-to” scenes, such as the First Baptist Church steeple, he didn’t include the old Courthouse this time because he’s painted it before, he said.
“I think some people may not initially realize where some of these things are,” he said. “That’s kind of what I’m after.”

While he titled the show “Downtown Sylva in Detail,” he says it’s not exactly that.

“I think it’s going to be kind of a fun show,” Forrest said. “With the gallery in Sylva and with most attendees local, I think people will enjoy it.”
Painting little Sylva scenes is something Forrest said he’s wanted to do for a long time. “I had the idea in the back of my mind for a while but didn’t get around to it until this past year,” he said.
Forrest said he likes to work from photographs and that the images he captures on film provide a starting point for his paintings.

Forrest uses the term “artist’s license” to explain his departure from an exact reproduction of the elements of a particular scene.

“When I begin a new painting it is usually about a subject with which I am very familiar and for which I have developed a strong feeling,” he said. “My subject matter concerns my life experiences, where I live, who I know and what is of importance to me. For me a subject has to ‘come in the back door.’ As Andrew Wyeth says: ‘It comes up and hits you in the back of the head when you least expect it.’

“That’s why I like to work from photographs. Aside from the fact that I work slowly, I find that having a camera provides a way to capture a subject immediately,” Forrest said. “Often there is just not enough time to develop a sketch or watercolor study fast enough before a scene changes. I can’t help but feel that the camera is a wonderful tool for artists. I’m certain that great artists from the past would have jumped at the chance to work with the technology artists of today have at their disposal.”

According to Forrest, composition is the most important aspect of his work.

“Using a camera gives an artist a certain advantage as far as composition is concerned,” he said. “The viewfinder of the camera becomes the frame for the scene, and the strong artist is the one who can take that image one step farther in the studio and crop the scene or add elements to strengthen a composition.”

Photographs are his “point of departure” and are, in a sense, his “sketches,” Forrest said.

“I have always spent a lot of time contemplating a composition before actually putting brush to paper,” he said.
After all that contemplation and preparation, the actual painting goes quickly, according to Forrest.

“The beauty of working with watercolor for me is the spontaneity and immediacy of the medium; it’s ‘splash and dash’ with subtle details to hold it together,” Forrest said.

In addition to original watercolors, Forrest’s limited-edition, signed prints will be available of many of the paintings. Forrest produces his own prints using pigment-based inks to produce art-quality prints in his home studio.

“Prints made with pigment inks have a longevity of more than 100 years if they’re properly framed,” Forrest said. “I couldn’t think of selling a print without longevity.”

Such prints are called giclee reproductions because they reproduce art from another medium, said Forrest, who was a featured artist in the first edition of the book “Mastering Digital Printing” by Harald Johnson.

Though he pursued a studio art degree at Appalachian State University, Forrest initially turned to banking as a way to earn a living and moved to the mountains when he was named manager of First Citizens Bank in Bryson City. He began paining professionally in 1979.

“The bank wanted to transfer me to Asheville, and I didn’t want to go,” he said to explain the career shift. His late wife, Wanda, who died in 2006, was a teacher with Jackson County Schools at the time, which enabled him to try painting full time.
For more information on Forrest and his upcoming exhibit, call It’s By Nature at 631-3020.

The monthly Sylva After Dark events are sponsored by the Downtown Sylva Association. In addition to Forrest’s show, other Dec. 3 downtown offerings include:

Heinzelmannchen Brewery – free food and beer pairing from 5 until 8 p.m.

Annie’s Naturally Bakery – free samples of holiday breads and egg nog from 5 until 8 p.m.

Gallery One – Winter Members Show runs through December.

Signature Brew Coffee Co . – Drawings of Mary Jane Ellsworth. A member of “The Silent Generation” at William and Mary, Ellsworth, a member of

American Aesthetic Society and the Blue Ridge Watermedia Society, has offered juried exhibits at the Biltmore Estate, HART Theatre and other venues.

“My main fascination and joyful surprises continue to be exploring a variety of styles in watercolor portraits and line drawings of faces,” Ellsworth said.
Her Signature Brew exhibit will feature line drawings of personalities of the 2000 political debates.

Sapphire Mountain Brewing Co. – Live music during Sylva After Dark.

Downtowner Building businesses (above Advanced Home Care and Custom Home Builders) – holiday open house with music and refreshments.

Participating shops include Tuckasegee Reader; Aurora Professional Design Guild; painter Jim Smythe; Jackson County Real Estate; The Wilderness Society; AWAKE; and Insure America.

Images associated with this article:
“Arched Doorway” is one of the new watercolors by Cullowhee artist Craig Forrest that will be on display during December at It’s By Nature in Sylva.
The Main Street gallery will host an opening reception for Forrest during this Friday’s Sylva After Dark, a monthly event where stores stay open late and offer refreshments and live music to encourage downtown visitors. The Dec. 3 event, which will take place from 6 until 9 p.m., will be the year’s final Sylva After Dark.