“Basquiat’s work was deeply thoughtful—the products of his ravenous observations of the world around him. “I don’t think about art while I work,” he told writer Isabelle Graw in 1986. “I try to think about life.””
As an aspiring artist I found his fearlessness and authenticity inspiring. Alexxa Gotthardt wrote this piece on Basquiat for Artsy that came across our facebook feed. Enjoy the complete article here. Happy Creating!
Posted in Fine Artists, Modern Makers
Tagged art, asheville, contemporary, modern, painting
Hi Folks! As you know artists are a big part of our Modern Asheville community and we are all too happy to support them and what they bring to our Asheville area community. Eric Knoche, also, happens to be a neighbor to John and myself and suffered a big loss being housed in the old French Broad school which burned just down the street from us. In support we all are passing along his request for assistance. Thanks for any consideration. Cheers! 
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Posted in Fine Artists, Modern Makers
Tagged art, artists, asheville, contemporary, eric knoche, modern
Artist Roger Capron | You know how it goes — you are scrolling the internet and one image pops up and suddenly you are off into a new visual world. That is exactly how it worked when I saw the above image and got lost in the rhythm, colors and geometry of this tile piece. Roger Capron had been a prolific French artist born in Vincennes, France on September 4, 1922. Interested in drawing, he studied Applied Arts in Paris from 1939 to 1943 and worked as an art teacher in 1945. He died on November 8, 2006 leaving behind a considerable body of work that is recognized worldwide. I know you’ll want to see more so go HERE. Cheers!
Posted in Fine Artists, Modern Makers
Tagged #makeyourmodern, #yourstyleyourway, art, asheville, atomic, decor, design, home, house, mid-century, modern, ranch, roger capron
By the Citizen Times | Here is a nice article featuring some of our friends regarding artists making a living here in Asheville. Go here to read. Enjoy!
Posted in Fine Artists, Modern Makers
Tagged art, artists, asheville, contemporary, craft, fine, home, house, modern, river arts district
Linda McCane Gritta | Last week I was able to pause and visit with artist, and Modern Asheville friend, Linda McCane Gritta at her painting studio along the river in Woodfin. It didn’t surprise me to find her along the river as her work is naturally watery and an element she is at home around. Though a Chicago native Linda and her work have that Northern California vibe {I call it Urban Zen} of grounded coolness mixed with the water and shimmering light of the bay area using those complimentary Diebenkorn-ish warms and cools I love.
Linda graduated from the New York Studio School in 2001 followed by a BFA from Converse College in 2004 and has been producing full steam ever since. Though Linda enjoys her figural work, expressing the figure in relaxed, natural contexts, she loves the gut level adventure of abstraction. The process uses that push-pull of both intuition and intellect, chaos and balance, control and surrender that we see all around us in nature. She likens the “letting go” process to jumping off a skyscraper and having to fashion your own net on the way down being left with moments of inherent experience and instinct as resources.
Linda currently exhibits her work in both North and South Carolina and New York City. Her work can be found in numerous private and corporate collections. Also, she is represented by Serena & Lily of Sausalito and Libby Silvia ArtStyle in Boston. She recently contributed one of her abstract paintings for the Raise Your Hand WNCap Auction last month. To see more of her colorful work visit her website here. Enjoy!
Posted in Fine Artists, Modern Makers
Tagged abstract, art, artist, asheville, contemporary, linda gritta, linda mccane gritta, modern, painter, wnc
I stopped in for a visit with our beloved Barbara Fisher yesterday. Barbara, currently going through a “Blue Period” of her very own, has been experimenting with a cooler color palette. As always I’m amazed at her consist work ethic and prolific work amassed in her studio. Make sure you pay her a visit on the main floor of Warehouse Studios at 170 Lyman St in the River Arts District. Cheers to you Barbara!
Posted in Fine Artists, Modern Makers
Tagged abstract, art, artist, asheville, barbara fisher, contemporary, modern, painter, river arts
UNC Asheville Announces New Space for Designers, Innovators and Makers at River Arts Makers Place
If you aren’t keeping up you might not notice that Asheville’s art and design corridor keeps expanding. From south of Biltmore Village all the way up to the studios in Woodfin there are various arts, crafts and designers at work. Now UNCA is partnering up to add almost 12,ooo sqft of working art and craft space to the river scene. Here is their recent announcement for more details. Cheers!
