Every August you can enjoy a Leicester Artists Self Guided Studio Tour, but consider visiting Leicester Artists Studios anytime of the year during your vacation.
Take a look at cometoleicester.comto see the variety of artists ranging from jewelry to pottery to blacksmithing, painting, prints, fiber, brooms, handmade tiles and photography. Let us know what you're interested in and we'll arrange a studio visit.
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For information on taking an art lession with a Leicester Artist, visit Vacation Experiences
Here is some information on a few of the Artists ~
Doc Welty
Doc Welty of Leicester Valley Clay creates functional stoneware influenced by the early American stoneware tradition of the east coast and the south. From mugs and plates to large outdoor planters and sculpture a wide array of ceramics can be seen at the studio, which itself, is clad in handmade terra cotta tile work and sculpture.
When you're here, be sure to visit our Gift Shop to purchase Doc's Pottery or Leicester Valley Clay right around the corner from Spirit Mountain Sanctuary!
My work is concerned with color and light, inspired by local, national and international landscapes. I have a deep focus on color. As a student at a classical art school in the former Soviet Union, I spent a considerable amount of time mixing and blending colors. This intense focus on color in my artistic training has had a profound impact on my current work. It is my use of color that lends a contemporary interpretation to my otherwise realist landscapes.
I have a deep appreciation for Asian art techniques and styles, and greatly admire the gentle light, vivid brushwork and painstaking detail of the Russian artist Ivan Shishkin. I strive to pay homage to these inspirations in my own work. I am also continuously inspired by Nature's variable colors and the beauty found in both rural and urban landscapes.
I have experienced many changes in my life. As a child, my family uprooted frequently and moved around the Soviet Union. Later, as a young mother, I emigrated to the United States. The beauty of nature was the constant in these changes. Flowers are beautiful on either side of the ocean, in any corner of the world. Life is ever-changing. My paintings pursue the everlasting.
She was awarded a prestigious grant from the Contra Prestatsie and her paintings were purchased by the Dutch government as well as by collectors in London, Paris and Belgium.
The artist calls her present mode of painting “classical visionary” inspired by the legendary masters of the Renaissance. Although the roots of her technique reflect the classics her messages are contemporary. She is immersed in the vision of planetary healing for all elements of nature and species of existence.
Since moving to Asheville in 1990, she has been shown in the Blue Spiral Gallery, the Broadhurst Gallery, the Merrimon Gallery and most recently in the Discovery Gallery in Washington, DC. Rachel is an avid flower gardener and paints directly from the beauty which surrounds her home in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Born in England on July 27, 1946, Rachel Clearfield was a self-taught child prodigy. As a young girl, she composed poetry and illustrated her poems with beautiful paintings. After completing high school she decided on a career in art and was educated at the Newcastle College of Art and also the Manchester College of Art.
Upon graduation in the late ‘60s, Ms. Clearfield moved to Amsterdam and rural Holland where she was inspired by the natural beauty of her surroundings. During this time she painted brilliantly colored symbolic animals amidst exquisite natural settings. Her work became well established and was subsequently published in many European magazines.
Meg Manderson
Meg Manderson is a fiber and mixed media artist who truly believes there is an artist in all of us.To quote Kurt Vonnegut Jr.:“Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly,is a way to make your soul grow.”
In her own art, Meg uses fiber paints, pigments from native soils and natural dyeing techniques to create yardage from which she chooses the areas that lend themselves to achieving her vision. She “draws” with her rotary cutter to realize that vision and hand sews the fabric into landscapes and abstract works. Often the work is embellished with hand stitching, beading and applied natural objects. The pieces are than stretched and framed in a fashion similar to traditional oil or watercolor painting.
While my life, like most, tends to the creatively chaotic, my work tends to simplicity and serenity. Wishful thinking perhaps? But I hope to share moments of tranquility with my viewers and with students of all ages.”
Classes are available for individuals or groups, including children. They can include collage, fabric painting, mixed media such as artists’ trading cards and postcards, dyeing with dirt, rust and local vegetation, discharge design and much more.
"As I explore the innate intelligence and dignity of my subjects, I am influenced by the Expressionists and Byzantine icons. My love of the mountains includes all the inhabitants, be they human, winged, or hoofed. The emotions of the relationships that lie beneath the surface are my deepest fascination."
