Tryon Arts & Crafts School invites the public to see the work of its December Artist of the Month, Bonnie Joy Bardos.

The display at TACS features Bardos’ oils, acrylics  and found natural material sculptures. Within her typically vibrant palette, she explores themes of sacred landscapes, women, birds and abstraction, school representatives said.

“Art, like writing and poetry, for me is an expression of the soul…the deepest self, where time and place do not matter,” Bardos said. “Always, I endeavor in my work to speak the unknown, to convey the unseen… My work is based on intuition, and what feeling I am attuned to at the moment. I feel the world intensely…”

Bardos was born on Ketchikan Island, Alaska, and grew up in North Carolina. Her art studies have taken her many places, most foundationally of which are Wingate College, Central Piedmont Community College, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and in private studios of many noteworthy practitioners in the Southeastern region.

Bardos presently operates “Art House” studio, located in a Victorian house built in 1895 by the first mayor of Saluda.

Guests may see Bardos’ display between Dec. 1 and 24. Her work is exhibited concurrently with TACS’ Holiday Gift Show and Lil’ Angels Ornament youth scholarship benefit, which run until Dec. 22.

Those interested may contact the school to inquire about free art classes for locals, sponsored by the Polk County Community Foundation. Local or not, the public is always welcome to try out TACS’ regular programs in wood carving, jewelry, blacksmithing, pottery, stained and fused glass, weaving and lapidary.

Those interested in learning more about the school may call the office at 828-859-8323 or visit TryonArtsandCrafts.org.

– Submitted by Will Barclift