Autumn Textures at The Gallery at Flat Rock

Autumn Textures

New work by Kate Thayer
and Holland Van Gores

Opening reception,
Thursday, Sept. 21, 5-7 p.m.

Fall is almost officially here! To celebrate, join The Gallery at Flat Rock Thursday, September 21st from 5 to 7 p.m. for the opening of Autumn Textures, a two-person show of new work by gallery artists Kate Thayer and Holland Van Gores.

The seasonal theme will highlight the color and textures of Fall in Kate's distinctive landscapes in oils and Holland's turned wood vessels. We have long admired how both artists' many-layered approach coordinates well when displayed together, even though their respective mediums and techniques are vastly different. It's as if the combination of their work almost magically allows you to see the beauty in each more clearly.

Kate's new paintings have more of the textured, impressionistic style that fans of her work love. Her technique of applying layer upon layer of thick oil paint "emphasizes the slowly changing colors in the cycle of nature," she says. Holland's small vessels have an eye-pleasing depth of color and texture, achieved through a reductive process once the turned vessel is painted in multiple layers with milk paint. Both artists recognize how well their work complements the other's. "We both use color and texture to celebrate the multitudes of variations in the autumn season," Kate says.  

Autumn Textures will continue through October 15 during the gallery's regular business hours.

“A Tree in the Woods” | Artist Talk With Kate Thayer

September 11, 1-3 pm
The Gallery at Flat Rock
Artist Talk with Kate Thayer

The Gallery at Flat Rock is excited to present a special artist talk on Sept. 11, “A Tree in the Woods,” focusing on the vital role trees play in the landscape. The talk will feature two Gallery at Flat Rock artists, painter Kate Thayer and metalworker Steve Joslyn. Joining the discussion will be Steven Carroll, a self-proclaimed ‘tree doctor’ who is passionate about preserving trees within landscape for the further health of the wider ecosystem.

Kate says that she is often looking at trees as they change, over the course of a day or multiple seasons, within the overall functioning of the plant landscape. “All my paintings are of places I have been to in Western North Carolina,” says Kate, who moved to the area from Wisconsin. “My technique is to create colors and textures with oils that represent the movement and vitality within the forests through all the seasons. The changes in the same scene over time has captured me.”

The Gallery at Flat Rock represents finely curated art and craft, and is located in Flat Rock Square at 2702-A Greenville Highway in Flat Rock, North Carolina. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; or by appointment. To learn more, please visit the gallery website at galleryflatrock.com or call the gallery at 828-698-7000.

"Beckoning In" Asheville Gallery of Art

Kate Thayer is the Asheville Gallery of Art’s featured painter for September 2021. The show features many of Kate’s oil-on-linen landscapes

The Gallery is located at 82 Patton Ave in Asheville and is open seven days a week, 11 am to 6 pm.

Kate will be on hand for an Opening Reception on Friday, September 3rd from 5 to 8 pm.

"Field. Tree. Stream." Exhibition at Upstairs Artspace in Tryon

Kate Thayer joins local artists in an exhibition at the Upstairs Artspace in Tryon, NC. The exhibit, entitled Field. Tree. Stream., runs from May 15 to June 25th.

The Gallery is located at 49 S. Trade Street in Tryon and is open 12-5pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

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The Upstairs Artspace is a nonprofit contemporary art gallery in downtown Tryon, North Carolina. We exhibit two and three-dimensional art and craft by leading artists of the Southeast, and particularly, the Carolinas. We have a long standing reputation for art that is sometimes experimental, often avant-garde and always collectible. Our artists are usually established in their careers, but we also welcome the emerging artist whose work is impressive for being fresh, innovative and challenging.

"Transcendence": Exhibition at The Gallery at Flat Rock

“Stream Dreams” by Kate Thayer

The Gallery at Flat Rock is thrilled to present a mid-winter exhibit designed to express hope and renewal in challenging times. Inspired by the designation of 2021 as the International Year of Peace and Trust by the United Nations, “Transcendence” will feature work by over two dozen Gallery at Flat Rocks artists, who will each provide one artwork for the show that they believe evokes themes of peace and mutual trust among members of humanity.

