Two artists and friends, Ann DerGara and Keith Spencer, will be exhibiting new work at The Depot, 22 Depot St. in Tryon, beginning Friday, Oct. 12. 

The public is invited to an opening reception hosted by the artists from 5 to 7 p.m. that evening.

Ann DerGara, a native of Greenville, South Carolina, and her husband own the Red Wolf Gallery in Brevard, She sold her first painting five years prior to beginning formal education at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

In 1978, a printmaking course at the Atlanta College of Art stirred her interest in printmaking.  Though she is a master printer, painting remains DerGara’s first love.

She has exhibited in many places in the U.S., including Los Angeles, New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and also in many countries, including England, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Russia.

Keith Spencer, a Tryon painter, has been in the area for 26 years and self-employed as an artist for 22 of them. He grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and received degrees in art and biology from Berry College in Rome, Georgia. He has been described as “both an expressive painter and a true colorist” by William Kortlander, professor of art at Ohio State University.

His landscapes are frequently painted in the alla prima tradition (one sitting), and will often include the mountainous area where he now lives, as well as the American West. Having managed a cattle and horse farm for the first 12 years of his career, Spencer’s own horses are frequently found in his paintings.

Spencer is included in the 2011 book called “Artists Among Us” by Edward Emory and Stephen Stinson. He has done solo exhibitions at both The Spartanburg Museum of Art and the Pickens County Museum of Art, as well as a group show at the Greenville County Museum of Art, along with dozens of exhibitions in various art galleries.

The Tryon Depot exhibit can be seen during business hours Monday through Friday through Nov. 15.

– Submitted by Michele Deudne