Carmen Grier + Terry Gess: TOGETHER

Featured exhibition at Toe River Arts Gallery in Spruce Pine, NC
June 17 - July 22, 2023

An installation view of the toe river arts gallery with black and white pottery by ceramic artist Terry Gess in the foreground, and green hued paintings by Carmen Grier in the background hung on a white wall. Image by Loam.

Carmen Grier

My work for this exhibit has been made this past winter — the perfect time to go inward.

An installation view of the toe river arts gallery with black and white pottery by ceramic artist Terry Gess in the foreground, and green and blue hued paintings by Carmen Grier in the background hung on a white wall. Image by Loam.

When the leaves are down, the stark bare branches create the most engaging shapes as they curve and bend over and under each other. I find these line drawings in nature to be an unending source of inspiration. The colors of the landscape are fairly neutral but the sudden peek of a green water tank, an orange surveyor stick, or a red vine is enough to get me started on a color palette. Once I start working, the painting takes on a life of its own and I react to what’s before me, making moment-to-moment decisions. Some paintings find their way to completion faster than others but often I rework a painting multiple times before it is resolved. A new series of smaller works that will be shown is entitled: “Listening with My Eyes”.

Terry Gess

I’ve long made work that fits in the hand and in the kitchen. But with the solitude provided by the Covid pandemic, I’ve been exploring pottery making on a larger scale.

An installation view of the toe river arts gallery with pottery by ceramic artist Terry Gess in the foreground, and tan, red, and yellow hued paintings by Carmen Grier in the background hung on a white wall. Image by Loam.

This exhibit at Toe River Arts has given me the challenge of making work to adorn a large room, to let the pots interplay and influence the space surrounding them.

Everything changes when working large. Beyond the physical challenges of working with larger, much heavier shapes, my personal artistic goal has been to make new work that embodies a personality and character that is something of a departure from the forms I have made before. One of the treasures in this process is in seeing how glaze and surface can come into their own given ample space to move and interact with each other.

An installation view of the toe river arts gallery with pottery by ceramic artist Terry Gess in the foreground, and multicolored paintings by Carmen Grier in the background hung on a white wall. Image by Loam.
An installation view of the toe river arts gallery with pottery by ceramic artist Terry Gess in the foreground, and paintings by Carmen Grier in the background hung on a white wall. Image by Loam.
Carmen Grier and Terry Gess from the feet up standing shoulder to shoulder in the Toe River Arts gallery in front of some of Carmen’s paintings and the title wall.
An installation view of the toe river arts gallery with a large black pot by ceramic artist Terry Gess in the foreground, and paintings by Carmen Grier in the background hung on a white wall. Image by Loam.
An installation view of the toe river arts gallery with a black and white pottery by ceramic artist Terry Gess in the foreground, and paintings by Carmen Grier in the background hung on a white wall. Image by Loam.
A panoramic installation view of the toe river arts gallery with a black and white pottery by ceramic artist Terry Gess in the foreground, and three large paintings by Carmen Grier in the background hung on a white wall. Image by Loam.