Posted in Fine Artists, Modern Makers, the Creative Class
Tagged arts, asheville, corridor, craft, design, district, modern, river, unca
New Show at Blue Spiral Gallery
Prior to some meetings downtown I popped into the Blue Spiral. One of the current shows features a variety of their artists using works in Black and White only. Included were a couple of our team favorites such as artists Hoss Haley and George Peterson. Take a moment and stop in the next time you are near Biltmore Ave. Cheers!
Posted in Fine Art, Fine Artists, Modern Makers, Modern Retailers
Tagged art, asheville, blue spiral, contemporary, george peterson, hoss haley, modern
At Modern Asheville Real Estate we frequently have “Portfolio Lunches” where we invite designers to come in to show us their work building upon the design and creative culture of our company. 828 Design recently introduced us to Alex Wyly. So, we invited him to our office for our version of show and tell.
Alex currently works as an artist making patterns. The patterns inspired by the local environment and travels across the world are then sold to various home fashion companies for use on their products. Alex’s background is in Fine Arts. 
After art school he began working as a curator in major cities across the states. In 2011 he sought a slower tempo lifestyle with closer access to family in Atlanta. Through a friend in the furniture industry he found a job at a large textile mill in Hickory as an archive manager + pattern manager. The mill with tens of thousands of paintings, prints, collages and tapestries used as source materials for woven fabric from over a century became an instant inspiration.
He then started to design patterns for the team of textile designers at the mill and became aware of a niche part of the industry where independent design studios sold patterns to the mills. In 2013 he decided to venture off
on his own as an independent, locally based designer. He sells his patterns to designers and mills across the East Coast and is currently releasing his lines of rugs and pillows under his personal brand in a partnership with Surya in 2015 and 2016. Cheers to you Alex!
Posted in Fine Artists, Modern Makers
Tagged alex smith, artist, asheville, fabric, mid-century, modern, wyly
WITH A MIGHTY HAND | Tora Paintings and Abstraction
Folks! One of our favorites is having an opening on Thursday night the 24th. Artist Daniel Nevins will be showcasing a variety of his work at the S. Tucker Cooke Gallery in Owen Hall at UNCA from 6 to 8 pm. Why don’t we all just go. See you there!
Posted in Fine Artists
Tagged art, asheville, contemporary, daniel nevins, figurative, fine, modern
Hi Folks. My apologies for the absence of content for the past few days, but I was fortunate to have Jim Bixby of 828 Design escort me on a quick and creative design inspired weekend in Manhattan. For 51 years I’ve been wanting to visit the Guggenheim and I was finally able to realize that dream to experience this exhibition building. They are currently hosting a show called “Storylines” which was right up my alley. From their collection they pulled 
narrative driven, contemporary art telling a variety of stories by the artists. The Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design featured a great exhibit and tour on Heatherwick Studios, a London-based design firm, call Provocations. The inspiring examples showed what can be accomplished leaving behind standard thinking in building and construction. Finally, we visited the new Whitney Museum of American Art designed by Renzo Piano situated between the end of the High 
Line and the Hudson River and just down from our hotel. Very stunning experience given its relationship to context and a very NY collection of art. A provocative combination and worth a relaxing stroll.
Thanks again to Jim for providing the tour and thanks to Kelly and Matt, here at Modern Asheville Real Estate, for supporting me in taking this inspiring opportunity and continuing to grow our business. Cheers to all!
Posted in Builders, Fine Artists, Modern Architecture and Interiors
Tagged architecture, art, asheville, contemporary, cooper hewitt, design, guggenheim, manhatten, modern, museum, nyc, whitney
While at the Sherrill Center for some Keller Williams customer service training we noticed this activating sculpture suspended in the entry. The artist, Jeremy Holmes, created the piece during a one-week residency for students of the Art Department at UNC Asheville led by sculpture Jeremy Holmes. Students learned the process of bending wood and participated in a large-scale installation within this public space. The residency was sponsored by The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design located in downtown Asheville.
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