Virginia Pendergrass presents "Toys" as Asheville Gallery of Art's featured artist for December

Asheville Gallery of Art is presenting the work of Virginia Pendergrass during the month of December. “When I heard when my show would be, a childlike voice in my mind shouted ‘Toys!,’ which naturally became the name of my show,” says Pendergrass. Creating the works for the show was an adventure of discovery for her. She first envisioned treating toys as still life subjects, but she found that when you have toys, and add imagination, even grown-ups play. “My Teddy Bear shared a chair with Goldilocks, and they decided that the chair was JUST right for both of them together. In another, a tousled head of a youngster is seen in the mirror above the bathroom vanity where his rubber duckie and towel sit. But wait. That vanity has some rather adult products on it. Is Daddy playing with the rubber ducky, too?,” says Pendergrass.

Although she feels like a child when painting toys, she says her techniques are not childlike. Children will no doubt enjoy the bright colors and depiction of toys they love. However, her painting style, which she calls “contemporary impressionism,” pays attention to hard, soft, and disappearing edges, light and shadow to create volume, accomplished drawing, and other techniques of the experienced and educated painter. 

Her informal art training consisted of painting and drawing courses at Old Lyme Art Academy in CT, Crealde School of Art, and Valencia Community College in FL, and numerous workshops with her favorite artists. Pendergrass’ oil paintings have been accepted into regional and national exhibitions of the American Impressionist Society, Oil Painters of America, Paint the Parks, and Women Painters of the Southeast, where she has won multiple awards of excellence. In addition to the Asheville Gallery, her work is on display at the Silver Fox Gallery in Hendersonville and at her French Broad Artists studio in the River Arts District.

The show will run through December 31 where her work as well as the works of the 27 other gallery artists may be viewed. Asheville Gallery of Art is located at 16 College Street, across from Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville. Regular gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday 1 to 4 p.m. You can contact the gallery at 828-251-5796, or visit their website at www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com.