In the Gallery

Paintings, hand-crafted jewelry and metal sculptures highlight ChathamArts Gallery's July exhibit featuring the work of local artists Kristin Bennett, Phyllis Burns and Monnda Welch.

You can meet the artists during the opening reception on July 1 from 12 noon to 5pm, when Pittsboro galleries, shops and eateries will be open for First Sunday, with arts and crafts for sale on the streets throughout the historic downtown.

Kristin Bennett has a B.A. degree in studio art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She likes to capture the subtle beauty and light in everyday objects and the singularity of one moment in time. She often uses photorealism, transforming a depiction of a natural object into what looks like a stained glass window, making you question whether you are looking at a canvas at all.

Phyllis Burns has lived in Chatham County all her life and enjoys expressing her love for nature and the people around her through her creative work. She hopes that her paintings of local homes, special people, and nature will stir a "beautiful or sweet memory" that will help others remember how precious our planet is.

Monnda Welch creates one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces, using gold, silver, bronze, copper and steel with precious and semi-precious stones, bone and glass. She also teaches jewelry classes at her Chatham studio and makes large, welded outdoor sculptural pieces there from found material and purchased steel, including dragons, snails, praying mantises, trellises, sunflowers, and mosaic-top tables.

ChathamArts Gallery exhibits and sells a range of original works by local artists, Tuesdays-Saturdays 11 to 5 and every First Sunday 12 noon to 5, 121 Hillsboro Street, Pittsboro, 919-542-4144.