Two Upstate artists – Craig Denesha, who works in acrylics and mixed media, and Judy Martin, who creates in glass – are testing their boundaries together in their exhibition “Glass and Canvas” set for April 2 through 27 in Gallery II of the Artists Collective | Spartanburg.
The exhibit is free and open to the public and will include an artists’ reception on Thursday, April 18, as part of ArtWalk Spartanburg.
More than two dozen works of art in glass, acrylic on canvas, pastel on paper and “lots of color” will greet visitors to the exhibition,” says Denesha.
“This show was a way for the two of us to push our boundaries by trying to mimic one another in our respective media. We each selected works by the other and interpreted them in our medium and style,” Martin, who has worked with stained and fired/fused glass for the past 20 years.
The show was inspired as Martin viewed one of Denesha’s paintings and mused whether she could “do that in glass.” Denesha encouraged her, adding that they then could do a joint exhibit. “I had mentioned that one of Judy’s small 4×4 glass pieces would make a great large painting. Poof, a show was conceived. We mostly wanted to see whether we could pull it off.”
The two want visitors to the exhibit to “smile, wonder and just enjoy the art,” he adds.
Martin says here artistic journey “has gone from making stained glass panels for about four years to wanting to make something that wasn’t flat, so I started with glass fusing.” She has made everything from jewelry, bowls, plates and sculpture to now painting glass enamels on glass and kiln firing to make the finished piece. She has had pieces in several juried shows and has attended remote juried festivals along the East Coast.
Denesha, a native of New York, came to Spartanburg after finishing graduate school and accepting a position at a local college teaching anatomy and physiology. “I am a scientist who uses abstract art to let myself out of the logic and restraint imposed by science, but it is also a source of inspiration. I have spent over 20 years looking through microscopes and that influence can be found in my paintings.”
Denesha is a founding member of the Artists Collective | Spartanburg and Martin has been a member for five years. “There is no other place in Spartanburg besides ACS to have this exhibit,” Denesha says. “Being here from the beginning and seeing what ACS has become, it is the place for art and artists in this region. If you’re not part of it, you should be. We would like to extend a special thank you shout out to Beth Regula, chair of the managing board of ACS for quietly pushing us to do this exhibit.”
The works in the exhibit will be available for purchase, with prices starting at $50.