The Works of Rita Baldwin and Debbie Englund: Serendipity in Paint and Clay

The Pittsboro Gallery of Arts is pleased to present the works of Rita Baldwin and Debbie Englund, in a Featured Artists Show that will be on display from Monday, October 27th through Sunday, November 23rd. There will be a reception on Friday, November 21st, from 5-8pm.

For more than twenty years, Rita Baldwin has been experimenting with capturing landscapes in oil, using various impressionistic styles to depict the beauty of Chatham County. She began by creating Plein Air paintings in various locations, then continued painting from reference photos in her studio. In the last few years, though, Baldwin has seen a change in her work.

Baldwin writes, “My direction has morphed into using less reference and more creative divergence from the realistic scene. Since this change, I have found more joy in painting because I’m allowing the painting to take on a life of its own. As a result, there are many surprises and unintended directions that appear in the finished work.”

Debbie Englund finds inspiration from nature, creating ceramic pieces that, “reference the grace and elegance of organic forms.” Her White Vessels have surfaces that are carved with beautiful, undulating lines, and flow upward into petal-like structures. Englund writes, “The petals move and bend in unexpected ways with the heat of the kiln, creating unique forms.”

Englund also creates Sagger Vessels using terra sigillata, a very fine slip, that allows these simple, organic forms to be finished with a highly polished surface. These pieces are colored using soluble salts fired in a Raku kiln. Englund writes, “My focus in this work is on the processes used to create it, not necessarily in controlling the outcome. Each finished piece informs the next, so my work is ever-changing and often follows its own path.”

Both Debbie Englund and Rita Baldwin have embraced the notion of letting their work go where it wants—using years of experience with these materials to leave room for surprise and intuitive decisions, with the result of an increased joy in creation. Please join us at The Pittsboro Gallery of Arts for this beautiful combination of works by two very talented artists.

The Pittsboro Gallery of Arts is an artist-owned cooperative Fine Art and Craft Gallery located a few steps north of the Chatham County Courthouse circle. Artist works include a variety of media: oil, acrylics, watercolor, high-voltage woodburning, wooden mobiles, pastel, pen and ink, photography, fused glass, ceramics, jewelry, basketry, painted gourd vessels, and sculptural works in stone, steel, bronze, clay, and wood.

The Pittsboro Gallery of Arts
44-A Hillsboro Street
Pittsboro, NC 27312
https://www.pittsboroarts.org

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday: 10:30am-5:30pm, Sunday: noon-4pm, Closed Mondays
Third Friday: additional hours of 5pm-8pm