Sit down to a serving of great art as Sandhills artists Mary Davis, Laurie Deleot, Jill Hartsell, Aedan Peters, Kim Reidelbach and Ines Ritter discover their inner Georgia O’Keeffe, Alexander Calder, Claude Monet, Roy Lichtenstein, Alphonse Mucha and Banksy, respectively, in these playful place settings. This is truly a Thanksgiving with all the trimmings.
Produced by Denise Baker • Photographs by Tim Sayer
Claude Monet
by Jill Hartsell
Jill Hartsell is passionate about teaching art to young children, spending the last 19 years of her two-decades-long career as an educator in the Moore County schools. She loves all forms of art whether it’s painting, quilting, redoing furniture, making clothes or fashioning jewelry. “Being creative brings me peace, joy and freedom,” she says. Playing on Monet’s famous water lilies, the deckle-edged china has small embossed flowers, and the clay drinking vessel is fashioned into a lily pad.
Alphonse Mucha
by Aedan Peters
Aedan Peters was born in 2001 in Rottenburg, Germany, while his parents were stationed overseas. He moved to Carthage in 2010 and has lived in the area off and on ever since. From a young age, his mother and father fostered a deep appreciation of art within him. This piece brings back memories of the times his parents would help him and his sister recreate famous pieces like Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Chagall’s The Blue Violinist. Peters chose Alphonse Mucha because of the way the artist’s work lends itself to the maximalist ornateness. He plans on moving to Asheville next fall to continue his art education.
Banksy
by Ines Ritter
Ines Ritter is the owner of RUNT Graphic Design in Southern Pines. She creates digital designs ranging from logo art to package and trade fair displays, and has done book illustrations, sculpture, pastels and painting. Growing up near Frankfurt, Germany, she found graffiti and street art inspiring, especially the simple yet impactful style of Banksy, the anonymous graffiti artist. Banksy often paints on trash, hence the paper cup and plastic utensils. Notice how Ritter has poured her own cement block for a place mat, mimicking a wall.
Roy Lichtenstein
by Kim Reidelbach
Kim Reidelbach is a freelance artist living in Whispering Pines and working at The O’Neal School. She is a mixed-media artist often combining photography, painting and sculpture, using humor to communicate personal reflection in response to current events. She has freelanced as a muralist, once worked in a foundry, and has collaborated with other artists for shows in Washington state, Haiti and Florida. She captures Roy Lichtenstein’s style by contrasting the black and white with the place mat’s shape and bright yellow color. The optical illusions create a Ben-Day dot effect.
Georgia O’Keeffe
by Mary Davis
Mary Davis is a North Carolina-based artist who began her professional journey in Florida in 2005 as an interior muralist. She draws inspiration from nature and life experiences and is inspired by artists like O’Keeffe, who push boundaries, demand a presence and continue a forward motion in life. She features O’Keeffe’s flower image as the center of the place setting and filled her glass cup with a hand-dyed napkin to mimic a rose. The skull represents one of the New Mexico desert objects O’Keeffe frequently painted.
Alexander Calder
by Laurie Deleot
Laurie Deleot is a multi-media artist who is focused on non-objective and abstract art. Her work is colorful, full of whimsy and joyful. She saw her first Calder piece in Chicago 53 years ago, which began her fascination with his work. Calder, who was the youngest living artist ever to have a retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, called his mobiles “drawing in space.” Deleot chose different metallic wires, working in the essence of his style, to sew her “mobile” place setting, even knitting the outside edges with wire.
