An Evening At the Honfluer!

Artist James Terrell croons for the audience
Artist Wesley Clark proudly displays an art piece.

Twin Sister Sharon Burton (left) with Gallery Director Amy Cavanaugh and yours truly.


Artist James Terrell with one of his great pieces!
The young men of Life Pieces to Master Pieces created this gem!
Here I am with the debut of the Three Divas- Mixed Media art dolls!
The Ways' Men Howard W. Ways, II (my father in law)left, Kirt Ways (my brother in law) center and Howard W. Ways, III my beloved husband of 11 years and greatest supporter of me and my work, right.


Saturday evening, August 9th was a wonderful evening for my coming out exhibition at the East of the River Artist Exhibition at the Honfluer Gallery in Anacostia, Washington, DC. You would not know that we were in the deepest section of the "dangerous" southeast with what looked like a couple hundred well wishers, artists, and collectors who came out to support the show. I was very excited and pleased to be exhibiting in my first curated art exhibition for any gallery since I started publicly showing my art pieces.

Anacostia's gallery for contemporary art, Honfleur Gallery, celebrates its Second Annual East of the River Exhibition, which opened 7pm on August 9th 2008. Site specific installation, photography, painting, mixed media sculpture, collage, prints, drawings, written & spoken-word and functional craft demonstrate the broad range of the works in the show. Exhibitors range from emerging to seasoned professional artists.

I was pleased that my sister and art consultant, Sharon J. Burton was in attendance, as well as my husband Howard, my brother in law Kirt, who resides in Japan, as well as my father in law were in attendance.

My mentor and friend Francine Haskins was in attendance as well as one of my doll workshop colleagues Kim. Sharon Keyers Jackson mixed media fiber artist and member of the Prince George's County Artist Association as well as Wanda Aikens, Executive Director of the Ward 7 Arts Collaborative, of which I am a Board Member were also in attendance.

The East of the River collection depicts both a look through the artist's lens at this region, and expressions emanating from experiences living in Anacostia. Vibrant hues and energetic abstractions from painters Wesley Clark, Lance Wiggs and Stephen Terrell reflect an upbeat and positive vibe. More somber topics and probing issues, such as youth violence, racism, and gender issues are explored by Howard Fleming, Amber Robles Gordon and Gilbert Trent. Other artists reference the dichotomy of African heritage and modern American culture, reflected in digital images by Bruce McNeil, mixed media collage by Beatrice Martin, sculpture by Anne Bouie and pencil drawings by Malik Lloyd. Dominic Bracco seeks to uncover the day to day lives of youth in the area in a collection of documentary photographs. The artwork in East of the River exposes a fascinating, insightful cross section of thoughts, feelings and concerns.

Artists in East of the River include: Randall C. Holloway, Stephen James Terrell, Kerry Richardson, Kamala Subramanian, Douglas Eatmon, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Matthew Mann, Dominic Bracco, Sherry Ways, Anne Bouie, Marcia Greene, Fred Joiner, Malik Lloyd, Bruce McNeil, Lance Wiggs, Wesley Clark, Brian Martin, Amber Robles-Gordon, Beatrice Martin, Craig Vaughn, Howard Fleming, and Gilbert Trent. The exhibit was juried by Carl Cole (Ward 8 Commissioner, DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities), Kim Ward (Director, Washington Project for the Arts), Juanita Britton (Anacostia Art Gallery), Andrea Hope (ARCH) and Briony Evans (Honfleur Gallery). This exhibition was made possible through the generosity and support of the Morris and Gwendolyn Caftritz Foundation.

I was proud and excited to be included among some of the best artists in East Washington and in the region as a whole.