2017 New Year Inspiration at the Hill Country Arts Foundation

This year a record six Gallery VIII artists and partners attended the annual January art retreat at the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram, TX! Marie Renfro, Maryanne Reeves, Martha Rea Baker, Deborah Shannon, Donna Shuford and former partner, Carmen Haggard enjoyed ten days of uninterrupted studio time along with eleven additional artists.

The Hill Country Arts Foundation mounted an exhibition of work created by the seventeen artists, known by the title AWOL, Artists Without Limits, in the Duncan-McAshen Visual Arts Center on the HCAF campus.

We will post more work completed by the artists this year in the weeks ahead.

Paintings by Martha Rea Baker

portal-i-and-portal-ii

“Portal I” and “Portal II”         30″ x 30″ x 2″ each        Acrylic on Panel

canyonlands-i-ii

“Canyonlands” I and II          24″ x 12″ x 2″ each           Acrylic on Panel

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Paintings by Marie Renfro

marie-figure

“Embracing Life”         30″ x 22″          Acrylic Painting on Paper

marie-h-abstract

“Entrance”                  22″ x 30″               Acrylic Collage on Paper

marie-v-abstract

“Overlay”           30″ x 22″        Acrylic Collage on Paper

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Paintings by Donna Shuford

donna-large-abstract

“Ready to Bloom”               22″ x 22″                Watercolor

donna-cylclaman

“Cyclamen”           14″ x 11″         Watercolor

donna-abstract-square

“Shape Escape”         6″ x 6″        Watercolor

New Year Inspiration

Five of the Gallery VIII artists had the pleasure of attending an annual ten-day artists’ retreat in the beautiful Texas Hill Country this January. This uninterrupted studio time for the artists proved extremely rewarding and productive! Marie Renfro, Martha Rea Baker, Deborah Shannon, Donna Shuford, and Maryanne Reeves  traveled to the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram, TX where they each created an impressive body of work.

What a joy to begin the new year gaining inspiration and creating new work!

Examples of the paintings and collages created during this time are posted below. Please visit each artist’s page to view additional artwork created in January, 2016.

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MARIE RENFRO

Marie Renfro    “Breaking Barriers”    30″ x 22″    Acrylic Collage

                                                                                                                

MARTHA REA BAKER

coloresdemalagav

Martha Rea Baker    “Colores de Malaga VI”    30″ x 30″   Acrylic

                                                                                                          

DEBORAH SHANNON

Deborah Shannon    “November in the Garden”    Collage

Welcome to Gallery VIII

Featured

Founded in 1982 by eight professional women artists, Gallery VIII is a unique fine art gallery offering original art in both traditional and contemporary styles. With one of the largest selections of watercolors in the Dallas metropolitan area, the gallery also features oil, acrylic and encaustic paintings, collages, etchings, and monotypes. In addition, wearable fine art jewelry and fused glass can be found among the artists’ mediums. Following twenty-one years as a vibrant retail art gallery, Gallery VIII is now a creative on-line gallery offering all-original art. Now in its third decade, Gallery VIII continues with creative endeavors, including indivudual and group exhibitions, and an annual studio tour.

Gallery VIII artists are well represented by galleries throughout the United States. Please view each artist’s page to learn more about them & their work, gallery listings, and links to their personal web sites. If you would like to receive online updates from your favorite Gallery VIII artists, please subscribe to this site by selecting the “Sign Me Up!” button on the right.