Park Circle Gallery to Exhibit Works by Gale Ray and Susan Lenz

Various works by Gale Ray

Press Release

The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that concurrent solo exhibitions of paintings and pottery by Gale Ray (Charleston, SC) and mixed media works by Susan Lenz (Columbia, SC) will be on display at Park Circle Gallery from October 5-29, 2022. Although Ray and Lenz’s exhibits are presented as concurrent solo shows, three pieces created collaboratively will also be featured. A free reception hosted by the artists will be held at the gallery on Friday, October 7th, from 5 pm – 7 pm. The public is invited to attend. 

Inspirations from the Land and Sea – Paintings and pottery by Gale Ray

In Inspirations from the Land and Sea, Gale Ray of Charleston, SC, presents a collection of paintings and pottery that capture the beauty and essence of the Lowcountry. Ray’s oil paintings depict sunsets, sunrises, calm marshes, and turbulent storms. Her works in clay are heavily influenced by objects in nature, from oyster shells to bird nests to tree bark. Large statement vessels are made using coil construction techniques and seem to take on a life of their own with distinct personalities. “When these pieces are dry enough to handle, I like to hold them in my arms and feel their energy,” she explains. With a painter’s eye and a potter’s hands, Ray continues to be inspired by the landscape she’s admired for more than 30 years

Gale Ray is an award-winning fine artist. Her work has been collected throughout the US and Europe and has shown at numerous juried art and craft shows across the country, including the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. After a lifetime of painting oil on canvas, 34 years as a tapestry weaver, and 15 years as a faux painter, Gale’s most recent work focuses on hand building pottery.  She is a member of the National Association of Women Artists, the Art League of Hilton Head, and Lowcountry Ceramic Artists, and currently maintains a studio in Charleston, SC. Her work can be found at the Lowcountry Artist Gallery in Charleston, the Keepsakes Museum Shop at Brookgreen Gardens, and the South Carolina Artisans Center in Walterboro, SC. Learn more about the artist at www.galeray.net.

Mandala CVIII by Susan Lenz

Found Object Mandalas – Mixed media works by Susan Lenz

For fiber and installation artist Susan Lenz, using multiples of seemingly mundane objects puts into perspective the abundance of life and the capacity to keep things as if for a “rainy day.” The mixed media works in her exhibit, Found Object Mandalas, feature common, household items, like paper clips, keys, bottle caps, buttons, nails, plastic spoons, old clock parts, and more, repetitively hand stitched into meditative patterns on sections of old discarded quilts. “This process brings an extraordinary new life to otherwise everyday things,” Lenz explains. This artwork debuted at the 2021 Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show and was more recently part of the 2022 Smithsonian Craft Show.

Born and raised in the US Midwest, Susan Lenz now lives in Columbia, SC, where she creates an eclectic range of masterful work using needle and thread at her downtown studio, Mouse House, Inc. She has studied under several internationally acclaimed artists including Charlotte Miller, Jan Beaney, and Jean Littlejohn, and her installations and fiber art pieces have appeared in national publications, numerous juried exhibitions, and museums, galleries, and fine craft shows throughout the country and abroad. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Textile Museum in Washington, DC, and the McKissick Museum in Columbia, SC, and is currently represented by the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville, NC. Learn more about the artist at www.SusanLenz.com.

The Park Circle Gallery is located at 4820 Jenkins Avenue in North Charleston. Admission is free and free street parking is available on Jenkins Avenue in front of the gallery, as well as on the adjacent streets and in parking lots close by. Gallery hours are 11:00am-6:00pm Wednesday-Friday, and Noon-4:00pm on Saturday. For more information about PCG, call 843-637-3565 or email culturalarts@northcharleston.org. For information on other Cultural Arts programs and artist opportunities, visit the Arts & Culture section of the City’s website at www.northcharleston.org.

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