Click to see current work:  JEREMY KERMAN   PEG BACHENHEIMER

Durham —  DURHAM BY GHOSTBIKE: works on paper by Jeremy Kerman, and THE COLORS OF SUMMER: encaustic paintings by Peg Bachenheimer, open at Craven Allen Gallery on Saturday, July 9, with a reception from 5 to 7, featuring snacks by Watts Grocery and wines from Westgate Wine Store. The shows continue through September 17.

Jeremy Kerman is passionate about Durham, with its eclectic mix of old architecture and new urban energy. Although Kerman studied art at university,  he brings an outsider aesthetic to his work.  He uses found materials and exuberantly intermingles media–including paint, pastels, pencil–to create vibrant collages of Durham city scenes.

The title of the Show, Durham by Ghostbike, suggests not only challenges inherent in Durham‘s changing cityscape, but also honors the passing of a friend:  “For this show, my wife Amy asked me to do a picture of her friend Seth’s ghost bike. He died in 2013. So, his life is another passing. I decided to call this picture, “I Found a Reason”, after a song I like very much by the Velvet Underground. I hope that this piece conveys at least some of the beauty and optimism that was his life. It seemed important for it to not be sad, in order to honor him.”  Kerman lives with his wife and children in Durham.

In The Colors of Summer, Peg Bachenheimer creates landscapes and abstract encaustic paintings with rich vibrant colors and luscious surface textures to express the free, easy feeling of the season.   “I hope my paintings connect with that luminous, mysterious inner space inside all of us. I find that both oil and cold wax, and encaustic hot wax, allow me to explore this process deeply. I divide my time between the two mediums and find they inform each other.”

Bachenheimer exhibits widely and her work is in corporate and private collections throughout the Triangle. She lives in Carrboro and is a strong advocate for arts education.

Craven Allen Gallery is located at 1106 ½ Broad Street in Durham.  Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.  For more information, please call the gallery at 286-4837 or visit www.CravenAllenGallery.com.

JEREMY KERMAN – STATEMENT

When I lived in Philadelphia, I’d often get off work late at night and go biking around the city looking at the houses and the street lights. I didn’t paint much during this time but I think ideas began to form. During this time, my friend Marc Cote took me to a show of bay area expressionists, including Richard Diebenkorn and Nathan Oliveira, which made a lasting impression on me.

True to form, my first piece for this show, Seth and the Elved, depicts a storefront which is now defunct (the former furniture store/Organic Transit building). I guess I have an affinity for that which is old or passing. Last time, it was the Liberty Warehouse. If you look closely you will see a small Ghost Bike Parking sign.

For this show, my wife Amy asked me to do a picture of her friend Seth’s ghost bike. He died in 2013. So, his life is another passing. I decided to call this picture, “I Found a Reason”, after a song I like very much by the Velvet Underground. I hope that this piece conveys at least some of the beauty and optimism that was his life. It seemed important for it to not be sad, in order to honor him.

My works are almost all mixed media because my M.O. tends to be grabbing whatever works best and is on hand. Materials I like are acrylics, pastels, pencils, and various papers for collaging.

ABOUT JEREMY KERMAN

Jeremy Kerman studied painting, drawing, and design at Montclair State College, and screen printing and intaglio at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  His work is featured at the local landmark Watts Grocery in Durham, and in many private collections throughout the Triangle.  Commissions are a specialty.  This is his second major show.

PEG BACHENHEIMER – STATEMENT

My paintings start from an idea, a feeling, a color, a song, an experience in nature — anything that touches my heart. I create with many layers of texture and color, building up and scraping back to reveal previous layers. I hope my paintings connect with that luminous, mysterious inner space inside all of us. I find that both oil and cold wax, and encaustic hot wax, allow me to explore this process deeply. I divide my time between the two mediums and find they inform each other.

For this show, The Colors of Summer, I have worked in richly pigmented encaustic and created images in vivid colors. I love summer and have always felt it was a very free and easy time. I especially love bright colors, gardens and beaches. The paintings represent my feelings about summer and its rich, warm, free experience. One part of the process for these paintings was to begin with colorful oil pastel drawing on the white gessoed surface of the wood panel. These drawings are very free and show through in places in the finished paintings.

I am inspired by my early years in the Pacific Northwest, my life in North Carolina with its beaches and mountains, by hiking, gardening, my yoga practice, people and reading. Many roles through the years as daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend inform my work. Being an elementary school teacher for 38 years has influenced my work and helped me appreciate the time I now have to explore painting. I have looked closely at the work of other painters for many years and it has influenced me as much as anything else.

ABOUT PEG BACHENHEIMER

Peg graduated from Smith College with a degree in English and from Bank Street College of Education with a Masters in Elementary Education. She taught young children in public schools for over 35 years. Peg has been painting since 1998 when she began classes at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro and Penland School of Craft in the NC mountains. She now paints full time in her studio at her home in Carrboro, NC. She lives with her husband, Steve, and has 4 grown children and step-children.