Brenda McDaniel, September 2012 Featured Artist

Cypress Choir by Brenda McDaniel

Brenda Clark McDaniel of Monroe, Louisiana is the Ouachita River Art Gallery’s featured artist in September.  Her show, “For The Love Of Cypress”, will consist of oil, acrylic, pastel and watercolor paintings depicting her interpretation of Louisiana’s cypress trees, found mostly in her own “back yard”.

     Brenda says about her show, “This show was inspired by the beauty I see in the swamps of Louisiana, especially the wonderful diversity of our cypress trees. Nothing is as lovely as our moisture laden air reflecting light on and through magnificent cypresses. They absolutely “drip” from their wonderful pleated trunks, and in the fall are just vivid with color. I never tire of painting them.”

     A native of Mer Rouge, Louisiana, who has also lived in Kentucky, Kansas, Texas, Europe and the U.K. (where her son and grandchildren live), Brenda specializes in representational paintings of animals, people, places and objects, taking side trips into fantasy and imagination. Before deciding to paint full time, Brenda was a commercial artist employed in the advertising business, where she garnered many local as well as national awards. Although she attended several universities and private schools around the U.S., she considers herself primarily a self-taught artist. She helped organize and open the local gallery of The Ouachita River Art Guild, which is now celebrating 22 years, and has become the oldest and largest art co-op in Louisiana. Brenda has many commissions of homes, portraits of people and pets, southern landscapes and still lifes hanging in private and corporate collections in the U.S.A., Europe and The United Kingdom.

       The River Art Gallery, voted Best Art Gallery in 2011, is at 308 Trenton Street, West Monroe, and is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The gallery is the oldest and largest co-op gallery in the state. Currently boasting 29 artists, you will find everything from paintings of all media, to wood turning, pottery, glass art, photography, pencil sketches and jewelry. The gallery is also open during the bi-monthly Downtown Gallery Crawls. Admission is free. Gallery member’s work can also be seen at ORAG’s extension gallery located in the lobby of Ouachita Independent Bank/Bankers Mortgage Plaza at 18th and Louisville in Monroe. Call 322-2380 for more information or visit www.ouachitariverartgallery.com.

 

Carol Smith, featured Artist-of-the-Month, August 2012

The River Gallery Features Carol Smith for August 2012. The River Gallery will be holding an opening reception for Carol Smith in conjunction with the Downtown Gallery Crawl, Thursday August 2 from
5-9pm. In addition to Carol's new work, the gallery will have new creations from over 28 of its members that include pottery, wood turning, jewelry, photography, glass art as well as paintings.

Carol Culpepper Smith is a charter member of the Ouachita River Art Gallery. Her show, entitled “A Walk in the Woods," will feature scenes that “nourish my soul,"creeks, waterfalls, old structures, autumn color in the woods.  Inspired by hikes around her vacation home, Carol has tried to capture that sense of fresh air and new perspective, the beauty God created for our enjoyment, and share it with her viewers. She hopes you will join her on her “Walk in the woods.”

Not new to the art scene in Monroe, Carol continues to quietly hone her skills as an oil painter through regular art classes and workshops that stretch her thinking and execution of her talents.  Known primarily for her oil florals on paper with emphasis on light and shadow, she uses a colorful palette in this landscape exhibit to display “the colorist within."

Having been a member of the gallery for 22 years, Carol has served in every level of leadership there.  Currently, she chairs the extension gallery exhibit at the Bankers Mortgage Center offices on 18th Street
in Monroe. “It is exciting that we now have two galleries art patrons can choose from, one on each side of the River which gave us our name. It is gratifying to have seen our organization grow in artistic
quality and diversity through the years.”

The River Gallery in West Monroe, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m.  to 5 p.m. Admission is always free. When you shop at your local gallery, you not only help our area economy by keeping your
money in the locally, you also save on sales taxes and shipping. Paintings and photographs by gallery members can also be seen at ORAG's extension gallery located in the lobby of Ouachita Independent Bank/Bankers Mortgage Plaza at 18th and Louisville in Monroe. Call 322-2380 for more information.