Brighter Days

"Art Spark -- The Wonderful World of Color" includes vibrant characters such as this condor, painted by Jen Starwalt

“Art Spark — The Wonderful World of Color” includes vibrant characters such as this condor, painted by Jen Starwalt

Fourth Friday Gallery Walks in Brevard are an outdoor highlight of that city’s summer happenings that dovetail with the six-week summer music festival. This Friday, a major art opening at Transylvania Community Arts Council infuses vibrancy into the season just as the festival down the road sounds its coda.

Art Spark The Wonderful World of Color plays the spectrum in tint and quantity — more than four dozen local artists are represented in a show that is consistently vibrant. Red Wolf Gallery, Number 7 Arts, Trade-a-Rama Folk Art & Antiques, Gallery at 44, and other venues show off their new or most popular artists.

Among them is Jen Starwalt, a painter of animal-themed “soft pastels.” Starwalt’s visceral work belies the “soft” part with its riotous color and vivid emotion. She paints bears, buffalo, foxes, and particularly memorable wild hares, capturing the animals’ personality without a speck of condescending sentimentality. But Starwalt isn’t only about the fuzzy crew — her crows and condors get just as many points: renderings that capture these express the birds’ spirit in glorious, respectful detail.

The exhibit opens Friday, July 22, 5-8pm. 349 S. Caldwell St., Brevard. Art Spark auction happens August 14. For details, see tcarts.org. 828-884-2787.

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