TAC instructor Allison Ratterree moved with her family to the Spartanburg/Boiling Springs, S.C. area when she was a young girl. The elementary school librarian makes beads with mostly blue, green and purple translucent colors and silvered and diachronic glass, selling her silver and copper jewelry in the craft circles.
Ratterree began making lap quilts only in October, using mostly deep purples, greens and blues, especially batiks, as well as sun prints dyed by African women using sunshine and leaves. Her piece, “Seven Bluebirds of Happiness,” is a small lap quilt inspired by a photo of seven jays perched on twigs. To insert some depth, she added a fence to the foreground and used a soft blue background.
Ratterree and her husband, John, began taking classes at Tryon Arts and Crafts three or four years ago.
“We both enjoy expanding our skills and doing new things,” she said. “Most of the instructors are open and inviting and are supportive of the novice/intermediate students in their classes.”
Tryon Arts and Crafts member Bob Neely retired from the textile industry and has been working as a painter and sculptor for 40 years. One of his pieces in the show is a mobile of 16 paper birds in formation, called “Birds of a Feather.” The other, a rough biplane of bamboo and paper, is called “Flight of the Tucson.”
Although he does not take classes at Tryon Arts and Crafts, Neely said his membership gives him a chance to show his work and, more importantly, to meet other artists.
“Flights of Spring” runs until June 16. The gallery at Tryon Arts and Crafts School is open during weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.
For more information about Tryon Arts and Crafts School, contact the office at 828-859-8323 or visit www.TryonArtsandCrafts.org.