A dual exhibition of N. JACK HUDDLE’s recent oil paintings and ELLEN SMITH’s ceramic shows opens with a reception on Tuesday, May 13 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Art League Gallery. The exhibitions run from May 12 through June 7. Join us to meet the artists.
Jack is passionate about his art: “In my recent paintings, I am coordinating shapes and colors to create an impression of an event or place, much as an architect coordinates elements as he designs a structure.” Jack has combined a career in architecture with the arts of glass blowing and abstract painting.
After moving to Hilton Head Island in 1999 Jack applied the creative principles of architecture and glass blowing to his painting. What developed are dreamscapes often dominated by one color with forms reminiscent of molten glass in transformation. Jack does not title his paintings, so the viewer’s imaginations may roam freely. Continuously inspired by the marvels and mystery of nature and God’s creation Jack has synthesized the skills of his profession with his passion of painting.
Born in Ohio and raised during the Depression he learned early to recycle and create from discarded materials. During the 1970s, while still practicing architecture, he discovered a love for glass blowing and developed unique techniques to construct sculpted objects and vessels from molten glass.
After his BA of Architecture, Jack took courses at the École des Beaux Arts in Fontainebleau, France, and SCAD, among others. He is a member of the Art League of Hilton Head, the Society of Bluffton Artists and the Beaufort Art Association.
ELLEN SMITH works in both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional media, ceramics, painting and collage. Ellen says of her work, “I enjoy exploring many different materials and ideas. Teaching art taught me the basics of a variety of arts and crafts in order to guide my students. As a result my own work is eclectic, often inspired by children’s art and folk art.” She loves ceramics because the craft combines so many different skills and techniques. She is inspired by the textures of the material, the shapes that emerge and the colors in nature and in man-made forms. Some of my pieces are decorative, and others functional.
Ellen prefers hand-building her ceramics, because it gives her the freedom to experiment with symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes. Because of her painting background, at times she uses the clay as a canvas to achieve a painterly look using glazes and under-glazes.
Other work is more about form, shaping, modeling, joining, adding and taking away clay. Recently she has been working on a series of bas-relief sculptures. She starts each piece with an idea or an image but the final product is often a surprise. Ellen’s work is in many private collections and has been exhibited in numerous group shows; she was a featured 3D artist at the Hilton Head Art League Gallery in 2005.
Ellen lives on Hilton Head Island with her husband Warren, who is her frame maker and computer specialist. She is a native of central New York and received a B.F.A. in painting from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, Pa. She did graduate work and then was an art educator in Syracuse, N.Y. and Dayton, Ohio for over thirty years.
The Art League Gallery of Hilton Head in Pineland Station, Suite 207, is open Monday-Saturday from 10:00-6:00. For additional information call 843-681-5060 or check the website at www.artleaguehhi.org
