Community Canvas | City of Oneonta

Community Canvas: A Gallery Experience

Welcome to Community Canvas: A Gallery Experience. The City of Oneonta's annual juried art show brings forward the wonderful opportunity for local artists to showcase their artistic talent, sell their artwork, and enjoy an evening with fellow artists and community members. Hosted at the Historic Little Brick Church in the heart of Oneonta, Community Canvas will be Friday, June 21st from 6pm - 8pm and Saturday, June 22nd from 4pm - 8pm.

Meet the Artists

AMY FISHER, of Oneonta, started in oil painting at the age of eight. She spent many years with her brush to the canvas painting primarily landscapes. In her thirties, she had a strong desire to pursue watercolor painting. Without any local teachers to guide her at the time, she taught herself how to manipulate the watercolor paints onto paper. She loves the way the movement of the washed-out areas leave the viewer the chance to fill in the blanks with their imaginations.

BEN WELLS creates with acrylic paint and watercolor paper to abstract forms while drawing inspirations from daily life.

CHRIS SCREWS is a native Alabamian inspired by Halloween masks, pop culture, and all things spooky. Chris is a public high school Visual Arts teacher of 22 years. Since 2015, he is also the instructor for the Special Effects Signature Academy in Jefferson County.

DOLORES LOFTIS's love for photography began as a young girl watching her uncle process his own film. She was fascinated being in his darkroom seeing these magical images appear. As a self-trained photographer, Dolores has spent many a day camping out and following eagles, hiking to amazing waterfalls, seeing nature all around us and capturing treasured life moments. Her and her husband, James, live in Blount County.

FRED TURPENING was born and raised in the Southern Michigan farmlands where his interest and inspiration for art began. He moved with his wife and daughter to Central Alabama in the late 1980’s and has resided in Clay and now Oneonta. Since that time, as a hobby and by special request, Fred has continually practiced and refined his self-taught art skills primarily in acrylic and pastels; creating wildlife, still-life and landscape pieces. He hopes to spend his soon to be retirement traveling, taking photographs, and sharing what he captures through his paintings and artwork.

JESS LAUREN B. ALEXANDER is the owner and primary educator at Little Art Tree. She teaches weekly classes to youth, monthly adult classes, and workshops. She decided to become a teacher a few years ago when she saw the desire for art in the community of Ashville. She was a substitute teacher and the kids continued to ask her to teach them how to draw things. She is a mixed-media artist and combines water color, acrylic, and ink. She also incorporates vintage paper and some handmade paper in larger pieces.

JOAN BABCOCK, of Oneonta, is a self-taught artist and sharing her art is her passion. She loves accurate and detailed interpretation of nature and of contemporary life, and each day, she pushes herself to her creative limits. She likes trying out new art styles and techniques. She is the owner of Joan's Art Studio. She says knowledge is endless, and she wants to keep learning.

KACI RICHARDSON resides in Cleveland and is known for her variety of goods and art, mostly of the nerd persuasion. She likes to dabble in multiple mediums, from acrylic, ink, and traditional 2D art to polymer clay sculptures, jewelry making, sewing and cosplays. In many ways, they chase the serotonin with whatever strikes their fancy!

MATT BOYD is an illustrator located in Locust Fork. He has studied at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is currently working in watercolor, which he knows is a hard medium, but he is well-known for choosing difficult projects.

PAETON HILL, of Oneonta, creates wire-wrapped jewelry and digital art. She admits to taking way too many pictures of her two cats and bearded dragon and occasionally with her husband. Follow her at Mystic Rayne Jewelry on Facebook and Instagram. And gerbilnugget1 on Inta for artwork.

SHARON BREASEALE's vibrant colors and freestyle in her acrylic abstracts reflect her bright attitude and love of life. She works with palette knife, large brushes, and many times thick textures to create the look that she loves. Sharon's "Atta Girl" series was created to encourage and empower feminine strengths and the unique beauty of every woman.

TREVOR THOMAS is a painter originally from Horton, Alabama. He received a BFA in Visual Art from Belhaven University in Jackson, MS. He will pursue his MFA in Painting from Athens State University starting in August. Trevor began drawing at a very early age and was encouraged by his family. Over the years, Trevor became interested in the impressionists and continues to be inspired by them today. He is intrigued by color and light and includes impressionist and colorist techniques in his work.