Q&A with artist Lea Lackey-Zachmann

How would you describe your work?

For this exhibition “Transitioning”, I would say the mixture of printmaking, painting, sculpture, and drawing is evidence that my work is changing or in transition. “Transitioning” is the name of the combined exhibition of my work and Alix Hitchcock’s work. I’ve taken one idea /inspiration and followed five pieces in whatever direction they have flowed. I started with making large monotypes of tree shapes which developed into acrylic paintings. In addition to those five color schemes, a sculptural painting developed as a result of my wishing to say and show more. After that, the people that I know seemed to “fit” into the category of those colors and forms. Then the unique characteristics of the colors, forms, and people reminded me of mythological characters. The correspondences of color, form, meaning, and myth must be the next step or transition I will take in future work.

How have you changed as an artist over the years?

As an artist over time, I have learned to follow my instincts in art-making. I have learned how to maintain a steady studio practice, with occasional forays into new techniques. I’ve become more involved in the process of making than ever. I trust the process of going in the inspired direction with a freer expression more than ever.

What artists have influenced your work?

So many artists have been influential! Rothko, Toulous Lautrec, Kahlo, Monet, Michelangelo, Kandinsky, Hundertwasser, Joseph Raphael, Morris Louis, Bill Viola are a few that come to mind right now. I could type names all day.

Do you have a favorite medium?

I must say that all mediums are interesting to me. Acrylic paints, colored pencils, Dura-lar as a painted sculptural surface, printmaking inks, different kinds of papers are the most recent ones that I’ve enjoyed

What does making art mean in your life?

Making art for me is meaningful as it provides an outlet for my need for visual expression. Making art keeps me inspired for living. If I don’t make art for a few days, I find myself less than happy and often become unwell physically. It is essential to living.

Lea Lackey-Zachmann

Meet Our Members

Q&A with artist Alix Hitchcock

How would you describe your work?

My art involves creating abstract compositions with images from natural objects (trees, plants) often combined with elements representing the human body. My mediums are ink, watercolor, and any drawing materials on paper, plus monotype printing with a press, or gelatin plate printing. I have also engaged in encaustic wax painting.

How have you changed as an artist over the years?

As an artist over time, I have learned to follow my instincts in art-making. I have learned how to maintain a steady studio practice, with occasional forays into new techniques or mediums at workshops. Teaching art has also helped me clarify for myself issues related to art-making. I do not work as large as I used to. And I still do not make art that is created for the sole purpose of being sellable to the public.

What artists have influenced your work?

I’m influenced by most of the artists of Art History, but especially Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky, Arthur Dove, Isabel Bishop, Lee Krasner collages, Brice Marden line ptgs, Sean Scully stripe ptgs, Eastern calligraphic brushwork, etc.

Do you have a favorite medium?

I work in all types of mediums that revolve around two-dimensional art-making, including printmaking and encaustic wax.

What does making art mean in your life?

Making art for me is meaningful as it provides an outlet for my need for visual expression and experimentation combined with incorporating my search for understanding life.

Alix Hitchcock

April 2022

Jazz and Blues, Owens Daniels Photography, &“Spring to Life” all member’s exhibition

Dates: April 1 – 30, 2022

Gallery Hop: Friday, April 1st, 7 – 10 pm

Reception: Sunday, April 3rd, 2 – 4 pm

Buffalo Soldier by Owens Daniels and Sunflowers by Barbara Mellin

Exhibition Dates: January 30th – February 26th, 2022

Gallery Hop: Friday, February 4th, 7 -9 pm

Art from the Heart

January 2022: Don Green

Sculpture, Paintings, and Drawings

Exhibition Dates: January 5th – 29th, 2022

Gallery Hop: Friday, January 7th, 7 – 9 pm

Reception: Sunday, January 9th, 2 – 4 pm

Ingrid and Tom’s House Xmas

Don Green’s recent sculpture is using wood he received from Reynolda Gardens as they cleared old trees that were close to the house during renovations. Green received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin, his BFA from Wesleyan University in Illinois, and an Advertising Arts Degree from the American Academy of Art in Chicago.

Oct 2021: Green, Hitchcock, Nations

Artworks Gallery Presents:
Don Green, Recent Wood Sculpture; Alix Hitchcock, Opening Up; Diane Nations, Pausing Between Two Mysteries

Exhibition dates: September 26 – October 30, 2021
Reception: Sunday, October 3, 2-4 pm



Don Green, “Untitled Oak Sculpture”
Don Green | Recent Wood Sculpture

The recent works by Don Green from the past two or three years are all various hardwoods – cherry ,  oak, cedar, maple, magnolia, and plywood. The artist has become greatly concerned with the history of the tree from which the logs were cut, the pattern of the grain, especially at stress points where the tree was growing around branches, the expansive growth at the very base of a large tree, the knots where branches were growing off the main trunks, and the holes and rotted opening where branches had earlier been broken off or were sawed off. In a sense, Green feels like he is performing an autopsy of the remains of a noble old tree creature, thus growing in admiration for other living organisms, especially our old friends and servants: trees.

Don Green taught art for 12 years at Methodist College (University) and worked in advertising and design, and construction. Additionally, he has had many sculpture commissions throughout his career. Green holds degrees from the American Academy of Art in Chicago, a BFA from Illinois Wesleyan University, and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Green has been a member of Artworks Gallery since 1994.



Don Green, “Untitled Cherry Sculpture”

Alix Hitchcock, “Lifting Up”
Alix Hitchcock | Opening Up

Alix Hitchcock’s colorful art on paper works are gelatin monotype prints with the theme of human figures or birds as silhouette shapes in an abstracted environment of tree-like structures or forms from nature. They are created by printing on “gelatin plates” using stencils with water-based printmaking inks, some with additional hand-coloring with colored pencils. Hitchcock wants to communicate with the viewer a sense of awe in the presence of the natural world, and bring the viewer into each artwork’s composition of movement and mystery.

Alix Hitchcock received her MA in painting from New York University, and her BFA in printmaking and painting from the Univ. of NC at Greensboro. She was an Instructor in Drawing at WFU for 23 years and has also taught art at several institutions, including Salem College, UNCSA, Sawtooth Center for Visual Arts, ECU, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, and Weatherspoon Museum of Art. Alix Hitchcock was the Winston-Salem Artist of the Year in 1998 and is a founding board member of Artworks Gallery.


Alix Hitchcock, “Opening Up”



Diane Nations, “Mysterious Journey”
Diane Nations | Pausing Between Two Mysteries

“Pausing Between Two Mysteries” is a collection of oil paintings, mixed media collages, along with digital collages, completed by Diane Nations between October 2019 and September 2021. Drawing inspiration from Carl Jung’s quote, “Life is a luminous pause between two mysteries that yet are one.” Nations looks to myths and archetypal images as thresholds to new dimensions of meaning and life’s interconnectedness. She is a local artist, who has exhibited in both local and national exhibitions. 

This is her third exhibition at Artworks. 



Diane Nations, “Wisdom Tree”


Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 11-5; Sunday 1-4
Exhibition dates: September 26 – October 30, 2021
Reception: Sunday, October 3, 2-4pm



For information about this press release, contact pr@artworks-gallery.org

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