Rooted and Grounded

Artfolios will host a Trunk Show with artists Bryn Lenkaitis and True Whiting on Friday, October 4th from 6-9pm at The Gallery at Stimmel; 601 N. Trade Street; Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Throughout the night enjoy the music of Colin Allured. Hors d'oeuvres will be served. All are welcome. The event will coincide with the October Gallery Hop. The Trunk Show is rain or shine.

“I create because it brings me into a peaceful and contemplative state that I find difficult to replicate in any other area of my life,” shares Bryn Lenkaitis, local acrylic and oil painter. “I create because paint on a canvas is forgiving, dynamic, and powerful in ways that our world is often not. In creating, I can ground myself in the places and memories I hold onto—connecting the dots of community and culture that have shaped who I am.”

“I paint to be in relationship with the mystical in a way that is beyond words and thinking,” True Whiting, a symbolic painter who works out of her Studio for Art and Wellbeing located in Reynolda Village, begins. She continues: “Painting feels like a portal into something mysterious and magical. It is a place where time is slower and focus is singular: energy flows yet is still. The painting itself is the visual translation of that exchange. I don't know anything else that feels this way.”

“Art speaks boldly when words fail to capture the infinite wave of emotions we experience as we travel through life,” states Bryn. “My works are rooted in articulating the complex beauty of God's creation and challenging myself to contemplate not just what is seen but also what is felt through color and texture.”

True begins and ends each painting with a prayer of thanks. She thoughtfully concludes: “Living on the Earth is like breathing air. We don't think about doing it—it is just what we do: the Earth is the source of our life, and it is our home. We are literally rooted and grounded with the gift that is the Earth.”

Join us in celebrating the work of Bryn Lenkaitis and True Whiting—two artists who savor in their own hearts and impress upon the hearts of others. Their artworks indeed root and connect us to all that sustains.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Bryn Lenkaitis, Emerging Artist, is a Pennsylvania native who fell in love with the people and places of North Carolina and decided to make it home. Her artwork uses bold color and texture to bring life to both beautiful adventures and day-to-day places. In doing so, she can put down roots in the rich soil of each new community she finds herself in and preserve the transient landscapes that bring her immense joy. Bryn has a BA in Art History and Studio Art from IUP where she was given the opportunity to study in both Croatia and Spain—most memorable was her experience backpacking the El Camino de Santiago across Northern Spain. She works mainly in acrylics and oils, but also experiments with watercolors and pastels when seeking fresh perspective. https://www.artfolios.shop/bl

True Whiting, Emerging Artist, creates medicine paintings for personal liberation and care for the earth. She playfully creates from the place where the mysterious world of dreams and mythology intersects with the enchantment of nature and the lived human experience. Her paintings integrate and are catalyzed by the diverse healing practices she has gathered across the decades as a psychologist, shamanic practitioner, and yoga teacher. Rich in symbolism, her art is a call to be a keeper of one’s own flame as a source of freedom and healing. True makes a donation for each original painting she sells in support of environmental protection, social justice, and world hunger. In addition to her career as an artist, True is the founder of True Whiting Studio for Art and Wellbeing in Winston-Salem, NC where she works as a healing practitioner and creativity mentor. https://www.artfolios.shop/tw

ABOUT THE MUSICIAN:

Colin Allured is an eclectic composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. He graduated UNCSA in 2001 after receiving numerous awards in classical guitar performance and composition. Colin has studied with some of the world’s greatest Indian Classical and West African musicians and produced and released original albums both solo and in collaboration over the last three decades of his career. https://www.colinalluredmusic.com

ABOUT THE GALLERY AT STIMMEL:

The Gallery at Stimmel is a new gallery located 601 N. Trade Street in the heart of Winston-Salem’s Arts District. The Gallery was created in collaboration with Stimmel Associates PA to highlight the artists of Artfolios. Stimmel is a landscape architecture, engineering, land planning, and design firm with offices in Winston-Salem and Charlotte. Currently on exhibit at the Gallery is “Landscape/Hardscape” featuring the work Dean Roland Johnson, Paul Travis Phillips, and Tim Bowman.