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A Pasco Art Center exhibition will feature two local artists who have won national acclaim.
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 1, 2001
The walls of Pasco Art Center are filled with bold watercolors of flowers, fruit and street scenes. Pillars of varying heights hold dark clay sculptures of human figures and abstract objects. On the floor are bold, brick objects with water trickling over the sides.
The exhibit is called "Florida Pulse," which suggests the subtle heartbeat of an entire state.
The paintings are the work of Betty Welch; the sculptures are by Charles Sharrod Partin III. Today, the artists will be honored at a reception at the center from 5 to 7 p.m. to mark the midpoint of their exhibit, which opened May 4 and continues through June 29.
"Betty experiments and modifies her techniques," said Marj Golub, executive director of the center. "A lot of us don't move on; we find where we're comfortable and we stay put. Betty is very vibrant about her artwork."
One room of the exhibit features Ms. Welch's abstract, sometimes geometric floral works; another more eclectic area shows a basic, representational street scene in Crete, a quietly representational treatment of golden pears and two paintings of eerie, other-worldly figures in black and white, one called Parade, the other Going Down.
Both artists make Pasco County their home base, but their works are nationally known.
Ms. Welch's work has been featured in International Artist magazine, Floral Inspirations, and The Best of Acrylic Painting. She has won the president's award in the 2000 Annual Tri-State Watercolor Exhibition in Tallahassee.
Partin is perhaps best known for his bold architecture, particularly the soaring St. Michael's church on State Road 52 that Partin himself has likened to "a great big Hershey's Kiss" and the equally impressive St. Ignatius Catholic Church on Tarpon Avenue in Tarpon Springs, just south of the Anclote River bridge.
His sculptures have been purchased by collectors in Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Canada, as well as Florida.
Partin also created the large, carved brick sculpture of a mangrove in Cavalaire Park in downtown New Port Richey.
The exhibit at the Pasco Art Center includes Partin's Raku fired figures, abstracts and a couple of small water fountains made with carved, red bricks similar to the ones in the Cavalaire Park sculpture.
WHAT: Reception for artist Betty Welch and sculptor Charles Partin
WHERE: Pasco Art Center, 5744 Moog Road, Holiday
WHEN: 5 to 7 p.m. today
TICKETS: Admission is free