Grace Gallery welcomed Brevard artist Virginia Pendergrass on February 12, 2017. Pendergrass is showcased her ink and watercolor urban sketches of WNC and of her travels as well as some of her oil paintings.

Virginia Pendergrass believes there is an abiding human response of pleasure to beauty in the natural world.  She says, “I paint to create beauty for my own pleasure and to give pleasure to others.”
Originally from Texas, Virginia Pendergrass loved art as a child but was encouraged by her parents to pursue something more “practical”.  Pendergrass got her Masters and then PhD. in psychology and worked as a psychologist in academic, military and clinical settings.  Toward the end of her psychology career, she was re-introduced to art by her late husband, Paul Pothin.  He had a dream of sitting in a piazza in Rome, Italy, sipping an expresso while sketching and painting.  In preparation for Rome, he signed both of them into a 2-day watercolor class in Cashiers, NC. After 2 hours in the class, he decided painting was boring but Virginia has been painting ever since!
Pendergrass experimented with many mediums but settled on oil painting and has been successful and prolific.  Recently her focus has changed to watercolors. She says, “After a painting trip to France, I realized that lugging oil painting equipment through airports took away much of the glamour.  I subsequently came across Marc Taro Holmes’ book, The Urban Sketcher, which inspired me to think about plein air watercolor. The urban sketching equipment fits in a tote or fanny pack and is light enough to carry all day long.”  Her experiences learning urban sketching, and using this technique during a trip to Quebec City, Canada, is chronicled in her Poor Woman’s Paris series of Painting Stories on her website at www.virginiapendergrass.com.
Phone:  (828) 577-0264