Click to see current work:  TONY ALDERMAN

TONY ALDERMAN   WATERLINE
NEW PAINTINGS FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST
SHAWHAN LYNCH   LIGHT FUSION  GLASS

Durham — Two shows, Waterline: New Paintings from the North Carolina Coast by Tony Alderman, and Light Fusion, Glass by Shawhan Lynch, open at Craven Allen Gallery on Saturday, July 13, with a reception from 5 to 7 pm.

Tony Alderman was the first staff member of Craven Allen Gallery when owners John Craven Bloedorn and Keith Allen Wenger created the gallery upon purchasing the House of Frames business in 1992.  His artistic skills were integral to the early success of the gallery and framing business, and now life has come full circle as Alderman returns there for his first solo show at the gallery.

Alderman has created a noted career in paintings featuring nautical and coastal paintings, documenting the historic fishing communities of the North Carolina Coast.  “I seek to capture in paint the convergence of the natural beauty of the coast with evidence of the lives of the people who have made their homes there.  Our coast’s salt marshes and sunsets, deserted train stations, and rusting water towers and old churches make for a visual feast.” Although this way of life is under threat from pressures both environmental and economic, Alderman takes inspiration in the resiliency of its residents.  His paintings are at once richly detailed, and spare in their compositions.   He lives in Durham with his wife Catherine, but travels to the coast as often as possible.

Glass artist Shawhan Lynch also takes inspiration from nature, creating ”kiln-formed linear seascapes and landscapes from memories of color, shapes and textures.”   Glass is worked in a complex series of steps involving both hot firing and cold work.  She makes both functional bowls and platters in addition to standalone art pieces.  She has a studio in the woods in Timberlake, North Carolina; this is her first solo exhibition.

The shows continue through August 24th.

Craven Allen Gallery is located at 1106 ½ Broad Street in Durham.  Gallery hours are 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.

TONY ALDERMAN

STATEMENT

My work over the last ten years has been directed by two deeply intertwined passions: love for the North Carolina coast, and wonder at the way the passage of time affects everything we see.

I seek to capture in paint the convergence of the natural beauty of the coast with evidence of the lives of the people who have made their homes there.  Our coast’s salt marshes and sunsets, deserted train stations, and rusting water towers and old churches make for a visual feast.  Shrimp boats (many built here in North Carolina), old and soon-to be-abandoned nets, fish houses, piers, and reed marshes show an ephemeral moment in the present which speaks to both the past and the future of life on the coast.

The residents themselves, life-battered but resilient, are inextricably bound up in these paintings. The people I have met on this journey have a proud history.  They are fighting to maintain a way of life, and their decades-long connection to the sea. I hope to honor their lives, and the memories of those who came before them, by conveying their strong sense of belonging to this special place, and the serenity that comes when one is tied so closely to nature, regardless of the hardships.

In this decade of painting decaying coastal towns struggling to survive, it’s that tranquility which stays with me. When I gaze out at a sunrise coming over the salt marshes of Lockwood Folly River, I am filled with a profound sense of peace of life lived in the continuity of nature—in sky, clouds, earth and water. It is something of this sense of peace that I hope to share with you with the paintings in Waterline.

ABOUT TONY ALDERMAN

Tony Alderman has been painting for over thirty-five years, focusing on those images that speak of life well-spent and well-worn.  He is especially known for his nautical and coastal paintings. A lover of community, Tony strives to learn about the surroundings that shape the people in the communities he paints, and how the community in turn affects the environment.

Tony received his BFA from the University of Mobile, where he studied with Charles “Mac” Clark. His work can be found in many corporate and private collections. He lives in Durham with his wife Catherine, but goes to the coast as often as possible for meditation and inspiration.