Chris Curtis

Painting

Whitney Fairhurst Curtis

Mixed Media

For the month of October, local artists Christopher Charles Curtis and Whitney Fairhurst-Curtis will be featured in the FW Gallery at Woolworth Walk.

Christopher C. Curtis was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on August 28th, 1981. He took an interest in drawing at an early age and decided to pursue an art career while in high school. After high school Chris moved to San Francisco where he attended the Academy of Art University. While taking classes at the Academy he gained an interest in the photo-real style of painting and pursued a similar style in his drawings. In 2004 Chris received a BFA from the Academy. Since then, Chris has had his work in several group and solo shows throughout the United States. In 2015 he won the Acker Award in San Francisco for visual arts.

In 2013 he met his wife, Whitney Fairhurst, and they moved to Hendersonville together in 2015. They both shared an interest in art which resulted in multiple collaborations. Whitney’s main focus being in making dolls added a 3 dimensional aspect to Chris’ drawings. They both continue to make art separately and together while showing their work at Woolworth Walk.

Whitney was born in Lincoln, England in 1989 and moved to Dallas, Texas in 1998. She’s always been a little all over the place when it comes to finding an artistic footing; She just knows she has been making things since she can remember. She decided to study fine art and began attending the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California in 2009. She graduated with a BFA in printmaking and loved it, but couldn't find the motivation, studio space, or time to really get into printing. She started working at an art supply store in downtown San Francisco and met her future husband, Chris. As they began dating, his art style and passion for drawing inspired her to draw and create more unusual things and really let herself get weird with it.

Androgynous characters have always been a common thread in her work, questioning gender roles and the need to categorize people into groups based on gender or sexual preference. Her dolls started from the desire to just want a creepy doll of her own. She made one in an afternoon and from then it just became a passion to make weird creatures that are both cute and disturbing. The same basic idea is there, but she enjoys adding different parts to make each one unique. Her odd dolls seem to have developed themselves from a simple idea into more of a complex commentary on ideas such as gender roles and censorship. These strange characters live in a different world, therefore they don't face the same boundaries as we do. She mostly intends to give a feeling of inclusion, while also invoking some discomfort, as she knows her personal style is naturally creepy.

She now lives in Hendersonville with her husband, Chris, son Atticus, and crazy cats, Thorn and Cinder. She’s lucky enough to be a manager at Woolworth Walk where she can work among other artists and gather inspiration for her own creations.

Marilyn Sholin

Mixed Media

For the month of November, local artist Marilyn Sholin will be featured in the FW Gallery at Woolworth Walk.

Marilyn Sholin is an Asheville, North Carolina mixed media artist specializing in creating custom artwork for and about breweries, bars, restaurants, wine bars, wineries, coffee bars, and coffee shops. Her wine and beer art also includes liquor brands, cocktails, coffee, and cats.

Marilyn moved to Asheville NC in 2007 and has never looked back as she started her new art business. She successfully is in many galleries and restaurants in multiple states and has an online shop and is active in social media. She is available for commissions for your home, bar, or restaurant. Drunk Girl Art is beautiful wall art and home decor with a little fun in it.

Inspiration for the quirky style of painting she creates with bold wavy lines comes from her trips to Venice Italy and seeing all the reflections in the water.

After 25 years as an award-winning portrait photographer in Miami, Fl (Marilyn Photography) she turned to paint first portraits and then subjects. She developed a passion for mixed media which incorporates a long process of multiple photo references which she synthesizes into one image and digitally paints. That is printed on high-quality canvas and then enhanced with acrylic paints and mediums, dyes, pigments, and a variety of other materials. This method creates many layers of texture for each painting. There is only one original, and it sells for thousands to collectors.

The original paintings are then converted to a final digital file that can be printed as giclee canvas, fine art paper, and dye-infused metals, and other substrates for collectors. Plus, unique gift items. Color and energy run through every painting. She brings inanimate objects to life with their shapes, colors, and textures.

Her collectors are worldwide, and her books are owned by thousands. She is passionate about her art and rescuing cats. She is the servant to too many cats.