'The Creative Well' overflows for Nate Barton
Colorful mixed media exhibit offers reprieve in dreary times
Jessica Klarp
Guest contributor
The Valley Echo
January 28, 2021
Nate Barton's show at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts Upper Gallery will feature up to 30 pieces, including some of his monumental works such as "Big Mountains" created with oil pastel and water soluble oil. The show runs through the end of Feb. 26. Image courtesy of BMCA
Artist Nate Barton fills the Upper Gallery at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts with a show titled “The Creative Well.”
Beginning Friday, Feb. 5, visitors can view the work by visiting the gallery in person, or by touring it online. A virtual gallery opening will get underway at 4:30 p.m., Feb. 5. Guests will receive a Zoom link to attend the online reception, and will be able to ask Barton questions about his work in real time.
The show runs through Friday, Feb. 26 in the Upper Gallery, which is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday.
Barton is a self-taught artist who has a studio in Asheville’s River Arts District. For the past 20 years his work has ranged from watercolor; clay; linoleum and printmaking; pastel; wood; pen and ink and graphite. He is prolific in his output and frequently works in a variety of mediums concurrently.
“In the past few months, I have experienced a bit of an explosion of creativity,” he said. “My creative well is overflowing and I have been channeling it into making art.”
The Upper Gallery and the Black Mountain community is beneficiary of that creativity.
For this show, Barton’s talent is on display with several dozen works from very large mixed media, mainly oil pastel landscapes to diminutive watercolors and striking pen and ink in a range of styles - while still being distinctively from the same artist.
“My oil pastel pieces are kind of an abstract expression where I'm exploring color relationships and attempting to break my frequent draw towards realism,” Barton said. “My pen and ink works are about playing with space and form, light and dark and my watercolors are very comfortable and familiar as well as being very traditional.”
For many years Barton focused on making, “things that looked as close to a photograph as they could.” But in the past four years he has offered himself permission to become more free in his expression. The result is a riot of color and line, playful representations of our mountains and outdoor spaces.
Though many of the offerings at the BMCA, like theater and concerts, have been put on pause due to the pandemic, the Upper Gallery has been open to visitors who want to view a wide range of local artists’ work. Thanks to technology, all shows offer visitors an online option to view the work remotely. BMCA remains committed to bringing the community a glimpse into the creativity that surrounds us.
“I believe this show is important in this moment because of the weight of the world we currently find ourselves in,” Barton said. “Throughout the pandemic art has provided an outlet for me, my friends as well as my students. Both in the seeing and the making. Our mountains have also been a haven, a reprieve, from the dreary, often depressing state of affairs. It is my hope that my work might offer the viewers an option for that reprieve from the comfort of their homes.”
In addition to being a full-time artist, Barton also teaches youth and adults in a variety of capacities. His workshops at the Center for the Arts have been well received and some of his work is available in the gift shop.
BMCA is located at 225 West State Street. For more information about “The Creative Well,” to view the show online, or to register for the virtual opening, go to blackmountainarts.org/gallery. For questions, call 669-0930.