Artists featured include Alonzo, Polizzi, Dacey, Gleason, Diekmann, Ruby, Berner

Tryon Painters & Sculptors’ new and fascinating show opens with a reception on Saturday July 1. A delightful array of works will be featured by guest artists Michael Alonzo, Bobbi Polizzi and Doug Dacey along with inspired pieces by member artists Ann Gleason, Marylou Diekmann, Susan Ruby, and Keith Berner.

A reception will be held from 5 – 7 p.m. with light refreshments available. The variety in this show alone puts it in line to be one of the best of the year, with something for every artistic fetish, from the whacky to the sublime.

Painter and man of many talents Michael Alonzo is rooted in the deep south of Louisiana, but influenced by his many years spent in California. Now he calls Hendersonville, N.C. home, but is not ready to rest on his laurels. His studies with the likes of Dirk Smit, Paul Strisik, Charles Movalli, and Joyce Pike inform his work.

A teacher and demonstrator of art, he has received numerous awards, including one in the Santa Barbara Oil Painters of America Show. His style, to his thinking, has been “New England” but is actually now referred to as “plein-air.”

Assemblage artist Bobbi Polizzi considers herself a hunter-gatherer of sorts. She collects discarded objects, from old sheet music to artistic tiles, to broken dolls and bottle caps, then picks from among them to create one-of-a-kind pieces that range from the quizzical to the mystical. Her work is informed by her early and somewhat unpleasant religious education followed by five years of art history, and subsequent careers in advertising design, graphic design, advertising, and product development, coupled with her travel adventures ranging from Mexico to Southeast Asia. Most recently, she has been greatly influenced by Southern folk art, which adds a new twist to her style.

Potter Doug Dacey, a 37-year veteran of the arts, has created some of the most dramatic pieces to be seen in the area, with a style that betrays his love of the textures, lines, and colors occurring in nature, such as the structure of a plant or the undulating layers of a cloud.

His forms over the years have evolved from small bowls into large free-form bowls and even larger vases, along with the most recent, wall pieces and lidded vessels. His work is marketed in numerous shops and galleries across the country, and at a number of choice festivals and fine craft shows.

Member artists featured in this show include Ann Gleason, clay sculptor and potter, whose work is heavily influenced by the richness of the Appalachian culture, and portrait artist Mary Lou Diekmann, whose portraits and landscapes hang in homes and boardrooms around the country.

Additionally featured are painting prodigy Susan Ruby, who combines collage and monoprint on canvas with oil paint in a gestural style leaning toward the abstract, and the metalwork of artist and blacksmith Keith Berner, who has been creating artistic and functional pieces for over 30 years.

Gorge your artistic palate at the Alonzo-Polizzi-Dacey show, which will continue through Saturday, July 29 at the Tryon Painters and Sculptors Gallery, located at 78 N. Trade Street in downtown Tryon. Gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition, you can visit the Gift Gallery featuring the works of over 50 local and regional artists.

For additional information about this event as well as upcoming shows, classes, workshops and demonstrations, please visit Tryon Painters & Sculptors gallery and studios at 78 N. Trade Street in downtown Tryon or www.tryonpaintersandsculptors.com. Additionally, you can find Tryon Painters & Sculptors on Facebook.