statement | exhibits | galleries | commissions | description of work

Artist's Statement:

René D. Shoemaker has been creating art in Athens for over 20 years. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia and a Masters of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina. Currently, René is librarian and director of the Owens Library and Circle Gallery at the School of Environmental Design, UGA. René & her family reside in the woods of neighboring Oconee County in northeast Georgia.

Artist's Statement of Purpose:

...to create art that speaks to people of places and ideas they may recognize in themselves. My goal is to travel to a place, sketch that place as I see it, go home and make art; and display it in galleries in that location.
Athens, Ga; Asheville, NC; Paris, France; Fano, Italy? My dream is to feed my love for travel by my love for art.
Please contact me to let me know how we can work together to discover your town.

Current galleries

Commissions and permanent installations:

Passages
Ramsey Center, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga
September 2007

Succession
Heyward Allen Toyota, Athens, Ga
February 2006

Kind Words Rising
Ramsey Center, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga
September 2004

Exhibits:

2008

"Off My Wall..."
Jittery Joe's 5 Points
Athens, Ga
2008

33rd Juried Exhibition
Lyndon House Arts Center
Athens, Ga
February - May 2008

Spirit of the Land
Athens Land Trust &
Oconee River Land Trusts
State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens, Ga
June 2008

2007

32nd Annual Lyndon House Juried Exhibit
Lyndon House, Athens, Ga
February - May 2007

Spirit of the Land
Athens and Oconee Land Trusts
State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens, Ga
March 2007

Passages
Ramsey Center, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga
March 2007

2006

Succession
Heyward Allen Toyota
2910 Atlanta Highway
Athens, Ga
706.549.7002

Amy's Wedding Dress
Athens, Ga
May 6, 2006

Perspectives of Travel
(silk by Rene Shoemaker, landscape painting by Philip Juras)
UGA Alumni Association Atlanta Alumni Center
3333 Peachtree Road
NE South Tower, Suite 210
Atlanta, Ga 30326
404.266.2622
Jan 6 - Mar 1, 2006

2005

Places/Non-Places
(silk by Rene Shoemaker, landscape painting by Philip Juras)
Circle Gallery
College of Environment & Design
University of Georgia
Athens, Ga 30602
706.542.8292
Sept 21 - Oct 19, 2005

Exhibit #2
The Last Resort
184 West Clayton St.
Athens, Ga 30601
706.549.0810
May 1 - May 31, 2005

Other Places
The Last Resort
184 West Clayton St.
Athens, Ga 30601
706.549.0810

2004

Rediscovering the Neighborhood
Shade Bar, 241 Sullivan St, New York City
November 7, 2004
212.982.62753
press release

Maison Bleu
Watkinsville, Ga
through November 31, 2004

Dream Streets (silk by René Shoemaker, photographs by Barrie Collins)
Blue Sky Café, Athens, Ga
April 15 - June 1, 2004

Casablanca Cafe, Northampton, Mass
March - April 2004

Starbucks, Farmington, Ct
March - April 2004

The Other Side of Athens - Aurum Studios, Athens, Ga
February 2-28, 2004

2003

Watkinsville Scenes - Starbucks Downtown, Athens, Ga
Observations - the Architecture of Downtown Watkinsville - Wakinsville Public Library,
Watkinsville, Ga
Shine On - Mental Health Benefit Exhibit and Auction, Athens, Ga
Athens Scenes - Starbucks Downtown, Athens, Ga

2002

-From Campus to Town - Blue Sky, Athens, Ga
-From Here to There - Clayton Street Gallery, Athens, Ga
-Windows - Oconee County Arts Federation, Watkinsville, Ga
-Observations - Starbucks, Athens, Ga
-How to Relax and Sip a Cup of Coffee - Starbucks, Decatur, Ga
-Self Portrait - group exhibit, Clayton Street Gallery, Athens, Ga
-Celebration of the Arts - Classic Center, Athens, Ga
-From the Heart - Oconee County Arts Federation, Watkinsville, Ga
-Shine On - Mental Health benefit exhibit and auction, Athens, Ga
-SED Annual - SED Gallery, School of Environmental Design, Athens, Ga

2001

-Ethereal Spaces - 1st solo gallery exhibit, Clayton Street Gallery, Athens, Ga
-Radiant - Mental Health Benefit Exhibit and Auction, Athens, Ga
-A Celebration of the Arts - Invitational art exhibit, Classic Center, Athens, Ga
-Quiet Conversations - solo exhibit, Big City Bread Café, Athens, Ga
-Artists for Preservation - Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation Exhibit, Firehall #2, Athens, Ga
-Athens Artists: A Celebration of Place - Lyndon House, Athens, Ga

2000

-Mental Health Benefit - exhibit and auction, Athens, Ga
-Mothers/Fathers/Sons & Daughters - Clayton Street Gallery, Athens, Ga
-Pleasures - Jittery Joe's 5 points, Athens, Ga
-Starbucks - Athens, Ga

1999

-Mental Health Benefit - exhibit and auction, The Globe, Athens, Ga
-Clayton St. Gallery, Athens, Ga
-Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Ga
-Cortona Faculty Exhibition, Lamar Dodd School of Art, UGA, Athens, Ga,
-The Pleasures of Traveling, Lewis-Young, Athens, Ga, Solo Exhibition

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Medium & description of work

A sense of place is what the artist is aiming for in her work. There are images of downtown Athens, Ga, as well as representations of nearby downtown Watkinsville, and Northampton, Massachussetts, Farmington, Connecticutt, and New York City. René visits the site, the town, to experience the place - the sounds, smell and movement through the spaces, to sketch the buildings, the spaces where people are, and the sense of the people who use that place. For each new exhibit, the work would is centered around the buildings, spaces and architectural details in that new town - a tour of the city, as it were.

‘Hand-painted silk’ has dye applied directly to the silk. In this case, there are resist lines laid down on the silk to designate the drawn design, then the ‘fiber-reactive dye’ (meaning the dye becomes one with the fabric) is applied with a foam brush. The silk is oftentimes charmeuse, which is a beautiful heavy silk with a lustrous sheen to it, or china silk, which is light and moves gently in the breeze.

The silk pieces are 36x36 inch squares,or 22x22 inch and 11x11 inch squares added for detail in the designs. The sik squares are sewn to a rod for ease in hanging, and where they can float freely as the air in the gallery moves.

In past solo exhibits, the art work has been hung from the ceiling as opposed to the wall to enhance the sense of movement in space. As one critic said of the exhibit From Campus to Town: “It’s like a love letter to Athens.”

I would like to write that letter to your town.

Please contact the artist at rds@coffeecuppress.com for exhibit propoals or commissions.

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