On August 12 RioBravoFineArt, 110 N. Broadway in Truth or Consequences, will open a show of all new work by Jia Apple titled a Nosegay in my Buttonhole: “A Celebration of Women”. The show opens Saturday, August 12 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm for Second Saturday Art Hop and runs through September 24.
Nosegay in my Buttonhole is a show celebrating the resilience, power, and beauty of ordinary women in all walks of life. The work in this show devotes great care and attention to the faces and the figures of the women Apple loves. Every portrait captures a moment in time containing a remarkable story, and behind these faces are untold experiences of endurance, resiliency, and redemption. It is the artist’s hope that these women will speak directly to the hearts of all who witness them, and their spirits will continue to resonate through these paintings. The works are either oil on canvas or watercolor on paper.
Apple is a lifelong fine artist, muralist, and new author. She is a native of Indiana and currently resides part time in Colorado and New Mexico. She attended Olivet Nazarene University (ONU) and has a permanent exhibit at the University. Although drawing and painting have been her primary foci, she has found a new passion – sculpting words and speaking.
Over the past 20 years, Jia has had a broad reach across the art spectrum – providing private art lessons and producing a wide variety of two-dimensional works in media including acrylic, oil, watercolor and graphite. She has been commissioned by ONU for its pen and ink architectural renderings as well as a 5 ft by 8 ft oil depicting The Trumpet Shall Sound from Handel’s Messiah, currently on display at the university’s Centennial Chapel. Her largest works are murals, three of which can be seen at the Hamilton Military Museum in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
Jia is a working artist active in the Sierra County art community with a keen interest in public art and outreach. She has been a member of the Public Arts Board in Truth or Consequences. She was the Founder and leader of the Young da Vinci’s, a group of young adults who learned the craft of outdoor murals. These murals can be seen on the Lee Belle Johnson Building near the Healing Waters Park in Truth or Consequences.