Ashley’s Art Gallery

To my surprise, just off main street (401 South) in Fuquay Varina, sits a great art gallery.
I stopped in one day just to see what was there. I had driven by many, many times thinking what is that place.
I was pleasantly surprised to find not just one room of art, but several and many different styles, mediums and prices. The owner was very nice and personal. I signed up to get notices via emails about the artist visits and other offerings this little treasure of a an art gallery has to offer.
Very nice find and a small southern town!

What a nice little (well not-​so-​little) gallery a short walk/​drive away from downtown Fuquay-​Varina! I stopped by on a Sunday, when a civil war realist painter was there doing a demonstration. Historical realism is definitely not the type of painting I’m into, but the paintings were objectively very nice. The gallery itself was large and had multiple types of art as well as some other NC crafts, like pottery. If you’re in the area and like art galleries, definitely stop by – it’s easy to miss, next to a sandwich shop because the letters on the awning are pretty faded.

As one with little artistic talent, I adore art galleries. Ashley’s is a bit unlike the other local shops I’ve visited (and I have more to see) in that they follow the Greenwich model which specializes in both reproductions of original paintings and original artwork, but also meet-​and-​greets with the artists. Many local art galleries also use this approach, but Ashley’s overtly publicizes the connection. What I found unusual about Ashley’s was the mainstream subject matter of their available art. There was nothing modernistic in the painting or style, although that may be available via their catalog.
Ashley’s carries wildlife art, primarily of colorful native birds, from Isaac and Bateman. There were even some humorous works I’ve seen at other galleries, works that aren’t quite at the level of dogs playing poker or Elvis on velvet, but still amusing. If you buy artwork for your kids, they even carry Disney works by Kinkade, Gonzalez and Coleman. Ashley’s had quite a bit from the early US: civil war art and western art that reminded me of works by Remington and Russell but balanced by art representing Native Americans. And I think for the first time, I was able to get an up close view of the art of Alan Bean, the 4^th man to walk on the moon, who has been painting scenes of that event, the lunar module, for example. There were also quite a few rural America works including scenes from places in North Carolina (Yates Mill Pond was really striking) that evoke a simpler time. Personally, the work I found most fascinating was that re-​creating a period from the 1940s, the use of chiaroscuro was incredible. It’s one those rare works that made me feel I could click my heels together and be there, in that moment.
Ashley’s also has a gift shop next door, but I did not have time this visit to check it out for any of my favorites. I would definitely visit this shop again, even if the only thing I had time for was to see if clicking my heels together really worked.