"Surrounded by the Forest"
E.O. Hill and Mitzi Shewmake

June 1 - 28, 2014
Meet the Artists at the Gallery Hop, Friday, June 6, 7 – 10 pm
Public Reception: Sunday, June 8, 2 – 4 pm

Artworks Gallery presents "Surrounded By The Forest", a two-person collaboration of drawings by E.O. Hill and sculpture by Mitzi Shewmake.

Hill's drawing of trees and Shewmake's sculpture are inspired by some of the ancient legends and stories that grew out of the connection of human beings and trees. For Shewmake, it starts with Adam and Eve and the serpent and the tree, and the legend of the search by the ancient ruler Gilgamesh for the elixer of life that would save his best friend from death, etc. As Shewmake puts it, "There have always been tree worshipers. Ted (E.O. Hill) has a slightly different approach, but I think our exhibition is about the beauty and influence of trees."

E.O. Hill was born in 1943 and is a native of Winston-Salem. He received a BFA from the Ringling School of Design in Sarasota, Florida in 1967 and a MFA in drawing and design from the Instituto Allende, University of Guanajuto in 1969. He works primarily in drawing media and has exhibited internationally since 1969 with work in private and public collections. Also, as an arts administrator, he has served as past board member of Associated Artist of Winston-Salem, The Davie County Arts Council and The North Carolina Arts Council. He also served as Chairman of the North Carolina Arts Council Visual Arts Panel. He has a studio at 601 Trade Street in the Arts District and has been a member of Artworks Gallery since 1988.

Shewmake has a MFA from UNCG, a BA from George Washington University, attended the Cleveland Art Institiiute, the Art Students League, and had private study with sculptor, Alfeo Faggi. She is Professor Emerita, WSSU, and a former Director of the Diggs Gallery. Her art influences include her living as a child half in Woodstock, NY and half in Tucson, AZ. She says: "so desert and rocks and mountains as well as trees in a green landscape were very much part of my life, and have been very important in what kind of sculpture I make."

Click image for a larger view
Shewmake and Hill, "The Three Faces of Eve", masks and drawing, 10 1/2" x 25 1/4"
E.O. Hill, "Dark Woods II", graphite drawing, 12" x 12"

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