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September 4, 2015 - December 19, 2016Mayer Gallery

Hours:Tues-Thursday, Saturday 10am - 6pm,

Friday 12pm - 8pm

Sightings: Ruth Ava Lyons

“Think of crawfish, think of crawfish holes, think of water, think of swimming, think of diving, think of sea creatures and also think of rocks and caves,” she says. “Think of metal; metal that you find in the dirt when you’re a kid, think of metal undergoing changes. Think of tying your shoelaces, think of not knowing what to do sometime and just doing it.” Lynda Benglis

This quote by artist Lynda Benglis’ perfectly sums up the colorful paintings of Ruth Ava Lyons who is inspired by her own passion for diving, endangered watery ecosystems, natural disasters and other environmental factors resulting from: “co-existence and the negative effect of man’s behavior on the natural world.”

Seeds of Change, 2012

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Ruth Ava Lyons received a BFA from Kent State University and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She is a recipient of a Fulbright fellowship, an American Scandinavian Foundation grant, a Ford scholarship, and several other grants and residencies, including a 2013 residency at Heron Island Research Station at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Her work has been exhibited in over 100 exhibitions. Selected collections include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Women in the Arts, DC, Hearst Corp, SAS Institute, Philip Morris NY, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, New Orleans Museum of Art, and St. Johns Museum of Art. Lyons has taught in institutions in North Carolina, New York, Michigan and Ohio.

Ruth Ava Lyons and her partner, sculptor Paul Sires, pioneered the Noda Arts district in 1985 in Charlotte, NC. and owned Center Of the Earth Gallery, a foremost contemporary fine art gallery for 23 years. Ruth is currently collaborating on a public art project with Paul Sires for the Charlotte Area Transit and owns Lyons Fine Art Consulting, an art consulting company that places contemporary art in residential and corporate environments.

About the Artist

Lyon’s brightly colored mixed media paintings evoke the shimmering hues of the sea and the sensuality of moist surroundings. She says: “I am drawn to and inspired by a variety of environments that speak to me. These include places like the amazing Great Barrier Reef/Australia, the Florida Everglades, Congaree, Cumberland Island, National Parks, wetlands, forests and more. I attempt to use a vocabulary combining both organic and graphic forms to symbolize my thoughts on the status and ongoing threats to these places of wonder.”

An avid scuba diver, hoop-dancer, motorcyclist, gallerist and artist Ruth Ava Lyons lives in Charlotte, NC where she and her partner, sculptor, Paul Sires, were the long time owners of the Center of the Earth Gallery one of the regions’ most important contemporary art galleries for over 20 years. Mary Anne Redding, Curator

Artist’s Studio, Charlotte, NC

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Congaree, 2015Oil/gold leaf on canvas $7,500

The Dan, 2015 Oil/gold leaf on canvas$9,500

Sugar Hill, 2015 Oil/gold leaf on canvas$9,500

Wetlands/Everglades, 2013 Oil/gold leaf on canvas$9,500

KINGSTON, 2015 Oil/silver leaf on canvas$9,500

Seeds of Change, 2012 Oil/mixed media on canvas$17,000Courtesy of Hidell Brooks Gallery

Exhibition Listing

Sightings: Ruth Ava Lyons September 4, 2015 - December 19, 2016Mayer Gallery

Hours:Tues-Thursday, Saturday 10am - 6pm,

Friday 12pm - 8pm

AMAZON I, 2015 Oil/gold leaf on canvas$9,500

Shadowflakes, 2015 Oil/gold leaf on canvas$9,500

Planktic, 2015 Oil/silver leaf on canvas$9,500

Harvest, 2105 Oil/gold leaf on canvas$8,000

If you are interested in purchasing work from the exhibition please visit the Reception DeskThe Dan, 2015