Anna Whitted & Bonnie Kelley
On view June 17th - July 31st, 2022.
Anna Whitted creates enveloping translations of stimulating space, texture, and color, while Bonnie Kelley celebrates the beauty and unique qualities of animals. Both of these artists draw from a deep love of the natural world — one focused the earth itself, and the other focused on the live animals that inhabit it.
OPENING & ARTIST TALK on June 17th, 2022 from 6-8pm
Private address will be released the day before the event—RSVP here.
Join us live on Instagram at 7pm ET.
The gallery will be open by appointment for the duration of the show — e-mail coordinator@eatart.space to schedule your visit.
OTHER EVENTS
Artist Talk w/Anna Whitted
June 28th at NOON on Instagram Live
Artist Talk w/Bonnie Kelley
July 12th at NOON on Instagram Live
OPEN HOUSE
featuring work by Bonnie Kelley & Anna Whitted
July 21st 6-8pm
For every art opening, EAT/ART Space serves patrons and friends of the arts delicious food from a different local restaurant—
Local food feature:
Main Street Pizza
Johnson City, TN
Main Street Pizza Company grow lots of food for their restaurants at its very own River Creek Farm in East Tennessee. They also source from about 30 other local producers throughout the year. Serving delicious pizza, pasta and farm to table foods. Dine-in and carry-out available, located in downtown Johnson City and Kingsport, TN.
Photos courtesy of Main Street Pizza Company. For menu and more information, visit https://themainstreetpizzacompany.com/.
Bonnie Kelley & Anna Whitted
exhibition view & details
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
BONNIE KELLEY is based in Lebanon, Virginia.
Animals and art are so entwined in my life. Mom is an artist and a teacher, and she encouraged my sister and I from a very young age to draw, paint, and be creative. I can’t remember a time where I didn’t have art in my life, and my favorite subjects have always been horses! I have been around horses and dogs since I was little, and I have over 35 years’ experience riding and training horses. Some of my favorite moments are the time spent in nature, on a quiet trail, with my horse or my dog.
After a series of bad luck in traditional jobs (downsizing, company closures, outsourcing), I went back to school and got a degree in medical billing and coding, but could not even get an interview anywhere. I was depressed and discouraged. It was at this point that I started thinking perhaps the Universe was sending me a message – go back to art, go back to animals, go back to something you love. So, in 2017, I took a leap of faith and opened Shamrock Studios.
Suddenly, I was surrounded by animals and art all day. I specialize in custom pet portraits, so I was connecting regularly with people who love their animals and appreciate the arts. I was able to sit on the covered porch on our farm and work outside, listening to birds, feeling the breeze on my face, hearing my horses tear at the grass in the field. My blood pressure went down and the labwork for my lupus improved. I was feeling happy and a lot less stressed out.
If you’ve ever been close to an animal, you notice so many subtle things that make an animal unique – the tilt of an ear, a crooked tooth, three white hairs across the bridge of their nose. Having spent my whole life surrounded by animals, I am familiar with their physical structure, behavior, and way of movement. This knowledge is necessary to create realistic pieces of art. When I am working on a portrait, I really focus on the details like these, whether it’s on a custom pet portrait or a wildlife painting.
There’s no hidden meaning in my work. I am a simple artist – I just want to share my love of animals with others. Animals and art make the world a better place.
—Bonnie Kelley
ANNA WHITTED is an artist and flower farmer based in Bristol, Virginia.
My work investigates the interpretation of the senses stimulated by the Appalachian mountains, visual interpretation of what the earth feels like, how the spirits of the woods communicate with passing beings. Material and natural character are explored, enriched by the breath and texture of Appalachia. The senses are given moments to drift and linger over strength and softness, overlapping into unknown territory and translation.
If trees could hum, what would it feel like? You are moving between the rings of the trees, indicating the time spent being, planting your limbs between bark and ash, neither here nor there, spacious and undetermined. Taste is now wisps of color and air, of this earth and concurrently distant. The smell of leaves has entered your nose and come out of your fingertips, soft and whispering upon a visual plane. The earth is beneath your bare toes, gritty and cool, guiding its way into the deepest pigments.
This is a realm of suspended earthy dreamscapes, encapsulating a veil between time and space, deeply moved by the sound of the mountains, the taste of the air on a foggy morning, the dance of deer shifting across a field, the peaceful absence of human interference. My work is an entanglement of the earthly and the spiritual.
—Anna Whitted
ARTWORKS
all artwork and images © their respective artists - used with permission
