Friends say that the late Ashe County artist Florence Thomas would have been pleased with the art school that bears her name and is in the midst of its first full season.
"I think she would be tickled pink," said Jane Lonon, the executive director of the Ashe County Arts Council. "I think she would be the first one signing up for classes and continue to be her prolific self in learning new techniques and creating new artworks."
Thomas, who was 98 when she died in 2007, left behind a trust to establish The Paul and Florence Thomas Memorial Art School. Paul Thomas was her husband.
The school opened with three classes last fall. The 2009 season, which started in May and continues through the end of October, offers more than 40 classes. (For a schedule and other details, visit www.florencertschool.org.)
While the school offers students a place to learn drawing, watercolors, oil painting, papermaking, basketry and other skills, it also offers a place for artists to pass along their passions.
Artist Lenore De Pree, who is a co-owner of West Jefferson's Originals Only gallery, taught her first class this week, showing students how to use Persian-style techniques to paint or design scenes from North Carolina.
The Persian style, which reached its peak in the 13th through 16th centuries in what is modern-day Iran and other places, includes layered levels of complex scenes in strong vibrant colors.
The technique, which was used in miniature illustrations for manuscripts, does not use shadow or perspective, as much of Western art does.
De Pree has used the style to paint such mountain scenes as Christmas tree farms, the Todd General Store, tobacco auctions and apple orchards.
"This is a wonderful place to share a skill I've learned in my travels around the world and use it in the mountains," she said.
The 10.3-acre campus at the school -- Florence, they call it -- is built around a former hotel complex just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The classroom is the old restaurant. The lodging is the old hotel, and it has 20 rooms. The Lee House offers meeting space and is a former home for the old hotel's owner. The property includes three rental cabins, rolling meadows and a pond.
Inside the classroom building, students work in what used to be the restaurant's dining room, remodeled into a bright, airy studio, which has 27 overhead lights and 13 windows.
De Pree's class had seven people, about a typical size for Florence offerings.
Karen Lowder and Susan Engels, both members of the Falling Rivers Gallery and Stanley Arts Guild, traveled from Albemarle and are the first overnight guests to stay at The Lodging. There is no television or radio.
"It's so peaceful and quiet," Engels said.
"You clear your mind," Lowder said. "I just can't say enough about it."
Lonon said the idea of a residential art school in a beautiful setting is to nurture the creative spirit that will inspire people to do more.
"It has folks going away from Florence feeling good and wanting to create," she said.
Linda Shuman, an elementary-school art teacher in Ocala, Fla., who owns a cabin on the New River, plans to take what she has learned this week and incorporate it into learning goals for her students this year.
She had been inspired by De Pree's paintings -- she owns three of them -- and used oils to bring alive a painting of her own world.
"Here's the river and here's my cabin and there's mountains in the background," she said. "It turned out to be very personal."
■ Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement