BIO
(b.1973, Columbus, OH)
Rachel Klecker Clegg is a contemporary visual artist working in Asheville, NC. Her paintings are a representational style, depicting scenes from the natural world. She is a licensed landscape architect in North Carolina and currently splits her time working out of her home studio in Black Mountain, NC, and a shared studio gallery space at Wedge Studios in Asheville's River Arts District.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Pivoting from a layoff in the design industry in 2008, I started painting tree portraits. The idea sparked from a family of giant sycamores that lined the bridle paths where I had worked years prior. The trees stood so stately, stopping me in my tracks to take in their bare winter branches against a crisp blue sky. It had me spellbound.
Why oil is my choice medium: Painting with oil provides a smooth consistency and depth of color I haven't found with any other medium. My paintings start as a drawing. Over graphite, I will brush on a thin underpainting using warm tones followed by layers of saturated color.
RESUME
EDUCATION
2001 MLA, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC - Master of Landscape Architecture
1995 BA, Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH - Art / Geology
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Black Mountain Center for The Arts, Black Mountain, NC
2023 Eclipse Salon, Asheville, NC
2021 Spotlight Gallery, Wedge Studios, Asheville, NC
2016 Seven Sisters Gallery, Black Mountain, NC
2015 Crawford Gallery, The Asheville School, Asheville, NC
2012 Asheville Community Theatre, Lobby Gallery, Asheville, NC
2011 WCQS Lobby Gallery, Asheville, NC
2011 Crawford Gallery, The Asheville School, Asheville, NC
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 14x14, Spotlight Gallery, Wedge Studios, Asheville, NC
2023 Celebrating Carrie Cox, Spotlight Gallery, Wedge Studios, Asheville, NC
2021 12x12, Spotlight Gallery, Wedge Studios, Asheville, NC
2019 Red House Gallery, Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League, Black Mountain, NC
2012 Waking Up with Van Gogh, Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC.
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
2020 - current Wedge Studios - River Arts District, Asheville, NC
2011-2012 Atelier Gallery, Asheville, NC
MEMBERSHIPS
2022 - current River Arts District, Asheville, NC
AWARDS / SPECIAL RECOGNITION
2001 Warren T. Byrd Prize, awarded for exemplifying professional excellence in visual communication. Awarded by NC State University.
2000 Mary Eleanor Burch Scholarship recipient, honoring the creations of poetry of space in landscape design. Awarded by NC State University.