Kate Thayer is among the artists participating in this show and her painting “Stream Dreams” will be featured. “Stream Dreams” is pastel, watercolor, and medium on sanded paper to create texture. A tactual and visual passage of transcendence into the painting.

When describing the inspiration for her paintings, Kate says, “Look to Nature for within it is where the enchantment hides. From standing in the woods of our lives we can look out through the opening to what we can envision making happen in our future alone or all together. By taking all we are and mixing it with the inexhaustible possibilities we will be created anew.”

“Transcendence” will be on view at The Gallery at Flat Rock from January 21 – February 28 and is free and open to the public. The exhibit will be available to view in-person as well as online at galleryflatrock.com. 

Read more about “Transcendence” at The Gallery at Flat Rock here.

"The Nature of Place": Exhibition at West Main Artists Co-op in Spartanburg, SC

Show Dates/Hours
April 1 thru May 4, 2019
10am - 4pm

Opening Reception:
Thursday, April 18, 5:30-9pm

North Carolina artist Kate Thayer will exhibit an extensive collection of oil and pastel paintings --  The Nature Of Place -- at West Main Artists Co-op in Spartanburg, SC from Tuesday, April 2 through Saturday, April 27.

The accomplished and award-winning artist is known for her lush, impressionistic, and vivid landscapes of North Carolina mountain scenes. The exhibit will be open for the public’s free viewing Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The public reception will be Thursday, April 18, 5:30-9 p.m. during the city’s monthly ArtWalk.

“My paintings for this exhibit are done with oils and palette knives or pastels on sanded paper,” Thayer said. “They are all landscapes done based upon scenes in Western North Carolina. Nature is life giving. We need to connect with nature to enrich our souls. Painting the magnificent colors, within the seasons in these Western North Carolina Mountains, connects me to these special places.”

She hopes viewing patrons will “be surrounded by glimpses of unique natural places that have a message to tell about life, to experience how unique places can enrich our lives, bringing to life what adds to life.”

Located at 578 West Main Street in Spartanburg, the Co-op is housed in what was a church. It has about 30 individual working and/or gallery studios. Also, it has three public galleries, including The Venue, which is the largest in the converted sanctuary. It has the largest collection of for-sale locally made artwork in the county.

For more info, please visit online WestMainArtists.org.

"Textures ... Colors": October Show at The Asheville Gallery of Art

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Asheville Gallery of Art's October show will feature the work of Kate Thayer whose ethereal rendering of light in her palette-knife oil paintings illuminates the beauty of the natural world.

Show Dates/Hours

The show runs October 1 - 31 during gallery hours,:

11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday

and 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday.

The gallery, located at 82 Patton Avenue in Asheville, across from Pritchard Park.

Opening Reception

The Gallery will host an Opening Reception for Kate on:

Friday, October 5, from 5 - 8 p.m.

All are cordially invited to stop by.

About Kate

Thayer’s layering process of applying oils with a palette knife allows the layers to build upon one another, triggering the viewer’s imagination to see the passages underneath. Each painting takes several months to complete.

“When I return to an unfinished painting, it becomes a different painting filled with new ideas, colors, and marks. After looking into my paintings the viewer may see the trees and rivers in a way they have not seen them before.”

Thayer is recognized for the exquisite voice in her paintings. Mostly self-taught, the artist says museums and art galleries have been her education and that she is a continuing student of master painters. 

Thayer maintains she has always been an artist. “From intricately designed knitted clothing, to culinary artistry, to garden design, to painting with the earliest medium, pastel, and now with oils, they all had the same aim: to create sensory and spiritual experiences that are personal, provocative, and life-enriching.”

Kate lives and works in Flat Rock, NC.

Her work has won numerous awards as well as gracing the spaces of avid collectors.

“This show is about the spirit and vitality of nature, expressed in its many palettes for each season. It’s about sharing the wonder of what nature says to me to bring to life what adds to life. An artist once said, ‘Beauty cannot be explained . . . only experienced.’”

Thayer's work, as well as the paintings of the other 30 gallery members will be on display and for sale through the month of October.

For further information about this show, you can contact Asheville Gallery of Art at (828) 251-5796, visit the gallery website at www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com, or go to the Gallery Facebook page.