Natural Affinity show at American Folk opens Aug. 6

Natural Affinity, an exhibit featuring the work of potter Shawn Ireland and painter Ellen Langford, runs Aug. 6-26 at American Folk Art & Framing.

Press release from organizers:

Natural Affinity

Shawn Ireland + Ellen Langford
Pottery Painting

August 6 – 26, 2015
Sales begin On-Line August 4: noon
Opening Reception: Friday, August 7: 5 – 8 pm

The potter Shawn Ireland and painter Ellen Langford are both inspired by a pastoral nostalgia to create humble yet elevated works. These artists draw from an appreciation of the rural farmstead, engaging us with the people, the landscapes, and the animals. Their work asks us to slow down for a moment to remember how the simplest things can add such satisfaction to our lives.

Shawn Ireland is a North Carolina potter whose work contains both history and wonder. He creates pieces that are sculptural, yet functional – a farm maiden holding aloft a candle, a cake plate with perched birds, or a chicken with a bowl for a belly. Shawn uses a clay body augmented with local minerals and soils which adds a rustic charm and a deep sense of place to the figurative elements he includes in his tableware.

Ellen Langford is a Mississippi painter whose body of work is inspired by landscapes, chance meetings and the South’s mighty crosscurrents. Ellen notices and captures the relationships between the land and its inhabitants – a child with his dog, a clothesline with the breeze, a figure with the landscape. We don’t just see them in her paintings, we feel that joyful connection.

Both artists are steeped in rural living, celebrating the quiet rituals that they incorporate into their lives. The artists and their works invite us to observe that beauty with them.