Hotel Floyd Gallery Reception

Hotel Floyd Reception Friday, July 13 Features Regional Artists and New Book about Local Residents

Mid-July always means a busy weekend in Floyd and how better to kick it off than with the Floyd Center for the Arts free Artists’ and Author’s Reception at Hotel Floyd on Friday evening, July 13 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Four regional artists, Adija Wolf, Greta Wilsterman, Joanne Bell and Darcie Luster, and author Michael Abraham will be at the gallery in the lobby across from the hotel’s front desk. Signed books and artwork will be for sale.

Abraham has written Keepers of the Tradition, Portraits of Contemporary Appalachians, in which both narrative and visual pictures of several Floyd County residents are featured. Leslie Roberts Gregg, whose commissioned works of art hang in public and private collections throughout the United States, has provided stunning portraits for the book. Some of them will be on display at the reception.

Abraham will discuss his book from 6:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Signed copies may be purchased. Several of the “Keepers” will also be there for visitors to meet. The book includes a forward by environmental author Fred First of Floyd.

All are invited to the reception, featuring complimentary refreshments and a cash bar, serving beer and wine. These lively, popular gatherings afford the public the opportunity to interact with regional artists and writers and to purchase their work.

Glancing at the walls of the Floyd Center for the Arts Gallery at Hotel Floyd will take one into the woods with the stunning artwork of Adija Wolf. The artist, who divides her time between Floyd and her studio on a tidal river in Maine, uses only palette knives, masonry and sheet rock tools to create studies of the mountains, coastal Maine and forests.
It was in Floyd that Wolf began painting “trees”. When asked “what type of trees are you painting?”, she replies that she has no idea because she does not “paint the trees,” she paints the spaces in between.

Works by jewelry artists Joanne Bell and Darcie Luster will also be on display and for sale at the Artists’ and Author’s reception at Hotel Floyd. Luster has been a popular jewelry artist for several years. She supplemented her income while attending Berea College by making jewelry and selling it to fellow students. She now enjoys working with pearls, crystals, and stone. Luster particularly favors amethyst, rose quartz, garnets, amber, and onyx.

Darcie Luster has a Master’s Degree in Biology and serves as President of the Floyd County Humane Society. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of her jewelry is used to purchase supplies for young, fostered kittens.

Joanne Wallin Bell has long been known for her pressed flower art pieces at Bell Gallery and Garden in downtown Floyd. Bell makes her floral pendants using traditional stained glass methods with lead-free solder and recycled glass. She embellishes her pieces with semi-precious stones and makes beaded necklaces and earrings to match.

Greta Wilsterman is a craft artist from New England. She grew up looking at the ocean and finds her studio practice to be an ebb and flow of visual discovery. While she also paints, writes, sews, and attempts occasional woodworking projects, she is most interested in exploring the subtleties of clay as a craft medium. Her interest in the design of modern tableware stems from a love of cooking, baking, and serving food. Greta graduated with honors from the Maine College of Art in 2017 with a major in Ceramics and a minor in Art History. She is currently the apprentice to potter Silvie Granatelli in Floyd Virginia.

Work by each rotation of local artists and authors will be on exhibit and for sale at the Hotel Floyd for two months, when the next Artists’ & Author’s Reception will be held, which is on the 2nd Friday, every other month, from 5-7 p.m. at the Hotel Floyd. Shoppers may stop by the Floyd Center for the Arts Gallery in Hotel Floyd over the next two months to view and purchase the artists’ and author’s work.

The Artists’ and Author’s Reception features local writers and artists every two months. The reception and artists’ exhibit has been a partnership between the Floyd Center for the Arts and Hotel Floyd since early 2015. For more information about being in a Hotel Floyd show, contact Rhonda Daiber, mnrdaiber@swva.net.

For more information about The Floyd Center for the Arts: FloydArtCenter.org or call 540-745-2784. The Center is located at 220 Parkway Lane South in Floyd, ½ mile south of the stoplight on Route 8. Regular hours are: Monday – Saturday, 10AM – 5PM.