2016 Gallery Hop at Area 61 | Featuring "UNDISCLOSED"

Gallery Hop 2016 :: Featuring "UNDISCLOSED" by Local Artists Valerie Fleming and Maggie Vandewalle

Our featured artists for this year's Gallery Hop at Area 61 gallery is a shared show of works by Valerie Fleming and Maggie Vandewalle in "UNDISCLOSED". Undisclosed debuts new work by both artists in mediums never shown or exhibited - Fiber & Fabric for Valerie and Graphite for Maggie."

Traditionally, Valerie, a law-librarian and an artist, is known for her created realities in hand-cut photography collage. Through the years she has incorporated fabric and other textiles in her collage pieces, and her fabric and quilting works are emerging as her latest passion. Valerie's quilts and fiber work will debut at the Gallery Hop and you'll recognize her eye for detail, precision in assemblage and imaginative composition that prevails in her signature collage works. Her quilts will be on display through September (which happens to coincide with the American Quilter's Society "Quilt Week" conference Sept. 14-17, 2016 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.)

Maggie Vandewalle has won numerous awards and built a large following and collector base for her imaginative, extremely detailed, watercolor paintings. Maggie shares her works-in-progress on social media and since her elaborate paintings start with sketches, many fans have commented or asked if she ever shows and sells her original drawings. In Maggie's words, "Drawing was my first love - the black and white of graphite on paper - but in my paintings, it was reduced to one of the steps in the process. I'd do a quick sketch to define composition and subject matter, and the drawing would then disappear under layers of color. Some of those sketches just begged to be finished as a drawing, but having started as a painting in my head, there was no question but they would finish as a painting. This show is the result of taking the process of painting out of the equation and letting the drawings be the end result."

In addition to their new work in UNDISCLOSED, many of our over 30 local artists represented at area 61 will have new work for The Gallery Hop and the fall season. Most of the artists all will be on hand during the "Hop" to meet, mix and mingle. The Chattanooga Gallery Hop is a Free arts event.

area 61 gallery | 61 E. Main Street | Southside Chattanooga

Saturday, September 10, 2016 | 2 - 8 pm

www.facebook.com/area61chattanooga

* . The Gallery Hop is hosted annually by AVA - The Association for Visual Arts and this will be area 61's eighth year to participate. Area 61 will not observe First Friday (a monthly opening reception) for the month of September due to gallery preparations for the Chattanooga city-wide Gallery Hop scheduled the following weekend