this deck is going to atlanta for the opening at youngblood gallery next week.
this painting will be part of the group show at the asheville area arts council opening next weekend.
4/30/11
4/27/11
molly freeman in verve
Wall Flower?
Yes, and wall hexagons. With dancers in front. An Asheville mural artist has an ambitious collaborative show in the River District this month.
by Ursula Gullow . photo by Matt Rose
Molly Rose Freeman has a thing for patterns. “There’s just something about committing yourself to creating a pattern,” says the 24-year-old, gesturing to the illustrations peppering her studio. She’s committed, all right. Her breezy space, located in the Roots Building of the River Arts District, is full of pattern-covered paintings, illustrations and other objects, including a mirage of pink plaid “crystals” painted directly onto her wall. That project looks quite modern, but it was inspired by a mosaic-tiled floor she saw in an Italian Cathedral.Freeman is drawn to patterns found in other cultures, and she enjoys figuring out how to reproduce them. “Patterns can be really overwhelming when you first see them,” she says. She can spend hours or days translating and breaking down the small parts. For now, Freeman is using her wall space to get comfortable painting at a large scale for her upcoming Asheville Rites Project, a collaborative performance piece that comes together on May 21. The over-arching theme is springtime—playing on the concept of transitions, rituals and celebration.
For the next two weeks, she’ll be painting five 10’ x 10’ panels for the Rites project, to be installed in amphitheatre format at the RiverLink sculpture and performance plaza. The plaza is an outdoor venue at 117 Riverside Drive, across from Cotton Mill Studios and 12 Bones. In its entirety, the mural will be 500 square feet. To create it, Freeman plans to paint every day, since it takes a good bit of practice and muscle memory to paint on such a scale. Weather permitting, she paints outside. “I’m looking forward to working on my tan,” she jokes. The mural will be temporary, but before it comes down, she and fellow artists will celebrate its completion with a dance choreographed by Ashevillean Garth Grimball and a dozen contemporary dancers from troupes around town. To raise funds for the project, she and Grimball created a Kickstarter video in early March and reached their goal of $3,000 just 27 days after posting it online. The show on the 21st will start at dusk and last about 45 minutes, Freeman says.
Though she has experience painting murals, this is the first time Freeman has painted on such a large scale and in such a public way in Asheville. Last winter, she joined a team of artists to create a mural during the infamous Art Basel Art fair in Miami, Florida. For the mural, Freeman painted a large ambling mass of organic shapes that served as a backdrop to painters Dustin Spagnola and Ishmael, who painted images of gas cans and Frida Kahlo. “The greatest street artists [including Shepard Fairey, Swoon, and Barry McGee] were all in a three-block radius of each other,” Freeman says. “It was so amazing to not only learn about mural painting but to be in the company of these artists.”
Freeman was born in Durham, North Carolina, and then moved to Arkansas, then Memphis. In 2006, she enrolled at UNC-Asheville, intending to get an arts and foreign language degree, but took creative writing classes instead. She is still an avid writer. Her abstract painting style embodies the non-linear aspect of her creative self, she says, while her fictional writings employ a more literal form of expression.At the moment, she’s stuck on pink. Freeman has boxes of Prismacolor and Coptic markers of every rosy hue imaginable. In the corner of her studio, an old palette of dried paint looks a Bazooka bubble gum explosion, with all its shades of reds and pinks. “I needed to give myself some boundaries, so I gave myself a limited color palette to work within,” she says, noting that she hated pink as a girl. “Maybe now I’m embracing my inner princess.”
So what’s in store for one of the River District’s rising stars? She’s going big. “My goal is to just make everything bigger,” says Freeman. “I want to focus on public art, murals, and having more interaction with the public.”
Watch Molly Rose Freeman at work on her mural in the River Arts District during daylight hours until May 15. Then, she and Garth Gimball’s Asheville Rites Project dance performance, with music by Michael Libramento, is set for May 21 at 117 Riverside Drive at dusk. (Rain date is May 28.) The project is supported by RiverLink, Arts2People, Asheville Mural Project and Asheville Ballet. To see more of Molly’s work, go to www.mollyrosefreeman.com.
Verve-acious 
Post a Comment4/22/11
charleston mag features Spagnola's work
Diary Of HATCH Fashion Asheville
Photo gallery
What is Hatch? It is a biannual four-day experience that energizes creative professionals and thought leaders who are serious about transforming their ideas and talents into bold action, while inspiring others to do the same. This year I was invited to be a keynote speaker for HATCH Fashion to discuss an wardrobe styling and producing fashion shows. This was my first time in Asheville and I just could not get enough! I learned so much from hearing the other Keynotes such as Dr. Alycia Fogle who spoke on consumer psychology and fashion merchandising and designer Keyna Aranguren, all the way from Norway, who spoke on the global fashion market and fashion forecasting!
I met so many amazing creative minds and shared professional tips with those who wanted some insight. The event concluded with a runway show in the beautiful Grove Arcade down a long corridor with glass ceilings! Produced by the Discipline Leader of HATCH fashion Sonia Hendrix, founder of Push Asheville Fashion, it featured winners of the Groundbreakers title in shoe design (Sarah Mettler who was actually a Keynote Mentor), fashion (Emily Bargeron's Mamie Ruth Collection), Stylist (Ashley Phaup), jewelry design (Amber Hatchett of Vintage Vanity) and fashion photography (Jameykay Young).
Now on to the most important part- SHOPPING! Asheville is like vintage gold! I fell in love with places like Hip Replacement, Vintage Moon and Honeypot, all located on Lexington Avenue. Right across the street was Downtown Bookswhere I stumbled across an amazing international fashion magazine selection picking up an issue of POP that I have been craving for months. Just next door to all of this is one of my new favorite Asheville boutiques called Minx. OwnerRebeccah Mark took me on a tour of her designers including Preloved,womenswear made out of recycled menswear, Butter by Nadia, with a dress that you can wear 24 ways, and the modern masterpiece accessories from by boe. After my keynote speech Keyna and her sister, fashion photographer Zaire Kacz took me to the Biltmore Antique District where I met the kindest lady, Carol Reuter, who was formerly the clothing caregiver at the Smithsonian. Her area was called A Woman's Touch Vintage Collection and she had racks and racks of vintage dresses. I snagged two for a total of $7. 50! Yep!
Asheville street style offers a lot with everything from hipsters to sophisticated stylistas and it's very common to see folks dressed in costume for a night on the town! I could go on and on about this charming city but I digress. Just note that this town is one to watch and HATCH is cultivating great inspiration and resources for the fashion, film, architecture, photography world and beyond!
Don't forget to click on the gallery to check out the visual diary of my trip!
4/18/11
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