Cheese House Gallery Features Watercolors, Pottery in September

Artists Norma Suddreth and Patti Connor-Greene showcase works in paint, clay and paper at the Avery Arts Council’s Cheese House Gallery in Banner Elk throughout the month of September.

Norma Suddreth and Patti Connor-Greene did not know each other before sharing space for the September exhibition at the Cheese House Gallery, but they quickly found common ground. Suddreth, a watercolorist and fresco painter who also makes her own paper, and Connor-Greene, a potter, realized that their vastly different art forms share a significant trait—they are ancient crafts, capable of surviving for millennia. Their show titled “Four Hands, Two Studios: Paper, Paint and Clay,” is a harmonious blend of handmade and handcrafted works of art.

Connor-Greene recently retired from a career in psychology, much of it spent at Clemson University. Her relationship with pottery goes back to her childhood.

“When I was six years old, I watched a potter make a bowl on his kickwheel, and I was lost to the magic of clay,” she said. “I got my first chance to work on the wheel in a ceramics class at Wells College and continued taking clay classes at the University of South Carolina, Arrowmont and Penland.”

Connor-Greene came to know and love Avery County through her husband, Dan Connor, and the two of them would frequently visit, staying in a cabin built by Dan’s parents. In 2001, they bought an old house in Pineola, renovated it into a studio, Linville River Pottery, and built a gas-fired soda kiln. They now live here full time.

“After 35 years of working with clay, I feel like I’m still just beginning to explore some of its possibilities, and I can’t wait to get to my studio every morning,” Connor-Greene said.

Suddreth is a native of the North Carolina foothills, and the Blue Ridge Mountains that towered above her small rural community have been a major influence in her art. Well known locally as a watercolorist and teacher, Suddreth has also attained mastery of two ancient art forms, papermaking and fresco painting.

Some of the work on exhibit features a technique of painting with paper pulp using her hands as her brush, while others showcase her skill at watercolors on handmade paper.

Her work in fresco has a spiritual focus. Suddreth’s life-long devotion to art has involved studies at Penland, Arrowmont and St. Michael’s Institute of Sacred Art in Connecticut. In her artist statement, she explains, “Observation, preservation of history, acts of goodness and honesty are elements I incorporate into my art. I take satisfaction in each creative process.”

“Four Hands, Two Studios” is on exhibit at the Avery Arts Council’s Cheese House Gallery, located at 630 Shawneehaw Avenue in Banner Elk, throughout September. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The show can be seen on Saturday, September 26, from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m., when the Cheese House participates in the county-wide Avery Tour de Art open house at 11 local galleries. Suddreth will present a talk about her work at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 26.