Art & Light Gallery is happy to present “Vessels”, an exhibition of work by Beth Elliott (Asheville, N.C.), Teresa Roche (Greenville, S.C.) and Liz Rundorff Smith (Travelers Rest, S.C.) launching on the Art & Light website and in the gallery at 10:00 AM (EST) on Tuesday, December 2 with an opening reception on Friday, December 5 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. The word vessel means different things depending on context. A hollow container for transporting or holding something, a boat, a channel supporting life, a person, a message . . . the meanings are so vast it’s as though the word vessel describes life itself. The vessel is often defined by its shape but, more importantly, by its function and by the presumption that it contains something. The artists included in the Vessels exhibition find commonality in visual form, even as they approach meaning differently, by reinterpreting the concept of a container beyond its functional purpose. The vessel form—whether a ceramic pot or a sculptural abstraction—becomes a metaphor for holding or containing ideas, memories, and emotions.Beth Elliott reduces the vessel and its surface design to simple, modest, representational forms, the surfaces of which outline internal stories and landscapes. Elliott’s educational foundation in biochemistry and landscape architecture heavily influences her visions and forms in clay and sculpture, although her art is intentionally directed away from the precision that both science and architecture require. The freedom to create with abandon and explore with unfettered curiosity is essential to her artwork. Learning and studying materials and incorporating their properties and nuances into her work is an ongoing part of Beth's artistic practice. She finds textural significance in her art while striving to create interpretable but abstract forms. Teresa Roche is a mixed media artist working in acrylic, watercolor, and collage. In building layers of paint and then scratching and sanding back into the surface, Roche's mixed media works are excavations of sorts- an unearthing of the past, which is then transformed into a new, abstracted story. The creative process and manipulation of materials fuels her work. Experimentation and combining of unlikely materials is an ongoing part of her creative practice. Her paintings often reflect a period of time or a memory, but the abstract process allows for paint and other making tools to come together in unexpected ways. Liz Rundorff Smith paints bold, bright and iconic abstractions in oil and encaustic paint. Her vibrant color palette is reminiscent of the decor and design trends of decades past that have become kitschy artifacts. Her work elevates the mundane, mimicking the way we bring significance to loss with keepsakes and memorials. She wants to create work that evokes a sense of nostalgia and exposes the sentimentality in memory, using shape to intimate objects that are no longer identifiable but retain familiarity and reference urns, shrines, and places of veneration. Embellishments like fringe and shiny gold finishes play into kitsch, recalling party decorations, parade floats and prize ribbons and elevating the ordinary to something to be celebrated. 

One of my vessels will be in the Asheville Airport New Terminal.

Mountain Memories opens at Asheville Regional Airport

Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), in partnership with the River Arts District (RAD), proudly announces the opening of Mountain Memories. This powerful public art exhibition reflects on the impact of Hurricane Helene and the resilience and creative recovery that followed.

In 2024, Helene swept through Western North Carolina with devastating force. For artists in Asheville’s River Arts District, the storm took more than homes and power. It destroyed studios, tools, and years of work. In the aftermath, these artists found ways to begin again, salvaging what they could or creating entirely new work from what remained.

The exhibition features a range of mediums that include oil, cold wax, graphite, charcoal, photography, mixed media sculpture, and textile installation. Several works are mounted on debris pulled from floodwaters such as weathered wood, siding, and steel, now transformed into symbols of survival. Each piece is accompanied by a personal story that captures the days of darkness, stillness, and reflection following the storm.

One of my vessels will be in the AshevilleStrong: Celebrating Art and Community After Hurricane Helene Exhibition in downtown ASHEVILLE NC, from mid February until early May.

The Asheville Art Museum is delighted to present an exhibition of artwork by artists who live and work in the Helene-affected Appalachia region. The Museum was founded by a group of passionate artists in 1948 with a mission, in part,to share and promote the art of Western North Carolina. Carrying on that legacy, this special,non-juried exhibition celebrates the strength and diversity of our regional arts community acknowledging the significant impact of Hurricane Helene on the lives of artists across Southern Appalachia. Our aim is to provide an opportunity and venue for impacted artists to showcase their work, connect with each other and collectors, and join together in a collective act of resilience.  

Representation and upcoming Spring show at Mirrorball gallery May 2025.

More details upcoming.

This is a beautiful gallery in downtown Tryon, NC.

There will be an Ikebana floral event on the opening nights May 7th and May 8th featuring one of the artists vessels with an Ikebana arrangement.

This piece along with several others will be available at the gallery.

There are many other NC artists represented at Mirrorball Gallery.

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I will have several pieces available at this gallery show.

• Members Exclusive Preview Night:  3/25 from 5pm - 7pm
• Opening of Exhibition:  3/26
• Artist Reception:  Saturday, May 29th from 5pm to 7pm
• Last Chance Soiree and Artist Social:  Friday, May 9th from 5pm to 8pm
• Foothills Folk Art Festival:  Saturday, May 10th from 10am to 4pm
• Closing of Exhibition | Guest Speakers:  May 11th with event from 2pm to 3pm

I am grateful to be the featured artist in an article by Gina Malone for the Laurel of Asheville Magazine in their January 2025 issue. Read about my art practice and journey over the past 20 years.

Joan Awake gallery, a vision by Leslie Rowland of L. Rowland Fine Art, has opened in the RAD district in Asheville on high ground. Come visit 20 Artful Way, Suite 150. 

Art & Light Gallery is happy to present“In The Company Of," a two-person exhibition of work by Western North Carolina artists Beth Elliott (Asheville, N.C.) and Rachael Van Dyke (Boone, N.C.) launching on the Art & Light website and in the gallery at 10am (EST) on Tuesday, December 3 with an opening reception on Friday, December 6 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM.

I am excited to have my art available at Gallery Cor in Asheville, NC as of November 2024. It is exciting to be included in this group of artists curated by Leslie Rowland of L. Rowland Fine art. I love Leslie's art and her vision and ways. She has also opened up a new gallery Joan Awake in the RAD district in AVL of which I am a part of and will post more about that once the Joan Awake Website is available. So please visit these galleries or if you are not local, you can contact them for what work of mine is available.

Creative catalysts come in all shapes and sizes. "Tiny worlds, small wonders came from that idea of looking deeply into artwork to see all of the intricacies that have been created" says Connie Molland of Flow Gallery. Several artist including Beth Elliott Studio will be in the show through Summer 2023.

Collaboration with Liam Sawyer for the Southern trans youth emergency project. We are donating 10% of our sales from this collaboration to the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project.