Artists show creations in Small Works on Paper exhibit

B. Jeannie Fry of Cabot, left, and Lynn Reinbolt of Searcy attend the opening reception Jan. 4 of the Arkansas Arts Council’s 31st annual Small Works on Paper touring exhibition at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock. The exhibit will move to Harding University in Searcy in February.
B. Jeannie Fry of Cabot, left, and Lynn Reinbolt of Searcy attend the opening reception Jan. 4 of the Arkansas Arts Council’s 31st annual Small Works on Paper touring exhibition at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock. The exhibit will move to Harding University in Searcy in February.

— Three artists from the Three Rivers Edition coverage area have works in the 31st annual Small Works on Paper touring exhibition at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock.

The free exhibit, which opened Jan. 4, is sponsored by the Arkansas Arts Council. It features 39 works by 35 artists and will remain on display at the Little Rock venue until Jan. 27, when the exhibit will move to Harding University in Searcy and be on display Feb. 5-23.

Patrick Ralston, director of the Arkansas Arts Council, told the large audience gathered in the gallery for the opening reception that this year’s exhibition “is outstanding.”

“This is one of the best shows we have had and one of the best opening receptions ever,” he said, smiling. “We are here in our sister institution, and that gives us an opportunity to also highlight what they are doing here. This is a great space.”

Both the Arkansas Arts Council and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center are divisions of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Small Works on Paper is a juried visual art exhibition that showcases artwork no larger than 18 by 24 inches by Arkansas artists who are members of the Arkansas Artist Registry, an online gallery showcasing the artwork of Arkansas artists.

The artists with works exhibited at the center are as follows:

• B. Jeannie Fry of Cabot has a watercolor and collage, Here, Fishy, Fishy, in the exhibit.

“This is the first time I have had a painting accepted into the Small Works on Paper exhibit,” Fry said, laughing. “It’s like I’ve won the lottery.”

Fry said the painting is one of her “whimsical” creations.

“I love dogs and cats,” she said. “I don’t have cats anymore, but this painting is reminiscent of my first cat, Casey. I had a fish bowl on the counter, and Casey would sit there and just stare at the fish. This painting shows what might have happened if Casey had ever tipped over the bowl, and all the fish came tumbling out.

“After I finished this painting, I had a friend look at it, and she encouraged me to submit it for this show,” Fry said. “She said, ‘You might get in.’ And I did.”

Fry has been painting most of her life, but it was not until her retirement in 2001 that she began painting full time. She is an active member of the Mid-Southern Watercolorists and a past president of the organization. One of her works has been accepted into the 48th annual Mid-Southern Watercolorists Juried Exhibition, which will open March 8 at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock.

• Lynn Reinbolt of Searcy has a digital photograph, Old Barn and Fog, in the show.

It is the third time he has been selected to exhibit in Small Works on Paper.

“I’ve been interested in photography for most of my life,” said Reinbolt, who grew up in Chicago. “When I was a young boy, my mother worked at Time Life books and brought home a book of Ansel Adams’ photographs. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I fell in love with his landscape photography. That book was signed by Adams. I still have it.

“I guess I would have to say that’s what inspired me to get into landscape photography.”

• Charlotte Rierson of Fairfield Bay has a watercolor titled Alaska Miniature Series — Ziva in the Small Works on Paper exhibit.

“It is such an honor to have my painting selected into this highly prestigious art exhibit,” she said. It is her sixth year to have a painting selected for the show.

“This year, I painted a miniature series on Alaska,” Rierson said. “I was inspired by my son, Jim Peacock. When he graduated from the University of Arkansas, he decided to be a bush pilot in Alaska. He was there a little over five years and had so many stories and photos, I decided to express the beauty and adventures in my series.

“Ziva means brilliance and radiance. The painting is 2 inches by 6 inches. It is new for me to paint this small.”

Rierson coordinates the North Central Arkansas Art Galley at the Fairfield Bay Conference Center, where her work is often displayed. She is a signature member of the Arkansas League of Artists, president of the North Central Arkansas Artist League, and past president and a signature member of the Mid-Southern Watercolorists. Her work has also been selected for the 2018 MSW 48th Annual Juried Exhibition that will open March 8 at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is a museum dedicated to telling the story of the African-American experience in Arkansas. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at 501 W. Ninth St. in Little Rock. For more information, call (501) 683-3593.

For more information on the Small Works on Paper exhibition, including the remainder of its touring schedule, visit the Arkansas Arts Council’s website, www.arkansasarts.org.

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