SOME OF THE ‘EN PLEIN AIR’ CREATIONS ARTIST CINDY GILLESPIE WILL SHOWCASE IN HER ‘AMAZING GRACE’ EXHIBIT AT BLUEFIELD COLLEGE.
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Titled “Amazing Grace,” Gillespie’s show will be on display in BC’s Art Gallery on the first floor of Lansdell Hall from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. The exhibit is open and free to the public. Weekend hours may be obtained by calling the Bluefield College Office of Public Relations at 276-326-4212.
Born and raised in Bluefield, Gillespie studied at Oklahoma City University and the University of Oklahoma receiving a master of art education degree. Now a resident of Tazewell County, she has also studied in workshops with various artists and with Gale Bennett in Giverny, France.
Acrylic paint on paper or canvas is Gillespie’s chosen medium in painting, but she also uses watercolor. Although she uses a camera to record location details, which she adds in the studio, she prefers to complete paintings on location, “En Plein Air.”
“A color saturated sunset changing lightning fast is a ‘wow’ moment, which inspires me to paint quickly in order to capture the moment,” said Gillespie. “Preserving special moments of vibrating light, contrast, color and shape by painting is thrilling to me. The act of painting is a pure, passionate joy.”
Gillespie’s “Amazing Grace” collection is her desire to “share the joy and wonder inspired by special God-given moments involving the atmosphere, landscape scenes, mountains, plains, and beach views.”
An art enthusiast from an early age encouraged by her mother, Betty Lilly, and her father, Phil Lilly, an alumnus of Bluefield College, Gillespie’s artwork is in collections in West Virginia, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Colorado.
In addition to the Bluefield College exhibit, she has exhibited her work locally at the Payne Galley in Bluefield, Bluefield State College, Heartwood Tazewell County Days in Abingdon, the Mathena Center in Princeton, and the Tazewell County Visitor’s Center.
Gillespie is also a member of the Appalachian Artists Group of the Virginias and has participated in the International Plein Air Paint Out with the Appalachian Artists. For more information about her “Amazing Grace” exhibit at Bluefield College, contact the BC Office of Public Relations by phone at 276-326-4212 or by e-mail at [email protected]