Seven Sisters Gallery is mounting an exciting, new exhibit this month featuring sculptural leaves made by Black Mountain artist, John Wayne Jackson.
Jackson takes imprints of real leaves and duplicates them using his own proprietary composite, then painting them with dyes. The result is a luminously beautiful replica of nature, a “contemporary fossil,” cast in stone.
Jackson has won many awards of excellence for his craft across the country. Seven Sisters Gallery is dedicating an entire room to Jackson’s leaves. They will be covering all four walls, floor to ceiling, ranging from small enough to fit in one’s hand to nearly five feet across.
Andrea McNair, owner of Seven Sisters, says, “I am so honored to represent John Wayne Jackson’s beautiful art, and to have so much of it in one space is really a feast for the eyes. The attention to detail in his work is really breathtaking.”
For Jackson, this is the biggest array of his work ever staged. “The opportunity Andrea has given me was at first, a bit overwhelming. But my assistant and I worked night and day to get the pieces finished. I am truly grateful to Andrea for taking on a single artist’s exhibit of this scale.”
Jackson got his start after a friend recommended he watch a Martha Stewart segment she had taped.
“That changed everything,” Jackson says. “I finished my consulting contracts and dove into the deep end, never looking back.”
Jackson and his wife/partner, Paige, now sell their work at galleries across the country and at 25 juried fine art festivals.
Jackson’s work seems to get bigger and bigger over time. “I am constantly searching for the next giant. We were near Portland Oregon this summer where we discovered a plant that produces seven to nine foot leaves. We made a seven footer with the help of a dozen other artists I recruited from the area. It’s a real monster.”
That leaf is now at Jackson’s studio, Imagine That! Creations, awaiting completion.
Work from Jackson’s exhibit can be viewed and purchased at Seven Sisters Gallery through July 30.
Mon-Sat 10-6pm; Sun 12-5pm.
117 Cherry St
Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828) 669-5107
