Selene Plum: Artist Finds Creative Home in Asheville
As an encaustic painter and businesswoman with deep ties to the Midwest, I can’t believe I took the plunge and moved to Asheville in the midst of the pandemic. At first glance, it appeared that I might have to exchange the quest for a peaceful and inspiring space to paint for the commotion of two side-by-side houses (mine and my daughter’s), a settling-in period, and lots of babysitting.
Always my goal in moving the family to Asheville was to connect with local artists. As luck would have it, I read about Sand Hill Artists Collective and signed on to their Virtual Holiday Gallery Tours. It enabled me to discover the Asheville art community in short order and from the comfort of my little cottage. Louise and Bob created an intimate and welcoming online discovery of galleries, art professionals and their offerings. This brought me an intensive and inside look at the work of other artists, galleries I want to visit, and places that I might settle in to do my own work. As an accomplished artist whose work has been shown in exhibitions and is widely collected, I felt privileged to identify so immediately with a community fertile with artists, ideas, and enthusiasm. Through SHAC’s Virtual Tours, I could see that there was potential to actively show my work to both a regional and national audience from studio and home.
My encaustics reveal my daily meditative journalling of mountain walks and my time travel through layers of memories and reflections on natural surroundings. However, lacking confidence on the marketing side of the arts equation, the Virtual Tours showed me that Asheville provided possibilities to connect more directly with potential buyers in a personal and informative way, moving me from gallery to self representation. It has further inspired me to rethink my approach to business and how this might influence my art.
I am appreciative to SHAC in encouraging me to commit to my studio space at 213 Riverview Station in RAD starting March 1st. My goals are to keep my website current, start a personal journey on Instagram, and of course, stay involved with SHAC! Please come visit me soon.
Sand Hill Artists Collective 