May 3: Studio Visit
- designer044
- Apr 9
- 4 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Artfolios invites you to join us on Saturday, May 3 from 1:00 - 4:00 pm for an Studio Visit with Alix Hitchcock, Lea Lackey-Zachmann, and Terri Dowell-Dennis at their studio their studio—Studio 434—located at 434 Brookstown Ave in Winston-Salem. (Located beside Pinecrest Printery. Look for Artfolios’ Flag.) This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome. Hors d’oeuvres will be served. Learn about the artists. View the invite with map.
Alix Hitchcock shared with Carrie Leigh Dickey, Owner & Visionary of Artfolios, that she never once questioned the legitimacy of creating. As a child she remembers drawing from her imagination and from life. “Since the age of three, I have been drawing on any surface available at home—walls, office paper from my father, any material from my artist mother. Having rarely been taught anything about technique or materials, I was free—until college studio classes—to invent my own world in creating imagery by drawing…I want the making of art to be an open-ended mental and visual journey for myself as well as the viewing public.”
When Carrie asked Terri Dowell-Dennis what drives her, she began: “I have always had a compelling need to make things. What inspires me daily,” she continues, “is waking up to see the changes each new day brings through my window, looking through photographs I’ve made in both ordinary and extraordinary places, and passages of poetry or prose I encounter in my nightly reading.”
“Creating is one of the most inspirational, natural, challenging, and satisfying of activities and a daily necessity for me,” considered Lea Lackey-Zachmann as she spoke with Carrie. “When days go by without some creative effort, I often find myself feeling off balance. I create because I must.”
Lea, who just had a retrospective show of her artworks, has been considering where 2025 will take her. “I find myself with at least two avenues of interest. One is the relationship of sound to image—this is called Cymatics.” (Cymatics comes from the Greek word “wave” and is the study of wave phenomena—especially sounds and their visual representations.) “The other project I am contemplating is the creation of a small print edition of a story I’ve been thinking about for several years. The edition would be hand printed in movable type, bound, and illustrated with images from my imagination.”
“I have an endless desire to experiment with visual effects from many approaches and mediums,” shared Alix contemplating her journey, “and the experience to pursue my art making until I get results—though often with frustration.” In recent years, Alix has concentrated on drypoint monoprints on paper that are hand colored. She has decided to return to gelli plate monotypes in 2025. Specifically, she wants to focus on hand pulled prints of a larger size with new imagery and techniques. “Moving to new approaches will hopefully stretch my vision beyond how I’ve worked earlier in this medium.”
Terri muses, “I have far more sketches and ideas than I ever seem to realize, and when I have an idea that won’t rest, I start to consider how to make it physical.” Recently, she added clay and copper to her media repertoire. “Clay is wonderful and so new to me! Likewise, I’m learning the rudiments of copper etching. I can’t say where this experimentation is going, but what really interests me now is whether I can encourage these mediums—and others—to ‘talk’ to each other.”
Come have dialogue with these three diversely talented artists and their artworks: Studio 434 is open for visitors!
THE ARTISTS YOU WILL MEET:
Alix Hitchcock received her MA in painting from NYU, and her BFA in printmaking and painting from UNC-G. She was an Instructor in Drawing at Wake Forest University for 23 years. She has also taught art at Salem College, UNCSA, Sawtooth Center for Visual Arts, East Carolina University, Reynolda House Museum ofAmerican Art, and the Weatherspoon Art Museum. Hitchcock was the W-S Artist of the Year in 1998. She has exhibited widely in N.C. including Artworks Gallery, Hawthorne Gallery, Salem College Fine Arts Gallery, Diggs Gallery, Delta Fine Arts Gallery, the Sawtooth Center’s Davis Gallery, Milton Rhodes Gallery, Waterworks Gallery, Green Hill Center for NC Art, The Center for Creative Leadership, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Meredith College, Lee Hansley Gallery, Appalachian State Univ. Center Gallery, Somerhill Gallery, and Central Piedmont Community College. In addition, she has been in shows in Kentucky, Virginia, South Carolina, New York City, and Wyoming.
Lea Lackey-Zachmann achieved a BA in Art Education from Winthrop University and a MFA with Graduate Teacher’s Certification from the University of NC at Greensboro. She is retired from teaching—having taught art at High Point University for 29 years and Salem College for 12 years with additional positions at various colleges in North and South Carolina—yet has painted continuously for the last 40 years. She finds mental and emotional attributes mirrored in nature: these serve as compelling inspiration for making visual statements. Her paintings are prone to expand beyond the frame. Using Dura lar, she creates 3-D sculpture like paintings. (Dura lar is an archival medium—it won’t crack, yellow, burn, or tear—that allows acrylic and water-based paints to adhere.) This “coming off of the canvas” hints to vitality and life. Lea and her husband Tim live with their two dogs and their cat. They garden and continue to renovate their 104-year-old house.
Terri Dowell-Dennis uses techniques from sculpture, photography, printmaking, and quilting to create mixed-media works exploring identity, gender, and ancestry specific to Appalachian culture. She holds a BS in Art Education, Appalachian State University, Boone NC; an MFA from Clemson University, Clemson SC; and a MALS degree from Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem NC, with a focus on religious studies. Terri served as Curator of Education (and performance) for SECCA, Winston-Salem (1990-2008) and Associate Curator of Education for Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC until 2022. In these roles she worked closely with many artists and performers including Lesley Dill, Fred Wilson, Tim Rollins, Willie Birch, and Liz Lerman. Terri is two-time recipient of a North Carolina Artist Fellowship (2000, 2006). From 2003-07, her work traveled in five southeastern states with Thresholds: Expressions of Art and Spiritual Life, curated by Eleanor Heartney. Other exhibitions include Woman's Work at Bennett College, Greensboro, NC (2013); Reverences with Donna Polseno at the Taubman Museum of Art, curator David Brown (2009), and Thinking Through Making at SECCA, curator Wendy Earle (2021).
INVITATION WITH MAP (CLICK TO EXPAND):
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