Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Johnson Center for the Arts in Troy has earned the reputation of excellence in its presentation of artists and their work.

The current Creative Spirit exhibition is validation of the JCA’s high regard.

The JCA proudly presents ceramists Steve Loucks and Lynnette Hesser, a husband and wife duo, and cousins, Jim Campbell, a portrait artist and illustrator, and Harold Adcock, a landscape and portrait artist.

“Different,” said Brenda Campbell, JCA director. “This exhibition is different and that’s the reason people want to see it. The artistry of Steve and Lynnette is amazing. Visitors are immediately captured by the sunflowers hanging on the wall and delicacy of the pitchers and teapots. It’s amazing that anything man-made can be functional and yet so delicate.”

Campbell said Jim Campbell’s portraits and illustrations are equally captivating.

“Jim captures his subjects in a very personal way,” she said. “His exhibits also include illustrations from his earlier work that were featured in Time Magazine and Reader’s Digest.”

And, cousin Harold’s artwork is just plain fun, Campbell said.

“Harold has a great time with his art,” she said. “It showcases his T-shirt art, children’s book covers and his love of the beach.”

Hesser, of Wellington, Alabama, derives the designs in her work from floral and geometric images and patterns.

She creates flowers or floral scenes on her clay forms by carving into the surface of the piece or with three-dimensional embellishments.  Her goal is to capture the essence of flowers rather than recreating them and relating the position and the type of flowers to the shape of each piece.

Hesser seeks to involve the viewer in the wonder, intricacy, and subtle simplicity of the delicate qualities of nature and pattern.