North Carolina artist Lynne Tanner will present her latest large oil and acrylic paintings in her solo exhibition “Lynne Tanner Paintings” July 8 through August 30 in the Solomon Gallery of the Artists Collective | Spartanburg.
An artist’s reception will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 17, as part of Spartanburg ArtWalk. The reception and exhibition viewing are free and open to the public. The 50 pieces in the show will be offered for purchase with prices ranging from $200 to $1,000.
“This collection of paintings, drawings and prints comes from more than 30 years of work, the most recent done this winter,” Tanner says. “I start a painting by looking for large simple shapes. To begin, I have an image in my mind, usually a landscape, but that image soon takes on a life of its own. Nevertheless, I find that no matter how much I rework an image, it must have a good skeleton or the whole thing falls apart.”
The works are full of color and abstract images taken from nature, she continues. “I am in love with the horizon and with meadows, and with the way sunlight creates shapes and lines, enchanted by the lightness of fairies and the beautiful heaviness of cows in a field. It is my wish that these works bring the viewers pleasure. They will be seeing the natural world differently and should get pleasure from the experience – and a laugh or two.”
Tanner, who grew up in New York City and moved to North Carolina in 1964, says her love of art began as a first grader at the Chapin School in New York. “I loved painting and creating things, but I also liked the way the work took on its own life.”
She graduated from Hollins College in Virginia with a bachelor of arts in biology and minor in dance. She taught modern dance at Limestone College for 10 years and while there she studied painting and printmaking. She has painted professionally since 1980. Her works have been shown in the Spartanburg Guild Gallery; The Smithy Pioneer in Cooperstown, New York; the Weatherspoon Art Gallery at the University of North Carolina Greensboro; GreenHill Center for North Carolina Arts; Zone One in Asheville; and The Upstairs ArtSpace in Tryon.