The Turnage Theatre Gallery is sea of monsters and mythical creatures.

It’s the latest themed art exhibit at Arts of the Pamlico, and the results are a vibrant mix of two and three dimensional art, some created from legends of yore, others, from creative minds seeking an artistic outlet.

The exhibit, on display until Nov. 1, was successful in drawing not only new artists to submit work, but in those submitting 3D pieces.

“We had a couple new artists, we got some really great work. We got some great original creations, where there was the fantastical creatures, not really scary creatures, but dragons  and the satyrs and, of course, the fairies and mermaids,” said Thad Aley, events and exhibits coordinator at Arts of the Pamlico. “We are constantly reaching out to just expand our audience in viewers as well as with the artists themselves.”

The challenge issued was fantastical and a way to prompt artists to think outside the box and create new work based on the given theme. From Maryalice Johnston’s “Gluttonous Peeps,” vibrant, alien-like stuffed sculptures, to Nancy Winn’s “Infant Dragon,” a seemingly life-sized, and cute, baby winged reptile, the 3D offerings are exercises in both whimsy and imagination.

Aley said that with the 55th-annual Fine Arts Show coming up, he’s hoping for a continued presence among 3D artists.

“One of the biggest challenges out there is to get the 3D artist involved,” Aley said.

On the themed note, next door in the Art Café, another themed show, Casting Shadows, a collection of photographs of focusing on light and shadow, is on exhibit. Yet another, unexpected theme, has cropped up in an exhibit in the Lane Gallery. While the art is a collection of small linocut prints, the theme is recovery — the prints are being sold as fundraiser for the arts program at Ocracoke School, which was flooded during Hurricane Dorian. According to Aley, the prints are made by the students and sold annually as fundraiser for the program and survived by sheer whim.

“The only reason they exist is because they were in (a teacher’s) car and not in the school when it flooded,” Aley said.

 

 

Monsters and Mythical Creatures award winners

2-D

1st Place

Colleen Knight, “Dreams of a Jackalope,” woodburning

2nd Place

Teresa Cole Rogers, “Keepers of Time,” mixed media

3rd Place

Reagon Herndon, “Tangled,” mixed media

Honorable Mention

Dorothy McLennan, “The Satyr’s Goodbye,” oil

 

3-D

1st Place

Maryalice Johnston, “Gluttonous Peeps,” mixed media

2nd Place

Nancy Winn, “Infant Dragon,” papier-mâché

3rd Place

Elizabeth Conley, “Greedy Book Boglin,” mixed media

Honorable Mention

Maryalice Johnston, “Demeter: Spirit Catcher,” mixed media