Park Circle Gallery to Exhibit Works by Kathryn Parker and Jennifer Kirk Hamilton

Eventide by Kathryn Parker

Press Release

The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that concurrent solo exhibitions of paintings by Kathryn Parker (Mt. Pleasant, SC) and Jennifer Kirk Hamilton (Rock Hill, SC) will be on display at Park Circle Gallery from June 1-30, 2023. A free reception hosted by the artists will be held at the gallery on Friday, June 2, from 5:00-7:00pm. The public is invited to attend. 

Light and Life: Scenes of the Lowcountry – Paintings by Kathryn Parker

In Light and Life: Scenes of the Lowcountry, Kathryn Parker focuses on familiar Lowcountry landscapes as a means of exploring her expressive impasto style of painting. Though many of her paintings are initially inspired by a photograph or memory, she only loosely refers back to the original image and instead uses her subject as a means to explore the textural possibilities of her medium. Using a combination of oil and coldwax, Parker creates highly textured paintings with visible, expressive brushstrokes. “I work to capture emotions through my color choices and brushwork,” says Parker. She often listens to music while she works to influence her movement and brushwork and develops her paintings intuitively.

Kathryn Parker earned a degree in studio art from the University of Colorado at Denver. Moving to the South Carolina Lowcountry in 2017 has given her countless inspirations and new networking opportunities. She is a member of the Charleston Artist Guild and the Mt. Pleasant Artist Guild. Her work is part of numerous private collections and has been displayed at Mount Pleasant Town Hall, the City Gallery at Waterfront Park as part of the Piccolo Spoleto Juried Art Exhibition, the Town of Mt. Pleasant Blessing of the Fleet Festival, The Sweetgrass Festival, and Untapped Art Fest. Her work is currently for sale at the Charleston Artist Guild Gallery in downtown Charleston. Learn more about the artist at www.kathyrnparkerart.com.

I Don’t Know, Maybe It’s Friday by Jennifer Kirk Hamilton

If Color Could Talk, Would it Move? Would it Walk? – Paintings by Jennifer Kirk Hamilton

Jennifer Kirk Hamilton’s walking dog series If Color Could Talk, Would it Move? Would it Walk? developed organically during the painter’s daily walks with her dogs. She was taking photos while walking her dogs when she noticed how interesting the dogs looked in motion and she decided to paint them.  After doing several paintings of the dogs, she decided to create a series from the perspective of the walker.  “This developed into years of study,” explains Hamilton. “That study became more and more about not just the dogs, but about the actual psychological part of the walk.” For many, walking is a tool for contemplation and daydreaming. Hamilton pursues this dreamlike, meandering quality in her paintings about walking her dogs. She is interested in how paint can be used to describe movement on a still image, not just the movement of the dogs, but the forward, shifting perspective of the daydreaming walker. Hamilton credits this creative problem with leading her to new ways of painting. “As the years and paintings continued, my work evolved into more abstract, expressionistic, and introspective versions. I use colors, brush strokes, and paint drips to mimic emotions, actions, and movement…I found myself manipulating each stroke as deliberate as a step.”

Jennifer Kirk Hamilton lives and works in Rock Hill, SC. She has been a professional artist since 1976 and maintains her art studio at the Center for the Arts on Main St. Jennifer began her art career working primarily with watercolor and explored a variety of subjects, including landscapes, florals, and figures in the landscape. She found her signature style in 2001 when she began painting her two dogs walking in the park. Jennifer’s work is collected throughout the east coast and Canada and she has won numerous awards in the state including Best in Show 2008 SCWS Annual Exhibition. In 2016, after years of self-study and tutelage from nationally known instructors, she returned to Winthrop University to pursue her BFA degree with a concentration in Sculpture. Learn more about the artist at www.jenniferkirkhamilton.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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