Beyond Bar Art

Not only was Oak Barrel Tavern just named one of the Best 100 Beer Bars in America recently, but it also happens to be one of the few places in West Ashley that is actively supporting the local art scene by allowing local artists a venue to display their work. Starting this week and running through February, Folly Beach-based visual artist Catherine Forester will display several of her pieces at the Avondale Point bar. There will be an opening reception this Saturday, Jan. 25, starting at 6 p.m. with live music.
This exhibition will feature an array of different paintings and wood burnings. “It’s pretty much like flipping through my sketchbook … only larger,” says Forester, who holds a BFA in Fibers Textile Design from Savannah School of Art & Design (SCAD).
Forester focuses mainly on surface design (screen printing, repeat pattern, and placement prints). “I really love linear works and patterns so a lot of my stuff is mostly watercolor backgrounds with a print on top,” she says. “I have been working on the computer for so long lately with work that with this little collection I was really trying to work my hand more and be more illustrated. It has been kind of an experiment.”
Forester says she finds inspiration all around her, especially because we live in an area with so much natural beauty. “I pull inspiration from my daily routine — things I think in my head that are funny, people I talk to, and listening to other peoples conversations, random shit on the side of the road … Seriously, I’m a really bad driver,” says Forester. “I’m always trying to take pictures of stuff I see on the road that I want to paint later. It doesn’t help living where we do — the most attractive city ever — marshlands and banging sunsets … that happens all the time!”
Forester’s work will be for sale at Oak Barrel for a reasonable price. “I never price my stuff high,” she says. “A lot of people have question why I don’t. But honestly, I would be painting and doing this anyways and I only have so many walls and friends to give them too. So it makes me happy to see someone else who enjoys my work.”
 
Catherine Forester’s art opening is Saturday, Jan. 25, starting at 6 p.m. at Oak Barrel Tavern, located at 825 Savannah Hwy. For more information, call 789-3686 or find OBT on Facebook.