AUGUST 13, 2009 ISSUE
Cheese House Gallery Presents ‘Along the Avery Quilt Trail’
Sid Boss takes the Avery Quilt Trail from the countryside to the gallery in his watercolor exhibit, “Along the Avery Quilt Trail,” on display at the Avery Arts Council Cheese House Gallery through Friday, August 28.
An exhibition called “Along the Avery Quilt Trail,” a collection of watercolor paintings by Sid Boss, is on display at the Avery Arts Council’s Cheese House Gallery in Banner Elk through Friday, August 28.
Boss has spent a lifetime with paintbrush in hand. Upon completion of his training at the American Academy of Art, he started his profession in commercial design, eventually opening his own office in downtown Chicago. Retirement took him to Sarasota, Fla., and eventually to the High Country, where he and wife Mary have been summer residents for the past eight years.
Boss left the field of commercial art just as computer-generated graphic design became the dominant form. He took to painting with watercolors about 15 years ago, and he often uses photographs of scenic locations as his inspiration. Having relied heavily on the techniques of perspective and composition throughout his career, he finds the angles and shapes of local barns to be particularly interesting.
Last summer the Bosses discovered the Avery Quilt Trail. They loved the intricate, colorful designs displayed on barns and buildings and enjoyed driving through the region in search of new examples. Mrs. Boss snapped photos of quilt squares wherever they could be found. When the couple learned that the Avery Arts Council was headquarters for the Quilt Trail project and that the Arts Council was looking for exhibitors at the newly opened Cheese House Gallery, an idea was born. The Bosses asked if it might be possible for Mr. Boss to paint images of area barns with quilt squares. Some artistic license would be in play; Mr. Boss invoked the artist’s privilege of placing quilt squares on barns of his choosing. The exhibition was set for August 2009, and Mr. Boss spent the winter painting eight meticulously rendered “portraits” of barns and quilt squares.
The Cheese House Gallery is located at 630 Shawneehaw Avenue (Highway 184) in Banner Elk. Gallery hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays by appointment. The gallery will be open on Saturday, August 22, in conjunction with the Greater Avery Tour de Art and the Banner Elk Paint Out. For more information, call 828-898-4292 or email info@averycountyartscouncil.org.
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