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plus Holiday Weekends
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Our painters have been carefully selected based on their skill, ability to convey their inspirations, their commitment to their artistic profession, and willingness to provide Galley Zella Exclusive Collections.  This helps ensure that our collectors will have newly created collections of paintings each year to experience. These artworks are available exclusively at Gallery Zella.  We anticipate our collectors will look forward to these exclusive new creations and seriously consider adding new favorites to their collections on an annual basis.

 

Longtime local master painter Jon Houglum has dedicated his entire adult life to painting and has created stunning collections of museum-caliber artworks.  Jon studied with a master Dutch painter for seven years to perfect the art of underpainting and creates "stunning lights from within" in his master works.  Jon has an impressive list of awards and is regarded as one of the finest art teachers in the world.  His avid students live and paint in over 25 countries around the globe.

 

We are also proud to feature longtime local Wendy Cordwell

who has dedicated over 20 years to her art and annually

creates extraordinary collections.  She is a master collagist

and uses antique papers to create hauntingly memorable

images of wolves, dogs, horses, birds, and even roosters.

In addition, she has exquisitely collaged our very own Bryson

City Steam Engine; steam and all. Her original collages are both

charming & affordable. Her unique artworks have definitely

touched a cord with our collectors; we sell more of her work than

any other painter in the gallery.

 

Our most promising young painter, Amy Kaye Taylor, has impressed our collectors at Galley Zella with her large originals.  In particular, her large originals such as "Clouds at Play" (30"X 40"), "Golden Pathway" (36"X 60"), and "Journey Through the Fog" (30" X 40") have found their way into the hearts of our collectors.

We are proud to publish her "Clouds at Play" (see left)

among other Amy Kaye Taylor masterworks for

affordable high-quality prints on canvas. Each of her

paintings is a celebration of nature and the human spirit.

Her clouds are always lushly painted; her skies range

from amethyst jewel-like colors that inspire the heart

to subtle misty atmospheres that soothe the soul.

 

Melissa Enloe Walter is a 4th generation artist; painter, jewelry designer, and fabricator. She had been creating art her entire life and professionally for over 30 years.  Melissa grew up in the forested mountains of North Carolina,

roamed in the art of these ancient mystical lands. A 4th generation

artist, inspired by her Father's people who originated from the

lush banks of Cherokee's Oconaluftee River ~ Melissa's love of

the native world was ignited at a very young age. This interest

combined with God-given artistic talent gave her an instinctual

intelligence of nature's arrangement that clearly speaks to her.

Come experience Melissa's Cherokee culture that has been

mystically transformed into her nature-inspired art at Gallery Zella.

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Robert "Bob" Boynton's award winning work is a combination of photography and painting.   The photographic portions of his work are high-resolution digital gicléés, printed on canvas in a six-color process.   Bob then extends the photograph by hand painting the frame in acrylic to complete the artwork.  This combination is a perfect marriage between photography and painting, allowing Bob to utilize his abilities and passions in this creative and unique art form. 

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Bob's interest in photography developed during High School where he was a yearbook photographer and worked part-time in a photographic studio.  He used his photographic knowledge to earn spending money during college.  While in South West Baptist University, Bob majored in Psychology and Art.  After graduation, he pursued a career as a florist.  Bob began his creative career with Walt Disney World as a floral designer in 1984 in Orlando, FL.  His artistic career took on many forms over the decades including set design and fabrication of the inaugural "live" musical performance of The Lion King. Bob's breathtaking set was such a success that it was then cast and re-created for all of the Disney parks all around the globe. Bob retired from Walt Disney World after 22 years of service as an art director and decorator.  We are proud to have an exclusive collection of Bob's artwork at Gallery Zella.

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Prints of our artists' originals offer a perfect way for emerging collectors to start acquiring images by their favorite artists.  It is also a wonderful way to take your memorable Bryson City, NC experience back home with you... as a treasured and affordable visual memento of your visit.  For example, Gallery Zella commissioned painter Marilyn Horsch to create her unique vision of the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad as it moves through our Bryson City area on a crisp dark night. (see left). She created a richly colored art piece that is now available at Gallery Zella as an original painting and as a print.

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Our painters range in notoriety from newly emerging artists, regional and local favorites, as well as, the internationally renowned. For example, the internationally acclaimed Makk Family is known as “the first family of the art world.” Eva Makk has been called “the world’s foremost living impressionist painter.” Her husband, Americo Makk, is an internationally acclaimed master painter and the portrait artist of two United States presidents. Their son, A.B. Makk is an international award-winning painter of sparkling water scenes and sublime landscapes while his wife, Sylvia has emerged as their most promising new master painter. A.B.'s "The Perfect Spot" is a richly colored composition of a fly-fisherman in our very own Tuskaseegee River.

Fran Lew is an American Master Portrait Artist. She is trained in Classical Realism. Her training can be traced backed to the 19th Century French Academy. Lew has been commissioned to complete the portraits of Heads of State, Captains of Industry, Distinguished Members of the Clergy and Medical Profession, Nobel Laureates,  Stars of Stage and Film as well as numerous private clients.
 
Lew's carefully wrought charcoal portraits are dynamic and yet sensitive in nature. She uses rich texture and subtle emotional undercurrent to create more than mere representations of classic film and/or life moments. Indeed, Lew masterfully breathes life into her subjects. What would, in lesser hands, be a fine portrait, become living beings in hers. Her unique ability to discover the emotional core of her subjects separates Lew from other celebrity and fine art portrait artists.

 Give your loved ones the greatest gift of all -  A Fran Lew portrait. Gallery Zella is the perfect place to discuss how you can commission your next family portrait and create a future family heirloom to be enjoyed for generations.

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All original paintings are unique, one-of-a-kind masterworks of

acrylic on canvas, art board, or linen.  In addition, we are proud to

represent Steve Kistner's richly detailed pastel paintings that

appear lit from within. His paintings masterfully combine soft and

brilliant colors for a most charming collection of original works.

 

Carl Gethmann "paints" with "pixels" then authorizes and authenticates each image as one-of-a-kind renderings.  Gethmann's paintings on metal are both striking and dramatic (see left). His award-winning images feature his distinctive style, extraordinary detail, and unsurpassed luminosity.  Small edition sizes ensure the collector of acquiring a  treasured family heirloom that shall provide multi-generational enjoyment.