Arts & Entertainment

Metal, Clay Artists to be Featured at '& Gallery'

On March 16 you can meet metal artist Eric Folsom and combined clay/painting artist Monika Watson.

On March 16, Domain Home Accessories & Gallery will host its next “Meet the Artists” event with new art work by metal artist Eric Folsom and combined clay/painting artist Monika Watson.

According to a news release, the event will take place from 6 - 10 p.m. at “& Gallery”, 3129 Beach Blvd.

Both artists will be on hand to discuss their work and interact with visitors, a news release said.

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The “Meet the Artists” event will include several new pieces by Folsom, who is a Gulfport native. Ready more about Folsom from a news release: 

"Folsom undertook an artistic self-education by moving to Washington, DC in 1974 and studying the works on display in the city’s many museums. He then undertook an apprenticeship with artist George Anderson in Virginia, becoming proficient in brazing and fabricating bronze and copper into sculptural forms and jewelry. He returned to Gulfport in 1995.

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His work has been exhibited in juried shows throughout the East Coast, and in 2007, he received the Pinellas County Cultural Affairs Professional Development Grant for Individual Artists, allowing him to purchase more tools and continue his evolution as a creator of metal objects. His work includes functional pieces, including creatively-styled serve ware, sometimes incorporating the iconic reptile of Gulfport: the Gecko.

He also creates jewelry, boxes, home decor and free-form sculptures.

Watson, who has been a Gulfport resident for 11 years, will be presenting a large selection of new works during the evening. Read more about Watson from an art news release

"Watson grew up in post-war Austria, and later worked as a commercial artist in France. After moving to the U.S., she decided to pursue her dream of professionally exhibiting and selling her own art work, a dream that has come true.

After several experiments with other media in an attempt to “texturize” her paintings, she tried firing and glazing various clay shapes and incorporating them into her work. This has since become her signature style: acrylic paintings with an extra sense of liveliness from the sparkle and reflection of the clay pieces, changing as the light varies.

Sea life, scenes of nature and animals, and villages are frequent subjects of her work, imagined fancifully in bold colors. Watson has recently been working on pieces contained behind glass with a shadowbox effect, and will display some of these new works during the evening.

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